Problems

[ProAsm]

Refer: http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=141899

Guys, we have a problem with: Incomapatible Game Files

Now those that were with us in UT2003 will remember this sarga we had with Epic and eventually they accepted that they had an error in the code and gave us a workaround to get past the problem.
The only difference is in UT2003 it was a problem with our Menu Styles that we use and in UT2004 its is to do with the Weapon FireMode Classes.

Now when Epic made UT2004 they took our Menu Styles problem into account and made an "auto custom style remover" which work 100% and that is why when I saw that post I was shocked to see this was happening again.

So what I did is make a test setup here to try and get to the bottom of this problem.

Firstly I setup 2 Test servers:

1. Standard UT2004 - no mutators, no ut2vote - just plain standard.
2. UT2VoteMulti with no extra's.

Now from my Desktop I 'Play UT2004' - 'Join Game' and join the Standard UT2004 game.
I then hit Escape and the Menu comes up and there I have Server Browser which I click and go join the UT2Vote Server.
All is still well at this stage, I play for a while and again I hit the Escape key and get the UT2004 Menu up and again I hit the Server Browser button.
This time I join the Standard Server again..... Bingo.... Incomapatible Game Files

Now let me try and explain the reason why this is happening.
When you join a UT2Vote Server, it sees that bNoWeapStats=False which means the Admin want WeaponStats displayed so UT2Vote changes ALL the Weapon FireModeClasses so that UT2Vote can monitor the number of times you fire your gun and what type of gun is currently being used.

Example:
class'Xweapons.LinkGun'.default.FireModeClass[1] = Class'UT2Vote44B4.UT2VWeapLinkFire';

It does that for all the weapons.
Now when a Player joins that server, the first thing he does is go get all the stuff the Server wants him to load and these WeaponClasses are part of that stuff.

Now the problem comes in when the Player Leaves the game because UT2Vote does not have a clue to when the Player leaves, by the time UT2Vote gets the information the Player has already left so it is impossible for UT2Vote to reset all the Players Weapon FireModeClasses before he leaves.
The other problem comes in is that this resetting of the Classes has to be done Clientside and not Serverside.

Now I have made a 'fix' in 44B5 but it is not really a fix and screws things up somewhat.
The only way that UT2Vote knows that the Player wants to leave the Server is when he presses that Server Browser button or in the case of the 'alternate connection' the Forfeit button.
So what I have done in 44B5 is I reset all the Weapon FireModeClasses the moment the Player presses the Server Browser button.

Example:
class'Xweapons.LinkGun'.default.FireModeClass[1] = class'Xweapons.LinkFire';

Now this all work 100% and will probably fix the UTComp problem as well as it also dedicates Weapon FireModeClasses for itself.

Only thing is this now introduces another problem in that lets say that after the Player has pressed the Server Browser button he decides he does not want to join another server but decides to rather stay where he is (on the current server) and now all his Weapon Classes are something different to how the Server wants them and there is no way of setting them back again.

Some of you will by now start seeing why UT2Vote used to disable the Escape key as this is without a doubt the most dangerous and destructive key that UT200x could ever have introduced into their game.

So we now reach a crossroad and this is where I need everyone of you to add a comment and a vote on what we must do as this will effect the future of UT2Vote.

1. The moment the Player presses the Server Browser button his Classes get reset and a message sent to the Server to disable all his Weaponstats including the WeaponStats Menu window with maybe a message syaing why.

2. Remove ALL WeaponStats from UT2Vote alltogether.

Now before you give your opinion let me give a few pro's and cons of each option.

The 'second' option would be the easiest but it could put UTComp into jeopody in that unless UTComp finds a way to reset these Classes on it own people will stop using UTComp and this is where UT2Vote could do it for UTComp if the two work together - just a bit of marketing stratergy

The disadvantage of using the 'first' option is it will be a very 'hairy' situation to keep track of the Player once he has pressed the Server Browser button and then decided to stay with the current server.

Your choice ?

 

[tdw-socke]

what happens with new patches? will they have an effect on this? should we contact epic on this probleme?

 

[ProAsm]

New patches make no difference and I dont think Epic will do anything either.

BTW when a Player joins your 'Standard Vanilla' Server from a UT2Vote Server and gets the 'Incompatible Game Files' the server Log will say this:

Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Name : ProAsm (192.168.0.2:1190)
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Ban ID : af74f0006002d8bab15b034d5613eaad
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] GUID : 5B6EDA364DD5B5DD8A6AEFBDEA1D2701
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] MD5 : e2746d5afe9a0474a90633d1a820e369
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Ver. : 3236

 

[PoW]

1. The moment the Player presses the Server Browser button his Classes get reset and a message sent to the Server to disable all his Weaponstats including the WeaponStats Menu window with maybe a message syaing why.

That is a difficult question but my opinion is that no mod should have such an effect on a game. You cannot expect from a player that he has this extensive knowledge of the game mainly in connection with mods etc. He wants to install and play without any probs. It doesn't matter on which server the player wants to play, the mod may not change the basic of the game or causes further probs.

2. Remove ALL WeaponStats from UT2Vote alltogether.

I can only say that on my server the weapon stats is not used because it is a public server. So for me it is not a problem to remove it. But I also think that it is a very useful feature for training matches.

Although ... due to these large difficulties, I approve to remove it.

Btw....:

Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Name : ProAsm (192.168.0.2:1190)
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Ban ID : af74f0006002d8bab15b034d5613eaad
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] GUID : 5B6EDA364DD5B5DD8A6AEFBDEA1D2701
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] MD5 : e2746d5afe9a0474a90633d1a820e369
Log: [INVALID PACKAGE] Ver. : 3236

I really don't want to know how many admins have banned players due to this messages.

