Oh! It looks like the TTS tablet automatically goes to the right place when the mod loads, and once the emulator is running it just works. I thought there was another step in the middle there.

s.gtvsvr.net is in the "how to use this application" section of the help menu in the emulator (Beta build 842739305). Am I maybe using an old version? mee.pe is referenced on https://www.groundtactics.com/books/omega-virus-emulator-v2/page/about-this-emulator

@thorvindr where are you seeing these addresses? I'm pretty sure I stopped using them a few updates ago. If you can tell me where and I can confirm, I'll fix it.

I can't connect to either mee.pe, or s.gtsvr.net . Not on the TTS tablet, and not in my desktop web browser. Any idea of what might be wrong or how to get around it?

i see. thanks for the response, and merry Christmas

The page on the tablet is designed to connect to a web server running on the emulator that you need to download separately and run on your own computer. If you're not running the emulator or blocked it when firewall prompts came up, it's not going to work.

I was never skilled enough with web programming frameworks to be able to make the emulator completely web based. Creating a local app that your tabletop simulator connects to was a workaround that fits within my limited skills.

thanks. the link to the rules work, though http://cdn2.gtsvr.net/basepage.html is still broken (localhost refused to connect)

@Standomaster
Fixed

strange, the emulator on the tablet is broken (i checked it on an actual window) and the link https://duh.cx/ovrules says that it's 403 forbidden

@Tsudico
My "CDN" domain has been pointing to github for a few years now. All records still appear valid and all files are still living in the github account. Maybe github had an outage or is having service issues in certain regions?

Asset CDN seems to be down currently. Anyone who doesn't have the assets in their cache can't play the game.

@MudRaVeN
Do you get an error when you try the link? Seems fine to me. Might have temporarily been down when you last tried to get it.

Emulator link broken, unfortunately. Any chance at another fix in 2024?

@AgentCPU0 - Looks like I had a DNS issue I needed to sort out. Thanks for pointing it out. Things should be working now. If not, look up how to 'clear your DNS cache' and try again. If it still doesn't work, give it another 24-48 hours as what I had to do sometimes takes time to propagate throughout the internet.

"Error connecting to proxy server"
Is that where the session ID would be, but it's just failing instead?

@AgentCPU0
Session ID shows up in the console window that's created when you host a game.

I'm not sure about changing the virus tracking card at this time. Not against it, but mainly just time constraints. We'll see what the future brings. As it stands it's pretty open ended. 3 Check boxes you can arbitrarily assign to good, bad, or virus found for each room as you play through.

Tried the game, loved it, can't wait to play with friends. I just have 2 questions. First, where is the session ID? I don't see it listed anywhere. Not even the Instructions window explains it. Second, would it be possible to make some changes to the Virus Tracking Card, similar to what Cheez shared a few years ago?

@Baalor Oops! I let the domain hosting all the content expire. I updated the workshop content pointing to a new domain so hopefully everything loads again.

Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Tried to do this, I downloaded the emulator and when I launch it in TTS I get a bunch of import popups and nothing works. Just a blank white table.

One final note - most antivirus programs let you list an entire folder as an exception (as opposed to individual files) so disabling it entirely may be extreme.

Wait - are you referring to a popup asking to update the emulator or the workshop popup asking to load the emulator website? I assumed the latter but I think I should make sure.

Because if it's to update the emulator, that's absolutely necessary. I pushed out a bad copy with a bug where the server crashed immediately on launch (which could be why the N button wasn't working). The update fixes that. The build number at the top of the emulator should be 842739305.

If you keep getting prompted to update each time, then it's because the update is failing (probably your AV software again). You can always manually re-download from my website as I posted it for just this type of scenario.

Don't cancel the popup - that's the next problem. The website the tablet loads is the launchpad that does the work of connecting to the emulator running on your system. The emulator doesn't hijack the tablet magically or anything. The emulator is controlled by that site you skipped loading.

So it works like this:
{Host player (AKA Server)}
Launch the workshop item
Let the tablet load the page
Launch the emulator and start a game
(Optional) Invite others with the code from the server
(Optional) Set the emulator to be "always on top" - makes it easier to enter secret codes

{Remote players}
Launch the workshop item
Let the tablet load the page
Launch the emulator and start a game
Join via code provided by the host
(Optional) Set the emulator to be "always on top" - makes it easier to enter secret codes

And finally for both Host and remote players:
Start playing!

Ultimately, I'm 99% sure it's your antivirus program. Being that it's a new exe (compiled yesterday) with no reputation score on the internet, can self update, and connects to an arbitrary service on the net, that's a red flag for antivirus scanners and they get angry. We can't blame them for being careful, but it sucks all the same. The arbitrary service is the multiplayer match making service btw, but your antivirus program doesn't know that.

Try the following:

1) Extract anywhere but your downloads folder. Some antivirus programs lock this down these days and prevent exe files from running there. Sometimes extracting to your documents is enough as some endpoint protection apps learn from your behavior to determine if a file is safe.

2) Add an exception to your AV application. The files are safe. You can upload them to virustotal to check. The code isn't obfuscated so you can even decompile it and look through it yourself if you're feeling nerdy or sadistic.

@mjpc88

After many many years I finally updated the emulator. Teleport crash fixed, original sounds work without a manual config edit, and it's on a slightly newer version of the .net framework which shouldn't be a problem if you're running windows 10

To get it to pop up over TTS, go to tools and select 'Always on top'. There was a bug in the previous version where you had to toggle it off then back on every time.

The tablet buttons don't work until you start a new game with the big grey button. If they still don't work after that, you may not have allowed the game through the windows firewall when the prompt came up.

