Topic: The Forge - Home Fires II/III/IV (Read 79748 times)

KBF MalaK · « **Reply #40 on:** March 08, 2010, 09:31:11 pm »

Quote from: Bartok on March 08, 2010, 08:53:43 am

I hope it's the monitor probes and that Dynaverse isn't dead.....

ThanX for all your hard work!!!

I'll second that ! Can't let Dyna die with a wimper, it's got a few more colossal campaigns left in her.

NO STO here either, unfortunately my ST enthusiasm is on life support for the moment but my OP install is still fully functional so I'm ready to go when I tire of lurking.

Bartok · « **Reply #41 on:** March 09, 2010, 09:11:35 am »

I took a little time to look at the STO system requirements...

I won't deny I'm intrigued, however, my graphics card and mem are not up to spec to play this game. I'm on an older system - 7 year old, running WinXP. I'm not ready mentally or financially to get a new system just to play a single game - even though it does look pretty cool. Ironically if I DID get a Win7 system I "apparently" wouldn't be able to play OP anymore.....

Here's hoping you're right Malak - a few more campaigns/years of Dynaverse would be wonderful! -- I guess we'll see!

and again - hats off to Bonk and Frey and all you guys running the boxes!!!!!

KBF-Kurok · « **Reply #42 on:** March 09, 2010, 11:05:03 am »

thanks bonk for all your work. I hope you get this fixed but if not ill await the sfc4 and hope we can get rid of lamespy completly. Good luck sir and again thanks for the hard work.

Bonk · « **Reply #43 on:** March 09, 2010, 03:08:31 pm »

We can find nothing on our end and will contact Gamespy to see if anything is up over there. Needless to say, I'll keep you posted.

marstone · « **Reply #44 on:** March 09, 2010, 03:13:09 pm »

Might be worth looking into writing a small app that will emulate a gamespy connection for the server.

Bonk · « **Reply #45 on:** March 09, 2010, 03:50:01 pm »

There's more to it than that. The gamespy master server IPs are hardcoded in the client exe. The (dated) API is used in the serverkits, clients and directory servers (hybridized with the old WON architecture). (oh wait, maybe just the domain is hardcoded in the exe, in which case a hosts file entry could take care of redirection to a gamespy master server simulator - I'll have to look again, just going by browsing the client exe in a hex editor) Ah... but that is just for client login auth... I could modify the serverkit code for OP at least to list on a simluated gamespy master server) No wait... my thinking is fuzzy. If I were to attempt to replace gamespy auth I would have to go over it all in detail to asses feasibilty before even starting.

I have requested a new API from gamespy in the past but got no reply.

I just submitted a support ticket:

Quote

I am the webmaster and tech admin for Dynaverse.net. We run the directory servers that use the gamespy API (old - we can't get a new one, I asked and got no reply) for the persistent universe servers for starfleet command. About thursday of last week our lists started going blank. Nothing has changed on our end.

I have spent my entire weekend trying to troubleshoot the issue. I can find nothing. I have been running these servers for years.

So, we are hoiping that something has changed on your end and maybe you could change it back so that a game that has been running online for over 10 years can continue?

Either way, it would be great if you could let us know if anything has changed on your end. (do you normally notify API users of major changes?)

Any help or information you could offer would be greatly appreciated. It would be heartbreaking to have this kill our favourite game after all these years.

Thanks,
Bonk
Dynaverse.net

and noticed these notes after submission:

Quote

Thank you for contacting GameSpy Arcade, Arena and Comrade support.

You have chosen the "General" field from our ticket selection. Please note the following:

1. If you are inquiring about obtaining a game key, we do not provide game keys. Please contact the store from which you purchased your game.

2. If you require help logging in to a game and not GameSpy Arcade, Arena or Comrade please contact the support for your game. We support GameSpy Arcade, Arena and Comrade only.

3. If you were instructed that "GameSpy" provides support to your in-game login you were misinformed. "Powered by GameSpy" means your game maker has implemented our technology and any issues with that are handled by the support staff of your specific game.

If your issue does not pertain to GameSpy Arcade, Arena or Comrade products support issues this ticket will be closed.

Thank you !

