Author Topic: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
GoldyGoldtheGoldfish 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
I read this in a post:

"When turbine removed our ability to see how many clients were connected, that's all they did, the data is still sent you just have to know how to code to extract the info."

My first instinct tells me that this poster was simply trolling, but since I have no coding background I was wondering if there is any truth to what he said.

 

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Lord_Anton 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
theres a "plugin" called population filter, do a search or look in ac heaven for it

 

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Yula_the_Mighty 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Yepper. I said that the information was sent to the client based on information provided by Kgober of Decal Development. By the way - I am a bunny not a troll...

You can go to this page on source forge and find Kgober's population filter. According to ACHeaven, population filter is designed to work with Decal Alpha 3. The current version of Decal is Alpha 4.

 

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Pink_FG 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
I can tell you the info was certainly being passed after ToD was launched. Don't know about current status - I'd assume it's the same...

 

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GoldyGoldtheGoldfish 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Thanks for the replies

I downloaded the 0.0.0.1 of population filter as well as Decal Alpha 3, but could not get the DLL to register. I then tried the latest population filter with Decal Alpha 3 and 4, and although the DLL registered there was no plugin in game. Does this utility simply give me access to population data but I have to write my own plugin to look at it?

 

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-MK- 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
<<By the way - I am a bunny not a troll...>>

FYI "trolling" has nothing to do with monsters that live under bridges and everything to do with a type of fishing.

 

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Lord_Anton 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
theres no IG visual thing in decal

when you log in, it should tell you how many clients are connected, if not, then it prolly doesnt work with alpha 4

I dunno tho

 

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UnDecimus 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Hmm, I tried the same thing just now. Decal shows a "No DLL" status on the plugin, and no text was added concerning server pop on login. This is with Decal Alpha 3, and I followed the directions to the letter.

 

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Ftuoil_XelRasH 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
You can still get this information in Alpha 4.
It is parced from CS Filter.

I hard coded it into my Plugin which works under Decal 4


 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Population Filter has no in-game UI, all it does is write one line of text to the chat window when you log on (and an entry to a log file in your installation directory).

Population Filter 0.0.1.0 (the most recent version) only works with Decal 3 Alpha 5 (which hasn't been released), and it has an msi intaller that makes it easy to install. It doesn't work with Alpha 4.

Population Filter 0.0.0.1 works with Alpha 3, but it has a complicated installation procedure that requires you to edit a registry export file (a .reg file). you don't need to "register" the DLL, because it's a .NET filter that uses the new Decal.Adapter. all you have to do is unzip the files into a directory somewhere, edit the .reg file so that the Path entry points to the directory you unzipped the files into, then save the .reg file and double-click it and import it into the registry.

however, before you can do any of this (for either version), you first have to make sure that Decal.Adapter is installed and working. if you open up denagent, and you have a "Decal .NET Lifetime Service" listed under Services, then Decal.Adapter is installed and working. if you don't have the lifetime service, it means you probably did not have the correct version of the .NET 2.0 runtime installed before you installed Decal. if you're using Alpha 3, you need the .NET 2.0 *BETA 2* version (the "release" version might work, I don't know). if you're using Alpha 4 or higher, you need the .NET 2.0 "release" version, *not* the beta 2 version.

-ken

 

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-Gol- 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
^^^ if that's not overly complicated, nothing is...

 

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UnDecimus 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
That's what I am missing, but the odd thing is, I know I installed the runtimes prior to Decal, several times in fact.

Or am I grabbing the wrong runtimes? (Currently have the .Net 2.0 RTM version, direct from the MS updates site.)

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
.NET 2.0 RTM is what you want if you're running Alpha 4 (which Population Filter won't work with, at least not unless you install Alpha 5 (assuming it gets released)).

if you're running Alpha 3, then I know that .NET 2.0 Beta 2 will work. I have no idea if RTM is backward compatible enough to support Beta 2 assemblies.

