2018-04-07 21:55:24

Ok, thanks once again for the update Aprone

2018-04-08 13:38:46

Hey there Aprone! Thanks for that update. I'm just happy you have a fix in mind, and I chowdar and Ros can be patient and giving our wrists some rest and perhaps avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome for just a wee bit longer. heeeheehehee!
Take good care over there.
Cheereo!

2018-04-08 14:23:36

Another problem is that only a portion of the Swamp players visit the forum regularly.  Because of the nature of the "fix", people who don't know about the update (when it's ready) don't get to hear the usual message from the server about being out of date.  That login error occurs before it would read the server's incorrect version message, or the message of the day.  Does anyone know of a good way to inform all of the Swamp players about the current situation?

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-08 14:32:07

Hi Aprone.
There is an easy way to inform all Swamp players. You have all their mail addresses in their gamer accounts, right? Or maybe you can make something server side, which sends out a message when they try to log in.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-04-08 15:24:31

SLJ, the server won't be able to send out a message to anyone using the current client, but I like your email idea.  I never really have a reason to look into people's personal account information (real name or email), so that just sits there locked away in the database, and I forget it's there.  Good idea!  I'll toss something together as soon as I get a chance, that will mass email all of the Swamp players about the current situation.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-08 21:09:03

Yeah I was gonna say could you email the players, otherwise it would have to be on here and players that know other players in RL telling them what's going on

2018-04-09 00:09:05

Fingers crossed everybody!  I've been working like a mad man and I believe I finally have things back working again on this new client.  Small scale tests have worked, so now I'm handing it out to see if it's time to celebrate... or duck for cover when everything explodes.  Here's to the first swamp patch in like forever, even if it's just a patch to get us back to where we were a few days ago.

www.kaldobsky.com/audiogames/SwampPatch.zip
Version 3.6c update (1 MB) Last updated 4-8-18 at 6:00pm EST.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-09 02:15:23

Well the server is slowly getting players, and I want to pop in and give another update on the situation.  Some players have experienced a "runtime error 52" when starting up the new patch, and the cause (usually) is that their antivirus program isolates the executable away from the other required files since it was just recently downloaded.  It's called quarantine, or testing mode, or whatever name your particular anti virus uses.  After running the game a few times, it considered the game "trusted" and it let it access its required files like normal.  So far everyone who told me about this "runtime 52" error had it fix itself after trying to run it a few times.

The next possible bug is something that will only affect players who have multiple accounts.  Some of the code I was playing around with many months ago, was meant to speed up the process of logging in.  That code isn't finished so logging in is the same as it used to be, but that code does sometimes kick in when loading up your character list.  If the database is responding too slowly, the game pulls your character list from the last successful log-in.  If you have multiple accounts, that may very well be the character list for your Other account.  If this happens, it obviously won't let you log in as that character since it doesn't match the account you're currently using.  To fix this, you'll find a file called characters.txt in your Swamp folder and you can delete it.  That forces the game to wait as long as needed to get the character list from the online database.

I was going to send out mass emails to everyone, letting them know about the client update, but I ran into a snag.  As it turns out, there is a limit to how many emails I can send using my server before I get flagged as spam.  The limit is quite low (10 at a time or 100 per hour), so unless I want to sit around sending small batches for 11 hours, that plan is over.  I'm hoping everyone who needs to know what's going on will find the information here, or will hear it from other players.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-09 02:22:52 (edited by revan 2018-04-09 03:04:43)

hi,  and thanks you rock!
but I have to say or warn whatever,  this time,
please keep your current backup source code version,  do not trust the older hdd's, especially seagate's drives,  no matter expensive pro or standart
do not keep in server hard drive, or laptop,  just western digital hard drives reliable than seagate
companies cannot guarantee power surges will damage your files or not
so store the code in thumb or ssd or hdd,  whatever there can be purchased
ssd is secure than hdd's
that was my opinion, thought

2018-04-09 03:17:05

when are we going to have a kai day. I might pop in and out during kai day event. smile

Often we have no time for our friends, but all the time in the world for our enemies.

2018-04-09 04:30:27 (edited by defender 2018-04-09 04:32:59)

Wait so I'm confused, first, your server relies on something specific to a company run by Yahoo! which is a company that's barely holding on by the skin of it's teeth as it is... You probably coded that part before the giant data breach announcements though, but is it really specific to Yahoo? or just something that works on a certain type of infrastructure that Yahoo! and presumably some other companies have as well. If so would it be prohibitively expensive to switch to another service to avoid future issues?
And now your saying your going to possibly give a free month to players and that fixing it might take a while, but you've pretty much already fixed it and it only took like a day (props for that by the way good work).
So like what is actually going to take a while then? when you say it'll take time I figured you meant like two weeks, especially after the (Swamp is technically being updated) comment.
I think I just misunderstood mostly, LOL.
If it is going to take a couple weeks or something though than yeah, the hole sending out emails for 11 hours thing I think would be very much worth the time, but at this point I think it's not so.
Also, I didn't know that the "Swamp2" engine was already abandoned, I thought you were just busy helping your neighbors after winter and such. If it's not going to happen than that really sucks... :-( it sounded promising.

