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!

[supersimon]

Umm i installed properally "i think" ive installed harder hacks then this one anyways but... When i go to play the games and it never loads ? and it happens to everyone on my site ??

[Sebastian]

well since this hack lacks any support here,.. I've uninstalled it.. got kinda tired fooling with bugs.. and personally, i don't see any progress here. despite the author claiming a new version over a month ago.. kinda hard to beta test something when bugs aren't being fixed.

[Da`Nacho]

Originally posted by Automated
Does anybody have a game we can add yet?

Thanks
Matthew

I had a few conversion projects in the work but I lost interest when I found out how easy it was to cheat.

There has to be some way of making this more secure.

[okrogius]

Are you planning on making the fla files availible?

[Exo]

any new games?

[Automated]

Originally posted by Da`Nacho


I had a few conversion projects in the work but I lost interest when I found out how easy it was to cheat.

There has to be some way of making this more secure.

Please make the files available that you have worked on so the games can be finished! Even though it is easy to cheat, i dont think it will be hard to stop, and also not many people know that you can cheat (or how to)

Matthew

[Thehandyplanet]

++++ wBB!!!
Look here:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babel...e%3D1&lp=de_en
They have the Hack from Gulli (German Hacker Board) and now they make it for wBB!!!
STOP IT!!

[futureal]

Originally posted by Sebastian
well since this hack lacks any support here,.. I've uninstalled it.. got kinda tired fooling with bugs.. and personally, i don't see any progress here. despite the author claiming a new version over a month ago.. kinda hard to beta test something when bugs aren't being fixed.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

There is a new version, it is up and running on my site WITH the bugs fixed, and it will be released as soon as I am able to sit down and dedicate a few hours to coming up with a viable install file. I once again made the mistake of saying I could do it when I was busy with other stuff, and I apologize for that.

But still, I am getting hate mail both here and on my own sites because of this hack. Do you people really think that motivates me to work on it? I know it is only a few people here and there, but still, it isn't the best motivator. I should note that I am also receiving a good number of requests from unlicensed vB users trying to get support from me.

I should be back home in a day or so and at that time I will make it a priority to get the version that I have finished released. I also have the .FLA files of the five current games ready to go and will post those as well.

I would work on it right now, but it is 3 AM and I'm sitting in a cheapo motel room in Utah using my notebook and a cell phone to access the internet at like 1 KB/sec.

[X-Fan]

Looking forward to the updates, futureal, and thanks!

And to those sending him hate mail, for shame! None of the hack makers here are under any obligation to you, me, or anyone else. They do it because they want to contribute to the vb community, and definitely don't deserve such crappy treatment!

[Sebastian]

there are MANY questions in this thread that haven't got an answer. If you want people to beta test something at least take the time and answer a question every so often, once a month doesn't quite kick it... Especially when you checked the little box when releasing the hack that you will provide support. If you wasn't going to provide support like the title says you shouldn't have checked the box, so people know not to bother asking questions and talking to walls.