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GOURANGA! Forums > Editing > General > GTA2 multiplayer game finder
Post 21 | New
Posted April 18th, 2005. Updated April 18th, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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S3KT0R wrote:
Cerbera wrote:
The default size for "Restore Down" seems to be zero
I missed that during my quick test because I didn't erase the registry settings.  Settings are stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREGTA2 Game Hunter.  INI files have pros and cons, maybe in the future.

I want sending to the tray to be easy and not hidden on a menu.  I could add a button to the titlebar and also display network status there.  There's many states of network status, some only seen if there's problems.

Other problems I was aware of but wanted to release the new version quickly since there were some slightly more critical bug fixes.
Oh, if you can add a dedicated button to the titlebar that would be excellent.  I think the programs which do this use a mirrored version of the minimise button, so that the little line is on the right and not the left.  If it won't update to match the appearence of the operating system it is on then it wouldn't be worth doing, though.  The fact is that the minimise button should minimise the window, not send it to the system tray or give me the winning numbers to the next lottery. yes 

"Exit to Tray" seems to be the standard text to use in the File menu.  You only have like five menu items anyway, so it's hardly going to get lost.  If you give it a keyboard shortcut it would be even easier to access than a new button on the title bar.  CTRL+Q is used for this by some programs but CTRL+T would be better since CTRL+Q is often used as the complete program exit.

(EDIT) I have been getting occasional fatal crashes when starting games I am hosting.  Everyone else in the game gets a fatal error as well, so I am thinking it must be some obscure little bug in Game Hunter perhaps?

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Post 22 | New
Posted April 19th, 2005
Sektor
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What is crashing, GH or GTA2?  I assume you mean GH because I can't stop GTA2 from crashing.

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Stealing cars is the easy part
Post 23 | New
Posted April 19th, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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Oh, GTA2 is crashing with a fatal error every now and then.  You could connect to the GH server and talk with the people on it to find out which bugs they have noticed and you can figure out whether they are caused by GTA2 or by GH.  I've never had GTA2 fatally crashing whilst entering an online game before now.

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Post 24 | New
Posted April 19th, 2005. Updated April 19th, 2005
Sektor
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If you try to enter a game that is only allowing some of the ports, GTA2 will appear to stop responding but eventually it gives up trying to connect and allows you to click cancel.  Sometimes it just instantly quits or stays on a black screen then quits.

The more players in the game, the more chance for instability.  Before starting a game, make sure every player can see each other.  Sometimes the host can see a player but the players can't .  Also anyone who has no ping next to their name, may cause problems but not always.  What exactly did you mean by fatal crash?  Did it kill someone?

Eventually, I'd like to add a port tester that verifies if you can join/host before it launches GTA2.

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Stealing cars is the easy part
Post 25 | New
Posted April 19th, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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Fatal crash as in it causes the program to cease operation; the program "dies" as it were. Windows shows the fatal error message window, with the "Close" and "Debug" options.

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Post 26 | New
Posted April 23rd, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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Could you remove the hosting timeout?  It often takes more than 10 minutes to gather a game together.

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Post 27 | New
Posted May 2nd, 2005. Updated May 2nd, 2005
Sektor
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v1.42 is out www.gtamp.com

  • Your hosted game shouldn't get stuck in the list anymore (ensures GTA2 process is not active, before allowing you to host)
  • Games already in the list will appear almost instantly to people who join (previously it could take up to 15 seconds)
  • Fixed blank version number bug. Displays a version number instead of "You need GTA2 v to join this game".
  • Added work-around for data arrival/nightwing bug (not fixed yet)
  • Default restore down size is no longer zero
  • When returning from tray, previous window size is restored, instead of forcing maximized
  • Made it easier to select night or day (I always play maps in day)
  • Network status is displayed in the titlebar
  • White backgrounds replaced with grey
  • Send button removed and player list size increased
  • Send to tray is now a menu option


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Stealing cars is the easy part
Post 28 | New
Posted May 2nd, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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  • "Send To Tray" should be in the "File" menu.
  • Grey backgrounds make controls look disabled.
  • Minimum width is now even wider than before!
  • The Day/Night option buttons are placed in amongst completely unrelated items.
  • Buttons are still enormous, use emboldened text and unecessarily long captions.
  • The "Settings" and "GTA2 Folder" menu options should have three dots after them as they require further input after being clicked.
  • Interface is still very disorganised with controls strewn about all over the place.


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Post 29 | New
Posted May 2nd, 2005
Sektor
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v1.421 released because I broke compatibility with Windows 98.  No need to update if using XP.

