Main Restorations Software Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Everything Else Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements Monitor/Video GroovyMAME Merit/JVL Touchscreen Meet Up Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing Woodworking Software Support Forums Consoles Project Arcade Reviews
Automated Projects Artwork Frontend Support Forums Pinball Forum Discussion Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board controls.dat Linux Miscellaneous Arcade Wiki Discussion Old Archives
Lightguns Arcade1Up Try the site in https mode Site News

Unread posts | New Replies | Recent posts | Rules | Chatroom | Wiki | File Repository | RSS | Submit news

  

Author Topic: Private tournament server?  (Read 7555 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Private tournament server?
« on: October 26, 2015, 09:48:18 am »
Hello,
I wanted to see if anyone has already put together a private tournament server for Merit's and/or JVL's?  If not i would like to see if there is an interest from the owners?  I'm not new to this kind of work as i have been creating a private server for the PGA tour golf games.  You can read more about it here: https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129168.0.html

Just want to bring connectivity to everyone if it doesnt already exist.  Thanks for reading.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2015, 11:02:00 pm »
AFAIK, I've not seen any development on this yet. I have a programming background and have experience with running Linux servers and would be interested in helping out.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2015, 07:34:07 pm »
Thanks for the interest orizzle.  I think if a centralized server existed people with these machines would connect and play.  So I went forward and picked up a 2007 Evo.  There are some things I have to do on the front end before I start my development.  I'll keep posting back with progress.

lilshawn

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7377
  • Last login:Today at 07:40:39 pm
  • I break stuff...then fix it...sometimes
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2015, 11:38:48 am »
need more coffee.

there is a way to modify the server the megatouch "calls" into through the service mode settings. it should be easily hackable.

maybe contact "mahkeymike", he's done a bunch of megatouch poking. he can get you into your evo.

mahkeymike

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 747
  • Last login:Today at 07:59:52 pm
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2015, 01:09:31 pm »
Networking is definitely not my cup of tea. Orizzle is definitely the guy for the job. I am interested in helping out any way i can though. One problem i am thinking would be figuring out how to bring all the different versions together. Some games get added and removed from year to year. What i would start with is linking two identical machines together on a local network for some H2H (head to head) play, then do some packet sniff'n.

lilshawn

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7377
  • Last login:Today at 07:40:39 pm
  • I break stuff...then fix it...sometimes
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2015, 02:39:52 pm »
Networking is definitely not my cup of tea.

I hear that. I can't even forward ports properly without trying 100 different things.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2015, 03:01:52 pm »
I'm glad that you guys are willing to help.  When it comes time to release something it would be very helpful to have someone test the server before making any announcements.  Beta tester if you will.

So this type of work is what I do.  For fun and professionally.  The problem with sniffing H2H traffic is that it will be completely different then what the server login cadence is.  So it's best to go for the gusto and work on the server.  Dealing with different years shouldn't be complicated.  Merit has already dealt with this.  We are using their software with no modifications.  Without looking yet I would believe the call in procedure would deal with game data and not year data.  Meaning if X year had games ABC and Y year had games BCD it doesn't matter.  The machine reports it's info for game B, C, and D.  Then receives data for game B, C, and D.  It doesn't care about game A.

The real problem, will normally be with encryption.  This was the case with the PGA server.  No smart company is going to send info like this in plaintext.  Especially when tournament prizes are being given.  It will be encrypted.  That's not a problem though.  Once you know what encryption is being used, how the key is derived, how the initialization vector is derived, you can decrypt and encrypt as needed.

So my main goal for posting was to gauge interest and make sure I wouldn't be wasting my time if I worked on a server for all of us home owners.  Looks like people would be interested.  Also it makes the game more fun being able to compete against people from around the world.

Oh, I should probably state a few things while i'm here.  Just like I did for PGA.  I am not going to hack the game, I am not going to modify the game code at all.  I am not going to violate any IP.  That would get this project shut down before it even starts.  I want everybody who has an off the shelf Merit game to log into this server as they would normally do when Merit had their servers.  But instead of pointing to them, the games will point to the private server.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2015, 01:17:58 pm »
staying tuned here... did some poking around myself this morning but to no fruition....let me know how I can help you

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2015, 01:20:23 pm »
Thanks orizzle, I'll definitely take you up on that offer when the time comes.  The beginning is always the slowest as it's discovery.  But once the ball gets rolling it picks up speed quick.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2015, 09:53:35 pm »
Any headway here?

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2015, 09:59:09 pm »
I sneak a little work in here and there.  Been focused on the PGA stuff mostly.  But two things I have found is that the game info is stored in sqlite databases that are encrypted.  I also found that communication between the game and server is over SSL.  My next step is to configure my dev server to support SSL which probably means creating duplicate certificates and then putting a new certificate authority on the game.  Haven't moved forward but that is what I believe I will do.  Things should slow down on the PGA side at the beginning of next week and I'll be able to shift more time towards the countertop stuff.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2015, 09:34:25 pm »
I can help you with the SQLite encryption. Let me know when you're ready to get serious, and I'm all in.

mahkeymike

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 747
  • Last login:Today at 07:59:52 pm
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2015, 10:08:02 pm »
I can help you with the SQLite encryption. Let me know when you're ready to get serious, and I'm all in.

