v3 Arcade - Games Arcade & Challenge System [vB 3.0.3]

v3 Arcade [3.0.3]
Games Arcade for vB3
Game copyrights belong to their respective owners.
v3 Arcade - Copyright ?2004 John Warwick, All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________
Arcade Verson: 1.0
vB Version: vBulletin 3.0.3
Author: John Warwick
Email: John[at]eovieinteractive.com
Site: www.v3arcade.com
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Updates
==========================
1.0.0 - Initial release

1.0.1 - Bug fix update
? This release addressed a couple of small bugs. Information on fixing
these issues can be found in the FAQ. (Included in this zip.)

1.0.2 - Bug fixes and new features
? This release makes all games on the Arcade main page appear in the
order which they were installed, regardless of whether or not it has
been played. (With the newest games at the top.)
? It includes a
page navigation system, allowing users to browse games by page. By default, 10 games appear per page.
? There is also a new search feature, for finding games by name/description. (Accessible through the "Search" menu in the navigation bar.)
? This release should be less CPU intensive than previous versions.

1.0.3 - Bug fixes
? Security fixes

History & Hack Information
- So, what is the v3 Arcade?
The v3 Arcade is exactly what the name implies - an online games arcade that offers seamless integration with your vBulletin forum.

The v3 Arcade is the first of the new generation of vBulletin additions. Back from its roots, the v3 Arcade is the vBulletin 3 edition of my original Arcade written in late 2002 (not to be confused with futureal's 'ProArcade', which was written during the Arcade's beta phase).

v3 Arcade Features Include:
? Integrated Flash gaming for vBulletin 3
? Advanced leader board system
? FULL Mozilla/Netscape Compatibility
? Moderation abilities for Mods/Super Mods/Admins
? PM & Email notification for events
? Advanced statistics for all users
? A higher level of security
? "Arcade Challenges", 1-on-1 contests between users
? Arcade awards system
? Automated and manual score pruning tools

This installation comes loaded with the following games:
? Tetris
? Snake
? Asteroids
? Chopper Challenge
? Space Invaders

If you have the source (.FLA) for a game that you want to use in the v3 Arcade, you can send the required files to john@v3arcade.com for conversion. (Providing permission has been given by the original author.) Within a reasonable delay, I'll post the converted game and installation script on vBulletin.org.


Testing
Tested on vBulletin 3.0.3, across multiple unhacked installations.


Thanks to...
? Kura: For helping out with vB3 difficulties!
? Erwin: Whose vB2 Flash Player inspired the original hacks
? Paul Neave: For providing the source for 4 of the standard v3 Arcade games


IMPORTANT NOTES
? If you do install this hack, please click on the INSTALL button. There are going to be some updates for this which you're really not going to want to miss!
? Each Arcade page has an Eovie Interactive and Flash Player link at the bottom. This is optional, but greatly appreciated.
? You may have noticed that this release of the v3 Arcade is not fully phrased. To phrase the arcade would require well over a hundred phrases to be added, making for a lengthy installation process! Futures version of the v3 Arcade will be phrased, with a more automated installation.
? And don't forget - BACKUP BEFORE YOU INSTALL!


Regarding the "ProArcade"
There has been a lot of debate on vb.org recently about the ownership of hack "concepts". My original Arcade hack (on which the v3 Arcade is based), was a progression of the my vBTetris Leaderboard hack - both of which came about before the ProArcade. I've spoken to Erwin regarding this, and he can confirm that this has always been an independent development; hence the v3 Arcade was authorised for release.

Fixes
If you're installing the Arcade from scratch, there are no fixes or updates to be applied. Simply follow the instructions in Installation.txt.
If you've already installed the Arcade, make the changes in Updates.txt.

[Click HERE to view a list of released games and modifications!]

Demos/Add-Ons/Beta Testing
www.v3arcade.com

Download the v3 Arcade (1.0.3) here:

[John]

I've had a couple of emails with plenty of games, although a lot of them are just plain awful (or don't have any sort of scoring system in them), I'll try to get started on conversions.

If there are any people out there who are experienced in Flash and are happy to convert games for the v3 Arcade, send me an email and I'll pass on the current code for the system. (At the moment I'm working on several other arcade related modifications - and part of this includes a component for Flash which will take care of this stuff in the future.)

[shad-gt]

Originally Posted by John

I've had a couple of emails with plenty of games, although a lot of them are just plain awful (or don't have any sort of scoring system in them), I'll try to get started on conversions.

If there are any people out there who are experienced in Flash and are happy to convert games for the v3 Arcade, send me an email and I'll pass on the current code for the system. (At the moment I'm working on several other arcade related modifications - and part of this includes a component for Flash which will take care of this stuff in the future.)

can you post that code here?

And thank you for your help with the award display in the member profiles.

if ( _root.sessionstarted <> 1) {
   _root.arcade = new LoadVars();
   _root.sessionvars = new LoadVars();
   _root.arcade.gamename = target;
   _root.arcade.sessdo = sessionstart;
   _root.arcade.sendAndLoad("arcade.php",sessionvars,"POST");
   _root.sessionstarted = 1;
   }

and which code is for the new entry in the highscore?

[John]

One thing I'd like to point out...

At the moment there have been over 80 successful installations... that's not bad considering that vB3 is still in the RC stages, and the Arcade has only been out for a couple of days.

