Not good news for BF

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Derick Vinyard
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Not good news for BF

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by Nightstalker »

Does anyone have a clue what this means? I delete most of the GameSpy stuff anyways.
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Re: Not good news for BF

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Nightstalker wrote:Does anyone have a clue what this means?
I do not know definitively. I know one of GameSpy's services is what we actually had to /block/ on the current Origin-based server so that the Origin-based keys would be hashed correctly. So in that one small aspect, "GameSpy server no longer available" doesn't hurt because we blocked the server from using one of their services anyway.

My assumption, based on intangible things I just pulled out of my ass, is that "no more GameSpy" affects the Internet server list we get in multiplayer. i.e. No more public list of servers, because GameSpy is who the game was querying to get the list of servers. Which if true, hopefully would only mean that from now on you'll need to already know the IP and already create a favorites entry in order to see servers in your multiplayer list of Internet servers.

We'll see if someone can find some more definitive information.
Nightstalker wrote:I delete most of the GameSpy stuff anyways.
To be clear, I'm talking about things that the Battlefield 1942 game itself does, including the Origin-downloaded version.

Nothing to do with whether you chose to install or not install the GameSpy Arcade client software included in the CD-based version of Battlefield 1942, which was their XFire-type client to help you monitor servers and friends and launch games. I've been assuming no one elected to install the GameSpy Arcade since around 2003 or 2004, but I've never installed it since then to see if they were still maintaining or updating that software.

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by Hav3n »

If the game was querying Gamespy to generate the list of servers - that is bad because a sizable fraction of people coming to EA117 or finding it are probably from that. Certainly a majority of regulars that can use the IP, but it wouldn't be helpful if the server is invisible.

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Re: Not good news for BF

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http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/10/old-b ... -shutdown/

EA providing early confirmation regarding some older Battlefield games, but Battlefield 1942 not specifically confirmed yet.

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by ryeontherocks »

gameranger already supports these games so even if ea doesnt we can still see it with them, i belive you have to sign up tho..
Found this on Reddit---

scott kevil founder/developer at gameranger:
Developer of GameRanger here. TL;DR: The news is not that bad.

The original source of this list (re-posted endlessly) was from GameSpy Arena which from memory was a web-based ladder system (manual confirm-win, report-loss) that was completely unrelated to which games used GameSpy tech. So the list is both incorrect and incomplete.

Regardless, from that list, these games never used GameSpy tech in the first place:

Aliens vs Predator Classic / Gold
Call of Duty
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Call of Duty 2
Commandos 2
Commandos 3
Company of Heroes (it used Quazal for Relic Online, not GameSpy)
Hexen (this was the original Doom engine and didn't even have internet play)
Hexen 2
Jagged Alliance (single-player DOS game!)
Quake 2
Quake 3
Quake 4
Soldier of Fortune
Soldier of Fortune 2
SWAT 2
SWAT 3
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (used Ubi.com)

These games from that list are already playable on GameRanger (and hence will be unaffected):

Aliens vs Predator Classic / Gold
Aliens vs Predator 2
Battlefield 1942
Borderlands
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Call of Juarez
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Civilization III
Civilization IV
Commandos 2
Commandos 3
Company of Heroes (up to 1.7)
Medieval: Total War
Medieval II: Total War
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Quake II
Quake III Arena
Quake 4
Stronghold HD
Stronghold Crusader HD
SWAT 4
Titan Quest
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Soulstorm
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Winter Assault

These games from that list I have investigated and can be added to GameRanger in future:

Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2142
Battlefield Vietnam
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
Far Cry
Halo: Combat Evolved
Hexen 2
Medal of Honor: Pacific
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Postal 2
Shogun Total War
Soldier of Fortune
Soldier of Fortune 2
SWAT 3
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Gold
Unreal 2
Stronghold 2
Stronghold Legends

These games I haven't looked at in depth, but should be possible to add to GameRanger eventually:

Arma
Arma: Cold Assault
Arma 2
Arma 2: Free
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Crysis
Crysis Warhead
Crysis Wars
Take on Helicopters
Tom Clancy's HAWX
Two Worlds
Two Worlds 2

its a solid backup atleast;-)
http://www.gameranger.com/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/ ... wn/cgmuoi3
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by RebelNurse »

http://m.ign.com/articles/2014/05/12/ea ... re-in-june


I just read this. Does it mean what I think it does? Bf1942 is literally the ONLY online multiplayer game I ever got into and still play, mainly cause of the people.
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by Sarge 1/68th Armor »

Yup. Your welcome.
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by ryeontherocks »

IGN is reporting that battlefield 2 and 1942 may get a reprieve from ea, i find it hard to believe that a game as popular as 42 will have trouble, they say there is gonna be support for online only, keep in mind 1942 has spawned a generation of battlefield players and followers and they know that!
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Re: Not good news for BF

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by SuperTesla »

http://www.ea.com/news/update-on-ea-tit ... on-gamespy

This article from May 9th really scared me. BF1942 is the only game I regularly play :/

So what's the latest news? Are we gonna be screwed after June 30th?
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by Demonic »

why would you want to keep your die hard fans happy when you can fck them over with a game that could cost you $100 in total and still doesnt work, and screw around with games that DO work ?! lmao @ Dice/EA

oh wells....such is the nature of the gaming world today....all about how much $ they can make and not about the true grit of what some of us really enjoy........