With the exception of the session tracking, the emulator is as close to the original game as possible. You'll need to read the original manual to best know what to do.

Trying to "friend" you for some minor updates. Thx for a great mod. Any chance of releasing code on github? Also, I was going to try the emulator under Linux using wine (hope this wasn't answered earlier here)....

@Confused_Walrus - What link? I'll admit I changed a few things around on my site and may have forgotten to update a few links here and there.

If it was: http://www.groundtactics.com/index.php?topic=40 then it's moved to: https://www.groundtactics.com/books/omega-virus-emulator-v2

Trying to get the emulator to open and when I follow the link it tells me the site can't be reached.

@Brainpod Can you give me some more info? What is your antivirus software and what is it reporting the virus as? I'm thinking it's a false positive.

I know chrome has complained because I'm an unknown and the file hasn't been around in the wild enough for it to have a reputation. WIndows smartscreen can possibly complain for the same reason.

I've used a tool that protects my program from reverse engineering - protected programs are known to trigger some antivirus alerts which is why I suspect it's a false positive. Antivirus programs don't like protected files because they can't scan them properly.

I loved this game as a kid and want to see how it plays but my virus protection blocks the downloading of the files. What gives?

Google search for how to install wine on Mac - it might work that way as I didn't make a mac port and have no plans to. As another alternative, you can install bootcamp and boot your mac into a windows environment.

You can have all 4 players on a single system and it will work just fine. I've actually run this on one of those cheap $100 Windows 10 tablets and used it for the original board game.

Hey. I am new to steam. Can this work on a Mac? Also, can 2 players play on the same computer?

I checked and it looks like the ID routing service was down. I restarted it.

In the meantime if that happens again and you're on the same LAN or VPN, you can put the IP of the host instead of an ID.

trying to play against friend upstairs. Does not give me a ID to add to game>? any help appreciated.

You must be playing at skill level 2. Sectors don't shut down at that level. It even states this in the manual.

Not sure if I can link it, but if you google search for 'hasbro omega virus manual' you'll find an official copy to see for yourself. It's on page 17 in the 'Sector Shutdowns' section.

You forgot the sectors shutting down

http://mee.pe is my own personal URL shortener/redirector. The login is just where I manage my shortened URLs and nowhere you need to be. If you're not using the full url (http://mee.pe/ovemu) , you won't get to where it's trying to send you.


If it's really still an issue though, use this info:
http://mee.pe/ovemu redirects to:
http://www.groundtactics.com/index.php?topic=40

I tested it just a few minutes ago and it's working fine but maybe there's some new secure browsing feature or dumb antivirus program that's overcompensating for real analysis by arbitrarily blocking URL redirects.

I hope that helps.

I can't get to the emulator from the URL you give (mee.pe) it just goes to a login page.

I'll see what I can do in the coming weeks. I've been sitting on a bugfix update I finished up that also has better translation support.

Any chance for a QOL update?

(also if you do use them as tokens to draw on in TTS, make sure to set up hidden zones for each player! That way each notecard is private to that player)

Played this solo and had a blast, so glad to relive my old childhood memories of this game. Can't wait to do some multiplayer on this!

By the way, if anyone would like note cards for this game (either for use in TTS as a token to lock/draw on, or to print out/load into an image editor while playing), I've custom made my own notecards which are a huge improvement over the official game's note sheets: https://i.ibb.co/yVfMMtS/omega-card.png

I am so happy this is a thing, I can't wait to try it out later!

It took a little while to get the link to the emulator to work, but so far just playing locally it seems to work fabulously. One thing to note, the current version has both voice and language options set to read as "English (OVEMU Custom)". I went into the XML files in the OMEGA language folder and changed LANGNAME to "English (Omega Original)" in interface.xml in order to make it show up in the emulator's menu correctly. It looks to be really simple to add extra language options if one were so inclined. Excellent work!

Thanks for the nostalgia hit, Ed! Everything works flawlessly, other than some weirdness with the graphic alignment (though I'm sure that's just on my end). It was one of my favorites growing up, but I sold it off with the rest of my board games... screw me for the fact it's now apparently worth a few hundred bucks.

I'm totally going to make my fiance play this with me.

Here we go, it was a .net thing. https://i.imgur.com/mIeEE8e.png

Yeah, if it happens again I'll try to remember to screenshot it first. I probably am remembering the error wrong, I just know that when I was trying to click the tablet to input a command (which is kinda awkward, it keeps needing to change focus between the tablet and the tabletop) the emu sound crashed. Timer kept working but sound cut out and the display on the right went black. *shrug*

Glad to know it worked. As for Java - my app isn't written in java nor does it have anything closely related to java. Maybe it's a .net framework exception? If you can upload a screenshot to imgur and link me, I'll see if I can make sense of it.

P.S. I tried what you said! Yay! :D MUH NOSTALGIAS xD Only the interface.xml needs changing btw.

I did have an issue where the emulator crashed about 3 minutes in from some sort of java exception, too. Any idea what caused that?

Original sounds are in but I haven't had the time to upload the patch.

Here's a workaround to hear the original sounds for now.

After downloading and extracting the emu somewhere, open the LANG subfolder, then the OMEGA subfolder under that.

Find the "Sound.xml" and "Interface.xml" files. They may just show up as "sound" and "interface" without the ".xml". Either way, right click and select "Open With". If notepad isn't listed, select "Choose another app" or "Choose program" and choose notepad from the following list.

In both files, look for the line that says:

<LANGNAME>English (OVEMU Custom)</LANGNAME>

And change it to:
<LANGNAME>English (Original game)</LANGNAME>

Re-launch the emulator and select "English (Original game)" from the list of languages and enjoy the original sounds!