vbProArcade Beta 2

[futureal]

vbProArcade Beta 2

1/5/03: Beta 2 released
9/12/02: Beta 1.03 zip updated to include safe mode fix
9/3/02: Beta 1.03 released -- small bug fixes, see below
9/1/02: Beta 1 of vbProArcade has been posted. Please see below for installation instructions.


Background Information

vbProArcade is a fully-customizable Flash arcade add-on for vBulletin, complete with game-by-game scoreboards, forum integration, a "champions" system, statistics, and more.

This is an extensive hack that is still in BETA form, and I don't recommend installing it if you are not willing to work through potential issues and future updates/upgrades! I am working on making the installation instructions as easy as possible, but it will probably be some time before it is perfect.

Watch this post for updates as they happen, and check out screenshots from the list below. If you would like to see the hack in action, you may visit my Shadows of Namek forums (http://www.shadowsofnamek.com/forum). You will need to register to play, but you can view the scoreboards and the arcade itself as a guest.


Credits

This hack materialized thanks to work and help from a number of people and forums. Here they are:

Original vbTetris Hack by Erwin Loh
Original vbTetris Leaderboard Hack by John Warwick (john.eovie)
One of my users, Simon Steel, for work on Flash coding/recoding
The users of one of my forums, Shadows of Namek (http://www.shadowsofnamek.com/forum), for their extensive testing of the system
And The Kryptonian (http://www.thekryptonian.com) for pre-release and release candidate installation testing.Games

So far, there are FIVE GAMES that work correctly with this hack. They are:

Breakout
Pacman
Snake
Space Invaders
Tetris

All five .SWF files are included in the release archive.

There is now a Flash Games Development Thread (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47198) for the purpose of modifying existing games to work with vbProArcade, or for creating new games to be compatible with vbProArcade. If you have a game that you wish to see modified but don't know how, post the .FLA source in that thread and hopefully somebody can assist you.


Installation Instructions

Download the file attached to this post, unzip it and familiarize yourself with the contents BEFORE doing anything.

There are TWO separate files worth reading, the Documentation and the Installation Instructions. I recommend that you read both BEFORE doing anything else.

Once you have done this, the instructions to be followed are contained in vbproarcade-install.txt. Follow them as precisely as possible. If you encounter an error somewhere, it is likely that you missed a step or made a small error. Please double-check your work BEFORE posting about problems here.

And it cannot be said enough: read that file before you do anything, and if you are unsure of something, please post your question(s) before attempting to install the hack.


Problems and Fixes/Workarounds (as of 1/5)

NoneKnown Bugs/Limitations

Here is the list of stuff that I know does not work. I will be working towards correcting these bugs BEFORE adding new features for the next release.
Netscape will allow you to play the games but not record scores
If a user uses the "Back" button to go to the game screen, and does not refresh before playing, the score will result in a Security Violation. This is by design.Screen Shots for Beta 2

Here is the list of posts from this thread that contain screen shots for the new version. Check them out!
Main Arcade Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292106#post292106
Game Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292107#post292107
Game Over Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292109#post292109
Scoreboard: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292110#post292110
Top Score Board: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292111#post292111
Admin Modify Game: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292112#post292112
Who's Online Display: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=292113#post292113
User Detail Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=337811#post337811
Admin Score Editor: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=338736#post338736
Champ System in Postbit: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=338745#post338745
Modify Games in Admin CP (contracted): https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=389858#post389858
Modify Games in Admin CP (expanded): https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=389859#post389859Upcoming Features

This is the stuff that is in progress for future release:
Complete Admin Panel Scoreboard Editor
Additional integration with vB
Even better Who's Online screenSome have emailed or PM'd me asking if I would accept donations for my work on this hack, and yes, I certainly will, and any and all support is greatly appreciated. With over 2,000 lines of original PHP code, in addition to HTML and Flash work, I have spent a great deal of time developing and debugging the source for this, and it is a great feeling to have people like it so much that they want to give something back.

All donations received go directly back into supporting my websites and my design activities. You may click here to donate via Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=futureal@rctech.net&item_name=vbProArcade%20Donation). Note that donations are by no means required, and not donating does not mean you won't get support for the hack.

Last but not least, thanks for checking this out!

[futureal]

<i>NOTE: I apologize for the huge screenshots, but I left them full-size for clarity's sake, especially for some of the more detailed ones. If your browser re-sizes image to fit the screen, make sure you maximize them to read everything well. Look at the highlighted sections for points of interest...</i>

This is the main page of the Arcade (so far).

Beta 1.03 Text:

Planned improvements so far include scoreboard icons/links, admin-selectable "king" icons, and a seamless integration with vbStats to provide meaningful arcade statistics.

UPDATED FOR BETA 2:

Features added:

- mini-scoreboards for each game
- admin-selectable icons
- tool-tips all over the place, revealing even more info
- and more!

[futureal]

This is the in-game screen. Nothing too special here, just links to the related scoreboards. The only improvement I can think of so far is allowing the admin to select whether or not the game icon appears here (basically it's just a template thing).

UPDATED FOR BETA 2!

[futureal]

This screen is displayed to the user when a game ends. It gives their score's ranking among all scores for that particular game, and allows them to enter a comment if desired. After adding a comment, they are taken to the scoreboard for that particular game.

A planned improvement is to take the user directly to whichever page of the scoreboard their score landed in (or better yet, allowing the admin to specify whether they go there or to the top of the scoreboard).

UPDATED FOR BETA 2!

New in Beta 2 is the Game Duration, which is a Tool Tip when the user hovers the mouse over the Date field. Also new is a bunch of behind-the-scenes security stuff.

[futureal]

This is the scoreboard. Note that on my site, I do *not* use the alternating background colors BUT the admin can change this in the vbProArcade control panel.

UPDATED FOR BETA 2!

New in Beta 2 are the various Tool Tips all over the place that give the user a bit more information, as well as links to the User Scoreboard and User Detail pages for each user (see the magnifying glasses on the right of the screen).

[futureal]

Here is what I call the "Top Score Board" which shows only each user's highest score, and displays a few quick statistics about the game. This is really more meaningful than the scoreboard, since it lets you figure out exactly where you fall among all players.

UPDATED FOR BETA 2!

Everything new here is basically the same as what you will find in the scoreboard.

[futureal]

This is the game modification screen in the vbProArcade Admin Panel. The admin can select a game icon and a king icon, as well as change the security features of the game (score var and hash offset) and a few other things.

This screen has been simplified since Beta 1.

UPDATED FOR BETA 2!

[futureal]

The "Who's Online" display for vbProArcade automatically determines which games are installed and which game a user is playing. There is no need to modify online.php further when new games are installed -- everything is automatic.

Planned improvements include displaying "Viewing Arcade" and "Viewing such-and-such Scoreboard" (this is already done on my test site).

[futureal]

Current features I'm working on adding:

- Admin-selectable Scoreboard icons
- Admin-selectable "King" icons
- "Champions" System, allowing users to show as "Champion of such-and-such" at various places in the forums
- vbProArcade/vbStats integration
- vbProArcade Mini-Stats (for the arcade main page)
- Admin "Scoreboard Browser/Editor"

And more to come.

Thanks for reading!

[Erwin]

Nice. :) Keep up the good work.

[ExAvIoUr]

real nice. wtg

[snyx]

wow this is insane man, props!
im estatic!!! :):)

the screens made me horny!! haha

[F0xstud85]

Wow, this sounds awesome. Cant wait to try it out :)

:banana:

[DrkFusion]

Very nice work, keep it up :thumbsup:

Edit:
I just tested this out, its amazing, nice work.

[Link14716]

This is all fine and dandy, and you have just made a lot of people happy, in more ways than one lol but wouldn't it have been smart to post this in General Hacking Discussion until the code was puplicly released? Just a thought.

:banana:

[Goldknight]

futureal, you really did it!

Wow, your hack look hot. :banana:

Curious, how many games you plan to add? Is it easy to add new games?

I look at your screenshot, it seem show low queries with ranking system. How many queries ranking system make?

Edit:
Excuse my sloppy english :p It s not my first language after all..

[futureal]

Originally posted by Link14716
This is all fine and dandy, and you have just made a lot of people happy, in more ways than one lol but wouldn't it have been smart to post this in General Hacking Discussion until the code was puplicly released? Just a thought.

I see nothing wrong with posting it here, since this is where it will end up eventually. I was looking for feedback (part of the reason for beta-testing a hack) and I will be editing the first post with the code as soon as I have it ready to go. Should be within the next few days.

[DrkFusion]

He does have an online "beta" for us :)
http://www.shadowsofnamek.com/forums/proarcade.php or something :)

[futureal]

Originally posted by Goldknight
Curious, how many games you plan to add? Is it easy to add new games?

I will add as many games as I can find. It is really not that difficult to modify an existing Flash file to interact with the database. The question really comes down to just finding good quality Flash games that are worth modifying.

As a side note, we have modified the original Tetris game to include music, sped up the line-removal and made a few other minor edits.

I look at your screenshot, it seem show low queries with ranking system. How many queries ranking system make?

It makes as many queries as it needs to make. Aside from the regular amount of vBulletin queries, a typical scoreboard load would require only two queries: one to get the total amount of entries (for the page navigation) and one to get the actual scoreboard data. It is possible that a third query could be added to pull options out of the configuration table.

[NexDog]

Can't see "any" differences to John's arcade hack. Same layout, same features, complete rip. Just free, :D

[DrkFusion]

You can't really judge til you see the coding.

I think your out of line calling it a complete rip.

[Erwin]

Actually, I have John's hack (which is great) and this one may look superficially similar, but there are some differences. And futureal can only rip it if he got hold of a copy in the first place. Did you base this on John's hack at all? The games look the same - are the SWF files the same ones for John's hack? Are the database tables the same? Just asking to know if the 2 hacks are compatible at all...

[Boofo]

futureal, it looks like a winner, so far. I'm impressed. Looking forward to this. ;)

By the way, the "donation" check is in the mail. :p

[zootsuit]

Wow, looks awesome - greatwork!

