SiMPLE | Forum

{Phantom}

Player

Reputation: +59

Registered: 2016-08-09

Posts: 206

Join from desktop download!

If someone would be able to create a simple .exe install file that will throw a quick join from desktop to the SImple BF1942 server, I would appreciate it. I want new players to be able to click on this. It should install to the desktop and join Simple FRA server. On the desktop it could be called 'Play Battlefield 1942 Online'.

$5 to first to succeed in doing so.

This line must be in the shortcut:

+restart 1 +joinServer 163.172.13.221:14567

(although it's better to use the static IP tuia gave somewhere on this forum, in case he changes IP address again.

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

(although it's better to use the static IP tuia gave somewhere on this forum, in case he changes IP address again.

He gave the DNS name play.team-simple.fr at the top of the top of the Moving To Paris thread.

If someone would be able to create a simple .exe install file that will throw a quick join from desktop to the SImple BF1942 server, I would appreciate it. I want new players to be able to click on this. It should install to the desktop and join Simple FRA server. On the desktop it could be called 'Play Battlefield 1942 Online'.

Man, I wish I could stop at just wanting "one thing."   If I was making an .EXE I would so want to test for all the dumb/simple things like whether Battlefield 1942 is even installed, is it patched up to date, is the GameSpy / Team-SiMPLE fix installed, is XP or older compatibility still set.  And solve the "folks don't know how to download or install maps" issue by making sure they're up-to-date with any custom maps that are running, and auto-download them before launching.  The list keeps growing, so I never get started.

One suggestion for anyone pursuing this project; maybe skip "as an installer" and simply make the .EXE itself be the launcher.  i.e. They just throw the downloaded .EXE on their desktop, without having to "install" anything.  "Installer" just makes the thing 15x bigger than it needs to be, even though the resulting shortcut is then "tiny".  Whether installer or not, you'll also still need logic to find whether they installed CD-based Battlefield 1942 or Origin-based Battlefield 1942.

{Phantom}

Player

Reputation: +59

Registered: 2016-08-09

Posts: 206

Re: Join from desktop download!

CD-based.

Origin 1942 is a thing of the past, no new players will be coming from Origin.

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

Origin 1942 is a thing of the past, no new players will be coming from Origin.

Fair enough.  No new players will be coming from Origin; only returning players who already have and/or re-install Battlefield froim their Origin downloads.

Regarding the .EXE idea, I should have said "consider or propose" making it an .EXE.  If you specifically want a shortcut for this project, clearly it can or must be a shortcut.

I was just thinking in terms of something where the "icon" on the user's desktop could actually be a little smart and keep making the right decision or presenting a useful message if the game disappeared, or maybe use a cached DNS address if the DNS name doesn't resolve.  Again, the list grows and grows....

-Trench

iCQ

Spammer

Reputation: +544

Location: Netherlands

Registered: 2017-07-31

Posts: 1,967

Re: Join from desktop download!

Ey Trench :-) just here to say hi and give u a +1

(sorry i ran off the other day so quick, i have a too high ping and its hard to do ingame chat for me on this linux/jailbroken/hacked mobile device)

bud

maestro

Reputation: +1842

Location: shangri la

Registered: 2012-07-07

Posts: 3,960

Website

Re: Join from desktop download!

Tuia made some standalone .exe some years ago. Dont remember how he solved the key issue.

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

Ey Trench :-) just here to say hi and give u a +1

Thanks iCQ!  A few dozen more of those and I'll finally be out of the negative digits.

Tuia made some standalone .exe some years ago. Dont remember how he solved the key issue.

Yeah, that's where my mind had gone first too.  But he's not literally asking for "an installer of Battlefield 1942."  He's asking for "an installer which will simply create a shortcut for launching Battlefield 1942 and automatically joining the Team-SiMPLE server."

i.e. Instead of trying to get new players to follow instructions to solve the GameSpy issue, find the server in the game browser, and/or create their own shortcut for connecting directly to the server, bypass those three issues by creating a shortcut for them which they can simply click on.

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

(EDIT: Removed a bunch of unnecessary discussion, now that Bud confirmed DNS should be supported.)

Last edited by Trench (2018-06-06 00:30:35)

bud

maestro

Reputation: +1842

Location: shangri la

Registered: 2012-07-07

Posts: 3,960

Website

Re: Join from desktop download!

We can't use the DNS name in the actual shortcut (e.g. "+joinServer play.team-simple.fr:14567"), because Battlefield 1942 doesn't support DNS names on the +joinServer command line, just like it doesn't support DNS names to manually join a server in-game.

I just tried this successfully in a desktop shortcut +restart 1 +joinServer ks3353793.kimsufi.com:14568   

A confirmation would be nice.

Simple doesnt seem to have any domain-name pointing to the new server.

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

I just tried this successfully in a desktop shortcut +restart 1 +joinServer ks3353793.kimsufi.com:14568

Holy cow, thanks Bud.  Indeed I appear to be wrong about the DNS support.  This is something I felt like we explored to conclusion back when we had to change our server IP late last year, and I had come away with the conclusion that the Battlefield 1942 game itself simply didn't handle DNS names.  ("Stupid 2002 game design!")  Not in the "Add Server" for the in-game browser, nor from the command line either.

So that wasn't "based on some new test I did while creating this installer"; it was just something I had already assumed and "knew" was true.  But repeating your test, as well as testing with "+joinServer dc.ea117.com:14567" and also simply "dc.ea117.com" in the "Add Server" dialog says that DNS names work in BOTH locations.

