The system has you, Blakhart.
The System is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
I had enough time to do a debugging session of the authentication server and authentication server interface in the game today. All of the account generation related code is in place and functional. This was the last major piece that needed to be built and tested.
I generated the first account on the authentication server for testing right now. The certificate is about 1200 bytes, which is what is sent to the game server as part of the connection process. Here's what the certificate looks like for the interested parties:
First field is the name, second field is the assigned GUID, third field is the account public exponent, fourth field is the account public modulus (512-bit for this one), and the really massive 4096 bit field at the end is the signature generated by the authentication server. If any part of that certificate changes, it will be considered invalid by game servers during the initial processing check.
And... I've attached a screenshot of that process performed in the console. The GUI integration still needs to be completed, but that's fairly minor work.
All of the pieces are complete now, it's just a matter of gluing them together in a user friendly manner.
I've started the process of integrating with Krash's GUIs. This is actually a lot more involved than I anticipated. I've inserted basic connections between the backend scripts and the UIs, but there is a ton of debugging to do.
So far, the entropy gathering script and Mersenne Twister random number generator are connected properly, as is the actual key generation. Testing the availability of the authentication server needs debugging. The account key download code needs debugging. The account request UI connection needs to be finished. I ran into a glitch with the client side account storage code in Ruby, but I just completed the debugging and fixing of that portion.
Making this part work smoothly is pretty critical, since the user will be directly interacting with these UIs on a frequent basis. When I get these UIs fully functional, I'll post a GUI tour for the account generation and login process.
I've started the process of integrating with Krash's GUIs. This is actually a lot more involved than I anticipated. I've inserted basic connections between the backend scripts and the UIs, but there is a ton of debugging to do.
So far, the entropy gathering script and Mersenne Twister random number generator are connected properly, as is the actual key generation. Testing the availability of the authentication server needs debugging. The account key download code needs debugging. The account request UI connection needs to be finished. I ran into a glitch with the client side account storage code in Ruby, but I just completed the debugging and fixing of that portion.
Making this part work smoothly is pretty critical, since the user will be directly interacting with these UIs on a frequent basis. When I get these UIs fully functional, I'll post a GUI tour for the account generation and login process.
once the system is released, would be it possible to implement features such as ladders, universal stats, rankings, ect.? That is assuming there was a large enough player base and interest, and that you coders had all the time in the world to work on it
I think I would prefer to have that stuff not tracked globally. In-game ladders would be cool, but really complicated, and I definitely think everyone would be better off just using TWL.
As you know I already had a stat-tracking system on Last Gasp for pick-up games (and uploaded all the info the www.chaingunned.org for those of you who haven't seen it ), and I think it would be best to just keep it a server-specific thing.
As promised... a screenshot tour of the account creation process, and a technical description of the updates.
Server availability testing is totally functional. Entropy generation for the random number generator is fully functional (but it only takes 10 datapoints; I may modify it to take 40, at 4 per second instead of 10 at 1 per second). RSA key generation is fully functional -- 1024 bit keys took about 6-7 minutes on my Core 2 T7200; 512 bit keys took about 1-2 minutes; I'll have to run some benchmarks on the 768-bit key option.
Communication with the server for the final account creation step isn't quite finished. Communication with the server for encrypted account credential download isn't quite finished. We will add functionality such that a player will be able to do a name availability test on the 3rd step before pushing the "Finish" button -- it's supported on the auth server side, but not yet by the GUI.
Screenshots of the UIs are attached for an account creation process. They are 95% completed, including backend functionality.
ToDo:
-Complete the last 5% of the GUI integration work.
-Perform final testing/debugging of the whole system.
-Produce the user friendly installer.
-Distribute.
As promised... a screenshot tour of the account creation process, and a technical description of the updates.
Server availability testing is totally functional. Entropy generation for the random number generator is fully functional (but it only takes 10 datapoints; I may modify it to take 40, at 4 per second instead of 10 at 1 per second). RSA key generation is fully functional -- 1024 bit keys took about 6-7 minutes on my Core 2 T7200; 512 bit keys took about 1-2 minutes; I'll have to run some benchmarks on the 768-bit key option.
