Querying the Nexus

[xmakina]

Hi there,

I have an idea for a Stellar Frontier application for Facebook - you know, to help get the new releases some free advertising and such.

I really don't want to flesh this out too much or make any big announcement without being much further than the "Oh hai I can haz idea!" stage so I need a couple of questions I have answering:

1) Could I get permission to use the graphics included in Stellar Frontier for this application?
2) Is it possible to query Nexus from outside the SF .exe? Could I make credit deductions from an external site using POST or GET values? I'm guessing there must be something there because of http://www.stellarfrontier.net/nexusLogin.php... I'd be willing to put in any development work needed to do this.

Let me know and fantastic work on SF so far lads

[Havik]

I think I saw 2 SF Facebook pages, and a group. also 2 on Youtube. and it it possible to get the list of servers, cause a couple years ago SFDC had a page up querying the nexus. and also a program most of us use now called Nexus Agent does all this.

[NiteHawk]

I think I saw 2 SF Facebook pages, and a group. also 2 on Youtube. and it it possible to get the list of servers, cause a couple years ago SFDC had a page up querying the nexus. and also a program most of us use now called Nexus Agent does all this.

You'd need to send the same data the nexus sends. It's rather a annoying process and I don't know all of the commands myself, as the java server was not developed by myself. I am guessing it is similar to the 1.2 nexus coding so if you grab the old source you can check it out. For players, the only thing I can suggest is that I can make a page for you to grab variables via PHP and you can grab them through the page or something similar. But what would you like to have exactly for a facebook app?

We are currently redoing the nexus, so there will be a new one around soon.

For images, feel free to use any of them.

[Mars]

well like 5 years ago when facebook was smaller i had i page on fb for sf but it never got any attention so like some site they just faded away i wonder if its still up there as that was on my old pc and i dont even have the exact place it was at anymore.   

Mars

[xmakina]

We are currently redoing the nexus, so there will be a new one around soon.

For images, feel free to use any of them.

Excellent news. If you're rebuilding the Nexus, a simple PHP page that takes in a posted user/password/cost and returns either true or false (depending on the users credits) and deducts accordingly would be excellent. I've got a basic grasp of Java so I'd be happy to help wherever possible.

As for the stuff re: Facebook, your concerns are noted but not overly relevant. I'm planning to build a free standing game that, much like Farmville takes your money for perks and speed boosts, the app will use your Stellar Frontier credits which will encourage people to play

[NiteHawk]

Excellent news. If you're rebuilding the Nexus, a simple PHP page that takes in a posted user/password/cost and returns either true or false (depending on the users credits) and deducts accordingly would be excellent. I've got a basic grasp of Java so I'd be happy to help wherever possible.

This is most likely possible, however, have I missed what for what reason your credits would be deducted exactly? I like the idea of having FB interactive with SF, I can see more things in the future to promote it. But I don't understand yet what you are planning to do/why credits have to be deducted in a FB page Don't get me wrong though, I do wish to help in whatever way I can, just that the nexus is very delicate right now so I have to tread lightly on it

Edit: Actually, I am worried about giving out the user/pass stuff in general like that. Reason being, is that facebook apps lately have been a huge issue with user/passwords being stolen from other games using a application to store/log information since you are going through 'facebook' to the nexus, unless you have a better idea, not sure if you can 'embed' (like a stupid iframe or something similar) a page so that nothing is 'taken' and that myself and others would feel secure about it. Just need to make sure the safety of everyone here, you know?

[xmakina]

This is most likely possible, however, have I missed what for what reason your credits would be deducted exactly? I like the idea of having FB interactive with SF, I can see more things in the future to promote it. But I don't understand yet what you are planning to do/why credits have to be deducted in a FB page Don't get me wrong though, I do wish to help in whatever way I can, just that the nexus is very delicate right now so I have to tread lightly on it

Edit: Actually, I am worried about giving out the user/pass stuff in general like that. Reason being, is that facebook apps lately have been a huge issue with user/passwords being stolen from other games using a application to store/log information since you are going through 'facebook' to the nexus, unless you have a better idea, not sure if you can 'embed' (like a stupid iframe or something similar) a page so that nothing is 'taken' and that myself and others would feel secure about it. Just need to make sure the safety of everyone here, you know?

