Server List

Started by Dark_Phantom, February 13, 2019, 07:47:23 PM

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February 13, 2019, 07:47:23 PM Last Edit: February 13, 2019, 07:50:01 PM by Dark_Phantom
I have added the server list to the home page.  Please take a look at it and judge it harshly.
Sometimes it doesn't load in the iframe.  You can go to https://stats.swbfgamers.net to see it in its full glory.

If you want to see expanded functionality, go ahead and ask.  I'm not afraid to try stuff, considering I have a different version of this page on my personal server.
The BOBclan:  A Rich History


Quote from: Unit 33 on November 29, 2014, 03:44:44 AM
'Please, tell me more about the logistics of the design of laser swords being wielded by space wizards' - Some guy on the internet.

Nice work, makes it much easier to check if anyone's online. Only suggestion, if it's not already, is to order them by number of players.

Also maybe put the logo outside the box as you have to scroll past it to see the list on mobile browsers.
I play less now but I'll always be around, lets keep this site and battlefront going. :)

February 14, 2019, 04:48:05 AM #2 Last Edit: February 14, 2019, 08:05:20 AM by Dark_Phantom
Tis already ordered by Number of Players.  I can move the picture to the bottom of the page to make scrolling easier.
--Update: Moved picture.  The site now looks like it was made for an iframe.
The BOBclan:  A Rich History


Quote from: Unit 33 on November 29, 2014, 03:44:44 AM
'Please, tell me more about the logistics of the design of laser swords being wielded by space wizards' - Some guy on the internet.

Thanks. Looks good. :cheers:
I play less now but I'll always be around, lets keep this site and battlefront going. :)

February 21, 2019, 11:02:31 AM #4 Last Edit: February 22, 2019, 05:26:56 AM by Dark_Phantom
There is a syncing issue currently - The time delay is too long on the top list if a server closes.  This messes up when you select the dropdown menu (because one of the servers is not responding).  Will look to adjust delay soon.

Edit: Syncing issue is a little bit better now.  Also, it was requested to make it static rather than scroll on the front page.  You will now be able to see other servers, but to see more information you will have to go to the bottom of the page or the website.
Also, the PS2 servers are on there as well, marked with PS2 or PC.  Default puts PS2 at the bottom but if it has players it will shoot up to the top so PS2 players know.
The BOBclan:  A Rich History


Quote from: Unit 33 on November 29, 2014, 03:44:44 AM
'Please, tell me more about the logistics of the design of laser swords being wielded by space wizards' - Some guy on the internet.

Quote from: Dark_Phantom on February 13, 2019, 07:47:23 PM
I have added the server list to the home page.  Please take a look at it and judge it harshly.
Sometimes it doesn't load in the iframe.  You can go to https://stats.swbfgamers.net to see it in its full glory.

If you want to see expanded functionality, go ahead and ask.  I'm not afraid to try stuff, considering I have a different version of this page on my personal server.

I just noticed this somehow but I love it, really useful idea. Could you add the SWBF2 servers to the list also in like a different tab/button maybe?

May 06, 2019, 02:53:31 AM #6 Last Edit: May 06, 2019, 02:55:49 AM by _DeltaForce_
That. Is. Incredible!

I was thinking since quite some time that a proper server list outside of the game - optimally on a website - would be a really great thing to boost activity on SWBFSpy. Being able to check whether someone is on by opening a bookmarked website in your browser is much easier than having to open the entire game. May get a lot of people to play when they otherwise wouldn't bother to check whether someone is on.

I got a couple of suggestions.

  • As Mike said, why only SWBF1? The only difference in querying the master server for SWBF1 and SWBF2 is that the game name identifier becomes "swbfront2pc" (from "swbfrontpc") and that the master server key is "hMO2d4" (instead of "y3Hd2d" for SWBF1). Don't know about game server querying though.
  • I asked this in the Discord server already: would it be possible to place the widget more prominently on the site than at the very bottom? Maybe on the left side at the top or at least underneath "User Info" and "Who's online?"? Would maybe need to fiddle with the layout a bit to squeeze it into the 250px of the side bar, but I reckon it's doable.
  • A bug: the positioning of the player info box is inconsistent. It is displayed underneath the game server info box for the first server in the list. For the second server if two servers have players on, one player box is displayed above, one below. For empty servers both boxes are displayed above. I don't think this is intended? I'd say it would even make more sense if only the player box of the currently selected server is shown, ideally above the game server box.
  • The drop down box read "A Generic Drop Down Menu" when no server is selected. Maybe remove this dummy entry and make the drop down menu select the first server as default (so you don't even need a dummy entry)?
  • It would look a bit nice and less technical if proper strings for the different values in the game server box would be used. Like, "AI difficulty" instead of "aidifficulty" or for the values use "False/True" instead of "0/1".

You did a fantastic job with that!

Thanks--we have been able to list SWBF2 with it, but didn't include it since most of that activity is on GoG, at least for PC.

As far as the formatting, we can hook you up with access if you would have time to help  :cheers:
Quote from: Abraham Lincoln. on November 04, 1971, 12:34:40 PM
Don't believe everything you read on the internet

May 06, 2019, 04:50:38 AM #8 Last Edit: May 06, 2019, 08:00:50 PM by Dark_Phantom
The base of the "more details" portion of the website is GameQ - an open sourced server query tool for php.  I can manually change values but what you see is mostly what is dumped.  I'll try to clean it up some.

I have not been concerned with the actual player list because the query tools a lot of times do not grab all the players.  The numbers in the server list are the most accurate because I pull them straight from the master list.  I intended to make it so that the playerlist only showed up if the server was selected, but I hadn't gotten there yet.  Another issue that happens with that list is that there is no placeholder if a server can't be queried.  It just bumps the next server up causing weird mismatching server issues.

As you can see, I didn't put as much time into this website as probably was appropriate.  When it was built, there was a desire for a separate master list and some other details, and that was it.  I formatted the top of the page to fit into a box and went from there - Placement of the widget is just an iframe box in the News block right now.

I have a testing machine that I work with to implement new features, but I haven't touched it for a while.  Thanks for your suggestions and I'm hoping I can get some of them working soon.

Edit: Added SWBF2 since that was a pretty easy request.  Already had it done on my backup.
The BOBclan:  A Rich History


Quote from: Unit 33 on November 29, 2014, 03:44:44 AM
'Please, tell me more about the logistics of the design of laser swords being wielded by space wizards' - Some guy on the internet.