Can't wait to try this out! :)

[futureal]

Originally posted by Erwin
Actually, I have John's hack (which is great) and this one may look superficially similar, but there are some differences. And futureal can only rip it if he got hold of a copy in the first place. Did you base this on John's hack at all? The games look the same - are the SWF files the same ones for John's hack? Are the database tables the same? Just asking to know if the 2 hacks are compatible at all...

This hack was completed (in its current form) before John released his hack to anybody. If you read through some of the vbTetris thread, you can see some of posts hinting at the progress I had made in my version.

I have never seen any of John's code outside of the vbTetris hack he released. I based mine on that code, but ended up rewriting most of it.

NexDog, you'll also notice that the layout of these two hacks is completely different. You'll also find that mine uses about 1/10th as many queries.

[zootsuit]

True, the layout doesn't look at all a like...

[Velocd]

Interesting...I'm not all that big into flash games, but does anyone know if there a such thing as multiplayer flash games? One that two or more members can compete in?

[Goldknight]

=D futureal, thanks for answer my QQ. I think there are at least two links to great games (.fla) at Johns thread or maybe Erwin's thread. In any case, yours look great! Good luck with your hack.

[Goldknight]

Originally posted by Velocd
Interesting...I'm not all that big into flash games, but does anyone know if there a such thing as multiplayer flash games? One that two or more members can compete in?

It is possible but I think it requires XML to work. I m not sure though..

[Audionuts]

nice...thi will be a fun one :) great work, really looking forward to it...

[futureal]

Originally posted by Velocd
Interesting...I'm not all that big into flash games, but does anyone know if there a such thing as multiplayer flash games? One that two or more members can compete in?

Yes, multiplayer flash games are possible, and integration into vBulletin would not be much harder than what we have done here. However, running multiplayer flash games requires hosting an XML server, which would (at the very least) require a dedicated box and some good security. Flash can interact with the server using XML sockets and thus allow multiple people to play together.

At this point in time, I think that PHP/MySQL or Java are better options for multiplayer real-time gaming. In fact, we are testing a vB port of an old-school BBS game as I speak (hint hint -- totally unrelated to this hack, though...)

[Lanigironu]

You promissed me that you will give me the code and let me see what I can add before you release it! :(

[NuclioN]

Absolutly amazing futureal, very nice! Can't wait to try this. ;)

[Lesane]

Looks great so far.

[Erwin]

Originally posted by futureal
At this point in time, I think that PHP/MySQL or Java are better options for multiplayer real-time gaming. In fact, we are testing a vB port of an old-school BBS game as I speak (hint hint -- totally unrelated to this hack, though...)

Ahhh... the teasing... ;)

I would love to have a multi-player chess game actually... I've looked at some java applets... if only I had more time...

[futureal]

Yea, multiplayer games integrated with vB is definitely the "holy grail" for me. Unfortunately running a fully operation server isn't in the (financial) cards right now, but there are other options.

A PHP/MySQL-based real-time chess game would be a distinct possibility, actually. Aside from initiating the sessions correctly and making sure that two users are playing each other and only each other, the game logic itself would not be difficult at all.

In fact, I bet I could make it. But I shall limit myself to one thing at a time. Maybe once this hack is done, I will set to work on that. And once that code is laid down, it would open the door for many other games of that nature: Chess, Checkers, Battleship, etc.

Good idea!

[chad777]

Just what I have been waiting on.

My user keep saying when are we getting more games that rank ?

I keep saying soon.

they are getting tired of just tetris .

When do you project this project to be done and what other games are you adding to it that rank or have a leaderboard ?

[Dean C]

looks great !

[Erwin]

Originally posted by futureal
A PHP/MySQL-based real-time chess game would be a distinct possibility, actually. Aside from initiating the sessions correctly and making sure that two users are playing each other and only each other, the game logic itself would not be difficult at all.

In fact, I bet I could make it. But I shall limit myself to one thing at a time. Maybe once this hack is done, I will set to work on that. And once that code is laid down, it would open the door for many other games of that nature: Chess, Checkers, Battleship, etc.

Good idea!

Actually, there is a php/ mysql multiplayer chess game out already. It's a nuke module - someone has ported it to vBPortal.

Link discussing it here:
http://216.40.225.55/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5657&highlight=chess

I don't run vBPortal anymore... I had a look at it to see if I can port it over to vB, but it's complicated. :)

I've attached the vBPortal version here - see if you can do anything with it. ;)

[NexDog]

Yea, guess I was out of order and I apologize. It would be nice to see what this looks like on a standard install though. Anything that cuts down on queries is a good thing too. :)

[NTLDR]

This looks amazing futureal, I can't wait to install this when it is released, congrats on all the hard work and making it a free hack :D

[Neo]

I have a multi-player game on my forum :p

[Ninth Dimension]

Before I say anything I?d just like to say that I might not be appreciated around here because of the way I was defending John. This is only because I felt that selling hacks via vB.org is OK, and nothing else.

I?m all for improving hacks, etc, and as this hack is not even going to be sold, I don?t feel that any ?bad words? between myself and anyone else in this thread is needed.

What has happened in the past has happened, and there is nothing we can do about that now, but I?m more than happy to forgive and forget if anyone that opposed me is?

Anyway, my suggestion is this, I like the idea of each user having his/her own personal high score which will be overwritten if they beat it, or left as it is if they don?t.

I feel that something like this would help to save database space, and would give the users two things to work towards, getting the highest score on the board, but also beating there own personal best without recording all the failed attempts. Maybe this can be an option that can be turned on and off?

Another suggestion I have is that you should have an arcade main page, showing all the high scores and games available (like in johns hack). However I don?t feel that the whole thing should be blocked out to unregistered users, instead (like I?ve done on my site (http://gamevine.co.uk/arcade.php)) only playing the games and recording the scores should be locked out. This way the unregistered users get to see what they are missing out on, and sign-up rather that just seeing a no permissions page and leaving.

The only other thing I can suggest is that you make it easy to be placed into directories other than the forum one (using the chdir() functions) and making sure the templates reflect this.

(I've almost finished my vBstory hack, so if you would like any help or suggestions, please feel free to contact me)

[John]

Originally posted by futureal
Yea, multiplayer games integrated with vB is definitely the "holy grail" for me. Unfortunately running a fully operation server isn't in the (financial) cards right now, but there are other options.

A PHP/MySQL-based real-time chess game would be a distinct possibility, actually. Aside from initiating the sessions correctly and making sure that two users are playing each other and only each other, the game logic itself would not be difficult at all.

In fact, I bet I could make it. But I shall limit myself to one thing at a time. Maybe once this hack is done, I will set to work on that. And once that code is laid down, it would open the door for many other games of that nature: Chess, Checkers, Battleship, etc.

Good idea!

I've started work on a multiplayer system, all games are managed on the new high speed dedicated server I'm having set up. So, when people install this and play games on their vB forums, the games run off this server and scores go back to it. Because of this, security can be a lot better, and multiplayer gaming is a possibility for anyone running a vB board. (Not to mention global stats.)

So far we have 8 games in development, including 2 player air hockey! :cool: Of course, with server side security in place it'll be possible to link it all in with Lesane's Store.

If anyone wants to have a look through my old and tattered Arcade Hack code, just ask. If enough people want to have a look I'll upload it somewhere.

futureal - I noticed you included a date field in the scoreboards. I was thinking about doing the same, but I didn't bother because I didn't know how the vB timezone system worked. How do you make the GMT +/- adjustment?

[TalkHardRandy]

Looks amazing futureal!

And since we're rehasing this: has anyone put any thought into the Lesane Store integration? I know that there is an interest in it from John's Tetris thread, but I think it got lost in all the other... debates... in those threads.

Any ideas?

[futureal]

Originally posted by Erwin
Actually, there is a php/ mysql multiplayer chess game out already. It's a nuke module - someone has ported it to vBPortal.


Thanks Erwin! I will definitely check that out when I have the time. It should not be too difficult at all to integrate something like this into vBulletin.

[Ninth Dimension]

What I'd like to know is what a store hack verson of this would do? Give you points the more you play or something?

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, but would it not be better to leave a feature like that off? after all, this is a reward for your loyal users, you can't really give them more points for doing something like playing games when they should/could be posting messages?

Maybe it's just me?

What I can see being popular is some type of points casino where you gamble your current points on the slots, or some type of card game - now that would be cool, I can see my users going for that IN A BIG WAY!!! :D

[futureal]

Originally posted by Ninth Dimension
Anyway, my suggestion is this, I like the idea of each user having his/her own personal high score which will be overwritten if they beat it, or left as it is if they don?t.

I feel that something like this would help to save database space, and would give the users two things to work towards, getting the highest score on the board, but also beating there own personal best without recording all the failed attempts. Maybe this can be an option that can be turned on and off?


It is possible that this could be an admin-defined option -- something where if a user does not beat his/her high score, instead of taking them to the "Add Score" page it goes straight to the "Play Game" screen or perhaps the Scoreboard. The only problem with this implementation is that it would "break" the statistics engine, which works on counting rows in the arcade table to determine popularity, average scores, times played and so on.

Database space is not a huge issue. On my main site that is running the arcade already, games have been played 3,636 times, and the total space taken up the table is 224KB. That is very, very small.

Another suggestion I have is that you should have an arcade main page, showing all the high scores and games available (like in johns hack). However I don?t feel that the whole thing should be blocked out to unregistered users, instead (like I?ve done on my site (http://gamevine.co.uk/arcade.php)) only playing the games and recording the scores should be locked out. This way the unregistered users get to see what they are missing out on, and sign-up rather that just seeing a no permissions page and leaving.

I agree completely about not blocking out the pages to Unregistered users. In fact, that is already exactly how my hack operates. A future improvement could be to make this selectable by the admin.

The only other thing I can suggest is that you make it easy to be placed into directories other than the forum one (using the chdir() functions) and making sure the templates reflect this.

This is also (sort of) already part of the hack. The admin defines a directory for games (in my case, /arcade/) and then all .swf files are stored there and called from there. I figured that was a lot better than keeping them all in the /forum directory.

Thanks for the input!

[Ninth Dimension]

<font size="4">OR!!!</font>

Depending on how mean you are you could get your users to gamble a number of points on one of the game, and then choose a level/score.

If that user reaches that score during that game, then they receive more points, if they fail they loose them..

