BFMracing

General Category => General Board => Topic started by: ÐeviÑ on February 14, 2020, 10:33:36 AM

Title: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: ÐeviÑ on February 14, 2020, 10:33:36 AM
Hey all,

Not sure if anyone here remembers me at this point. It's been about 8 years since I've stopped in. I was sitting around thinking about my past recently, and remembered all the great times I had here, so I decided to try to see how everything is going.

Looks a lot slower than 8 years ago, but still alive, which is great.

Unfortunately, I have no earthly idea where my Halo disk/key are anymore, so I won't be able to join a race anytime soon (unless I dig through all the boxes in my home to find it.

I hope you are all doing well, and hopefully I get a chance to jump back onto the tracks with you all again soon. (I'm also glad I was able to finally remember which email address I had used to register.)

-Devin
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Mil on February 18, 2020, 04:00:18 PM
Hey Devin. I do remember you! Yea, this has been a bit slow but we did manage to get a weekly race on our servers going ;D I'd go look for that CD hehe!
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: Bob Marley on February 19, 2020, 10:02:24 AM
Hey there Devin, hope all is well.

Come race one night 😋

One Love.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: ÐeviÑ on February 19, 2020, 11:30:21 AM
I totally plan on racing.

Worst case, if I can't find my CD key, I probably still have at least one of my old computers around that I had installed Halo on, so I should be able to at least recover my product ID from it to be able to play again.

I hope to be able to join for a couple maps on Saturday. I'll keep you all updated!

Also, I hope the MCC being released on PC brings some people back.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Boredom on March 08, 2020, 05:30:48 PM
Glad to have you join us, Devin. My hope is that if we can get enough players to join up on a routine basis on the old platform, we can start playing the new MCC custom games as a group. One of the major reasons why we have a low turnout among our members is due to lost CD Keys and disks. If there is a will to play it, MCC is it.  :)
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: ÐeviÑ on March 08, 2020, 06:18:29 PM
Glad to have you join us, Devin. My hope is that if we can get enough players to join up on a routine basis on the old platform, we can start playing the new MCC custom games as a group. One of the major reasons why we have a low turnout among our members is due to lost CD Keys and disks. If there is a will to play it, MCC is it.  :)

Yeah, it took me a bit to get myself back online, and I'm not even currently sure if my copy is quite...valid? I paid for it, but it didn't ask me for a CD key? I should thank the shady eBay guy that it has worked this long, honestly.

I'm in the process of trying to restore one of my old computers so I can have my old "key" (and hash) back, by grabbing the product ID from the registry. I'm still trying to gather a few old pieces of equipment that I need to get it, but once I have them, I should be good to go.

If there's any old members who are having issues getting back on the tracks due to technical issues, if they still have the hard drive that the game was installed on, or if they still have the computer it was on and it just doesn't work, I can advise on how to get that all back up and running to recover the key.

I have too many good memories here, and too much technical knowledge to not try to help. Even if I can help one person get back to racing, it'll be worth it.

I hope the developers of MCC see the benefits of adding a lobby and dedicated servers.

Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Boredom on March 08, 2020, 07:08:05 PM
Glad to have you join us, Devin. My hope is that if we can get enough players to join up on a routine basis on the old platform, we can start playing the new MCC custom games as a group. One of the major reasons why we have a low turnout among our members is due to lost CD Keys and disks. If there is a will to play it, MCC is it.  :)

Yeah, it took me a bit to get myself back online, and I'm not even currently sure if my copy is quite...valid? I paid for it, but it didn't ask me for a CD key? I should thank the shady eBay guy that it has worked this long, honestly.

I'm in the process of trying to restore one of my old computers so I can have my old "key" (and hash) back, by grabbing the product ID from the registry. I'm still trying to gather a few old pieces of equipment that I need to get it, but once I have them, I should be good to go.

If there's any old members who are having issues getting back on the tracks due to technical issues, if they still have the hard drive that the game was installed on, or if they still have the computer it was on and it just doesn't work, I can advise on how to get that all back up and running to recover the key.

I have too many good memories here, and too much technical knowledge to not try to help. Even if I can help one person get back to racing, it'll be worth it.

