Introducing UT Server Banners: Live server info in posts and signatures!

[Shade]

Dear Community,

We have some exciting news!
In collaboration with Darkelarious from 333networks we were able to implement BBCodes that insert live UT server banners into the forum.

There are two banner types you can chose from.

A big version:

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[utserver]IP:PORT[/utserver]

Examples:

And a small version:

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[utserver-small]IP:PORT[/utserver-small]

Examples:

With a click on the server name in the banner, you open the advanced server info in the UT Server Browser (https://ut99.org/servers)
Via "Join Server" and the "unreal://..." link the Unreal Tournament client gets started and directly connected to that server (if set up correctly on your PC).

Thats pretty cool, right?

How to add your own banner in a forum post or in your signature:
- Click the BBCode in the editor menu.

Screenshot 2023-11-13 110728.png

- Insert the IP and Port
- If you want to show the banner on the right side, use the "right-block" BBCode. I used that BBCode to show the Banner of the 33networks master server on the top right of this post.

And as always, if you have any bugs to report or feedback to give, feel free to post it in this thread.

At last, I would like to give Darkelarious a big thanks for his big efforts. He put alot of work and time into writing the script that could make all of this happen. Cheers!

Happy fragging!
@

[esnesi]

I did plan my 1000th post in the FFN topic.

But this is such a special occasion, i'd rather have it here!

Thanks everybody for their part in this!
A big step closer in moving from Gametracker!

[Darkelarious]

This week I will revisit this post/thread with a bit of a technical explanation; how it works, why it works, and answer any of the questions you may have in this thread!

Questions: (so far)

1) How do I find out my server ip:port?
There are plenty of ways to find out your own home IP address, but if you host a server remotely and you're not sure on what ip, you can use the server browser or use the 333networks masterserver web interface. Search for your server by name or advanced options, when you found and click on it, you will see the ip:port listed in the server details. You can copy/paste these directly into the BBCode as shown above.

2) Why no domains?
The lookup of domain names is not supported directly from javascript. Workarounds include lookup to 3rd party servers. Doing the hostname lookup directly in PHP, with 0.5 to 2 seconds per lookup and 1-2 servers per signature, 15 posts per page; in a bad case/combination it could take up to 60 seconds before the forum page loads, and that's not a desired option either. We are looking into resolving ip addresses directly at 333networks during the Json API request (I'll explain more about it during this/next week), but for that we have to adapt the 333networks masterserver/website structure, which requires careful development and testing. So don't give up on domains just yet, but have some patience.

3) Why does it not show my map thumbnail?
For map thumbnails to work, the map file needs to be present on the 333networks (web)server. If the thumbnail doesn't show, it means we don't have it (or it's labelled incorrectly). Want to help? Send it to us! For now on either discord, email or through the forum, perhaps I should make a new thread for this goal specifically.


More questions? Ask!

[Shade]

I did plan my 1000th post in the FFN topic.

But this is such a special occasion, i'd rather have it here!

Thanks everybody for their part in this!
A big step closer in moving from Gametracker!

Congrats esnesi!
You are also exactly the 20th person entering the "Godlike" Rank

[Barbie]

Looks that ut99.org##.signature for Adblocker Ultimate does the job.

[Shade]

Looks that ut99.org##.signature for Adblocker Ultimate does the job.

Huh, how do you mean?

[Hitman]

Is it possible to get a live feed banner on Facebook? I tested with Gametracker and LGSL with no luck..

[Barbie]

Looks that ut99.org##.signature for Adblocker Ultimate does the job.

Huh, how do you mean?

Some signatures are really overcrowded and filled up with (for me) uninteresting pics and info. I don't want to suck this in every time and so the above blocking rule keeps forum clean for me.

[Darkelarious]

Is it possible to get a live feed banner on Facebook? I tested with Gametracker and LGSL with no luck..

In the past we had the ability to generate server banners as png that could be embedded on other places like Facebook, but it severely impacted server performance. We are a few years later since that, with more knowledge and experience, so perhaps I can look into that again.

[Darkelarious]

Testing domain names in the banners:

The original banner would only work with

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[utserver-small]81.205.81.173:28900[/utserver-small]

Now, I implemented simple domain name lookups:

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[utserver-small]333networks.com:28900[/utserver-small]

And as usual, let me know if you find any bugs