How to setup a connection to an external Database

SFS2X allows connecting to databases in a way that is very similar to its predecessor. All you need to do is downloading the JDBC connector from your Database vendor (e.g. MySQL or MSSQL) and drop the .jar in the {SFS2XRoot}/lib/ folder.

Of course if you use ODBC instead of JDBC you can even skip the driver deployment step. In fact the ODBC driver is already provided by the Java Runtime.

The following is a list of pages where you can find the JDBC drivers for the most common RDBMS:

The next step is running the SFS2X AdminTool, launch the Zone Configurator module, select your Zone and finally click on the Database manager tab to edit the configuration.

db setup dialog

At the end of the process click Submit and restart the server.

How to add new Java libraries or Extension dependencies

Adding new libraries in SmartFoxServer 2X is a breeze. No messing around with the classpath is required: all we need to do is deploy the .jar file(s) in the proper directory and restart the server.

There are two folders that we recommend to use:

{SFS2XRoot}/extensions/{the-extension-name}.
This is where we will typically deploy our main Extension .jar file. The jar file should contain only our Java code without the external dependencies, if any. The reason why the dependencies should be deployed separately is that if they are shared, they will be loaded once for all Extensions that use them.

{SFS2XRoot}/extensions/__lib__/
This folder is recommended for libraries that will be shared by multiple Extensions in your system. For example the “Google Collections” jar, or the Hibernate jar, etc. Do not add your Extension jar to this folder, because the AdminTool won’t ba able to detect it when you setup the Zone/Room configuration.

 

Celebrating 10 years!

Ten years ago, in late November 2004, we launched our first commercial version of SmartFoxServer, the Basic edition, which was soon followed by the PRO version in early 2005.
To celebrate the 10 years of activity, and in conjunction with the holiday season, we’re happy to announce an amazing 20% discount campaign on all licenses and license upgrades available in our online store.
The promotion will last until the end of 2014 and it will cover all our server products, including:

  • SmartFoxServer Basic
  • SmartFoxServer PRO (including BlueBox add-on)
  • SmartFoxServer 2X (including Analytics add-on)

Visit our online shop to see all the discounted prices, and make sure to take advantage of this unique offer!

SmartFoxServer 2X 2.9.0

20140708_release_29A new SFS2X update is available with new powerful features and fixes discussed in the support forums recently:

  • Improved scalability and thread management via Auto-scaling Thread Pools. No more need to fine tune threads by hand
  • BlueBox v3.0: revamped and improved edition running on the latest Jetty 9
  • Integrated file uploads
  • Added support for websockets over SSL (WSS)
  • AdminTool: Extension Manager module, allows to manage, upload and deploy Extensions directly from the Admin GUI
  • AdminTool: administrators can now be given access to a selection of modules and server halt/restart permissions

… lots more …

You can read the full release notes and download the installer from here.
Also check the latest HTML5 client API supporting the WSS protocol and the porting of the SpaceWar game to Unity (available in the Unity examples package).

More MMO API goodies!

20131222_spacewar_icoWe have added new articles and tutorials for our latest MMO API, released in SFS2X 2.8.0:

  • SpaceWar game tutorial provides a detailed walkthrough to building a realtime action game integrating physics, authoritative server, lag hiding techniques and Area Of Interest to provide a seamless gaming experience for hundreds of players.
  • MMO Demo Unity tutorial introduces the MMO API for Unity developers showing the basic concepts and features included in SmartFoxServer 2.8.0.
  • Advanced uses of the MMORoom and MMO API provides various advanced tips and tricks for developing with the MMO API on the server side.

SmartFoxServer 2X 2.8.0

20131114_release_2_8A new SFS2X update is available with new powerful features and fixes discussed in the support forums recently:

  • New MMO API: provides tools for building vast, large-scale explorable worlds with thousands of players interacting in the same “Room”, non player entities and much much more;
  • New Room Persistence API: provides convenient tools for storing game state, personal Rooms, etc, to local files or an external database;
  • New updated client API for Flash, Unity, Java/Android, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 supporting MMORooms, MMOItems and MMOItemVariables;
  • New Flash and Unity examples to demonstrate the latest API.

For an introduction on the new MMO API see this documentation page.

Please follow these links to get the updates:

If you are an iOS developer make sure to check the latest Objective-C API release, which is now 100% ARC and provides several fixes as requested in the support board.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 API

20130920_windows8We are happy to announce the official support to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 starting from version 1.4 of the C# API we published today. The new API allows to build native applications and games for the two operating system (including Metro-style under Windows 8) and can also be used in Unity to publish 3D games targeted at those platforms. Get the new API on this page and the examples package here.

And speaking of updates, we also release a couple of minor versions of the HTML5 API and Objective-C API, available on the same page linked above. And inside the SFS2X doc site a vastly improved Java client API javadoc is now available.

SmartFoxServer and Jelastic for Mobile Game Development

20130626_jelasticJelastic is a PaaS offering specifically designed to automatically scale Java applications and allocate server resources required by applications on demand, so it is the perfect match for SmartFoxServer.

People at Jelastic just published an interesting blog post showing how to rapidly setup a virtual environment and deploy SmartFoxServer 2X for testing and production. The whole operation takes no longer than 5 minutes. Read it here!

SmartFoxServer 2X 2.7.0 and Analytics!

A new major update is available for SmartFoxServer 2X which introduces a new tool for comprehensive traffic analysis including visitors, demographics based on geolocation, client technology statistics and lots more. Additionally the release adds new server components to simplify the Login and Sign Up process, including detailed tutorials with source code.

NOTE: the new release comes as a full installer, if you’re updating a previous version make sure to follow the migration guide.

Learn more here:

Download SmartFoxServer 2X 2.7.0

C++ game developers wanted

In order to expand the number of platforms and frameworks supported by SmartFoxServer 2X, we are looking for C++ developers willing to test our newest API in different scenarios and share their games to be published on our website as examples/demos.

What we are looking for:

  • simple games leveraging our C++ API, developed using popular frameworks like Cocos2D-x, Marmalade, Corona, Torque3D, Kobold2D and what more
  • fully documented code
  • detailed instructions to setup the development environment and compile the game
  • a tutorial highlighting meaningful sections of the code (similar to those already available, like this one

What we offer in exchange:

  • a SmartFoxServer 2X 500 Users license or an equivalent discount on a larger license
  • full credit on the tutorial page
  • the possibility for developers of proven experience to be listed in our partner’s page

In order to apply please contact us by email providing the following:

  • a description of the game
  • the description of the target platform and the development environment
  • 2-3 screenshots showing the game design and interface
  • your contact details
  • links to games/applications you developed before (if any)