feat(network): Send product information to distinguish clients (with a colored name and different status) #1404

Caball009 · 2025-08-01T20:16:20Z

With this PR it'll become clear which clients are on a patched version with this feature and which are not:

the patched clients inform all other clients in the lobby and pre-match of their patch version.
the retail clients ignore the patch version data.
the patched clients show the player names of patched clients in a different color.
the patched clients show the player status of patched clients with a [SH] tag.

LAN Lobby:

Pre-match / Game Options:

Status in match:

TODO:

Add code comments.
Replicate in Generals.

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPI.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GUIUtil.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPICallbacks.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANGameInfo.cpp

xezon

Good effort.

This work relates to #16

I think the packets need redesigning.

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPI.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPICallbacks.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPIhandlers.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/GameInfo.h

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPI.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GUI/GUICallbacks/Diplomacy.cpp

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPI.cpp

L3-M · 2025-10-23T13:37:09Z

What is the current status of this change? I think this would be a nice change for the first release.

Caball009 · 2025-11-01T15:05:53Z

What is the current status of this change? I think this would be a nice change for the first release.

The current implementation ought to be changed to make it more efficient / optimal, but that requires much more work. I did some of the work locally, but it didn't really work out iirc, so the PR is kind of stuck for now.

Caball009 · 2025-11-06T14:03:58Z

I've revisited this PR and was able to move away from the broadcast implementation. It feels better now. I put networking related changes in one commit and the color / status stuff in another.

What sort of information do we want to exchange just to establish which clients are on a patched version? Maybe it's a good idea to send the commit hash as well.

Caball009 · 2025-11-06T14:22:33Z

Short overview of the new implementation. Patch information is not broadcast and only sent when needed.

Interacting with players in the lobby:

When a player detects a new player in the lobby, they send a patch information request to that player.
If the other player responds with an acknowledgement, they are on a 'patched version'.

Interacting with game hosts in the lobby:

When a player in the lobby detects a new game host, they send a patch information request to that host.
If the game host responds with an acknowledgement, they are on a 'patched version'.

Interacting with players in the pre-match game:

When a player joins a match, they send all players in that match a patch information request.
If the other players respond with an acknowledgement, they are on a 'patched version'.
The other players consider the patch information request from the joining player as acknowledgement.

Currently, players in the lobby do not have a way to know which players in a match are on a 'patched version' except the host. It doesn't seem necessary to me to have the host communicate this information, and it also breaks the current pattern where each client only sends data about itself.

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GUI/GUICallbacks/Diplomacy.cpp

xezon

This change is going into the right direction but needs more polishing and wider scope.

Are the pictures of the first post still relevant?

The terminology of the network data needs changing from "Patch" to "Product", because "Patch" is a much more limited term than "Product" is.

The ProductInfo message needs to contain all relevant information to describe the Product that the remote player is using. A version number alone will not be enough to properly describe a Product. Think of 100 different products that the user could interact with in the lobby.

xezon · 2025-11-07T17:29:48Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h


+	void handlePatchInfo(Int messageType, UnsignedInt senderIP, UnicodeString gameName);
+	void handleGameRequestPatchInfo(LANMessage *msg, UnsignedInt senderIP);
+	void handleGameAcknowledgePatchInfo(LANMessage *msg, UnsignedInt senderIP);


Is "Acknowledge" synonymous for replying to the request message? Perhaps call it "Response". And add it to the end of the name.

handleGamePatchInfoRequest handleGamePatchInfoResponse

Even when that breaks the current EA naming pattern, it is a better naming pattern in my opinion.

Is "Acknowledge" synonymous for replying to the request message? Perhaps call it "Response".

Yes, 'Acknowledge' is a response to a patch info request.

Should the enum still contain 'ACKNOWLEDGE'? (e.g. MSG_GAME_ACKNOWLEDGE_PATCH_INFO)
There's also a bunch of comments where I'm currently using the term 'acknowledge'.

I asked Chat what ACK refers to in Networking:

🧩 Definition

In networking, to acknowledge means:

To confirm receipt of data — that a packet, frame, or message has successfully arrived.

So when one device sends data to another, the receiver acknowledges it by sending back a message (an acknowledgment, or ACK) saying essentially:

“I got it — you can send the next one.”

