jerryhopper

sorry for late reply. the activation link now works. i see a difference in the activation link as old activation link had a semicolon and 2 dollarsigns. the current activation link didnt have these, and now it works.

Attempt 2, ends up with the following error. "The activation code you entered is incorrect or expired, you can get another activation link here" When i try another activation link, i still get the same.

ive seen no visible changes in the forums, however i tried to activate my account via some link in the bi store https://profile.bistudio.com but i get an error on the activation link. so im stuck there.

that is an absurd assumption. it just means that the gameengine reports to gamespy that its hosting a game session. and absolutly NOTHING more.

Uhmm i assume they read and agreed to the Gamespy TOS ;) because i did! so no, im not gonna remove that ( unless some bi guy would ask that silly question )

FYI: You can now use GoogleDrive for hosting your squadxml if you dont want to use DropBox. more info howto share your googledrive publicly on the web : https://googledrive.com/host/0B716ywBKT84AMXBENXlnYmJISlE/GoogleDriveHosting.html

ouch. Plan b it is. i feel this is like giving in to those few b^$^&ds who caused all of this sh*^.... (* sorry, couldnt resist) this actually renders the idea of a 'google-maps based mission-planning tool' to wishfull thinking.... DAMN bye real world....

i knitted something for the starter of this thread.

DISCLAIMER: This project is in beta stage, and at some point the project will go opensource. For all the gamers that would like to use their custom squadlogo ingame, i revived a old squadxml project i did back in the days. In short, this is a squadXML creation and manipulation service. No external software is needed beside a legal copy of the game. its completly written in PHP and makes use of Bohemia Interactive's tool 'pal2pace.exe' in order to create native .paa files from your uploaded squadlogo. The whole project is in beta-stage, and is continuesly worked on. Without further delay. May i present your one-stop shop for Creating and Managing your SquadXML for the Bohemia line of games. http://SquadXML.limnosradio.com/ -- The base functionality consists of: free SquadXML hosting Webbased squadXML management automatic Png to PAA conversion Image-editor for creating/editing squadlogos Prerequisites : - Facebook or Twitter account. - ArmA 1,2 Take on Helicopters Feedback : If you are using the squadxml-system, please provide feedback on problems and suggestions. All base functionality is here, and im thinking of new features, like a moderator-ship for squads , 'who is online' and statistics or social functionality. a very basic api is already available for your scripts to interact with. http://SquadXml.limnosradio.com Instructions : Creating a squad : 1. Signup using your preferred social media channel ( twitter or facebook ) 2. Fillout your profile. 3. Create a community 4. Create a squad, upload image Joining a squad : 1. Signup using your preferred social media channel ( twitter or facebook ) 2. Fillout your profile. 3. Join Squad 4. Set your primary squadxml via the user/squadxml menu I have created a video with in which i show you to get your squadlogo up and running in 2 minutes. Feedback is much appreceated, bugs are solved as fast as i can :) ** Update Added simple bug-tracker. : http://squadxml.limnosradio.com/report-a-bug.php Added a simple server-list : http://squadxml.limnosradio.com/servers/ Added a simple addon-list : http://squadxml.limnosradio.com/addons/

that is what i need to investigate. the rate of 'rapidfire' can be tweaked afterwards :) A scan on 1 server takes approx. 0.082085132598877 seconds ;)

im testing something cool now! Record game statistics! (yea i know, many ppl dont like the idea) How? - using RapidFire technology i monitor a server by querying the gameservers for info with very short intervals. im checking the gamestate, and im archiving each player every query. When RapidFire detects an end of game, it'll flush all data, keeping the final score. might come in handy for clans that do matches...

Hey armatec, you missed to set the timeout var at start of script, and the timout on the socket operations. i also added simple socket error trappin. $maxwait = 10; /* timeout for socket operations */ $addr = '127.1.0.0'; $port = '2322'; if( $sock = fsockopen(("udp://" . $addr), $port, $errno, $errdesc, $maxwait) ){ echo $errno." - ".$errdesc; } fwrite($sock, "\xFE\xFD\x09\xFF\xFF\xFF\x01"); stream_set_timeout($sock, $maxwait);

I hope you can understand why i initially did this, when i say that 'communities' should be able to communicate with teir members. Most people use twitter or facebook on their phone, and therefore its a perfect medium to organize a mp-game, by inviting/messaging the users via social media. BUT: i feel your pain. Therefore i will expand the 'Signup', which will include GoogleAUTH and other popular social media. i might add a 'normal' login as soon as i find a way to consolidate the logins. (its now possible to login with Twitter & Facebook, but then for each logintype you choose a User is being created, in the system. )

