It seems that Disney has decided to restore multiplayer for SWBF2 on Steam:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/6060/announcements/detail/1487735649730776315 (http://steamcommunity.com/games/6060/announcements/detail/1487735649730776315)
On another note, the CD version obviously won't be supported by this...
Edit: It also appears the game has been renamed on Steam as: 'Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Classic, 2005)'
http://heavy.com/games/2017/10/star-wars-battlefront-2-2005-multiplayer-gog-steam-online/
well they did this for Empire at War Forces Of Corruption and SWBF II, does anyone else think Republic Commando might be next?
WHAT!!!!
This is amazing (though currently buggy). If you do manage to get onto a server, they are all clientside hosted and are quite laggy. Will the genius' behind swbf2spy be able to edit the server software to be able to put servers on this new updated version?
Disney has no rights on SWBFSpy. I guess if they did, they would restore the old masterserver. Would like to see that.
I will have a meeting with Led ASAP.
You guys took the old server admin tools and pointed them toward your new master list, right? Would it be possible to do so for this new update? I would have thought so, no?
Quote from: Caedus on October 02, 2017, 12:28:33 PM
You guys took the old server admin tools and pointed them toward your new master list, right? Would it be possible to do so for this new update? I would have thought so, no?
Anyone can do that. But we do not know what the new Masterserver info is. At least, not me.
There are no plans to end SWBFSpy right now, are there? The PS2 still relies on it unless we can co-opt the new master server.
Quote from: SG-17 on October 02, 2017, 12:59:43 PM
There are no plans to end SWBFSpy right now, are there? The PS2 still relies on it unless we can co-opt the new master server.
No, they won't end it, our main game SWBF1 also depends on it.
Quote from: Anyder on October 02, 2017, 12:48:08 PM
Anyone can do that. But we do not know what the new Masterserver info is. At least, not me.
Disney has changed more than just pointing it to a new master server. (It's a 3.2 GB patch) So even if you knew the IP the old server software likely won't work, but obviously I really don't know.
3.2 GB patch? That's the reinstallation of the entire game basically. Which is why people are backing up custom files and etc.
Quote from: Ultimo on October 02, 2017, 01:04:57 PM
3.2 GB patch? That's the reinstallation of the entire game basically. Which is why people are backing up custom files and etc.
Yeah... I think the game has almost doubled in size.
Quote from: SG-17 on October 02, 2017, 12:59:43 PM
There are no plans to end SWBFSpy right now, are there? The PS2 still relies on it unless we can co-opt the new master server.
SWBFSpy will remain running for at least another 10 years.
Quote from: Norwood on October 02, 2017, 01:02:51 PM
Disney has changed more than just pointing it to a new master server. (It's a 3.2 GB patch) So even if you knew the IP the old server software likely won't work, but obviously I really don't know.
They have added mods to it, that's it. The server software is just the same. It just needs to be pointed to the new masterserver.
Quote from: Anyder on October 02, 2017, 01:11:41 PM
They have added mods to it, that's it. The server software is just the same. It just needs to be pointed to the new masterserver.
I hope you are right! 8)
Interesting...they could have at least talked to us ;)
Quote from: Led on October 02, 2017, 01:35:43 PM
Interesting...they could have at least talked to us ;)
Don't expect them to respect any kind of established community... Although I'd have fun seeing their servers being crashed for a change.
That's a pretty wild development. I guess they figured they could bank on the new player base buying the original game, and thought they might as well fix a few things.
As clever as the damn devil, to the extent where it is shocking... The have to make profit out of every damn person they can, we're now in the same situation than Half-Life WON edition and Steam edition... In that case, I'll let you guess who won the fight. (https://gonnagan.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/facepalm.jpg?w=630)
Boy, won't phobos be steaming mad when he finds out his idea has been stolen!
[spoiler]
:P
[/spoiler]
I wonder if many people picking up the game just after reading about this will be new to SWBF2(2005) in general. It'll be interesting to see some players acclimating (or re-acclimating) to the game. For me, since by the time I started playing on GR, all the people were already hardened players with an established meta in most of the game modes. It could be fun if there are new people, it may make the game more interesting.
Have been replying to Steam threads for hours... everyone asking the same questions over and over is starting to give me PTSD over when the next train of comments will come flooding in.
If you want to summarize, we can post it on the info site.
The update also shipped (by mistake most likely) what appear to full PC builds of the DLC Rhen Var: Citadel and less interestingly Pandemic's test map.
No mission script for Rhen Var though so you can't just play it out of the box, but that could be trivially rectified with a simple addon script.
How does it look like ? I'm curious and perhaps the biggest Rhen Var player of the world, I always thought that the version from the total conversion pack was looking soulless.
Well, Citadel was supposed to be included originally. Guess they didn't finish it on time.
So from what i've read here, the old server software should work, if pointed to the new master list, correct? Is anyone capable of doing it? If we don't know the master list details, wouldnt it be possible to get via wireshark when you load multiplayer in the game?
