Re: PS2 server/game testing needed for new master server

[Mike]

Whatsup Led, about 2 years ago you guys pointed me in the right direction of finding GameMaster, I then contacted Kalle and was able to test some PS2 things for him back in 2014.

I am totally down to help you test SWBFspy for PS2. A website I help run has been doing tournaments on PS2 SWBF2 for many years now and the players want to keep it going.

I would be able to personally help starting on Monday night when I'm with my PS2. I know that there are others who I can ask to do something if you wanted to test something tonight. Antony and Snake were also super helpful when we were setting things up on GameMaster so they should be helpful again too I hope.

I'll explain the process we did for GameMaster, and then you can tell me what you think we should test first.

On PS2, we can't edit our hosts file or .exe. The only thing we have access to is the network configuration screen. It lets us change a few things but the most important thing was the ability to change Primary DNS and Secondary DNS. The screen looks like this:
Note that this number is an old one we used to connect to GameMaster.

At some point in May 2014 I found GameMaster, and I did a DNS lookup on their website domain, and I was able to get the IP Address of their website, aka the DNS address. This is what we used to connect to them. It did not work right away, but after I spoke to Kalle and he did some setting up on his end, things were working.

So, looking at the hosts file you made, I am assuming we would use 162.248.92.172 as the new Primary DNS number for SWBFspy. I could try this on Monday but I would need at least one other person to test it with because the server list would be empty. Ideally, I would try out your DNS number, and then host a server on this list via my PS2. On PS2 there is an option to host a small server from the machine itself. We usually call these "4 mans" because the maximum amount of players is 4. Then I would have someone else try your DNS number and see if they can see my server on the list and join it. If that works then we know its all working.

In order to host larger servers we will need to hex edit the Playstation 2 Server Manager to redirect all the GameSpy addresses to your addresses. However we might not need to do this for another month because Kalle is redirecting the GameMaster server to you guys for a month so maybe we won't need to do anything just yet. I can try to find the old vanilla files at some point so we can get them edited properly. Finding the SWBF1 one might be harder though.

I also have a copy of SWBF1 for Playstation 2 and I am willing to help you guys test that too.

[Led]

Hi Mike,

Kalle has recently posted some advice for me, and I think I understand what needs to be done.  Don't hex edit your files for the new Master Server.  I need to set up a private DNS (domain name server) that will send traffic to the new master server. 

I will look into how to set up a DNS.  I have a server that runs Windows Server 2012 R2 that I believe I can use for this purpose.  Give me a couple of days to look into the details.

Thanks!

[Mike]

Ok sure, just let me know when you are ready for me to test it out and I will.

[AnthonyBF2]

I no longer own a PS2 or even a television. So I am out. Good luck!

[Phobos]

Good work I can also test the SWBF1 PS2 servers and client emulator on the new SWBFspy DNS once you have it ready.

[Led]

OK, so I am working on setting up a DNS forwarding service by following this guide:

http://www.tomsitpro.com/articles/configure-dns-windows-server-2012,2-793.html

I think I have it working.  The DNS IP is 74.91.125.138
and it will send *.gamespy.com  requests to the new master server 162.248.92.172

Anyone out there care to test it?

[oldsnake]

thanks Led for the setup.  try to test it out was unable to setup the network config using the new dns#.
when trying the old gamemaster one it works https://youtu.be/_jW3bEypDs0

[Led]

I have made some adjustments.


Please try again.

[oldsnake]

it is still not working. i got a wire shark capture of the working gamemaster setup dns# to complete the memory card setup.
https://mega.nz/#!6AQCjBAB!K9g9Hb_B4WLA7XdJ929GttpX0Kf3m5pGwQOBqJV7Vr4

[Led]

OK, I made one more adjustment, I added a wild card.

I am not sure what to do with the wire shark stuff.

Here is a video of how I set up the DNS server.
https://youtu.be/PWXbsTImvuM

Please try one more time, then we can ask drunken Master for some help, or anyone else if they have any ideas.

[oldsnake]

hey Led here is the patched SWBFspy for ps2 no patch server exe
https://mega.nz/#!XMRygAoY!1DbK_inhEanynnYR07iGyf8YWEiYAmioCKFnT8uXc0M

[Led]

Looks like we got it to work--anyone else care to try ?

