Steel Beast Server Administration applet

[fidelthefallguy]

http://www.modplod.com/wiki/index.php?title=Welcome〈=en

Just a project I'm working on. thourght i would let you all know :luxhello:

[Erazor]

This is a real good idea. I was also searching for arguments, that could be given to the exe at starttime, but it failed.

Your mod is really welcome. In what language your write it? How do you "emulate" the clicks in the menu?

[fidelthefallguy]

This is a real good idea. I was also searching for arguments, that could be given to the exe at starttime, but it failed.

Your mod is really welcome. In what language your write it? How do you "emulate" the clicks in the menu?

Its written in VC++, but its not a mod (can not mod the game) its an aplet that runs on the server machine, providing a kind of vnc connection that will allow for commands to be sent to the host via in game chat or ssh.

To emulate the mouse and kb input I'm using a set of pre compiled macros (at the moment there are about 10 macros to control loading the server, selecting the scn file, starting and stopping the game the game and more)

Eventually macros for all game functions will have to be made for all supported screen resolutions both 32 and 64 bit. (omg thats gona take a while )

As soon as I have a working model I'll write up tech docs for it and release a beta. But in the meantime I'm always open to ideas and solutions to a bunch of stuff I need to figure out before a release.

[Erazor]

Cool, sounds realisable. Maybe Al hears our wishes for a real dedicated server :-)

[fidelthefallguy]

Some news...well things are coming along slowly but I think I'm on the right track to have a 0.1 release with in the next month or so.

a wee screen shot for ya's

Only the functions checked in the screen shot are functional at the moment. It works over a LAN and seems to work over the internet. Internet testing should be starting soon enough. The reason I'm not releasing it yet is that this applet still has no security or error checking functions. (skipping that for now in order to speed to a first public beta) Once the c++ code for the basic game functions is all sorted and I'm happy with it ILUK! Doc's and other info will follow on the wiki (addy above)

On another note I'm needing a wee hand with the VC++ Im somewhat new to c++ and and having a hard time with linking controls to the code to get the results needed. So if your up for it and want to help out please drop me a line. Peace

[fidelthefallguy]

wow, more than two years later, I have finally worked out a way to get this to work. Hopefully. Sorry the link in the first post does not work any more, but hew is the current low down.

I have a consol app that runs on an remote server and automates a SB server. I had to ditch the original idea for local interface to remote server due to my lack of time and experience with vc+. Later versions hopefully will implement remote commands via SB chat client for pre defined client ip's

Admin is done via VNC and and ini file.

The server allows up to 4 ( at this time) map rotations each rotation containing missions of the same length head to head or coop and a max of 4 missions per rotations giving a total of 16 missions. If set up correctly allowing 36 hr total map rotation or more.

the server can play one, two or all rotations continuously.

the server requires the remote pc to configured in a specific way, but as no one plays on it, its not really an issue.

The server can also upload game stats to an ftp host for processing and display on a web site providing continues details of who has played on the server and their scores and allowing for ladders to be run.

The server can be set to save aar's and upload them to an ftp host also.

as I'm working with just one license testing is proving to be slow and painful, but I'm hoping to have RC1 ready in a few weeks.

[Volcano]

Sounds good, we will have to give it a test.

[fidelthefallguy]

I just uploaded v0.351b of this to the download section, (awaiting approval). Please If you have time and a good connection try it out. I know its not the perfect server we all want, but I think it will make a good solution until eSim gets around to making a real one.

Below is a copy of the read me file to wet your appetite and hopefully give an idea of its function

I will be working on it as much as I can over the next few weeks so please post up your ideas for improvement. I have only had this running for a few hours so I can not tell how it will do on a server running for weeks at at time, but all seems well. There is only simple logging provided in the console at the moment. The next version will write a log file to at least catch some data if its having problems.

THE READ ME FILE ......

SB-Server version 0.351b for SB Pro PE

Tested on version 2.483 ONLY

Setting up SB-Server

There are a number of things you must do for SB-Server to run as expected follow these steps to get started;

Unpack all files to someplace safe on your server

copy the folder 1-SERVER to My Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\My Scenarios and make sure it lists first in the senarios list of SB pro pe

If the 1-Server is not listed first you must rename it or other items in the list so that it is or SB-Server will not function

Set in game screen resolution to 1024x768 full screen. The resolution of your desktop does not matter

Place a shortcut to Steelbeasts on your desktop and name it SB

Make sure no other shortcuts on your desktop start with the letters SB

Place the mission files you wish to have in each rotation folder in the 1-SERVER folder

All missions in the same rotation MUST have the same mission time, ie Rotation-1 missions must all be 60 min missions

SB-Server uses an ini file called sbs.ini

The following is a list of the settings their values and use.

Rotation_ID

SB-server can use up to 4 sets of maps set this to 1,2,3 or 4 to play the given rotation OR set to 0 to play all rotations in order

default = 1

Number_of_Rotations

Number of times to play each rotation before movig to the next (min)

default = 1

Join_Time

The amount of time to wait in the assembly area before moving to the planning stage (min)

default = 15

If a value less than 1 is set the server will default back to 15 min wait.

Rotation_x_Time

The mount of time all maps in rotation x will play for (mission time (min))

default=60

Maps_in_rotation_1

The number of maps in rotation x.

default=1

Planning_Time

The amount of time to wait in the planning stage before starting the game (min)

default = 15

Rotation_x_Time

The amount of time the missions in rotation x will play for (min)

Even if only one rotation is used all 4 options Must be in the ini file. They do not need to be set if you are not using then though

default = 60

AAR_Time

The amount of time to wait in the AAR before closing down the server(min)

default = 15

The following settings are in the ini but are not implemented in this version due to the fact that this is a beta and

I want to focus on geting the main goals met.

Save_AAR

Set true to save the aar on the server

default = false

Upload_Stats

Set true to upload game stats to a web server ( no code to process scores yet comming soon)

default = false

FTP_Host

ftp host to upload stats to

Include full path to upload directory. ie yourhost.com\ftp\upload\folder\stats

default = <blank>

FTP_User

FTP user name

default = <blank>

FTP_Password

Password to access FTP server

default = <blank>

Known issues and bugs:

1: If a mission ends befor the mission time set in the ini file, the server will remain on the arr screen

only untill the mission time set in the ini file is met and skip the aar time set in the ini file.

This bug only effect missons that automaticaly end on a given condition.

Work Around: Avoid coops that end on mission success.

[DarkAngel]

All seems pretty pointless... why wouldn't you just use VNC?.

[fidelthefallguy]

"All seems pretty pointless... why wouldn't you just use VNC?. "

VNC relies on a good connection to function at any useful speed. It also opens a big security hold. I for one don't want every man and his dog having access to my computer.

The point of this server is that it runs games to a rough schedule 24/7 without the need for local or remote input once its started. VNC could be used to access and start the server, but being as it reads the ini files at the start of each mission, you can use FTP to edit the ini file and the server will pick up the changes next round.

Yes it has some big limitations in that you can not stop and restart a game if some one misses it or get disconnected, but it will give people access to a server more often and allow people who can not host to play multi-player even when Sean or other reliable hosts are not around.

[fidelthefallguy]

A few more notes:

Clients must have all the maps downloaded before trying to join. This is because there is no way to check for the option to allow downloads.

In order for clients to recognize the server player you should create a new profile for it and also get it a good score on the range.