-ken

 

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UnDecimus 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Well, I just wiped and tried again, UNinstalled Decal A3, installed the .Net Runtimes again (repaired actually), then re-installed Decal A3 and the old Population Filter. Still no luck and the services section under Decals list does not show the required service.

So it sounds like the .Net 2.0 runtimes official release will not work with Decal A3 . .. or I am just messed up . . . which is always a possibility. wink

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
probably the former. i don't know if it's worth it to try to uninstall the .net 2.0 RTM runtime, then attempt to install the beta 2 version.

it's almost easier to install vb 2005 express edition, and build an alpha-4 compatible version yourself using the source from sourceforge (as far as i know, simply rebuilding the latest version against alpha 4 should work).

-ken

 

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-Gol- 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
kgober posted:
it's almost easier to install vb 2005 express edition, and build an alpha-4 compatible version yourself using the source from sourceforge
You forget most people aren't as software-savvy as you, mr Gober tongue

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
More than one person has expressed an interest in running Population Filter with Decal 3 Alpha 4, so I made a version that will work with it.

Details here: http://forums.acdev.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=17688#17688

-ken

 

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Warder_TD 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Thanks Ken

 

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Monolith_WE 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Thanks Ken, I tested it out tonight and works very nice.

 

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Lil-Blub 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Now my question from reading this is this...

Will we get a HUD on this? It would be nice to really know how many people would be on to see if it really is worth a quest start up, etc... really alot of purposes.

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
there's no point in making it an in-game hud. the message is only sent to the client when the character selection screen appears, which is why, when you go in-game it tells you how long ago that count was taken. so, for example, if you log on to the game, then sit at the character selection screen for 2 hours before logging on, then Population Filter will display in your chat window how many people were connected to the game 2 hours ago. if you want an up-to-date value, you need to make the character selection screen reappear somehow. exiting the game and restarting will cause the server to send another population update, I believe logging a character on and off will do it as well.

"how many people were connected to the game" includes people who were sitting at the character screen, just like it was pre-ToD. there's no way that I know of to find out how many of them are actually logged on, in-game (and at their computer, rather than running a bot or an idle program).

I don't know if it's possible to have a hud appear at the character selection screen, but I'll look into it.

-ken

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
teaser image: http://www.geocities.com/acyellowtail/PopulationFilterTeaser.htm

-ken

 

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UnDecimus 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Sweet!

 

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Lil-Blub 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
" so, for example, if you log on to the game, then sit at the character selection screen for 2 hours before logging on, then Population Filter will display in your chat window how many people were connected to the game 2 hours ago"




So that command that is sent to the game client could actually be re-iniated by tricking the client into thinking your @ the login screen correct? Then a HUD could be a reality? Or is it too hard?

 

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GoldyGoldtheGoldfish 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Thank you for the thorough replies. I most likely messed up with the .NET stuff but I'll give it another go.

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
what you have to do to get more updates is trick the server into thinking that you want to see the character selection screen again. you do this one of several ways:

1. you run the game. the server knows to send you a population update as soon as you start the game.
2. you log off voluntarily. the server knows to send you a population update when you log off.
3. you log off involuntarily (e.g. your character is ejected from the game by an admin or envoy).

an in-game hud will not become a reality, simply because there is no way to trick the server into thinking you're logging off, when you really aren't. this is because, if the server thinks you're logging off, you're logging off whether you want to or not -- the server will kick you out of the game to ensure that it happens.

-ken

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
what *is* a possibility, by the way, is a macro that repeatedly logs a character on and off, thus forcing repeated updates of the population count.

combine this with an update to population filter that writes the current population to a web server via HTTP POST, and you have something kinda sorta like what you're asking for.

-ken

 

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Krackcode 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
I don't like that idea, if hundreds of people are doing that, it could put a lot of un needed stress on the servers.

