Published on April 6, 2020

I recently got the itch to work on GameSrv again, and I'd like to implement some newer features like a built-in WebSocket server for fTelnet support, as well as SSH support.

I found a nice SSH implementation that looks like it'll work well, but it has one drawback: It requires a version of the .NET framework that is newer than what is available on Windows XP.

So I'm hoping that if anybody using GameSrv reads this, they'll let me know what OS they're using, and whether they're using it as a front-end for a DOS BBS, or if they're actually using it as a door server.

I'm definitely leaning towards dropping XP in favour of SSH support, but if a lot of people are still using XP then I'll have to re-evaluate that choice.

Published on May 5, 2016

There's a new alpha release of GameSrv available on GitHub: GameSrv Alpha (Just click one of the two .zip links, then click "View Raw" to download the file)

This new version has a lot of new features that I've been meaning to get out there for awhile, as well as fixes for installing on Ubuntu 14.04, so I figured it was probably time to package something up.  I haven't tested it too extensively yet, so that's why it's considered an alpha release.  Definitely don't use it to upgrade any existing installations you have, at least not without backing up your existing GameSrv directory!

Some of the new features in this version are:

• A whoisonline.txt is available in tab-delimited format
• Compiling pty-sharp on Ubuntu 14.04 is fixed
• Add rlogin-ips.txt, which gives you the ability to limit who can RLogin into your server
• IPv6 support!  Except on XP, which doesn't support dual-stack, and it's probably not worth working around that
• Added Dean Warren's start/stop script for Linux
• DOS BBSes can now run WIN32 doors via the W32DOOR utility (documentation pending, email me if you need assistance).  Credit to Mike Ehlert for making this work with NetFoss, which made me give some thought to how something like that could work with GameSrv.
• Telnet-out feature is now embedded instead of relying on TelnetDoor.exe, so it now supports Linux
• Doors now use Platform=DOS|Linux|Windows instead of Native=true|false, which gives more control over what doors can be displayed at any given time (ie a Win32 door set to Native=true shouldn't be visible when running on Linux, but GameSrv had no way of knowing that)
• RLogin can optionally validate the user's password
• Add banned-users.txt, which lets you temporarily ban users who try to login/register with certain aliases (I use it for bots that try to login as comcast, cusadmin, etc)
• Ignore StatusCake and UptimeRobot IP addresses

NOTE: .NET Framework 3.5 is now required.  You likely already have it installed if you had 2.0 installed, but it's possible you don't (especially if you're using XP)

Published on August 14, 2014

Just uploaded a new release. See the CHANGELOG.txt for the full list of changes, or here's the shortened list:

• Updated display of connection counters in GUI
• Added new Telnet action that can be used to telnet to a remote server
• Fixed handling of RLogin connections
• Fixed DORINFO1 and DORINFOx command-line specifiers
• Fixed crashing of DOS doors when run via Console or Service mode
• Fixed hang on program close
• Fixed WebSocket negotiation for HtmlTerm and IE11, and also for old hixie-76 browsers
• Fixed disconnects when using RUNBBS mode

I don't really work on GameSrv a whole lot anymore.  It does what I want so I don't really feel the need to do much with it.  That said, I'm always glad to hear from people who are using it, especially if you've found a bug, or have a feature request, so feel free to contact me for whatever reason.

Published on July 14, 2013

Just uploaded a new release. See the CHANGELOG.txt for the full list of changes, or here's the shortened list:

• Updated GameSrvGUI to look more like a real GUI (should be familiar to those who used older versions of GameSrv)
• Upgraded Usurper to 0.23f
• Add WatchDTR setting to door configuration files (see _sample.ini for info)
• Upgrader now supports importing of LogOn and Logoff process items that used the EXEC* command
• Fixed the thank-you screen that should have been displayed after registering (it didn't pause after displaying before)
• Take terminal type into account when displaying menus (previously only looked for menus\*.ans, now will also look for *.rip and *.asc whenever appropriate)
• Fixed install.cmd to work for everyone. For some it already worked, but for others it complained about not finding certain files
• Fixed WebSocket connections. When I added the terminal type detection, I put it in a place that ran before the handshake occured for websocket connections, so that broke things. The handshake now occurs before terminal type detection, so all is well.
• Added new icons to GUI
• Add a new history panel to the GUI WFC
• Fix hotkey input at menu screens

Published on April 24, 2013

Just uploaded a new release. See the CHANGELOG.txt for the full list of changes, or here's the shortened list:

