NWN Gamespy Server Replacement Project

[Legacy_AlthorDeMalavir]

               

Dante2377 wrote...

 FYI, this site nwnserverlist.com/ seems to be constantly over its bandwidth limit.

I got this error 

Bandwidth Limit ExceededThe server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

last night and again right now..since the other site can't/doesn't list the Action category, that makes it so I can't find the IP of the server I wanted..

Sorry, I travel this week and I wasn't able to give more bandwidth to webpage.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_DagNarus2]

               There should be a feature where you can create games and have them show up on a list you can choose from like on battle  net with WC3 Custom games. So you can just fire up a game with whatever module and it shows up and people can just join in a lobby. Then the module starts and the people who connected play it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Knight_Shield]

               

virusman wrote...

Thanks for the feedback.
Here is the new version, hopefully fixing all of the bugs described here.

NWNCX 0.2.7
http://data.virusman...nwncx-0.2.7.rar
Serverlist plugin: fixed server connectivity, Action game type listing bug
Tweaks plugin: moved Instant Feats to another position in radial menu, giving DMs the ability to cast NPC's instant feats while possessing the NPC
Updated the loader to handle command line parameters correctly

 '>'>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               One question about this whole topic...

Are all the efforts to contrive a "replacement" of GameSpy focused on an integrated solution (one that spawns as part of the game exe) or as another peripheral utility like xfire?

The thing is, xfire works just fine as far as I can tell (are there any more than around 180 NWN servers out there?) so am really not in need of another discrete app to find server addies unless it would provide a more elaborate server characteristic search capability and that would require all the server admins to populate a new, more detailed server index database.

Some clarification please. TIA
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Sadira of Tyr]

               Our server admin has not had any luck getting our server to work with NWNCX. Seems it is not seeing the module.

We could use some help getting our server listed in nwnlist.com, and the server list in game.

Here is our server:

Server: Legion of Darkstar
Module: Sword Coast Adventures
IP Address: 70.104.195.212:5121
Category: PW Action
Our Forum: legionofrhun.freeforums.org


Any help getting us listed would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_painofdungeoneternal]

               

HipMaestro wrote...

One question about this whole topic...

Are all the efforts to contrive a "replacement" of GameSpy focused on an integrated solution (one that spawns as part of the game exe)

NWNCX modifies the game process, you have to use it's launcher, or optionally patch the game client, then the server list works as it used to. *This uses the skywing API.

or as another peripheral utility like xfire?

Whatever works for you, you can even direct connect if you wish.

The thing is, xfire works just fine as far as I can tell (are there any more than around 180 NWN servers out there?) so am really not in need of another discrete app to find server addies unless it would provide a more elaborate server characteristic search capability and that would require all the server admins to populate a new, more detailed server index database.

I am not sure how or why 180 servers are in xfire, unless PW admins add their servers so they are listed in xfire, I have no idea how those servers get into xfire to begin with. The current pool of servers with the skywing API is not completely debugged, but once all the issues are worked out, it should be the comprehensive resource for servers.

There are a coalition of solutions, all working together, all using the API set up by skywing in some manner. NWNCX support for in game listing was just added, there are people working on integration to NWNX which a lot of PW's use. If you have a website and want to list servers, show status on some servers, or show all the spanish servers, or do something new like keep statistics on server uptime for example, I have a php class which should make using this easier. ( still very rough, did it at 2 am, and plan on releasing it when i get a moment, but does not show some of the problems some websites seem to have. )

This API, is headless, it's usable by any app or end user, and completely open to use as you see fit, even xfire if it so wishes, even though I doubt that is happening. It supports all the techniques discussed, either currently or being debugged and in development. This means PW admins can directly register, end users can direclty register, lists of known servers can be scraped and added by third parties, server admins can adjust their hosts files and the server can do it directly, and like i said NWNx support which modifies the server process will provide direct integration.

The nice thing about this, is it allows different projects to share the core information, the actual list of servers involved. Anyone can build on this, and does not need to figure out via wireshark how to replace the gamespy server, nor do we get a split list with half of the servers choosing to point their hosts file to one server, and the other half pointing their hosts file to another, thus making it impossible to get a comprehensive list.

However at the same time, it allows ANYONE to come up with a new tools, using the same data, and present it to the end user in many different ways. Users can choose the one that benefits them the most, and PW admins can use multiple methods to get their server listed, including setting this up themselves.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par painofdungeoneternal, 04 mars 2013 - 01:29 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_painofdungeoneternal]

               

Sadira of Tyr wrote...

Our server admin has not had any luck getting our server to work with NWNCX. Seems it is not seeing the module.

We could use some help getting our server listed in nwnlist.com, and the server list in game.