Obviously each of the 5 current games have seperate scoring systems, so it would need to be customisable depending on each game, or even go as far as have multipul levels:

i.e. if on snake they choose, and get more than 50, they double the number of points, if they choose and get 150, they get triple points, etc...

The only problem I can see with this (or the whole points system) is that there are a number of diffrent points systems available, and I believe it would be prefrable to support all of them (or at least most). e.g. I'm not going to install the store hack cos I have no need for it, but I might re-install the itemshop or the gold hack).

[futureal]

Originally posted by john.eovie
futureal - I noticed you included a date field in the scoreboards. I was thinking about doing the same, but I didn't bother because I didn't know how the vB timezone system worked. How do you make the GMT +/- adjustment?

Basically, there is a setting in the General Options part of the vBulletin admin panel where the admin defines what time zone the server is in. All dates/times are stored in "server time" in the database, and then adjusted based on the user's defined time zone in their User Options setting. I forgot the name of the function offhand, but there is a vB utility function that will take a server time and spit back the user's time based on $bbuserinfo.

As for the multiplayer engine, it sounds great! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of technology are you using for the games? Flash or Java, maybe?

[Lanigironu]

Wow, that Chess game is unbelivably complex.

It's purely PHP, isn't it?

[Vivi Ornitier]

okay i can't wait for this hack, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! Can u give us an approximate release date?

[futureal]

I will let you know tonight what the approximate release date will be.

At the moment, I just decided to pull *all* of the templates out and relabel/restructure them. I hadn't really thought ahead at all, and they were getting pretty confusing. It might not sound like progress, but believe me, you'll thank me for that later. :)

(The hack is split up across many templates, which in theory should make it easier to add/subtract features and to find the exact piece of HTML code you want...)

[NTLDR]

This really does sound extreamly comprehensive, I can't wait to install this one :D

* NTLDR awaits an approx release date :banana:

[NuclioN]

Originally posted by Vivi Ornitier
okay i can't wait for this hack, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! Can u give us an approximate release date?

with all the extra query's you hang in the item shop this would kill your server i guess. ;)


* NuclioN just teasing

[futureal]

Heh, I just realized that in about half my references I have been using "/forum/filename" rather than "$bburl/filename" ... in other words, I'm still having fun with template editing.

As far as integration with the various Store/RPG-type hacks out there, I could see this being used. For example, the for each score of more than XX you get YY points/gold/whatever. For each day that you can maintain a rank above ZZ in some game you get something... and so on. Plenty of different ways you could do it.

Now, as for *me* doing an integration, I have no idea. I have never taken a look at one of those store things code-wise, but I can't imagine it would be too complex. Still, I don't think I'd be running one of those on my own forums any time soon, so I dunno. Perhaps once this hack is released and stable, I can check it out... but it's something I would probably leave to somebody who is more experienced with the store/RPG stuff.

[E]

I can't wait for this one. You can check out my sig for games. If you need any of the files, pm me and ill send you a copy to add tot he hack. Just use one of the "test" user names in my sig and goto the extras or the link and look at all the games I have on my forum.
Use anything you like.
Peace
Emmett

[futureal]

I hit a roadblock tonight when I realized I had made an error in something I had said earlier, regarding the "Top Score Board." I had been using a GROUP BY clause in the SELECT query to get each user's top score. However, it came to my attention that in doing this, we are discarding all unique entries from other fields, and to make a long story short, the incorrect date/time/comments were coming back.

As far as that goes, I am left with a choice as to what to do. I can either:

(a) drop the entire idea of a top score board (I won't do this, though)
(b) add an additional query to the page for each user (server intensive, 25 users per page means an addition 25 queries)
(c) dump the entire table to an array in a second query and just use a search algorithm to find the correct values (might have major issues down the road if the table gets large enough)

What I will probably do is file this under the category of "known bug" and get back to it later, when I have the time to do a server-load test of options (b) and (c). In the meantime, if anybody knows MySQL extraordinarily well (in other words, you understand what I said in the first paragraph :)) and has a good way of doing this efficiently, let me know.

[Goldknight]

Try to ask g-force2k2 or Logician, they have pretty good knowledge with queries.

[futureal]

Still working on getting this into "release candidate" form. My biggest concern is finalizing the table structures, so that those of you who install this as a beta do not have to go back and nuke your old tables when future versions are released.

Thanks for bearing with me.

[Apok2002]

Re: the multi-player chess (Humpa-Chess)
I don't run vBPortal anymore... I had a look at it to see if I can port it over to vB, but it's complicated.

I've attached the vBPortal version here - see if you can do anything with it

Yes, I have it installed on my site. www.ez-company.net Works great, very popular addition. :) Obviously, it was recoded quite a bit. We integrated it into the site and we use vbPortal.

[Lanigironu]

Originally posted by E
I can't wait for this one. You can check out my sig for games. If you need any of the files, pm me and ill send you a copy to add tot he hack. Just use one of the "test" user names in my sig and goto the extras or the link and look at all the games I have on my forum.
Use anything you like.
Peace
Emmett

Do you have FLAs for any of those? I'll modify them.

[futureal]

Apok2002: Well done on the chess integration. It looks and works great!

[Apok2002]

Thank you, but I didn't do anything but beg my buddy KhanSW to get it integrated correctly. He's the brain behind it. :)

There are few changes (aesthetically) I'd like to see, but it's further down on the priority list. :)

I'm looking forward to this ProArcade hack though. My members will love it (esp since they are all gamers).

[Erwin]

Originally posted by Apok2002
Re: the multi-player chess (Humpa-Chess)


Yes, I have it installed on my site. www.ez-company.net Works great, very popular addition. :) Obviously, it was recoded quite a bit. We integrated it into the site and we use vbPortal.

Sweet! I'm jealous. This makes me *almost* want to return to vBPortal... I wish I had time to port it to pure vB...

[futureal]

Progress update: I just finished coding the remainder of the "Champion System" into vbProArcade.

What this basically does is display text under a user's title if they are the champion of one of the games in the arcade. The system can be turned on/off completely, or selectively on/off on a per-game basis. The champion text and color can also be changed on a per-game basis, and when a new game is added, they are set to default values of "Gamename Champion" and your forum default font color for that game.

Just like (most) of the rest of the hack, the system is all automated, and will automatically move from user-to-user as champions change. There are probably a few more places in the forum where this can be added -- right now it is only in showthread/postbit.

Attached is an example screenshot of the admin panel and a "champion" user's post.

[futureal]

Other stuff I did today:

- fixed the number format so it displays correctly with commas
- implemented the admin-selectable scoreboard icons for the main arcade
- implemented the admin-selectable king icons for the main arcade & scoreboards
- updated the Who's Online display to include users in the main arcade page
- reordered and cleaned up some stuff in the admin panel
- renamed and reorganized the templates to make them easier to figure out
- added links back to the main arcade page from the play/scoreboard pages
- removed a few redundant queries and broke some code into separate functions

So that's where we're at right now. There are only a couple more minor things to take care of and then I can start packaging the code for a full beta release. I would anticipate no later than Saturday night for getting that out there, maybe Sunday daytime at the absolute latest.

[Erwin]

Looking forward to it. :)

[xxxsaint]

Is there a way to make it also put a crown beside their champion title that is inserted below the user title ? I've added the crown-addon for tetris and that keeps everyone fighting over it , the crown graphic.

[N9ne]

yeah the crown thing is v. cool, that would be good for this :D

I can't wait for this to be released, looks so promising!

[E]

Originally posted by Lanigironu


Do you have FLAs for any of those? I'll modify them.

of the flash games I have all the files, the other games are java in which I have the files also. Its all hosted by my site, just some of the miniclips are from other sites but i have the orignal files.
Which all ones you want? Ill d/l them and post each one here for ya. I don't mind sharing them at all.
Peace
E

[kmfdm_kid2000]

Well, I only read the first page, and it's a great idea...This is a shot in the dark, but wouldn't it be nice to play Head To Head Tetris w/ other members??

[zootsuit]

This looks wonderful. I can't wait for it! :)

[futureal]

Originally posted by xxxsaint
Is there a way to make it also put a crown beside their champion title that is inserted below the user title ? I've added the crown-addon for tetris and that keeps everyone fighting over it , the crown graphic.

My personal preference for my own forums was to have a text label rather than a crown -- I think that having crowns for all the games would just clutter things up like crazy. But I did plan on adding that feature at a later date. Most of the code is already in place, you'd just have to extend it to use a graphic instead of a line of text.

One I get this beta out, I will look into adding that.

[Apok2002]

Just a quick side not, forgive me if it's "off topic". But in Tetris, I have some members who have pretty much mastered it, with scores around 200,000. To make it fair to other members, I have to reset the scores via myphpadmin every other week or so to let them have a go at the Leaderboard. Is there an easier way? And if these other games will have a difficulty cap like Tetris, perhaps there should be some other way of resetting the scores instead of going into myphpadmin?

In any event...those master Tetriticians :) requested more levels (level 10 is the last level available). Don't know if there is anything that can be done about this...has anyone else experienced a slight "problem" w/ this difficulty cap? Is it possible to add on more levels? Also, what about the new games' cap? Will there be one?

Maybe it's not a big deal because I'm in the minority here. I run a gaming community, so of course these guys are going to eat up these games quickly. hehe If so, then it's understandable as it's "not the norm".

[-=Sniper=-]

Apok2002, thats a good point!

something like this maybe could work! when user selects to play a game, say Tetris, they get a high score, say above 100,000 they are enterd into the Pro leaderboard, if less, a beginner leaderboard? get what I mean?

look forward to the hack! considering I already have the arcade hack, I will convert to using this one...I have my reasons :)!

[NuclioN]

a flashmaster could edit the patern of the stones in a way that the leader of the highscore table will experience strange behavior of the stones, fitting in eachother. A quick vertical turn or so, just enough to find waterloo around the 90.000 score. A new tetris leader will emerge and law and belold...he/she's getting the same problems. :D

[Ninth Dimension]

I think that a number of diffrent flash files are available in johns original tetris thread that can be downloaded and used with johns system - I dunno if any of the variables have been changed in this new one or not?

