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!

[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/showthrea...235#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 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:

PHP Code:

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