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!

[PixelFx]

I'm messing around with vbproarcade and vb3 gamma now not sure if 2.1 is compatable but making for a fun project

I sent futureal my updates for 2.1 vb 2.3.3

[futureal]

limpkinw: How is that?

PixelFx: It works OK, just some minor edits, and parts of the code itself has to be re-done to meet the new standards. But the functionality remains the same.

[M?uschen]

It is possible only to clear old scoures of scoureboard?
I dont want to clear the topscore...

Or can i limit how many scoures are show?

Please help... Thanks Mäuschen.

[ENZcom]

Originally Posted by futureal

limpkinw: How is that?

PixelFx: It works OK, just some minor edits, and parts of the code itself has to be re-done to meet the new standards. But the functionality remains the same.

Wait, how would I go about installing the arcade on vb3 gamma then, since you've gotten it to work?

[futureal]

Mäuschen: I'm not quite sure what you're looking for. If you clear the arcade scores table, the top scores table will be preserved. So you could run the direct query:

DELETE FROM arcadescores;

That will clear the entire arcadescores table.

ENZcom: I am hesitant to release an install file since the version I have running is a very "in flux" design. I am kicking around the idea of putting something out on vbulletin.nl before RC1 arrives. There is obviously interest, so...

[str8ballin]

ok Installed the proarcade hack but my forums keep going down every nite, it takes 6 people playing games at once to overload the database..

heres what my hosts say ....

"Powweb currently limits users to 36,000 SELECT queries, per hour, per user"

What hosts are good? I wanna keep the proarcade, can you tell me what hosts you use how many people you have had playing games at once too?

[NuclioN]

Originally Posted by futureal

I am kicking around the idea of putting something out on vbulletin.nl before RC1 arrives. There is obviously interest, so...

That's a good idea futureal not only for the arcade. Hack authors could pre release it there to slam the last bugs out because it will be installed and used by enough people to find them quickly. The result is stable hacks when RC1 is there and the hacks on vb.org will emerge.

[Limpkinw]

Originally Posted by futureal

limpkinw: How is that?

Sadly I am not sure what they are doing...the only thing I can possibly think is they start a game and take the gamehash from that one and put it in their link. I really do not know what they are doing but I know a score of 566,666 is impossible in XC hehe.

Thanks again

[futureal]

str8ballin: 36,000 queries per hour per user? I don't see how the arcade could possibly consume that much, unless you were already running close to the limit and had a lot of games installed. That one really puzzles me. When the games are running, they are client-side, so it will not consume any queries on the server, only when scores are entered and, most significantly, when people browse the main arcade and scoreboard pages. In Beta 2.0, if you have many games installed, there is a nasty query loop that could consume a lot, although nowhere near the amount you are talking about, unless people are repeatedly refreshing the mini-scoreboards page.

NuclioN: I expect something to be released for Gamma in the last week of December. It will likely be on vbulletin.nl, although the "official" home will be back on here as soon as RC1 is released.

limpkinw: What do the timestamps look like on those scores? I suspect they are using some sort of memory/hex editing program, which would easily let you see and edit the gamehash variable and the score return variable in the headers.

[BlackxRam]

Hey Futureal.. theres a question i been meaning to ask.. i am playing the arcade.. i i am tied with someone for a top score. I got a top score at 38 seconds which i assume puts me in first.. he got the top score playing for 6 mins. BUT! I just played again and got the top score in 36 seconds.. but im in 3rd place. Why is that? This is happening all over the arcade.. people tieing in faster time but being placed in second.

Is there a way to sort it out so that if some one is tied it goes by TIME PLAYED?

Its getting really rough.. hehe