Communication with the server for the final account creation step isn't quite finished. Communication with the server for encrypted account credential download isn't quite finished. We will add functionality such that a player will be able to do a name availability test on the 3rd step before pushing the "Finish" button -- it's supported on the auth server side, but not yet by the GUI.
Screenshots of the UIs are attached for an account creation process. They are 95% completed, including backend functionality.
ToDo:
-Complete the last 5% of the GUI integration work.
-Perform final testing/debugging of the whole system.
-Produce the user friendly installer.
-Distribute.
Additional content is certainly something to think about once we've restored functionality for the existing features, but things like global stat tracking would understandably be a bit iffy.
What may eventually be added in with the core updates is still up in the air at this point, but ideas are always welcome. I'd be happy to brainstorm on implementation and the specific setup an endeavour you come up with would require, and there may well be a good deal of time saved on my end if a proof of concept can be put together to work from when the time comes to test the waters. If it's something people are interested in, at any rate.
I made a few minor tweaks earlier this evening myself, such as fixing a positioning problem with the logo at lower resolutions I overlooked before.
Was thinking of updating the entropy page to give a better visual representation of where the datapoints are selected, as at the moment all you see is the countdown in the instructions. I'll play around with it tomorrow, and if it does prove to be effective I'll give an update.
Also, here's a shot with the option to retrieve an account from the server selected and the latest variation on the logo... Which has been changing around a lot, and I'm sure it'll change some more before release. There's also an alternative transparent logo that can be used if the colour one ends up looking too tacky.
I think I would prefer to have that stuff not tracked globally. In-game ladders would be cool, but really complicated, and I definitely think everyone would be better off just using TWL.
As you know I already had a stat-tracking system on Last Gasp for pick-up games (and uploaded all the info the www.chaingunned.org for those of you who haven't seen it ), and I think it would be best to just keep it a server-specific thing.
others might prefer it the other way around though, id say that its not too hard to do if it reads from twl or something, as an option there for people who want it, but your solution is best in terms of simplicity...
others might prefer it the other way around though, id say that its not too hard to do if it reads from twl or something, as an option there for people who want it, but your solution is best in terms of simplicity...
Yeah I suppose some people love things like global stat tracking. Not much use in debating it now though. What I will say is that it would take someone with the encryption capability of Thyth to make sure that the system can't be mercilessly abused to hell and back. Anyone with a server could potentially inflate the hell out of any stats they want by sending in false results. Hell, I don't even think encryption would make a difference, because stats could be falsified right in the T2 scripts before any encryption can even occur.
On another note, one thing I think would be cool is the return of in-game forums. I haven't checked, but I assume all of the GUIs and other protocols are there from the original in-game forums. Perhaps they could be configured to connect to the TribesNext forums and brought back onto the Tribes 2 main menu. Some extra configurations will have to be done of course, since the user databases aren't shared, and the forum software is entirely different. It can be done though.
Perhaps somebody should develop a package manager, such that we can glob mods and nifty scripts into one central (or distributed) repository...
I like that idea a lot! Perhaps a package and repository for one of these:
# Appsnap a package manager for Windows written in Python released under the GPL.
# Appupdater a package manager for Windows written in Python and PHP released under the GPL.
# Windows-get a package manager for Windows written in Delphi and PHP released into the public domain.
# GetIt uses Appsnap, Appupdater, and Windows-get as sources and combines their repositories to one big catalog. Released under the GPL.
??
