vbProArcade Beta 2

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. 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, for their extensive testing of the system
• And The Kryptonian 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 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)

• None

Known 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/showthrea...106#post292106
• Game Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...107#post292107
• Game Over Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...109#post292109
• Scoreboard: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...110#post292110
• Top Score Board: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...111#post292111
• Admin Modify Game: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...112#post292112
• Who's Online Display: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...113#post292113
• User Detail Screen: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...811#post337811
• Admin Score Editor: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...736#post338736
• Champ System in Postbit: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...745#post338745
• Modify Games in Admin CP (contracted): https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...858#post389858
• Modify Games in Admin CP (expanded): https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...859#post389859

Upcoming 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 screen

Some 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. 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!

[Legacy]

Wheres that POSTBIT hack for this???

Mine not showing the postbit..only thing I saw in instructions that relate to postbit is below and that is what I have :

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| In showthread.php, replace this code: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
if (!$getperms['cangetattachment']) {
$viewattachedimages=0;
}
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| With this code: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
if (!$getperms['cangetattachment']) {
$viewattachedimages=0;
}

// Begin vbProArcade
// if champ system is disabled, don't do anything
if ($vpa_champsystem == 1) {
$vpa_champs_q = $DB_site->query("SELECT championactive,championid,championtext,championcol or FROM arcadegames");

$vpa_count = 0;

while ($vpa_loop = $DB_site->fetch_array($vpa_champs_q)) {

$vpa_champs_a[$vpa_count][championactive] = $vpa_loop[championactive];
$vpa_champs_a[$vpa_count][championid] = $vpa_loop[championid];
$vpa_champs_a[$vpa_count][championtext] = $vpa_loop[championtext];
$vpa_champs_a[$vpa_count][championcolor] = $vpa_loop[championcolor];

$vpa_count++;

}

} else {

$vpa_count = 0;
$vpa_champs_a = 0;

}
// End vbProArcade

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+
+++
+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| In showthread.php, replace this code: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
$postbits .= getpostbit($post);
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| With this code: |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
// Begin vbProArcade
$postbits .= getpostbit($post,$vpa_champs_a);
// End vbProArcade

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[snyx]

I installed it, and now its working great except it doesnt record comments, it just keeps the "no comment" in place?

any ideas on what could be wrong?

[corsacrazy]

is there a way to do this :

if the user does not reach a score within the top 25 scores then he does not get put on to the score board atall but instead gets a redirect message saying you did not make it onto the score board then redirects him/her to the main arcade home page ???? or somthin similar to that cheers !

[girlzclan]

everything is working great with this hack, i love it!! currently the only issue we are having is, it refuses to keep one of my members scores, we have no idea whats goign on with it, I even created her a test account to try and it still isn't working. I'm positivie it's somethign on her side, but im clueless as to what it could be. Any ideas?

[futureal]

Originally posted by Ninth Dimension
XrayHead - The problem with this hack is that it's still only BETA, and has been for quite some time. This means that while it may work perfectly well on your system, it might not at all.

The main reason it is beta, and probably will be beta for some time, is because of the high incidence of abnormal behavior that we see. With all of the browsers and server configurations out there, it seems like 5%-10% of them do not work with this hack for some reason.

I have been able to solve most problems, but not all.

On top of that, there are the security issues. I have plenty of ideas but none have come to fruition yet. I am still working on stuff and with more experienced Flash developers on FlashKit to see what we can come up with.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Mist
when do you suspect that the next version will be ready for release future?

I apologize for all of the delays (see above message for some info on why) but rest assured that it is still coming.

A big reason I have been offline is that we just had a huge LAN party at my apartment these past 4-5 days. At its peak we had 16 computers set up and a few X-Boxes linked together. Once I get this place cleaned up, it's back to the grind...

[Erwin]

LOL! I've done 4 x-boxes linked with 16 players on Halo before, at my house, with 4 TVs (2 projectors). It was great!

[Ice Man_00]

Thankl you, it worked

Cheers.

Originally posted by Legacy
Iceman..the fix is in this thread...it has to do with the USER GROUPS.

You need to find the code in the proarcade.php its like LINE#40

if (($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 2) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 5) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 6) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 7)) {

You need to add whatever other USER GROUPS you have created to this..example below of what I added.

if (($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 2) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 5) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 6) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 7) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 8) and
($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] != 12)) {

See how I added 8 and 12...you can get the USER GROUP NUMBER# by running your Mouse over the EDIT and it will display in your status bar..if its to big in your status bar then right click on edit and COPY SHORTCUT..then paste it into NOTEPAD to read the URL...the USER GROUP # will be seen in the URL

Hope this helps


Also make sure you TURNED 'ON' all the games in the Admin Panel

[Dean C]

Originally posted by futureal


I apologize for all of the delays (see above message for some info on why) but rest assured that it is still coming.

A big reason I have been offline is that we just had a huge LAN party at my apartment these past 4-5 days. At its peak we had 16 computers set up and a few X-Boxes linked together. Once I get this place cleaned up, it's back to the grind...

Its ok... your the hackmaker - not me

You've done a fantastic job and i can't wait for the next version so i can install this on my boards

Regards

- miSt

[Limpkinw]

Repost...and lil more

Ok I installed this GREAT HACK...everything works very well EXCEPT I can not seem to upload thumbnails for the games...
I tried the safe mode fix with no luck. I do not get any errors it just doesnt change the thumb. Any Ideas?

In addition the champions system doesnt seem to work. Is there anything that I should check over to get it up -n- runnin?
Thanks.