Tutorial: Connection

Currently, the game is only available to people connecting with Japanese IP address, thus this page guides new users in creating a Japanese proxy connection.

Option 1: VPN Gate Client
Head over to VPN Gate, an "Academic Experiment Project" by the University of Tsukuba, and download and install the client (Windows only). Run the client, and then select a Japanese server in "VPN Gate Public VPN Relay Servers". There are other options, but this is the easiest way to create a Japanese proxy connection.

For Mac and other UNIX-based user, there is L2TP VPN interface that has been pre-installed in your kernel system. You can directly set it up without needed to download any clients nor using similar software to let you execute WIndows-only clients. However, in case your network is block the usage of L2TP, you will still need to download VPN clients to let you use VPN with different protocols.

Option 2: Creating an L2TP or STTP VPN connection (Windows 8)
This method works for Windows 7 as well, but the wording of the settings might be different.
 * 1) Go to VPN Gate, and find a Japanese server that supports either "L2TP/IPsec" or "MS-STTP" connections.
 * 2) Copy the server's address (eg.  vg2036075803.opengw.net)  . For STTP-supporting servers, copy the address plus the port number, shown in the MS-STTP column.
 * 3) "Set up a new connection or network" in Network and Sharing Center.
 * 4) "Connect to a workplace"
 * 5) "Use my Internet connection (VPN)"
 * 6) Paste the address (plus the port, for STTP), name the VPN connection as you wish and click on "Create".
 * 7) (L2TP users skip to step 8 for now) The VPN connection should appear in "Network Connections" (or the sidebar that appears when you click on the network icon in the taskbar). When asked for User name and Password, input "vpn" for both.
 * 8) For L2TP users, you must find the network connection that was just created, and going to its "Properties" by right clicking on the just-created connection in "Network Connections". Go to the "Security" tab, select L2TP/IPsec as the "Type of VPN" and then click on "Advanced settings". Select "Use preshared key for authentication" and then input "vpn". Apply the settings. Connect to the VPN as per step 7.

This method is for users of Mac and UNIX-based systems:
 * 1) Open Network Preferences.
 * 2) Click add connection, then select VPN (L2TP)
 * 3) Go to VPN Gate, and find a Japanese server that supports either "L2TP/IPsec" connections.
 * 4) Copy the server's address (eg.  vg2036075803.opengw.net) .
 * 5) Paste the address to the "Server Address", and type vpn as the "Account Name".
 * 6) Click "Authentication Setting", then type vpn for both available textboxes. You need not to change anything else.
 * 7) Click "Advanced", and tick Send all traffic over VPN Connection.
 * 8) Click OK, then Apply, then test the connection using "Connect" button.
 * 9) If the VPN fails, try to add the IP address to the "Server Address" instead of the full server name. If this one fails too, you can try turning off your whole internet connection for 1-2 minutes before trying to connect to the VPN again. This issue sometimes happen when you suddenly disconnected from the VPN due to bad connection or incomplete request.

Play without VPN/Proxy
It is possible for non-Japanese IP address to evade region restriction to play (not register) the game. Such way is by using the API link embedded in the Kantai Collection page.

How to obtain API link:
 * 1) Open the game as usual (in this guide, using Chrome)
 * 2) Ctrl+Shift+I to inspect element of the page, search for api_token or mainD2.swf
 * 3) * Example: http://125.6.189.7/kcs/mainD2.swf?api_token=xxx&api_starttime=xxx
 * 4) * Note: the API link unique for each server and session.
 * 5) Copy the API link
 * 6) Turn off your proxy/VPN and open the link in your browser.
 * 7) *If it doesn't work, you probably copied the wrong or incomplete API link.

The API link bypasses your login. Be very careful not to let others see your link (eg. when posting screenshots of the game) or just close your VPN connection when you are in-game.