Forums

Flash "AFTER" DEC 2020 ....This may work?

• JDGHOST 6,784 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 4:18 AM

  SamSpayed:

  borntobesting:

  Maybe using an older version of a browser that doesn't block flash by default. The browser that I use most of is  Comodo Dragon  29.1.0.0. It is quite old and uses NPAPI flash  by default because PAPPI flash wasn't around when Comodo released it. It doesn't block flash by default. It is the same browser that YJ uses, It is very stable with a very smooth meter. 

  JDGHOST:

  The 2 set-ups I have running will continue to run Flash well past the supposed "Adobe death date of 12-31-2020.

  It's good to see this thread get back on track.

  To add to the conversation about what browsers and setups may work (and which may not), I recently tried playing WGT on the Pale Moon browser with the Adobe Flash Player 32.0.0.433 NPAPI plugin.  Pale Moon is a Mozilla-based browser that has not, to my knowledge, announced that they will be removing Flash support.  So it may continue to work past December 2020.

  I will say, though, that I noticed a couple issues with it:

   

  1. I had to turn ad-blocking software off on wgt.com in order to get the web site and game to load without errors
  2. There were a few minor meter stutters in the 9-hole round I played.  Mostly with putting.  I don't know yet if that can be remedied by changing some of the Adobe Flash Player settings.  I'll play with it some more.

   

  Hope this helps.

  Well done Sam!! Great info... if all us "hardcore Flash users" stick together maybe ....Just maybe we can live to fight on past Dec...🙏

• Yiannis1970 3,270 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 11:57 AM

  JDGHOST:

  As long as WGT does not pull the plug on flash Version (which I feel they won't)

  If by 7th of January your feeling is correct, i will gladly send you a sleeve of balls...:)

• craigswan 30,983 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 12:54 PM

  ​Flash Player is installed on hundreds of millions of systems. However, effective end of 2020, Adobe announced the end of Flash Player support and hence this will not be available for download from their website, and browser vendors will update their browsers to remove the Flash Player..

  However, several companies have significant Flex and Flash-based applications currently in use, either for internal access by employees or as customer-facing applications. HARMAN's exclusive agreement with Adobe to provide extended licensing and support agreements for enterprise Flash Player means that companies can be offered a further time for migrating their Flash-based application to HTML/JavaScript solutions. HARMAN will offer support and security updates to Adobe Flash Player and can provide solutions until the end of 2023 and beyond..

  This application works by loading in the appropriate browser engine and directing this to the predefined URL that hosts the web-based application. The browser engine then loads the custom version of the Flash Player as provided under license by HARMAN. The web-based application is then displayed as if it were running in a normal web page.

• DodgyPutter 4,690 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 1:09 PM

  Yiannis1970:

  JDGHOST:

  As long as WGT does not pull the plug on flash Version (which I feel they won't)

   

  If by 7th of January your feeling is correct, i will gladly send you a sleeve of balls...:)

  It sounds to me like they've no intertion of pulling the plug before they have no other choice. Why would they as long as some are still spending?

   All major browsers drop support for Flash at (or before) the end of 2020. Our Flash app may continue to work for a bit longer as players upgrade, but WGT Desktop is the replacement.

• JDGHOST 6,784 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 4:09 PM

  craigswan:

  ​Flash Player is installed on hundreds of millions of systems. However, effective end of 2020, Adobe announced the end of Flash Player support and hence this will not be available for download from their website, and browser vendors will update their browsers to remove the Flash Player..

  However, several companies have significant Flex and Flash-based applications currently in use, either for internal access by employees or as customer-facing applications. HARMAN's exclusive agreement with Adobe to provide extended licensing and support agreements for enterprise Flash Player means that companies can be offered a further time for migrating their Flash-based application to HTML/JavaScript solutions. HARMAN will offer support and security updates to Adobe Flash Player and can provide solutions until the end of 2023 and beyond..

  This application works by loading in the appropriate browser engine and directing this to the predefined URL that hosts the web-based application. The browser engine then loads the custom version of the Flash Player as provided under license by HARMAN. The web-based application is then displayed as if it were running in a normal web page.

  Craig....

   I was all over this Harman website a few month's ago all WGT had to do was incorporate Harman's system and we would be playing the "BEST" version of this game we love for a few more years as WGT converted over to HTML5..... But it looks as we got......

   

   

• SamSpayed 4,902 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 4:28 PM

  JDGHOST:

  I was all over this Harman website a few month's ago all WGT had to do was incorporate Harman's system and we would be playing the "real" version of this game we love for a few more years as WGT converted over to HTML5 with Harman's assistance.