[futureal]

Apok2002: The ability to reset a scoreboard is already a planned feature, but not in there yet. Depending on how much time it takes me to rip the code and templates out for the install instructions, I may or may not have time to add it for this Beta. It *will* be in the final hack.

Ninth Dimension: The five games that will be "released" along with vbProArcade are:

Tetris
Breakout
Pacman
Snake
Space Invaders

Tetris is a modified version of the original vbTetris, Breakout was found open-source on flashkit and heavily modified by one of my admins, and the other three games were found on some programmer's website (the URL is on the games) and modified by myself to work with this hack.

[JJR512]

I hate to be a pain in the ass, but I'm wondering if you could estimate an approximate time frame for the release of the first release? Nothing definite; just a scale, like a few days, or a week, or a few weeks. :)

[futureal]

Already did. :)

So that's where we're at right now. There are only a couple more minor things to take care of and then I can start packaging the code for a full beta release. I would anticipate no later than Saturday night for getting that out there, maybe Sunday daytime at the absolute latest.

[futureal]

Question, for anybody who might still be reading this:

Did the original vbTetris Leaderboard hack that john did work well (or at all) with Netscape 6? I am going through fits here trying to get Netscape to send/receive variables to/from the PHP files. For example, when you play vbTetris, instead of displaying the board's name, it displays "dynamic field" and so on...

I don't have tons of Flash experience, so maybe I'm just missing something minor. Did anybody get it to work? Everything works great with Internet Explorer.

Thanks.

[futureal]

After a lot of reading and digging around, it looks like I am going to have to give up on Netscape compatibility for the time being.

Reason: There is a known bug with Flash/Netscape when sending variables via POST. The resulting HTTP headers (which would contain the variable name/data pairs) become corrupted. The only option would be to send the variables from the SWF to the PHP file via GET, but in this case the variable info (score var and score, etc.) would be seen in the URL bar and thus easily spoofed by a malicious user.

I considered adding basic encryption to the score (say, an MD5 hash) but that really isn't accomplishing much since it can be cracked so easily. There really is no way to make the transmittal of data between the SWF and PHP completely secure, but I think that by using GET we would just be inviting problems.

Unless somebody can come up with a better way, I am just going to dump Netscape support for now and concentrate on getting this sucker out the door. If anybody knows more about this issue or has any ideas, please, please let me hear them. Thanks.

[NuclioN]

If only explorer users could play, then 100 % of our visitors could.
Netscape support can always follow later when the hack is out for download. Then the reactions of the minor group netscape users can trigger support from the browserwizards.

I'll stay here all night refreshing. ;)

[futureal]

Yea, I basically decided that Netscape will wait.

Progress so far: I just finished recompiling "release" versions of the 5 games, with a bit more security in them (still not much though). With Netscape out of the equation, all variables are now passed via POST.

I am going to start pulling code now for the install instructions. Once that is done, Lani is going to do a test-install on his site for me, and if that goes well, the whole thing will get posted.

[chad777]

YAY! soon :) I can't wait until it is availible :(

[futureal]

I am working hard on getting this thing packaged right now. I am trying to do it with vbHacker but the thing keeps trashing my files. The alternative is to have you guys manually add 19 templates (!) which is not something I want to put anybody through!

[chad777]

:) I would add 19 templates :)

[futureal]

I just finished packaging it for the first time. Lanigironu is going to test-install it on his forum right now and let me know if it works or not. If all goes well, I will post it.

I *think* I got vbHacker to work correctly, in which case the installation should go pretty well. I'm sure there will be problems (always are!) but I am confident that this release does, at the very least, work correctly.

I've been running it for about a week on my site, and with over 10,000 games played everything is humming along nicely.

[Boofo]

Can you also include a text file for those of us that like to be hands on with the code? :)

[futureal]

It looks like I am going to have to include the text file anyway -- vbHacker works for the templates but does not seem to want to do anything else -- it fails on the queries just about every time as far as I can tell, even though they work just fine from the command line.

[futureal]

Alright, the file is out there -- see the first post in this thread.

I installed the hack on my secondary test site (a clean v2.2.6 install) and it worked great, no problems. So far so good.

I'm going to bed now, and will be gone during the day tomorrow, but I'll be back tomorrow evening to troubleshoot and, if necessary, do damage control. :)

[NuclioN]

---edit--- i had a parse error but it was a bad paste in functions.php. Working now.

No errors so far........

[NuclioN]

Division by zero in /home/www.url/HTML/proarcade.php

--ok when a game is finished it goes straight to the proarcade.php
without score, comment etc. and "view topscore board" gives the error above. All games are doing this, so i think it's a typo or direction error somewhere in the templates.

--when i put in the: (Code for Query String
Enter the query string to be used for the game (if applicable)
after the game it displays a double url:

http://www.url.com/www.url.com/proarcade.php

[chad777]

I am getting the division error too.. So far everything else works great.

How can I add a different Icon by users name if they are the king of a certain game.

King icon for each game.

so say I am king of tetris and snake
I would have 2 icons by my name
1 for tetris and 1 for snake. ?

Thanks and great hack!

[Craigr]

Superb hack, works great for me too. :D

Only error i had was when viewing where people were online, but i just upped my old online.php

Thanks again
Craig

[Apok2002]

hmmm....all went well until the allgames.sql query was run. I ran it both by source, and then also by copy/pasting. Got the same errors. Tried to run the queries one at a time, still had issues:

Error
SQL-query:

INSERT INTO arcadegames VALUES (
1,
\'tetris\',
\'Tetris\',
\'The classic game of Tetris that we all know and love...\',
\'tetris.swf\',
\'\', \'\', 0, 0, 0,
\'Tetris Champion\',
\'#FF0000\',
\'$tetrisscore\',
550, 380,
\'classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0\"\',
\'username=$username&s=$session[sessionhash]&highscore=$highscore&bbtitle=$bbtitle&location=$vpa_bburl&gamename=$game\',
\'\\r\\n\',
\'pluginspage=\"http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\"\'
);


MySQL said: You have an error in your SQL syntax near '$tetrisscore', 550, 380, 'classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540' at line 9



When I try to run the Breakout query, it says:

MySQL said: You have an error in your SQL syntax near '$breakoutscore',
400, 500,
'classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-4445535' at line 9

None of the queries work for me. I've dropped and readded the arcade tables, no change.

[NuclioN]

After the game is played, it still displays a double link and no highscore..... I've looked it over and over but can't find why it is doing this.

[Apok2002]

I tried the manual install of the games since the allgames.sql isn't working for me. Just working with Tetris for now.

These are the errors I get:
Warning: open_basedir restriction in effect. File is in wrong directory in /home/httpd/vhosts/ez-company.net/httpdocs/forums/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 53

Warning: fopen("/tmp/phpjKPiU4","r") - Operation not permitted in /home/httpd/vhosts/ez-company.net/httpdocs/forums/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 53

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in /home/httpd/vhosts/ez-company.net/httpdocs/forums/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 54
Record for Tetris updated!

These are the results:

1) It installed the leaderboard, scoreboard fine (get the Division by '0' error that is mentioned above.

2) When I try to play Tetris, it merely hangs on me, the game doesn't pull up (the page does though).

3) The thumbnail won't upload.

[NTLDR]

Seems to be working great, the only problem I've had is with:

$vpa_bburl = reduceurl($bburl);

in proarcade.php, but changing that to:

//$vpa_bburl = reduceurl($bburl);
$vpa_bburl="";

Has done the trick otherwise the url is: http://forums.myhost/forums.myhost/

[futureal]

Regarding the URL problems:

The hack assumes that in your vBulletin Options section, the value of "URL" is in the "http://www.yoursite.com/somedir" format. If you are having problems, make sure the URL is set up in that format and it should work OK.

For those of you who *were* having problems with that, let me know what your "URL" value was so that I can fix the logic of that function.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
hmmm....all went well until the allgames.sql query was run. I ran it both by source, and then also by copy/pasting. Got the same errors. Tried to run the queries one at a time, still had issues:

The query you are trying to one does not look right -- it has slashes in it. I'm not sure where they came from, I just double-checked my allgames.sql and it looks good. Make sure those slashes aren't in there, they will screw up the query.

It should look exactly like this:


INSERT INTO arcadegames VALUES (
1,
'tetris',
'Tetris',
'The classic game of Tetris that we all know and love...',
'tetris.swf',
'', '', 0, 0, 0,
'Tetris Champion',
'#FF0000',
'$tetrisscore',
550, 380,
'classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"',
'username=$username&s=$session[sessionhash]&highscore=$highscore&bbtitle=$bbtitle&location=$vpa_bburl&gamename=$game',
'<param name="quality" value="high">\r\n<param name=bgcolor value="#576375">',
'pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"'
);


Note that if all else fails, you can always add the games manually via the Admin CP. It should work just as well, it will just take slightly longer.

[Apok2002]

Not sure where the slashes came from either...perhaps corrupted during download?? I don't know.

I copied pasted the above, this is what I got:

SQL-query:

INSERT INTO arcadegames VALUES (
1,
'tetris',
'Tetris',
'The classic game of Tetris that we all know and love...',
'tetris.swf',
'', '', 0, 0, 0,
'Tetris Champion',
' '$tetrisscore',
550, 380,
'classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab 'username=$username&s=$session[sessionhash]&highscore=$highscore&bbtitle=$bbtitle&location=$vpa_bburl&gamename=$game',
'\r\nMySQL said: You have an error in your SQL syntax near '$tetrisscore',
550, 380,
'classid="clsidBack



Also, adding them manually via admincp results in the errors in my above post.

[futureal]

Have you tried uploading it with no thumbnail?

Your server looks like it has "safe mode" enabled in PHP, which is preventing fopen() from opening the temporary uploaded file. I don't have an immediate solution for that, I will have to go back and find another way to do it.

I just looked at your query once again, and I see the error. This part:


'Tetris Champion',
' '$tetrisscore',


Should be:


'Tetris Champion',
'#FF0000',
'$tetrisscore',


I'm not sure how it could be changing the query like that. Could you be using some weird thing to cut and paste, or a weird file editor? I'm really stumped on that one.

[Apok2002]

ack! nvm...I'm SURE this is due to not having 2.2.7. I have 2.2.6 installed and was trying to get around the upgrade. This has to be it.

