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!

[pjc420]

that is the newest as long as it says

update versions: ;SP1;

[MaDCaT75]

Yep it sure does..... I tried lowering the security settings too and everything that my computer friend said to do..... I give up :cry:

[pjc420]

i just installed windows longorn beta, and i can work my arcade fine through it, it also uses IE6 sp1 .... odd, it has to be something with our configs, author can you PLEASE look into this? pretty please? =þ

PJC

[Brolly]

Being the dunce that I am, this is reasonably impressive. i've figured out why the comments aren't being shown on certain forums (was mine included.)

Go into your mysql database (though phpmyadmin or whatever you use) and alter the column in the "arcadescores" and "arcadetopscores" from "COMMENT" to "comment".

So simple, yet it's stopping comments from showing :beard:

[MaDCaT75]

Today at 01:47 AM pjc420 said this in Post #1497
i just installed windows longorn beta, and i can work my arcade fine through it, it also uses IE6 sp1 .... odd, it has to be something with our configs, author can you PLEASE look into this? pretty please? =?

PJC

Pretty please?

[Dean C]

Longhorn is exactly what it says - a beta. You can't possibly expect futureal to adapt this hack to a beta which he probably won't be using.

Also please be patient with futureal. He's kindly offered support for this hack and i'm sure he'll try to address all of your issues when he comes back

- miSt

[RetroDreams]

Today at 04:35 AM Brolly said this in Post #1498
Being the dunce that I am, this is reasonably impressive. i've figured out why the comments aren't being shown on certain forums (was mine included.)

Go into your mysql database (though phpmyadmin or whatever you use) and alter the column in the "arcadescores" and "arcadetopscores" from "COMMENT" to "comment".

So simple, yet it's stopping comments from showing :beard:

Excellent.

Worked for me as well. Appreciate your efforts.

[pjc420]

Today at 07:42 AM Mist said this in Post #1500
Longhorn is exactly what it says - a beta. You can't possibly expect futureal to adapt this hack to a beta which he probably won't be using.
- miSt

that isnt what i was mentioning, the fact is the hack works PERFECTLY in longhorn which has the same version of IE we are currently using. my point wasnt that he should change the script to work with longhorn, or anything about it, it was in reference to the fact that it isnt an ie problem, its somehow a configuration problem on our pcs

[pjc420]

please be polite, it may not work for us, but it works for a about a million other people..the author released his work for free, your not forced to donate, but he deffinatly deserves a few for the amount of work he put into it

PJC

[PixelFx]

the script works awesome on my site, installs perfect every time, I made a small install addon, which is deep in the threads, but I can prob post it again if people want, cuts the install time to 5 mins if that.