Edit2: Now got all 3 started with 1.0.2.0. All I did was follow the guide by BitcoinFX to upgrade. Then started via "start-alias" from controller wallet.
What do you mean by "start locally"?
I have tried many many many times and it can never start with 1.0.2.0 but starts with no issue for 1.0.1.0, using the same protocol to sync a chain and bring up the node.
I meant by running "masternode start" on each of the VPS.
But I did run "masternode start-alias
(I did both multiple times and kept getting the hot node error before. But trying again later on, it worked. Weird.)