Database Server Fixed

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I fixed the database server hardware several days ago. It was important to me that I got it running again quickly. I had to borrow the power supply from my test server in order to get it working again. Now, I don’t have anywhere to test my experimental server code! Oh well, I guess I can live without it for now. Anyway, I’ve been taking a much needed break away from the hard core network coding. Although, I’m going to need to get working on the bug in the authorization server code again very soon. The show must go on!

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Database Server

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I ran into some unfortunate news this morning. My database server is busted. We had a power outage and a subsequent power surge last night. Then the power just stayed off. The computer is on a battery, so I was able to shut the system down properly. I simply went back to bed thinking everything was alright. However, when I got up this morning to power the system back on, I discovered that it’s totally dead to the world. It turns out the power supply is shot. The only problem is, there are no replacement parts available – the power supply is some weird proprietary crap. I’ve tried to find one like this before for a customer’s computer. So, I either have to build a new system, or try to replace the voltage regulators in the blown power supply. Man this sucks, that server also held my source code repository. This is surely going to hold me up for a bit.

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Game Server Code

Posted on November 12, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I have all of the game servers running as a background Windows service now. Well, except for the Gatekeeper server, which I already had running properly as a Linux daemon. I don’t have to keep the desktop logged in while I run the servers anymore. Even more cool, is I can view the output from all of the servers in one place now, using the Server Manager program that I have been working on! Server output can also be forwarded to a “logs” database, which can be easily queried for specific problems.

I still need to work on the server multi-threading code some more, it’s not yet ready for prime time. There is also a weird bug that causes the authorization server to crash when you stop the service. I’ve been trying to figure this one out for a few days now. I need to find the time to really dig into the code, but I’ve been busy lately trying to make some money to keep my head above water. No matter what it takes, even if I have to starve, I’m going to keep rapidly moving forward!

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Been There Server Manager

Posted on November 2, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

The server manager application that I’ve been working on for my indie MMORPG is just about finished. I finally worked out a bug that I was having with the internal server to server communications. Let me tell you, it can really be a pain in the you know what, to debug network code sometimes. The issue proved itself to be an extremely challenging one to fix. Anyway, I’m no longer stuck, and am now making a lot of progress finishing the remaining changes to the server code. I hope I can bring the game servers back online soon! I’ll post more updated information here in a few days.

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The Repaired Synthesizer

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

The guy in Dayton that did the warranty repair on my Roland Fantom G6 did a poor job, in my humble opinion. The heads of the screws were torn up, some screws were cross-threaded and didn’t fit flush with the case; and even worse, some screws were left entirely loose! This caused the case to be noisy, and was really starting to get on my nerves. So, I decided last night that I was going to disassemble the unit and put it back together — the right way.

One thing that really bothered me was the fact that the replacement display was not installed straight. My main goal was to find out why it was not lined up right anymore. As it turns out, one of the screws that holds the display in place was only finger tight, thus causing one of the corners to drop down a bit, making it appear to be skewed when looking at it from directly above. I also discovered that the clip that holds the display’s ribbon cable in place on the main board was broken. It’s just like a laptop computer ribbon cable, where you have to raise the retaining clip on both sides before yanking on the cable, which is what appeared to have happened. Fortunately, it can still be used to hold the cable in place firmly. The portion that was broken off was used primarily to keep the clip from separating from the socket itself, while the cable is being removed. Anyway, the synthesizer is back together again. I feel much better now.

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MMORPG Database Code

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I’ve finished all of the MS SQL Server database code changes that I wanted to make, including the database integration with the Server Manager. I’ve temporarily put a screen shot of the Server Manager on the main Been There Game web page, if you would like to get an idea of how complex it has become. The cool thing is, once I finish it, the Server Manager will be able to control everything that I’ll need in order to maintain the game on a large scale. Next, I’m going to finish the code needed to make the servers run as applications (easy for debugging purposes) or as background services (i.e. so the server will still run after the client logs out).

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Game Server Updates

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I’m still working on the server code for my online game. I’ve been putting a lot of time into organizing the database tables, writing stored procedures, and completing the database adapter code. I’ve been finishing up a lot of things that were not done. I’ve been working on features such as the ability to ban a user for a specific length of time, ban a certain IP address or address range, etc. There is code in place now to limit the words that can be used to create avatar names, to try and keep bad and/or filthy words from being used in the game. I can also easily create, edit, rename and delete user account data right from the server manager now. I used to have to edit the databases manually in order to do this. There is still more work for me to do, but I hope to have the game ready for some more testing again soon.

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Web Site Updates

Posted on October 4, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I recently updated all of the php code that runs our wiki, the message forums and this blog to their latest respective versions. The Been There Message Forums are now open to the public. I thought I would go ahead and teat them out, to see how long it takes someone to post spam in there. The message forums are not really needed, since I haven’t started a public beta test yet. I’m just trying to plan ahead for when the time eventually comes.

I’m also still working on the new Server Manager application, and updating the server code for Been There. I’ve spent a lot of time recently modifying the launcher, client and servers to make them more secure and less prone to tampering. There is still more work to be done, but at least I’ve been making excellent progress lately.

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Server Manager

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

I’ve been working on an application called the “Server Manager” that I can run on my desktop to view output from all of the servers used to run my game. This tool can be used to bring all of the game servers online with one simple click. It can even be used to remotely configure the gatekeeper server. It also connects to the database servers to provide some basic database management funtionality.

Hopefully this won’t take very long to complete. I do, however, have to update all of the server code to make it utilize this new client application. It looks like I’m going to be busy!

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Synthesizer Finally Repaired!

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Eric DeBrosse

After over 9 weeks waiting for warranty repair, a ridiculously long time, I finally got my Roland Fantom G6 back! I sure hope I don’t ever have to return it for repair any time soon.

Let me tell you, it’s a good thing it was finally fixed. I was starting to get very pissed off over the whole matter. After all the times I bugged Roland on the phone, I never got one straight answer. It was always, “let me check on that and call you back”. But in reality, that translated into “we will probably be too busy to call you back, but let me tell you that we will call anyway”. It appears they were hoping that it would buy them another week or two. I was about to contact the Attorney General in California where Roland is located. Maybe the Better Business Bureau could have helped. There is no reason why any warranty repair should take this long. People shouldn’t have to put up with this crap when something is so new. I don’t care if the part is coming from Japan.  I’ve shipped things there, and it sure didn’t take anywhere near that long. But what I’m being told is that most companies are too big anymore to take care of their customers. It’s simply not physically possible anymore, I guess. Companies should not be allowed to grow this large. This is simply absurd. If they are that busy, then they should have plenty of money to treat a customer right. It’s not like they couldn’t afford to repair my unit. They could have exchanged it for a whole new synthesizer. They have been in stock nationwide this whole time, I’ve been checking. Also, they could have paid for shipping the replacement part by air, instead of a slow boat from Japan. Heck, they could have even offered to extend my warranty for the length of time it was in repair. My warranty shouldn’t slowly tick away while I’m not able to use it. Instead, they chose to not offer me anything; not even a courtesy call to ease my mind.

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