Game Development Community

Petition for Tribes 2 Master Server code

by Scott Warren · in General Discussion · 12/11/2009 (10:48 am) · 22 replies

Requests for Master Server
2001
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/2145
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/2078
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/1914
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/1292

2002
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/3979
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/3816
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/8163

2004
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/17038
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/17253

2005
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/33872

2006
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/52276

2007
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/59127

2009
http://www.torquepowered.com/products/forumaccess/63
(closed to me, I do not own T3D)

Requests for Master Server Bug Fix or Resource
2001
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/1290

2002
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/7704
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/5474
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/8234
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/6406

2003
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/11222
2004
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/19360
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/19412

2005
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/25960
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/27540

2006
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/48747
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/48750
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/48749
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/32812
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/47838
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/51654
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/51989

2007
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/59476
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/65124
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/57696
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/59272
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/65923

2008
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/77593
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/70903

2009
http://www.torquepowered.com/products/forumaccess/63
(closed to me, I do not own T3D)
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/86103
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/97839
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/102121
http://www.torquepowered.com/products/forumaccess/63
(closed to me, I do not own T3D)

Requests for GG Test Server
2002
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/5888
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/5912
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/8273


2005
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/28895


2006
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/38669
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/44922


2007
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/67061
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/78655
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/58123
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/69611

2008
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/73889


Finally
http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/viewthread/70305
request to get Master Server code for Tribes 2

This is my official request for Tribes 2 Master Server code.
Stand alone Master Server Code.

Many if not all links to OpenTNL are dead-ends.
TNL is included with all Torque Game engines and as a seperate Package for developers that wish to incorporate TNL into their own Game engine.
Every Google trick I know to locate what I seek to find on the Internet has lead to 2 days of dead-ends.
Even if I was able to locate Tribes / Tribes 2 game code to get a grasp of the Master Server specific code,
I would still need to take a class in College or spend years self training to figure out what parts of the code are actually necessary to build a Stand-Alone Master Server.. but the last 2 days was atleast an effort to get answers.

I discovered that back in 2001 a request for Master Server code was initiated and the response was
Quote: 10/22/2001 (7:38 am)
I'm not sure, a release of the master server is currently not on our high priority list. If there's enough interest, we can reconsider, but it seems like there's more important tasks to work on.
by Tim Gift

Since 2001 there have been many requests for the same Master Server code supplied as a stand alone .exe for the purpose of Testing or Deployment.
This is now December 2009, and the engine has Grown by leaps and bounds. I am sure thousands of licenses have been sold and none of them have included this simple request.. Stand alone Master Server code.

There is a post from Ben Garney ( when he was employed with GG ), to simply open the TNL and roll-your-own Master Server.
If this process was so easy for the vast majority of Torque License holders, then I would not have posted here for the request and I wouldn't have included a very small fraction of links to the same.

Now GG is going through a company Name change, has moved, and built Torque by leaps and bounds, ( thanks to all the license holders to keep it going )... but those of us that have been buying the licenses in hopes of learning the engine and hopefuls of building the next great game still have not been answered to our request.

Finally the last link above is another request for the Master Server code.
Is this still not a priority?
Is this on the priority list at all?
It would seem to me personally, that supplying license holders with a full blown, no-holds-barred, fully filtered and expandable Master Server code is way over due.

Thoughts?
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Associate David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#1
12/11/2009 (3:00 pm)
Did you look at the basic Master Server included with OpenTNL? It's a good starting point. It is also easy to understand.

EDIT:
From your message I didn't know if you had actually found TNL.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#2
12/11/2009 (3:37 pm)
Hi Dave,
Yes I went to that Link, the large green button for download.
I got a great example of ZAP (c) 2004 garagegames

Credits:
Lead programmer
Mark Frohnmayer

Linux programmer
John Quigley

programmer and sound effects
Ben Garney

programmer
Robert Blanchet

Internal testers
Alex Swanson
Brian Ramage

External Testers
Clark Fagot
Joe Maruschak
#garagegames

Just an install of the ZAP game and I tried that download twice to my desktop in a folder to be sure I wasn't missing something.
After installing it's just a game.. Fun game no less.
I reached the link from elsewhere while looking for the OpenTNL source code and ended with a ZAP game.. Ironic I think.