Here is our server:

Server: Legion of Darkstar
Module: Sword Coast Adventures
IP Address: 70.104.195.212:5121
Category: PW Action
Our Forum: legionofrhun.freeforums.org


Any help getting us listed would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I'll take a look at it, the nwnlist.com server does not seem to be working with regards to registering, and they don't seem to have had a chance to fix the issues with the action servers not showing up, or registering, and I reported it a while back. ( both features work in the actual API, and I verified they work in the php class i set up to help one of the projects integrate, and sent working examples of how it should be done. )

I think the main method that is working, is actually pointing your hosts file to skywings server.

I am thinking i probably need to release a tool to manually register, or put such on a web site somewhere. ( If there is anyone interested in supporting the effort, I have a php class which registers servers, which can easily be integrated into your website, if you have basic php skils, i am not going to be able to get something up right away myself with everything else i am doing )
               
               

               

                     Modifié par painofdungeoneternal, 04 mars 2013 - 01:31 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Sadira of Tyr]

               I do not even know what are php skills, lol, but thank you very much for agreeing to help.


               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

The thing is, xfire works just fine as far as I can tell (are there any more than around 180 NWN servers out there?) so am really not in need of another discrete app to find server addies unless it would provide a more elaborate server characteristic search capability and that would require all the server admins to populate a new, more detailed server index database.

I am not sure how or why 180 servers are in xfire, unless PW admins add their servers so they are listed in xfire, I have no idea how those servers get into xfire to begin with. The current pool of servers with the skywing API is not completely debugged, but once all the issues are worked out, it should be the comprehensive resource for servers.

http://social.biowar...ndex/15207343/1

The only thing you need to do to get a server listed with XFIRE is to simply join the server using the program. The link I posted above details my foibles in finding this out.

If PW owners want to get listed in the XFIRE list they need to.
1) download and install the program.
2) Connect to the server using the program.
3) Done. Your in.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Lazarus Magni, 04 mars 2013 - 04:40 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_painofdungeoneternal]

               

Lazarus Magni wrote...

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

The thing is, xfire works just fine as far as I can tell (are there any more than around 180 NWN servers out there?) so am really not in need of another discrete app to find server addies unless it would provide a more elaborate server characteristic search capability and that would require all the server admins to populate a new, more detailed server index database.

I am not sure how or why 180 servers are in xfire, unless PW admins add their servers so they are listed in xfire, I have no idea how those servers get into xfire to begin with. The current pool of servers with the skywing API is not completely debugged, but once all the issues are worked out, it should be the comprehensive resource for servers.

http://social.biowar...ndex/15207343/1

The only thing you need to do to get a server listed with XFIRE is to simply join the server using the program. The link I posted above details my foibles in finding this out.

If PW owners want to get listed in the XFIRE list they need to.
1) download and install the program.
2) Connect to the server using the program.
3) Done. Your in.

So this lists all servers which are popular enough to have a person using xfire, using it, basically crowdsourcing the data among xfire users, but not showing those servers which have not had a visitor from xfire. This same method is being used for the NWN2 client extension, probably should be added to NWNCX so it can also crowd source this data. ( i am intending on doing this in my program as well, for users that choose to direct connect, to provide an option to list the server )

Does it allow you to connect to it using the game interface, (click on a link in xfire and have the server open?) Or do you have to type it in? ( vaguely remember it being part of the game install )

The problem is ( not with using it, but the long term impact ), this requires usage of xfire, and is not going to end up finding other tools using this data ( like the in game server listing from NWNCX, or what I am doing ). Probably a great solution though for lan gaming who use a windows system, wonder if it would be possible to actually send data from the skywing api to this service, so it can use the same data. This looks like a great option for the time being, until all the kinks are worked out, but at the end of the day this limits a lot of the options, and suspect all the major servers are listed using both methods.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par painofdungeoneternal, 04 mars 2013 - 05:15 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

painofdungeoneternal wrote...
Does it allow you to connect to it using the game interface, (click on a link in xfire and have the server open?) Or do you have to type it in? ( vaguely remember it being part of the game install )

Understand.  I am not an xfire guru, just DL'd it (after MUCH reluctance, mind you) to locate server addies. So that's how ~I~ use it... to find the addy, type in for direct connect in the game interface and then use it as a favorite through the standard MP start-up.  Sure, it's an extra step, initially, to locate the addy but from that point, I no longer need to crank up xfire.  When ~I~ also do is copy the list into a standing file on each acces and then run a diff to find out if any servers fell off, were added or are just temporarily doing maintenance.  But that's just my own procedure.  So I don't know if there is way to set up, say, an OS command on a server link that would start an instance of the game exe in parallel.  Like i said, no guru with xfire utilities.

