Help Wanted List

1. Help developing a system for automated Flashpoint builds: Currently, every build of Flashpoint is created on BlueMaxima's computer using his master copy. To improve release quality and frequency, we need an automated way to build Flashpoint, including Windows and Linux builds. If you have knowledge of Linux and Git, and preferably CI/CD skills, please join the #development-chat channel in our Discord and let us know that you'd like to help! We're also looking for people with experience with automation tools such as Salt, Ansible or Chef.
2. Linux testers and developers: We are unable to offer an official Linux version of Flashpoint due to a lack of maintainers. We hope to once again offer an official Linux version, but we need help finalizing our experimental builds. For more information and the latest download links, see Linux Support. Please join our Discord, and let us know in #development-chat what's working and what isn't. We are also looking for help developing the build further.
3. Mac testers and developers: A heavily experimental package of Flashpoint for Mac is available, but we need help fixing a lot of Launcher issues before we can offer an official version. None of our Launcher developers currently have access to a Mac, so we need someone to help us solve Mac-specific issues with the launcher. To download the latest package and get started, see Mac Support.
4. Flashpoint Launcher developers: We use a custom Electron app called Flashpoint Launcher for displaying and launching games in Flashpoint. We need some more help with its development.
   • See the GitHub repository for more info: https://github.com/FlashpointProject/launcher
   • See the Trello board for some features we'd like implemented: https://trello.com/b/Tu9E5GLk/launcher
   • Skills needed: proficiency with Electron and TypeScript
5. Flashpoint Launcher extension developers: We are looking for developers to help develop new features for the Flashpoint project through launcher extensions. To learn more about creating launcher extensions, see the extension documentation and the API documentation.
   • See Launcher Extensions for some examples of useful launcher extensions.
   • One idea we have for a future extension is one that detects common error conditions (such as router.php being deleted by antivirus), alerts the user to the problem, and provides the user with instructions to fix the problem. Work on this extension has been started but is unfinished; the code is available here. If you're interested in working on the extension, please join our Discord and let us know!
6. Flashpoint Launcher translators: One great way to help us reach more people is localizing Flashpoint Launcher into your language. See Translation Guide for more details on how to translate.
7. Help with XML-RPC games: some Adobe Flash games use XML remote procedure calls for some of their functionality. We need help coding this functionality for each game that requires it, using Flashpoint’s PHP library. Here’s an example of how XML-RPC is used: https://help.adobe.com/en_US/as3/dev/WSb2ba3b1aad8a27b061afd5d7127074bbf44-7fff.html
8. HTTPS support: Some games have obfuscation or exact URL sitelocks that make them only work on HTTPS URLs. We would like to support HTTPS in Flashpoint without installing a root certificate on the user's system. We need someone to set up the Apache server to use HTTPS, generate an SSL root certificate (self-signed should be fine), and direct one of our portable browsers to trust this certificate on all sites. The Apache server should act as a proxy for HTTPS traffic and serve files from its htdocs folder, just as it does for HTTP traffic. Tech234a from our Discord has proposed some potential solutions:
   1. My plan for implementing it would be based on this sample extension, and replace the response data outright with a version fetched over HTTP on certain URL match patterns. This is very similar to how I implemented AnnotationsReloaded.
      • filterResponseData was added in Firefox 57, though you could also restrict it on earlier versions in manifest.json.
      • Theoretically you could create a "fake domain" to store a configuration for this extension to be picked up by the proxy and then have the extension dynamically update its matched patterns every time the browser launches (manifest.json would not be able to be updated dynamically). This would require a browser based on Firefox 57+. You wouldn't even need to dynamically process the actual response, just overwrite it.
   2. Another potential solution would be something like this, which changes the URL of the request rather than modifying the response. It might perform better in terms of network requests, as they wouldn't be duplicated. I believe the domain fronter changes the URL back once the response is returned, so XHR would report the correct URL.
