Mod for Pitboss Games

45°38'N-13°47'E said:
Well, I keep trying because I would like to make this thing work for Direct IP too; but before doing that I'm trying to understand the full procedure you've set up, and there's something I probably don't understand.

Here's the procedure as described on github:
[...]

I'm using Win7. You say "Public http folder with Webdav support: http://{server}/{prefix}": what exactly is {prefix}? Let's say I'm saving my files on a OneDrive webspace: is that enough to use this folder https://d.docs.live.net/[USERID] if I want to save my files there? Right now I've added that location as a network drive and used mklink to link the save folder under My Games\Beyond the Sword\Saves to that location on OneDrive. My idea was to make everyone download the save from there instead of transferring from the host to the client. Could it work?
Click to expand...


The prefix is free selectable and should reflect your environment. In your example case I would suggest
Code: 
{server}=d.docs.live.net
{prefix}=[USERID]/Test

Now, I want to point out that Civ4 tries to load the save at the same path as the server stores it! Thus, if you start the game normally, it will use
Code: 
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\My Games\Beyond the Sword\Saves\multi   (DirectIP game, assumed variant in the following text)
or
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\My Games\Beyond the Sword\Saves\pitboss\auto (Pitboss game)
and that is probably a bad path to use at the other machine :)
Moreover, we need the path to encode the server url. The trick is the usage of the ALTROOT-Argument!

Let's say the drive letter Z: is free and [PATH] is an arbitrary folder on your system…
Create the subfolder [PATH]\_http_d.docs.live.net\[USERID]\Test
and map [PATH] to Z: with
Code: 
[i]subst  Z: PATH[/i]

Spoiler :

Keep in mind that the ALTROOT-Argument forces Civ4 to move files from your "My Games\Beyond the Sword"-folder to the new root folder. (Don't ask my why :)) Thus, it would be a good idea to backup the Beyond the Sword folder....


Then start the game with the following arguments (Altroot had to be first argument and space after mod= required):
Code: 
/ALTROOT="Z:\_http_d.docs.live.net\[USERID]\Test" mod= "[Your mod name]"

If it works, Civ4 copies its files into the new folder...
Close the game and continue with the red marked step of your description. We had to reflect the path structure of the game becaus we would only share the subfolder with the saves:
Create "Test/Saves/multi" on your OneDrive location and use mklink
to combine it with [PATH]\...\Test\Saves\multi

Now, if an player left the game the VOTE_...-Saves should automatically be uploaded to your web space.
Check, if you can download it with your browser. (For testing please follow my test path and use DirectIP>Load game to re-load that VOTE-Save)

Let's assume the player tries to reconnect...
He joins and the server asks him to load
Code: 
Z:\_http_d.docs.live\[USERID]\Test\Saves\multi\VOTE_...

The BTS_Wrapper.exe detects the _http_ keyword and tries to download http://d.docs.live\[USERID]\...




Mmm, I think both modifying the sending side and eliminating the timeout in the net code is beyond my ability although I mod BTS dll since 4 years now. I don't even know where to look for the net code of civ4. If you have any hint or sooner or later you can do it yourself, I will be more than happy
Click to expand...

The net code is hidden in the executable and there are no public sources available. I've used disassemble/monitoring tools like Ida, Api Monitor or Wireshark for my analysis.
Currently, I'm study the Windows API and under the assumption IPv4-Address + Good configured firewall at host side I probably could provide a much simpler solution for Non-Pitboss DirectIP games. :)
 
@Ramkhamhaeng, it's unbelievable, it works for DIRECT IP too. Hard enough to set up for the first time, but once it's done... Only thing to pay attention to when using this method for Direct IP is to switch off autosaves for all players but one, or you get an error because autosaves are being saved by multiple players at the same time. Also, probably due to slow upload speed in my case, I disable autosaves completely : I can save the game manually and I do it locally and only upload the save when needed or the connection between players will timeout when large saves are being uploaded. Thank you Ramkhamhaeng, that's been an amazing trick.
 
Clicking "Manage game" on Zulan's server currently gives "Server Error (500)".

EDIT: Nevermind, everything is ok now.
 