I'd consider 80 a high enough number to say that if you can't get this to work, it's because you haven't followed the installation instructions properly. I've personally fixed about 5 dud installations, each of which was a file modification incorrectly carried out. The only other alternative is that another hack is installed which is conflicting with the Arcade installation. I know in one case a person had a problem with a clan based hack and the status field in the user table.

The next thing is to ponder over why the Arcade Settings navigation bar looks odd on some styles... I'll post a fix once I find the problem.

[LightBringer]

Originally Posted by John

One thing I'd like to point out...

At the moment there have been over 80 successful installations... that's not bad considering that vB3 is still in the RC stages, and the Arcade has only been out for a couple of days.

I'd consider 80 a high enough number to say that if you can't get this to work, it's because you haven't followed the installation instructions properly. I've personally fixed about 5 dud installations, each of which was a file modification incorrectly carried out. The only other alternative is that another hack is installed which is conflicting with the Arcade installation. I know in one case a person had a problem with a clan based hack and the status field in the user table.

The next thing is to ponder over why the Arcade Settings navigation bar looks odd on some styles... I'll post a fix once I find the problem.

John, this is a clean forum with zero hacks installed on it. I've tried the installation about 6 times now with the same results. Other users can use the arcade just fine, but when I try and use it, I get the problems mentioned. I'd be happy to let you peek your head in on the server and see if you can nail down the issue.

Any advice would be great. I'd be happy to try and install it again, but I feel very confident that it's not the installation, nor is it really a problem with the hack. Something is preventing me as a user/admin from being redirected to the high score/comment page.

[futureal]

Originally Posted by John

The v3 Arcade uses a complete different system. All communications that set scores and other variables happen while the game is being played, at the end of the game the page is redirected. There are two stages.

Ah, the joys of LoadVars.

I eventually stumbled upon what is probably a similar system, although I never implemented it in the old arcade. Doing it this way should discourage all but the hell-bent "I must cheat, no matter what!" people. It can still be done via memory editing, but they need to have an intimate knowledge of the hack and, when it comes down to it, I think very few will exploit it. Still, the admin can always check the game durations as well.

Good job with the challenge system, it's a cool feature!

[John]

Originally Posted by futureal

Ah, the joys of LoadVars.

I eventually stumbled upon what is probably a similar system, although I never implemented it in the old arcade. Doing it this way should discourage all but the hell-bent "I must cheat, no matter what!" people. It can still be done via memory editing, but they need to have an intimate knowledge of the hack and, when it comes down to it, I think very few will exploit it. Still, the admin can always check the game durations as well.

Good job with the challenge system, it's a cool feature!

Nope, not loadVars - sendAndLoad.

Ordinarily, it doesn't take memory editing to cheat. If you know the source code (i.e. you've downloaded it from vb.org), you can easily see which actions to send your faked POST data to. Indeed, if you didn't have access to the source you'd need a packet sniffer to check to see what data was being sent, and then replicate it.

However, this still isn't the system that I use.

The v3 Arcade's games "talk" to vBulletin, vBulletin measures the time between each communication. If that time is greater than 5 seconds, it's very likely that someone is trying to manually send the data through a script. I.e. they prepare the data to send, send it, and start preparing the second batch of data. There are also a couple of basic calculations which make it more difficult for someone to cheat through firing off scripts with POST data.

In essence, the only way to cheat is to write a program to send and receive data the data rapidly, process is correctly, and send it back in the correct format. Only a very sad individual would be prepared to go to those lengths!

[futureal]

sendAndLoad is a method of the LoadVars object. Well, that's what I meant anyway. haha

[corsacrazy]

john

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=413

[John]

Originally Posted by futureal

sendAndLoad is a method of the LoadVars object. Well, that's what I meant anyway. haha

Calm down kiddo, there's nothing wrong with a bit of detail.

[Gio Takahashi]

Lightbringer, do you have a router or firewall?

One of my admin on my forums mentioned that those with firewall and router could ruin the highscore sent to the forums. Could it be something like that?

[John]

Originally Posted by corsacrazy

john

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=413

Yeah, read it. There's already going to be something like this, with the next part of the Arcade. Didn't see any point in implementing it here, as the only news is game installation and championship winners.

[corsacrazy]

how about a challenge leader bord? who has won the most challenges or sumin like that

[futureal]

Originally Posted by John

Calm down kiddo, there's nothing wrong with a bit of detail.

I know, I know.

I tried a similiar method with a 3-, 5- and 10-second check awhile back (going back and forth from Flash and PHP) and it worked on my test server but I was getting incorrect timeouts on a heavily-used server when the scores table was large (thousands of scores, so the check query took longer). If you are using a separate sessions table (it sounds like you are) then that was probably the difference. By regularly pruning the sessions it would keep that query fast, even with a huge amount of scores.

[John]

Originally Posted by futureal

I know, I know.

I tried a similiar method with a 3-, 5- and 10-second check awhile back (going back and forth from Flash and PHP) and it worked on my test server but I was getting incorrect timeouts on a heavily-used server when the scores table was large (thousands of scores, so the check query took longer). If you are using a separate sessions table (it sounds like you are) then that was probably the difference. By regularly pruning the sessions it would keep that query fast, even with a huge amount of scores.

Indeed. It's the only *reasonable* cheat protection that can be offered, without the use of SSL.

[Littlebit]

Has this been tested on any Mac's yet?