I am just a hobbyist ok? I am no die-hard Indie Dev or even a Mod'er.
Just a guy that tinkers with TGB, TGE, TGEA,( all licensed ).. and I like to spend money on the content packs to see how 'You all do it'.

For me it's a lot like building a model Airplane from Balsa wood.. You do it now and then when you get time for it.

During my Tinkering with TGEA lately I thought I'd use it as a testbed to network my 2 laptops and Play something like Stronghold, as an excercise of learning.
I feel sure that thousands of license holders to Torque ( students included ) fit into this niche. And.. we are probably the majority of people that buy the license to attempt a go at making something.. many of us fall flat and never get anything done but without us (being the grease in the wheels) Torque would have to rely on School licences, and die-hard developers to keep cash flowing.

I don't think I am asking very much on behalf of the entire community.
While many license holders may actually benefit more with an actual working, stand alone Master Server ( Tribes 2 variety that GG uses ).
Imagine the possibilities of the masses when they all get their hands on something that is concrete and solid ( Tribes 2 Master Server ) to Tinker with and Improve.
To see what I mean.. Just look at the folks that took Torque to where it is now.

Granted, the Master Server that GG runs would need a revamp of sorts to prevent catastrophe ( as stated in the 2001 forums ), but license holders are left to their own skills or lack of skills when it comes to the Master Server.

Those links above are just the few I grabbed from 3 pages of lists.. there were 7 or more pages of those links.. All requesting a Master Server or help to figure it out.
Near 10 years is High Time to give it up and give us the code. Yes?

Associate Scott Burns
GG Alumni
#3
12/11/2009 (4:02 pm)
There are also multiple resources for Master Servers right here on the site. Off the top of my head there's Ben Garney's Push Button Master Server resource which has been maintained and updated by multiple people over the years, there's a resource for one written in Perl and I'm fairly certain there's one floating out there written in php. I'm not sure if the author of that one ever posted it publicly or not.

I'm not able to dig up the links for those right now, but I'll try to find them later tonight if anyone else hasn't beat me to it by then.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#4
12/11/2009 (4:22 pm)
Hi Scott,
Thanks for responding.
I have already looked at and tried the "Resources" avenue.
Also the Pushbutton MS link is broken.

This petition is not just about me.. It's about the hundreds of people that have already requested the Master Server code.

There are a few points I want to point out again.
1. License holders do not receive a Master Server code, they are left to their skills or lack of skills for a Master Server.
2. License holders may need to resort to outsourcing for a workable solution.
3. OpenTNL is very difficult to locate and track down. Once you have it, your still left to decipher it and build your own Master Server.
4. TNL is included ( eliminates finding OpenTNL ).. Your left to decipher the code to build a working Master Server or outsource to get one built.

I am trying to aim at the logical side of all the readers here.
There is very little resource that actually works, and of that, a smaller amount will be happy with the results depending on their Needs.

The answer of course is with the Master Server code that Tribes 2 used, the same Source Code that GG uses since their aquisition of Dynamix Tribes game.

Lastly, both posts here are about Roll-Your-Own Master Server with what resources you have or hunt down, or pay for.

This isn't a complaint by any means, it's a Petition to get the code released that will give the license holders to Torque, a stand alone Master Server that they can use for their development tests or deployment.
Also while the brilliant folks that supplied the resources to answer the need, might be fine for some people, they are not the Tribes 2 Master Server code. The resources are made to try to fill the need that GG ( torquepowered ) hasn't filled in 10 years.
Not everyone that buys Torque realises they get all the bells and whistles promised in the latest Blog, but they lask a very basic tool.

This is the purpose of this thread.. Supply the code.