I had previously suggested a private bittorrent that requires membership on forums with seeds but Thyth suggested that FTP/HTTP mirrors might be better. And the mirrors would work well with a package manager.
ok... nothing has been said to them this is his take on what we are doing... btw it seems EWo is at the height of of its stupidity... let them do what they want, they'll find that the people will play our server instead, (illegal or not) and that will eventually force their hand
On another note, one thing I think would be cool is the return of in-game forums. I haven't checked, but I assume all of the GUIs and other protocols are there from the original in-game forums. Perhaps they could be configured to connect to the TribesNext forums and brought back onto the Tribes 2 main menu. Some extra configurations will have to be done of course, since the user databases aren't shared, and the forum software is entirely different. It can be done though.
those forums were removed by dynamix when an uproar about abuse rose, i think it would be wise to keep that dead incase a re-enactment of that happens, although im not totally opposed i thought you'd like to know anyway
I like that idea a lot! Perhaps a package and repository for one of these:
# Appsnap a package manager for Windows written in Python released under the GPL.
# Appupdater a package manager for Windows written in Python and PHP released under the GPL.
# Windows-get a package manager for Windows written in Delphi and PHP released into the public domain.
# GetIt uses Appsnap, Appupdater, and Windows-get as sources and combines their repositories to one big catalog. Released under the GPL.
??
I had previously suggested a private bittorrent that requires membership on forums with seeds but Thyth suggested that FTP/HTTP mirrors might be better. And the mirrors would work well with a package manager.
Those do sound like decent options, though I was thinking more along the lines of an in-game feature set (via ruby). If it's integrated with the game, then we don't have to worry about users fetching another program in order to make use of it (Just Thyth breaking it in an update to the ruby core ). And, if it's in-game, I think we would be able to load the files without a T2 restart. If this is the route taken, experimentation will obviously be required.
those forums were removed by dynamix when an uproar about abuse rose, i think it would be wise to keep that dead incase a re-enactment of that happens, although im not totally opposed i thought you'd like to know anyway
The forums were removed after 9/11 because Dynamix didn't want to have to moderate all the heated rants that they predicted would occur (this is the reason they gave back then). Dynamix's decisions based on their own (non)willingness to moderate forums shouldn't have any bearing on what TribesNext decides to do.
The forums were removed after 9/11 because Dynamix didn't want to have to moderate all the heated rants that they predicted would occur (this is the reason they gave back then). Dynamix's decisions based on their own (non)willingness to moderate forums shouldn't have any bearing on what TribesNext decides to do.
well, thats what i heard, but now you've said that, it might be agreeable but we would need a reputation system so we have good forum admins who would acctually reinfore the rules and end possible forum hijackers/griefers
Comments
The System is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
*cough* when done *cough* .... what? :eek:
I had enough time to do a debugging session of the authentication server and authentication server interface in the game today. All of the account generation related code is in place and functional. This was the last major piece that needed to be built and tested.
I generated the first account on the authentication server for testing right now. The certificate is about 1200 bytes, which is what is sent to the game server as part of the connection process. Here's what the certificate looks like for the interested parties: First field is the name, second field is the assigned GUID, third field is the account public exponent, fourth field is the account public modulus (512-bit for this one), and the really massive 4096 bit field at the end is the signature generated by the authentication server. If any part of that certificate changes, it will be considered invalid by game servers during the initial processing check.
And... I've attached a screenshot of that process performed in the console. The GUI integration still needs to be completed, but that's fairly minor work.
All of the pieces are complete now, it's just a matter of gluing them together in a user friendly manner.
I've started the process of integrating with Krash's GUIs. This is actually a lot more involved than I anticipated. I've inserted basic connections between the backend scripts and the UIs, but there is a ton of debugging to do.
So far, the entropy gathering script and Mersenne Twister random number generator are connected properly, as is the actual key generation. Testing the availability of the authentication server needs debugging. The account key download code needs debugging. The account request UI connection needs to be finished. I ran into a glitch with the client side account storage code in Ruby, but I just completed the debugging and fixing of that portion.
Making this part work smoothly is pretty critical, since the user will be directly interacting with these UIs on a frequent basis. When I get these UIs fully functional, I'll post a GUI tour for the account generation and login process.
with that in mind he'll probably kill us all for not having the scripting knowlege he does
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thats great news
mwuhaha
As you know I already had a stat-tracking system on Last Gasp for pick-up games (and uploaded all the info the www.chaingunned.org for those of you who haven't seen it
Server availability testing is totally functional. Entropy generation for the random number generator is fully functional (but it only takes 10 datapoints; I may modify it to take 40, at 4 per second instead of 10 at 1 per second). RSA key generation is fully functional -- 1024 bit keys took about 6-7 minutes on my Core 2 T7200; 512 bit keys took about 1-2 minutes; I'll have to run some benchmarks on the 768-bit key option.
