New To RSPS?

_jordan

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Nov 20, 2012
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Overview


RuneScape private servers have a long history going all the way back to 2005. Since then, servers have been developed and iterated on by people all of the world, some of those people have been around the entire time and some not. And RuneScape is no easy game to emulate unfortunately, even today writing this, we are still discovering more and more knowledge/information about the internal workings of the game and then applying these ideas for a new server. This is why there are so many servers out there to choose from. While this may seem like a good thing, this is actually extremely detrimental to the community as a whole, especially for those who are completely new to RuneScape private servers.


These really old servers you can still download today are written by inexperienced developers, hobbyists, etc, end up leaving the community, (or die), now those of us still around have to play customer support for these shitty servers to people that want to use them, when these old servers have absolutely no reason for even still existing. In my opinion, as a general rule, anything released older than ~2018, you should pretend that it doesn't exist at all. Servers have been written when knowledge and information was scarce, or not known at all, so developers would make compromises to the integrity of the game to "make it work" such as disabling cache CRC validation, or disabling things like the RSA, or completely removing features and writing their own versions of it like removing JAGGRAB and coding some shit way to download bullshit caches from a Dropbox url or something..... Things like this are completely not correct, developed like shit, and 10 years later we have people asking the same questions over and over about these shitty servers. This is just 0.1% of the game, I couldn't physically sit here to write out every single thing that is completely wrong, I am just providing more common examples. Just know the rabbit hole is basically black hole deep.


"If it looks like something is not developed the "RuneScape" way, then yeah it's cooked bro..." - ME right now

Misconceptions


- There are basically 2 categories of people in this community (and you are already one of these 2 types):
1. The people who are only interested in downloading and hosting a server with a $$$ shop who are only interested in taking your money. These people are not interested in RuneScape, mechanics, programming, helping, or anything. They typically just launch and relaunch the same shit server that was developed back in 2008, on a cadence. Avoid these people at all costs... and any opinions they may have automatically don't matter.
2. The people who try to understand RuneScape and how it works, develop code, theory craft ideas when taking a shower, and try to explain these things to the broader community at large. These are the people that actually produce real results and you will want to keep them nearby. These people typically would be of the "Contributor" role here (the one with the star).

- Private servers are not just for profit but because of the aforementioned people above, this is what has become of the general image of RuneScape private servers.

- The servers are not easy to develop and require a great deal amount of time, effort and commitment to create one from scratch. Literally years, not weeks, not months, not 1.5 years.... years bro. And to develop one requires a wide range of knowledge on topics such as: Math, Sockets, Threads, Game development, Data, Server<->Client relationship, etc, basically everything you would need to well.... create a video game. The only difference with RuneScape private servers is we don't have to create the client nor create any of the cache assets.

- (Depending on the version of RuneScape/application in general) the game client for RuneScape does NOT have to be modified AT ALL for it to work on a private server. Yes that is correct. (see: 2004Scape). Additionally, custom content also does not necessarily require any changes to the game client. There seems to be this running idea that we have to operate outside of the realm of Jagex when creating custom content but this is completely not the case. All of the game assets are contained within RuneScape's cache which this cache is created by Jagex when they are deploying out to production. Jagex does not actually use the cache files for development at all in the way RSPS has typically done it in the past. Jagex developers work with the raw assets contained within the cache as plain old files. All of the raw assets get packed all together into what we refer to as the cache. If you are wanting to add new/custom content for your private server, this can all be done via the cache and then writing the content code for it on the server.

- Some servers out there are considered to be "leaked" meaning they are available but not publicly. We do not encourage the use of leaked servers because of reasons discussed above (see: takes a fucking long time to make a server). And especially stay away from individuals and communities who actually endorse them.

- RuneScape has started from version 1 and is currently version 936. This captures (RS2 & RS3).
OSRS was forked with RuneScape version ~474 (2007) and they started OSRS itself at version 1. Today they are currently version 223.