I didn't want to have to upgrade because I have several hacked .php files w/ all the hacks on the site. Looks like I'll have no choice though if I wanna use this hack (which I do).

I'll update sometime soon, then check the thread back. Updates are a lot of work and I just updated to 2.2.6 a few weeks ago. lol

[futureal]

Here is a corrected version of proarcade.php that fixes a couple of problems from the original release:

- division by zero in top score board
- URL logic problems (should be fine now)

This is for Beta 1 ONLY! If you have a different version, do not use this. As of 9/1/02, the first post in this thread has been updated to include this file.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
ack! nvm...I'm SURE this is due to not having 2.2.7. I have 2.2.6 installed and was trying to get around the upgrade. This has to be it.

This shouldn't be the problem. I installed the hack on a fresh 2.2.6 last night and it worked just fine. The division by zero error was the only one I could find.

[NTLDR]

Originally posted by futureal
The hack assumes that in your vBulletin Options section, the value of "URL" is in the "http://www.yoursite.com/somedir" format. If you are having problems, make sure the URL is set up in that format and it should work OK.

That would explain it, my forums are in the root of the domain: http://forums.ukwnetwork.com so there is no directory on the end ;)

Also I have made this change in the bit of code for fuctions.php so that I can place the text for Game Champ anywhere in the postbit, not just under the usertitle, just place $post[arcade] in the postbit template.

// Start vbProArcade

// do vbProArcade champ system
if ($vpa_champs != 0) {
$post[arcade]="";
for ($vpa = 0; $vpa < count($vpa_champs); $vpa++) {

if (($vpa_champs[$vpa][championid] == $post[userid]) && ($vpa_champs[$vpa][championactive] == 1)) {

$post[arcade] .= "<br><b>"
.iif($vpa_champs[$vpa][championcolor] != "","<font color=\"".$vpa_champs[$vpa][championcolor]."\">","")
.$vpa_champs[$vpa][championtext]
.iif($vpa_champs[$vpa][championcolor] != "","</font>","")."</b>";

}

}

}

// End vbProArcade

[futureal]

NTLDR: Thanks! I should have thought of that myself. In the next version that will actually look to a template, so people can change between icons/text and so on.

ALL: I have fixed both the divide-by-zero error and the URL error. They should both work fine now with no modifications. Please see a couple posts back for the corrected file (also updated the first post).

Thanks!

[futureal]

Originally posted by chad777
I am getting the division error too.. So far everything else works great.

See this post for a fix: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294048#post294048

How can I add a different Icon by users name if they are the king of a certain game.

King icon for each game.

so say I am king of tetris and snake
I would have 2 icons by my name
1 for tetris and 1 for snake. ?

This will be included in the next version of the hack. I tabled it for now so I could get this Beta out. So far this is the most requested feature. :)

[NTLDR]

Thanks futureal, this is an exelent hack and if this is only Beta 1 then the final version is going to be very spectacular. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this, its a great addon for my board :D

[Apok2002]

Fixed.

Here is what I did for those (if any) have the same issue that I did above (which will probably be very few lol).

I manually installed the games via admin cp. Did NOT reference ANY icons whatsoever because of the safemode issue. I did not get any install errors.

I also changed the default dir from /games/ to /forums/games/ in the General Options for ProArcade. I believe this was addressed above already.

That fixed it all. Works like a charm, no errors thus far. I'm testing now...

[Apok2002]

Breakout: The song is good, but there is too much of a space (silence) between the end and start during the loop. Anyway to fix that?

Also, the paddle is way too dark for the black background.

Also, which template is it, that allows me to type in the comments for a score? I need to edit the coloring on one of my themes, it's just way too dark, we can't see what we are typing, WHILE we are typing. It shows up just fine after we enter it, and we view the scoreboard.

*edit*

For the Who's Online...

Is there a way to show WHICH game the members are playing? Right now, they show the link w/ an ungodly length. It'd be nice to just say:

Playing Tetris
Viewing Tetris Scoreboard
Playing Breakout

etc...

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
Breakout: The song is good, but there is too much of a space (silence) between the end and start during the loop. Anyway to fix that?

Also, the paddle is way too dark for the black background.

I am going to compile a new version of Breakout with some changes. I'd like to make the game harder -- right now it seems pretty boring to me.

Also, which template is it, that allows me to type in the comments for a score? I need to edit the coloring on one of my themes, it's just way too dark, we can't see what we are typing, WHILE we are typing. It shows up just fine after we enter it, and we view the scoreboard.

You want vbproarcade_gameover_comment. The colors are hardcoded into the template right now, left over from the original vbTetris hack. I need to incorporate those into the Admin Panel.

For the Who's Online...

Is there a way to show WHICH game the members are playing? Right now, they show the link w/ an ungodly length. It'd be nice to just say:

Playing Tetris
Viewing Tetris Scoreboard
Playing Breakout

This is exactly how it should work, and is how it works on mine. If you could take a screenshot of what problem you are having, that would be helpful. Thanks.

[Ian]

The hack seems to be working great but I have one problem. When I upload images for the games it adds /forum/ to the image name when there should be nothing. This is in the admin panel only, the images work fine elsewhere. Causing the images to be broken.

[chad777]

Ok found something else.

As Admin I can play all games etc..

As user or Mod you get a "you do not have permission to access this page"
You are trying to access admin features etc...

How do you set permissions on games ?

Admins are fine

everyone else is permission denied

[Ian]

If someone is palying a game in the arcade and I go in the in who's online page I get this error:Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/hsphere/local/home/zforcene/forums.zforcenetwork.com/online.php on line 642Line 642 in the online.php file reads: $game_q = $DB_site->query_first("SELECT title FROM arcadegames WHERE name='$userinfo[gamename]'");

I also have one other problem. I have turned the champion thing on so if your #1 in a game it'll put red text under your name. This seems to be working for three games, despite me having the crown in all the games. Breakout, Space Invaders, and Snake all seem to work but the other don't. The URL of my board is http://forums.zforcenetwork.com/ BTW.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Ian
If someone is palying a game in the arcade and I go in the in who's online page I get this error:Line 642 in the online.php file reads:

Ah, thanks for pointing that out for me. I missed a line in the hack. Right before that line, add:


global $DB_site;


That will fix that error.

I also have one other problem. I have turned the champion thing on so if your #1 in a game it'll put red text under your name. This seems to be working for three games, despite me having the crown in all the games. Breakout, Space Invaders, and Snake all seem to work but the other don't. The URL of my board is http://forums.zforcenetwork.com/ BTW.

I will have to take a closer look at your forum and get back to you on that. Thanks for the link.

edit: I just looked at your site and it looks like the Champions System is working fine. I see Champion titles on users for all five games. I think your users stole two of your crowns from you without you realizing it. :)

[Apok2002]

How many scores will be recorded? The hack has been installed for only about 4 hours or so, and in the Snake scoreboard, I have 190 rankings (scores recorded).

If there is a limit, what is it? And how do we edit that to suit our own boards needs? And if there is no limit, won't that cause the db to get pretty large?

We really don't need anything more than the top 100 scores on the scoreboard.

[futureal]

Originally posted by chad777
As Admin I can play all games etc..

As user or Mod you get a "you do not have permission to access this page"
You are trying to access admin features etc...

How do you set permissions on games ?


It sounds like you are not using the default vBulletin usergroupid system, which is what vbProArcade is set up to handle in this Beta. The defaults are:

usergroup 2 -- Registered
usergroup 5 -- Super Moderator
usergroup 6 -- Admin
usergroup 7 -- Moderator

If you need to change the groups, open up proarcade.php and look at the first switch(...) statement. It is pretty easy to figure out what to change.

Also, make sure you have the games set to "Active" in the admin panel! Inactive games will only work for administrators (usergroup 6).

A complete access-control system will appear in Beta 2 of this hack.

[Ian]

Originally posted by futureal
[B]Ah, thanks for pointing that out for me. I missed a line in the hack. Right before that line, add:


global $DB_site;


That will fix that error.The fix worked, thanks!


Sorry about wasting your time with the other problem. you were right, one of my members snuck in when I wasn't looking. :bored:

[Apok2002]

Here's a new one for ya...

I have a usergroup named EZCO Admins. They have all the permissions of the Registered Group, and more. They have access to 3 other forums that the Registered Group does not.

Yet...no one in this group can play any of the games. It says:

You do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
You do not have permission to access the page that you were trying to. Are you trying to edit someone else's post or trying to access administrative features? Check that you are allowed to perform this action in the Forum Rules.
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
Logged in user: Llama [logout]


What would cause this? Somehow they are being subjected to the rules of those not signed in, or not registered.

I assigned other usergroups to the same member name...it appears that any created usergroup, does not have permissions to play the games. Only the default groups do.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
How many scores will be recorded? The hack has been installed for only about 4 hours or so, and in the Snake scoreboard, I have 190 rankings (scores recorded).

If there is a limit, what is it? And how do we edit that to suit our own boards needs? And if there is no limit, won't that cause the db to get pretty large?

We really don't need anything more than the top 100 scores on the scoreboard.

Scores will be recorded forever, and database size is not an issue at all. I have had over 15,000 scores recorded on my site so far, and the size of the three tables, even with the icons, is about 300KB. Compared to a typical site's search index and post/attachment database, that is next to nothing.

The ability to define a max. number of scores to be displayed will be added in the next version.

[chad777]

Apok.

I had the same problem.

Ope up proarcade.php

search for // access check (here for future expansion)

right around line 32

under that there is lines that start with
if (($bbuserinfo[usergroupid]

just add the uder group id.

you will see when you get there :) pretty easy :)

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
Here's a new one for ya...

I have a usergroup named EZCO Admins. They have all the permissions of the Registered Group, and more. They have access to 3 other forums that the Registered Group does not.

Yet...no one in this group can play any of the games. It says:

See my response to chad777 in this post: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294244#post294244

You need to add a line to proarcade.php corresponding to the group you'd like to give access to the arcade.

This functionality will definitely be part of the admin panel in the next release.

[chad777]

futureal


I have a couple suggestions for a features to be added in one of the releases :) not nessary, but would be nice.