Quote from: Caedus on October 03, 2017, 06:59:09 AM
So from what i've read here, the old server software should work, if pointed to the new master list, correct? Is anyone capable of doing it? If we don't know the master list details, wouldnt it be possible to get via wireshark when you load multiplayer in the game?
Nope. The new MP protocol is completely different from gamespy.
Quote from: Led on October 03, 2017, 07:02:27 AM
Nope. The new MP protocol is completely different from gamespy.
Yeah we already tested it
Ahh balls
If Disney was honestly trying to restore multiplayer to the game, they better get on top of fixing it. People are turning sour about all of the issues real quick...
Quote from: Norwood on October 03, 2017, 11:48:07 AM
If Disney was honestly trying to restore multiplayer to the game, they better get on top of fixing it. People are turning sour about all of the issues real quick...
Agreed. I don't know why they didn't just release a working product. Now we have to deal with a barely functional game with people complaining about issues that likely won't exist in a few weeks. Such is life.
I also fail to find any reason why the modding community is trying to fix 1.3 when GoG will likely do another update that will kill all progress in that area. Wait for the base game to work properly, and then work on the mods for it.
Quote from: Jean on October 03, 2017, 12:03:09 PM
Agreed. I don't know why they didn't just release a working product. Now we have to deal with a barely functional game with people complaining about issues that likely won't exist in a few weeks. Such is life.
An interesting, and possible important note that I forgot about, (I'm sure Led and Anyder are aware of this.) but this is actually GOG, not Disney. Disney gave GOG their blessing of course, but the multiplayer is actually from GOG.
Quote from: Norwood on October 03, 2017, 12:07:34 PM
An interesting, and possible important note that I forgot about, (I'm sure Led and Anyder are aware of this.) but this is actually GOG, not Disney. Disney gave GOG their blessing of course, but the multiplayer is actually from GOG.
After going through over 250+ Steam comments on the forums I'm fully aware xD
Quote from: Jean on October 03, 2017, 12:09:04 PM
After going through over 250+ Steam comments on the forums I'm fully aware xD
Yeah, I saw your edit after I posted. :shrug:
I know it's not perfect with the lack of dedicated servers and all, but as someone who started playing SWBF2 after it started losing a little population it is insane to see a full list of servers with many people playing. definitely playing some swbf2 tomorrow (even if the actual multiplayer meta is less balanced than in SWBF1 :whistle:)
How can I host a server? Do I need to port forward?
Quote from: Raigiku on October 04, 2017, 09:15:14 AM
How can I host a server? Do I need to port forward?
No need to port forward with the new system. It is kind of like a built in GameRanger.
Has anyone managed to get a decent game yet? I've joined twice out of 20 attempts of which one crashed and the other was a half hour game I didn't have time to play.
Despite that I'm glad there's an effort to bring old games back, cd projekt red remain my favourite developer.
Quote from: {PLA}gdh92 on October 07, 2017, 03:32:07 PM
Has anyone managed to get a decent game yet? I've joined twice out of 20 attempts of which one crashed and the other was a half hour game I didn't have time to play.
I've managed to join a few games all hosted in Australia which have had over 15+ players them at one time. However, there is incredible lag for everyone in the game apart from the host which I never experienced on the old servers. I'm not sure if this is because they aren't dedicated. Also, I constantly need to restart the game when changing servers as the system seems to bug out and show no servers are available.
Other than that, it is nice to see players in the game once again! I hope they can rollout some bug fixes soon.
I can't even get into a SWBF2 server currently. It just hangs on busy, and when I cancel I usually have to refresh: and at that point is when all the servers turn up missing. So... Yeah. This needs to be fixed.
Quote from: shadow3901 on October 08, 2017, 10:45:36 AM
I can't even get into a SWBF2 server currently. It just hangs on busy, and when I cancel I usually have to refresh: and at that point is when all the servers turn up missing. So... Yeah. This needs to be fixed.
Not like we can do much about it, else than waiting ;)
Quote from: Anyder on October 08, 2017, 11:05:28 AM
Not like we can do much about it, else than waiting ;)
Well, he can join us on SWBFspy. It works as good as Gamespy ever did ;)
Just found this on Gametoast:
Quote from: Commander4726Update on Multiplayer: GoG are in the final testing phase for a patch regarding multiplayer stability. The community team will be helping them test this patch, and we may possible have to pull more community members into a server at some point just to test it properly. Additionally they are also working on dedicated server support for their SDK server, which will enable dedi support for SWBF2, AND we should be getting the source code for the exe at some point soon which is excellent.
So good news for the most part, but the last statement is the most intriguing thing of all!
If we can get that, I would ask psych0fred if it's possible for us to get the SWBF1 source code too. If we have that, we can combine the best bits of both - I know I'd like to have the sixth unit, class changes at command posts and updated model memories in the first game for certain!