I hope the developers of MCC see the benefits of adding a lobby and dedicated servers.

Thanks for your offer of help, Devin. Somehow we need to let everyone know that BFM and its forums still exist. :)
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: ÐeviÑ on March 08, 2020, 07:56:31 PM
Glad to have you join us, Devin. My hope is that if we can get enough players to join up on a routine basis on the old platform, we can start playing the new MCC custom games as a group. One of the major reasons why we have a low turnout among our members is due to lost CD Keys and disks. If there is a will to play it, MCC is it.  :)

Yeah, it took me a bit to get myself back online, and I'm not even currently sure if my copy is quite...valid? I paid for it, but it didn't ask me for a CD key? I should thank the shady eBay guy that it has worked this long, honestly.

I'm in the process of trying to restore one of my old computers so I can have my old "key" (and hash) back, by grabbing the product ID from the registry. I'm still trying to gather a few old pieces of equipment that I need to get it, but once I have them, I should be good to go.

If there's any old members who are having issues getting back on the tracks due to technical issues, if they still have the hard drive that the game was installed on, or if they still have the computer it was on and it just doesn't work, I can advise on how to get that all back up and running to recover the key.

I have too many good memories here, and too much technical knowledge to not try to help. Even if I can help one person get back to racing, it'll be worth it.

I hope the developers of MCC see the benefits of adding a lobby and dedicated servers.

Thanks for your offer of help, Devin. Somehow we need to let everyone know that BFM and its forums still exist. :)

From what I've seen of forums, admins usually have a "mass mail" option to send en email to every registered account, unless it has been turned off by the owner. It could work, but I'm not sure anyone would be willing to do that.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Mil on March 09, 2020, 04:13:52 AM
Trust me, I've sent a ton of PM's trying to promote the weekly races!
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: ÐeviÑ on March 09, 2020, 12:11:37 PM
Trust me, I've sent a ton of PM's trying to promote the weekly races!

I wish enough people were still active on here for that to work. Although, I've been on for probably the past 3 weeks and every Saturday we have a full server. And with all the names I've seen, I'd venture to say that a second server may be worth looking into, if the manpower and funds are available, or if someone has a solid PC and internet connection they can run it from.

What I'm suggesting in my previous post is a bit more...powerful than PMs on the forum. In the Admin Control Panel of most forums, there's a mass mail function, that sends actual emails out. So anyone still using their email address that they have registered here would get an email telling them to come visit the forums. I doubt that's an option currently for various reasons, though. It'd have to be run all the way to the top of the chain, and I'm going to guess that the leadership wouldn't consent to that method, at least not at this stage.

The main problem is that if people aren't here because they can't find their CD key, they may not come here to read that there is a way to get it, if they still have their old computer. So they don't come here because they don't have the key, but if they were here, we could attempt to help them get racing again. It's a paradox, really.


I think I'm going to try to put together a guide on how to recover the keys, and, with permission, post it in the technical support section. It only works if you still have your computer with the game installed, so who knows if it'll even help. Plus it involves going into the registry of your computer, which isn't advised unless you know what you're doing. But like I said before, if I can help even one person get back on the tracks, it's worth it.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Mil on March 09, 2020, 06:03:15 PM
We've had consistent turnouts throughout the years and we almost always hit the full server mark so that's not really the issue anymore. The weekly races have been going for over 3 years now and the issue was more in the beginning but we're way past that. As of now I don't think a second server is still worth, maybe when more members show up regularly (we actually used to have 2 servers running not too long ago).

If you have your game installed, you just need to download the latest Halo patch (XX.10 version) and you can run the game without the CD. I believe the download doesn't show up automatically like it used to be so you need to download it from bungie website.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_ImaybeU on April 23, 2020, 05:26:45 PM
Hey all,
I’m in the same situation as Devin, not having raced since 2011.  A lot has happened, since 2011.  We lost our youngest son to cancer.  Retired for the second and final time from a job I thoroughly enjoyed.  Moved from Hawaii to upstate New York.  Bought and now restoring a 1906 Victorian house. 

Now, hunkering down and staying safe with this Covid-19 thing.  The pantry and freezers are all stocked.

