cobrachoppergirl

This is a slideshow of my enriched Gulf of Oman BF2 demo server map I built several weeks ago. Entire new sections of the map were built in the empty ocean between the carrier and the beach, with just two parts, the wooden bridge part and a concrete bridge part. I.e., a bridge (done right to fit in seamlessly) to the carrier to enclose a 'watersports harbour area' (my rubberboats having been converted to stunting speedboats), a dock complex, a stunting tower for aircraft to fly through, various jeep jump and water ski ramps, a river race course, 'AIRWAR' written in rubber boats, a few 'forts' at the mec base, etc. Players just nicknamed it all 'the bridge'. AIRWAR Waterworld Slideshow View AIRWAR Waterworld Photo Grid View Select shots: Aircraft Stunting Tower Tower Destroyed Docks Destroyed The Bridge Detail: Tower Ramp up Detail: Bridge to Tower Detail: Dock to Carrier Detail: Boat Soup

I ported my demo server into the full game server, and I'm finding, nobody will join, because being the blind lemmings that players are, they do not even see the Advanced tab. They only think the servers that exist, are what they see in the Quick Pick list (I observed this same behavior in the demo land server - not showing up in the Quick Pick list was death for a server). Because my server is unranked (I run my own rank system), it does not have a little rank icon by it, and so it is excluded from the Quick Pick list, which only shows servers that are md5 checksumed, ranked, punkbustered, and teamspeak enabled (all 5 icons lit). And my server has a nice little red flag by it indicating it is not md5 checksumed, because, wanting to run a highly modded server, the first thing we do is disable the md5 checksum files. Grrr. I hate having to kludge a system that is working, because of daft player mentality, but can anyone think of a way to fool the list into thinking your server is md5 checksummed and ranked, when its not, so it will show up in the Quick Pick? Or does anyone know anything about the Quick Pick list, and what criteria it uses to exclude servers. I use to think it was only based on listing servers that were not empty, and that had a low ping to you, but apparently in the full game, it is checking other variables to make the list far more exclusive.... Method: I'm thinking if I can find in the BF2142 1.51 dedicated Windows Server machine code, where the md5 checksum routine is located, and where it ends and returns True or False to the calling routine (if the checksum of a file passed or failed), then I can kludge hack a place in the checksum machine code with a hex editor so that the checksum routine always returns a True / Pass condition irregardless of its finding. In this way, all checksums of any files would pass. Not sure how the md5 checksum system works... is it simpler to override than that. Ie, can I just recompute the checksum numbers for the new modified files, paste them in the server config files, and have the server talk back to the master list that hey, everything checked out, the computed checksums of the local files matched the locally stored checksum numbers (daft). Is that how it operates, in a daft way, or does it actually send the checksum numbers it computes upstream?

