ZoneProxy 1.0 and Modified EQEmu 0.4.4 + source

[Windcatcher]

FINALLY. A way to use third-party OpenZone zones without the need to overwrite existing zones. Enter ZoneProxy.

ZoneProxy runs on the PLAYER'S machine. It listens to commands from the server to set up a third-party zone (e.g. "windszone") and re-codes that zone on the fly to a designated alias zone (e.g. tutorial). When it's finished it notifies the server that it has finished, and then the server tells the client to zone to the alias zone. ZoneProxy does NOT modify the EQ client in any way; it merely replaces the alias zone on the fly with your own (and restores the alias from backups when it exits).

That's how it works in a nutshell. It wasn't my idea, but a brilliant idea from Purcevil. It requires a modified server to make it all work, and I've posted an archive that does the job. The server archive is in the EQEmu Admin section under the SourceForge download site. If you go here you should be able to get both:

https://sourceforge.net/project/show...ease_id=197629

This is all purely experimental right now, but it seems to work well for me. It's at the stage where it's ready for wider testing and feedback is appreciated.

How to test:

Using OpenZone, make textureset folders for one or more zones using names that aren't normally recognized (e.g. windszone, deadgulch, etc.). Make zones and export them to .S3D for those texturesets. When you're done, put the zones in with your EQ client.

Run the modified EQEmu 0.4.4 server instead of the normal server. The archive I put up is only an UPDATE, not the entire emulator: you'll still need the full EQEmu 0.4.4 distribution, but the files I supply are replacements where necessary. All of my source changes are bracketed by

// ZONEPROXY BEGIN

and

//ZONEPROXY END

Put ZoneProxy in the same folder as your client. Run it *before* running your client.

Add an integer column called "thirdparty" to the "zone" table in your server's database. Populate it with zero (0) for all zones except your new third-party ones. Put ones (1) in for those.

Run your client and log into the server. The third-party zones should work like any other. The documentation that comes with ZoneProxy is fairly extensive and should help you if you get confused.

WC