This topic is generally about stealing server names, Airio and my use of this tool is another matter, which can be quite controversial for some and perfectly clear for others. I just consider it deeply wrong to say something like "stealing a server name is bad, but not against the rules". This is utterly unacceptable policy for me and I will do whatever I can to prevent it.

I guess I'd run a campaign both here in the forum (not sure in what way) and also on our servers (various warning messages).

I obviously cannot agree with such a view, and that's all I'm going to say.

Yes, I agree, this was not about using Airio (see my initial post here, no mention about Airio), it was about copying server name using some tricks that crashers use to steal nicknames and confuse people. On the other hand, if such a guy decides to use Airio, he can be sure I will try to defend myself (and anyone else who is abused in a similar way) using the tool and all its features.

Again, thank you people for your support. For the past 2 days or so the cloned servers were not running, so I believe the point was made.

Hi guys, thanks for all the very useful suggestions. As of now the faked servers do not run, but in case you're interested a bit more about this whole matter, there is a very interesting thread here, directly related.

As for "owing" Airio, I have said many times that the application was developed for AirAttack and later offered to the whole community. I was doing it all for the LFS community, and not to become a ruler/terrorist that can shut down any Airio instance or even servers where it runs. There are no backdoors implemented.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Sun 3 Apr 2011, 09:46.

Than you, guys. Otherwise, I have nothing to add. I believe it is all perfectly clear. And of course the whole matter is directly related to the link in the 2nd post here.

Is there a way to protect your servers' "brand" from being stolen by someone else? For example if you take a look at the running demo servers now, you'll find two servers with apparently the same name, [AA] Blackwood GTI, same colors. Probably spaces are replaced by empty chars in the fake server. How can I protect AA community from such theft of the brand? Can LFS developers help me in any way? There are currently two such faked servers, running from Argentina. I could supply the IP used if needed. Anyone here to care about such matters? Thanks for suggestions, maybe even for some tangible action.

Hm, well, I'm not 100% sure what an "equal nickname" would be, but I still believe having the same nickname as someone else on the server is not allowed by LFS. Hm, but maybe it applies only to demo servers? Maybe some left-over from the times when demo users cannot register?

True, only "all" is supported as a special parameter to the !cars command. I just added "road", so that it also works in the next version...

Maybe best would be to allow people to register their names themselves... Certainly doable, with some restrictions...

Indeed, anyone can connect using your nickname, there's no practical way to reserve it for yourself. What is truly yours is the registered username.

Oh, the question was different, I see now. No, we cannot create such a connection now, though it may be a good new Airio feature to be implemented.

Normally, LFS itself does not allow two people with the same nickname connected to one server, it says something like "nickname is already in use" and stops connecting. Some crashers are cheating though, using various tricks to get a nickname that looks exactly like some other one. The usual tricks include [removed] or using a special empty character instead of space. The second case can be detected by Airio and the renaming/connecting driver can be kicked for doubled nickname. Additionally it is possible to prohibit any doubled nicknames, so that people are kicked if they use a nick that is already stored in Airio stats. But this is a rather controversial feature, as there would be too many kicks for using general nicknames just as Joe or Nick, so the feature is by default disabled.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 08:48. Reason : Removed the 1st trick :)

This new Aonio version solves some discovered bugs, but most importantly it adds one new panel, 15th, according to the version number. It is a "live" time/speed comparison panel.

Ten times per second your local car data are checked, and when you make a personal best lap, they are saved into a file (track+car.pb.txt) in pbs folder under Aonio. On subsequent laps your current time on track and speed is compared to the stored values, with lower time or higher speed shown in green, while worse time or lower speed is shown in red. The timing is exact to 0.1 seconds, speed difference is rounded to 0.5 kmph.

Alternatively, you may compare your live lap time/speed to a world record. If the comparison file (track+car.wr.txt) does not exist, you need to create it. Download the WR replay, and run it in SPR mode in LFS with Aonio connected. The WR comparison file will be created and then you may compare your live timing with that (depressing, for some) base.

If you have any questions concerning Aonio in general or this new comparison panel specifically, do not hesitate to ask here. Enjoy

Hahaha... Well, I checked all I could, I see no problem at airio.eu. I had all info from all servers logged, but no info from your servers arrived. Strange, I did not change anything for days now. Maybe you could try update to 2.5.3? But I doubt that is the cause. Also, if you say you restarted Airio, was it a complete (hard) restart, like !qt, kill using an admin panel, start using an admin panel? If there's something wrong with the timer used for sending global data, then !ai (soft restart) will not help, I'm afraid...

Hmm, I certainly did not remove/change anything, I will check this a bit later today, visit here now...

Yes, somebody changed it, I'm not sure who, but as soon as I saw I corrected this, about 1 hour ago... I will make sure nobody can change lap count...

Quote from M.M.L. :

You can add new command, like !top dist that will show total distance driven on the server by driver. If you want maybe you can add total distance on server (the sum of all drivers) and total fuel.