(ima drag out my C64 maybe :D )
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by Trench »

s[sk] at --=[ aX ]=-- has put together a server which emulates the GameSpy master server. Currently the server just regurgitates a fixed list of servers, although s[sk] says he's working on dynamic registration so that servers can add themselves to the list.

(No, EA117's server is not on the hard-coded list being returned by the current test code. If dynamic registration is not working by the time of the shutdown, we'll talk to s[sx] about getting EA117 added to the static list.)

So this is the kind of community work which will keep the in-game browser working after the GameSpy shutdown finally happens. Not withstanding that multiple other options will also work even with a broken in-game browser, such as manually adding and/or keeping your servers favorited, or using a third-party like X-Fire or GameRanger, etc.

Running a modified BF1942.EXE at our end (the gamer's end) just makes things easier, but isn't a strict requirement. As described, simply creating a local \windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file entry to hijack the master.gamespy.com name and have it point to the address of master.bf1942.sk (109.71.69.254) will work too.

Note that s[sk] at --=[ aX ]=-- and tuia at Team-SiMPLE are already the ones behind the modified BF1942.EXE which is already recommended for playing Battlefield 1942, due to the inclusion of wide-screen fixes and support for connecting to both Origin- and CD-based servers, etc. This latest modified BF1942.EXE to "query master.bf1942.sk instead of master.gamespy.com" is just a further modification of that same code, which simply adds an additional reason why its recommended (but still completely optional) to use their modified BF1942.EXE.

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Re: Not good news for BF

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A bit of bad news, though:

Presumably also in relation to future support decisions prompted by the GameSpy shutdown, Battlefield 1942 is no longer available for download in Origin (free or otherwise). (The "Download" button on this page no longer takes you to an available Origin download for Battlefield 1942.) So this helpful and easy source of new Battlefield 1942 gamers is gone, at least for now but presumably forever.

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by SuperTesla »

Thank you very much for the informative post, Trench.

I might download the modified BF1942.exe tomorrow and see how it works. I've always had a lot of problems trying to get on certain servers for some reason, and I don't use Origin (I have the CDs still, lol).
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by =IAM= Allen »

Glad to see that there may be a chance to save old BF1942.
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by RebelNurse »

Based on what I've read, in May Gamespy is shutting down, meaning the in-game browser won't work. A hindrance to some, but not the end. In June however, EA is pulling the plug on the master servers, meaning NO multiplayer AT ALL. Thus, truly the end.
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Re: Not good news for BF

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RebelNurse wrote:Based on what I've read, in May Gamespy is shutting down, meaning the in-game browser won't work. A hindrance to some, but not the end. In June however, EA is pulling the plug on the master servers, meaning NO multiplayer AT ALL. Thus, truly the end.
Yeah, May 31 was the announced GameSpy shutdown date a few months ago. All of EA's recent announcements have said "end of June", so I don't know if they asked / paid GameSpy for an additional month while they considered their options, or what.

But "GameSpy" and "master server" are the same thing. master.gamespy.com is the server the Battlefield 1942 servers register with, and master.gamespy.com is the server the in-game browser queries to get you an updated server list. So there is only loss of the GameSpy master server. EA is choosing not to replace that GameSpy-based functionality with their own in-house technology, and instead chooses to just abandon the game in this state.

The game will work without the in-game browser; you'll just have to know the IP address to manually add the server and put it in your "Favorites" list. For those who want the in-game browser so that they learn of new servers that register, the master.bf1942.sk alternate master server is already setup; you can get to it by overriding master.gamespy.com in your hosts file, or by using a modified BF1942.EXE which simply queries the master.bf1942.sk alternate master server directly.

If I had to guess at "what could go wrong", I'm wondering whether this "EA no longer supports Battlefield 1942 for online use" decision might at some point trigger Evenbalance to make their own decision which further disables the ability to run PunkBuster on Battlefield 1942. (Even more so than Evenbalance's current "unsupported" stance.) So the worst case in my mind is that maybe months or a year from now we're still playing on EA117, but maybe without benefit of PunkBuster. But that's all just conjecture of "what else might possibly happen."

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by RebelNurse »

Ahhh... Ok then, well I hope you're right. In any case, I need to let the Xbox cool down, leave Skyrim and play more DC lol.
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by ryeontherocks »

there has been an update, captain Micheals makes a few good points and a few additional things we should be doing! here is what he asked me to post for all to read;

Hey Brother,
I have even more update since we talked last night. I will re-cap what I said last night and cover the update. Gamespy is the platform EA uses to integrate with the BF servers and when they go offline. People will NOT be able to log into any of the games listed. This of course negates the problem of even seeing a server if you can't even log into the online version of any of listed games when clicking on "multiplayer". In a nutshell, the end of all online multi-player gaming as listed for May 31rst here:

http://www.ea.com/1/service-updates

This of course would not include LAN games.