 

[tdw-socke]

well here the stats are very beloved, and i never heard of connection lost problems, the only one having them is me on my own server

as we only use utcomp in tdm-pro/cls, i'd like to stay with the stats.

 

[ProAsm]

This problem of 'Incompatible Game Files' goes very very much deeper than just the Weaponstats.
I now have almost everything disabled and the problem is still there.
It really has me beat why it does this which means I may have to scrap UT2Vote and start again to see at what point the problems start.

This is without a doubt the biggest and most complicated problem we've had and unless I can solve it we will need to call in Epic for help but their kind of help is often useless.

I'll let you all know on the progress but I've now been at it for many hours and am just not getting anywhere - the problem stays regardless and depending on how the Player joins the server.
I may have to remove the "Server Browser" button which will cause many complaints but there may be no other choice.

 

[sh0V3l]

deulgame random screw ups

i thought deulgame was working but its doesnt follow the order of the spec list it just randomly picks a player but sometimes its the right 1 also theres a problem with voting sometimes it cant find any maps this is with usemaplist=false

it seems to work ok with 2 players real ones no bots

 

[ProAsm]

Ok the DuelGame I'll look into sometime.

Is there anyone here (Imaginos?) that subscribes to the Epic MailingList(coding) as I have a question to pose to them.

I think I have discovered a major bug in the code and it needs addressing.

I just want to prove this first, because as things stand atm - UT2Vote may as well get scrapped as the Replications are causing the 'Incompatible Game Files!' and these are standard Replications.

 

[ProAsm]

Ok I have manage to get around the problem but not the way I like doing things as this again is another Epic ballsup.

You cannot create any kind of replication, because although a replication works both server and clientside, when a player leaves via the Browser, he is not actually leaving, but just going to have a look at other servers and can still come back and this is where the problem lies because the Clienside part of the Replication is still all there, and if he joins another (non UT2Vote) server he will get a 'Incompatible Game Files!' error.
NB... at this point he can still connect on the Reconnect button and he will get on.

So what I have done in an interim period until Epic can fix things or advise me in some way I have put an option in the IniOnly section bNoGameFiles=
This is normally defaulted to False so things will work as normal.
There is another one in the UT2VoteClient which is in the User.ini file and is also a bNoGameFiles=False
So when any one of the 2 are set to True things will now work a little different when you click on the Server Browser button.

Normally you can click this button, go and have a look and if you want to come back and just carry on you just pressed Escape etc etc.
Now with bNoGameFiles=True whether Server or Clientside when you click on that Server Browser button you will Exit from the current game and go into the Browser.

This is the only way I could do it, there just is no other way where a Mutator knows for sure that you are thinking of leaving the game and going into the Server Browser.

When set to True, the Server Browser button's Hint will change and say: "Warning - Clicking this button will disconnect you from the current Game."

Basically the problem did originally look like the WeaponStats but the WeaponStats are also part of the Replication and thats where the problem lies.

 

[tdw-socke]

very nice, and imho a good way, to solve this one. defaulting it to false is also a good thing

 

[PoW]

defaulting it to false is also a good thing

hmmm ... maybe that is not such a good thing.
On the first view nothing changes and if an admin has not set bNoGameFiles=True, he has still the error messages about the invalid packages in the log.

Why is this setting switchable from false to true and other way round? We all know that "false" causes further probs with invalid packages and incompatible game files so why not setting it to true and thats it?

 

[tdw-socke]

imho because we will get lots of complaints for fiddeling with the ut-menus, and the admin will say, he didn't know of it...

the other thing is: our players and most of our visitors use the serverbrowser without disconnecting quite often and never have problems, because all our servers run ut2vote...

 

[ProAsm]

Yes as Socke says, by making it True it will upset many people that do not have the problem because it does change the way the UT2004 MidGameMenu works and I know out here, people play one one server while looking out in the Browser to see if there is place yet on another CTF server maybe and if there is place they go.
Due to the enormous popularity of UT2Vote there is a big chance the other server is using UT2Vote but there is also a chance it is not.
In this case the Player has 2 choices, he can either just click on the Reconnect button or set his User.ini to:

[UT2Vote44.UT2VoteClient]
bNoGameFiles=True

This Clientside setting works regardless of what the bNoGameFiles= is set at on the Server.
If bNoGameFiles=True on the server then ALL clients will also be in this mode regardless of what their bNoGameFiles is set at in their User.ini

Doing it like this covers the best way and I will write to Joe Wilcox at Epic telling him about the problem and see if they fix it in a patch or give me some "secret" method of getting around it like he did for us in UT2003.

 

[ProAsm]

Anybody here have Joe Wilcox's Epic email addy ?
I used to have it but somehow it got dumped.

I need to write him about this 'Incompatible Game Files!' error as I can create it without UT2Vote and just a simple Mutator that has a Replication class that just does nothing.

Just a pity we did not catch this before the latest Patch.

 

[Imaginos]

I would have voted to drop the weaponstats in favor of letting some other mute do that duty.. One that may give the user a server history instead of just the game (VAS comes to mind). IMHO gathering throwaway stats serves no purpose.

 

[sh0V3l]

i got these email addys
joe wilcox = owner-ut2004servers@udn.epicgames.com

Steve Polge = Steve.Polge@epicgames.com

 

[ProAsm]

Thanks - will try them.

 

[Imaginos]

Here's his direct one: joe.wilcox@epicgames.com

Might make mention of whitelisting the multiserver version again too.

 

[ProAsm]

Socke or someone please check this problem out as it could be serious:
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=142914

 

[tdw-socke]

sorry, i'm a bit short in time, but i'll see, if i can do it today...

i must admit, that until now, i never used the ut2vote-dummys, but only my own ones (never touch a running system ).

So maybe something with the standard-server-detection-code?