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
if you want to pay for an account so that you can do nothing but log on and off, i'm sure turbine will be delighted to accept your monthly payment. even thousands of users doing this won't get server loads anywhere near where they were during AC's heyday, when 2000 players logged on at once on a single world was commonplace, and the total number of players connected across all servers was over 15,000.

-ken

 

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Chazcon 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Confirmed that version 0.0.0.1 must work only with the NET 2.0 beta, it does not work (for me) with NET 2.0 release version.

I'm still running Decal 3.0 Alpha 3, as I am using several plugins that work with Alpha 3 but not comfirmed for Alpha 4.

Eagerly awaiting a release version of Decal 3.0.

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
i've made a web page with download links and installation instructions for all the different versions:

http://acdev.sourceforge.net/

-ken

 

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Chazcon 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
PopulationFilter0.0.1.1.zip not a valid archive

EDIT: Turned off my download accelerator (DAP) and I got a good copy.

Installed it, works great! BUT it crashes me at login before my character enters the world.



Decal (DenAgent.exe) version: 2.9.2.0

type, enabled, name, version, clsid
Plugins, 1, Insane-Bot Client, 1.0.0.29, {462C626A-E25D-4275-A8F5-C2F0B14B01BB}
Plugins, 1, CastAway, 1.7.0.742, {4EB455CB-A2DA-44B6-90F2-09517A4B1476}
Plugins, 1, Decal Hotkey System, 1.5.0.0, {6B6B9FA8-37DE-4FA3-8C60-52BD6A2F9855}
Plugins, 1, Sort It! Vsn 5.9.3, 5.9.3.0, {70DDE3AE-5ADD-4003-9600-C2F6830D7670}
Plugins, 1, TreeStats 2, 0.1.6.2, {9847B2B7-C7C7-42BA-9361-021D01715E8F}
Plugins, 1, Quest Timer, 2.4.0.1, {BB51962C-2EEE-4E67-A032-EEC1F11E66C8}
Plugins, 1, Virindi Chat System, 2.2.0.0, {D2A9E25E-6C5C-41D0-B3E7-F4B8285176EA}
Plugins, 1, Idler by Archui, 1.0.0.0, {FC6D04DE-FA1D-4F22-A79D-A92B74D32B63}
Network Filters, 1, ACDC Core Filter, 7.2.1.0, {2DB1B641-4039-4D69-831A-79915EC266CE}
Network Filters, 1, Echo Filter 2, 2.9.2.0, {34239EAD-6317-4C40-A405-193BA5232DD8}
Network Filters, 1, Population Filter, 0.0.1.1, {39EACE9F-1BF2-4E4F-BFBC-2FD9EB76A47B}
Network Filters, 1, Character Stats Filter, 2.9.2.0, {4540C969-08D1-46BF-97AD-6B19D3C10BEE}
Network Filters, 1, World Object Filter, 2.9.2.0, {53092D1B-F0B0-46FF-BF11-8F031EC9B137}
Network Filters, 1, Identify Queue Filter, 2.9.2.0, {B0C05A9A-273D-4BC4-B7BA-E27CF94C8EF4}
Network Filters, 1, SpellFilter, 2.9.2.0, {C2D43735-BE7E-4829-AF73-F2E7E820EB16}
Services, 1, Decal .NET Lifetime Service, 2.9.2.0, {71A69713-6593-47EC-0001-0000000DECA1}
Services, 1, Decal Dat Service, 2.9.2.0, {37B083F0-276E-43AD-8D26-3F7449B519DC}
Services, 1, Decal Render Service, 2.9.2.0, {FB3C8286-88ED-4B4D-B413-94B40F346239}
Services, 1, Decal Inject Gateway Service, 2.9.2.0, {FEFE5CAB-10E4-404F-AD4D-184BCB506099}
Services, 1, Decal Input Service, 2.9.2.0, {B33307BA-706D-474A-80B9-70BB8D13EF3E}
Services, 1, Decal Networking Service, 2.9.2.0, {C8C406F8-BA2E-4964-8B04-FF38394A8E0E}
Surrogates, 1, Decal.Adapter Surrogate, 2.9.2.0, {71A69713-6593-47EC-0002-0000000DECA1}
Surrogates, 1, Prefilter Network Filter Surrogate, 2.9.2.0, {443D4A68-5422-4E0C-9460-973F8FBDB190}
Surrogates, 1, ActiveX Plugin Surrogate, 2.9.2.0, {7559F22F-C56F-4621-AE08-9C354D799D4B}
Surrogates, 1, Version 1 Plugin Surrogate, 2.9.2.0, {3D837F6E-B5CA-4604-885F-7AB45FCFA62A}
Input Actions, 1, Delay Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {324D76B8-D8C7-4A81-B867-E4E1F874E488}
Input Actions, 1, Mouse Move Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {57D18578-0BF0-4DE5-A0A9-E7CB531C0429}
Input Actions, 1, Restore Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {6EE2F682-7129-44BE-84B9-787BAE35EC1C}
Input Actions, 1, Polled Delay Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {762335B2-2274-4BB4-8B1F-F7286C949FF7}
Input Actions, 1, Typing Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {9CDCEEDC-F8AC-42D5-9A05-52B9346D00A4}
Input Actions, 1, Event Input Action, 2.9.2.0, {D6E4BD19-4900-4515-BCE2-A9EA4AAE2699}