2018-04-09 04:59:58

Swamp works fine for me Thanks prone for a fix I was worried LOL.  There is already a Kai day map that is not connected to the main maps, it would be a fun event to have a Kai day have not had one in a while.

2018-04-09 05:45:42

Defender, an example I could give is if you set up a server or website that handed out goods once people purchased them with Paypal.  Paypal deals with the payments, but then it has a very specific way it communicates with your server to notify you of the purchase and its details.  I'm referring to the paypal IPN (Instant payment notification), if you've had any experience with that.  In this pretend situation, you have your own software written that listens for those notifications, and knows how to interpret them once they arrive.  Everything is golden.  Now imagine they, for whatever reasons they have, change how the data arrives in the IPN.  Until you adjust your own code, your server will not know how to interpret the data.

That's not the greatest example, but it's one many people can probably relate to.  For the gamer account security, part of the process is bounced to a yahoo server and the other part goes to my own.  It's meant to avoid something somehow screwing with my home server and bypassing the security.  It's a 2 part system.

What happened is that the response from the server yahoo runs changed its format a bit.  It's the first time they've done this sort of change in the 20'ish years I've used them for hosting, so I don't think it's something I need to fear happening often.

When I was talking about that free month idea, and how it would take a while to get the Swamp client ready, I also thought it could take me a few weeks to have it ready.  I basically canceled everything and worked non-stop on the client today.  To my surprise, I was able to get it up and running way sooner than I expected!  Now I could be celebrating too soon, and there may be some part I forgot to code or some little bugs hiding in there, but so far it seems players are on the server battling zombies.

The "Swamp 2" engine hasn't been canceled.  What was canceled was the idea of using it to make an actual sequel to Swamp.  It seems like a game with a different theme (not so limited to zombies), would be a better choice for the engine.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-09 08:12:34

Hi Aprone.
You're welcome. smile Regarding to send out a massive amount of mails, I know a Wordpress plugin you can use, which you can set to send out a number of mails you choose per hour. Let me know if that could be useful.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-04-09 08:35:19

Thanks Aprone

2018-04-09 09:22:24

Ah okay, yeah I understand generally why the change was a problem already, just wasn't sure if it was because of addressing or something else more complicated.
And I'm only worried about Yahoo! because of how much trouble they've been having as of late as a company, but if it's only your website effected than that isn't as worrying, since if it decides to bail on servers to save money so it can pay for litigation or security upgrades, or Verizon decides they don't want that branch/fold it into an entirely new service than you won't be as badly effected.
Still... impressive that that hadn't changed for 20 years on something so fluid as the internet!


Okay very glad to hear that the new engine is still doing fine, and I already knew about not wanting to do Swamp II, I just misunderstood. :-)


Also, thank you so much from a previous player for working your ass off to fix it, especially with how little your now getting in income from it and how long it's been since it's been on your agenda. It means allot.

2018-04-09 09:55:34

Nice to see swamp working again.
I would love a game where the theem is working together in teams against other teams of people to complete tasks, gain items for your clan and then battle other people to get their shit. Abit like the hc mode that already exists but instead of zombies etc this new game would require you to go on missions against other teams and let's say, you have to complete a mission faster than they do or you got to survive against enermys like rayders and the team who survives most wayves gets something like points or similar. Think you got what i ment
just spawning some random ideas here. But a game where you got to work together against other people would be nice indeed.

2018-04-09 10:37:00 (edited by JasonBlaze 2018-04-09 10:43:16)

edit: never mine, I should download the patch first lol, sorry

2018-04-09 14:38:33

Defender, yeah Yahoo has been circling the drain for a while now.  Technically a few years ago they sold the server/hosting side of their site to a company called Abaco... I just still refer to it as Yahoo since they keep up appearances and still use the "Yahoo" name on everything.  I've been using Yahoo's services since about 1998, and if they made similar changes before now, it's been ones I never noticed or heard about through their emailed updates.  *Aprone shrugs*

These days it is odd to hear someone talk about Yahoo since it's a has-been.  Actually I'd wager most people today don't even think of it as a "has-been", because they weren't around when it was far bigger than google.  Back in the early days when we had yahoo, lycos, alta vista, mapquest, and aol's search as the ones everyone used.  Yep... I'm old.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-09 17:51:48

Hey there Aprone! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy!
I got a week off from work, and you have just officially saved my staycation. Thanks much yet again. I just logged in. Better go fix ros's computer before she flogs me now. heeheeeheeeheheeeheheee!
Tc, and thanks again!
Cheereo!

2018-04-09 18:49:01

Well I must be old as well as I can remember those as well lol

2018-04-09 19:17:38

I am old because I heard a dialup modem on a youtube video the other day and I was thinking it didn't sound quite right, like the two sides were having issues on how to switch to full duplex mode.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-04-10 04:31:53

Some players are getting an odd message about their maps being out of date.  If this happens to you, grab the patch again because I've now included the maps.  It was an odd situation since the patch didn't mess with the maps at all in the first place, lol.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2018-04-10 10:08:38

hi
I m go to
kaldobsky.com
then press login and when I m tri login I have message
HTTP 404 Not Found

2018-04-10 12:02:57

oh same problem,  cannot check for some reasons
account log in page says 404 not found,  my pw are correctly entered