In short : Please fix the useragent in both server and client. Current situation : Flashpoint/1.91 <--- Linux dedicated server BIGameEngine <--- Windows dedicated server BIGameEngine <--- Windows game client Ideal situation : Arma2/1.60 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. Arma2OA/1.60 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. DayZ/1.01 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. ToH/1.21 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. win32/Arma2/1.60 ↠Game in SERVER mode. win32/Arma2OA/1.60 ↠Game in SERVER mode. linux/Arma2OA/1.60 ↠LINUX Game in SERVER mode. linux/Arma2/1.60 ↠LINUX Game in SERVER mode.

SquadXML, And what is wrong with it in 2013 By Jerry Hopper The SquadXML has been around in Bohemia Interactive’s military simulators since the very beginning. The use of the SquadXML has alway been focussed on ‘displaying a custom vehicle image ingame’, while there are many other uses. As im a programmer i look at things from another perspective. So, here are my conclusion and view on the SquadXML as it is now. im not going to discuss anything about the actual SquadLOGO. this research was focussed on how the squadXML works in a technical way. So how does it 'technically' work? When you have met all the requirements for a squadlogo ( entered a name, playerid, and squadxml location in your profile.) everytime you start the game, the following happens : The game-engine requests the SquadXML which is located on a remote server. Gameclient ( game starts, requests squadxml) ---> webserver ( serves squadxml, which see's the useragent.) Gameclient joins server Gameserver ( check the squadxml of the joining player ) ---> webserver ( serves squadxml, which see's the useragent.) In the log of the webserver where the squadXML resides, we can see this happening: The webserver gets a request from the gameclient, which identifies itself with the useragent “BIGameEngineâ€, but when i joined a server, i noticed another useragent being used : “Flashpoint/1.91†Here is a log from the webserver which hosts my SquadXML 82.173.160.150 - - [13/Jan/2013:11:03:58 +0000] "GET /1223681.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 694 "-" "BIGameEngine" 82.173.160.150 - - [13/Jan/2013:11:03:59 +0000] "GET /36.paa HTTP/1.1" 200 89586 "-" "BIGameEngine" 46.105.124.58 - - [13/Jan/2013:11:05:47 +0000] "GET /1223681.xml HTTP/1.0" 200 694 "-" "Flashpoint/1.91" 82.173.160.150 = ip of my gameclient. 46.105.124.58 = ip of gameserver i joined. As you can see in the log, the gameserver requested the SquadXML and identifies with "Flashpoint/1.91" But, not all servers i joined, returned the "Flashpoint/1.91" useragent. Many also replied with "BIGameEngine" I assumed that both Windows Game servers, and Windows Game Clients will identify with "BIGameEngine", opposed to the Linux variant, which have the "Flashpoint/1.91" Useragent. When the useragents are consistently implemented, the use of useragents could be used far more than only ‘displaying a image ingame’ With the useragent info we could see which user is online, on which gameserver. The contents of the XML can be used to get the players information, but currently the XML has outdated fields like ICQ, and lacks any ‘new social media’ like Facebook or Twitter or such(*out of the scope of this article). My suggestion/recomendation My recommendation for the use of the useragents in the SquadXML would be : Minor adjustments UserAgent: The game’s useragent should be changing according to its patch-level and product name. below a overview of the useragents in current, and ideal situation. Current situation : Flashpoint/1.91 <--- Linux dedicated server BIGameEngine <--- Windows dedicated server BIGameEngine <--- Windows game client Ideal situation : Arma2/1.60 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. Arma2OA/1.60 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. DayZ/1.01 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. ToH/1.21 ↠Game in CLIENT mode. win32/Arma2/1.60 ↠Game in SERVER mode. win32/Arma2OA/1.60 ↠Game in SERVER mode. linux/Arma2OA/1.60 ↠LINUX Game in SERVER mode. linux/Arma2/1.60 ↠LINUX Game in SERVER mode. Linux or Windows game servers should identify themselves as ‘server’. Clients should always identify their patch (and eventually build) version. Looking at the Useragent, this client/version stamp seems logical and originally planned from a programmers point of view, but somehow all w32 gameclients ended up reporting with a generic useragent. --- SquadXML xml structure: My recommendation of the actual SquadXML xml-keys would be : Drop the ICQ field (its soooo 1999! ) and add Twitter, Facebook, Skype Add a custom key, which holds custom subkeys. <member> <custom> <subkey1>some text</subkey1> <subkey2 type=’paa’>custom paa image url</subkey2> ...room for custom keys </custom> </member> This should be added per member, but also in the main squad-section. Both the useragent, as well as the actual squadxml content can be creativly exploited by web-programmers, in order to serve their community with that extra bit of information. Major adjustments Make the player-info from the squadXML available for sqf-scripts (as in: read values in script variables ) the custom XML keys should also be readable by SQF When a game client/server is querying for a squadXML, use POST variables to post an array of loaded addons. This could be positivly be exploited by creative web-programmers to display information about the squads, players and servers. Result: A small open source PHP script could be made which shows several information. Clans and squads have better control over their squads, in terms of : Tracking errors - version conflicts or Addon requirements Consistent identification of game servers & clients allows an ‘Who is online’ functionality. Having the player-info available ingame allows scripters to create new cool stuff, as the customXML keys can be used for : Scores/Upgrades, but there are many more applications With just just some minor adjustments, this could have major impact on the social aspect of the game. Conclusion Welcome in the year 2013, With DayZ and ArmA3 coming up and a SquadXML system that has been forgotten since 2001 ;) I assume BI has several variations of one codebase. to fully support each game, this year would be a perfect time for a change in the SquadXML implementation, make it more dynamic and flexible for better use in all real-virtuality's derivates. DISCLAIMER This information is based on my own research and a few personal assumptions.(*) I specificly didnt touch the actual XML structure in terms of what keys should be removed or added. that is a whole different discussion on its own. i wrote this with a 'passive external interaction' view on this subject, as im a programmer - always looking for ways to solve problems and creative ideas. What im saying is that im trying to show that a squadxml can be more than only a image ingame, and make clear that the current implementation isnt consequent, and therefore cant be creatively exploited.

