Please telnet to nostalgiabbs.servebbs.net and play the game.
E-Mail me (Questman) or Malakai or Sysop with bug reports - anything that acts funny, any map problems, or if you crash the BBS.
Thanks to Malakai for offering to playtest the game. Once we test it for enough hours, we can release it to the general public.
Rick
Infinity Complex for NT is in Beta!
Moderators: Questman, Mod Squad
I know a few of you were logging in to the game and quitted because of the crashing, but we do need more people playing. After a little bit of testing, I believe I've found a way to minimize the crashes so that you can try to explore and have a little bit of fun with the game.
It appears as though the game crashes more often before perm data is written in to the game itself. You write save game data to the game by entering the game, finding a few items called components and then use the "get" command on the number. For example, if component is on #1 and #4, you'd type:
get 1
get 4
report
report (press enter after each command)
This gives you a low but fast score in the game. Now, exit out of the game for 4 or 5 minutes, and then enter and play as normal. Your data will now be perm saved in to the game, at least for the previous session, and I've been able to play it for nearly an hour at a time with out any problems.
Doing this may or may not help fix the crash problem, but it will allow every one to explore and make sure there are no map, enemy, item or other problems with the game.
In fact, we've only had 1 crash today, compared to every 5-17 minutes before. I hope this information will bring some more people back in to the game to play!
telnet://nostalgiabbs.servebbs.net
thanks
It appears as though the game crashes more often before perm data is written in to the game itself. You write save game data to the game by entering the game, finding a few items called components and then use the "get" command on the number. For example, if component is on #1 and #4, you'd type:
get 1
get 4
report
report (press enter after each command)
This gives you a low but fast score in the game. Now, exit out of the game for 4 or 5 minutes, and then enter and play as normal. Your data will now be perm saved in to the game, at least for the previous session, and I've been able to play it for nearly an hour at a time with out any problems.
Doing this may or may not help fix the crash problem, but it will allow every one to explore and make sure there are no map, enemy, item or other problems with the game.
In fact, we've only had 1 crash today, compared to every 5-17 minutes before. I hope this information will bring some more people back in to the game to play!
telnet://nostalgiabbs.servebbs.net
thanks
im gonna look into some of these craches and get with rick. i dont have the source but i may be able to debug it in my head if i see what is being typed.Malakai wrote:I know a few of you were logging in to the game and quitted because of the crashing, but we do need more people playing. After a little bit of testing, I believe I've found a way to minimize the crashes so that you can try to explore and have a little bit of fun with the game.
It appears as though the game crashes more often before perm data is written in to the game itself. You write save game data to the game by entering the game, finding a few items called components and then use the "get" command on the number. For example, if component is on #1 and #4, you'd type:
get 1
get 4
report
report (press enter after each command)
This gives you a low but fast score in the game. Now, exit out of the game for 4 or 5 minutes, and then enter and play as normal. Your data will now be perm saved in to the game, at least for the previous session, and I've been able to play it for nearly an hour at a time with out any problems.
Doing this may or may not help fix the crash problem, but it will allow every one to explore and make sure there are no map, enemy, item or other problems with the game.
In fact, we've only had 1 crash today, compared to every 5-17 minutes before. I hope this information will bring some more people back in to the game to play!
telnet://nostalgiabbs.servebbs.net
thanks
i am releasing a module today called DBLOG where it writes all commands typed into a file of THEMODULE.LOG
keep in mind dont install this on a system with heavy traffic or the file could grow to a serious size.
i use it in arcticmud on the test system and with just me and another playing it gets like 320k after 2-3hrs
it gets deleted at cleanup as well.
A key logger would do no good with this game. I've tried to replicate it by doing pretty much the exact same thing over and over again, and it never happens the exact same way twice. So, it's either a random or timed crash, although there are some things that will make it last longer before crashing, like getting a score like I said, leaving the game for awhile, then coming back, once that score is perm written in to the game.
The other way is to just roam around the realm and not pick up, drop, or use any items. No one item, however, has been a culprit. Also, that game plays your character when you or any one else aren't in the game.
Rick created a debugger which basically tells you how often the game saves itself, and it appears to be working fine.
The other way is to just roam around the realm and not pick up, drop, or use any items. No one item, however, has been a culprit. Also, that game plays your character when you or any one else aren't in the game.
Rick created a debugger which basically tells you how often the game saves itself, and it appears to be working fine.
hmm another problem with dos->nt ported modules is in the rtkicks.Malakai wrote:A key logger would do no good with this game. I've tried to replicate it by doing pretty much the exact same thing over and over again, and it never happens the exact same way twice. So, it's either a random or timed crash, although there are some things that will make it last longer before crashing, like getting a score like I said, leaving the game for awhile, then coming back, once that score is perm written in to the game.
The other way is to just roam around the realm and not pick up, drop, or use any items. No one item, however, has been a culprit. Also, that game plays your character when you or any one else aren't in the game.