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)

[Protected Storage Service] : Automatic

[Injection Method] : No injection method key (default to NEW)

Decal Settings
[Update URL] : http://decal.acdev.org
[memlocs.xml] : 22872 bytes, Version 0.0.11.2608
[messages.xml] : 60373 bytes, Version 2005.11.21.1

Runtime Libraries
[msvbvm60.dll] : Installed (6.0.97.82)
[atl70.dll] : Not Installed
[mfc70.dll] : Installed (7.0.9466.0)
[msvcr70.dll] : Installed (7.0.9466.0)
[msvcp70.dll] : Installed (7.0.9466.0)
[atl71.dll] : Installed (7.10.3077.0)
[mfc71.dll] : Installed (7.10.3077.0)
[msvcr71.dll] : Installed (7.10.3052.4)
[msvcp71.dll] : Installed (7.10.3077.0)

Microsoft XML Libraries
[msxml3.dll] : Installed (8.50.2162.0)
[msxml4.dll] : Installed (4.20.9818.0)

 

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kgober 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
you have a weird notion of "works great".

-ken

 

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Chazcon 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
heh! well PopFilter works great. I have been troubleshooting and I think Idler was crashing me (it's not supposed to work with Alpha 4 anyway)

after twiddling a bit I can log in & out with no more random crashes than I had with Alpha 3. The biggest loss is Healer.

...I dream of a day when a final Decal 3.0 is released...and all the plugin devs update their programs to work with it...I have a dream...

 

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Chazcon - Aluvian swordsman
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Simply Red tells you, "I am SO not recovering your body!"
-- Good times.
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House_of_Foot 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
Nice work...tag!

 

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The_Old_Code 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
So the pop is right around the same as it was before the new realease?

 

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GoldyGoldtheGoldfish 
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Subject: Is it possible to know how many people are in-game?
heh after 6 tries I finally installed everything in the right order and got the plugin working with Alpha 3, thank you very much for that site you put up

A note to anyone that cannot get it to work: If you are going to uninstall everything and start from scratch, make sure you do it in this order:

1. Uninstall plugins

2. Uninstall Decal

3. Delete the registry key, and the installation folder for decal.

4. Then uninstall the Microsoft .NET Runtimes

5. Now install the appropate .NET runtime depending on the version of decal (Most likely the beta version since I don't think many plugins work with Alpha 4 yet)

6. Now install decal alpha 3, and copy that turbine file

7. Make sure decal works in-game, and that the lifetime service is enabled in services

8. Now follow the instructions to install population filter


Welcome to the world of Darktide! There were 285 players connected at 12:42 AM (58 seconds ago.)

 

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