BILLBOARD PLUS+ "Dynamic changing in game billboards, shipping containers, decals, game assets, game logic, and other fun stuff done all on the game client side to server admin control" The BF2142 demo client is frozen and has never been upgraded - or rather, its become abandonware. Because it has never been changed, it should make it very easy to write a patch for its staticly frozen and never changing file structure. I'm looking for someone interested in helping me write a client side patch, that players download, and it patches and hooks into the BF2142 demo game client, so that it is run once on game client start up. It will probably just be a python script itself and be simply launched by the BF python interpreter by one of its init script. My guess is I"ll probably end up writing it myself, but if you have experience writing client side patches, holler at me. PATCH SCRIPT LOGIC OVERVIEW The patch script will contact my server for a (short) list of files and file locations in the game client to replace before game startup and with what custom file. (the current list of changed files to use) This list changes every day on the master server to a cron job to its own computer program (probably a bash shell script), and is limited to changing the textures on the billboards and shipping containers. The patch then checks to see if these download files are stored in its local cache on drive (already been downloaded), and if not, downloads them with some wget/ftp code If any operation times out, it just continues and does nothing, leaving the settings from last time. It then swaps the files in the list/file locations (new textures) into the zip archives When the player enters the game, the game loads the new textures as if they were the games native textures, yet the player will see these new textures on the billboards and shipping containers, which will change every day. The effect being, dynamic textures/details in the game; the billboards change every day or X period for everyone, and funny ads for non-existent products of the future appear on the shipping containers. The downloader will be generic, any files in the demo can be replaced not just textures, making other things in the game dynamic (for example, for christmas all the trees could suddenly become christmas trees, or the decals on the tanks become smiley faces, or any other possible client side change I could dream up), but for the beginning I'll focus on swapping the billboard and shipping container textures since they are rather harmless, and in the demo, static, boring, and never used or changed (unlike the full game). As you can guess, you could do some pretty exciting stuff with this, because it would suddenly make the stupid idiot non-changing game client 'dynamic', and all stupid client only stuff you could never do before, you suddenly can do. At least some of it, as your changes would affect the players client no matter which server he connected to, not just yours, you have to keep that in mind and be rather prudent, tactful, and cautious with your changes. The BF2142 demo community is rather tiny though (15 or less servers) so this is not such a big deal. The exception being python code that you changed client side, where you put in a check to only run the modified version of the code if the game server connected to matches your server name. The shipping containing textures are stored in billboard_color01.dds in Static_objects_client.zip, and the billboards themselves I haven't yet though I stumbled across them one time and are stored in different sizes (I remember that). See here for a thread on it, or just go poking around in the zips to find them: BFeditor Billboard discussion Technical difficulties: well, I've never written an installer before, but I'm sure there are canned packges out there for it. It probably will be very simple, just replacing one or two text files in the game client with another (patching the init script and adding in the patch script it calls to do all the work), but it'd be nice to have an Uninstall option and nice canned installer interface everyone is use to with Windows. Also, I don't know how difficult it is going to be with computer code to replace a file inside a zip archive with another. Anyone with any insight on this let me know. And I need to find some ftp/wget type code written in Python.

So, I'm probably buying someone's airplane project, what I call "bare minimum airplane"... a Kolb UltraStar... for $750 U.S. Its missing a Rotax 447/503, prop, some wing surfacing, under carriage, and needs a whole lot of work (it was in a wreck once). So while I'm waiting for him to trailer it up, I thought I'd play around and come up with a color scheme for it... My Rough MacPaint Skin Idea (yeah I know its not a pretty mockup, my favorite wizard paint program Paint.NET is broken on this computer): My actual lettering would be big and blocky and carefully taped off and laid out, and take up the full surface of the wing with a bit more mathematical distribution and symetry, then I did horribly quick and dirty with the line tool in MacPaint. Probably a font similiar to what I used in this graphic: http://air-war.org/image_wallpaper_mitchell_b25.jpg Actual Pics from the guys garage: http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5166.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5167.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5168.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5169.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5170.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5171.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5172.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5173.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5174.JPG http://shellprompt.com/deathtrap1/DSCF5176.JPG If I buy it this Xmas season (he's delivering, all I have to do is give him the cash which I have, thanks to a friend) I'll take more pictures of it when its sitting in my front yard and post to this thread... I was thinking maybe paint the fuselage frame gloss black for a black and white scheme, but since he's already started on some firehouse gloss red, I may run with that color as well for the traditional illuminated color scheme of red/black/white. Have the frame firehouse red, but the tube going back be gloss black... maybe the vertical tail entirely black with a white skull and cross bones on it. Kind of a Red Barron color scheme, without looking like a carbon copy of the Red Barron Triplane How would you skin a Kolb Ultrastar....? Its a Work in Progress. I spend a lot of time watching EAA videos on building airplanes, recovering wings, welding, etc. First mod from stock once its finished and flying (which would still be a long way off): A Lewis gun or Dual Maxim's on the front, or a repeating paintball gun for the Zombie Apocalypse. I'm not going to be down on the ground with those brain eating zombies like the rest of you... I'm thinking maybe I take it to the next level, and make some front nose out of white injection plastic molding, of like faux dual quad lasar cannons on the front nose, like it came out of some Star Wars sequel, or like faux steam punk minigun like it came out of Mad Max. So the old airport guys are like, what the hell is that??? Is that... legal? And the little kids are like, that is so cool. LIKE SOME FAUX VICKERs (WW1 replicas): Guns High: Guns Low: Youtube videos of Ultrastar flying (in case you're wondering why I would want to risk my neck in a flying lawnchair deathtrap - why... so I could fly the hell out of it): I'm also thinking of adding a megaphone to it to a push button electronic sound system, to play various PsyOps sounds and clips, like machine gun sounds, a stuka divebombing scream, Ride of the Valkeries from Apocalypse Now, Credence Run through the Jungle, the French Version of Paint it Black, Magic Carpet Ride, Fortunate Son, and 1960's Vietnam sound tracks... anti-war stuff... like from the Battlefield Vietnam game... also AC/DC's Thunderstruck... The only ultralight with faux machine guns and a sound system, it would turn heads even at an ultralight fly in... holy crap! What the ! Specially if I flip on the music system on low in a play loop as an attention getter(remember old skool stand up arcade game attractor modes?) and walk away. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_warfare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing_Machine_Charlie Maybe a little smoke system too, by dripping used motor oil into a hot exhaust manifold. Got to keep the weight under 254 pounds tho... so... can't load her up with very much.... or have to make sacrifices elsewhere... who needs instrumentation.... I can see the ground from here... good enough to throw a toilet roll or streamer roll bomb at....

