X-Band Revived... (X-Band 2.0)

[rush6432]

Ok guys, im not sure exactly where to put this but classic gaming section seems suitable for now.

 

Myself and a few others have done alot of research and contacted the original developers and even obtained a few files and source code. While we're still working on getting the original hardware to work, we've made a version for the PC that works with snes and genesis emulators while interfacing with the emulator to keep stats. Cool huh? Best part.... its Free Just thought id post this up here and see if there might be any intrest in a classic snes/genesis online ranking system for old school games like MK2,MK3,Super street fighter 2, NBA Jam TE, NHL95/96 Primal rage, and more. the program allows you to create your own user profile, and send private messages as well as have a player list and get randomly matched with opponents while being able to track your stats for many snes and sega games. Although the xband interface is not shown here its almost exactly like the original.

 

Here is a tiny pic for refrence....

 

Player List example

 

Stats screen example

 

If your intresting in finding out more info, please sign up at www.saturnleague.com and go to the xband/revived section.

 

Below is a picture of a beta test program written to stream the memory from the emulator in order to snag the scores for mario kart. once 3 matches have been played the program exits back to the xband 2.0 GUI.

 

[Lendorien]

Woah. That actually seems like a pretty cool idea. I'm not much into leaderboards myself, but for a community like this, there's bound to be tons of people who will be interested.

[Video]

Xband was pretty er...underground when it was in production and being used. While somethiing to allow me to play emulation Mario Kart with someone else around the world would be cool, I just don't see that much happening. God I'd love to play doom again, but again, I find it more likely I'd just play one of the millions of other ports out there with someone. There are other games, but those are the two that I ever got to mess with.

 

[edit]IIRC, the games do NOT have the multiplayere info on them. It was up to the Xband device, and a server to allow the game to set up and talk to another game. While it would be cool to see that set back up, and maybe have more games added, I just question the practicality of it.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Video

[rush6432]

Xband was pretty er...underground when it was in production and being used. While somethiing to allow me to play emulation Mario Kart with someone else around the world would be cool, I just don't see that much happening. God I'd love to play doom again, but again, I find it more likely I'd just play one of the millions of other ports out there with someone. There are other games, but those are the two that I ever got to mess with.

 

[edit]IIRC, the games do NOT have the multiplayere info on them. It was up to the Xband device, and a server to allow the game to set up and talk to another game. While it would be cool to see that set back up, and maybe have more games added, I just question the practicality of it.

 

We've already begun hacking roms and while we know the multiplayer info is not in them, most of the multiplayer code itself its taken care of via the emulator. the program we have interfaces with the rom and locks out a few options in the game (that we choose to keep people from cheating) and we hack our own routines in and grab scores and data. we do have plans to support more games than the original as well.

 

As for the original hardware, we are working on that......but its not top priority right this second. we do have a huge step in the right direction with the original hardware already though...

Edited November 5, 2010 by rush6432

[Atariman]

This is a really cool project! I'll be sure to check in on its progress from time to time - maybe I'll even be able to use my SNES with X-Band someday! Keep up the good work!

[Video]

Cool, new Xband with a SD slot for the extra game data to be on and real hardware other than that, i'd be there dude.

[JerryTerrifying]

Cool, new Xband with a SD slot for the extra game data to be on and real hardware other than that, i'd be there dude.

 

Now that would be freakin' sweet.

[rush6432]

Cool, new Xband with a SD slot for the extra game data to be on and real hardware other than that, i'd be there dude.

 

Now that would be freakin' sweet.

 

Public beta for XBAND 2.0 has been released.

 

Head over to www.saturnleague.com and read up for more details and download link.

 

Original post:

"KrazyStyle83 and Lagunacloud are proud to present the first beta of their much anticipated Xband 2.0 project tonight.

 

Xband 2.0 is a collaborative effort to remake the Xband service for the PC. The aim is to provide an identical GUI experience and matchmaking, just as during the Xband days. X-mail, Newsletters, stats, and profiles will all be faithfully recreated.

