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!

[DigitalDesktops]

Today at 04:26 AM GaleForce said this in Post #1210
This is weird... Whenever a custom usergroup on my forums trys to access the arcade, they get a "You do not have permission to access this page" message. Any ideas as to how I can fix this?

hmm, try doing this:

go into phpmyadmin run this query:

[sql]SELECT *
FROM `arcadeconfig` LIMIT 0 , 30[/sql]

edit the row in the table. Find the "useraccess" row.
the value should say something like this

1 2 5 6 7

add all the usergroup ids that you want access to the arcade.

for example, if i want my "A group" to have access to the arcade and their usergroup id is 9,
i would do this:

1 2 5 6 7 9

hope this helps

[DigitalDesktops]

or another way you could do this is edit it via Admin CP. lol

go into the general options of the arcade.
Find "Current Groups that can Use Arcade"
you should be able to add/remove the user groups below that.

[GaleForce]

Bah, I dont have the option that Digital stated... I have v1.0 installed

[1AnOnly]

hmm i installed this hack checked it 3 times templates sql php modification etc but all i get is a blank white page

www.lomcn.co.uk/forum/proarcade.php

any ideas please?

thanks in advance.

[futureal]

Today at 12:03 PM 1AnOnly said this in Post #1214
hmm i installed this hack checked it 3 times templates sql php modification etc but all i get is a blank white page

www.lomcn.co.uk/forum/proarcade.php

any ideas please?

thanks in advance.

Do you have a test account we could use to look at it? All we see is the "You need to register" message.

[Fi_InCogNiTo]

How can I get the background of my arcade page to look like this:
http://www.atmyparty.com/network/proarcade.php

And not like mine:
http://www.graphical-illusions.com/proarcade.php

I don't want the graphics in the background, just the colored tables =\

[1AnOnly]

yes sorry futureal

name:TheSurvivor
password:testing

also link again:

www.lomcn.co.uk/forum/proarcade.php

[GaleForce]

Futureal, is there a way I can upgrade to Beta 2 without having to go through the tedious process of uninstalling Beta 1?

[-Sidekick-]

Today at 01:53 PM Fi_InCogNiTo said this in Post #1216
How can I get the background of my arcade page to look like this:
http://www.atmyparty.com/network/proarcade.php

And not like mine:
http://www.graphical-illusions.com/proarcade.php

I don't want the graphics in the background, just the colored tables =\

In your Forum Admin go to the edit templates area. Under Custom templates there will be a bunch of templates that start with vbarcade or something to that effect. You have to find the proper templates that include the tables you want to change and change the bg colors.

[PixelFx]

Fi_InCogNiTo

Its and issue with your style table background image, it's loading a background image in the table fields of your main forum's style.

You need to find where table background is loading in your forum style and either delete just the background image, aka background="image.gif" it or change the vb arcade code to use a background other than the table background did that make sence?

Hopefully that will help ya. or point you in the right direction...