Blitzkrieg Map Shop Closed

[taigan7]

Hopefully someone has made a backup of the maps that were stored on www.geocities.jp/kwx50/lbk/spm_bk-nomod.html since this site was taken down.
I tried archive.org but to no avail only the website itself could be recovered not the files unfortunately.

[umarth]

Jun 3, 2019 16:59:17 GMT 1 taigan7 said:

Hopefully someone has made a backup of the maps that were stored on www.geocities.jp/kwx50/lbk/spm_bk-nomod.html since this site was taken down.
I tried archive.org but to no avail only the website itself could be recovered not the files unfortunately.

Here they are from the map shop itself:

box.yahoo.co.jp/guest/viewer?sid=box-l-tmf44gptfgvknb5t6elzpslenm-1001&uniqid=20a3ece6-ac08-4bdb-aa7c-ccfdd7cfaa86&viewtype=detail

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www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=GeoCities_Japan

According to this page they've already mirrored Geocities Japan to Internet Archive. I've found "www.geocities.jp/kwx50" inside this records so it had been crawled (geocities_jp_first.txt):

anonfile.com/z1z62ak8ba/records_zip

So there's a probability a functional mirror of the Blitzkrieg Map Shop can be found in these files:

archive.org/details/archiveteam_geocitiesjp

But where would it be? That's the million dollar question.

[Quintaxel]

The way I see it the files from BK-Webshop still can be retrieved.

It's a quick and dirty method but it works. This is how:

Goto to the mirrored site:

web.archive.org/web/20180318224836/www.geocities.jp/kwx50/en/index_EN.html

Browse to the file that you are interested in:
In the example I choose to download maps.





Right-click the download link and select 'copy link'
Then past the link in the address bar of your browser.
You will get a link looking like this;

web.archive.org/web/20180308042236/http://yahoo.jp/box/iyadXY

now remove the webarchive.org link.

yahoo.jp/box/iyadXY

and what is left is the original link to the file.

past the link in your browser and download.

that's it folks.

[umarth]

There's an easy way for Quintaxel method:

Install redirector addon for your browser of choice:

Firefox:
addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/redirector/

Chrome:
chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/redirector/ocgpenflpmgnfapjedencafcfakcekcd

Paste the code below to a .txt file and save. Rename it as "Redirector.json" It should not have to be a .json file. Leaving it as a .txt file is just fine.

{
"createdBy": "Redirector v3.2",
"createdAt": "2019-06-10T09:00:10.639Z",
"redirects": [
{
"description": "Map Shop - Onedrive Links",
"exampleUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181019081502/http://sdrv.ms/RyKwzs",
"exampleResult": "http://sdrv.ms/RyKwzs",
"error": null,
"includePattern": "https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://sdrv.ms/*",
"excludePattern": "",
"patternDesc": "",
"redirectUrl": "http://sdrv.ms/$2",
"patternType": "W",
"processMatches": "noProcessing",
"disabled": false,
"appliesTo": [
"main_frame"
]
},
{
"description": "Map Shop - Mediafire Links",
"exampleUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181019081502/http://www.mediafire.com/?3xpl6x5qku58lod",
"exampleResult": "http://www.mediafire.com/?3xpl6x5qku58lod",
"error": null,
"includePattern": "https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mediafire.com/*",
"excludePattern": "",
"patternDesc": "",
"redirectUrl": "http://www.mediafire.com/$2",
"patternType": "W",
"processMatches": "noProcessing",
"disabled": false,
"appliesTo": [
"main_frame"
]
},
{
"description": "Map Shop - Yahoo Japan Links",
"exampleUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180308042236/http://yahoo.jp/box/iyadXY",
"exampleResult": "http://yahoo.jp/box/iyadXY",
"error": null,
"includePattern": "https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://yahoo.jp/box/*",
"excludePattern": "",
"patternDesc": "",
"redirectUrl": "http://yahoo.jp/box/$2",
"patternType": "W",
"processMatches": "noProcessing",
"disabled": false,
"appliesTo": [
"main_frame"
]
}
]
}

Click extension symbol and choose "Edit Redirects".  On the opened page, chose "Import" and point your "Redirector.json" saved .txt file from before. If everything is correct, it will import 3 rules. From now on when you click any link webarchive link with mediafire, one drive or yahoo Japan box, it'll take you straight to the related site.

Let me know if i'd missed a hoster site or there're any problems, i'll correct them.

[TankCommander]

Very good gentlemen!

In fact one could say fiendish.

[[BMG]Neutro]

thank you umarth your solution work perfect!

[charlie72]

It was the place I got my good old essential mods... Almost like a small toy shop down the street... So sad it closed.