 

Gaming will take place through emulators. The dev team has begun patching the rom files to watch scores and lockout menu options, so that seamless integration can take place between Xband and the games, and stat tracking will be available.

 

This release is a social beta, and as such will not feature any gameplay. That feature will be implemented in a forthcoming update, tentatively scheduled for next week. The goal for this beta is to test out the social features of Xband 2.0, like X-mail.

 

Thanks to the dev team and to other members here who have contributed to the project.

 

Windows operating system is required along with .Net Framework version 3.5.

 

Please be aware that most of the graphics are not final and will be subject to cleaning up. The user interface will be retouched pending new releases."

Edited November 14, 2010 by rush6432

[Lendorien]

Cool, new Xband with a SD slot for the extra game data to be on and real hardware other than that, i'd be there dude.

 

Now that would be freakin' sweet.

 

Public beta for XBAND 2.0 has been released.

 

Head over to www.saturnleague.com and read up for more details and download link.

 

Original post:

"KrazyStyle83 and Lagunacloud are proud to present the first beta of their much anticipated Xband 2.0 project tonight.

 

Xband 2.0 is a collaborative effort to remake the Xband service for the PC. The aim is to provide an identical GUI experience and matchmaking, just as during the Xband days. X-mail, Newsletters, stats, and profiles will all be faithfully recreated.

 

Gaming will take place through emulators. The dev team has begun patching the rom files to watch scores and lockout menu options, so that seamless integration can take place between Xband and the games, and stat tracking will be available.

 

This release is a social beta, and as such will not feature any gameplay. That feature will be implemented in a forthcoming update, tentatively scheduled for next week. The goal for this beta is to test out the social features of Xband 2.0, like X-mail.

 

Thanks to the dev team and to other members here who have contributed to the project.

 

Windows operating system is required along with .Net Framework version 3.5.

 

Please be aware that most of the graphics are not final and will be subject to cleaning up. The user interface will be retouched pending new releases."

 

I look forward to seeing how this goes ahead.

[+selgus]

Public beta for XBAND 2.0 has been released.

 

Head over to www.saturnleague.com and read up for more details and download link.

 

Original post:

"KrazyStyle83 and Lagunacloud are proud to present the first beta of their much anticipated Xband 2.0 project tonight.

 

Xband 2.0 is a collaborative effort to remake the Xband service for the PC. The aim is to provide an identical GUI experience and matchmaking, just as during the Xband days. X-mail, Newsletters, stats, and profiles will all be faithfully recreated.

 

Gaming will take place through emulators. The dev team has begun patching the rom files to watch scores and lockout menu options, so that seamless integration can take place between Xband and the games, and stat tracking will be available.

 

This release is a social beta, and as such will not feature any gameplay. That feature will be implemented in a forthcoming update, tentatively scheduled for next week. The goal for this beta is to test out the social features of Xband 2.0, like X-mail.

 

Thanks to the dev team and to other members here who have contributed to the project.

 

Windows operating system is required along with .Net Framework version 3.5.

 

Please be aware that most of the graphics are not final and will be subject to cleaning up. The user interface will be retouched pending new releases."

 

Hmm, interesting...

--Selgus

[godslabrat]

It's probably way too early in the project to say, but I too am curious to see if X-Band 2.0 could be reverse-adapted back into the original hardware. If so, would the existing modems be sufficient, or would all-new hardware be needed?

 

I applaud the effort. X-Band was an idea that really needed more time to grow.

[rush6432]

Public beta for XBAND 2.0 has been released.

 

Head over to www.saturnleague.com and read up for more details and download link.

 

Original post:

"KrazyStyle83 and Lagunacloud are proud to present the first beta of their much anticipated Xband 2.0 project tonight.

 

Xband 2.0 is a collaborative effort to remake the Xband service for the PC. The aim is to provide an identical GUI experience and matchmaking, just as during the Xband days. X-mail, Newsletters, stats, and profiles will all be faithfully recreated.