Rick created a debugger which basically tells you how often the game saves itself, and it appears to be working fine.
that i have found.
in arcticmud the timer to reduce counters that kicks every 5 seconds is the same way it is done in dos and it crashed.
i redid it to match the rtkick from mjrtlc.c from 3.2 and it stopped.
could just be me though, just throwing possibilities.
bad routines within an rtkick'd routine also throw an access violation unable to read from.....
I've received several emails today and tonight about the bbs crashing, and even though I put it on the logon announcement (galnote.txt,) it seems like not many people have read it.
So, just to be clear, the connection isn't randomly being dropped from the BBS. When Infinity Complex crashes the board, it basically acts the same as a carrier drop, meaning all visitors will be pushed offline. After appx 40 seconds, the BBS will be back up.
My second point is that any points you score, any items you have, levels, abilities, etc will most likely be lost when the board crashes. So, as of right now, it wouldn't be a good idea to play the game to gain any points/levels, but mainly for checking for bugs or just seeing what the game is about. There's, unfortunately, nothing I can do about this. We just have to wait and see if there are any new revisions come out.
I'll also update my statement about how to minimize the crashing. I said before that if you get a perm score written in to the game (aka, when it crashes and comes back, you score is still written) that it seemed to have made the crash bug happen less, at least on the worldgroup 3.30nt system. I was actually able to do several 40 minute to 1 hour sessions with out it crashing much when I played, but as others played as well, not getting a perm score written in the database, the crashes still occured too frequently to keep on the BBS.
So, I moved it to its own dedicated server, and have since tried the same thing again, on worldgroup 3.20nt. Both I and 1 other user actually have a perm written score in the game, and both of us are still get crashes very often, average within 2 minutes of gameplay, but some times as soon as entering the game, and 1 exception of it lasting appx 1 hour before crashing.
This is different than it acted on the worldgroup 3.30nt server, when it averaged probably 17 minutes before crashing, for whatever reason. Who knows if it happened 1000 times, the results might be around 50/50, and then again, they may not. All I can do is report the facts.
I've spent a lot of time on the game personally, trying new things out, to try to pinpoint key issues that may be causing the problems. I believe it has some thing to do with items personally, but the problem with that theory is that the game plays itself and your characters as NPCs even when you're not on-line. The next thing might be some I/O routines, or a conflict of I/O and saves or items etc..... But I'm not a coder and could be 100% wrong there..
So, just to be clear, the connection isn't randomly being dropped from the BBS. When Infinity Complex crashes the board, it basically acts the same as a carrier drop, meaning all visitors will be pushed offline. After appx 40 seconds, the BBS will be back up.
My second point is that any points you score, any items you have, levels, abilities, etc will most likely be lost when the board crashes. So, as of right now, it wouldn't be a good idea to play the game to gain any points/levels, but mainly for checking for bugs or just seeing what the game is about. There's, unfortunately, nothing I can do about this. We just have to wait and see if there are any new revisions come out.
I'll also update my statement about how to minimize the crashing. I said before that if you get a perm score written in to the game (aka, when it crashes and comes back, you score is still written) that it seemed to have made the crash bug happen less, at least on the worldgroup 3.30nt system. I was actually able to do several 40 minute to 1 hour sessions with out it crashing much when I played, but as others played as well, not getting a perm score written in the database, the crashes still occured too frequently to keep on the BBS.
So, I moved it to its own dedicated server, and have since tried the same thing again, on worldgroup 3.20nt. Both I and 1 other user actually have a perm written score in the game, and both of us are still get crashes very often, average within 2 minutes of gameplay, but some times as soon as entering the game, and 1 exception of it lasting appx 1 hour before crashing.
This is different than it acted on the worldgroup 3.30nt server, when it averaged probably 17 minutes before crashing, for whatever reason. Who knows if it happened 1000 times, the results might be around 50/50, and then again, they may not. All I can do is report the facts.
I've spent a lot of time on the game personally, trying new things out, to try to pinpoint key issues that may be causing the problems. I believe it has some thing to do with items personally, but the problem with that theory is that the game plays itself and your characters as NPCs even when you're not on-line. The next thing might be some I/O routines, or a conflict of I/O and saves or items etc..... But I'm not a coder and could be 100% wrong there..
i have a wgdos bbs 30-40 online average, and a majorbbs one with another 20 online, if i get a dos copy ill put it up for ya.Groo wrote:Anyone know of a place I can telnet to and play some Infinity Complex?
Preferably a place that is somewhat active with respect to people who play it... its no fun on an empty server.
Thanks and glad to see attention is still being paid to this classic.
been awaiting a mbbs v4 source i was gonna just port and put online but havent seen the guy in a while.
i wanna add IC and war of the worlds for wg2
The only place I know that you can play infinity complex currently is Rick's DOS MBBS system. bbs.elwynor.com
Let's just hope that Rick or someone else finds the time and *will?* (maybe a bit of luck too?) to fix it for nt, or atleast re-release the dos version.
