Classic WormNET (Aka Project GusanoNET)

[lolicon-guy]

Hello. I'm lolicon-guy,

I'm reintroducting to WA's community, after for many reasons stopped playing years ago (couldn't really remember when, maybe around 2010/2012). Since always, and until today, I have been wondering how the ranking system used to work like, and even more, the reasons that made it "die".

I have been learning PHP programming around the years. I have found diferent and maybe "better" (not sure) ways to protect server from "unwanted" database/data injection access, using more and different reference points than input user-agent ID.
From mine part, I have the idea to bring this system back on mine custom coming server, GusanoNET. But question is: Would YOU like to see such system back?

I'm not really sure if do or not it, mainly because of following "big" cons:

Spoiler! View

• Due to current "security" system, no snooper is able to connect to HTTP section, due to how their networking libraries ("Qt"-specific?) work (Perhaps it may change with the time, I'd need to talk with current Wheat Snooper and Weed Snooper's maintaners).
• Users couldn't put more than a single team per game.
• In order to keep rankings in order, each user needs to go through a login/register process, like follows:

If you say yes, then you wanna read this next:

Spoiler! View

• How is it planned to work?
• First off, once done, I want to try register my server at worms2d.info's server list. This way GusanoNET would be so easy to select as enabling the community server list from Advanced WA config:

 

• Upon entering, there should be a simple "Welcome" page, offering links for registering, logging in, and possibly checking user lists, statistic or etc internal data.
• As usual, upon logging we see the usual channel list and connected users list as well...

(To-do: Finish rewriting all server files in PHP code, rewrite UnrealIRCd modules to give acceptable output syntax to WA, thus fully getting rid of MyWormNET (So in case of any bugs, these may be fixed without needing to rebuild the server and shuting it down in the meanwhile))
 

• Entering to #RankedChannel, as expected, enables ranking-specific functions in the game, such as the "Show Rankings" button:

Known issue: "Show rankings" button is there, but it has a lower priority than text area; in order to enter and let rankings to display, button must be clicked around the edges.
 

• #AnythingGoes channel is currently thought as a "mirror" to #AnythingGoes channel from Team17's WormNET server. Crazy as it sounds, but my idea is to give some sense of easy connection :P :

To-do: I have absolutely no idea how to link the IRC part for it (users, chat messages), but HTTP part is fully linked with no problems. If IRC linking definitively couldn't be done, don't worry about hosting games, I may try find a way to write a forwader for HostingBuddy . Hosted games on this channel will be same on both servers, or depending the situation it may be hold just here, if Team17's WormNET goes down.
Dev notes:

• Current state: Trying to guess what WA expects as server output on certain ocassions, regarding the Ranking system.
• "Display Rankings" bug: Fixable by editing executable's resource data. Definitively NOT the best solution, but that's all possible for now. Not a "big" bug though.
• Steam: Need somebody to try connect mine local server from a Steam WA version, and try to address any differences against "normal" latest update.
• Snoopers: Due to how security system works, snoopers can't access the HTTP area. If possible, I wanna speak with current maintaners to explain how to pass this barrier.
• Game logging: I don't believe it's true, but StepS once said me original WormNET also had a bot, that used to go inside hosted games, made for logging them (it still have logic, especially since in a full game there will be at least a single player who couldn't put his team to play). In order to get such a bot working, I'd need to get a powerful-dedicated PC on my network in order to log all these games simultanously, something I simply haven't the money for, so it couldn't be done if not after some great time.
• Tech info: Upon release, server will run a modified UnrealIRCd 3.2 and Apache/2.4.7 + PHP/5.5.9-1ubuntu4.5 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

(PS: As staff may have noticed, I'm a re-registerd user. I couldn't use mine old account anymore, because I couldn't remember mine old account's password nor email address. Sorry!)

Excuse my bad grammar, thanks for reading, please comment and tell me your thoughts, and have a nice day!!!

(yeah, a pair of list tags always reappear here, no idea why) ->[/list][/list][/list]

[j0hny]

You're use wrong server everyone use Team17's WormNet 1

[MonkeyIsland]

Hello lolicon-guy,

That's a nice effort but from my experience people want the ranks back on the official WN server. Any other server than that won't have the meaning they're looking for.

p,s. Those unfinished list tags means you have opened some list tags and forgot to close them all properly.

