Questions regarding how the ms gaming zone lobby system
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:37 pm
CanEh,
I would have sent this through PM but new users cannot send PMs so I have decided to put this here.
First off I would like to say if you refuse to answer these questions I would understand completely.
I have built a web based lobby with node.js using websockets. Now this lobby was not intended to interface with a Windows OS to launch a game but nostalgia and some cajoling from the Mechwarrior 3 community has pushed me to take it further. Now web programming is my strength but C++ and VB are languages I have only dabbled in when I have free time. From browsing this forum you have left some information that I have latched onto about DX6 and the DirectPlay object but the information on the net about this library is rather bad and I'm at a loss as to how to attack this problem.
If my system were to work this is how I would theorize it happening. There are three main areas that I see need interfacing/communication. The lobby, an intermediary service between the lobby and Mechwarrior 3 and then the game itself.
I envision a service, like the zone, running in the background, listening on a port, a host launches the game, the service on the host receives a JSON string with the room's player names and ip addresses, the service then sends this information to the Mechwarrior 3's DirectPlay object and the game is launched, hopefully with teamplay in there somewhere.
Now this sounds simple on paper but I know it's complicated as hell and for a neophyte C++ programmer probably an insurmountable task.
My main questions is, do you think this is feasible? Is my logic flawed somewhere? Do I need to hack the Mechwarrior 3 core files to get something like this to work? Are there any decent references for the DirectPlay API from DirectX 6? How did the zone launch straight into the multiplayer mode when a game was launched back in the day? How do I interface with Mechwarrior 3's DirectPlay object?
Some of these questions might seems stupid, and they probably are but they might help me figure this out a bit. As I said before if you do not want to answer these questions that's understandable but any help would be appreciated. I do not plan on making a lobby for any other game except Mechwarrior 3, besides the first 6 months of WoW it was the best gaming experience I've ever had with a game and I would like to bring it back in its full glory one more time.
Thanks.
I would have sent this through PM but new users cannot send PMs so I have decided to put this here.
First off I would like to say if you refuse to answer these questions I would understand completely.
I have built a web based lobby with node.js using websockets. Now this lobby was not intended to interface with a Windows OS to launch a game but nostalgia and some cajoling from the Mechwarrior 3 community has pushed me to take it further. Now web programming is my strength but C++ and VB are languages I have only dabbled in when I have free time. From browsing this forum you have left some information that I have latched onto about DX6 and the DirectPlay object but the information on the net about this library is rather bad and I'm at a loss as to how to attack this problem.
If my system were to work this is how I would theorize it happening. There are three main areas that I see need interfacing/communication. The lobby, an intermediary service between the lobby and Mechwarrior 3 and then the game itself.
I envision a service, like the zone, running in the background, listening on a port, a host launches the game, the service on the host receives a JSON string with the room's player names and ip addresses, the service then sends this information to the Mechwarrior 3's DirectPlay object and the game is launched, hopefully with teamplay in there somewhere.
Now this sounds simple on paper but I know it's complicated as hell and for a neophyte C++ programmer probably an insurmountable task.
My main questions is, do you think this is feasible? Is my logic flawed somewhere? Do I need to hack the Mechwarrior 3 core files to get something like this to work? Are there any decent references for the DirectPlay API from DirectX 6? How did the zone launch straight into the multiplayer mode when a game was launched back in the day? How do I interface with Mechwarrior 3's DirectPlay object?
Some of these questions might seems stupid, and they probably are but they might help me figure this out a bit. As I said before if you do not want to answer these questions that's understandable but any help would be appreciated. I do not plan on making a lobby for any other game except Mechwarrior 3, besides the first 6 months of WoW it was the best gaming experience I've ever had with a game and I would like to bring it back in its full glory one more time.
Thanks.