DSS Satellite Phone

Not an actual DSS Satellite Phone.

The DSS Satellite Phone is an add-on to Urban Dead that enables players to exchange messages right from the game screen. This is much like the in-game mobile phone, with a few differences:

• It doesn't cost AP to send messages.
• It works regardless of whether the suburb's phone mast is powered.
• It keeps and shows old messages.
• It works for zombies and even proper corpses.

The DSS Satellite Phone is implemented as a Greasemonkey script. It integrates to the game interface seamlessly.

Status

The DSS Satellite Phone is currently under development. The current version is BETA 10, and is already usable. The first stable release is planned for September.

BETA TESTERS REQUIRED. Please contact the developer in User talk:Hashk if you'd be willing to help. This would involve installing and using the software for a couple weeks, reporting anything that breaks. You do need to ask for test phone numbers and PINs, because those are not yet available to the public.

Please note that we're just testing this, I'm hacking on it as I go along so the system may be unstable. Also note that, after the beta cycle is over, we might just wipe the database and start afresh.

Current Limitations

• There's no way for the general public to sign up for a service plan (this is deliberate, while the software is being tested).
• Error handling is slightly broken.
• Documentation (this page) is incomplete.
• There's no plausible justification for zombies being able to send and receive text messages with a phone.
• There's no plausible justification for corpses being able to communicate at all. I mean, really.

User Guide

WARNING: To avoid injury, read all operating instructions and safety information in this guide before using your DSS Satellite Phone.

Getting Started

What You Need

To use your DSS Satellite Phone, you need:

• A service plan with a satellite phone carrier.
• At least one Urban Dead account.
• Firefox 3.0 or later.
• Greasemonkey 0.8 or later.
• An Internet connection.

It is also highly recommended to have at least one friend. As in: someone willing to talk to you.

Signing Up for a Service Plan

The guys you will learn to hate when you lose signal.

Before you can use any of your DSS Satellite Phone's features, you must sign up for a service plan with a satellite phone carrier. The only carrier available is DSS. Please sign up in the following page:

• (link disabled while in beta cycle)

You will be assigned a phone number and a PIN. Keep a record of both. You will need these to activate your DSS Satellite Phone after you install it, and again if you ever reinstall, or switch to a different computer.

You may sign up again as many times as you need. You can use a different number for each of your characters, or you may share a single number amongst any or all of them.

A service plan is not linked to any character or user. You don't need to provide any information, like UDIDs or an email address. This in fact is why you should make a record of your PINs: they are the only association between you and your phone numbers.

Software Installation

To install the DSS Satellite Phone, make sure that you are running Firefox, and that Greasemonkey is already installed and enabled. Then click on the following link:

• Install DSS Satellite Phone BETA 10

Then just follow the instructions on screen. There is no need to restart your browser.

BETA TESTERS: Just click on the link above and install the script. This will upgrade your current version in-place. No need to uninstall, or restart the browser, or reactivate or anything.

Using your DSS Satellite Phone

Opening The Phone

Log in to Urban Dead and look for the satellite phone button. If you are alive, then it should be in your inventory, usually right next to your mobile phone or radio, if you carry those. If you are dead or undead, the button will be near the end of the stuff in the main area of the game screen.

The phone in a survivor's inventory.

Zombie-phone.

When you click on satellite phone, the phone's user interface will appear. There is a close button on the bottom right of the interface; clicking on it will hide it again.

Note that opening and closing the DSS Satellite Phone, like all its other functions, do not cause a page reload. This means that you won't reach your hit limit texting people. This also means that, if a zombie starts gnawing on your neck while you are mucking about with the phone, you probably will be dead before you notice it.

Phone Activation

A nasty zombie's phone, not yet activated.

The first time you use your DSS Satellite Phone, it will show you the Activation Screen. You must enter your assigned phone number and PIN in the fields, and click on Activate. See #Signing Up for a Service Plan above.

If you ever uninstall the phone, or Greasemonkey or Firefox, or if you switch to a different computer, you will see this screen again. Just use your previously assigned number and PIN; all your messages and contacts will be restored.

Note that each one of your characters will need to activate their phone separately. You may use the same number and PIN for all of them, or request different numbers for each.

Adding Contacts

TBD

Sending Messages

TBD

Reading Messages

TBD

How To Deactivate Your DSS Satellite Phone

You may want to deactivate your DSS Satellite Phone if you intend to change your phone number, or if you are using a shared computer. There is no user interface for deactivating your phone, but you may achieve this by uninstalling the DSS Satellite Phone Greasemonkey script.

• From Firefox's menu bar, choose item Tools / Greasemonkey / Manage User Scripts...
• Find and select DSS Satellite Phone in the list of scripts on the left side of the window.
• Make sure that the checkbox Also uninstall associated preferences is ticked.
• Click on the button Uninstall

Please be aware that this will remove activation information for all your characters.

Should you desire to use this software again in the future, just reinstall the script, and activate your phones using the same numbers and PINs you were previously assigned. Your stored messages and phonebook will not be lost; they will be restored from the server upon reactivation.

Safety Information

The DSS Satellite Phone is designed to prevent compromise of your Urban Dead account or otherwise private information. You should be aware specifically that:

• The DSS Satellite Phone DOES NOT store or transmit your in-game location, not even the city your character is in.
• The DSS Satellite Phone DOES store the UDID of your Urban Dead character in Firefox's configuration in your local computer. It is never sent over the network.
• The DSS Satellite Phone DOES NOT store or transmit any other item of your Urban Dead account information.
• The DSS Satellite Phone DOES store and transmit your phone numbers and PINs.

Public Terminals

If you activate your DSS Satellite Phone from a public terminal, like a school computer, your phone number and PIN will remain stored in Firefox's configuration in the public machine. This does not provide access to your game accounts, but could potentially allow someone else to read your DSS Satellite Phone messages.

To prevent this, you should deactivate your DSS Satellite Phone by uninstalling the script, as described above.

Troubleshooting

The phone keeps telling me that I have new messages

If the phone keeps raising a dialogue window telling you that "you have unread messages," but you see nothing new in the message list, click on Get older messages. You'll find the unread stuff there.

This is the phone working as designed, sort of, though it's indeed a bit mystifying. It happens only in an unusual situation, where, after someone sends you more than five messages in quick succession, you read them by clicking on Reload, which gets only the latest five. It'll be worked around somehow in a future version.

The green light just keeps blinking after I do something

The green light indicates that the phone is trying to contact the network, as it were (it's making a request to the DSS server). It may happen that the Internet connection or the server is slow. Give it a little time. Worse comes to worst, reload the page and try again. This should not happen often.

You may want to open the DSS forum, just to see if your computer can connect to it. If you get an error, it may give you a clue of what's happening.

The satellite phone button just reloads the page

If you are using Midanian's most excellent UD Item Combiner, Organizer and Sorter, then make sure the DSS Satellite Phone executes after it.

You may achieve this from Greasemonkey's Manage User Scripts dialogue window: in the list of scripts on the left, drag DSS Satellite Phone down, until it sits below Urban Dead Item Combiner, Organizer and Sorter.