SOURCE CODE ????!!!!
HECK! Holy crap I'm so hyped now..
Bear in mind that this is unconfirmed, but if it is true, it gives thoughts about creating a DLL with new features and 'injecting' it into the first game a much more likely outcome.
Bummer.
After all the only thought of having the Big Minds thinking about releasing the source code is already an immense improvement when you come to think about it.
Quote from: i|\|(06|\|i70 on October 14, 2017, 09:05:22 AM
Bummer.
After all the only thought of having the Big Minds thinking about releasing the source code is already an immense improvement when you come to think about it.
It will not be released. Think about what it would also mean to them.
The good news is that joining servers now works well, the bad news is that every one is appallingly laggy, as in every player transporting all over the place...
Quote from: Anyder on October 14, 2017, 11:03:56 AM
It will not be released. Think about what it would also mean to them.
A man can dream.
Quote from: {PLA}gdh92 on October 14, 2017, 11:30:23 AM
The good news is that joining servers now works well, the bad news is that every one is appallingly laggy, as in every player transporting all over the place...
Welcome to Pingworld, my kingdom.
Quote from: Anyder on October 14, 2017, 11:03:56 AM
It will not be released. Think about what it would also mean to them.
I have to admit that I am more skeptic than hopeful for the source code too.
We know that GOG modified the shipped files to improve the anti-cheat capabilities. Releasing the source code might end up being a risk as hackers/cheaters might take advantage of it.
Quote from: Chadaface on October 15, 2017, 11:39:35 AM
I have to admit that I am more skeptic than hopeful for the source code too.
We know that GOG modified the shipped files to improve the anti-cheat capabilities. Releasing the source code might end up being a risk as hackers/cheaters might take advantage of it.
An interesting way around that would be to make the source code single-player only -or to release the source code to BF2_ModTools. All that would need to be operational would be the single player, campaign, and Galactic Conquest, and debug options, and you could code in the fullscreen, removal of the green bar and the ability to move between screens. In fact, that version might be preferable as stock SWBF2 still has that bug in which maps that have been removed from addon still show up on the list, while BF2_ModTools does not.
You could then see about coding in multiplayer support from scratch and pointing it to an unofficial server (IE SWBFSpy).
That's the version I would ask for, anyway.
Quote from: Chadaface on October 15, 2017, 11:39:35 AM
I have to admit that I am more skeptic than hopeful for the source code too.
It's not being skeptic or hopeful. I got the email from the devs. and they never said anything about giving us the source code.
Also, there is no control for cheating. People can still use the advantages they want as long as they apply those changes to the lvl files. I wouldnt be able to tell for the aimbot, though.
Quote from: Anyder on October 15, 2017, 01:39:52 PM
It's not being skeptic or hopeful. I got the email from the devs. and they never said anything about giving us the source code.
Also, there is no control for cheating. People can still use the advantages they want as long as they apply those changes to the lvl files. I wouldnt be able to tell for the aimbot, though.
Sorry, did I miss something about more dev communication? Is there a post somewhere with the contents of this email? It would be great if we had a sticky post that only the mods could post into where you post the newest communications from the dev team at GOG about swbf2.
There were just a couple of us copied on the email, but it basically just said they are trying to fix the issues and get the stuff they need (i.e. GoG needs) to make dedicated server software and that they may try to contact us to gather enough people for a test.
I know everyone is starved for information and everyone would like a lot of things, but that's all it said and there has been no follow up yet by GoG.
Cheers for that, it's good to know ::) I guess what they need is source files and permission? I don't suppose they mentioned a timeline, did they? :P
Sorry for the bump, I'm guessing there has not been any more word from the gog devs?
From the SWBF2 Community Discord:
QuoteAsLan - Yesterday at 3:09 PM
@everyone Update from GOG, this time via contact over discord:
"Hey AsLan,
I understand your concern, it has been a while since the last update. This is partially because I was OOO due to personal reasons.
I assure you that we are still on it. Due to the nature of the situation, we need to be absolutely sure that we didn't miss anything and fix the game on our first try, this is the main reason why it takes so long. I really wish I could go into details but I can't without a risk to harm the process.
The dedicated server support in the SDK is progressing on its own, unrelated path and the ETA is the 2nd week of November. After it is done we will use it to create the dedicated server of BF2 using the source code we have."
You're an absolute star lad, cheers.
So it sounds like end of November-ish
I don't suppose there's been an update? :(
Quote from: Caedus on November 20, 2017, 11:41:52 AM
I don't suppose there's been an update? :(
Not yet, I'm in the Discord group and we haven't been given any updates yet. We're still waiting.
Sorry to bump again :o
Any updates?
Quote from: Caedus on December 29, 2017, 01:56:26 PM
Sorry to bump again :o
Any updates?
No. But let me remind u that SWBFSpy is up and running.