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!

[NTLDR]

You need to set the path correctly, ie /forum/games/ or just games/ may work too.

[Brahm]

Looks Great! Thanks for the hack. The install went smooth with no problems.

[Limpkinw]

I installed this hack today as an upgrade from 1.03 and i have 2 problems.

Problem #1) All posts are my board are duplicated. not just posts from today but ALL posts.

Problem #2) A data mismatch has been discovered between the game and the arcade, normally as the result of a cheating attempt. This attempt has been logged, and the score invalidated. If you feel that you are receiving this message in error, please contact the system administrator

When games are complete. The ONLY thing I did was uninstall previous version and install this.

HELP!

[Savant]

try this fix limpkin

Originally posted by futureal


Man, that is weird. The game is returning the wrong hash, completely. I can't think of a reason why that be.

I have to jet out of here right now. I will try and figure it out and get back to you.

Good luck.

edit: Upon further inspection, the hash that is going to the game does not match the one that is being pulled back from the database. I can think of no reason why this would occur, and it's the first time that I've seen it. If anybody else sees this same sort of behavior, it might be back to the proverbial drawing board for this hack. heh

Originally posted by Savant
welp, as a temporary bandaid, in proarcade.php, i changed this:

// now, we check gamehash
if ($newhash == $hashcheck) {

to this:

// now, we check gamehash
if ($newhash == $newhash) {

and that'l at least get the games working for now. The good news is the records scores and everything else seems to be in order thanks again futureal!

[Ember]

I am having some strange problems... well, just one...

The games dont appear to load, at all... the page starts to load, and then the full page is there, with the flash applet there, but it just stays one colour, the background colour of the flash movie (i assume) but it loads no further.

Any ideas?

[xxxsaint]

yes , where it says the location of your games is /games/

make it say games/

in the arcade admin section

[Littlebit]

anyone know how to fix the 404 error on redirect ...seems to do this in every browser but IE for windows platform only

[Attrox]

Good lord, this is the nicest, smoothest hack I have ever installed...amazing work on this, futureal. I'll make a donation to your PayPal account as soon as I get home.

[drumsy]

I get this error:

Database error in vBulletin 2.2.8:

Invalid SQL: SELECT , FROM arcadegames WHERE gameid='3'
mysql error: You have an error in your SQL syntax near ' FROM
arcadegames WHERE gameid='3'' at line 1

mysql error number: 1064

Date: Saturday 11th of January 2003 11:29:36 AM
Script:
http://www.honda-acura.net/forums/fo...ameid=3&type=2
Referer:

If you notice, the URL is honda-acura.net/forums/forums/proimage...how does it do that? The games work, but why does it add the extra forums?

I have another member who get's this error:

Oh, now that I look at the error.... It seems that it's looking to:

www.honda-acura.net/proarcade.php as opposed to www.honda-acura.net/forums/proarcade.php

What do you think?

[drumsy]

Originally posted by marky22
Hi, thanks for this superb little gem,

only problem i have is on the arcade screen (gamemenu) its looking, well....errrmmm confused.

Searched this thread, looked at all the posts but can't find any reference to which template it is.

the problem page here

any help would be much appreciated. :bandit:

It seems your date and times are showing up, unless you drag your mouse over them. Might want to check what color your date and times are set in the Admin CP.