EDIT: Release post is just a couple messages below, or you can click here. Project is discontinued.

Hello. Time ago I hosted a server named Gusanonet, where rankings and medals worked (though glitchy with snoopers and exotic nicks). For it I have investigated a lot (thanks CleanAir for you searchable nick), i.e. how the points system work, the leagues, all the stuff. I even reached an official page with wayback machine featuring a score board, congratulating players and so on. Not everything was implemented back then, the goal was to have fun making something presentable and functional enough, making some of WA's dead code, undead code.
Turns out the server was a complete failure.

However, I promised I'd share the source code back then, but the simple truth is that I lost it. So what do I do? Make it again. I'm not going to host it this time (I don't want to "split the community"), but I'd release the software, just like MyWormNET. Fully written in PHP, including IRC server and bots.

The big question is, do you care? Am I doing something good or wasting my time?
All I'd need is your approval, and perhaps some help developing a wormkit module so maps can actually be changed in ranked channels (i.e. required to play some ranked shopper or such).

Snooper support is not yet planned.

I made a ranked server years ago, and in order to respect accuracy to the old setup, I spent weeks trying to find info from old/archived pages, people who used to play during ranked years, strings for HTTP headers and HTML tags from executable, and whatever unused data current WormNET could give me (schemes for deleted channels and so on). Something to note, back then I didn't understood just what every individual HTTP header meant; I don't remember which ones, but from my hex editor, today I say: SetPlayerType (which IIRC is NOT related to PlayerLevel, the medal's ID), ServerInformation, SetPlayerReliability, FileCheck, CDFileCheck


One thing that called my attention, W:A was meant to display flaming health bars for Elite and Staff players: I never managed to make those work. There's not a single video about it either, so the only proof of their (previous?) existance are the words from an old guy called CleanAir.
I understand that WormNET has been through many changes on game side forgetting the rank system, and some issues arise such as the misplaced "Show Rankings" button. What I don't know, is if has this feature actually been removed in the new updates, or I simply didn't knew how to enable it.
It's just honest curiousity; For one, do consider that if it happens to be a "locked down" feature that can be fully enabled by "pushing the right hidden button", it's the kind of stuff TCRF would be eager to see.

In case those were effectively removed on further updates, I tried to see them in the original version, under Oracle VirtualBox with Windows XP, but would outright crash at some point when trying to enter any server, no matter how "fail-safe" I'd try to setup mine. I don't remember if I did it with or without the "WA Patch", though.


In resume, my questions are:
- Did I miss a switch, perhaps one of those headers I don't know what are for?
- Have the flaming bars been intentionally removed in an update? which one?
- In case it's unintentionally disabled due to a bug, which was the first update to offer changes to WormNET's interface or game-side system or so on?

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]