Use ACK terminology only to confirm the receipt of a message, not for a response to a request. When the message is a request and in need of a response, then use the term "Response" for the response.

I have moved away from 'acknowledge' now, except for in a few of the comments.

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h

xezon · 2025-11-07T17:38:18Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h

+		struct
+		{
+			WideChar gameName[g_lanGameNameLength + 1];
+			UnsignedInt patchVersion;


Product Name and Author Name are missing. Probably also needs to send EXE and INI hash, because Product Name and Version are not necessarily unique and hashes need to be part of identifying product.

I think I added all of these, but I'm not yet storing any of the data per player slot.

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h

Renamed 'patch' to 'product' and added more information to the product information that's exchanged between clients.

Caball009 · 2025-11-08T19:29:26Z

Are the pictures of the first post still relevant?

Yes, the colors are still like that; the status text will be slightly different. My current idea is that it shows the Git short hash string there (there isn't much room for additional text, unfortunately).

The terminology of the network data needs changing from "Patch" to "Product", because "Patch" is a much more limited term than "Product" is.

Fair enough. Everything should say 'product' instead of 'patch' now.

The ProductInfo message needs to contain all relevant information to describe the Product that the remote player is using. A version number alone will not be enough to properly describe a Product. Think of 100 different products that the user could interact with in the lobby.

I added a couple of stuff (e.g. exe and ini crc values), but I don't feel like this is final version yet.

Caball009 · 2025-11-08T20:35:15Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/GameNetwork/LANAPI.h

+			UnsignedInt productVersion;
+			Char gitTagOrHash[33];
+			WideChar productName[129];
+		} ProductInfo;


This struct is kind of work-in-progress for now, but eventually any string sizes should be named like in the other structs.

Caball009 · 2025-11-09T19:59:58Z

GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPIhandlers.cpp

+
+void LANAPI::setProductInfoFromMessage(LANMessage *msg, GameSlot *slot)
+{
+	GameSlot::ProductInfo productInfo;


Is it worth adding a constructor for GameSlot::ProductInfo? And if so, should it take all these fields as separate function parameters?

If it is constructed in a few places only then POD should be fine.

Caball009 added Enhancement Is new feature or request GUI For graphical user interface Network Anything related to network, servers Gen Relates to Generals ZH Relates to Zero Hour labels Aug 1, 2025

Caball009 commented Aug 10, 2025

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Caball009 marked this pull request as ready for review August 10, 2025 19:34

Caball009 requested a review from a team August 11, 2025 15:24

Skyaero42 reviewed Aug 11, 2025

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Skyaero42 reviewed Aug 11, 2025

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GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANAPICallbacks.cpp Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Skyaero42 reviewed Aug 11, 2025

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GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/LANGameInfo.cpp Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

xezon reviewed Aug 11, 2025

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L3-M added this to the Important features milestone Oct 23, 2025

Caball009 added 2 commits November 6, 2025 14:47

feat(network): Exchange client patch identification

f066518

feat(client): Distinguish clients based on patch identification

c4e3f1d

Caball009 force-pushed the show_clients_with_sh_patch branch from 9fb6a01 to c4e3f1d Compare November 6, 2025 13:52

Caball009 requested a review from a team November 6, 2025 14:04

Caball009 commented Nov 6, 2025

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GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GUI/GUICallbacks/Diplomacy.cpp Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

xezon reviewed Nov 7, 2025

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Addressed code review comments.

f0b8460

Renamed 'patch' to 'product' and added more information to the product information that's exchanged between clients.

Caball009 commented Nov 8, 2025

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Caball009 changed the title ~~feat(gui): Distinguish patch players from retail players by a colored name and different status~~ feat(network): Send product information to distinguish clients (with a colored name and different status) Nov 8, 2025

Caball009 added 3 commits November 9, 2025 19:36

Renamed exe and ini variables.

fedb4a6

Added product info setter functions.

87193b6

Product info is now updated via the util functions.

eb84ebf

Caball009 added 2 commits November 9, 2025 20:11

Show git tag/hash for each player.

f4177d4

Added product info struct to game slot class.

8caeda6

Caball009 commented Nov 9, 2025

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feat(network): Send product information to distinguish clients (with a colored name and different status) #1404

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feat(network): Send product information to distinguish clients (with a colored name and different status) #1404

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