Communication with the server for the final account creation step isn't quite finished. Communication with the server for encrypted account credential download isn't quite finished. We will add functionality such that a player will be able to do a name availability test on the 3rd step before pushing the "Finish" button -- it's supported on the auth server side, but not yet by the GUI.
Screenshots of the UIs are attached for an account creation process. They are 95% completed, including backend functionality.
ToDo:
-Complete the last 5% of the GUI integration work.
-Perform final testing/debugging of the whole system.
-Produce the user friendly installer.
-Distribute.
Nice, sounds great. :]
What may eventually be added in with the core updates is still up in the air at this point, but ideas are always welcome. I'd be happy to brainstorm on implementation and the specific setup an endeavour you come up with would require, and there may well be a good deal of time saved on my end if a proof of concept can be put together to work from when the time comes to test the waters. If it's something people are interested in, at any rate.
I made a few minor tweaks earlier this evening myself, such as fixing a positioning problem with the logo at lower resolutions I overlooked before.
Was thinking of updating the entropy page to give a better visual representation of where the datapoints are selected, as at the moment all you see is the countdown in the instructions. I'll play around with it tomorrow, and if it does prove to be effective I'll give an update.
Also, here's a shot with the option to retrieve an account from the server selected and the latest variation on the logo... Which has been changing around a lot, and I'm sure it'll change some more before release. There's also an alternative transparent logo that can be used if the colour one ends up looking too tacky.
edit: Entropy box has been updated to draw dots when each point is selected, see example here:
http://www.the-construct.net/b/entro.jpg
others might prefer it the other way around though, id say that its not too hard to do if it reads from twl or something, as an option there for people who want it, but your solution is best in terms of simplicity...
Yeah I suppose some people love things like global stat tracking. Not much use in debating it now though. What I will say is that it would take someone with the encryption capability of Thyth to make sure that the system can't be mercilessly abused to hell and back. Anyone with a server could potentially inflate the hell out of any stats they want by sending in false results. Hell, I don't even think encryption would make a difference, because stats could be falsified right in the T2 scripts before any encryption can even occur.
On another note, one thing I think would be cool is the return of in-game forums. I haven't checked, but I assume all of the GUIs and other protocols are there from the original in-game forums. Perhaps they could be configured to connect to the TribesNext forums and brought back onto the Tribes 2 main menu. Some extra configurations will have to be done of course, since the user databases aren't shared, and the forum software is entirely different. It can be done though.
I like that idea a lot! Perhaps a package and repository for one of these:
# Appsnap a package manager for Windows written in Python released under the GPL.
# Appupdater a package manager for Windows written in Python and PHP released under the GPL.
# Windows-get a package manager for Windows written in Delphi and PHP released into the public domain.
# GetIt uses Appsnap, Appupdater, and Windows-get as sources and combines their repositories to one big catalog. Released under the GPL.
??
I had previously suggested a private bittorrent that requires membership on forums with seeds but Thyth suggested that FTP/HTTP mirrors might be better. And the mirrors would work well with a package manager.
those forums were removed by dynamix when an uproar about abuse rose, i think it would be wise to keep that dead incase a re-enactment of that happens, although im not totally opposed i thought you'd like to know anyway
The forums were removed after 9/11 because Dynamix didn't want to have to moderate all the heated rants that they predicted would occur (this is the reason they gave back then). Dynamix's decisions based on their own (non)willingness to moderate forums shouldn't have any bearing on what TribesNext decides to do.
well, thats what i heard, but now you've said that, it might be agreeable but we would need a reputation system so we have good forum admins who would acctually reinfore the rules and end possible forum hijackers/griefers