 

Gaming will take place through emulators. The dev team has begun patching the rom files to watch scores and lockout menu options, so that seamless integration can take place between Xband and the games, and stat tracking will be available.

 

This release is a social beta, and as such will not feature any gameplay. That feature will be implemented in a forthcoming update, tentatively scheduled for next week. The goal for this beta is to test out the social features of Xband 2.0, like X-mail.

 

Thanks to the dev team and to other members here who have contributed to the project.

 

Windows operating system is required along with .Net Framework version 3.5.

 

Please be aware that most of the graphics are not final and will be subject to cleaning up. The user interface will be retouched pending new releases."

 

Hmm, interesting...

--Selgus

 

Havn't heard from you in a while. Yeah its an idea that was tossed around and myself and a few others have helped create this again from scratch. the only way we can get the original modems to work again is with the source code but cant seem to find it anywhere other than the small bits and pieces we have already which dont do us much good for getting it back up and running again.

[rush6432]

It's probably way too early in the project to say, but I too am curious to see if X-Band 2.0 could be reverse-adapted back into the original hardware. If so, would the existing modems be sufficient, or would all-new hardware be needed?

 

I applaud the effort. X-Band was an idea that really needed more time to grow.

 

 

The original hardware can be re-used. however digital phone lines are a problem. these modems were built to be used on analog phone lines and if you attach a digital one to it you run the risk of damaging the hardware.

 

As for getting teh original hardware to work, yes its very possible to get it working again but its not as easy as most seem to think it is. you cant just "re create the server". the fact is xband never played over the internet at all. it got another players info and phone number to their modem and disconnected and then dialed the player directly. think of the xband server as more of an automated BBS.

 

Anyway, its on the list of things to do. we have made some significant progress but its kind of on the back burner for now until xband 2.0 is out and running.

 

Whats really holding us back is the original developers have lost the source or dont want to share it for reasons unknown. A copy was given out a long while back to a group of college kids from canada but nothing ever came from it. Having the source code to the client side would speed things up TREMENDOUSLY.

 

As for now, we're hacking roms and locking out features and have an algorithm to grab score data and other important stuff for now. Xband 2.0 works very much like the original xband hardware/patching system, but obviously its not using the actual hardware.

 

Please spread the word around about xband 2.0 if you like this idea or are watching this thread. We would like to get the word out to as many people as possible.

Edited November 15, 2010 by rush6432

[Video]

Well, I was meaning all new hardware to use with actual games and SNES's, not to use with the original Xband, I'm sure the original could be moded, but first, that would probably harder than making a new system (at least without all the docs and such) and second, their kind of rare, aren't they?

 

Anyhoow, a working internet can do until a physical option comes along.

[+selgus]

Whats really holding us back is the original developers have lost the source or dont want to share it for reasons unknown. A copy was given out a long while back to a group of college kids from canada but nothing ever came from it. Having the source code to the client side would speed things up TREMENDOUSLY.

 

 

I'll archive up some stuff that I can release for you. Please PM me your e-mail address.

--Selgus

[nathanallan]

Even if it's an emulator playing online, that's really cool, and I signed up. Looking forward to this!

[rush6432]

Even if it's an emulator playing online, that's really cool, and I signed up. Looking forward to this!

 

 

good to hear Spread the word around about this. the more people that know about the project, the more chance you have of matching up with diffrent skill levels and diffrent people.

[rush6432]

Xband 2.0 for the pc is in Beta 3 right now and features gameplay and match making with player lists. In addition to this, we've also got Xmail messaging system and taunts. Stats are not kept at this time the dev team is still working on the stats database. Currently only two games are supported (NbaJam TE, Mario Kart (battle and match race))

 

Keep your eye on saturnleague.com for the download link here shortly within the next day.

Play as many games as possible and please report any bugs or suggestions or report any gameplay issues by sending an Xmail to Xband. Remember, this is a beta and the GUI is not final and is very much under construction still.