school system

[2020]

I've just got a job recently in a private international school. There seems to be more flexibility here and I have proposed that they set up a competition within the school with the potential for challenging nearby schools. The educational reason is that they play interhouse competitions, encouraging teamwork and because of mixed language teams, they adopt English as the common team language; by competing against other schools, when they meet in the real world, they will already have something to talk about.

Technically, I am not sure how best go about this. Their admin and school system is run through a browser. I am not sure how we go about setting up a server version on their server (where-ever it is and whoever is in charge of it). The kids mostly have their own computers, so they can download their own clients. What I need, however, is a server which they can access.

Z-man set up a school only master directory which I think has not been used.

Ideally, the kids will download their version, which points at the school-only directory, and there is at least one fortress server up there. This will mean that when we challenge other schools, they can simply download the game on the school server and open up instances of it through-out their network, and then quickly access the school-only master-server -- enabling interschool competitions quickly.

But can such a system enable the same kids to access the standard master server so they can access public games?

Because I am not in touch with the techies behind the school server, and the rather confusing messages from the staff about how all this works, the technical solution needs to be easy.

Can I ask for suggestions on how best to set this up with minimum fuss and the lowest barrier of entry?

[Z-Man]

Technically, I am not sure how best go about this. Their admin and school system is run through a browser. I am not sure how we go about setting up a server version on their server (where-ever it is and whoever is in charge of it). The kids mostly have their own computers, so they can download their own clients. What I need, however, is a server which they can access.

That could mean anything. The important questions to ask are:
-Do the kids with their computers have general access to the Internet?
Well, OK, that's just one question. Breaking it down:
-When browsing, are they required to use a proxy?
-Are UDP/TCP ports blocked? If yes, which ones, and which ones are free? (Or, non-technical: can the kids use instant messengers? If so, which ones and how do they need to set them up?)

I suppose there are some restrictions in place, but what we can do and how depends on the details. For example, if they have to use a proxy and no general access to the Internet is there, all servers would need to run in their own network and they would need to set them up; further complications would arise if they are only running Windows servers. If, however, they just block HTTP access to the general internet and let the rest pass, we can use the servers we already have for everything.

Z-man set up a school only master directory which I think has not been used.

Yep. It may be down currently with my home server. Can't remember which server I installed it on, and administering the VPS currently is a pain for me, so I won't look.

But can such a system enable the same kids to access the standard master server so they can access public games?

However we like it. We can make it easy for them by installing the regular masters as subcultures, or we can not do that so they can in theory play public games, but need to jump through hoops.

Because I am not in touch with the techies behind the school server

You probably need to fix that. Or even better, forward the contact to us. You're not a tech person (not enough of one, anyway), staff are not tech persons. That's two layers of non-techiness between the people who know what needs to be done (us) and the people who need to do it (their techies). If anything needs to be done on their side beyond putting up the client to download, it will be impossible to communicate efficently. Try explaining your dad what your mom needs to tell your sister so she can set up your mom's email, basically.

[2020]

The important questions to ask are:
-Do the kids with their computers have general access to the Internet?

Most of the kids have computers of their own and they have access to the internet. There are also a bunch of school computers and head of education is happy about downloading clients onto each machine. Your more detailed questions are lost on me.

The kids are already playing computer games as teams in professional tournaments.

Because I am not in touch with the techies behind the school server

You probably need to fix that. Or even better, forward the contact to us. You're not a tech person (not enough of one, anyway), staff are not tech persons. That's two layers of non-techiness between the people who know what needs to be done (us) and the people who need to do it (their techies). If anything needs to be done on their side beyond putting up the client to download, it will be impossible to communicate efficiently. Try explaining your dad what your mom needs to tell your sister so she can set up your mom's email, basically.

I agreed, I'd rather not be a middle man. However, it is a quirky small school and the school system has been run by the headmaster's son who has subsequently moved on. I will try to get details of the techie responsible; I will send your questions on.

So, the situation is this: the head of education is willing to give it a go. We need a simple system for the kids to start playing against one another, while at the same time thinking of the simplest way this could scale. I am hoping, for example, that we will be able to challenge a few local schools as early as possible, while the students are rising high on the excitement of the game. Mainstream schools are a bit of nightmare, but usually they have a local techie. It should be a (relatively) simple matter of them downloading a client version which can be opened across the network, as happened in my last school 4 years ago. My question is, when they access the "internet" game, can we revive a client version which has a master server that is school only? And can we have a fortress server constantly available for them to join whenever they want to play?

[Z-Man]

Most of the kids have computers of their own and they have access to the internet. There are also a bunch of school computers and head of education is happy about downloading clients onto each machine. Your more detailed questions are lost on me.

The kids are already playing computer games as teams in professional tournaments.

Sounds like no restrictions at all. We should be fine, then.

My question is, when they access the "internet" game, can we revive a client version which has a master server that is school only? And can we have a fortress server constantly available for them to join whenever they want to play?

Yes resp. maybe. The master is no problem, the game server may be; my poor VPS may not be able to handle it along with the other stuff it is doing. And all of that needs to wait until I get proper internet back (two weeks), right now, I can't upload anything.

[2020]

Cool. I am getting some kids to download a standard version to see if that works.

What client version has the school-only master server?

[Z-Man]

We put it here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/armaget ... a20100220/

But I repeat, I don't know whether the master server is up, and if it isn't, I can't fix it.