Whenever I felt nostalgic for the great times here and on the tracks, with a great group of friends, I would pop in on the forums, now and then over the years, and looked around.  Admining the servers was a pleasure.  I must have looked in the wrong places, because I didn’t see much activity, so figured the clan disbanded.

Then Fuzzy sent out the heads up notices the other day and happy days came alive.  Now, I have to get a computer again (gave the old one away, when we moved from Hawaii).  Then to see if I can find the Halo game disk, somewhere in the mountain of packing boxes, so how long I can get back on the tracks is an unknown.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading up on past posts and policies update and changes, since l last raced, has been the main pastime for the time being. I’ve really missed you all and being able to race, scrimm and admin the servers. 

Hope to get back with you all in the, hopefully, not too distant future.

Hey all,

Not sure if anyone here remembers me at this point. It's been about 8 years since I've stopped in. I was sitting around thinking about my past recently, and remembered all the great times I had here, so I decided to try to see how everything is going.

Looks a lot slower than 8 years ago, but still alive, which is great.

Unfortunately, I have no earthly idea where my Halo disk/key are anymore, so I won't be able to join a race anytime soon (unless I dig through all the boxes in my home to find it.

I hope you are all doing well, and hopefully I get a chance to jump back onto the tracks with you all again soon. (I'm also glad I was able to finally remember which email address I had used to register.)

-Devin
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on April 24, 2020, 01:14:43 AM
Very sorry to hear that about your son, Maybe. Congrats on the 2nd retirement (sounds bittersweet)? Activity over the past few years has been on the low side, but I can't fathom the idea of disbanding. Too much love for this community.  It was always great racing with you and I definitely look forward to it again, whenever that.... May Be.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Mil on April 24, 2020, 08:21:25 AM
Sorry to hear about your son.
BFM is indeed a great community and since 2016 we've been trying to get some races running just like we used to do in the past. As the years passed, more people caught up and joined us. I'm really glad to see people like you return and hopefully we'll see you on the tracks soon ;D And believe it or not, there's still a strong Halo Racing community. People like Bob Marley, whipwreck, E7, the db clan and many others are still around (I know I forgot a lot of people).

If you happen to have your Halo CD Key saved somewhere, we can sort you with everything else and you won't need the CD.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_ImaybeU on April 24, 2020, 04:40:08 PM
Thank you for the kind thoughts Mil and Superman.

You all were often in my thoughts, even after all these years.  Some new names, but mostly a lot old friends.

When I eventually get the pieces back in place to play again, I’ll be sure to take you up on your offer for getting set up.  I noticed the new voice app that replaces Vent and that one of the servers has new protocols (SAPP?) for admining, so there’s lots of new stepping stones to get up and running.

Thanks again.  🤙


Sorry to hear about your son.
BFM is indeed a great community and since 2016 we've been trying to get some races running just like we used to do in the past. As the years passed, more people caught up and joined us. I'm really glad to see people like you return and hopefully we'll see you on the tracks soon ;D  And believe it or not, there's still a strong Halo Racing community. People like Bob Marley, whipwreck, E7, the db clan and many others are still around (I know I forgot a lot of people).

If you happen to have your Halo CD Key saved somewhere, we can sort you with everything else and you won't need the CD.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Boredom on April 24, 2020, 11:22:59 PM
Very sorry to hear about your loss, ImaybeU.  Glad that you have made it back into this resilient community.
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: BFM_Donut on April 28, 2020, 07:48:41 PM
Oh wow. I just got Fuzzy's message. I had no idea BFM was still happening, or that Halo CE racing was still something I could do. I miss it all the time.

I don't think I still have a computer around that I ever installed it on, nor do I think I still have the original CD with the access key on it. I can look around to see what I have.

Is there any option to get and install a Mac-flavored Halo CE these days, starting from scratch? I paid last time for an eBay copy of it. Can one still do that?

I'd love to take a spin around for old times' sake.

Donut
Title: Re: Just stopping by to say "Hey"
Post by: Elmo (One and Only) on May 06, 2020, 07:36:06 PM
Hey! Just stopping by to say "Hey" myself!