ET-TV

(cfette) #1

Will there be a release of an ET-TV-Version, like old Wolf-TV or HLTV? Would be nice if someone has an answer. Thanks anyway.

(Stee) #2

Nothing definate atm, just a rumour that it’s being made.
Anyone know anything more?

(Kendle) #3

On Bani’s forum he said that no ET-TV will be made. The guy who did it for RTCW (Fonfon?) ain’t interested, and for Bani to do it he’d need the Quake3 engine source code (or something to that effect).

EDIT: Read it in this thread

(DG) #4

bleh, I’d heard a reliable source tell me otherwise, but bani’s post there seems yet more reliable :frowning:

(daemord) #5

personally without “something” like ET TV, i reckon long term we can realistically kiss ET goodbye, this is essentialy imo for the game to be successfull at competition level and as such as a game all together (clans provide servers, if clans dont play, then no servers)

(Loffy) #6

I bump this question up.
And I am curious: Who did wolf TV?
(And will there be an ET tv?)
// Loffy

(Kendle) #7

Read the thread on Bani’s forum in my previous post.

A guy called FonFon did WolfTV, he isn’t going to do it for ET, and for anyone else to do it they’d need the Quake3 engine source code which even Bani and Shrub don’t have.

So probably no ET for the foreseeable future unless Bani or someone else can work their magic, which is a real shame as it’s pretty much a pre-requiste for any game to be taken seriously at the higher levels of competition.

(Loffy) #8

Ah, thanks! It was all there, in that thread!
Well, let’s hope something similar to wolf tv will eventually pop up.
// L.

(Spark) #9

Yep, so true. :frowning:
Maybe Splash Damage has an idea how this could be done without the engine code (or could at least confirm that it’s absolutely not possible)? After all, it could make their game LOADS more popular… :slight_smile:

(Stee) #10

Tbh I don’t think they’ll be to bothered how popular a FREE game is, I’m sure it’s already surpassed their expectations so anything else is a bonus.
People playing free games means less people playing games that have to be payed for, which can’t be good for activision. So It’s safe to say ET will never have ET-tv.

(daemord) #11

ordinarely there wouldnt be, but where would we all be without bani

quoted from the above post that kendle keeps linking to (you lot should click links once in a while)

i had an idea to stream the demo data (using a separate program) as it’s being recorded, but I don’t know if that’s doable without the engine source either.

thats actually the approach i was going to take.

the quake3 dm_68 demo format has been decoded, and the network protocol has been decoded as well. i dont know if dm_83 is radically different tham dm_68 but i doubt it.

you’d have to write a “fake server” which speaks just enough network protocol to accept a client handshake, establish a connection, and then encapsulate and stream the demo data to them.

({PiQ} Apoch) #12

I don’t see why any source code is needed; the network protocols should be relatively straightforward to reverse-engineer, and from there a proxy could be created very easily. All you need to do is write a program that can connect to a server and behave itself as a spectator; have the same program accept incoming connections from other clients (i.e. make it a server itself) and tell the clients that they are spectators. Then relay the data from one server to the next, and its all good.

(Spark) #13

I thought the same, but how feasable is it in reality? Wasn’t the protocol encrypted? I wonder if the GTV guys figured it out by themselves or had some help from the engine source? I can’t really imagine the latter, but who knows.

({PiQ} Apoch) #14

Well, there’s really only one good way to find out, and that is to play a couple games of ET and sniff the traffic. My guess is that, even if it is encrypted, it can’t be too hard to relay the data without having to decrypt anything – the trick would be fooling the server into letting the “observer program” connect. I suppose one could simply run ET, spec the server, and have a separate program sniff the traffic and forward it to other clients to make them think they were the ones connecting to the server…

(SCDS_reyalP) #15

according to what bani posted, they had access to the engine source.

While you could do it by reverse engineering the protocol (which is not encrypted AFAIK) I suspect it would be a royal pain in the ass. It might also be a EULA violation.

It seems to me if the competition organizations (CAL, TWL etc) exerted presure on id, they might be able to convince the WTV folks to pass on their work for someone else to port to ET. That is pure speculation on my part, of course.

(bani) #16

if it’s so straightforward, why haven’t you done it already :moo:

you seem to already have all the answers so lets see the code :smiley:

({PiQ} Apoch) #17

if it’s so straightforward, why haven’t you done it already :moo:

you seem to already have all the answers so lets see the code :D[/quote]

I haven’t done it yet because I’m currently working 3 separate software development contracts, writing a couple major programs of my own, running a startup business, taking 15 hours of classes, and generally not looking for extra work right now.

I’d love to try something like this but I barely get time to play ET at all, let alone code something of this magnitude.

(Amadeus) #18

Just for interest, the first “TV” app for FPS games was made for Quake II. I think the idea is a bad one, since it causes more network traffic for the servers running the game and that could degrade the game for the players. Let’s not forget that a lot of servers are not dual processor 400mhz memory monsters. Many are average PC’s.

({PiQ} Apoch) #19

Yes, but on a server where enough people would be interested in spectating to make a TV app useful, the server is going to be high end. Besides, the whole point of the TV app is to decrease the bandwidth that the server has to send to spectators.

(SCDS_reyalP) #20

The nice thing about wolftv/gtv is that it doesn’t put any more load on the match server than a normal spectator.

So I don’t really see what your point is.