Misc Private Servers

LightyKD

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We all know that Nintendo is shutting down many of the WFC servers but this thread is NOT for talking about how much it sucks. This thread should be used as constructive space in which the community can talk about measures in which private servers could be made for these games and how we all can help. For those of you who have the ability to host servers, tell us how we could help. For those of you without the ability to host a server, try to be respectful of those who can.
 

FAST6191

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Modern game servers, and despite appearances the DS and Wii are modern game servers, are not simple things; they have a lot of code running on them that the end user will likely never see and that makes reverse engineering the things that much harder. Indeed most times if you see a private server for anything it is the result of leaks, extensive reverse engineering and a lot of luck (read you hope the backend uses common languages and methods).

One project on the matter http://gbatemp.net/threads/help-editing-wi-fi-behavior.362834/

If you want a bit more of a technical overview I was linked this the other day and despite it being from 1999 every word rings true today http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131781/the_internet_sucks_or_what_i_.php
A few of the things mentioned might not apply so much, until you consider the DS and Wii are embedded systems with sharply limited resources and, in the case of the DS anyway, bandwidth.

I do not care enough about wifi play (I have local after all and cheats for the DLC type things) to try my hand at it, and I do not reckon it would be the sort of intellectual exercise that would overcome that. Purely from a practical perspective I would look instead at tunneling for the DS and maybe something like it or the old netplay stuff for the Wii.
 

whatupdog

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Private server for Monster Hunter Tri is being developed at www.sufami.org

Some interesting progress has been made there recently.

Edit: Some IPs are blocked to the site due to bombardment by spammers. A proxy should get you access.
 

FAST6191

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xlink kai, Hamachi and things like that rely on the games having the option to play over LAN -- all such services are is a VPN (a way of sharing private networks over a public and untrustworthy one like the internet) with a nice frontend that saves fiddling with VPN software and allows a measure of matchmaking. For the Wii that amounts to two games with such functionality according to http://www.co-optimus.com/games.php?system=3&lan=true&playerCount=2&countDirection=at least
The link is not so reliable but I would not be surprised if I could count the whole list off on one hand. There are a few more on the xbox, xbox 360 and PS3 as well as the PC though even there such things are getting less common as time goes on.

This then means somewhere out there on the internet is a server that your device speaks to and it sends things around to everybody. Some of these servers are just things that rebroadcast to others in the game, many more servers do a lot of things behind the scenes though and this is what people have to emulate. Emulating these servers is not commonly done, especially not on consoles and it gets even harder if you do not have a working server in the first place. This means when the server dies then so does the multiplayer, sometimes a company will donate the source code
 

migles

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xlink kai, Hamachi and things like that rely on the games having the option to play over LAN -- all such services are is a VPN (a way of sharing private networks over a public and untrustworthy one like the internet) with a nice frontend that saves fiddling with VPN software and allows a measure of matchmaking. For the Wii that amounts to two games with such functionality according to http://www.co-optimus.com/games.php?system=3&lan=true&playerCount=2&countDirection=at least
The link is not so reliable but I would not be surprised if I could count the whole list off on one hand. There are a few more on the xbox, xbox 360 and PS3 as well as the PC though even there such things are getting less common as time goes on.

This then means somewhere out there on the internet is a server that your device speaks to and it sends things around to everybody. Some of these servers are just things that rebroadcast to others in the game, many more servers do a lot of things behind the scenes though and this is what people have to emulate. Emulating these servers is not commonly done, especially not on consoles and it gets even harder if you do not have a working server in the first place. This means when the server dies then so does the multiplayer, sometimes a company will donate the source code


one of the ways for simulate this, is an "adhoc internet repeater" right? i mean, using 2 computers both with a wifi card, they transmit the data 1:1 like if we was next to each other in ad-hoc mode, the diference is, the data is transmited via internet...
 

FAST6191

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That would be a way to do some kind of VPN I guess, about the only thing it might allow for is lower latency in some cases. It is not a way to keep games online without a server though.
 

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the_randomizer

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FAST6191

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Does this mean Brawl would actually work without becoming a lagfest with over 5000 ms of latency?

No it does not, said projects "merely" replicate the server commands and setup. Any latency handling, or indeed lack thereof, is still going to come into play. You might be able to add some redundancy or shave a little bit off, not to mention as you would be running your own server then you could locate it closer to you, but any latency handling, or indeed lack thereof, would still be in place.
 

the_randomizer

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No it does not, said projects "merely" replicate the server commands and setup. Any latency handling, or indeed lack thereof, is still going to come into play. You might be able to add some redundancy or shave a little bit off, not to mention as you would be running your own server then you could locate it closer to you, but any latency handling, or indeed lack thereof, would still be in place.


Damn, I was afraid of that. Oh well. I never could enjoy online mods, the lag was so unbearable I just gave up on ever trying to have matches. Mario Kart Wii on the other hand, ran flawlessly, so I know it wasn't my connection at fault, or my location, as I never had a problem joining a match, and no lag whatsoever. Brawl's online ruined the online on that game for me. Here's hoping the new SSB has better online.
 

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Online play in a racing game is much less complex than a fighting game. It's not really important to know exactly what the other drivers are doing, especially if they're at the other end of the track. Even when you do have direct line-of-sight on another driver, all you really need is to grab the other driver's position, speed and direction a few times a second. If you do happen to miss a few packets, rather than slowing the game down, you just keep running at full speed and correct your opponents' positions once you're able to. Basically, the games don't even really need to be synchronized in any real sense; a rough approximation is fine.

In Smash Bros., you need to know exactly what all three opponents are doing at all times and keep all their movements precisely synchronized with yours. You can see what the other players are doing at all times and with just as much detail as you can see what you are doing. If you miss any packets, the game just has to stop until it can figure out what everyone else is doing. It's apples and oranges. Certainly, there's always methods of improving on this, so hopefully future games will be better, but there's still no doubt that Mario Kart 7/8 will be better than Smash Bros. in terms of smooth online play.
 

LightyKD

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A few things. I managed to get a WBFS copy of Mario Kart Wii to work with wiimmfi.

1) get yourself a virgin iso of Mario Kart Wii
2) patch with the Mario Kart wiimmfi patcher
3) take the patched iso and insert it into Wii Backup Manager
4) convert iso to WBFS
5) play on your favorite backup launcher.

I tried doing the same with Animal Crossing: City Folk but I get a error 60000 when trying to connect to wiimmfi. I wonder if it's a matter of starting fresh and getting a new friend code. Can someone else confirm this?
 

Plstic

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A few things. I managed to get a WBFS copy of Mario Kart Wii to work with wiimmfi.

1) get yourself a virgin iso of Mario Kart Wii
2) patch with the Mario Kart wiimmfi patcher
3) take the patched iso and insert it into Wii Backup Manager
4) convert iso to WBFS
5) play on your favorite backup launcher.

I tried doing the same with Animal Crossing: City Folk but I get a error 60000 when trying to connect to wiimmfi. I wonder if it's a matter of starting fresh and getting a new friend code. Can someone else confirm this?

There's two different patchers. One for only Mario Kart Wii and the other one for other games.
 

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