1,2: meh
3: not true and it's usable without disconnect button
4: not important, no where else to put it and it is next to GTA2 manager icon which is related
5: yes
6: no, maybe
7: yes

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Stealing cars is the easy part
Post 30 | New
Posted May 2nd, 2005
Cerbera
Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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Oh, that little logo is actually a button?! That's some seriously undiscoverable interface design! laugh

Seriously, it really needs a decent frontend being put on it.

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My Grand Theft Auto Handling Editor
My GTA Tutorials		http://projectcerbera.com/button.png
Post 31 | New
Posted August 4th, 2005
Deleted Member
    		the GTA 2 I downloaded from Rockstargames.com doesnt have a multiplayer option.
    Post 32 | New
    Posted August 4th, 2005
    Sektor
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    		You have to run GTA2 Manager to see the network option.

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    Stealing cars is the easy part
    Post 33 | New
    Posted August 4th, 2005
    Deleted Member
      		Ok, I see. Thanks a bunch.
      Post 34 | New
      Posted August 8th, 2005
      Cerbera
      Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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      		I've been in conversation with Sektor for a few hours today, throwing around ideas for the future of GTA2GH.  Sektor has released the first conventional Windows-style interface for the program, so I'm going to put a list of suggestions for things I think would be better if done differently.

      • Command buttons should be to the right of their related input group.
      • The "Useless information" box should be removed.
      • Adjescent lists should be replaced by proper, multi-column ListView controls.
      • Groove between menu bar and application workspace should be corrected by using a 3px line set to "Button Shadow" with a 1px line set to "Button Highlight" above it.
      • Automatic scrolling bugs in the chat log box should be fixed.
      • "GTA2 Folder" label should be given an accelerator key (ALT+KEY).
      • The "..." button after the "GTA2 Folder" field should be placed on a PictureBox element to prevent rendering bugs in XP themes.
      • All server status messages should be prefixed by an asterisk and a space (* ) to make them easily distinguished from other messages.  Some already do this but not all.
      • Settings form should make better use of space and could be organised better.  And made resizable. tongue
      • "Tools > Settings" menu item should be at the top of that menu, since there are only two items.  You might consider giving it the keyboard shortcut of F4 since it is a generic program function.  Renaming the item to "Options" instead of "Settings" might make it more consistant with other applications?  There doesn't seem to be an obvious convention about this...
      • The "Tools > GTA2 Manager" menu might be better named as "Launch GTA2 Manager" so that the user has a better chance of realising it will be running an external program.
      • Controls should all use MS Sans Serif as the default font.  Non-standard fonts and font sizes should only be available via customisation options.
      • All inputs in the "Configure" group should resize horizontally.
      • All controls should use the 3D appearence as default so that standard and user-defined Windows themes can adjust it according to their preferences.


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      My Grand Theft Auto Handling Editor
      My GTA Tutorials      		http://projectcerbera.com/button.png
      Post 35 | New
      Posted August 9th, 2005
      Sektor
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      		v1.431
      - Useless statistics removed
      - Buttons moved to right
      - Player list moved slightly more to the right
      - Keyboard shortcuts added to GTA2 Folder and Tools > Settings
      - "Tools > GTA2 Manager" moved to bottom of list and changed to "Launch GTA2 Manager"
      - Chat box appearance changed from flat to 3D
      - The configure frame and input boxes resize to fit the window
      - Network status messages are now displayed in purple with a * at both ends
      - A bug in v1.43 was fixed: If display timestamp was unticked then chat didn't scroll or display in correct colours

      screenshot of GTA2 Game Hunter v1.431 beta
      download from www.gtamp.com

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      Stealing cars is the easy part
      Post 36 | New
      Posted August 10th, 2005. Updated August 20th, 2005
      Cerbera
      Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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      		Some good improvements and fixes. yes

      Here is a screenshot of how it looks in Silver XP style:
      http://projectcerbera.com/!dev/gh2/50bug1431rendering.jpg
      575 x 785 - 44.8kB.

      To fix the weird-looking "..." button, delete that button and draw a PictureBox where it was.  Then draw a new command button in the picture box.  Draw it very small and in the middle so it is definitely inside the box, then move and resize it to fit correctly.  Rename both controls and disable the TabStop property of the PictureBox control.  Update the TabOrder properties for controls if required.