Nice read/watch :) btw: you say are working on something special, you might wanna contact me - as i have been working on something BI/history related too. we could help eachother :) Cheers!

Welcome back, And Congratulations! From one shitstorm in to another...... Again congrats with ur second kid....

K4-5_hgLv6A ibAOtM-hHIQ 8tgqM8I3Uuo n8bXcyFyNY8 And some pictures overhere : https://plus.google.com/102634396402324749838/posts/AmmG6YnnzhU Njoy, im going back to work :)

yea, but i wrote this in the spirit of "minimal impact in current code, and still be flexible in the future" there could be many improvements, or ways to do it better. Fact is, that this part of the game is a very low priority one, and thus gets minimal attention (which is completely understandable) Please mind that im not looking this from a inGame perspective (improvements etc), but with a 'passive interaction' view in combination with the current squadxml system ingame.

i dont see why? you can parse the xml and make your own json? Like this ? XML http://squadxml.limnosradio.com/1223681.xml JSON http://squadxml.limnosradio.com/1223681.json

Screenhot of your profile ingame : more info : http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/squad.xml

To get back at 'Clansupport' : I did some checking on that squadxml and i noticed a few things. 1. the client access the xml using useragent : BIGameEngine 2. the server access the xml using useragent : Flashpoint/1.91 ( other servers report : BIGameEngine ) My question : Why doesnt the server indentifies as : ArmA2CO/1.62 ? My thoughts : By recording the clientXML 'queries', and the servers 'queries', we could see ' who's online ' on What server. Only the server doesnt give its correct patchversion, so we cant see what serverversion people are playing on. ALso, The SquadXML is outdated and could use some updated fields. UPDATE: A 'Who is online' isnt possible due to inconsistencies between linux & windows servers. a more indepth analysis : http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?144936-SquadXML-and-what-is-wrong-with-it-in-2013

you are saying that you want a dynamic forum signature, based off your squadXML ? that idea is a nice addition to the squadXML pages. And that's easyly done. i'll see what i can do tonight.(still got some bugs to slay)

Aloha w0lle.... so this is why you have been so busy :) kudos for your all your time and effort you put in!

We dont need a 'clan management' -> so true What we do need, is a update squadXML format, and an option to POST and GET text-data from the web. i'd vouch for a total programming API which could deal with all the POST/GET stuff mentioned - This way a MOD could be created with every functionality you want.... (i havent looked at it, but in TOH is some java engine which (i assume) can achieve the above functionality )