Associate David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#5
12/11/2009 (5:08 pm)
You can download the source from that page as well. Click on the files tab like any other Sourceforge page and you'll have access to it. You can also download the source from my server. I packaged the binaries for the master server and client in 2007 due to someone's request back then.

The entire featureset of TNL is not included in the sense that you are indicating. TNL was stripped out of TGE and then adapted with a number of features that made sense in licensing a network engine for third-party non-Torque development.

I can't recall off hand what had to be stripped from Torque initially when Sierra sold GG the license. Pat, Ben, Rick, Tim, Jeff, and the rest could answer that one better than I can. I think Pat and Ben still have nightmares about that time period. Not sure if the Master Server code had anything that could not be distributed or not.

You can definitely adapt the TNL source to what you need in a Master Server aside from just connecting a number of clients to each a hosted server. It has been about two years since I opened up the code and I'm looking at it now. It's as easy to read as it was then, and I am by no means a network guru by any means. If you need backend database support for player metrics, tiering/ladders, abuse notification, etc then you'll need to design it specifically for your game.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#6
12/11/2009 (6:32 pm)
Thank you Dave
I will work with the files you linked.

*edit Looking for the files

Dave the right click to save file as: contains what seems to be a *.zip_
I renamed it to *.zip but will not open as if it's an invalid zip file.
Could I bother you to email them to me?
pintoale1 AT verizon.net

A right click to save, gives me a 32kb file on both links.
a right click from my email for the 2 links, gets me a 404 error message.

Thank you for your help.
:-)

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#7
12/11/2009 (8:28 pm)
Works for me. I get a 2.4MB ZIP archive.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#8
12/11/2009 (8:29 pm)
what browser are you using, and did you try the links from Dave above to get that file?
All I can get are 35k firefox or IE documnent type files, that cannot be opened as a zip if renamed or as an html file.

@Ronny,
Can you email me the 2 files that David linked above please?
pintoale1 AT verizon.net

Torque 3D Owner Steve
YP productions
#9
12/11/2009 (8:45 pm)
I can't access those links either, using Firefox. They send me to the forums.

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#10
12/11/2009 (9:52 pm)
I'm using the latest Safari on a Mac.

I've mirrored the source archive here:
con.structive.net/tnl-1.5.0-source.zip

If it's not downloading from there either, you have a problem in need of investigation. I have seen this happen with dreadful antivirus programs, like Norton, or firewall software (again Norton, among others). The cause could be webfilters modifying webpages, firewalls/antivirus detecting the archive as something dangerous or it could be your ISP using invisible HTTP filters (anything that goes through port 80 would then pass by their servers, which could be badly configured), Your browser could also have a bad day, faulty plugin or something.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#11
12/12/2009 (12:33 am)
Well, this link gets me a 3kb file.
I do run Nortons AV 360, I'll work through this issue and find the files.

Atleast the MS code is out there, it's a step closer to getting the MS code.
I don't mind working through the files when I finally get them.
And I want to thank you guys for the help.
Much appreciated.

Associate David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#12
12/12/2009 (12:44 am)
Hmm.. I haven't had any problems from any of the Browser's I've tried: Safari (XP, W7, OSX 10.5), Chrome (XP, Vista, W7, OSX 10.5), Firefox (XP, Vista, W7, OS X 10.5), or Opera (XP, W7).

Torque Owner Christian Weber
HydraGames
#13
12/12/2009 (4:50 am)
As im no c++ guy i just wrote a Master server using php as à daemon which works pretty well. Also very easy connecting it to your Website and Account System

Torque Owner Mike Rowley
Mike Rowley
#14
12/12/2009 (9:52 am)
@David, It has to be a norton 360 problem. I can access the sourceforge files, but If I click one of your links, it just takes me back to the forum.

