MapViewer with LogParser for Windows

[hellraiser]

Heyas,

well I know this isn't really showeq related. I bought C#.net a while ago and was looking for something to do with it, and when the new maps came out for LoY, I thought about writing a Map Viewer for those maps. When showing those maps basically worked, I wrote a logfile parser to check for You have entered and Your location is, to load the correct map and show the player's position.
If you are interested in trying it out, you will first need to install the Microsoft .NET Framework from Microsoft Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/).

Downloading the patcher, as mentioned earlier, is now depreciated. Please go to eqmapview.sf.net (http://eqmapview.sf.net) to download the latest Installer. Thanks :)

Choose the path where Everquest is installed, click Close and you can select the log files that should be checked. You can choose multiple files, and they are reloaded next time you start the Viewer.

I have been looking into a program the can read the Network Stream (on W2K and XP), and I figured out how to identify a character sitting/standing and attacking. I hope to figure out how to read movement information soon, so that the player position can be updated just like in showeq.

I know this is far from what showeq offers. But showeq is around for quite a while...

Feedback, even flames, are very appreciated. Thanks for reading :)

[Iam_Walrus]

Don't Be a Dumbass Rule #1:
"Never trust someone's home-made executable."

So I tried going to the root of your domain and got this error message:
"Due to technical difficulties with the server, I am currently doing a full backup/reinstallation!

I hope to have the server back up as soon as possible."

But the patcher.exe link seems to work flawlessly. Just call me a paranoid fucktard, but how do I get to the source that you advertised?

[hellraiser]

The project has moved to sourceforge. Check eqmapview.sf.net (http://eqmapview.sf.net) for the latest version.

P.S. If you would like to compile from source, the .net framework sdk can be downloaded here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4FE5BDB5-C7A7-4505-9927-2213868A325B&displaylang=en). An opensource IDE can be found here (http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Default.aspx)

[KaL]

I don't see much of a use for this, except perhaps as a base for a Windows ShowEQ... with a LOT of work.

Not to put you down, or the obvious effort you put into this, but what exactly does this do for me?

I see one use; running the map on another machine, like with ShowEQ, so you don't have to have that damn map in your face while trying to navigate through a zone.

Kudos to you for doing this. It's nice to see people providing their source for others to learn from.

[hellraiser]

I see one use; running the map on another machine, like with ShowEQ, so you don't have to have that damn map in your face while trying to navigate through a zone.

That is exactly what I had in mind. I stopped using showeq when a keysniffer was required, and I don't really miss it that much (though I'm not a puller). I also got a 2nd account, and with this I no longer need to switch between Windows/Linux.

I knew I won't find many people here giving up on showeq and using my mapviewer instead, but at least it's easy to install, and isn't against the EULA. If I get the player position to work via reading the network stream, I'd be more than happy with it.


a base for a Windows ShowEQ... with a LOT of work.

Wasn't showeq a LOT of work as well? You gotta start somewhere...

[Cryonic]

Actually any 3rd party app is in violation of the EULA, including macro programs. They made a small exception for certain types of macros as long as you were at your computer, but other than that, they can ban you at anytime for anything.

[hellraiser]

I have been reading the EULA again. The only thing I could find is that you may not use software to modify the Software (EverQuest) to change gameplay. As far as I have been reading, you no longer can be banned for no reason at all, either. You may also not reverse engeneer the Client.

What I was also missing (or maybe I just was too stupid to find it) was the rule that you may not analyze or hack into the datastream sent from/to the EverQuest servers.

After all, I think reading the logfile that the client creates does not violate any rules, but I may be wrong.

[throx]

Look in the "Rules of Conduct" (which the EULA references)

http://eqlive.station.sony.com/support/customer_service/cs_rules_of_conduct.jsp

[Poncho]

Isnt it quite trivial to argue about using this and the EULA? I may be mistaken, but I'm sure everyone here has broken the EULA just by using SEQ. I'm sure a map parser is really one of the least things SOE is worried about. Getting rid of such things as Macroquest and the like are a little more important to them....I would imagine anyhow.

Poncho

[Iam_Walrus]

11. You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into, or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running EverQuest.

Wow, guess it's been a long, long time since I bothered to read the click-through. This is of questionable legal grounds. You have a right to know what anyone sends you. Once it crosses that mystical border that is your computer, the information is fully at your disposal. I'd like to see the end result of a legal challenge to this "rule" based upon "click-through EULA" case history.

I guess I should start reading these things.

Eh, I probably won't though...

[high_jeeves]

See the DMCA.. it is illegal to create or use any technology which circumvents a technological protection places on copyrighted data. The communication between your machine and the EQ servers is protected information, according to the DMCA, and therefore it is illegal for us to circumvent their encoding/encryption scheme..

Just because it is sent to or on your machine, doesnt give you any rights to access it (see the DeCSS case for specifics)..

--Jeeves

[Ratt]

Just because it is sent to or on your machine, doesnt give you any rights to access it (see the DeCSS case for specifics)..

Thankfully, it was overturned, and Jon was given the right to do so.

A nice big fat nail in the DMCA coffin. I hope there's plenty more where that came from.

Realistically, the DMCA won't hold up on intense legal scrutiny... of which we haven't seen yet. When the bigger fish start getting nailed by the DMCA, as is starting to happen now, it will crumble.

[raytrace]

Question.

What about reading the information from the computers memory itself?

Wouldn't this negate the issue of the DMCA as the decryption already took place by the eqgame client?