Ya know, I bet some one could make a little extra money if they had all of these oldies mods and a DMA server and actually charged like a set price of like $5 for 4 unlimitted connections to their servers each month. 4 connections = $5 a month, 8 connections = $10 a month, 20 connections = $20 a month. Crossroads, swords of chaos, a good working version of mutants, farwest trivia, lord tournaments, trade wars, tele-arena, cybertank, infinity complex... Some one out there has to still have all of their stuff and should be willing to host a DMA server for the sysops out there. Otherwise, games like mutants and crossroads could be lost forever.
I've been trying to get ahold of one of the sysops of probably the largest north-central florida bbs (until about 1997 or so) that had pretty much every module out there but no luck. He may still be around but either just doesn't want to mess with mbbs any more, he may not want to get rid of his stuff, and then again, he may not even have any of the bbs stuff anymore... who knows.. so there are a bunch of dead ends... you don't even see mbbs or worldgroup systems for sale on ebay any more...
Let's just hope that Rick or someone else finds the time and *will?* (maybe a bit of luck too?) to fix it for nt, or atleast re-release the dos version.
Ya know, I bet some one could make a little extra money if they had all of these oldies mods and a DMA server and actually charged like a set price of like $5 for 4 unlimitted connections to their servers each month. 4 connections = $5 a month, 8 connections = $10 a month, 20 connections = $20 a month. Crossroads, swords of chaos, a good working version of mutants, farwest trivia, lord tournaments, trade wars, tele-arena, cybertank, infinity complex... Some one out there has to still have all of their stuff and should be willing to host a DMA server for the sysops out there. Otherwise, games like mutants and crossroads could be lost forever.
I've been trying to get ahold of one of the sysops of probably the largest north-central florida bbs (until about 1997 or so) that had pretty much every module out there but no luck. He may still be around but either just doesn't want to mess with mbbs any more, he may not want to get rid of his stuff, and then again, he may not even have any of the bbs stuff anymore... who knows.. so there are a bunch of dead ends... you don't even see mbbs or worldgroup systems for sale on ebay any more...
Great idea. I have most of the good stuff but what I need is a client so other bbs's can connect to my DMA server.Malakai wrote:The only place I know that you can play infinity complex currently is Rick's DOS MBBS system. bbs.elwynor.com
Let's just hope that Rick or someone else finds the time and *will?* (maybe a bit of luck too?) to fix it for nt, or atleast re-release the dos version.
Ya know, I bet some one could make a little extra money if they had all of these oldies mods and a DMA server and actually charged like a set price of like $5 for 4 unlimitted connections to their servers each month. 4 connections = $5 a month, 8 connections = $10 a month, 20 connections = $20 a month. Crossroads, swords of chaos, a good working version of mutants, farwest trivia, lord tournaments, trade wars, tele-arena, cybertank, infinity complex... Some one out there has to still have all of their stuff and should be willing to host a DMA server for the sysops out there. Otherwise, games like mutants and crossroads could be lost forever.
I've been trying to get ahold of one of the sysops of probably the largest north-central florida bbs (until about 1997 or so) that had pretty much every module out there but no luck. He may still be around but either just doesn't want to mess with mbbs any more, he may not want to get rid of his stuff, and then again, he may not even have any of the bbs stuff anymore... who knows.. so there are a bunch of dead ends... you don't even see mbbs or worldgroup systems for sale on ebay any more...
We need somone to make a mod to the gcomm rlogin client so it will connect to a DMA server.
Joe
++++++++++++++++++++
Retro BBS Games
Telnet://bbs.retrobbsgames.net
++++++++++++++++++++
Retro BBS Games
Telnet://bbs.retrobbsgames.net
++++++++++++++++++++
I have one that works brilliantly on v6. I have never tested it on 1.01 but I'm guessing that since 6.25 and 1.01 are almost identical that it'll work.Malakai wrote:Yes, I'm interested in either version, if it'll work with wg 1.01. I'll try to email you tonight, Rick.
I'll work on it in the next day or two and get it out.
I compiled a DOS version of Card Shark (wg2) ...
kewl. where can we get the wg2 versions or shall i say dos versions of your releases?Questman wrote:I have one that works brilliantly on v6. I have never tested it on 1.01 but I'm guessing that since 6.25 and 1.01 are almost identical that it'll work.Malakai wrote:Yes, I'm interested in either version, if it'll work with wg 1.01. I'll try to email you tonight, Rick.
I'll work on it in the next day or two and get it out.
I compiled a DOS version of Card Shark (wg2) ...
Well I'm not a programmer just throwing out information I saw once while thumbing through the majormud release notes... not sure if it applies...
"If you have a globals package which requires module substates to operate,
the substate which a user is in most of the time while playing the game
is 130."
Had a couple people ask for infinity complex and I saw the NT version wasn't working out so not sure if anymore progress was ever made on it... My dream is to get back all the old modules the bbs used to run... IC, GE, TA... hmmm all the good games were 2 letter abbreviations, coincidence?
"If you have a globals package which requires module substates to operate,
the substate which a user is in most of the time while playing the game
is 130."
Had a couple people ask for infinity complex and I saw the NT version wasn't working out so not sure if anymore progress was ever made on it... My dream is to get back all the old modules the bbs used to run... IC, GE, TA... hmmm all the good games were 2 letter abbreviations, coincidence?