So that's cool, and I was wrong.  Its crazy to think that I must have had my DNS failing at "just the right time" during the previous tests to allow making the wrong conclusion.  But I certainly never went back and tried to repeat the tests until just now.

At minimum, the current tool can be changed to ignore resolving the DNS name ourselves and simply pass the DNS name on the command line, regardless of whether we continue creating a shortcut or launch the game directly.

Simple doesnt seem to have any domain-name pointing to the new server.

That perhaps a nuance I'm not understanding?  For me, the DNS name tuia stated ("play.team-simple.fr") resolves to 163.172.13.221, which is the same IP address {Phantom} had requested.  And so I assumed it was the new IP address.  Actually, tuia's message confirms this is the address of the new server.  So I'm not understanding "Simple doesn't seem to have any domain name pointing to the new server", if you can clarify.

-Trench

EDIT: To finish a sentence.

Last edited by Trench (2018-06-05 23:15:47)

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

The corrected version, knowing now that we can depend on DNS: PlayBattlefield1942Online.exe v1.1

Specifically, it will:

• Run on Windows XP or later, 32-bit or 64-bit.

• Runs under normal user rights without requiring Run As Administrator.

• Check for CD-based Battlefield 1942 or Origin-based Battlefield 1942, but will prefer CD if both are present.

• If Battlefield 1942 is not found, an English message saying to install Battlefield 1942 first is presented.

• Prompts the user with an English message confirming what we're about to do, and gives them the opportunity to decline / cancel.

• Creates a shortcut named "Play Battlefield 1942 Online" on the desktop, using the game detected and the "play.team-simple.fr" DNS name.

{Phantom} raised a legitimate concern regarding the fact that this is a new .EXE never seen by anyone before today, and so his and anybody else's malware or heuristics detection is going to treat this file with hostility due to its unknown reputation.  The only way I'm aware of to bypass or solve this reality is to sign the .EXE file with a public certificate, so that the publisher of the software is known.  But I don't have a code signing certificate available for personal use.

If someone else knows a different way to achieve {Phantom}'s goal here that would give players an easy shortcut to get connected without having to convince them it's safe to run software their computer is telling them has an unknown reputation, I don't think this current PlayBattlefield1942Online.exe approach is going to be considered a satisfactory or effective solution.

-Trench

bud

maestro

Reputation: +1842

Location: shangri la

Registered: 2012-07-07

Posts: 3,960

Website

Re: Join from desktop download!

I was surprized myself when it worked, maybe tuia or someone has polished the dns thing a bit in the .exe?

You are right about the "team-simple.fr", it works to, i guess i read the post a bit sloppy and assumed the adress was team-simple.org as in the mainsite adress. I checked the server IP and it usually show the domain-name, my mistake.

ABAS

disciple of Jeff

Reputation: +1981

Registered: 2015-12-10

Posts: 2,346

Website

Re: Join from desktop download!

Fearofdark already done such a thing , just check bf-league quick join

Trench

Member

Reputation: +130

Registered: 2014-05-05

Posts: 221

Re: Join from desktop download!

Old school .bat files aren't good 'nuff anymore

Ha.  Well, I'm not sure how much progress "convince them to run a nasty old batch script" makes against the effort to "convince them we're not trying to run something malicious on their machine" but yes, having "the thing" be a batch script instead is certainly a valid possibility.

PlayBattlefield1942Online.cmd v1.0

This is something they would download directly to their desktop, and double-click on it every time they want to to join the server.  (i.e. It doesn't create a shortcut; it simply launches the game directly.)  Specifically, it will:

• Run on Windows XP or later, 32-bit or 64-bit.

• Runs under normal user rights without requiring Run As Administrator.

• Check for CD-based Battlefield 1942 or Origin-based Battlefield 1942, but will prefer CD if both are present.

• If Battlefield 1942 is not found, an English message saying to install Battlefield 1942 first is presented.

• Launches using the Battlefield 1942 game detected and the "play.team-simple.fr" DNS name.

In my test just now, this didn't change anything about Microsoft SmartScreen's objection to the file.  As well it shouldn't, since you're asking someone to download a script, which is no less dangerous than having them download an .EXE, and is a script that has never been seen before on the Internet.

My particular anti-malware (Symantec Endpoint Protection) actually /allowed/ the .CMD script to run, whereas it had correctly stopped the .EXE from running.  Don't know what the results across the public players would turn out to be; I would have assumed a downloaded .CMD would be blocked just like a downloaded .EXE would.

Fearofdark already done such a thing , just check bf-league quick join

Sure, that perhaps deserves to be mentioned from a technical perspective, although I don't think it hits the goal that {Phantom} was really aiming for.  In order to use those "Quick Launch" links, you have to first visit the page you can access once you have a bf-league.eu forum account, which says:

18. Help related to joining BF1942 Servers from the League Site

First of all, Please get the following file:

Join Server Liga.zip

1. Extract the zip to your Battlefield 1942 Main folder.

Default directory is: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942

2. Run "Run THIS as admin.bat" as administrator! You should get "installation successful".

Now you should be able to use the links!

So I don't think the bf-league.eu solution really side-steps the challenges that we hit here, except to the extent "it is mostly a batch file".  Nor is it achieving the "just download and run this to play" goal.  FWIW, IMHO, etc.

Last edited by Trench (2018-06-08 02:21:01)

Arkos

Sedmin

Reputation: +2783

Registered: 2014-06-06

Posts: 7,048

Re: Join from desktop download!

Old school .bat files aren't good 'nuff anymore

https://s22.postimg.cc/wsis1emi9/joinservers.jpg

...

What a nice batch

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