[Raistlin]

Originally posted by Cryonic
Actually any 3rd party app is in violation of the EULA, including macro programs. They made a small exception for certain types of macros as long as you were at your computer, but other than that, they can ban you at anytime for anything.

Actually, i'm interested in what you mean certain types of macros. Unfortunately i'm at work and don't have the EULA in front of me...what section or where is it describeing macros that can in fact be run?

Does this mean that there are certain things that xylobot can do that won't get you banned?

[Iam_Walrus]

Even EFF's postings of the DeCSS case are hard to follow. It seems that with the multitude of cases pending, the results are very hard to follow. Some, like Pavlovich, were won because of a jurisdictional technicality. Others, like Bunner, seem to have won due to First Ammendment rights. Others, like 2600 Magazine, seem to have lost the same First Ammendment arguments.

That aside, for DCMA to apply, SoE would have to prove that the reverse engineering was in attempt to cause them financial distress or to cause financial gain to the person that specifically "reverse engineered," and failed to meet the criteria of non-guilt under 1201. This is defined under 1203, Civil Remedies.

SoE would be _very_ hard-pressed to prove damages by SEQ or like projects. In fact, such projects are probably keeping a fair number of players subscribed. You cannot invoke DCMA in this argument without proving damages, and damages simply don't apply here.

[Pigeon]

Errrrrr, IANAL, but I was under the impression they could put whatever they wanted in a EULA, and as long you click the "I Accept" button, you've agreed to it.

[Cryonic]

Raistlin,

They couldn't ban you for using your sidewinder controller with autofire and reprogrammable keys and macros of this nature as you might be physically disabled, so they ruled that if you were doing this and a GM sent you a tell, respond or risk getting banned. Macro programs like MacroQuest go far beyond repetitive key typing.

[Iam_Walrus]

I haven't had time to locate what/where it is, but I remember something about legal attention to the "click-through" EULA and legal precedent about it. If I had more time right now, I might find it. If someone else digs something up, please post link(s).

Short story, I believe there is case law defending the user against "click-through" EULAs. Because of this issue, the EQ EULA has been heavily revised in the past to roll back such items as changes without proper notification beforehand. There is also the legal question of changing terminology from initial "contract" terms even with wording in the EULA concerning the proprietor's right "to change terms without notice..."

I think MS is one of the biggies that got nailed by click-through EULAs at one point.

[throx]

Most of the "click through" EULA arguments apply to the case of packaged software where you're buying a product and running it all on it's own. Everquest is not like that - the EULA you are agreeing to is giving you the right to connect to their servers and play your character on those servers.

They can't legally prevent you from only connecting to EQEmu and never connecting to their servers again but fundamentally they do have the legal right to say from day to day who is allowed on their servers and who isn't.

[lildr00d]

I heard somewhere about the "click thru" EULA that most fail because they cant prove who clicked thru. Say my friend always clicks thru in the morning then I take over for him. Technically I never agreed to the agreement. ;-)

Though I'm sure I've got something wrong on this but that is how I was told it.

[Borscht]

Legal arguments are always entertaining, but the practical aspect is where the rubber hits the road.

If Sony cuts you off and says "Sue us", you probably won't. Because they have corporate attorneys working 60 hours a week anyway.

And you have your standard issue 9 to 5. Who's gonna run out of money first?

[jgorrell]

Haven't got a chance to try it out yet, but it sounds like something I could really enjoy using, as you said.. I only use linux for ShowEQ and to eliminate having to do that for a GPS would be great!

/applaud hellraiser

[hellraiser]

Just as an fyi, my mapviewer has been updated to work with the player position changes. You need Win2K/XP (maybe nt4) to use the network sniffer, however.

[CybMax]

Hehe.. i just had a thought..


11. You will not attempt to interfere with, hack into, or decipher any transmissions to or from the servers running EverQuest.

Well.. To my knowledge each package contains headers of where it is supposed to go next, and where it comes from and so on.. So.. the big question is :

Is it against the EULA changing the packet as a whole, or does this only imply the "data" part of the packet (payload)?

Reason i ask.. Is cos when you do NAT (Network Adress Translation), you actually alter the packet.. You do not alter the "data" part of the packet, but you certainly alter something.. When my machine on my internal net send data to the EQ server, it's header reads that it is from 192.168.0.10 .. My NAT router then alters that "From" part to read 123.123.123.123 (External ip adress). Then the EQ server sends data back to me, and my NAT router alters the EQ server's "to" part 123.123.123.123 to read 192.168.0.10 .. Eg. i have altered the packet traversing from EQ server to my computer..

Well.. to say it in another way.. Is reading the data part of a package any worse than changing its to/from headers via NAT'ing?
All seen from the EULA point of view of course... As it would certainly be "interfere with" imo..

[bonkersbobcat]

Well if you really want to get into it, you can't actually use the game on a network. After all, every time a packet goes through a router, the information about the MAC addresses get changed (Physical Layer) Also your networking equipment has to "decipher" parts of the packet to deliver it to you.

I guess we all are going to go to jail, or at least getting banned; and SOE is going to go out of business.

BB

[hellraiser]

If I configure a firewall to not only pass through the data sent to the EQ server, but also mirror the data being sent to another computer, I can hack into that data stream, because it's no longer data being sent to their server?

[datadog]

you crossed the line when you configured the firewall to send the data somewhere besides the EQ client.

At least that is what I would say if I were one of their lawyers and wanted to press the issue.

On the otherhand.. the EULA doesnt say you cant redirect it...

/shrug...