..Hopefully the "dirty download method" works for another couple of decades 

[Mat]

Sept 9, 2019 19:57:21 GMT 1 charlie72 said:

It was the place I got my good old essential mods... Almost like a small toy shop down the street... So sad it closed.

..Hopefully the "dirty download method" works for another couple of decades 

check the links in my signature

[kaoz]

kaoz , is TNT the name of Blitzkrieg.be or am I mistaken?

@kevin - didn't see this question until now... yes TNT was the (small) site before BK.B.

have you thought using mediafire to store the maps and revive your site just with links to it?

bb - I have but storing the maps wasn't the problem. And there's many members having those on mediafire. Problem was last 2/3 years gone from sql database. I wanted Drupal site because it offers different ways of sorting/viewing (by season, author, year, etc). I'm slowly rebuilding, I've changed host and will have sql backups this time!

[Kevin]

Sept 10, 2019 20:47:36 GMT 1 kaoz said:

kaoz , is TNT the name of Blitzkrieg.be or am I mistaken?

@kevin - didn't see this question until now... yes TNT was the (small) site before BK.B.

have you thought using mediafire to store the maps and revive your site just with links to it?

bb - I have but storing the maps wasn't the problem. And there's many members having those on mediafire. Problem was last 2/3 years gone from sql database. I wanted Drupal site because it offers different ways of sorting/viewing (by season, author, year, etc). I'm slowly rebuilding, I've changed host and will have sql backups this time!

I meant it because I "downloaded" the site years ago. Could that be of any help when getting TNT back to work?

[kaoz]

Sept 11, 2019 16:22:38 GMT 1 Kevin said:

Could that be of any help when getting TNT back to work?

Thanks for the offer, but no. TNT was a (amateuristic) attempt to give the maps a 'face' by including a map screenshot. I've always thought it to be easier to recognize maps instead of showing a long list. Too often I forgot which Stalingrad or Tobruk map I had already played, you know. The TNT idea was ok, but the result was plain simple. It was a good lesson in html & css, but pretty much outdated. Content management systems (like Joomla, Drupal, etc.) offer far better options by showing content in different ways. TNT was static, Drupal more dynamic.

As said before, maps and map info were not the problem, but the fact it was all in sql database this time. I had a backup of Drupal, but maybe naively, expected that a host would secure the sql enough or at least have an automatic backup of that database. Learned the hard way that this is fairy-tale ;-)
However, I remember when we used to install SharePoint 2010 on a server, one of the basic things we commanded in PowerShell was a daily automatic backup (at night). So it shouldn't be that hard too implement this.

Anyways, I got over it, changed host and have a weekly scheduled backup now! Re-uploading the content into the sql is the process I have to go thru again now. Hopefully, by next year, it will be back as was before.

@stanenberg: some Dmitriy M. maps are available, more to come... HF & PW maps by x-mas!?

[Kevin]

Sept 12, 2019 22:17:24 GMT 1 kaoz said:

Sept 11, 2019 16:22:38 GMT 1 Kevin said:

Could that be of any help when getting TNT back to work?

Thanks for the offer, but no. TNT was a (amateuristic) attempt to give the maps a 'face' by including a map screenshot. I've always thought it to be easier to recognize maps instead of showing a long list. Too often I forgot which Stalingrad or Tobruk map I had already played, you know. The TNT idea was ok, but the result was plain simple. It was a good lesson in html & css, but pretty much outdated. Content management systems (like Joomla, Drupal, etc.) offer far better options by showing content in different ways. TNT was static, Drupal more dynamic.

As said before, maps and map info were not the problem, but the fact it was all in sql database this time. I had a backup of Drupal, but maybe naively, expected that a host would secure the sql enough or at least have an automatic backup of that database. Learned the hard way that this is fairy-tale ;-)
However, I remember when we used to install SharePoint 2010 on a server, one of the basic things we commanded in PowerShell was a daily automatic backup (at night). So it shouldn't be that hard too implement this.

Anyways, I got over it, changed host and have a weekly scheduled backup now! Re-uploading the content into the sql is the process I have to go thru again now. Hopefully, by next year, it will be back as was before.

Alright then. I am happy to hear that it will be back, sir!!

[Quintaxel]

The site has already been partly restored. I'm glad it's back. kaoz, do we need to create a new account for this site ?

[kaoz]

Unfortunately, all previous memberships were stored in sql and therefor also lost. One does not need to log-in to be able to download a map or mod. The only advantage a log-in offers would be the ability to place comments and/or rate a map.

But again, i need to ask for patience, as since last week i suddenly suffer a gallbladder infection that has condemned me into hospital for a couple of weeks. I might not be able to approve membership requests at this very moment, i'm sorry.

I hope everything to be back ok by the end of October.

[Quintaxel]

Thanks kaoz, there's no hurry.

Take care, get well.