Put the users highest score achieved under user name kinda like the crown.

Maybe if they don't have the highest score (crown) then it would have there highest scores achieved for certain games.

Also maybe the feature to be added to let the user select a type / music for the games they are playing ?

I don't know i had some brain storms when I was playing breakout. I mean it was kind of a boring game so I could think of other things :)

btw let me know if you need any beta testing :)

[futureal]

Having multiple music selections is tough, since it increases the filesize of the game files significantly. Plus, I'm not yet the Flash wizard that I'd like to be. :)

As for the highscore thing, that is something that could definitely be done...

[Erwin]

Great... can't wait to install this...

My users are going to be upset because their high scores with John's arcade hack will have to be reset again... I may have to figure out a way to import it over (but it looks like he does use a very different db structure).

[Apok2002]

Thanks for the info on the db size, I won't sweat it then. :)

Also, sorry for not seeing the permissions issue earlier. Fixed as per your instructions, and it's running fine. Thanks again, my members are going nutz over it.

I'm still working on the Who's Online issue though. I'll get back to you if I can't get it working on my own.

[futureal]

Erwin: Converting the old vbTetris table would not be terribly hard.

You would need to alter the table to include the date, time and username fields, and then make a quick script to pair the usernames with the ids and insert bogus date/time info. Once that is done though, it would work fine -- you'll just have to make sure that the Tetris identifier in vbProArcade is 'tetris' to match up with John's hack.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Apok2002
I'm still working on the Who's Online issue though. I'll get back to you if I can't get it working on my own.

See my post to Ian regarding a Who's Online fix.

Here it is: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294235#post294235

[mewgood]

hey I think this is a grest hack
but you know any website which has games to dwonload?

[Link14716]

Originally posted by futureal
Erwin: Converting the old vbTetris table would not be terribly hard.

You would need to alter the table to include the date, time and username fields, and then make a quick script to pair the usernames with the ids and insert bogus date/time info. Once that is done though, it would work fine -- you'll just have to make sure that the Tetris identifier in vbProArcade is 'tetris' to match up with John's hack.

Actually, you wouldn't have to add the date, just the time and username fields. I am gonna install this one over John's Arcade mostly for Breakout, which I tried to put on John's with proarcade.php being a copy of arcade.php but failed miserbly ;)

[Trekkie]

Is this Hack working with PHP which is in Safemode ?

[Brandon]

Hey, there is one arcade game you forgot...I think centipede and frogger would be a great addition. I've been looking for it on the 'net but I cant seem to find it. Just a suggestion though. BTW, Great Hack! My members love it!

[Apok2002]

My members have also requested Frogger and Centipede and Asteroids. I also have a few programmers on the site who said they could make some games. In turn, I told them as long as they integrated a score system and provide the .fla file, it may be possible. This is all that you need?

[Brandon]

It looks to be that way. If you go to your Admin Panel > vBProArcade it looks like you can add them yourself :D JOY!

[Link14716]

Trying to add usernames based on userids already in the arcade table........ no luck.

SQL-query :

UPDATE arcade SET username=MattyD316 WHERE userid=1

MySQL said:


Unknown column 'MattyD316' in 'field list'

Tell me how bad I am screwing up, or try to make a scrip or something to do so. Please? ;)

[Link14716]

Ok, I am trying to make an Update Arcade thing in admin/misc.php, but I am not exactly sure how to. It is based off of the Update Forums part........ Can someone make one where it updates the Username in the arcade table based on userids?

[Ninth Dimension]

Originally posted by Link14716
Trying to add usernames based on userids already in the arcade table........ no luck.

SQL-query :

UPDATE arcade SET username=MattyD316 WHERE userid=1

MySQL said:


Unknown column 'MattyD316' in 'field list'

Tell me how bad I am screwing up, or try to make a scrip or something to do so. Please? ;)

Try this:

UPDATE arcade SET username="MattyD316" WHERE userid=1

[Link14716]

Ok, suggestion futureal, I want the miniboard (small leaderboard, no page nav, shown on the main arcade page) on this hack. I moved over from John's arcade and I miss my minileaderboard :(

[futureal]

Originally posted by Trekkie
Is this Hack working with PHP which is in Safemode ?

The hack works, but the icons don't. You can run the hack just fine without the icons. I am going to see if I can get it to work tonight in safe mode -- I know it's possible, my code is just a little off, and I don't have a safe mode server to test it on.

I will post an update related to safe mode as soon as I have something.

[futureal]

Originally posted by mewgood
hey I think this is a grest hack
but you know any website which has games to dwonload?
Originally posted by BrandonC
Hey, there is one arcade game you forgot...I think centipede and frogger would be a great addition. I've been looking for it on the 'net but I cant seem to find it. Just a suggestion though. BTW, Great Hack! My members love it!
Originally posted by Apok2002
My members have also requested Frogger and Centipede and Asteroids. I also have a few programmers on the site who said they could make some games. In turn, I told them as long as they integrated a score system and provide the .fla file, it may be possible. This is all that you need?

As I've said, the games need to be modified to work with the hack, so yes, if you can find the source for any Flash game out there that has scoring, chances are good that we can convert it to work with this hack.

You can either post the .FLA here or PM it to me and I'll get it done. Note that I have changed the way scores are sent from Flash to the Arcade, so using the methods from the vbTetris Hack will NOT work with this one.

My personal wish list:

Centipede
Frogger
Pong
Asteroids

The closer the games look to the originals, the better!

[futureal]

Originally posted by Link14716
Ok, I am trying to make an Update Arcade thing in admin/misc.php, but I am not exactly sure how to. It is based off of the Update Forums part........ Can someone make one where it updates the Username in the arcade table based on userids?

You would have to do something like this (this is off the top of my head so it probably needs work):


$data_q = $DB_site->query("SELECT scoreid,userid FROM arcade");

while ($loop = $DB_site->fetch_array($data_q)) {

// this gets a userid's username from the user table
$user_q = $DB_site->query_first("SELECT username FROM user WHERE userid='$loop[userid]'");

// this updates the score we're looking at with said username
$DB_site->query("UPDATE arcade SET username='$user_q[username]' WHERE scoreid='$loop[scoreid]'");

}


That obviously is going to generate 2 queries for each entry in your arcade table. However, since you only need to run it once, it should be acceptable.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Link14716
Ok, suggestion futureal, I want the miniboard (small leaderboard, no page nav, shown on the main arcade page) on this hack. I moved over from John's arcade and I miss my minileaderboard :(

The "mini scoreboards" will be a part of Beta 2.

I think that answers everybody's questions for now, I'll be back later for another round. :)

[Link14716]

Originally posted by futureal


You would have to do something like this (this is off the top of my head so it probably needs work):


$data_q = $DB_site->query("SELECT scoreid,userid FROM arcade");

while ($loop = $DB_site->fetch_array($data_q)) {

// this gets a userid's username from the user table
$user_q = $DB_site->query_first("SELECT username FROM user WHERE userid='$loop[userid]'");

// this updates the score we're looking at with said username
$DB_site->query("UPDATE arcade SET username='$user_q[username]' WHERE scoreid='$loop[scoreid]'");

}


That obviously is going to generate 2 queries for each entry in your arcade table. However, since you only need to run it once, it should be acceptable.
Unfortunetly, you hit me a little late and I already made my fingers go numb manually copying and pasting the usernames into all 125 rows. :)

And the Beta 2, when can we expect it? *starts chanting "MINILEADERBORD!" :D

[Link14716]

Originally posted by futureal




As I've said, the games need to be modified to work with the hack, so yes, if you can find the source for any Flash game out there that has scoring, chances are good that we can convert it to work with this hack.

You can either post the .FLA here or PM it to me and I'll get it done. Note that I have changed the way scores are sent from Flash to the Arcade, so using the methods from the vbTetris Hack will NOT work with this one.

My personal wish list:

Centipede
Frogger
Pong
Asteroids

The closer the games look to the originals, the better!

Frogger:
http://www.flashkit.com/movies/Games/Full_Game_Source/Frogger-Chimpoid-5654/index.php

Pong:
http://www.flashkit.com/movies/Games/Full_Game_Source/Pong_Gam-miCky-5228/index.php

Can't find centipede or Asterioids yet.

[mewgood]

I got this when I try to edit the general option

Warning: open_basedir restriction in effect. File is in wrong directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 149

Warning: fopen("/tmp/phpbb4sos", "r") - Operation not permitted in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 149

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 150

Warning: open_basedir restriction in effect. File is in wrong directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 169

Warning: fopen("/tmp/phpJusCCI", "r") - Operation not permitted in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 169

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 170
Arcade options updated!

[mewgood]

I got the sam errors when I try to upload any images for the games..

[mewgood]

please help me out!~!~

[Apok2002]

mewgood, it's because your server runs in safemode. See Fut's posts above addressing this issue. Just install the games WITHOUT any icons for now. He'll get it all straightened out soon enough. I'm waiting for it too. The arcade works great, even without the icons.

[futureal]

Correct. The arcade will work fine with no icons -- it is because your server is running PHP in "Safe Mode." There will be a fix for this shortly.

I meant to get it done tonight, but all my code is stored remotely and my router died in the afternoon. I managed to pick up a new one before the stores closed, but didn't get it installed until just now. Got to get to sleep so I can make to work in the morning. Office life sure is grand. :)

[TalkHardRandy]

Great hack futureal... we're about to turn our users loose on it, but I did have one question:

I've enabled the Champions System... but I can't figure out where I modify the postbit template & what I use to show it. I've re-read the instructions a few times & I'm at a loss... could be the hour. Can anyone tell me what I put in the postbit to display the Champion ranking?

[futureal]

In Beta 1, no template modification is needed -- it will append the Champion Text to the user's title. Eventually, this will be attached to a template that can be inserted in postbit wherever you'd like.

If you scroll back a couple of pages in this thread, NTLDR had a quick modification that will let you use it anywhere in the postbit.

[chad777]

futureal


I too am having the problem with the champion text.

http://www.snarfproductions.com/forums

if you want to check it out.

I think i still have some of the tetris code because I do have a crown on my username. but someone else that has a hgh score on another game doesn't or any text
Thanks

[Lesane]

Just installed this great hack. Works great on vb 2.2.2. Well done 'futureal'.