Youtube - Choppergirl's AIRWAR Cartoons! AIR-WAR.ORG

Where do I place flowers on the grave for the Battlefield series....? Who wants to start a small collection for me to actually make a real tombstone (like, the cost of buying a bag of quick concrete, maybe Devilman can give me some advice in that department) and a grave site.... maybe I'll bury all my plastic candy box copies I bought from CompUSA (which also died, along with Circuit City, Computer City, and Radio Shack... and probably a long, long list of other tech companies)... CHOPPERGIRL http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/member.php?u=37217

What are you doing putting Elvis up there, put me up there instead... ;-P

Alice, my second plane project... bought for $99... ! The Bad: I destroyed just about every wing rib getting it home, from the vibration on the trailer and having the wings stacked with no stand off board between them... arg! Stupid monkey moment. Would have to take apart the wing and build a jig to build 6-8 new wing ribs anyway... so... now I have to do 24... so not like its a big deal, I just created work for myself, and it looks more pitiful and less like a real nice wing The Good: Two mint condition, never used or run, Chotia 460 engines! The packing newspaper in the box says December 1984 from Dallas. Thread about it: http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26045&page=2 Surprisingly, I'd say about 70% complete plane, for $99, not bad. Missing prop, exhaust pipes, carbs (he sold the carbs), gas tank, and I'm sure odds and ends... and of course, new wing ribs I need to make and cover the wings... and then rig up all the wires... which it looks like I got most of them.

I need color schemes for these two new potential plane projects: Alice, my Chotia Gypsy project http://alice.air-war.org Wendy, a possible B1-RD project http://wendy.air-war.org

As far as I was concerned, this was the preeminent forum for modding BF. Did any DICE or EA employee ever show up or post here... at all...? Anyone?

1. No* 2. No * Technically you can, but it would be like trying to drive a car with nothing but your toes.

BF2142 and BF2 is dead... forever... consigned to the dusty bins of Gameranger... thanks EA/GameSpy... thanks a lot... 5 years of hard ass work supporting your game and creating a massive kickass mod across four different game server engines... down the toilet... I won't be doing that again. So... what do I do... next? What did I do... next? Um, try and build an airplane and... fly for real? http://dorothy.air-war.org http://dorothy.air-war.org http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24261 http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/member.php?u=37217&tab=aboutme&simple=1

WTF? But we've moved on to other vbulliteen boards... lol... http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/member.php?u=37217 And suddenly, millions of threads were... resurrected...