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!

[The Wedge]

ill try and do some editing to the flash files, i have to go to work in a few, but i def had fun editing them!!

[Dark Jim]

futureal, how would you make the games get a variable first (like points), then play the game (and do something with the points, although how to do that is not really important) and eventually when the game is over submit the points as well as the score? I would like a gamble flash game in the arcade that makes use of the store points but I (and the person developing the gamble game) does not know how to get variables from the database.

[drumsy]

03-31-03 at 09:49 AM tinbin said this in Post #1112
Another quick question:

After playing u can add a comment...
Now the color of the font is black, just as the box to typ it in...
In other words: u don't see what u typ.
Where can i change the font color?
I looked at some templates, but hard to find...

Mine does the same thing in the userdetail screen, so I just added

PHP Code:

bgcolor="{firstaltcolor}" 


inside the appropriate

PHP Code:

<td> 


tag and it displays wonderfully now! You might try the same!

[ryancooper]

WOW. Installed flawlessly. Instructions were very easy to follow and nothing went wrong.

Thank You for this amazing addition to our board!!

[ryancooper]

How would you go about linking each crown to the game or scoarboard?

[Erwin]

EDIT: Code removed - doesn't work.

Mmm... when I first installed this hack, I did manage to get it to work... try searching in this thread for the code... I remember seeing a working version in here...

[ryancooper]

Nope; recieved the following error. . .

vbProArcade Error: Invalid game name specified (todo: put something pretty here later)

Not a problem thought I can link the crowns to the arcade for the time being!

It looks like it does not add the name of the game to the link. . .

[ryancooper]

I have a quick question. . . Is it possable to reset all scores back to zero? I tried the Scores Editor :Reset a Score Group
when I do that i get this message :

Score Group was Current, so Champions have been reset.
Score Group has been reset.

But all the scores remain?

Thanks

[DigitalDesktops]

try to EMPTY, don't DROP it, the arcadescores and arcadetopscores tables in the database.

[ryancooper]

Today at 04:56 AM DigitalDesktops said this in Post #1129
try to EMPTY, don't DROP it, the arcadescores and arcadetopscores tables in the database.

How do you go about doing that? I am in phpmyadmin and found the tabels you referred to but I don't see anyway to empty them?