[Link14716]

Originally posted by chad777
futureal


I too am having the problem with the champion text.

http://www.snarfproductions.com/forums

if you want to check it out.

I think i still have some of the tetris code because I do have a crown on my username. but someone else that has a hgh score on another game doesn't or any text
Thanks
To fix this:

Go to the General Options for the arcade. Enable champion system. Now go to the Game Managment poart. Enable each one's chamion system seperatley. Done.

[mewgood]

hm..
somehow after I finish playing the frogger, it will not list my name under the scoreboard..

[mewgood]

I got an error when I trying to view who is online..

Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/online.php on line 624

[Ian]

Originally posted by mewgood
somehow after I finish playing the frogger, it will not list my name under the scoreboard..What? Frogger is available now? Fill me in! :banana:

[mewgood]

check out this post..
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294579#post294579

[mewgood]

PLease help out~!
I got an error when I trying to view who is online..

Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/online.php on line 624

[mewgood]

As well when I play the game which I add it ( not the ones come with the zip file) It will not redirect you where you put comments and your score after you finish the game...

[NuclioN]

It seems obvious that the swf files must have instructioncode to do this. You can't just fill in the same codes that you need for the files futureal has put in here, the fla (original flashfile) must be altered to communicate with the php files.

[mewgood]

I think it is .swf

[2 X Viverridae]

Originally posted by futureal
So far, there are FIVE GAMES that work correctly with this hack. They are:

Breakout
Pacman
Snake
Space Invaders
Tetris

All five .SWF files are included in the release archive.

If anybody finds any good games out there that use a scoring system, and you can get the source code (the .FLA file) please PM me or post them here and I will see if I can adapt it for use with the arcade.
Obviously you will have to send him the source code files for the flash games to work with the arcade. Merely loading in the compiled .swf modules won't work.

BTW - installed this puppy in about an hour (manually) and it all seems to be working OK!

Great hack, thanks a lot!

[VietSoil]

Great hack futureal! Thanks a lot for your efforts in making this!

I have one question though. How come the file tetris.swf became too darn big - 198,880 bytes, 4X the original size which is ~50,000 bytes ???

If possible, can you release all the modified .fla files also?

Again, thanks for making and releasing this great hack! :banana: :banana: :banana:

[futureal]

I need to get the FLA files back from the guy who did the sound modifications for me, and he is in the process of moving at the moment. If and when I get the FLAs, I will post them.

mewgood: As I stated, Frogger is not compatible with the arcade (yet, anyway). I am working on fixing the bugs in the arcade first before modifying any more games. Patience, my friend.

As for your question about online.php, it has been answered a couple times. You need to add the line:


global $DB_site;


Above the affected line in online.php.

[Lovaboye]

does this work with vb 2.6.6?

[futureal]

Yup, sure does.

[Lovaboye]

not for me! the stuff to change in adminfunctions and showthread arent their... can we talk over aim or msnm real quick, unless u have a quick solution??? thx

[futureal]

I don't use IM stuff, normally, otherwise I'd try to help you directly.

The code should be there, though. I installed this hack (Beta 1) on a clean vBulletin 2.2.6 2 days ago and it went off without a hitch. If you are trying to use vbHacker, you *may* have to make some of those code edits yourself. Just open up the .php files in an editor and find the stuff manually...

[Lovaboye]

ok i did all the files, but the flash files dont load, is the default location for the games, "forum/admin/games" or "forum/games"
?

If is "forum/games" wat else could be the probbie?

[futureal]

The default is /games/ (not under the forum hierarchy at all).

You could, of course, put the games in /forum/games/ -- you just have to change the setting in the vbProArcade General Options to reflect that.

[Lovaboye]

ok it workz now

[Lovaboye]

aww, but now when i look under "whos online" i get "
Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/lovaboy/public_html/test/online.php on line 616
"

[futureal]

See this: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=295155#post295155

That will be fixed in the zipfile as soon as I finish this safe mode coding.

[mewgood]

hm..
I htink all flash games are not working... Not the one come with the zip..
not just frogger..

[futureal]

Give me a URL (and a guest account, if needed) and I'll take a look at it for you.

I should have the safe mode fix up in a few minutes, for anybody that might be looking for that.

[futureal]

OK, TESTERS NEEDED FOR THIS!

If you were getting errors before related to safe mode (open_basedir restriction in effect, etc.) then please, replace your admin/proarcadeadmin.php file with the one attached to this post. Once you have done so, try adding icons and let me know if it works or if you get errors.

If you are not running BETA 1, do not use this file!

I am unable to test this on my own, since I don't have a safe mode server available to me. I have tested this new version on my servers and it works in normal mode.

If your server is not in safe mode, there is no need to update since no features have been added, BUT for the sake of having the newest version, you may want to. I cleaned up the code a bit and actually reduced the number of lines by about 50.

Thanks!

[mewgood]

I got the same error when I try to upload images for the hack..

[futureal]

Try it one more time -- I just made a small change to the file.

Tell me what it says at the top of the options screen -- it should say something like:

safeupload is: ...
tmppath is: ...

Also, copy the error over one more time if you can.

Thanks.

[mewgood]

I got this now...


safeupload is: 1
tmppath is: tmp

Warning: Unable to create 'tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif': No such file or directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 56

Warning: Unable to move '/tmp/phpSe8xsE' to 'tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif' in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 56

Warning: Unable to create 'tmp/icon-crown.gif': No such file or directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 56

Warning: Unable to move '/tmp/phpfH35T8' to 'tmp/icon-crown.gif' in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 56
Arcade options updated!

I have set the "tmp" directry to 777

[futureal]

mewgood: Just to satisfy my curiosity, try doing this:

On line 55 of proarcadeadmin.php, replace this line:


$path = "$tmppath/$vpafile_name";


with this:


$path = "/$tmppath/$vpafile_name";


I doubt that will help but I can't think of anything else. heh

[chad777]

the edit for showthread. when i do a search to add it. does it go by the first or second find ?

[Link14716]

Originally posted by mewgood
check out this post..
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294579#post294579
That is giving futureal the .fla code, it is not compatible into hew makes it compatable.

[chad777]

never mind i got it :)

[portion]

I changed the path in the proarcadeadmin.php to find the file proimage.php and I can now see all icons in the admin cp. My proimage.php residedes in the forums directory so I changed this:
(My /admin/ dir is a subdir of my forums, for example /forums/admin/)
<img src=\"/forum/proimage.php?id=0&name=*****\">
to this
<img src=\"../proimage.php?id=0&name=*****\">

***** = icon name (ex: scoreicon, kingicon, etc...)


:banana:
-portion

Hope this helps someone else wit the same situation.

AWESOME HACK!

[Lovaboye]

why arent my normal members able to play the games???? I have made them all active! wat is wrong?

[portion]

why arent my normal members able to play the games???? I have made them all active! wat is wrong?


Answers are most likely here to you problems: page 8 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=294244#post294244)

[Souly]

This Hack goes "Hack of the Month" :D

OK.
Install Process = very good
Templates / Structure = very good
Games & Sounds = very good
my install time = 15 Minutes
my translate time into german = 20 Minutes

all in one: it is very good :laugh:

I am running on a Safe Mode Server and have only one Problem:
I can upload the images and see it correct on the leaderboards, but in the adminarea i see only the follow: [thx]

[NTLDR]

Originally posted by Souly
I am running on a Safe Mode Server and have only one Problem:I can upload the images and see it correct on the leaderboards, but in the adminarea i see only the follow: [thx]

^^^ https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=295325#post295325

Just above is the solution ;)

[Souly]

Originally posted by NTLDR


^^^ https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=295325#post295325

Just above is the solution ;)

thx. "open your eyes Souly" :ogre:

[futureal]

OK, since nobody responded to it directly -- did the safe mode fixed file I posted work? It sounds like it may have, but mewgood reported another problem, so...

As for the code change in proarcadeadmin.php (the /forum/admin...) that is a code bug, I knew one of those would sneak in there eventually (since I originally didn't plan on releasing it, I wrote the original code based on my forums, which are all in /forum...).

I will correct that in the next release. Thanks for finding that one.

[wolfe]

since i added this i get an error


Database error in vBulletin Control Panel 2.2.4:

Invalid SQL: UPDATE user SET away='0',awaydate=UNIX_TIMESTAMP('1970-01-01 01:00:00'),returndate='0000-00-00',awayreason='',birthday='0000-00-00',options='15',usergroupid='10',username='rpm',e mail=useremail@site.com,styleid='14',parentemail=' ',coppauser=0,homepage='http://www.',icq='',aim='',yahoo='',signature='',adminema il=1,receivebulletin=1,receivebulletin_type=1,show email,showemail=1,invisible=0,usertitle=<strong>Moderator</strong><br><img src="{stars}/1stars.gif">,customtitle=0,joindate=UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2002-09-04 17:54:20'),cookieuser=1,nosessionhash=0,daysprune= '-1',lastvisit=UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2002-09-04 20:35:39'),lastactivity=UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2002-09-04 21:11:46'),lastpost=UNIX_TIMESTAMP('2002-09-04 19:10:38'),posts='20',timezoneoffset='0',emailnoti fication=1,receivepm='1',emailonpm='0',ipaddress=' 62.30.77.26',pmpopup=IF(pmpopup=2 AND 0=1,pmpopup,'0') WHERE userid=331
mysql error: You have an error in your SQL syntax near 'showemail=1,invisible=0,usertitle=<strong>Moderator</strong><br><img src="{stars' at line 1

mysql error number: 1064

Date: Wednesday 04th of September 2002 09:49:36 PM
Script: http://mysite.com/forums/forums/admin/user.php
Referer: http://mysite.com/forums/admin/user.php?action=edit&userid=331


whats that all mean :(

[futureal]

wolfe: I don't think that is related to this hack at all. There are no modifications to admin/user.php, and I don't see anything in that query related to this hack. Since vbProArcade does not modify the user table at all, I don't think it could be related.

[wolfe]

:(

[wolfe]

could you help me any way please :D

[futureal]

wolfe: OK, I'll give it a shot. Create a file called test.php on your server with this code:


<?php
echo 'Current PHP version: ' . phpversion();
?>


Then point to it with your browser and tell me what it says.