Well, yes, probably. But to extend stats I first need to transfer everything to SQLite. And that is not easy. Also, the question is how to measure distance. Probably using the existing exact internal calculations, and not just laps * lap_length. It is not possible to work with fuel, consumption data are not available through InSim data.

Last edited by EQ Worry, Sat 26 Mar 2011, 10:50. Reason : Added quote

Quote from sinanju :

Has the server died thru inactivity? ... Tonight I can't even see the server in the Hosts List.

It was for a short time off-line, due to troubles at the provider side. But otherwise, I guess you are right, it was not really used recently. The idea was to run a multi-team server, with every participating team having the same rights. It looked OK from the start, quite a few team leaders announcing their will to help to start and run the server, but that's where it ended. If I skip wild ideas and ideas requiring too much of additional work, I tried to form the server to comply with most peoples' expressed needs. Maybe I failed doing that. Or maybe all the help promises turned out to mean nothing.

The help was needed in two areas: 1) Expressing your views, especially as the configuration evolves. 2) Being active on the server, even when it is (almost) empty. Frankly, I did not see much of the promised help in either of these areas. Also, the server failed to catch the average LFS people during the week or two when it was used. There were some very experienced people for a time, but (let's face it) they will go only to populated servers and are no real help running a server on regular basis. Failing to attract the average LFS people means the server will never be used on regular basis. It is my view and I still do not see anything proving me wrong.

So, what now? Try to breath a new life into this? Change config, maybe to allow faster and more sought for cars (GTL, GT2, GTR)? Forget it all?

I'm afraid your position on radar is fixed, cannot be moved to the center again. It was an earlier requirement, and a very sensible one, because you certainly see quite good what is in front of you, while being able to quickly check the situation further behind you is an advantage. I'm not sure what changed in the panel showing places of drivers in race from 0.9 to 1.4...

Just a quick reminder that this series is still running. Anyone interested in demo GTI racing on BL1 is welcome at [AA] Demo Racing on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. FBM lovers may come on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. 25 minute qualification starts at 19:30 server (UK) time, first race then exactly at 20:00 server time. To see all details concerning race count/length connect to any [AA] server and type !event, then !events. As of present, handicaps are not used, except the general 2% of intake air for XRG. Currently, there are no prices to be won, except self-esteem and respect from others. Demo racing is sliding towards extremely short races (3 laps in all demo combos), this series is for all demo people that have risen at least to the average level, able to complete 10 to 25 laps in XFG/XRG and 15 to 40 laps in FBM.

Concerning updating, all you basically need to do is overwrite some of your existing files with new files from the updated archive. These files are Aonio.exe, Aonio.pdb, and in case of your major update also LiveForSpeed.InSim.Aegio.dll and LiveForSpeed.InSim.Aegio.pdb.

Problem is the configuration file. You may use your old config file, but some new options will be sort of hidden to you, using Aonio defaults instead of what you'd like to use.

My suggestion: 1) Rename your old config file. 2) Copy new config file from updated archive. 3) Open both files, moving items one by one from your old config file to the new one. 4) At the same time configure all new options.

There's not so many lines to move (maybe 20 or 30), it will take just a few minutes. I would certainly suggest to update, because all new features in updates are optional.

I have just uploaded a slightly modified version 1.4.4 that would reinitialize when you type !aonio re or simply !are.

If you are on a server without Airio or Lapper, making your Aonio commands visible, you can always start the command by /o, for example /o !are. It will be hidden, but still executed.

Just a short note concerning AIRW. Recently I added a new table, showing personal good laps (clean and fast), both in standard and custom cars. Also Airio 2.5.3 is sending info about the server where good laps were scored, which is an additional info shown. For an example see http://stats.airio.eu/PCS.aspx?U=speedy%20j (good job, man) . By clicking on rank (e.g. 8/15) you jump to the combo clean laps table. By clicking on a username there you jump back to personal data...

Unless you need special extended setup for each track/combo, you do not need to use RotateTracksFull. But in your case it could look like this:

RotateTracksFull=AS2 | !len 2 ; !cars FZR+FXR+XRR > AS1R | !len 4 ; !cars LX4+LX6 > WE1 | !len 5 ; !cars FOX > KY3 ...

You can limit car type availability based on many factors, the most used are ranks (points) and safety rating (percentage). First you need to define individual ranks using TCD file, items RankPointsText and RankPointsValue. Also you may need to define individual safety ratings, again in TCD file, using SafetyRatesText and SafetyRatesValue. Example:

RankPointsText=First rank, Second rank, Third rank
RankPointsValue=10, 100, 1000

Then in specific SRV file you may define what rank and/or rating is required for certain car types. For this most often RankSpecific and RatingSpecific items are used. Example:

RankSpecific=TBO|1 GT2|2 GTR|3

For TBO cars rank 1 will be required, that is 10 points or more. For GT2 cars rank 2 is needed, that is 100 points or more...

Small lags play their role, do not drive too close to the road edge...

Well, errors are never nice, but I cannot see the cause of this one and it really is not important. Basically, the !ai command is never needed, except in a very desperate situation. For all config updates !rld is enough. And when something goes very wrong, it is best to stop Airio (!qt, if possible) and run it again.