So just to list out examples:
225 => 2004 (RS2)
317 => 2005 (RS2)
377 => 2006 (RS2)
474 => 2007 (RS2)
530 => 2009 (RS2)
773 => 2013 (RS3)
936 => 2024 (RS3)

1 => 2013 (OSRS)
174 => 2018 (OSRS)
223 => 2024 (OSRS)

- A DEOB only refers to "Deobfuscation" which is just a technique that is used to make the client code that we use for RSPS. This is not specific to RSPS. This is also not specific to a RuneScape version. All clients are "DEOBS" so referring to OSRS only, as a deob, does not make sense.

What are your options then?


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Now you might be asking yourself about now, "What are my options?"
Great question...

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1. If you are looking to straight up download and run a server, then use something like 2004Scape (225), which, by definition, is the best implemented RuneScape core mechanics server that actually works and will continue to work.
Well this is 2004 though? What if you personally prefer 317, or 474, OSRS or any others?

2. Then find what you can but don't expect any help. If the server you choose still has active maintainers that can provide assistance, then it may be a good choice.
Preferably you actually have a frontal lobe with some IQ and you already know some programming. It isn't rocket science to code some Java/Kotlin/JavaScript but atleast spend a few hours watching some tutorials on YouTube or read a book or something instead of wasting your time asking the same stupid questions for the next 5 years of your time here. You could be one of the next developers that help to push the community into greater heights so... Don't be a noob.

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Alternatives?

As requested by some discussion earlier in the Discord, I will list here what I believe to be "viable" alternatives to 2004Scape. I am not blatantly advertising 2004Scape and when servers in the future come along and overtake it then so be it, but at this time I am final on that choice. This thread is meant for the completely new individual. Just because I myself have been here a fucking while and so happen to care about the this shit and I'm helping to develop 2004Scape and beyond... then yes of course I am going to be the OP of this thread... Use ur noggins.

With that being said, and along with what was discussed before, these alternatives are not as accurate (or a lot not accurate) and have been developed at during different "generations of rsps". They may have some correct mechanics (and not), or lacking content, or etc (who knows)... here is the list in no particular order:


Anyways hope this helps (h)

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Because you're new to RSPS, why not checkout these threads next?

So you think your server is an emulation?
225 Webclient - TypeScript & WebAssembly
Collection of Level Up Rewards
 
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I agree that most of the servers released are not good and probably shouldn't be used. That being said, however, I don't think 1:1 replication for most systems is really all that important for the vast majority of servers unless they are wanting to go the emulation route. Along as it works good enough, that's all that matters for most people. I think what's more important is that people create a fun experience that keeps people playing, even if the mechanics are not perfect.

Lets be honest, most people making servers will want to grab something already made that's packed with content, modify some things around, and slap it up. They are interested in milking the cow and getting as much money as they can. There are so many options out that it would be quite hard, and almost impossible, to break the cycle of people using these same shitty old code bases. I only see this happening if someone releases a good modern server packed full of content. There would need to be options for 317 & OSRS as these are the most popular revisions. Whose going to do that though?

Lastly, although I agree with some of your talking points, this post also seems like an ad for 04Scape :hm:
 
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I agree with most this thread.

I will say though:
These really old servers you can still download today are written by inexperienced developers, hobbyists, etc, end up leaving the community, (or die), now those of us still around have to play customer support for these shitty servers to people that want to use them,
There were a lot of good developers and good servers (for that time) that paved the way for us all to learn from. This comes across as quite discrediting and belittling to a lot of talented developers that gave the RSPS community the heart beat in the first place. I can safely say that I learnt a lot from the backs of the older servers and developers and Im sure you did too as well as everyone in this community.

But all in-all good thread.
 
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I agree with most this thread.

I will say though:

There were a lot of good developers and good servers (for that time) that paved the way for us all to learn from. This comes across as quite discrediting and belittling to a lot of talented developers that gave the RSPS community the heart beat in the first place. I can safely say that I learnt a lot from the backs of the older servers and developers and Im sure you did too as well as everyone in this community.

But all in-all good thread.
Yes of course I did don’t get me wrong there. On the contrary though we are passed that now. And everything I said still holds true no matter the server from those days.

Additionally, wouldn’t saying those old servers from back then being relevant today be quite discrediting and belittling to a lot of talented developers today?
 
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I am playing RSPS over a decade and this gives me a new view of seeing how it actually is. Thanks
 

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