[lolicon-guy]

Hello lolicon-guy,

That's a nice effort but from my experience people want the ranks back on the official WN server. Any other server than that won't have the meaning they're looking for.

Hmm... to be frank that's exactly what I first thought about it, and the reason behind mirroring the #AnythingGoes channel inside . But I see what you mean

p,s. Those unfinished list tags means you have opened some list tags and forgot to close them all properly.

Strange . When I first wrote this post it worked fine (on another forum system). When I copypasted the text/code it had a huge lot of problems, especially with the "spoiler" tags, that I tried to fix fastely. Even odd is that to avoid confusion with opening and closing the tags, while writing I put the opening and closing ones inmediately, then wrote the text inside. Not sure what happened.

[Kaleu]

Nice way to comeback, lolicon-guy.
It would be great implement, people want the ranks back but alternative servers are used only when the official is down, do you have any idea to promote your server if it goes as you plan?

[lolicon-guy]

Well, first off, server in the future could be easily accessable by enabling the community server list from WA config . And of course doing most advertisement I could, here and around other webpages, taking care to avoid the "spammer" fashion.

Great question, man. But I think I'm gonna focus on that once I get it partially done.

If doesn't go as expected... well, I can be satisfect with this server being fun to write =D

[Aerox]

Well, first off, server in the future could be easily accessable by enabling the community server list from WA config . And of course doing most advertisement I could, here and around other webpages, taking care to avoid the "spammer" fashion.

Great question, man. But I think I'm gonna focus on that once I get it partially done.

If doesn't go as expected... well, I can be satisfect with this server being fun to write =D

Can you make Channels with default schemes in hosted games that can't be changed?

[lolicon-guy]

Yes, it is possible. But just with stock schemes (Intermediate, Team17, these).

Don't know if possible, but if I find any random crazy workaround to use all/rest schemes... then I'll offer it. Forced scheme must be set with numbers; if I can properly reference new schemes with new numbers, that would be an alternative.

[StepS]

Like I've already said before, the old ranking system is flawed in almost every way. You can't use it reliably unless you plan to only play with some close friends. There's no way for the server to know that you actually played a game. All attempts of implementing the ranking mode as it was in the early days will remain easily hackable. So implementing this is nothing more than spending free time for fun (or not) coding.
Also, lots of bugs have accumulated in ranked mode over the years. For example, you can't play multi-round matches (host doesn't proceed to the next round), and that the generated map which you can't change is tied to the complexity slider, can be hacked, etc...

[Tomi]

You just can't do major changes in this game without the help of DeadCode and CyberShadow. But they don't really look for help, or maybe they just can't let other people help them, coz of some contract with team17. Or dunno what's going on here

[lolicon-guy]

Like I've already said before, the old ranking system is flawed in almost every way. You can't use it reliably unless you plan to only play with some close friends. There's no way for the server to know that you actually played a game. All attempts of implementing the ranking mode as it was in the early days will remain easily hackable. So implementing this is nothing more than spending free time for fun (or not) coding.

Ahhh... security. Like if most professional multiplayer servers weren't already hacked in worse ways . There are more ways to prevent hacking than the common-practice "normal" connection block, score backup, IP & Proxy block, and so on to name a few. Can't speak much about it, but in simpler words, let's say that one of few checks I'm trying to write is about X thing can't happen if this other Y thing didn't earlier, and so on.

You can't use it reliably unless you plan to only play with some close friends.

Uhhh... f@#! no.
Yes, while I can ask my friends to try out certain functions with the time, keeping such a system for ourselves... would be nothing but a terrible waste. As person, I'm just unable to keep stuff in a selfish manner.
Myself for example, in another community, at first I got a huge drama once releasing this with its source code included, because of one of Tech Members guys trying to acusse me of stealing part of his program from his other closed-source project, even though other Tech guy once tried to disassemble an old project I had time ago, with the sole intention of checking if I stole any programming or not.
Selfish and elitist programmers are nothing but f@#!ers. Not that I have a bias against a community or group of people as whole, but these facts have marked me for life.
I'm merely a hobbyist, but I don't want to follow such an example.

Also, lots of bugs have accumulated in ranked mode over the years. For example, you can't play multi-round matches (host doesn't proceed to the next round), and that the generated map which you can't change is tied to the complexity slider, can be hacked, etc...

