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!

[MindTrix]

dun that, no change

[Danielo]

i installed it on my 2.3.0 vb without any problem

Than you

[Savage Dragon]

this might be a stupid question but how would I make it so the comments variable works in the gamescorecell template?

[KJ_innit]

cant wait to use this, i'm in the process of installing it, but when i'm dumping the data into the arcadegames table i come up with an SQL error at Line 1.

Also, i carried on with the installation and took your advice in a previous post to install the games manually through the Admin CP but when i look at the games, its as if they are constantly loading and never seem to appear, the same problem as the people prior to this post.

I'll try and figure it out.

its on a test forum so i set the games folders to

/forumdev/upload/games/
/upload/games/
/games/

neither of those solved the problems.

ok, i solved it

its games/

take away the starting '/' and it should work depending on what you directory is at.

[PixelFx]

if it helps, I uploaded game.swg on my server as

forum/games/.swf files
forum/images/graphics/ <-- game icons

then just uploaded all my arcade info in the admin cp, it works perfectly for me... not sure if that helps :P

PS: how goes testing for the next release of beta 2.1? I've been waiting to install it rather then beta 2.0... on my new forum.

[KJ_innit]

ok, so i managed to get it working on my dev copy, but now when i try and install it on the live forum, when i click to go to the arcade, i just get a blank page. Anyone else had this problem?

[DPoole]

installed works perfect - hardest bit was adding all the templates (was very tiring) but besides that it installed perfect.

Now one minor prob and hope someone can help me with this -

grf show for games on main arcade page but over to far right the 2 icons are showing as red x`s and not sure why as they are in same folder as the gfx icons for the flash games so where have i gone wrong.

added pic so give u a better view also crowns dont show ???

[DPoole]

ok suzzed it - i had to load the gfx using options in admin.

Not sure how i missed that one but nice hack anyway

/me click installs

[Savage Dragon]

Yesterday at 10:49 PM Savage Dragon said this in Post #1314
this might be a stupid question but how would I make it so the comments variable works in the gamescorecell template?

anyone? Maybe?

[DPoole]

one small problem !!!

PHP Code:

$post[avatar]
<br>
$vpachampicon 
$vpachamptext 


i know i dont need both but both are added as none are working
anyone else had this prob ????? and solved it

Hack is installed perfect - everything works just this dont now

and i am the champion as im the only one who played for testing purpose only so i got all the crowns

The two variables work perfect on me test board but not on main board so any clue what would be stopping it and where about is the code that calls it in then i can re-check the info.

I have done this twice now so i reckon it must be a hack that is interfering with it.