Understandable concerns, and the Nexus updating can certainly wait. As I said, I have nothing beyond a few ideas right now and ultimately nothing may come of it.

So let me just address those questions:

1) Why deduct credits?
Right now I'm still wondering that myself. At the most abstract level, SFCredits would be used to buy items, upgrades and bonuses (much like Farmville and it's ilk get people to spend real money for in-game items). So if a player wants to do better in the FB game, they play the "real" Stellar Frontier and rack up some credits. Does that make sense?

2) How will the Nexus information be secured?
A fine question. I've always counted security as my highest priority and certainly when integrating with a third-party such as yourself I've been considering options. My main idea is just have the players log-in to Nexus every session. Much like when you log-in to any website, take the players Nexus user name and password and store it in a SESSION variable and use that to query Nexus. That way the passwords are never stored permanently, nor could they be gleaned via an SQL injection or other database hack.

If you feel strongly enough about this, we could even have a go at setting up a 3D Secure style iFrame to process the whole transaction on the Nexus server. As above, I'd be happy to help develop this. I work for an eCommerce company so I know how these things work

[NiteHawk]

I see about the credits. Let me know of your ideas for that whenever you figure out something. It sounds interesting, for sure.

I would defiantly like to take the safest route here with other players passwords. A 3D secure iframe or something similar to let a script on our end handle the login and spit out a value (or something similar) is probably a good way to handle it, if that is possible. I am all for it though however, but being SF's history, I always would prefer anything that involves security such as password to be done on our end. But I can defiantly help you with that if you want to plan up something.

I apologies for being kind of strict with the whole password bits. I'm fine for most things but the well being of everyones accounts, need to defiantly make sure everything is in check. I am not criticizing that you would attempt to do something to the accounts, but I always prefer to tread safely

But I would be game for this.

I also think a small server status application might be nice to have too, but then again, this one should wait until the new nexus is up, as its a hack to get on the nexus currently, as no servers are actually 'stored' in the database/or can be used from PHP. So for that might want to hold off unless you like tacking connecting through the ports and sending/recieving the packets

[xmakina]

I would defiantly like to take the safest route here with other players passwords.

Absolutely. If you could, drop me a PM with your MSN or preferred IRC room and we'll get chatting about this. I have some Java experience so I'd be happy to help out wherever needed.

But I would be game for this.

I also think a small server status application might be nice to have too, but then again, this one should wait until the new nexus is up, as its a hack to get on the nexus currently, as no servers are actually 'stored' in the database/or can be used from PHP. So for that might want to hold off unless you like tacking connecting through the ports and sending/recieving the packets

My host won't be dedicated, so anything beyond an HTTP query won't be possible. Also, I'd rather take the time out now and build something really solid. If there's one thing MMORPG's and Steam have taught us, it's that players love to be able to share their statistics so if we can make getting data off Nexus as easy as possible then I think we'll see the benefits in the long run.

[Trompete]

We definitely wouldn't want users typing in their password anywhere except the official nexus site, so what we'd probably do for 3rd party querying is create an application key that would be a 2nd password that would be encrypted as a big base 64 string that you could get from your account info on the nexus and plug into 3rd party apps as the password. That way we're not taking any chances with trust issues between the nexus and 3rd parties.

[NiteHawk]

We definitely wouldn't want users typing in their password anywhere except the official nexus site, so what we'd probably do for 3rd party querying is create an application key that would be a 2nd password that would be encrypted as a big base 64 string that you could get from your account info on the nexus and plug into 3rd party apps as the password. That way we're not taking any chances with trust issues between the nexus and 3rd parties.

Kind of like how Wordpress Stats are, where you need to send a API key to get stats/details/etc. I like the idea. If you ever need to chat my MSN is valleriani@hotmail.com . Perhaps tomorrow (Today is one of those crazy monday work days), Trompete, you, and I can get together and make a quick brainstorm on stuff