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]

Do you guys even read the updates I make?

I'm not trying to sound harsh, but seeing 3 or 4 posts (and PMs) each day asking when the thing is coming does not really help.

All I can say is this:

- the source for the games has been packaged and released, as has often been requested
- all of the planned features for this release are finished
- the packaging has begun

One it is packaged and documented, it will be test-installed on a few forums run by friends of mine, and once that process is completed in a smooth fashion, it will be publicly released.

[DarkDraco07]

BUG FOUND
mym members are getting mad at this. they play the game long enough, and when they get a highscore it wont save because they timed out.

[Baptizer]

futurreal:
Have you ever heard of or experienced any problems playing space invaders or tetris? A lot of my members mention that once you get so far, it doesnt get harder........they mentioned that you could go forever and rack up a high score. They usually quit because of boredom....

Becuase I suck at the games, i have never experienced this(yet i did have a problem with breakout....ball going through the paddles at around 13-14k scores).

Take care bro! and thanks for making such a wonderful product!

[futureal]

Originally posted by DarkDraco07
BUG FOUND
mym members are getting mad at this. they play the game long enough, and when they get a highscore it wont save because they timed out.

This is a known limitation. If a user does not have "automatically stay logged in" checked in their User Options, if they play a game longer than whatever cookietimeout is set too, the site will not let them record their score.

I think that, with some thorough testing and hacking around, I could get it to where it saved the data and then took them to a log-in screen, and then from there back to the Game Over screen, but I have not attempted that yet.

[futureal]

Originally posted by Baptizer
Have you ever heard of or experienced any problems playing space invaders or tetris? A lot of my members mention that once you get so far, it doesnt get harder........they mentioned that you could go forever and rack up a high score. They usually quit because of boredom....

With Tetris, that is certainly correct. Once you get to the last "level" it gives you 1000 lines to clear, and if you finish that the game actually crashes.

In Breakout, if you get far enough, the ball moves so fast that it goes right through the paddle (the collision detection fails).

There may be other bugs in the games as well. I am not the most competent Flash programmer, nor did I write the games, so I'm not sure what to say. I am hoping that sooner or later people will jump into the Flash Development thread that I posted and do some real work on the games, to add levels, new options, and so on.

[futureal]

Here is another teaser update for Beta 2. This is a screen shot of the "Score Editor" which really doesn't do much other than allow an Admin to reset the scoreboard. This was a requested feature.

Eventually, this Score Editor will be extended to handle individual editing, searching, and so on.

[futureal]

I am also, as we speak, updating all of the original screenshots for the game with their final Beta 2 versions. I think they are in the first 7-8 posts of this thread.

Be sure to check them out.

[futureal]

Here is another quick screenshot from Beta 2, this one of how the King Icon looks in the postbit. It is a parsed variable that the admin can place anywhere in the postbit, so that adds some flexibility.

[futureal]

Another update:

Beta 2 was released to private testing early this morning (1/5), and the Arcade was re-opened on my home site with no problems so far. Looks like everything is moving along nicely.

The install file is mostly complete and the docs are mostly complete, though I expect they will be rewritten a bit as people run into problems.

Anyway, it's just around the corner now. I'm just waiting for my testers to report back to me.

[Da`Nacho]

Originally posted by futureal
Another update:

Beta 2 was released to private testing early this morning (1/5), and the Arcade was re-opened on my home site with no problems so far. Looks like everything is moving along nicely.

The install file is mostly complete and the docs are mostly complete, though I expect they will be rewritten a bit as people run into problems.

Anyway, it's just around the corner now. I'm just waiting for my testers to report back to me.

I can't wait!

I know I may have seemed a bit harsh in my earlier posts in this thread, but understand I was frustrated because of certain people taking steps to cheat the arcade on my forum.

I am anxiously awaiting the release and if there is any way I can help let me know.

I already plan to port a bunch of Flash games over and possibly even make my own changes to some of the existing games that we've seen in the Arcade. (I really want to add more music choices to Tetris, and maybe more levels if I can figure it out).

Anxiously waiting!