Tracker Protocol Version 2

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Server Properties

Here are a list of thoughts on what should be included in the tracker version 2 protocol:

This would work better as a table name, purpose, example.

  • Server name's - brief description of the server - Chew Toy 3 - 24/7.
  • Server DNS entry - Optional reverse DNS entry to use. Tracker will confirm it.
  • WBN server key - Is this server participating in WBN.
  • Players list - Players present in the game and WBN status.
  • Server public key - Public RSA key so it can be tested against authorised server key lists.
  • Is the game client locked?
  • Is the game server locked?


Tracker vs. WinBolo.net Reporting

I believe we have the opportunity to completely remove the tracker server from WinBolo. Currently, a server can report one of four ways:

  1. Tracker only
    • Players don't want to have stats reported.
    • Players don't wish their games to show up in player diaries.
    • People who only watch WBN for new games will not see these tracker-reported-only games.
    • Slower to respond. Games take much longer to time out and maybe 30 seconds (someone correct me on this - Sticks) to show up initially.
  2. WBN only
    • Players want to have their stats tracked.
    • All 1x1 games will be properly ranked.
    • Very responsive in regards to active and inactive games. There should be minimal clutter on the active games list.
    • I think most players still hit the inbuilt tracker to find games. Thus, reporting to only WBN will miss most players.
    • Provides for more information on active games. For instance, which WBN-registered players are in a game, is the game locked, the start times, and last heard from times.
    • Able to filter on certain properties (game type, locked, started, passworded)
    • Players can still choose to play under a non-WBN registered handle. This way, their games played, statistics, and player diaries will remain private.
  3. Tracker and WBN combined
    • Catches any player that is waiting for a game.
    • All of the points described above apply.
  4. Neither
    • Great for testing and debugging.
    • Great for hosting private games organized via IRC or Ventrilo.

If we decided to get rid of the tracker server and only report to WBN, this would not necessarily mean that players have to browse to the active games list to find a game. Instead, .xml and .php files would be used to write server information to a plaintext file whenever a game client requests information. If players wanted to remain anonymous, they could still choose to player under non-WBN registered handles.


Changes to move to WinBolo.net Only Game Reporting

  • Modify the Tracker Game Finder screen to accomodate new information
  • Modify the backend code for the WinBolo client so that it's able to pull data from a file, not just a specific port on a server.
  • Modify the backend code for the WinBolo client to hit a .php page which will trigger the writing of a file
  • Modify .php and .xml files on WBN to generate the data needed
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