      As for the grey blob on the right, erm, I dunno.  tongue


      Some other points:
      • Left column of main controls (game lists, chat log and message box) do not match the width of the Configure frame.
      • Change captions to be more readablein the Tools > Settings
      • Re-arrange the Tools > Settings controls to be more organised and less cluttered.  Possibly use different controls for some options or group more carefully.
      • Could make the Tools > Settings form resizable after redesign?
      • Use more obvious accelerator keys - the nearer the start of the caption the better.  For example, "GTA folder:" instead of having the "f" as the accelerator.  "Send To Tray" as well?
      • Use colour and asterisks for all non-human chat log messages, perhaps?
      • Using two lines for the menu divider so it can be a standard 3D grove instead of a black line.
      • In XP themes, the large title bar text truncates the Help > About dialogue window title.  It seems like a "legacy" part of the program since it uses a non-standard font and turns the cursor into a weird icon when you hover of the CAPITALISED link.
      • Allowing users to select their own font and style to use in the chat window would be useful functionality to help distinguish messages from different senders easily.
      • The BrowseForFolder API call (or whatever its called) can produce a better, resizable form in Windows XP by setting a few extra flags when you call it.  I have used it in TextStudio and SiteStudio, so if you want the actual flags you can prod me for them.
      • There's a lot of lag in the resize event for the main form.  Without seeing the code I can't know why this is, but I suspect it is from positioning and sizing all those individual lists.  When setting the widths of controls which are the same widths, calculate the width of the first control and then make subsequent controls just refer to the width of that first control.
      • You can also turn off the AutoRedraw property (or whatever it is called) at the start of the resize event, do all the resizing, then turn it back on at the end.  This prevents multiple redraws during each resize, which reduces flickering.

      I can help you with some of this stuff, in the unlikely event that we are online at the same time and you actually need help with it.

      (EDIT) Fixed some broken formatting.

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      My Grand Theft Auto Handling Editor
      My GTA Tutorials      		http://projectcerbera.com/button.png
      Post 37 | New
      Posted August 20th, 2005. Updated August 22nd, 2005
      Sektor
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      		I've been release happy recently...

      1.438
      - Fixed a bug that prevented GTA2 from being launched, if you tried to join a game hosted by a player that no longer had the same name
      - Browse for folder dialog box is now resizable

      1.437
      - Now you are only set away if GTA2 has been running for 30 seconds
      - The game list is no longer disabled to avoid a bug that sometimes left it disabled
      - If a user quit at the same time as you were joining (before the country list had been built), GH would display an error because it was unable to remove a country from the list that didn't exist yet.  The error was "processing error: Invalid procedure call or argument".  To solve it, GH now displays "-" next to every name until it fetches the actual country.

      1.436
      - Changed the black line under the menu to standard 3D style
      - Fixed a problem that displayed an incorrect ping value next to join messages, if GTA2 was open
      - Removed some debug code that forced GH to detect everyone as having a router

      1.435
      - Fixed more bugs relating to away and games being left in the list.  Some issues still remain.
      - "Unable to create/join" messages are now dark yellow colour

      1.434
      - Messages relating to games should all be the same dark yellow colour now
      - Fixed a bug that didn't remove games from list, if users quit or were kicked while [away]

      1.433
      - Fixed a bug that didn't remove your game from the list if your nick was [away]

      1.432
      - [away] is added to the start of your name when GTA2 is running and removed when GTA2 is closed
      - Put "..." browse button in a picture box so it's not changed by XP themes
      - Removed grey blob
      - Nick change and kick messages are displayed in green
      - Made the About box wider so the title fits in more themes
      - Help is now opened in your default text editor, instead of notepad
      - Changed chat box font back to fixedsys, so it matches the received messages/history font (it's also what mIRC does)

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      Stealing cars is the easy part
      Post 38 | New
      Posted August 29th, 2005
      Sektor
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      		1.44
      - Fixed a major bug:  If you had a firewall/router blocking port 113, the login process would not complete.  No error was displayed, so it appeared that no one was online, even if there were people online.  The login process will complete now.
      - The Windows accessibility feature "Sticky keys" should now be disabled every time you run GH
      - Your GTA2 version is displayed below the "Sign Out" button
      - The GTA2 folder text box is now always disabled while signed in
      - GTA2 username, location and folder are now made grey when disabled

      1.439
      - The GTA2 option "Show player names" is no longer forced on
      - If GTA2 is open, all player join messages in GH display "(-)" instead of an incorrect ping value
      - Changed the shortcut key for launching GTA2 Manager from "control + m" to "F8" because "control + m" triggers the enter key
      - Changed the shortcut key for creating a game to "control + g" because "control + c" is used for copying text

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      Stealing cars is the easy part
      Post 39 | New
      Posted August 30th, 2005
      Cerbera
      Ben 'Cerbera' Millard

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      		It's developing into something wonderful. yes

      ------------------
      My Grand Theft Auto Handling Editor
      My GTA Tutorials      		http://projectcerbera.com/button.png
      Post 40 | New
      Posted October 12th, 2006 | we will see
      Tinman
      • Joined: Oct '06
      • Posts: 1
      		lol sektor I remember playing against you a long time ago nd i hope youve gotten as good as your gamehunter ^^

      redownloading gta 2 as we speak ^^ got my broadband back so ill woop yah npz

      just dont do that tricky rocket out the door of the car thingy u used to do cause it hurts


      tinman
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