Integrate FuzzNet by default?

[ReBoot]

My suggestion is to set up FuzzNet for listen servers in MS:C by default.

How I got this? Yesterday, I joined a listen server of a newbie and he was very very happy because I was the first player on his server who didn't leave at the moment he joined. I tried to explain him this server thing but he kinda didn't got it, he claimed that he downloaded this "central server thing". All I could do for him was to tell him to scroll down on http://www.thothie.com/ms and edit his listenserver.cfg.

I mean, guys who create listen servers are not a venom, especially if they are (or are about to become) new members of the MS:C-community. And setting enabling FuzzNet by default would help them out.

 

[Thothie]

I don't have access to the 1.0 defaul install, and I don't want the betapackage overwriting peoples configs, so... Meh. Screwed in that department until MSC 1.1 release, which is a ways away.

 

[ReBoot]

Maybe, a autoexec.cfg with those settings could help? It would not override the listenserver.cfg, but maybe the settings in it.

 

[Thothie]

Some people put things in their autoexec.cfg's (like me) - don't want to overwrite their scripts.

 

[ReBoot]

Hm, what about the userconfig.cfg then? GoldSrc executes a userconfig.cfg everytime a game starts.

 

[Thothie]

Same issue.

 

[Kuroneko]

batch h4x as part of the install to append data to the end of the file, or just copy that file and make a new one that begins with the old info.

c'mon Thothie, you can do that

 

[ReBoot]

Hm, now that's an idea...

@echo off 
Title Steam Finder
FOR /F "tokens=2*" %%A IN ('REG QUERY "HKCU\software\valve\steam" /v ModInstallPath') DO SET steamdir=%%B
set msfolder=%steamdir%\msc
echo Your half-life folder is:
echo %steamdir%
echo Your MSC folder should be:
echo %msfolder%
echo. >>%msfolder%\listenserver.cfg
echo ms_central_enabled "1">>%msfolder%\listenserver.cfg
echo ms_central_addr "cboat.mine.nu:5711">>%msfolder%\listenserver.cfg
echo ms_central_pass "testing">>%msfolder%\listenserver.cfg
echo ms_central_enabled "1">>%msfolder%\server.cfg
echo ms_central_addr "cboat.mine.nu:5711">>%msfolder%\server.cfg
echo ms_central_pass "testing">>%msfolder%\server.cfg

This is a modification of Thothie's find_steam.bat. I still don't understand how he writes the output of reg query into a cvar, but I am able to add some lines which would append the lines needed. For automatic things, the pause and explorer calls could get removed.

 

[Orochi]

Thothie, I think he means actually integrate the server communication into the code entirely, and remove the option to change.

 

[ceriux]

Thothie, I think he means actually integrate the server communication into the code entirely, and remove the option to change.

if he did that... the we couldnt test our maps...

 

[ReBoot]

I didn't mean that. Hardcoded things tend to annoy. Always. I meant what I said: making the server cvars set to FuzzNet by default, but changeable.

 

[ITS'aME'aMARIO!!!!]

yah, so any new player jumping on ms could get straight on the central server instead of finding out all the work he did was useless on his lan character...

 

[Netrogor]

Perhaps Thothie's next beta patch could make the server.cfg & listenserver.cfg to have the central server set up to have FN as default? Of course, it could be disabled by default, but setup so that as soon as they changed a "0" to a "1" that they'd be connected to FN

 

[evilsquirrel]

but then you would have to redo your server config....... -.-

best idea - new cvar "fn_on 1"


of course...the way it is now is FINE, because its set up to allow people choices, even if they really dont have one...they think they do...

 

[Blasto121]

I could start my blastnet server... then we have choices

 

[evilsquirrel]

I could start my blastnet server... then we have choices

the only way a new central server is in any way useful, is for a seperate world...which we dont have the maps for, so thats kind of useless =\

 

[Blasto121]

but it offers a choice

 

[Thothie]

Offers confusion, more than anything else.

I've not looked into tweaking the NSIS installer to run the batch file that updates the maps yet - much less add another installer that appends the configs.

If I did that, I'd rig it up so it appeneded the server/listenserver config with "exec go_fuzent.cfg" which I'd supply seperately.

But I'd like it to be a check box option on the installer, so that I could warn ahead of time about not running cheatmaps and such on [FN]... ie. some sort of TOS/EULA thingie. - It would also mean that everytime anyone updated the betapack, they'd have to remove the line it added.

There's also the issue of it appending the config EVERY TIME they downloaded the betapack - it'd just continue to stack up, which may cause issues over time. I might be able to use find.exe to ensure the line isn't already there, but I've already had issues with people having their computers setup in strange and mysterious ways that prevents normal batch file execution with the map installer.

 

[Netrogor]

So why not make it overwrite the server.cfg, or simply make a new .cfg altogether with information people could be instructed to copy/cut/paste out

 

[ReBoot]

Other suggestion: MAKE the instaler override autoexec.cfg with FN-settings.
With a warning and a checkbox to allow people not to. A newbie should not uncheck it, because the warning would sound "...if you have custom stuff in autoexec.cfg...". User config should go to userconfig.cfg anyway

 

[FuzzyFish]

I like the idea of choices, mostly due to the fact that if something were to happen to my server/I lost the forwarding domain for any reason it wouldn't result in the death of the mod.

However I do have an idea that might make it easier for noobs, while not resulting in the OMG where did my scripts go issue.

Leave the ms_central_addr and usual in tact, but create a new checkable option in the options menu that allows people to select FuzNet which would be on by default. (Similar to the fn_on idea that would just override the server settings)

At this point if a person wanted to choose something besides FuzNet, then all they have to do is turn it off and use the standard cvars to set it.

Unfortunately in it's current form MS is one of the most difficult mods to learn granted it's several leaps and bounds above MS 1.35 and prior. But it has a long ways to go to become user friendly.

 

[Thothie]

Not sure how to arrange the checkbox bit, off hand.