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Hey k-rist, here’s a bunch of info on how to setup a server.
I wasn’t contributing code developments at the time, only game design docs, so it’s hard to say precisely. The SourceForge project died in 2004/2005, and ReMoTe, who was a contributor to the SourceForge project started this project which was released in 2005.
The SourceForge project was not a complete game. I think you could drive around on the map with your tank, but I’m not sure how much there was beyond that, we’d have to compile it and see! The other guy you saw commenting on the lobby issues on GitHub, Nick, is the one who started the SourceForge project so he might remember 🙂
Also, I don’t know how much of the code ReMoTe re-used when he started this version. All I know is he added and created a hell-of-a-lot and is the one who released a playable version of the game.
Just to clarify, the SourceForge project and this project never co-existed. One started after the other died.
@rileyw, I am from opposite origins – I am a Battle City player that played very little of Corporate Heaven during Codehammer’s reign 🙂
Thanks again for all the contributions you’ve made to the source code. You’ve definitely helped clean-up the Battle City project on GitHub!
@rileyw, Hey now, listen, I’ll be totally honest with you… I have no idea who you are, but if you’re an old player you know that basically everyone who plays Battle City says it’s the greatest game of all time in the history of eternity and all that jazz…
That being said, Battle City has had it’s ups and downs. Right now, we’re having one of the downs. Like rock bottom down. Down enough to warrant a second down-low expression, the one where you’re between a rock and a hard place. So since we’re already at rock bottom, imagine that we’ve also been crushed by a hard place and the only way down from here is by squeezing our leftover remains down through some metamorphic rock deeper into the Earths crust.
But I’m a positive guy and all.
I figure, if we keep dropping this low, we’ll eventually drop all the way down through the Earths mantle, then fall even lower right down the other side of the planet. I believe we can drop down so low we’ll fall all the way right back up the other side.
And so, if you’re here to help and save the day, there will probably be a parade. I’ve sort of done nothing recently myself besides host the occasional server, but I’m a fan of teamwork and think it’s great that you’re looking at the code! If you should happen to stick around, that should be sufficient motivation to make me do something useful too, as I very much like parades.
@darkeagle, @faix, for a quick fix, delete Battle City, re-download the latest version, download the x86 redistributable for 2010 and 2012 and then dance a joyous jig as all shall work!
For anyone interested in the details… there was some confusion regarding which package to download from Microsoft if you get an error about missing DLL files. Battle City is a 32-bit application, so you need to download the x86 package even if you are using a 64-bit machine. If Battle City was a 64-bit application, you would need the 64-bit package. The good news is that 32-bit applications will run on 32-bit and 64-bit machines. We want Battle City to run on as many machines as possible, so it will stay a 32-bit application for maximum compatibility.
Now… there was another error recently preventing people from running Battle City on Windows XP. To fix the problem, the latest version was compiled using Visual C++ 2010 instead of Visual C++ 2012, That means you now need to download the x86 redistributable for Visual C++ 2010 instead of 2012… don’t worry, the links are on the downloads page! You can download both packages if you want, since I’ll eventually try getting it to work in Visual C++ 2012 again and once I do, you’ll need the package with the 2012 DLL’s. Ahhh..!
One day, when you download Battle City, it will be an installer instead of a zip file. In this future, the installer will also install the redistributable with the game eliminating this extra step so that life is happier for all the minions of Battle City.
Since many other games use the 2010 package, there is a good chance you already have it and won;t need to download anything. Only get the package if you are missing DLL files.
I’ve tested on Windows XP 32-bit, Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 8 64-bit.
@ArcValor, the latest version of Battle City now works on Windows XP! You will need to re-download the game.
Dear minions,
Thank you for reporting the bug “BattleCity.exe is not a valid Win32 Application [WinXP]”.
Just to clear up any confusion, the current release does not work on Windows XP. This is not a bug with the game, this is a bug with the tools used to turn the code into a file you can run. Microsoft has released a fix for this problem. Developers will need to download this fix, and then re-create the executable file.
If you’re receiving this particular error, it means you’ll have to wait until a new version of the game is released that has been created with the fix. Or, you need to build the executable yourself from the source code using Visual Studio 🙂
The game should work for everybody using Windows 7. If anybody on Windows 7 is having trouble, please let us know!