Hmmm.. some friends and me had no problems with multi-rounds. Generated fixed map also only occurs when a forced scheme setting is setup, and considering the wide scheme variety... I won't do it. It'd be just pointless

You just can't do major changes in this game without the help of DeadCode and CyberShadow. But they don't really look for help, or maybe they just can't let other people help them, coz of some contract with team17. Or dunno what's going on here

Hmmm... I'm not actually thinking on edit any portion of the game . What would be useful is a more extense documentation than present here, or, MAYBE, how HTML pages used to look like back then, so I can get a greater idea about the possibilities :O

[avirex]

bringing ranks back has always been talked about, and im sure everyone would enjoy it...

the problem is, if its not on the regular server, like MonkeyIsland pointed out, it just wont be as appealing to some players...

Also, it would be detrimental to the longevity of the game, one of the reasons w2 died, was because "hackers" or "programmers" whatever you want to call them started making other servers, and one of them became more popular, so then only the "pros" had access to it...  new comers had no way to find the server everyone used, and it killed the game..

same thing would happen to W:A, and it would be a shame :X

[darKz]

Thing is, ranks got hacked in the past, that's why they were disabled in the first place. People could just do again if it's the exact same thing as back then, they only need to change a few numbers in the program. It's your call, if you enjoy coding you should certainly do it but don't expect it to succeed.

[StepS]

Ahhh... security. Like if most professional multiplayer servers weren't already hacked in worse ways .

The "security" of the old ranking system didn't go beyond opening a page in webbrowser (ProcessGameResult.asp) to boost your score. Now guess why ranks were removed.
You can't create a reliable ranking system when there's no knowledge of the game state/logic on the server side at all. I've already told you this on the IRC, yet you're failing to understand the key reason of the ranks' removal.

Yes, while I can ask my friends to try out certain functions with the time, keeping such a system for ourselves... would be nothing but a terrible waste.

That wasn't the point. It's not about "keeping it for yourselves", it's about usefulness for the rest of the world (no one is going to play ranked games when you can just open a webpage to boost your score, and when the server is not official on top of that). Also the time spent will not be worth it.

Hmmm.. some friends and me had no problems with multi-rounds.

When you host a match that requires multiple wins on a ranked channel, clients auto-proceed to the next round, but the host remains stuck in the lobby, unable to do anything except for quitting or waiting for the clients to quit the round and start everything over again.

Generated fixed map also only occurs when a forced scheme setting is setup

Wrong. You can never change the map on a Ranked channel, no matter forced scheme or not, without hacking the game. You can either use the one-time autogenerated island/cavern map or force an intrinsic level on the channel.

a forced scheme setting is setup, and considering the wide scheme variety... I won't do it. It'd be just pointless

How would it be pointless? Don't you realize the original WormNET had each ranked channel designed specifically for each scheme? (also, take TUS leagues as an example)
Don't be surprised when some noobs come and host games with infinite bananas and other unbalanced settings to boost their score within one channel. Rankings would be pointless then.

Hmmm... I'm not actually thinking on edit any portion of the game

Then be ready to face all sorts of problems, both aforementioned and not. And ultimately, ask yourself the question: if the idea sounds so great, why hasn't anyone attempted to make such a server during all these years since the removal of the original ranking system?

P.S.: A guy called "CashD" has recently implemented the WWP server (with IRC/HTTP encryption support, registrations, and ranked/passworded channels). Just like you, his anticipation of a "true ranked mode" was too high and in the end, he understood that this was all going nowhere. I'm just giving you an advice that if what you want is to make a public ranked server, and not just have some fun discovering game protocols' details with POCs, then don't waste your time and think of something else. Eventually, ranks will be implemented, as they should be, in W:A.

[Tomi]

That's what I said, you can't really make a working server without a client that can't use it properly. W:A must be modified for that. CS amd DC are working on the 4.0 update for a while, but nobody knows when it will be done. And I am sure that update will contain major changes in the online part of the game.

BUT, there is one project that can be successful these days and it is a TUS bot, that works like hostingbuddy (if I would have some free time I'd really like to make something like this). The main idea is that it could host TUS games with the proper schemes, maybe with preset mappacks, and it would also auto-report the game when it is done. Though that's not a PHP project :/