• Added ASCII version of all ANSI files
• Updated DisplayFile* action so you can pass an extensionless name, and GameSrv will pick the best extension based on the user's terminal type
• Changed things so "Incoming connection from :0" will be less likely to shown in the log window
• Added config\ignored-ips.txt
• Added *ALIAS, *USERNAME and *PASSWORD command-line parameters. Also made it possible to pass values from newuser.ini as command-line parameters
• NOTE: The above parameters could be abused by malicious users -- please read doors\_runbbs.ini before you try using these
• Added ability to disable password hashing (you can only do this with a fresh install though -- once you have users, it's too late to disable hashing or they won't be able to sign in anymore)
• Added a NewUserPassword setting to gamesrv.ini, allowing you to run a private system (users must enter this password before they can register)
• Added initial support for DOSBox 0.73, so DOS doors can run on 64bit versions of Windows (it really doesn't work that well though)
• Added a filter so incompatible doors won't be listed on the various menus (for example 16bit doors won't be listed on 64bit versions of Windows (unless DOSBox is installed))
• Renamed GSConfig to GameSrvConfig
• Added an Upgrade.exe program to import your settings/users from a GameSrv v10.04.02 install
• Added *MINUTESLEFT and *SECONDSLEFT command-line parameters

Published on February 24, 2013

Just uploaded a new release. Change summary:

• Fixed CTRL-C in GameSrvGUI -- it'll now just copy the portion of the log window text you had selected, and won't also open the configuration program
• Changed the way coloured text is added in GameSrvGUI, which will hopefully solve the problem of colours not being used while the program is minimized
• Implemented terminal type detection. Which reminds me that I need to make .ASC screens for all the .ANS screens, in the off-chance that a non-ANSI capable client connects. Guess this'll wait for the next release now!
• "Behind the scenes" fix for the way the text is output in GameSrvConsole
• Upgraded Usurper from v0.21a to 0.23b. Please see the CHANGELOG.txt for notes on upgrading

Published on February 7, 2013

The GameSrv source is now up on GitHub!

It requires two other libraries of mine (well mostly mine, they contain some collected code as well) that aren't on GitHub yet, so you won't be able to compile it yet, but hopefully I'll have RMLib and RMLibUI up there shortly

Published on February 5, 2013

Just uploaded a new release. Change summary:

• Fixed time display (was showing month in place of minute in some cases)
• Fixed GameSrv version number in DOOR32.SYS
• Add colour coding to certain message types. Needs to be configurable in a future release
• Started work on a GUI configuration program (GSConfig). Only the Server Settings dialog works for now.
• Removed RLoginMode configuration variable. It now defaults to classic mode unless the incoming connection specifies otherwise
• Add configuration variables to control how the time is displayed (default to whatever you have set in Windows)
• Added an IP_BANNED.ANS file to display when a banned ip is detected 

Published on January 15, 2013

Just uploaded a new release. A couple of the new features are:

• Adds ability to ban specific IP addresses (including wildcard matching)
• LocalOutput= line replaced with WindowStyle= line in door ini files (sorry for the hassle!). This will allow more control over how the doors are displayed when executed.
• When using the RUNBBS mode, the top 3 lines of the console and gui wfc screen will now update after each connection
• Fixed the "Out of environment space" error that was encountered when SETting variables in .BAT files in external programs

Published on January 6, 2013

So much for not going years between releases! But finally, a third alpha is now available.

A fair number of changes went into this release over the last year, so please see the CHANGELOG.txt file to see if there was anything important that might impact your alpha 2 installation

As usual, not a lot of testing went into this release. All 3 versions (Console, GUI, Service) fired up and accepted telnet connections @ telnet://bbs.ftelnet.ca, but I didn't test anything beyond that (RLogin, WebSocket, etc.)

If you run into any problems, please let me know. I love feedback, and it's usually reports like "feature x doesn't work" or "can you implement feature y" that pushes me to actually make new releases, so the more feedback the better!

Published on January 16, 2012

I've just uploaded a second alpha version. In the near future I'd like to get a changelog page built for the site, but for now just check out the CHANGELOG.txt in the release archive.

Published on January 12, 2012

The new alpha has finally been released. Some features from the old version are missing, so it may be a little disappointing at first, but this version should be under much more active development than the last since it's totally rewritten in a new language with better development tools available (now C#, rather than the buggy old Turbo Delphi).

And there's some new features that should hopefully make up for the initial missing features, such as Linux support! Using mono GameSrv should run under most Linux distributions, and dosemu provides the 16-bit door support

Published on January 1, 2012

Happy New Year! Been talking about a new GameSrv for awhile now (mostly by email, not so much on this website), and I think after finally getting some work done on it recently it's almost time to make a new release!

It'll definitely be alpha quality to start off, so will take some courage to test, but I think it's going to be much easier to support and add features to this version, so I hope it won't be years between updates anymore!

Published on April 2, 2010

GameSrv v10.04.02 was just released today. This is a minor bugfix to the previous version, which just fixes a few problems related to email verification.

Published on June 7, 2008

GameSrv v8.06.07 was just released today. No new features here, just a bugfix for those who upgraded from v7.06.15 to v8.05.18 and then to v8.06.03 (the database didn't get upgraded properly, so you would have receved an error from LoadConfigTbl() failing to run at startup).