(Emphasis added)

Dammit! Referred to myself again! I hate that! This is way worse than when google hits on my own content when I'm looking for answers.

I think we're screwed, since we are not the original API licensee? I wonder if any of the Taldren, Quicksilver, Interplay or Activision people have the Gamespy API license information for the SFC series? Access to the EAW source might be of assistance in this respect. The licensing information may be contained within?

Luigi Auriemma might be an asset in this investigation. I've asked him before for help in reverse engineering the directory servers and gamespy master servers, but the idea did not really fall under his interests at the time. (We have code for the old SFC2 directory servers (WON) but not the latest Gamespy(d) versions.)

marstone · « **Reply #46 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:05:30 pm »

Now if they hardcoded the address for gamespy (which should be done as a name, not address as it makes more sense to use the Domain Name look-up service then to put a hard address in. (specially back then)

We might be able to go in with a sector editor and change the name it looks for. Just use a name of the same length to make sure the look-up table doesn't crash/lock-up/self-destruct/etc.

about a dozen references in different ways to GameSpy. Might take alittle more work.

Luigi does have some interesting GameSpy stuff on his sight.

Bonk · « **Reply #47 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:12:20 pm »

Quote from: marstone on March 09, 2010, 04:05:30 pm

We might be able to go in with a sector editor and change the name it looks for. Just use a name of the same length to make sure the look-up table doesn't crash/lock-up/self-destruct/etc.

Now that's a cagey idea. Would probably work if we can successfully simulate the gamespy servers. I think we're jumping the gun a bit here though. Let's wait on a reply and hopefully they'll find something on their end has changed and will be willing to accomodate us. (still an assumption though - I have no idea how to get gamespy API updates/news)

It is still possible that something is happening along the way, or that someone has found an exploit common to both the SFC3 and SFC2 serverlists.... OH sh*t ... wait... I can't post this publicly... oh yes I can... anyone with a brain can figure it out...

I feared this. There are known exploits in old gamespy apis. I might even know exactly which might affect our directory servers. And since our directory servers use the old APIs and we cannot update them... you see what a black hole that is? Well then, if this is actually what is happening, then we'll need to figure out a way to stop the exploit on the wire before it gets to the servers. Read Luigi's old news pages.

marstone · « **Reply #48 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:25:26 pm »

true, those who know how to do that, don't need someone to point it out to them.

I personally don't think it is someone messing with it, we are just to small a community for that (well, probably we are) Someone might get a jolly messing with a little group like us, but I think it is more likely a GameSpy issue.

marstone · « **Reply #49 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:43:12 pm »

downloaded abunch of the gamespy stuff from Luigi's site for offline reading tonight at work if I get tired of working on the MOD conversion. In the long run, good stuff to know anyway.

Bonk · « **Reply #50 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:47:41 pm »

Figured you might be interested in some of that. I'll have to read over his latest adventures; been quite some time since I last visited.

You're probably right about it not being vandalism, at least I sure hope so.

KBF MalaK · « **Reply #51 on:** March 09, 2010, 06:46:50 pm »

Umm, guys...
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/gamespy-open-to-tear-down-the-walls-surrounding-games,1197571.shtml

Bonk · « **Reply #52 on:** March 09, 2010, 07:27:00 pm »

Interesting. It is not entirely clear whether they intend to open existing GameSpy APIs or release a new "Open" API. I wonder what Luigi will have to say (http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/335)?

However this does indicate that changes are afoot. I'll check the status of the support ticket I submitted... still open, probably still unread.

FPF-Tobin Dax · « **Reply #53 on:** March 10, 2010, 08:18:31 am »

Hackers take down Assassin's Creed

08/03/2010 4:57:00 PM

CBC News
Gamers playing Assassin's Creed 2 on their computers were locked out this weekend after hackers shut down servers required for the game to work.

Ubisoft, the game's publisher, on Monday confirmed it had been targeted by hackers waging a denial-of-service attack, which rendered Assassin's Creed 2 and lesser-known title Silent Hunter 5 unplayable over the weekend.

"Our servers didn't go down but five per cent of the overall people attempting to connect received denial of service errors," the company told website Ars Technica. "This is, of course, unacceptable and our teams are working around the clock to ensure it doesn't happen again."