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@45°38'N-13°47'E: Wohoo, the path fiddling works. Nice to hear :)
If your network had an stable IP you could also replace the webdrive with an tiny local http server at your machine. Then you could enable the autosaves again, because only a few saves will be transfered over the wire.
 
Ramkhamhaeng said:
@45°38'N-13°47'E: Wohoo, the path fiddling works. Nice to hear :)
If your network had an stable IP you could also replace the webdrive with an tiny local http server at your machine. Then you could enable the autosaves again, because only a few saves will be transfered over the wire.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking of using my Nas but it doesn't support webdav. But I can find other methods, it's OK. Thanks again!
 
@45°38'N-13°47'E
I've finished my update of the Civ4:BTS modification. It should now supports DirectIP games, too. :)

How it works: At startup, a minimalistic webserver will be listen at port 8080 (The port is selectable with -P argument; Civ4:BTS save games are downloadabe, but no other files). One network package will be modified and informs the client about the port where it could fetch the save. The (modified) client tries to load the save over http and fallback into the normal mode if it fails.

Installation/Usage:
1. Extract the content of the attachment and copy all files from 'Release' into the Civ4:BTS installation folder.
2. Start the game with
Code: 
[b]BTS_Wrapper.exe[/b] -P [some port] mod= "Your mod"
3. Give users access to the selected port, if required (Port forwarding).

Source Code (+Visual Studio 2017 project files):
https://github.com/YggdrasiI/PBStats/tree/master/tests/GetSaveOverHttp/sources_v3

Notes:
• It only works for save games in one of the Civ4-"Saves" folders.
• I did not tested it in internet lobby games yet.
• Win XP/Vista is not supported anymore.
• The included file Civ4BeyondSword2015.exe is optional. It fixes the connection issues due the Gamespy server shutdown.
• Work in progress Some cases (internet lobby games) wasn't tested.

Update 2019: Replaced attached version _v7 by _v9
 

Attachments

  • BTS_Wrapper_v9_with_gamespy_fix.zip
    5 MB · Views: 195
Last edited:
Unfortunately it seems not work in all situations. I've tested it today, with a Win7 + Linux/Wine combination, but the save was not transfered (http request url is fine, but request fails) :-(
I will start more tests and inform you again later.

Regards
 
Is it me or loading a save with version 7 does not work? I've merged it into my mod and I could not load any save, so I've tried plain pitboss mod v7 and still I cannot load pitboss savegames I've just saved. Anyone having the same problem?
 
I've tried again and again but it looks like there's something wrong with the loading of the savegame.
Using plain Pitboss Mod v7, I get the following python error

Code: 
Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "C:\Giochi\PBs\PB2\..\Python\v7\PbWizard.py", line 698, in OnPageChanging
    (iResult,filepath) = loadSavegame(path, -1, adminPwd)

  File "C:\Giochi\PBs\PB2\..\Python\v7\PbWizard.py", line 120, in loadSavegame
    matchingPwd = checkSavegame(filepath, pbPasswords)

  File "C:\Giochi\PBs\PB2\..\Python\v7\PbWizard.py", line 75, in checkSavegame
    hSave = FindHash.get_admin_hash(filename)

TypeError: get_admin_hash() takes exactly 2 arguments (1 given)

Either I use a password or not, when I load the game it hangs there after "Shutdown Graphics" (after I've entered the password if I used one, after I selected the savegame to load if I didn't use a password). Any hint?


Edit: it looks like there's an error here

Code: 
def checkSavegame(filename, adminPwds):
    """ Return correct password of given list for a savegame.
    filename - The save
    adminPwds - List of passwords which md5 sum should compared

    return: Password ("" if save not password protected) or None
    """
    hSave = FindHash.get_admin_hash(filename)

As a workaround I've changed the last line to

hSave = FindHash.get_admin_hash(filename, "")

and now I can load any save, regardless it's password protected or not. Edit: correction, I can load the game in pitboss, but I still need the password to connect as a player.
Also, some lines above the code reads

pythonDir = os.path.join(gc.getAltrootDir(),'..','Python','v6')

