[FUBAR-BDHR]

I'm posting about this here instead of multi since it's unlikely all the coders read the multi forum. 

I had about half an hour today so I decided to see if anyone was online for multi.  First I downloaded the latest 3.6.10 build that I could find that I thought would be OK in multi.  Well it wouldn't even let me log into the server.  Went back to the 3.14XT build and that did let me log in but no one was online except for 1 person in 3.6.9 by then. 

What I would like to see is some way of flagging newer 3.6.10 builds on their multiplayer compatibility.  It's a pain in the but looking for the most recent build only to find it doesn't support multi.  I was thinking the builds need some kind of status showing if they are multi compatible or not.  Something in the message title in the recent build forum would be one solution but maybe not the best.  Any ideas on how we can determine what 3.6.10 build to use for testing?  The way things are now it keeps multi on the back burner all the time because the most recent changes normally don't take multi into account so if you use those you tend to not be able to log into FS2NetD or crash.  If you go back to 3.6.9 you get the old problems plus no lobby.   

Now for the next problem.  What MediaVPs are supported and where to get them.  It's a stanard question that usually has the go to the upgrade project page and get them.  Well there are several downloads and they are in different languages.  What set do we need for multi?

If we can figure out some way of detemining the most recent multi build and what mediavps work in multi is there any way to get an updater downloader for them?

[jr2]

for credit in multi, you need 3.6.9 MVPs with 710 patches.  They are the only ones not in beta.  Turey's will get it for you.  Link at the tippy top of this page.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Are those for the 3.6.10 builds?

[Mura]

i don't think jr2 got the question, we all from multi know about the score only works with 3.6.9 builds (i'm guessing he meant the 3.6.8 mvps with 710 patches, which will only cause the all known "hacked table" error™ )

What he's asking is for a way to know which 3.6.10 builds does have multiplayer capabilities, so we can connect and play properly with them, yes, despite not having the scoring enabled for them (doesn't really matter anyway, the 3.6.9 scoring works for half the people and half the time).

Some of the multiplayer crowd took on the task of pinpointing down bugs for multiplayer so it can progress instead of just staying in the dreaded backburner, and to be fair, i've witnessed how they got quite a few... Think of it as the multiplayer way of helping out the community. 

[WMCoolmon]

I remember I spent about an hour or two on this before I finally determined that none of the post 3.6.9 builds work in multiplayer. In fact, IIRC, I was told that this was deliberate and would be done more gracefully once the new multiplayer code was finished.

Was very frustrating for me, but the long and the short of it is that you'll have to revert to direct IP games for testing for now, unless taylor says something different.

[taylor]

All current 3.6.10 builds should have working score keeping.  At least I was told that it was fixed anyway.  But since then nothing has changed in the FS2NetD code, so if something is broken then it's not likely to be that.

I'm working on a ton of new back-end changes for FS2NetD, everything from new fixes to new features, and even a new website (including a multiplayer specific wiki).  Hopefully that will help take a lot of the guess work out of using multi for you guys.  No ETA though, just "when it's done".

[FUBAR-BDHR]

I couldn't get anything but the 3.6.10XT builds to login to FS2NetD.  Didn't try 3.6.9. 

Seriously what we need is someone to say hey this has multiplayer fixes run it and let us know if there are any bugs.  I think it would help the developers as much as us knowing that everyone is on the same page.  It's not like single player where everyone can just run debug and post a log if they run into a problem.  Everyone needs to be on the same page.  We all know that 3.6.9 has problems that may or may not be fixed already so running it is just beating a dead horse. 

[jr2]

I was under the impression that you had to use the same build as the host did, and then everything worked fine.  But perhaps not, IDK if FS2NetD can take running both 3.6.9 and 3.6.10, I thought it was though, just 3.6.9 couldn't see 3.6.10 and 3.6.10 couldn't see 3.6.9?

[taylor]

The connection config in SVN was actually wrong, which explains why recent builds are messing up.  It should be fixed properly in the next available trunk build though.  In the meantime just use the attached multi.cfg file and you should be good to go with whatever build you've got (except for Xt builds, which had support for the cfg removed).

[attachment deleted by admin]

[FUBAR-BDHR]

OK so anything 3.6.10 should work now with that config and/or anything built from today on.  That's good news.  What about MediaVP support?  Is it or isn't it supported and if it is what are the base files we should have in the folder?  Will having MediaVP add on files hurt anything?

[Shade]

Note, to me knowledge the 3.6.10 test server doesn't actually store any pilots created on it, so points are a moot issue until that changes.

[taylor]

OK so anything 3.6.10 should work now with that config and/or anything built from today on.  That's good news.  What about MediaVP support?  Is it or isn't it supported and if it is what are the base files we should have in the folder?  Will having MediaVP add on files hurt anything?

They still aren't supported.  Once the 3.6.10 VPs are final I'll add those to the CRC database and then the MediaVPs will be supported by 3.6.10 builds (but not 3.6.9 builds).

Note, to me knowledge the 3.6.10 test server doesn't actually store any pilots created on it, so points are a moot issue until that changes.

Huh?  That's a new one to me if that's the case.  It has always created pilots in all of my tests.  And as far as I know (through testing and what others have told me) stats saving works fine now.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

OK so that is any newer build or build with the config file should work in 3.6.10
3.6.10 MediaVP files can be used but prevent point storing until they are final
3.6.10 should store points if used without the MediaVPs

Thanks.  Now we are getting somewhere.  I'll post this info over in the multi forum. 

[Shade]

Huh?  That's a new one to me if that's the case.  It has always created pilots in all of my tests.  And as far as I know (through testing and what others have told me) stats saving works fine now.

According to the website, no pilots exist on the test server, but I suppose that may just be a website issue. I'll log on quick and see if I have any stats in-game.

[Edit] Nope, in game my 3.6.10 test pilot shows no missions, no points, no kills and no score.

[taylor]

According to the website, no pilots exist on the test server, but I suppose tha tmay just be a website issue. I'll log on quick and see if I have any stats in-game.

Oh, yeah the website only sees the test server as a mod, but it isn't.  It doesn't know how to access pilot info in other words, since it's hitting the database up for a mod that doesn't really exist.  The new website will handle that stuff properly though since it will access the FS2NetD server config directly and can deal with the all of the new server setup.

[Shade]

Ah, good

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Great.  Now if I can just get a rainy Saturday afternoon to do some playing. 

It would still be nice to have anyone that makes a change that directly effects multi to drop a note over in the multi forum so it can get tested.  Link to the build would also be nice.