egoAPB - External Game Observer for APB: Reloaded

[Ch1ck 45]

Hello.

 

Ironic name, yes, cuz we all know that what hurts the most in this game

 

Anyways, straight to the point. Some time ago a certain individual created a district instance tracking website. His library is public, so I've recently downloaded and continued his work. Long story short, the library exposes in-game stuff to use outside of the game itself by imitating the game client, minus the whole visual representation. What I'll be trying to make is either a website or desktop application where you would at least get an overview of your account. I've managed to do a lot more than original creator intended to.

 

The problem here is, you need to provide email, password and character name in order to fetch data externally. So I already foresee people not being too keen on inputting stuff like that, but it is a must for proper functioning. Another problem is that this almost certainly breaks the TOS and EULA (cuz reversing and emulating), so I'd take this chance to ask any officials if I'm allowed to make upcoming iterations public. On the other hand, nice thing here is that there is absolutely no need for official support or API (for now). My intents are not malicious at all. It doesn't start, patch, use or manipulate any of the binaries of APB: Reloaded. I would also make the project open source to be as transparent and as clear as possible. Players would be able to compile their own versions with knowing everything that is going on. 

 

So, if this were to be made public and got official permission, would you as a player and community member use something like this in order to overview in-game stuff/data without the need for you being in-game?

 

--

 

For anyone who's interested in what's already available, here's a little snippet of what you have for selected character once the library manages to execute properly:

CharacterInfo
{
    int SlotNumber;
    FactionType Faction; //Enforcer, Criminal
    StatusType WorldStatus; //Online, Offline
    int WorldUID;
    string WorldName;
    string CharacterName;
    int Rating;
    DateTime LastLogin;
    ThreatType Threat; //None, Green, Bronze, Silver, Gold
    Detailed Details; //Gender, Playtime, Rank, Money, JockerTickets, Appearance
    ClanInfo Clan; //complete clan info, but without symbol and description at this moment
    FriendlistInfo Friends; //complete friends list
    IgnorelistInfo Ignores; //complete ignored list
    FinalWorldEnterData WorldEnterData;
    ChallengesInfo Challenges; //complete info about running Fight Club challenges
}

Mails, groups, marketplace, clan management, chat channels - everything can be exposed with external client, just needs time, patience and will.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Ch1ck

[speee 90]

I am definitely interested. Can't speak for others however. 

[Fortune Runner 796]

I refuse

 

[NotZombieBiscuit 3146]

39 minutes ago, Ch1ck said:

 

The problem here is, you need to provide email, password and character name in order to fetch data externally.

Yea na.

[Ch1ck 45]

10 minutes ago, NotZombieBiscuit said:

Yea na.

Well then, I guess open sourcing and compiling by yourself would be a way to make sure that nothing malicious is going on.

[Inquitoria 108]

I have no idea why I would ever want to use this sort of application, regardless of the security of it. Who seriously needs an external app to read info about your own characters?

[Saxtus 497]

It is very interesting. For now I am interested only of global population stats they we already have thanks to some nice guy.

[Ch1ck 45]

6 minutes ago, Inquitoria said:

I have no idea why I would ever want to use this sort of application, regardless of the security of it. Who seriously needs an external app to read info about your own characters?

The point of this thread is to see if anything like the concept I proposed would be used. Thanks for your input nevertheless! And as said, the initial stuff has only info about your characters, other stuff could be done. I know some people who'd like to access their account from outside of the game, if they're not near the PC where the game is installed.

[Inquitoria 108]

Just now, Ch1ck said:

The point of this thread is to see if anything like the concept I proposed would be used. Thanks for your input nevertheless! And as said, the initial stuff has only info about your characters, other stuff could be done. I know some people who'd like to access their account from outside of the game, if they're not near the PC where the game is installed.

Well, this may relate to the fact that I only really play 1 char and have no alts, and can't imagine myself forgetting the details of my toon.

 

A usecase I could -maybe- be interested in is to see lists of what stuff I have unlocked when I'm browsing apbdb or armas. (ie. you already own this and this item, or you have or have not unlocked this weapon skin)

[Clandestine 390]

Nah unless it would have /d chat displaying on my phone. I'd probably never have to start APB again

[Kevkof 806]

If you'd be able to get the roles and achievements and such for that character as well, then that would be interesting to fully automated this .

 

Full chat access without being ingame would be amazing as well
=> Someone talked sense into me, why this shouldn't be a thing.

43 minutes ago, Sayori said:

Remember when MrEpicGoat used to spam whispers from hundred accounts at once? That's how it worked lol.

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by Kevkof
corrected

[Ch1ck 45]

6 minutes ago, Inquitoria said:

Well, this may relate to the fact that I only really play 1 char and have no alts, and can't imagine myself forgetting the details of my toon.