If you guys want to drive newbies to the game, the best way to do it is get links to battlecity.org on as many game directories/forums/blogs as possible. Usually that’s a simple process of creating an account on the site and submitting the information.
Right now, Battle City is on zero game directories. It’s basically impossible to find unless you are looking for it. Meaning, old players can stumble onto the site, but we’re not going to grow the community with fresh newbies to orb.
Why zero? Because the website address is now battlecity.org. No links point to this destination. There are links pointing to looble.com (which no longer exists) and battlecity.net (which doesn’t connect with the current project), but none to the current site.
So please, feel free to try and change this. Submit Battle City all over the place. Just get the link right and some people will end up here eventually 😉
@riseagainst, @insaneinmybrain, @cseow, @sandbag, @peeps – There’s a group now that keeps track of the servers that are up so it’s easier to find out where you can login to play the game. Check out the Battle City Server Status Group.
Right now, the Battle City Winter Classic is up and running (v3.5.7).
Thanks everyone for your help Googling and thanks @faix for taking the time to help folks get these issues sorted out.
This particular bug will affect users on Windows XP. [If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 and have received an error message, get the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 from the downloads page]
For this bug,
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/06/15/10320645.aspx”>this article from Microsoft explains the issue we are having.As per this article from supportxp, an update is available that has the potential to fix the problem (assuming nothing else has gone haywire…)
Therefore, developers, if you’ve downloaded Visual Studio Express 2012 for Desktop, to maintain support for Windows XP you need to then scroll down to the “Additional Software” section and download Visual Studio 2012 Update 1.
The other option is to download an use Visual Studio Express 2010 which is still available and which hopefully won’t break the game for those on Windows 7….
Hey Nightwish 🙂
The best tool for reaching folks right now seems to be the Facebook Group. It might be small, but messages actually reach people there! Depending on your settings, you might get an email when there is a new post, or you’ll get a little alert on Facebook.
There is also a Facebook Page that is hit or miss. You either see the post or you don’t.
There is probably a contact list lying around somewhere too, including one in these forums, but that information tends to get outdated quick.
I took down my dedicated server for two reasons:
1 – We reached a point where nobody was playing. Not even a few people. #1 on the Monthly Top 20 had 2 points 🙁
2 – We ran out of money. I had enough to keep a server going for 4 years which is actually pretty awesome. The community did a great part to help keep the game running for as long as it did. Unfortunately, our community was too small to keep it going longer, but don’t sell yourselves short, it’s because of the community it survived as long as it did in the first place.
Remember, I hosted a server for 4 years, but ReMoTe also hosted one before that for almost 3 years, starting in Feb. 2005. The community supported this game for 7 years. I don’t think you can find many examples of that, the community did more than it’s part.
What’s my take today? I still think Battle City is a fun game and I have no problem putting up a server if we raise some money. But I also think we’ll run into the same problems again unless someone actively runs the game. If you look at when we’ve had the most people playing, it’s when we had people like Nightwish, Vindkast, Zhantrim, Surge, Wujiamin, Rushing, Makaveli, Method, Iggy, Jizohn, Tony9, Friguy, Rise Against, etc… basically sitting in the server for 8 hours a day making the game more fun for everyone. If the game got boring, they would do something to keep people interested, like start a league, build a gauntlet, etc…
Whenever we’ve had an active administrator, the game did it’s best. That’s someone who’s constantly online, organizing events, messaging people to get online, updating the website, and advertising the game on other forums, websites, game directories. It takes a lot of time, and unfortunately we ran out of people to do it. It would also be a pretty tough task right now, to re-build something out of nothing. But that’s what needs to happen to give the game life, otherwise it’s just a server for nostalgia sake and within a month or two it will be empty again.
The ship will sink without a captain at the helm.
I hosted a dedicated server from Nov. 2007 to May 2011. The server was rented from GoDaddy, which cost 29.99$/month or $26.99/month if registered for 1 year. There may be a better option available today?
Also, the possibility of hosting a server from home is more and more realistic these days for anyone with a fast enough connection and an extra computer (or powerful enough machine to run a virtual machine using VirtualBox).
There isn’t a dedicated server up right now, but players (with some tinkering) can host their own server.
The Battle City Servers thread is your best bet to find info on any active servers.