The main problem with this whole effort is we typical "player-only" types are confused as hell by all development and alternate listing activity going on.  Can't speak for all us in that category so you can use me as an example of one of more "technically-challenged" users, I suppose.

Basically, we are waiting for a single DL to be offered on the Vault (or wherever) that simulates what the game interface did with thorough instructions on how to integrate the utility.  The less involved, the better IMO.

Otherwise, it just seems like it is developers designing for other developers and server admins some way of maintaining visibility... an arrangement totally transparent to the casual player.  Understand further, I am not critiquing the efforts which appear to be totally magnanimous on the whole , just attempting to convey an overall view of the situation.  Obviously, there is no centralized project leader to estimate a launch date for this unified, single utility, but nonehteless, it would helpful for those who prefer to remian playing this game via PW servers.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 04 mars 2013 - 02:17 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               

Sadira of Tyr wrote...

I do not even know what are php skills, lol, but thank you very much for agreeing to help.

a web scripting language that is used in a lot of those free forum sites.
It's a bit similar to wiki code.  sort of.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 04 mars 2013 - 02:29 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_painofdungeoneternal]

               

HipMaestro wrote...
Basically, we are waiting for a single DL to be offered on the Vault (or wherever) that simulates what the game interface did with thorough instructions on how to integrate the utility.  The less involved, the better IMO.

Its called NWNCX, basically download, uncompress and place in your application folder - and it's already released. Then launch the game with it's provided exe file. After that the game interface works like it used to, I can't see an easier way of doing it ( lot easier then xFire ). After that the technical issues are actually more on the developers and the PW admins to make sure everything is listed.

My app will actually download and install it for you, if you so desire ( once it's completed ), even keep it updated as there are new versions, it's the version control and keeping things updated which is holding me up from releasing it.

There just won't be a single all inclusive app, it's actually a larger more extended app being developed by multiple parties all in cooperation. The central part of it, the listing of servers and registering them is handled by a invisible API just like gamespy used to be, and all those using it are able to use this on their web sites, in modifying the game exe, in making a standalone listing tool. Otherwise the app would be limited to one particular language, it probably would only be inside NWNx and NWNCX as those people do the assembly and C coding, and modding the servers so understand how gamespy works. But it's open so it can be integrated into perl utilities, php websites, VB, C# apps like world gate, java apps, macintosh apps, even iphone apps.

I am actually thinking, i can probably use the NWNx calls to run dos and linux commands, to run a php script with the -f parameter via command line, and use my class to register a server with the current php code.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par painofdungeoneternal, 04 mars 2013 - 04:08 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

So this lists all servers which are popular enough to have a person using xfire, using it, basically crowdsourcing the data among xfire users, but not showing those servers which have not had a visitor from xfire. This same method is being used for the NWN2 client extension, probably should be added to NWNCX so it can also crowd source this data. ( i am intending on doing this in my program as well, for users that choose to direct connect, to provide an option to list the server )

Does it allow you to connect to it using the game interface, (click on a link in xfire and have the server open?) Or do you have to type it in? ( vaguely remember it being part of the game install )

Yes, once someone has direct connected to a PW using XFIRE, that PW show up in the XFIRE NWN1 server list. Which you can scroll down to, and right click and select join. Xfire then launches your NWN main exe, and direct connects you to the server.

Xfire also offers a ton of other features, like an online player list, text and voice chat, video capture, game detection, automatic updates (both for the program itself, and for any games it detects, and ofcourse you can disable this feature if you like), a friends list, favorte server list,  NWN1 community player groups, chatrooms, gamer stats, ect... Over 3000 games supported, and when the GS first went down NWN1 made it into it's top 100 list of game hours spent by players in a particular game. It has a ton of features.
http://www.xfire.com/
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Lazarus Magni, 04 mars 2013 - 07:27 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Lazarus Magni]

               

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

HipMaestro wrote...
Basically, we are waiting for a single DL to be offered on the Vault (or wherever) that simulates what the game interface did with thorough instructions on how to integrate the utility.  The less involved, the better IMO.

Its called NWNCX, basically download, uncompress and place in your application folder - and it's already released. Then launch the game with it's provided exe file. After that the game interface works like it used to, I can't see an easier way of doing it ( lot easier then xFire ). After that the technical issues are actually more on the developers and the PW admins to make sure everything is listed.

What are the steps PW aDMins need to take to get listed with nwncx? I know this has been stated before, but it has been lost to me in the jumble of information out there.

If I know exactly what players and servers need to do I will post this information in my Discontinued Gamespy support information, and a unified list for alternatives to the master server list (CAN WE GET A STICKEY PLEASE?):
http://social.biowar.../index/15517034
Threads (both here, and on the facebook group), and hopefully Bioware will be so kind as to stickey it. I also may try to post the information on gog.com as well.