 

A usecase I could -maybe- be interested in is to see lists of what stuff I have unlocked when I'm browsing apbdb or armas. (ie. you already own this and this item, or you have or have not unlocked this weapon skin)

Right, that's bit far ahead since it requires district entering and packets, which are entirely different thing than the current code.

 

The site or app would provide centralized info about all characters, clans, etc., not about your own. Complete data fetching takes about 10 seconds at this moment, you'd login and submit your info where other players can search for your name or clan to see the statistics. If you want that, entirely different question and is solved by simply not submitting.

 

4 minutes ago, Clandestine said:

Nah unless it would have /d chat displaying on my phone. I'd probably never have to start APB again

The idea is to redirect chats too. So it would be possible, but as said above district stuff is different than other.

 

3 minutes ago, Kevkof said:

If you'd be able to get the roles and achievements and such for that character as well, then that would be interesting to fully automated this .

Good stuff! I did have something like that in mind, however not sure how possible it would be to retrieve roles and achievements, but everything in it's time.

[Saxtus 497]

Maybe a forum signature maker could use of it.

[StunStick 140]

Yeah, this seems (Based only on your description, to be fair) like it's going to be triggering all kinds of issues with the Anti-Cheat. 

I'm not really that Interested in typing my info into a third party program, expecially if the only part of the program I'm allowed to see is some fairly arbitrary variable declarations with mispelled comments.

 

Also, I don't really see the point of being able to view this, unless there was some more useful functionality. For example, you have the threat listed here as simply the color, whereas from what I understand the game assigns a number to this value which would be far more useful.

Edited November 16, 2018 by StunStick
Edit

[Speedz 147]

It is indeed a very nice idea, but this will have very bad side effects aswell. I know how the library works, it requires you to create a custom hardware config file which gets submitted every time you login. (This also happens every time you normally launch the game) Whats so bad about that? I assume you'd use a dummy file for your website, since no one is going to submit that wall of text to you + login details. I am not sure how exactly it works, but I believe that data is saved on the servers for a while and will be looked at if there are player reports. When support then looks at the hardware info + IPs from where the account has been accessed, there might just be an insane massban, since to support it looks like all of the accounts are connected. OFC this is worst case scenario, but it CAN happen.

My opinion, creating a tool which runs on the owners PC? Fine. Website where hundreds of accounts login from? No, thanks.

 

[Ch1ck 45]

35 minutes ago, Saxtus said:

Maybe a forum signature maker could use of it.

That's easily doable, I guess.

32 minutes ago, StunStick said:

Yeah, this seems (Based only on your description, to be fair) like it's going to be triggering all kinds of issues with the Anti-Cheat. 

I'm not really that Interested in typing my info into a third party program, expecially if the only part of the program I'm allowed to see is some fairly arbitrary variable declarations with mispelled comments.

 

Also, I don't really see the point of being able to view this, unless there was some more useful functionality. For example, you have the threat listed here as simply the color, whereas from what I understand the game assigns a number to this value which would be far more useful.

The library itself doesn't touch any of the game files, including ones from anticheat. Since the APBprogram is not started, so BattlEye isn't started as well, thus no interaction with either local or remote anticheat services (which may present a problem). I generalized that output code snippet so it's easily readable, and sorry for spelling mistakes, but while we're at it you're not brilliant at spelling too (expecially, mispelled). I planned on open sourcing this, so you'll have complete insight what this app does.

Threat is a number, which I converted to readable text, don't assume if you don't know how it's done.

30 minutes ago, Speedz said:

It is indeed a very nice idea, but this will have very bad side effects aswell. I know how the library works, it requires you to create a custom hardware config file which gets submitted every time you login. (This also happens every time you normally launch the game) Whats so bad about that? I assume you'd use a dummy file for your website, since no one is going to submit that wall of text to you + login details. I am not sure how exactly it works, but I believe that data is saved on the servers for a while and will be looked at if there are player reports. When support then looks at the hardware info + IPs from where the account has been accessed, there might just be an insane massban, since to support it looks like all of the accounts are connected. OFC this is worst case scenario, but it CAN happen.

My opinion, creating a tool which runs on the owners PC? Fine. Website where hundreds of accounts login from? No, thanks.

 

Right, now that you put it like that, it would make sense to make a proper hardware info generation of a kind. For now, yes, I'm using a dummy file, but soon I'll change it so it contains my PC info or actually make an auto-parser. The hardware info is indeed used in banning, but I'm pretty sure they don't care nor check what's in there as long as reports are not incoming and nothing is being abused.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Ch1ck

[SK4LP 62]

What i just would like to know when i m offline ::

how many ppl are in each district ... dats all

 

maybe some other thgs : (an offline database)

list of clan and ppl/clan

number of active lvl 255

 

[StunStick 140]

26 minutes ago, Ch1ck said:

That's easily doable, I guess.