I suppose it should be

pythonDir = os.path.join(gc.getAltrootDir(),'..','Python','v7')
 
Last edited:
45°38'N-13°47'E said:
Edit: it looks like there's an error here

Code: 
def checkSavegame(filename, adminPwds):
    """ Return correct password of given list for a savegame.
    filename - The save
    adminPwds - List of passwords which md5 sum should compared

    return: Password ("" if save not password protected) or None
    """
    hSave = FindHash.get_admin_hash(filename)

As a workaround I've changed the last line to

hSave = FindHash.get_admin_hash(filename, "")
[...]
pythonDir = os.path.join(gc.getAltrootDir(),'..','Python','v7')
Click to expand...
Thanks for both bugfixes!

and now I can load any save, regardless it's password protected or not. Edit: correction, I can load the game in pitboss, but I still need the password to connect as a player.
Click to expand...
It exists three different types of passwords:
1. Admin password. Needed to load save as Host/Pitboss host.
2. Game password. Needed to connect to DirectIP/Pitboss game.
3. Player password. Needed as Player in Login Screen

The PbWizard class just get in touch with the first type. The line
Code: 
            iResult = PB.load(filepath, str(matchingPwd)) # should be 0
should not affect the passwords of the players. (To change a password of player you could use the 'manage game' page of the webinterface.)
Moreover, this code line will be hang in an infinite loop, if the password is not correct!
Thats why I've created the checkSavegame function to pre-check if the password will generate the correct hash. :)
 
Hello PB-guys,

I've released a few more helper tools for the Pitboss/Civ4 world and would like to describe them here :) Tool 2 only works if you integrate the latest version of this mod, PB Mod_v7, into your mod. Tool 1 will work with older versions of this mod, too.


1. I've replaced the startup scripts, startPitboss.bat on Windows and startPitboss.sh on Linux) with a more robust Python variant:
PBStats/PBs/startPitboss.py

Example usage:
a) List available saves for game id 1
Code: 
python startPitboss.py list 1 [filename pattern]
  Load local environment
  Youngest saves for pattern 'None':
  Nb                Timestamp Mod name        Path (without extension)
   1 Sat Dec 16 00:37:32 2017 PB Mod_v7       pitboss/auto/AutoSave_BC-3960
   2 Sat Dec 16 00:35:41 2017 PB Mod_v7       pitboss/auto/AutoSave_BC-3880
   3 Sat Dec 16 00:33:59 2017 PB Mod_v7       pitboss/auto/AutoSave_BC-3920
   4 Mon Dec  4 12:19:59 2017 PB Mod_v7       multi/Example_v7
   5 Mon Dec  4 12:19:59 2017 PB Mod_v6       multi/Example_v6


b) Start server. Load newest save, matching the pattern or, without argument, the save stored in pbSettings.json
Code: 
python startPitboss.py 1 [filename pattern] [password]

Fill your environment variables into the template startPitbossEnv.py.example to define
your PB games. The script checks the header of the given save to load the correct mod. If you doesn't use the automatic load of the save, it will show you a list of installed mods.


2. The PB Mod settings containing now a section for an interactive remote shell:
Code: 
# Part of pbSettings.json. Use 0.0.0.0 to allow connections from other devices
 "shell": {
  "enable": true,
  "ip": "127.0.0.1",
  "port": 3333
 },

If enabled, you could send arbitrary python commands to a running PB game. If your familiar with Civ4 modding, this gives you full control over your PB games.
Here are some examples:

a) Toggle Pause in PB game.
Code: 
> cd PBStats/PBs
> python Pyconsole 3333
>       pause

b) Call Python code directly to finish turn for Playerid X .
Code: 
> python Pyconsole 3333
>       print(gc.getPlayer(X).getName())
>       gc.getGame().setActivePlayer(X, False)
>       CyMessageControl().sendTurnComplete()
>       gc.getGame().setActivePlayer(-1, False)  # Default for PB Host is -1
>       bye
(Note that above code is valid for Civ4:BTS, but had some side effects. I've added the
function CvInitCore:sendTurnCompletePB(PlayerTypes ePlayer)
to avoid this effects.)