[oldsnake]

 here is the patched SWBFspy for ps2 swbf2 server exe.
https://mega.nz/#!WdYxhSoQ!py_faVaYWl75EPeIXbiKwVKONh3UxYFQe5nr6F6LFOc
in the folder there is the normal SWBFspy and fast spawn SWBFspy.
if you want slow spawn time use the normal exe. keep a backup copy of the original exe.
here is the download for the server http://www.gamewatcher.com/downloads/star-wars-battlefront-ii-download/dedicated-server-1-07
thanks Led for the server download link
and here is a vid for setup the ps2 switch buy creating a shortcut in the start menu programs folder.

you might want to update the sm and rm also http://www.fileplanet.com/184555/180000/fileinfo/Star-Wars:-Battlefront-2--Server-Manager-and-Remote-Manager-v1.1-GUI

[Mike]

Looks like we got it to work--anyone else care to try ?

Hey Led, I tested out your new DNS number today.

The first thing I did was try both the default connection, and the GameMaster connection. Using either of these results in an error message, as expected, because these are both down right now (I actually thought these settings would still get me to the server list and have it show up as empty, but something changed and they just show an error right away now).

I then tried to test out your new setting and I used 74.91.125.138 as the Primary DNS, and 0.0.0.0 as the Secondary DNS. This results in getting past the error message that the default connection and the GameMaster one currently stop at. It authenticates DNAS fine (this is a Sony PS2 security measure thing). It then gives a message about a new patch being available.

This is an odd problem that has happened on PS2 before, even when GameSpy was up, but I don't fully understand it. There was once a time where some players were unable to connect to PS2 servers because of this problem, and the game would mistakenly download a patch file to your memory card which seemingly did nothing.

Anyway right now it asks you if you would like to download the patch, hitting "no" brings you back to the multiplayer screen, hitting "yes" results in another message "error processing patch", and it then asks you again if you would like to download the patch. After hitting yes about 10 times or so eventually it lets you bypass that screen and lets you get to the GameSpy login screen. On GameMaster we didn't really use accounts, I know they had it working and some of us did but I usually just chose to "enter without logging in" so that's what I did here. This brings you to the screen where you can join a server, or create a server (a 4 man).

Hitting join right now results in "Busy 0%" for about 30 seconds, and then brings you to an empty server list. Its hard to tell if the list is actually empty or if the workaround isn't working. In 2014 when I was testing other workarounds like OpenSpy, the 0% was a cue that it wasn't actually working.

Hitting create, meaning making a 4 man server via my Playstation 2, results in "Host registration failed" and the game oddly puts you into a local game where you have single player options available, and you are not put into a server.

I should note that I know that at least one other Playstation 2 player, Kintaro, got the exact same results as me when he tested this earlier. So these results are just not specific to just me.

All in all I think your workaround is doing something, because it does not run into the error screen right away like the older methods do, however at some point there is something that is not configured properly because it seems that we cannot see the server list, or put a server up onto the list.

Should we try to maybe use 162.248.92.172 as the Secondary or Primary DNS?

Here's another thing I would like to point out. On GameMaster, if I am not mistaken, I think that the DNS server address they used was the same one that the GameSpy replacement in general was hosted on. What I mean is that the IP address number they had in the hosts file, which people used on PC and for hosting servers, and the number we put into our Playstation 2s for Primary DNS were the same number. For you I see that you have 2 different numbers. I am not sure if this matters because GameMaster also had 2 servers as options for numbers at one point, and I think you both just redirect traffic to the other one so it might not matter. I just thought I would point it out though.

The wireshark capture Snake provided might be helpful for configuring your server, but I am not sure on the details. It is basically a readout of all the internet packets our PS2 is trying to send over the network connection. I can also get you more of these, if you need them. I have ones from back when the PS2 connected to GameSpy by default.

Hopefully Kalle is still able to help you guys if you get stuck. Let me know what you think I should do next, or if there is anything else I can do to help.

[Led]

Hi Mike,

do you have teamspeak?