Torque 3D Owner Sherman Pendley
#15
12/12/2009 (11:46 am)
It's not a browser or antivirus problem. The links are broken. Just "view source" on this page, and you'll see why:

href=""http://www.godsendproductions.com/downloads/tnl-1.5.0-source.zip""
href=""http://www.godsendproductions.com/downloads/tnlmasterexample.zip""

Because they don't begin with http://, your browsers are interpreting them as being relative to this page, and attempting to go to http://www.torquepowered.com/community/forums/editcomment/708257/"http://www.godsendproductions.com/downloads/tnl-1.5.0-source.zip"

Here they are, without the extra quote entities, so they work:

http://www.godsendproductions.com/downloads/tnl-1.5.0-source.zip
http://www.godsendproductions.com/downloads/tnlmasterexample.zip

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#16
12/12/2009 (12:12 pm)
Seems like Safari knows what to do with the links anyway - " turns into ", and it ends up being a quoted link, which is perfectly fine. Since he can't get anything from MY server either, I am going to blame Norton 360 for being a piece of crap.

Semi-off topic rant: I had to fix a mail problem for someone, a most peculiar one. Delete key didn't work. No matter what we did, only the mouse operation to delete mail worked. Disabled Norton's mail "protection", and suddenly the delete key worked fine. Whiskey tango foxtrot‽ Another issue cropped up with webpages, same source, and so it went on. The user is still clinging to Norton like it's his baby, "because he paid for it, waaaaah!". Drop that piece of crap. It destabilises systems.

Associate David Montgomery-Blake
David MontgomeryBlake
#17
12/12/2009 (1:56 pm)
Weirdness. It even resolved correctly on my iPhone. I copied and pasted the URL directly from my browser, so there shouldn't have been any extra quotes anywhere in there.

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#18
12/12/2009 (7:16 pm)
Good too see the community come together for assisting me with this.
Even while getting this code will be an excercise of learning ( I hadn't done C or C++ since 1991 ), It's still a great feeling to see that even for a hobbyist, you all jump on-board to help :-)

Hopefully, while I work through the files and locate a GCC compiler that works with Vista for this ( or a version of VC6 or VC7 ).. Maybe others can get the Master Server code summed up into a working Exe for the mass amounts of requests that are looking for it.

As for me, I am fully satisfied now that I can read the code and go from there,.. I even got a-hold of Doxogen to generate the Help files from the source.

Just wanted to give Props to everyone here.
Thank you

Torque 3D Owner Ronny Bangsund
Torque Cheerleaders
#19
12/12/2009 (7:42 pm)
You might want to get Visual Studio Express, since it's free. You'll also need the platform SDK, and it can't hurt to grab the DirectX SDK while you're at it. There should be a post about what exact packages are used for Torque development. It's good to be prepared :)

Torque 3D Owner Scott Warren
#20
12/12/2009 (9:44 pm)
Hi Ronny,
I was able to dig into it enough to see it needs an old compiler.
Something like VC6 or VC7, Though I think Visual Studio 2005 is the same as VC7 ?
I hadn't really had the time to search for that compiler yet but it could be too old to locate ( and I refuse to have anything hacked or cracked on my system).
Some part of the readme file pointed me to look for a GCC compiler, but the problem with that is Vista Ultimate doesn't play well with others and I may have to resort to Dev C++.. there is a work around to make it compile inside Vista ( aka Virus Ultimate in my neck of the woods ).
In any case it will be a few days until I can even get to dive in,.. moving tomorrow morning to return to NC.

The nice thing about this Thread is that there is a sample Master Server that David compiled with MS Visual C++ 2005 ( VC7 ? ).
So at the very least, those people that sought to get some form of Master Server can get a sample here, provided the Links never die.

Didn't get to read much, through any of the source codes, but as David said, it should be easy enough for anyone to get it up and running for Testing .. Deployment though would need something more robust.

Thanks for the heads up about Visual Studio Express, hopefully ( if I find it ), alot of the code won't be deprecated.. which means it would require a small change to the #include(s) to supress the warnings or to upgrade the files to the more secure functions.

In anycase. I'm outta here. Train leaves early and I have 3 kids to get moving. I'll get back to this in a few days.
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