Gamers swamped Ubisoft's online forums to complain about the outage, which they said was the result of a controversial move by the company to make certain games unplayable without an internet connection. Assassin's Creed 2, the company's latest smash hit, must be connected to the internet at all times in order to be played on a PC.

The same game on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles, however, can be played with or without an internet connection. Gamers playing the console versions were unaffected by the outage.

Ubisoft enacted the connection requirement on PCs in an effort to stem pirated copies of the game from circulating. Only official games with embedded copy protection will work.

"We worry about our customers and apologize to anyone who couldn't play ACII or SH5 yesterday," the company said. "All in all, we hope people understand all this is done to preserve the future of PC gaming."

Assassin's Creed 2, which was designed primarily at Ubisoft's Montreal studio, was universally hailed by critics as one of the top games of 2009. In the game, players take on the role of Ezio Auditore, a revenge-bent assassin in Renaissance Italy.

KBFLordKrueg · « **Reply #54 on:** March 10, 2010, 02:31:36 pm »

Quote from: Bartok on March 09, 2010, 09:11:35 am

I took a little time to look at the STO system requirements...

I won't deny I'm intrigued, however, my graphics card and mem are not up to spec to play this game. I'm on an older system - 7 year old, running WinXP. I'm not ready mentally or financially to get a new system just to play a single game - even though it does look pretty cool. Ironically if I DID get a Win7 system I "apparently" wouldn't be able to play OP anymore.....

You shouldn't need another comp just for a different OS other than XP.
I'm running it on a 3 yr old XP64 system. You basicly only need only the required processer speed, Video and RAM specs.
And a buddy of mine has STO on his XP system, not sure how old it is, but it's also not new by any means.
I know that may not help, but XP will run STO as long as you have the min specs.
And computers with XP on them are pretty cheap these days.

Bonk · « **Reply #55 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:01:34 pm »

The Gamespy support ticket remains open and unread. I expect it will remain so.

Now I am seriously thinking of alternatives. I think a VPN solution might work as when running the directory server on the same lan as the dynaverse server and clients one is able to login with no internet connection at all. I did it once out in the woods to test stuff. I forget exactly how I did it but I'm reasonably sure I could do it again on a VPN.

That might be the best solution. Then we just give out Dynaverse.net VPN keys as required. Frey and I would have to do a little work to isolate the rest of the network or come up with a satisfactory VPN setup security-wise so that we do not need to worry about anything funky happening. Bandwidth overhead we'll have to live with (but I also have this hunch that the dyna will work on vista over a VPN)

marstone · « **Reply #56 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:08:23 pm »

That I would think would be a great test to do. I would think the more we can get under our control the better as there are less variables out there then.

Bonk · « **Reply #57 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:28:09 pm »

Quote from: FPF-Tobin Dax on March 10, 2010, 08:18:31 am

Hackers take down Assassin's Creed

From what I'm reading they kind of deserved it. The only place you can save a game is online? Only on the PC platform edition? I'd feel pretty burned. If Ubisoft paid me to save my singleplayer games on their servers for their study I'd be OK with it.

Bartok · « **Reply #58 on:** March 11, 2010, 10:12:26 am »

I just flew a planetary assault on The Forge!!

I've got the OCI on my fav's bar and occasionally check it - I like maps

Anyhow - I looked under "recent battles" and saw that Kane had flown on 3/11 which is today... so I fired up OP and sure enough....

Not sure what's changed - I know you were talking about a VPN, but maybe..... just maybe.... you (Bonk) didn't get a reply on your trouble ticket because they knew they were causing a problem with something they were doin on their end and that it would right itself soon...

Not bad though to continue to think of contingency plans so this 10 year old game can keep goin

Cheers to All

marstone · « **Reply #59 on:** March 11, 2010, 12:31:29 pm »

I flew a mission last night, lost contact with server when I finish the fight. But the list was still there so is my crappy internet connection

News:

Topic: The Forge - Home Fires II/III/IV (Read 79748 times) var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Topic: The Forge - Home Fires II/III/IV (Read 79748 times)