*However*, there has been two updates since yesterday.
1.) EA has extended the deadline of the servers going offline until the end of June.
2.) EA has decided to do it's best to create new master servers lists for some of the games so they will not go offline. Those currently listed as:

"We know some of these games are still fan favorites, including Battlefield 2, Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Command & Conquer games. We are still investigating community-supported options to preserve online functionality these titles, such as multiplayer. Significant technical hurdles remain, and at this time we don’t have anything to announce."

http://www.ea.com/news/update-on-ea-tit ... on-gamespy

There is no solid answer from EA that they "Will" keep them complete this. At least they are trying to make this happen. Also, third party servers/vendors are working on new master server lists on their own. I have not seen anyone working on BF1942 yet, but doesn't mean it's not being done already. We need to dig through forums and what not to make sure. Basically, if any of the gamers who play one of these games is a coder and loves their game. They're taking it upon themselves to preserve their favorite game. Unless EA completes it's mission for our favorite or we have a coder (programmer) that loves BF1924 and creates a master list for it. We will have to say goodbye to DC.

It is also recommended that all users who have the retail version of the game installed (bought their own CD) go online to origin's website and register that game. This way if it comes down to a "registered" game in order to play through their servers, you will be covered. Click link:

https://www.origin.com/us/activate/create

I hope this helps. Please, post this in the forums for everyone to read for me.

Capt.Michaels
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by zanshin1 »

oK????/

Lay terms......???

when I fire up the game....hit multiplayer....there wont be a list?

If all goes well,,,,,,,we have to input server ip's manually and were good?

Create a thread so other servers can post there ips?

EA dickheads,,,,,,,,why is it that they dont make a DC 2014?......same shit, just cool graphics.

Seems so simple.....im just confused....lmmfao....millions of people will play

PS
EA dicks.....
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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by ryeontherocks »

ok ea is still working on it
but in a nutt shell its going origin if you use a cd please register your game (S) with origin before the end of June!!

again PLEASE REGISTER YOUR CD WITH ORIGIN BEFORE END OF JUNE!!!
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Re: Not good news for BF

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ryeontherocks wrote:PLEASE REGISTER YOUR CD WITH ORIGIN BEFORE END OF JUNE!!!
Have you done it? The link in Capt.Michaels' post doesn't take me into any product registration or activation area that I can find, once I'm successfully logged on with my Origin account ID. If there is a different link you've successfully used, let us know.

Not even the "end of CD-based installation registration" ("C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\eReg\Battlefield 1942_eReg.exe") works. It takes all your information but then ultimately "trouble sending registration information" when it tries to send it via Internet.

(The registration program is trying to resolve u2.ea.com, which is no longer a host name EA has a name entry for. Based on the prompts the program was giving me, I thought it might be failing because my 14.4Kbps modem is unplugged and I don't know where I've misplaced my America Online (AOL) disc...)

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Re: Not good news for BF

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ryeontherocks wrote:Gamespy is the platform EA uses to integrate with the BF servers and when they go offline. People will NOT be able to log into any of the games listed. This of course negates the problem of even seeing a server if you can't even log into the online version of any of listed games when clicking on "multiplayer".
I think this might be information based on how Battlefield 1942 perhaps "normally" worked, but not how it actually works on EA117 or most other servers we know. Indeed, using only the shipping Battlefield 1942 code on the server and client, there was a huge hang you could encounter if master.gamespy.com was offline. Maybe that is what's given someone the impression "this won't work at all if GameSpy goes offline", and/or is EA's "official answer" given how the shipping code was written to behave.

But one of the changes in the modified BF1942.EXE we're using on the client (the one which contains the wide screen fixes, etc.) addresses this to not get stuck of master.gamespy.com is non-responsive. And on the server (including EA117's server), blocking the server's access to master.gamespy.com is what we had to do in order to fix getting the Origin-based key hashes to show up.

So maybe it is fair to say that "by default, the game would have trouble going multi-player if master.gamespy.com went down." But if you're not already running them, there are already fixes for that issue, which have been around for many months since there have been times when GameSpy's service was unintentionally offline. Totally separate from the replacement master server fix which is currently in progress.

But we do agree entirely that "third parties making a replacement master server" is already happening, and already available for you to test today even before the shutdown. (http://forum.bf1942.sk/gamespy) That's testing just the client, though. You would have to setup a client and a public server with master.gamespy.com communication /completely/ blocked on both ends in order to really prove to yourself that you're not dependent on it.

Unfortunately I cannot underline anything and say "this is definitively the answer", because unlike the code behavior questions I work with every day, I can't just turn to the Battlefield 1942 source code and tell you "this is definitely how it's going to behave because of how the code is written." So we're making the most educated and informed statements we can, in absence of someone from EA who actually /knows/ being available to make a definitive declaration.

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Re: Not good news for BF

Post by zanshin1 »

all i have is the cd stuck in my drive, what do i need to dig out? or is there something i can look up in my comp ...and if so how?

......is there a link to this origin to register? what about people that may load up every now and then? can they do this register thingy?


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