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!

[Slybone]

I installed it but when I try to go play a game it doesn't even load, I do have Shockwave//Macromedia flash installed and I can't find out why... I've asked other people to test it and they cant find out either.

Thx for tha Help

[futureal]

Originally Posted by Slybone

I installed it but when I try to go play a game it doesn't even load, I do have Shockwave//Macromedia flash installed and I can't find out why... I've asked other people to test it and they cant find out either.

The most likely problem is that the Games Directory is not set up right in the admin panel.

The hack assumes you are putting the games in www/games/ and not www/forum/games/. So, you may need to change your admin panel to read "games/" if they are in a subdirectory of your forum.

[futureal]

Regarding new versions of the arcade, I just finished packaging Beta 2.1 and it is being tested in a couple of places right now before I post it here. Here is a list of the fixes/changes in Beta 2.1:

- Fixed SQL Error in User Detail Screen
- Fixed Game Ordering in User Detail Screen
- Fixed $bburl in User Detail Screen
- Fixed Mini-Scoreboard Display to show "Nobody" when a game is new
- Added Additional $_GET security (check for GET variables)
- Optimized Mini-Scoreboard Display, now 1 query per game
- Added Additional Statistics to Arcade Page (total users, games, time)
- Added Browser Compatibility Disclaimer
- Added Option to Enable/Disable Hash Offset Security
- Many Template Fixes (Colors, especially)
- Fixed OS-specific Upload Problems in Admin CP for Graphics Files

And here is the planned release schedule for the near future:

-> v1.0 Beta 2.2 (vBulletin 2.x) : Bug Fixes from 2.1, Complete Scores Editor
-> v1.0 Beta 2.3 (vBulletin 2.x) : Bug Fixes from 2.2, Release Candidate
-> v1.0 (vBulletin 2.x) : Bug Fixes from 2.2, Official Release
-> v2.0 Beta 1.0 (vBulletin 3.x) : First vB 3.x Version

As noted, the Scores Editor/Hall of Fame is NOT in Beta 2.1, I wanted this release to be mostly bug fixes and such to get that out of the way. Note that the upgrade from Beta 2.0 to 2.1 is VERY EASY!

[Holidazed]

Pseudomizer, my proarcade.php file already has this statement in it.

SELECT * FROM arcadescores WHERE userid=$userid AND valid=1 ORDER BY endtime DESC

Help

[futureal]

bitg: This is how to fix it.

Find:

// a user's individual details
if ($action == "userdetail") {

And right below it, add:

// get the user from the URL string
$user = $_GET[user];

And change the query to read:

SELECT * FROM arcadescores WHERE userid=$user AND valid=1 ORDER BY endtime DESC

Give that a shot. I fixed this for Beta 2.1 but I don't remember if that was the line or not. Good luck.

[Slybone]

Originally Posted by futureal

The most likely problem is that the Games Directory is not set up right in the admin panel.

The hack assumes you are putting the games in www/games/ and not www/forum/games/. So, you may need to change your admin panel to read "games/" if they are in a subdirectory of your forum.

That fixed it... but my second problem is once I finish playing a game... it takes me to

"/proarcade.php" insead of "/UBC/proarcade.php" where would I tell it to take me to /UBC/proarcade.php I don't see it in the options

[Holidazed]

I am getting big white boxes when displaying top scores for a particular user.

Check it out
http://www.dungeonkeepersdomain.com/...&scoreuserid=1

Any ideas?

Also, where are the images for this hack located? I uploaded an icon and cannot find it at all via ftp yet it displays just fine. Also, I never uploaded ANY images at all for the other games and they all display. I do not have any of the thumb-XX.gif or the icon-XX.gif diles on my server that I can find, yet they are there.

Please explain.

[futureal]

bitg: The images are stored in the database. When you upload a file via the Admin CP, it gets stored in a database table (just like an avatar or attachment, for example).

To fix the white boxes, you need to replace the template. Look for PixelFX's thread in this same forum entitled something like "vbProArcade Install Addon and Fixes" which has the corrected template.

An even more correct set of templates will be available in the next Beta (I apologize for such bad ones in the original, I just ripped them straight out of one of my forums so the colors/etc. are screwy).

Slybone: Is that occurring with Internet Explorer, or with some other browser?

[Slybone]

Originally Posted by futureal

Slybone: Is that occurring with Internet Explorer, or with some other browser?

yes with IE 6

[Slybone]

Seems the problem is on Vbulletin Options I entered ubc as the subdomain UBC.mysite.com instead of mysite.com/UBC I guess it didnt like it

Thanks for the help Futureal