Where to start?

[3ndl3ss]

Hello, I have a simple idea for a gaming application tool. I would like to create a small tool for an online game that I play.

The tools objective will just be to alert the user through a sound that will play as soon as there is any type of movement on a certain part of the screen.

I play an mmorts where there is a report icon that flashes only when I have an incoming attack on my castle. I have sat for 15 hrs straight watching this icon waiting for it to flash some days in order to counter and prepare for the attack.

The game is written Flash and uses Adobe Flash as its means of media.

It also uses a GIGANTIC XML database for its server while keeping track of 100's of thousands of clients data.

I have looked over the ToS and if this is done properly then it will not violate the ToS because this "Incoming" application (as I am going to dub it for now) will be completely apart from the games coding and interface. Which rules out Greasemonkey even it was in the correct platform because the ToS states that you may not manipulate the coding directly.

I imagine that if this is done correctly and I can find the right guidance then once the application is functional I can clean up the interface of "Incoming" and possibly even market it or distribute it as Freeware because I know of many people just in this game alone who would use it.

I am sure there is other uses for tracking and being alerted to,via sound, screen movement, but i just can't think of any of them right now.

So, if the specific game is written in FLASH does that necessarily mean that my completely separate application must be written in flash as well in order to detect and alert to the page movement?

There is no other sounds that are associated with this game so this tool will allow me to do other things around the house like watch TV or clean the house or do my college homework while not having to worry about my empire that I have spent the last year building and protecting falling under the enemies clutches.

I have very amateur experience in C, xml and Java and am an expert at html. I am also the webmaster for two websites. Though I am not sure what format is best to design this script in. It seems like a very simple idea. If this may require more research please let me know what type of coding classes I would need to take to get this little bird flying.

If anyone knows where I should start or if there is already an application like this please let me know. All feedback and ideas will be appreciated.

[Excizted]

Is the game in standalone flash or from a webbrowser?

It is not hard at all to have two images and compare them for equality.
- You could even easily implement features for sensitivity (how much can the picture change).

But first of all you need a picture. You could make the program capture an area of the screen like fraps or camtasia, just simpler. But then you can't minimize your game.

With a standalone game it is probably not hard to capture the window output, but I'm not sure about, if it is in a webbrowser.

Hope this gets you started.

[3ndl3ss]

Hmmm, yeah its actually in a web-browser. (browser game)

Sounds like a very simple idea but it is turning out to be quite complicated. I will take a look at fraps or camtasia but the question still resides to how to get it to alert the user..

[Excizted]

Well for no sensitivity, just do a MD5 of the image data before and image data after.

If they are not equal, it would mean the image has changed and you will have your program crank up the volume and play some annyoing sound.

Edit: Of course you could also just check every byte of each image for equality, but I think the MD5 way is faster.

[3ndl3ss]

Much appreciated for your response. Collaborating some of MD5 into something like fraps
would take quite a bit of reverse engineering that is far beyond me.

I think what you may be getting at is to use Fraps or something like it as an example of ways to capture the pixels in their separate states then work with something like MD5 to define any differences.. or you may be directly referring to the direct codes where the pixels manipulations are located ... which in turn would also require a bit of reverse engineering for the game itself whom i know is highly encrypted in hexadecimal. Furthermore, the third and final piece would be to Que the sound at the right instance thus making it a conditional program.

So there we have 3 stages of the program to make it complete and we also have 2 of 3 programs that can each represent a single stage.

Now the question would be what would be best to write it in in order to make it a completely independent application within itself? A language that can incorporate the 3 main functions.

I honestly don't have the capability to write something like Fraps ontop of a targeting program coded with MD5 or SHA (where I would even find the actual Hash functions for those would be a feat within itself it seems) included with conditional response but this is a great starting point.

Locate code, detect any change in code, alert to changes.

The 3 aspects are unveiled. :)

[Excizted]

I wouldn't say you would actually have to modify fraps.
Can't be too hard to make your own lite screen recorder app?

I don't know, have never tried! You should be able to read in data from the file fraps output to - that could be interesting :P

Otherwise, you don't have to do a live stream, maybe just a screenshot every 10 seconds.

[3ndl3ss]

okey,I see now then, first step is to start at the very first function with the consecutive screenshots. Hence I will see what i can create just to do that single "simple" initial function of capturing consecutive screenshots then storing them in a temporary cache or something comparable likewise.

An application within itself using a very minor recordable database of visual screen projection.

Then get it to target a certain part of the screen. Henceforth the very first part of the three major functions in the whole will be complete.

Since the game uses encrypted flash I believe it will be much easier just targeting the screen rather than the incoming or outgoing packets.

STAGE 1.
screen recorder app.

Bitmap recording?

Bitmap mirror?

Would we say C# ?

Note: all responses and ideas are appreciated