The library itself doesn't touch any of the game files, including ones from anticheat. Since the APBprogram is not started, so BattlEye isn't started as well, thus no interaction with either local or remote anticheat services (which may present a problem). I generalized that output code snippet so it's easily readable, and sorry for spelling mistakes, but while we're at it you're not brilliant at spelling too (expecially, mispelled). I planned on open sourcing this, so you'll have complete insight what this app does.

Threat is a number, which I converted to readable text, don't assume if you don't know how it's done.

 

My comment on the misspelled word was not intended to be used as an insult, more of an observation. I don't have anything to go by except the code snippet you gave (Mainly because based on your Forum rating, you don't visit here often). I'm just telling you that it makes the whole thing seem more sketchy.

I'm am well aware threat is a number, and I also assumed that if this was real you would have to convert it to the corresponding color value, which is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt and didn't call you out for having the color values rather then the numerical values for threat. That was a suggestion for useful additions, not an attack on your program.

 

You must understand the moment someone says "Type your username and password into my fancy new program, it's the best" people become skeptical, justifiably so.

[Sayori 311]

As far as I remember LO themselves banned the will.io "bots" at some point ?

 

1 hour ago, Kevkof said:

If you'd be able to get the roles and achievements and such for that character as well, then that would be interesting to fully automated this .

 

Full chat access without being ingame would be amazing as well

Remember when MrEpicGoat used to spam whispers from hundred accounts at once? That's how it worked lol.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Sayori

[iRawwwN 282]

2 hours ago, Ch1ck said:

provide email, password

good idea, but no ty.

[Ch1ck 45]

20 minutes ago, StunStick said:

My comment on the misspelled word was not intended to be used as an insult, more of an observation. I don't have anything to go by except the code snippet you gave (Mainly because based on your Forum rating, you don't visit here often). I'm just telling you that it makes the whole thing seem more sketchy.

I'm am well aware threat is a number, and I also assumed that if this was real you would have to convert it to the corresponding color value, which is why I gave you the benefit of the doubt and didn't call you out for having the color values rather then the numerical values for threat. That was a suggestion for useful additions, not an attack on your program.

 

You must understand the moment someone says "Type your username and password into my fancy new program, it's the best" people become skeptical, justifiably so.

Okay.

As said, having it open source and available to all to see what's it doing would eliminate any phishing possibilities, plus C# can easily be compiled with around 90% success.

12 minutes ago, Sayori said:

As far as I remember LO themselves banned the will.io "bots" at some point ?

 

Remember when MrEpicGoat used to spam whispers from hundred accounts at once? That's how it worked lol.

Not sure, the site is up and running and not even maliciously intended, but as said this would and is probably violationg TOS and EULA

 

[ShadowXS 130]

Just going to need your social security number, home address, work address, home and mobile numbers, email addresses (yes, all of them), usernames, passwords, your HWID, your first, middle, and last names - where applicable - the name of your bank, your credit and debit card numbers, PIN number's, and those 3 or 4 wacky digits on the back of each card, in order to make a redundant program. With less than is being requested you can simply log into your own account, within the game, safely.

 

How about let's focus on getting 2-factor authentication implemented, rather than trying to push for non-essentials, yeah? Solid.

[Ch1ck 45]

13 minutes ago, ShadowXS said:

Just going to need your social security number, home address, work address, home and mobile numbers, email addresses (yes, all of them), usernames, passwords, your HWID, your first, middle, and last names - where applicable - the name of your bank, your credit and debit card numbers, PIN number's, and those 3 or 4 wacky digits on the back of each card, in order to make a redundant program. With less than is being requested you can simply log into your own account, within the game, safely.

 

How about let's focus on getting 2-factor authentication implemented, rather than trying to push for non-essentials, yeah? Solid.

Must have took you a long time to write that down, good job.

 

I'd use this app myself while I'm at work or not home and can't access the game directly

[ShadowXS 130]

Just now, Ch1ck said:

Must have took you a long time to write that down, good job.

 

I'd use this app myself while I'm at work or not home and can't access the game directly

Okay, here is why this concept for a program is redundant;

 

Faction; Criminal

StatusType WorldStatus; I know if im online or not, what smart doesn't

WorldName; Citadel

CharacterName; ShadowXS

LastLogin; Same as Status 

Threat; Gold

Details; Male, 2250 Hours Played, 255, $15,021,965, 2250JT 

Clan; Redundant Program BTW

FriendlistInfo Friends; Pointless

IgnorelistInfo Ignores; Even more pointless 

 

Everything else in the script that i didn't add above is pointless information no one needs to see about their character.

 

But you see, I can make my own version, offline, into a signature if i wanted, without giving anyone but the LO login server my email address and password. Furthermore, anyone who doesn't already know all of the above about their own characters and needs a program to check up on that information, has dementia or retardation, and doesn't need this program but rather medical attention.

[Saxtus 497]

1 hour ago, SK4LP said:

What i just would like to know when i m offline ::

how many ppl are in each district ... dats all

That part is already done publicly, no need to reinvent the wheel.

https://will.io/apb/