[mewgood]

this is funny
I have replaced the code you gave me, and it works. No more errors
However I still see a broken image..

[sHORTYWZ]

I am getting this error when I try and upload images:

safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vbProArcade Error: bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

I am able to upload avatars, file attachments, etc normally so I don't understand why this is happening.

The only thing I can think of that might be causing this is that I have the attachments as files hack installed which causes my attachments to be stored outside of the DB. Avatars however are still stored in the DB and I have another vB board up on the box which doesn't have that hack installed and can upload files/avatars no problem.

Ideas?

[wolfe]

Current PHP version: 4.1.0

[futureal]

Originally posted by mewgood
this is funny
I have replaced the code you gave me, and it works. No more errors
However I still see a broken image..

When you say you replaced the code, you mean you changed that line, or just replaced the file?

To fix the broken image, try this file I am attaching here.

edit: File Updated...

[mewgood]

replaced that line..

[futureal]

Originally posted by wolfe
Current PHP version: 4.1.0

Man, I dunno what to say then. I thought that error might be something to do with PHP v4.2.x but I guess not. Are you sure it started up as a result of installing this hack? It doesn't seem like it could be related.

I would suggest posting it in the Support forum here at vb.org and see if one of the main support guys (FireFly, smachol, etc.) could help out -- they are definite more knowledgable about the inner workings of vBulletin than I am.

My only other suggestion is to upgrade to the newest version of vBulletin. Often times that fixes some little, weird errors like that.

[mewgood]

ar..
I got this now...

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10105 is not allowed to access /tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif owned by uid 2526 in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 59

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10105 is not allowed to access /tmp/icon-crown.gif owned by uid 2526 in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 59
Arcade options updated!

[wolfe]

i think it was the bulletin email generator

[futureal]

Originally posted by sHORTYWZ
I am getting this error when I try and upload images:

safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vbProArcade Error: bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

I am able to upload avatars, file attachments, etc normally so I don't understand why this is happening.

The only thing I can think of that might be causing this is that I have the attachments as files hack installed which causes my attachments to be stored outside of the DB. Avatars however are still stored in the DB and I have another vB board up on the box which doesn't have that hack installed and can upload files/avatars no problem.

Ideas?

This seems really odd to me. You are the first person not running safe mode to have a problem with the icon stuff.

My only idea is, try the file I posted a couple steps back and let me know what happens. The only thing I can think of is that it is a problem with the $tmppath variable.

[sHORTYWZ]

Same deal :

safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vbProArcade Error: bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

[futureal]

Another new file here: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?postid=295467#post295467

Download it again and let me know what happens.

I am really stumped on this one. I have double checked my code against the same routines that vBulletin uses for avatar uploads, and the same commands are being executed. Very odd...

[wolfe]

i also can't upload it does but shows with red X

[mewgood]

for me?

[wolfe]

when i try to upload pics in the arcade admin it shows white box with red X

[mewgood]

If that file is for me, I got an error

safeupload is: 1
tmppath is: tmp
path is /tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10105 is not allowed to access /tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif owned by uid 2526 in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 63
vbProArcade Error: is not a valid file type for images (only gif/jpg/png are supported)

Arcade options updated!

[sHORTYWZ]

safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vbProArcade Error: [su0] bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

Arcade options updated!

[sHORTYWZ]

Although this won't really fix the question as to why this is happening, how about adding an option to pull the images off of the webserver instead of from the db?

[futureal]

sHORTYWZ: Try this file. At the very least, it should return a bit more info for us to try and figure out what is going on. The only thing I can think of is that the script is not getting the path to the temp directory correctly.

mewgood: You can try this one as well -- I'd like to see what version of PHP your server is running.

[futureal]

Originally posted by sHORTYWZ
Although this won't really fix the question as to why this is happening, how about adding an option to pull the images off of the webserver instead of from the db?

That is probably what I will end up doing... even though it is working for the majority of the people, it looks like with different php versions and server configurations, it will be difficult to get just right.

[mewgood]

your php version is: 4.1.0

[sHORTYWZ]

your php version is: 4.2.2
safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vpafile is c:tempphp1F81.tmp
vbProArcade Error: [su0] bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

Doesn't look like it's parsing the temp directory correctly..

As far as the other idea, it would reduce queries on the DB as well (not very many, but some people are paranoid)

[futureal]

Originally posted by sHORTYWZ
your php version is: 4.2.2
safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /temp
vpafile is c:tempphp1F81.tmp
vbProArcade Error: [su0] bad file upload (temporary file does not exist!)

Doesn't look like it's parsing the temp directory correctly..

You're not running this on a Windows box by any chance, are you? :)

(if you ARE, then I think I may know how to fix it... the file_exists() function needs some addition parameters to work with Windows...)

[sHORTYWZ]

Unless they added a really nifty GUI and a microsoft logo to linux, I think so =)

[futureal]

Originally posted by sHORTYWZ
Unless they added a really nifty GUI and a microsoft logo to linux, I think so =)

Haha, knowing Microsoft, I'm surprised they haven't. :)

What about web browsers -- which browser/version are you uploading with?

Normally, it should look something like this:


your php version is: 4.2.0
safeupload is: 0
tmppath is: /tmp
vpafile is /tmp/phpQO1QyH

[mewgood]

hm..
do you have any idea whats going on? Or whats wrong???

[Link14716]

Any news on Frogger? :)

[sHORTYWZ]

IE 6 - whatever comes with XP..

[futureal]

Originally posted by mewgood
hm..
do you have any idea whats going on? Or whats wrong???

Did yours work OK at one point, or did it never work? I can't remember if I fixed it and then broke it again or not.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Link14716
Any news on Frogger? :)

Not yet. I really have been too busy doing debugging to modify any more games...

[mewgood]

Originally posted by Link14716
Any news on Frogger? :)

dont think so...
He is fixing the upload problem...

[mewgood]

Originally posted by futureal


Did yours work OK at one point, or did it never work? I can't remember if I fixed it and then broke it again or not.

no didn't work. Not even 1 time..After i upload all I see is errors and a box with a red X inside:(
:(

[futureal]

Originally posted by sHORTYWZ
IE 6 - whatever comes with XP..

Man, I am stumped on that. If I knew what condition in the system was causing that behavior, I could just add some code to re-parse the file correctly... but even so, that's kind of a lame solution.

Does custom avatar uploading work on your vBulletin? I will go back and look over that code for the umpteenth time to see what I am doing wrong...

[mewgood]

Yes, upload avatars is working for me..

[sHORTYWZ]

Yeah it does.. I just went and rechecked to be sure. Deleted my avatar and reuploaded another one succesfully.

It looks like it's not parsing \'s correctly - my php.ini temp directory is c:\temp

[futureal]

Alright, I'm going to dump my function and start over. Give me about 15 minutes to try a new one and we'll see what it can do.

[mewgood]

ok
hope it will works:D

[Link14716]

To tell you the truth, I am going to try and save us all the pain and agony andf make it where you upload the files to the images directory. I get red x's to ;)

EDIT: Nvm, I don't ;)

[Link14716]

To fix the Red X's for ivcons in the admin center:

Open proarcadeadmin.php:
Find<img src=\"/forum
Replace With (3 Times)<img src=\"..

[futureal]

That was already fixed, actually. I haven't updated the main zip yet (was waiting on this other problem...)

The best way is actually to replace "/forum/proimage.php" with "$bburl/proimage.php" to keep format with the rest of the code.

Sorry for missing that in the original hack, it snuck in there. :)

[futureal]

OK, for anybody still watching from earlier, give this a shot and report back what it does/says. Thanks!

[sHORTYWZ]

Works! =)

[futureal]

Hot damn, I did something right for a change. heh

Now we'll have to wait and see if it fixes mewgood's problem as well... :)

[sHORTYWZ]

Dude you've done a hell of a lot more than this right.. AWESOME hack =) I really appreciate all of the work you've put into it.

[Link14716]

And then........ FROGGER!

[futureal]

If anybody else is running PHP in safe mode and can test this out for me (using the most recent proarcadeadmin.php that I posted) that would be great. I want to make sure these bugs are gone before I start fooling around with more stuff.

Thanks!

[Link14716]

I though that my server was, but I upload everything fine without it turned on in the admin center......

[mewgood]

:(
I got an error again:(

your php version is: 4.1.0
safeupload is: 1
tmppath is: tmp
vpafile is /tmp/phpTa3ylO
vpafile_name is icon-scoreboard.gif
vpafile_size is 217

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10105 is not allowed to access /tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif owned by uid 2526 in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 73
vpafile is /tmp/phpihVRaD
vpafile_name is icon-crown.gif
vpafile_size is 518

Warning: SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 10105 is not allowed to access /tmp/icon-crown.gif owned by uid 2526 in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 73
Arcade options updated!

[Ian]

Originally posted by Link14716
I though that my server was, but I upload everything fine without it turned on in the admin center......Same with me, but everything's been working fine, even sense the first beta.

[futureal]

Originally posted by mewgood
:(
I got an error again:(


Alright, one more version for you to test. :)

[mewgood]

aiiii~!~!~!
not working

Warning: Unable to create 'tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif': No such file or directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 77

Warning: Unable to move '/tmp/phpgr1nrE' to 'tmp/icon-scoreboard.gif' in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 77
path is tmp/icon-crown.gif

Warning: Unable to create 'tmp/icon-crown.gif': No such file or directory in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 77

Warning: Unable to move '/tmp/php85VlNI' to 'tmp/icon-crown.gif' in /usr/local/psa/home/vhosts/wcgalaxy.com/httpdocs/vbb/admin/proarcadeadmin.php on line 77
Arcade options updated!

[futureal]

mewgood: I don't know what to say, man, I've tried everything I can think of. I don't understand how custom avatar uploads can be working on your site, since I am using code now that is basically straight from vBulletin. Are you *sure* that custom avatars work?

I'm not sure what else to try... I think your server is just not set up right. Your $tmppath variable is showing up as "tmp" when it should actually be "/tmp" -- but even if we compensate for that, as we did earlier, it is giving a security violation.