9. Help curating Pogo games: Pogo.com is removing all of their Flash games. We need help from someone familiar with capturing network activity so that we can have a chance to save these games. If you or someone you know have this expertise, please let us know. Please join our efforts to archive these games at this Google doc link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PW58X2jfpt57Ce2fN4r4BXeALO0iW9o-r7-cYrI-w2A/edit. Also, We need help analyzing our packet captures and re-implementing enough of the server backend to make the single-player modes playable in Flashpoint.
10. RTMP streaming support: Some games use Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) for streaming video or audio. We need help supporting this technology in Flashpoint.
    • Flash's RTMP connections appear to completely bypass the Redirector and standard browser developer tools. We need help figuring out how to force Flash Player's RTMP connections to go through Flashpoint's proxy.
    • Flashpoint's Apache/PHP server does not support RTMP, and according to this list of RTMP server software, there may not be any way to do so. We need help figuring out how to add support for RTMP to Flashpoint's server.
    • Using RTMPDump, we can download the videos or audio streamed to a Flash game/movie. We need help figuring out which games in Flashpoint or elsewhere may be using RTMP, so we can download the media they depend on. The top priority should be checking games that are already in Flashpoint because we do not want to be unknowingly relying on external RTMP servers that may go offline at any time.
    • Here is an example of a game that uses RTMP for streaming video: Link, Curation
11. Help implementing Kongregate user content in Flashpoint: This Google doc lists all of the games on Kongregate for which we've scraped the user levels. We need help re-implementing the Kongregate API and possibly hacking the games so the user levels can be loaded in Flashpoint. It's especially complicated because games use HTTPS, and possible interactions between the games and the pages on which they're embedded.
12. Moving content out of localflash and other local directories: These directories are intended for Flash content and other platform content intended to be executed from the user's own computer rather than on a web page online. However, there still exists a large amount of online content in these directories even though it should not be. Assistance in moving this would be appreciated.
13. Replacing games hacked to bypass sitelocks with unmodified versions: This is a very low priority task, but would be desirable nonetheless. In its earlier years, certain games had to be directly modified as to bypass built-in sitelocks. However, as Flashpoint now has the ability to trick such games into believing they're being played online, this is no longer necessary. While there are no functional differences between a hacked game and a tricked unmodified game, having the original files would be preferable.
14. ZIPping of legacy games: Currently this task is locked to staff contributors. Games added prior to Flashpoint 10.0 still use the legacy system, rather than the newly-implemented gamezip system for compression. Moving games over to the new game zip system, preferably games which are particularly large or otherwise problematic, would be massively helpful for file sizes.
15. Sorting of extreme tagged games: Prior to Flashpoint 10, all extreme content was decided via a blanket on-off option. Flashpoint 10 introduced a tag system to allow more specific filtering of extreme content, but there still exists uncategorised content under the LEGACY-Extreme tag. Volunteers with a strong stomach may wish to assist in giving more descriptive NSFW tags,

Former Projects:

1. Help developing a curation submission website: We introduced a new website to be used for submitting curations. The code is available from the GitHub repository. It is located at https://fpfss.unstable.life.
2. Differential updates: An updater for Flashpoint Ultimate has been released, and is available here.
3. Action Message Format support: We finished adding an AMF implementation to PHP on Flashpoint's server, so now we are working to save user content databases for games that require AMF.
4. Help curating Geocities.jp games: Geocities.jp closed on March 31, 2019, and some of the games hosted there were lost forever. At Flashpoint, we worked to curate some of the games, and save the assets for as many as possible so they can be added to Flashpoint later.
5. PHP script/library to read SWF headers: Staff member XXLuigiMario created a PHP script that can read the width and height of any SWF, along with a userscript to call this PHP script whenever the browser loads an SWF. To see it in action, download his patches for Flashpoint Infinity or Core.
6. Portable Shockwave Player plugin: We finished integrating a portable Shockwave Player plugin with Flashpoint, and it is available in current Flashpoint releases. This was accomplished using our Browser Plugin Extender module.
7. Hacking Unity Web Player games: We discovered a viable method for hacking Unity Web Player games, the details of which have been shared here.

See Also: Help Wanted Games