c) Use predifined macro for above task. (Type 'help' to get a list of all commands)
Code: 
> python Pyconsole 3333
>       pb_end_turn X
>       bye

d) List saves, edit config and restart server with new save.
Code: 
> python Pyconsole 3333
>       list PlayerX
>       list Logoff.*P0
>       config edit save/filename=Logoff_P0_PlayerX_T1507924088.CivBeyondSwordSave
>       config show
>       pb_start
>       bye

e) List 10 saves, and restart with second save of list
Code: 
> python Pyconsole 3333
>       list 10
>       load 2
>       pb_start
>       bye

The shell based on Pythons Cmd.cmd class and could easily extended by further commands.

Here a screenshot where I've used both tools under Windows 7:



3. New PB executable (tests/Civ4BeyondSword_Pitboss_Zulan.exe):
Based on Civ4BeyondSword_Pitboss2014.exe, but fix save loading issue under Wine.
If some of your saves not load, give this a try.


4. Pylint_for_Civ4:

You probably know the website PythonAPI.
Some functions declarations on this page are wrong and a few (i.e. CyPitboss class) are missing. Moreover I could not use the web information for static code analysis of my text editor.

Thus, I've created a packages of python files with stubs of all related functions of Civ4.
You could use this with Pylint on Linux, Mac or Windows.
Provides helpful list of classes/function stubs for Pylint. This gives Pylint
or your text editor the capability to detect existing Civ4:SDK functions, etc.

5. The code base of PBSpy web interface was updated on Django 1.11 and the installation description contain more details. (Installation tested with Ubuntu 16.04)
 
Last edited:
Due the Intel-Bug patches, the PBSpy server will be rebooted. Thus, the interface will be down for a small amount of time.

Edit: Done.
 
Last edited:
The number of players in a game on pbspy web (on the list of all games) is wrong. I think that it currently displays all players the game has stored (including previous games if the id was reused) instead of the number of players in the current game.
 
Well, the displayed number scaled by the number of admin's defined for each game :( (ugly join of some sql tables…).
Zulan found the reason and fixed it :)
 
I've published a new version, PB Mod_v8, of the Mod. Main change is an integrated ingame updater for mods. :)
Lets say, you want share your latest changes of a mod. Normally, you would give your users an zip archive with the changed files. Now, the user could ingame search for such update zips and Civ4 will unzip them.
Well, a few years to late to be an useful feature but I still like it ;)

As minimal example, I've created an extra Mod, which can be found here: https://github.com/YggdrasiI/PBStats/tree/master/tests/Updater
'Mods/Updater' contain the mod changes and 'server' shows the required structure of the backend.

Known Issues/Limitations:
• Sometimes, the Updater screen is not visible at startup. (Reselecting the Window solves is.)
• Unzipping under wine fails (Reason unknown.)
• https is not supported (Problem of Civ4's Python 2.4 version, I assume)


P.S. An other interesting coding part is the implementation of CyGame().getModPath(). For years, I had problems to detect the correct mod folder (i.e. [BTS]/Mods/[Mod name] or [My Games].../[Mod name]), because I does not want guess which folder could be the right one...
Other Modder solve it by editing an Python-file, but this changes the checksums...
Finally I realise that I just could ask the OS from which destination CvGameCoreDLL.dll was loaded :)
 
pbspy supports only a limited range of in-game "years", i.e. month displayed can only be January or July as seen in:
Spoiler :

Code: 
def parse_year(year_str):
    try:
        (year, qual) = year_str.split()
        year = int(year)
    except ValueError:
        (month, year, qual) = year_str.split()
        if month.lower().find('jan'):
            imonth = 1
        elif month.lower().find('jul'):
            imonth = 7
        else:
            raise ValueError('Failed to parse month part of date')
        year = int(year) + 10000 * imonth

    if qual == 'AD':
        return year
    elif qual == 'BC':
        return -year
    else:
        raise ValueError('invalid year suffix')

However, marathon game speed in BTS uses other months resulting in erroneous information being displayed. A lot of mods also use other months or some completely different calendars.
Is there a reason why the year info is transmitted like this instead of using the full calendar string displayed in game?
 
Last edited:
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