  It's not quite that simple.

  If you read this paragraph:

  This application works by loading in the appropriate browser engine and directing this to the predefined URL that hosts the web-based application. The browser engine then loads the custom version of the Flash Player as provided under license by HARMAN. The web-based application is then displayed as if it were running in a normal web page.

  The key is what's highlighted in red.  Every WGT player's browser would have to have a licensed copy of Harman's custom Flash Player installed.

  The question is, who's going to pay for each licensed copy in each player's browser.  You?  WGT?  I can almost guarantee you it's not going to be WGT.  

• JDGHOST 6,784 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 8:38 PM

  It’s year 2020, and, as announced by Adobe, the timeline for Flash’s end-of-life is nearing. Major browser vendors have also announced they will stop supporting Flash Player after December 2020. End of support means users will not be able to download Flash Player plugin from the Adobe website and no updates on security patches will be provided.

  Most businesses have migrated their Flash content to other technologies, mostly HTML5. Some are still converting; however they may not be able to convert completely by the end of 2020 because of the sheer volume of the content they currently have.

  The question is, if they aren’t able to convert content completely because of some reasons, can they run Flash beyond 2020? We think they can play.

  Though browsers have added some restrictions, they are still supporting Flash Player. These major browser vendors will release new versions to remove Flash support. So if users don’t update their browsers, they will still be able to run Flash.

  Individual users will have to prevent their browsers from auto updating. If they can’t do this with some browsers, they can preserve old versions of Firefox,Maxthon and some others (freely available open source and allows download of previous versions). They also need to preserve Flash Player plugin.

  Organizations who control system and software updates through policies can prevent auto update of browsers. They can also preserve old browser versions and Flash Player plugin.

  There are implications of using non-up-to-date browsers running on computers. Updates come with bug fixes, security fixes, new features and improvement of the web rendering engines. If browsers don’t get these updates, they might be vulnerable to security threats and attacks. Businesses like banking, who want to focus mostly on security, don’t want to go with this option. A solution could be that organizations can have a dedicated machine with old browser versions and Flash Player plugin to access applications that use Flash content.

  Even though using old browsers and Flash Player plugin is a practical solution, it’s feasible only in the short term. So converting the content into other formats (popular is HTML5) remains the foolproof solution.

  There are several groups have started working on a new web assembly player which will load inside web browsers. These web assembled players are not considered a plugin and thus will be supported by many browsers. The problem is that most of these groups have not released any updates for the last several months or have stopped working altogether. If they complete these projects and come up with the web assembly player, this could be good and long-term solution.

• SamSpayed 4,902 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 9:33 PM

  Thank you for sharing that article, JD.

  So, by my reckoning, it sounds like there are 3 main ways we'll (hopefully) be able to continue playing the Flash version of WGT:

  1. Use a browser that will continue to support Flash Player into the future, as well as the necessary NPAPI or PPAPI Flash Player plug-in.  Examples:  Comodo Dragon, Pale Moon, possibly others.
  2. Use an older version of a major browser that supports Flash Player natively (eg. Chrome or Firefox), and turn auto-updates off for it.
  3. Use a browser that supports a web assembly player that will play Flash content, IF such a player is developed by someone and made available to the public.

  I must confess, I don't know much about web assembly players.  But in the meantime, between now and the end of 2020, I'm hoping that we (as a community) can come up with a list of browsers (and version numbers) for #1 and #2 that will work... as well as where we can go to download them.  I think borntobesting had recommended FileHippo in another thread.  Maybe as we find ones that work, we can list them here in this thread.

• Yiannis1970 3,270 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 10:46 PM

  DodgyPutter:

  Yiannis1970:

  JDGHOST:

  As long as WGT does not pull the plug on flash Version (which I feel they won't)

   

  If by 7th of January your feeling is correct, i will gladly send you a sleeve of balls...:)

  It sounds to me like they've no intertion of pulling the plug before they have no other choice. Why would they as long as some are still spending?

  I really hope that you are correct and i am wrong.

• SimonTheBeetle 3,504 Posts

  Mon, Oct 5 2020 11:15 PM

  If you're REALLY in the "play flash or die" mode, the easiest way of doing it would be to get yourself a VM, install an old OS (even XP if you have to) in it, block all updates, install any old browser of your preference plus a decent anti-virus program as a minimal protection measure, and do nothing but play the game in there.

  Let me emphasize once again! You wanna ONLY play WGT there (no internet banking, no surfing on the net, especially into unknown sites, no logging into your important accounts, etc.) as no security can be guaranteed in such environment. But then, you'll be able to play flash as long as WGT doesn't give up on it.