[delinquent]

I'm willing to host some sort of master server temporarily, I have an always on server in the cloud that will do the job.

[2020]

Yup, the master server is not available, at least from the macosx build. Will you be able to check in to this in a couple of weeks, or is this problem non-resolvable?

Thanks for the offer Delinquent. What will be needed at some stage is a permanent fortress server once we get the master set up. (I am assuming changing the master is not a feasible task.)

Also, thanks for this Z-man. I thought you had done something but I don't think I ever saw all the various builds you created back then. It's a pity I was not in a position to make use of that. Hopefully we will be in a position to this time around.

[delinquent]

Well I can host a server, that's no problem.

You might want to check out the new services that team 9000 offer. They are giving out free, temporary fortress servers, that are piss easy to set up and expire after a period of non-usage.
https://launch.team9000.net/

[Z-Man]

Yup, the master server is not available, at least from the macosx build. Will you be able to check in to this in a couple of weeks, or is this problem non-resolvable?

It should auto-resolve itself once I can connect the home server back to the Internet.

And yes, delinquent: if you could host the Fortress server for the project, it would be very helpful. The team 9000 servers probably won't be right; we need a server that only is listed on the school master.

[2020]

Thanks guys. The term finishes in four weeks, not sure about introducing it in the last few weeks of term since I think they have a lot of Christmas activities lined up. If it was a standard school, then it would be perfect -- and indeed it would be the right time to challenge other schools. Things start getting hectic in second term as schools build up to exams, and summer term is a write-off. I think an autumn launch would be the best time for it. Nevertheless, we are where we are.

This is how I suggest it could work. We set up the system in a couple of weeks. I trial it with a few students, make sure it is working. We set up a tournament early next term, inter-house. This will thus involve the whole school. We may conduct such a tournament weekly, a Tronics Spoon if you will. We start getting in touch with local schools and challenge them to a game while assembling at least one school team ourselves. Because of the nature of things, it may take a few weeks if not months for mainstream schools to correctly implement a client version on their school servers. So, we are looking towards the end of the spring term before our first inter-school competition. And from there, we can extend invitations to other schools. How does that sound?

This is all dependent on whether the kids enjoy the game, of course. There's stiff competition now from the professional market, and arma looks pretty minimal, and is a minimal game with little to no frills (unless students explore the other server types -- but I don't think variety is what this game offers; in my mind at least, it is the minimalism of it -- pure teamwork).

[2020]

Right, I have finally managed to communicate enough to the kids to actually see what they can and can't access. They can run a LAN game, which means however that they only have access to the standard last-man-standing set up. If this is the minimal solution, can we make sure that the school versions have fortress settings by default?

They do not have access to the master servers. A large page of text appears explaining things about proxies and firewalls. I guess this means that we need to get into contact with the admin chap as Z-man suggested initially. I will attempt to do this before Christmas -- we only have two weeks left.

This will only work if we get a team game. And this has only the chance of scaling if we can get internet access.

[delinquent]

It might be worth avoiding the proxy drama, depending on where your school obtained their hardware from (the BSF fund has strict contingencies, for example). Instead, it might be worth looking at setting up a server on the http proxy that they already use, possibly enabling the other schools to join in with minimal configuration. By changing the start-up screen, you could have the default option at "Connect", and when pressed this option would automatically start the game, using the existing settings.

I seem to remember something being said about this being a school in Scotland, if so then there are certain laws regarding internet access and monitoring within educational establishments. I'm not sure if they would apply here, but I'm pretty sure certain areas, such as access configurations and network traffic routes are covered by something that mentions "appropriate protection of a childs internet access", including "appropriate protection of privacy, identity and unsolicited contact". As far as I see it, that would cover the likes of opening ports to the internet, and undermining filters for whatever reason. This also includes direct or indirect contact with strangers online, in so much as speaking to them is concerned. To get around this, you would have to either disable the chat function, or code some sort of filter or monitor system to protect from things like unsolicited web links, individuals who might exploit the users, that kind of thing.

I'll do a little looking into it, I have a close friend who works within educational law. I'll see what I can find out about other countries, too. Do you know in particular what other cultures this school is in affiliation with? (If that's getting too uncomfortable, you don't have to say anything. I don't want to compromise your career or anything)

[2020]

The school is in England, and I have passed on a link to this forum. The kids are from various countries, China, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, it's an international school. The kids are playing online games for hours, as far as I know. I think we only have to think about security if it starts to scale. Let's get a simple system running now, enough for the school, and minimal fuss to invite neighbouring schools. Given how things usually happen, I suspect it will just be a local flash-interest with incredibly limited viral potential. I am not even convinced the head of the school will see the value of playing this game for his kids since I think he frowns on their gaming activity already. I am also attempting to propose coding as one of the courses the school can provide, which may be rather foolhardy.

[Z-Man]

If this is the minimal solution, can we make sure that the school versions have fortress settings by default?

That would also affect local non-networked games where it doesn't make sense, and I don't think a hybrid server will be able to provide reasonable fortress performance. I'd rather make it the default for the dedicated server and have them run one.

They do not have access to the master servers. A large page of text appears explaining things about proxies and firewalls. I guess this means that we need to get into contact with the admin chap as Z-man suggested initially. I will attempt to do this before Christmas -- we only have two weeks left.

Yep. If they can access the WWW just fine, that probably means our UDP ports are blocked.

What are the other online games they are playing? Browser based, I assume? If not and other games have been whitelisted already, we could just hijack their ports.