Published on June 3, 2008

GameSrv v8.06.03 was just released today. A little more testing went into this release than the last, but not much more, so PLEASE make sure you backup your GameSrv directory before upgrading. This release adds a few new options, but the biggest changes are some show-stopping "Run as NT Service" bugfixes, so please continue to test that mode of operation to help find more!

Published on May 18, 2008

GameSrv v8.05.18 was just released today. As usual, not a whole lot of testing went into it before releasing it, so PLEASE make sure you backup your GameSrv directory before upgrading. Of special need of testing is the "Run as NT Servive" option, so if you choose to try that option, please let me know your expeciences, whether they be good or bad.

Published on March 13, 2008

Somebody just brought to my attention the fact that I broke the promise I made awhile ago. The promise was that I would try to work on GameSrv on a weekly basis, and if I failed to work on it for a 30 day period, I would release the source.

Well, I didn't technically break the promise, as I have been working on GameSrv here and there, but I definitely broke the spirit of the promise, which was to get more work done in a shorter period of time, and make quicker releases.

So I've decided to go ahead and put the GameSrv source online at SourceForge under the GPLv3 license. It may take me a few days (likely it will happen on the weekend) as I have no experience with CVS, so will have to look into that a bit before I can actually make the source available.

I just wanted to give you a heads up though, so look here for the source to GameSrv in the near future!

Later that day...

UPDATE: Well, that wasn't so tough after-all, so the source is online already!

Published on June 16, 2007

OK, so it took a little longer than I planned, but I've just uploaded a new pre-release version of GameSrv. This one is mostly feature complete (it even has configuration screens!), but there hasn't been a lot of testing put into it.

So if you're feeling adventurous, please give it a try and let me know if you run into any problems. If you've been running a previous pre-release version, please let me know how the upgrade process goes (don't forget to back up your existing GameSrv directory first though!

Published on January 19, 2007

Well, I had some computer problems over the holidays, so not a lot (read: nothing) got done on GameSrv. I've built a new system and have just finished migrating everything over though, so now things should be back to normal and I should be able to get some programming done.

Published on December 21, 2006

Finally built a website for GameSrv. I really like the design, so I think I'll be making the R&M Software page use it as well. (I didn't actually "build" the website, just got the layout from http://andreasviklund.com and modified it to suit my needs.)

I really don't think I'm going to get another GameSrv release out this year, but hopefully in January I'll be able to get back into the code and work towards a decent beta release.

So since this will also probably be my last update this year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Published on September 23, 2006

Holy Shit indeed. Yes, after many, many, many, many, many, MANY years, I've finally released a new version of GameSrv.

Before you get too excited, don't be. This is an early pre-release version just meant to get your feedback on what works and what doesn't (a lot of the features aren't implemented, so I already know some of the stuff isn't.)

Along with the GameSrv release, I've made available 3 classic Seth Able / Michael Preslar / GamePort door games specifically packaged for GameSrv. They come preconfigured for use on 5 nodes, so all you have to do is run the .gsdoor archive through the GSDoor installer, and you'll be ready to go without really needing to know how to configure the door games. Basically this saves you the headache of RTFMing, and me the headache of you asking me questions that would have been answered by RTFMing!

On a side note, I plan on adding multi-language support to GameSrv, so if anyone wants to translate the strings found in the database, please let me know. There aren't a lot there, and I may just try passing them through Google's translator, but who knows how well that will work!

Anyway, head on over to www.GameSrv.ca for the downloads.

Published on May 10, 2006

I've updated my long neglected site, www.GameSrv.ca, with a brief history and statement about the future of GameSrv. Please go take a look if you're interested.

And I thought about removing the old news entries from this page, since they're a little embarassing (no update in over a year, broken promise after broken promise), but maybe seeing them there will motivate me to update a little more often!

Published on May 24, 2005

Yes, it's hard to believe, but I'm adding a news entry, and about the progress of GameSrv to boot!

This past weekend I spent a bit of time working on GameSrv, and I got quite a bit done. It's not quite ready for testing yet because the logon system isn't implemented so it doesn't differentiate between users, but that's about the only piece holding it back from testing.

And unlike earlier alphas/betas, this version will come with configuration screens, so everyone will be able to test it, and not just people able to edit the Access database manually.

Sorry if this seems like a tease to release news but no demo, but I just wanted to let you know I'm alive and contrary to popular belief, I am still working on it. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I'll have something to show.

Published on August 1, 2004

I planned to release a new ALPHA of GameSrv this weekend, but I bit off a little more than I could chew so it's in a broken state right now. Hopefully next weekend #4 will be out.

Published on July 20, 2004

Just uploaded a new ALPHA 3 version of GameSrv. This version has a couple new commands available, but the main reason for the release is an important bugfix that fixes possible cpu/memory hogging.

Published on July 11, 2004

Just uploaded a new ALPHA 2 version of GameSrv. This version is a little bit more functional than the last, with the most important addition being the user stuff. Now doors will see users as unique people, unlike in ALPHA 1 where it saw them all as the same person.

Published on July 4, 2004

Just uploaded the webpage for the GameSrv ALPHA.

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