I dunno if he is sticking to his word, but he stated it did not want to "hack" the software at all to do this. Which in my opinion made this project dead before it started. Bottom line is TS will have to do some "hacking" to get a server running the software.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2015, 10:31:52 pm »
What happens behind the scenes is one thing.  What is modified on peoples machines is another.  What i mean is, no software hacks will be needed on peoples machines to connect to the server.  If you think it's not doable then go check out the PGA work.  No hacks.

lilshawn

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7377
  • Last login:Today at 07:40:39 pm
  • I break stuff...then fix it...sometimes
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #14 on: November 24, 2015, 12:01:27 am »
i don't think so. in the meganet section of the megatouches, you can specify the server it connects to. one could simply change the server it connects at to point to boosts computer instead.

then all boost has to do is emulate the responses required for the megatouch to think it's connected. the megatouch just thinks it's connected to a legit server.

so the only "mod" the user has to do is change the server address to ...whatever... in the settings.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #15 on: November 24, 2015, 12:38:46 pm »
I can help you with the SQLite encryption. Let me know when you're ready to get serious, and I'm all in.
If you have the skill set and knowledge to decrypt one of the db's then please dont wait on me.  Go ahead and do it and then see if the same key and initialization vector are used on all of the db's.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #16 on: November 26, 2015, 09:41:57 am »
Yes, all databases are created with the same  PRAGMA key='xxxxx' passphrase.

boostinallovryou

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #17 on: November 26, 2015, 11:00:10 am »
Do you know what the key value is?

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #18 on: November 26, 2015, 12:32:07 pm »
No, I don't. Check your private messages.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #19 on: December 06, 2015, 02:05:39 pm »
Just checking in, any progress?

ninjabadger81

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 31
  • Last login:September 20, 2018, 01:04:52 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #20 on: June 21, 2016, 05:28:22 am »
Very interested if there is any update with this?

lilshawn

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7377
  • Last login:Today at 07:40:39 pm
  • I break stuff...then fix it...sometimes
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #21 on: June 21, 2016, 01:46:49 pm »
Unfortunately no.   
 
I heard boost was back with a different username. Not terribly into the PGA thing anymore so I mostly ignore the thread.   Check out the PGA thread where they talk about the online server setup for it.  So one mentioned a Facebook group or something (I don't Facebook either)  might be a way to get a hold of him.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #22 on: June 22, 2016, 11:59:44 pm »
I've tried contacting him several times. No response

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #23 on: January 12, 2017, 04:31:57 pm »
Reviving this old thread. The boost guy is a ghost, so I'm thinking of doing something similar if there is any interest.  If you have 2 Megatouches on the same LAN, you can do MegaLink to play against others.  I thinking of running a VPN that people can connect their Megatouches to so they will think they are on the same LAN. That way, you'll get the Megalink functionality but over the Internet.  If enough people are interested in this, I may start looking into seeing how to make this work.

Lee_Trevino

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 28
  • Last login:January 18, 2019, 11:44:24 am
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2017, 05:00:29 pm »
Reviving this old thread. The boost guy is a ghost, so I'm thinking of doing something similar if there is any interest.  If you have 2 Megatouches on the same LAN, you can do MegaLink to play against others.  I thinking of running a VPN that people can connect their Megatouches to so they will think they are on the same LAN. That way, you'll get the Megalink functionality but over the Internet.  If enough people are interested in this, I may start looking into seeing how to make this work.
I'm back.  Different name, same guy.  I'm going to start back up on the private server.  Will take a bit of time to get my test bed setup and emerse myself in the communication.  Picked up an ion with 2010 software on it this morning.  Will report back when I make a little progress.

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2017, 06:17:43 pm »
Welcome back  :applaud: and good luck!
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 06:26:04 pm by orizzle »

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #26 on: March 09, 2017, 03:50:38 pm »
Looks like this has fallen through again. I really want this to work out, anyone else?....

orizzle

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 193
  • Last login:September 21, 2020, 07:20:41 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2017, 01:06:29 pm »
For anyone still following, boost contacted me again and said he is giving up.  So no tournaments for now :(
« Last Edit: July 26, 2017, 09:18:29 am by orizzle »

lilshawn

  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7377
  • Last login:Today at 07:40:39 pm
  • I break stuff...then fix it...sometimes
Re: Private tournament server?
« Reply #28 on: July 28, 2017, 10:56:27 am »
*SAD TROMBONE*

mahkeymike

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 747
  • Last login:Today at 07:59:52 pm
« Last Edit: July 28, 2017, 07:28:23 pm by mahkeymike »