Auto-installers

[Major A Payne]

Incorrect Paul_M. A manual is far worse in several respects. Now I'm talking from my experience of using WISE only mind you as I've found it the easiest and quickest to use.

1) Manual installing a mod MUST be done correctly. Even with folder structure being kept intact for the mod files people have been well known for mucking up transferring files.

2) HDD space. What I mean is what if you want more than one mod manually installed. Answer: create another installation of which ever game. However, this can fill up your HDD pretty quickly with enough mods installed. WISE, with its roll back and backup/replace functions means you only need one installation of the game as the installer will backup the necessary files for you as many times as is needed (I've personally had up to 18 test mods installed ontop of each other in this fashion and been able to uninstall all of them with the result of having my installation of A2 back at its stock setup).

3) Uninstalling. You ever tried to uninstall a manually installed mod?? Okay so the simple arguement here is to back everything up, but backing things up is something that can easily be forgotten and one file can mess up an installation of A1 or A2, and hundreds of players have found out in the past.

However, all this being said, I'm still of the mind that small, single ship mods are fine but bigger projects are far better with an auto installer than not, and whilst WISE may not be the cheapest then it should be relatively simple to find someone who has the program.

[F/\}{I´3$]

I dont think that backing up is important for this game.
Because it doesnt take long to reinstall it.

I got more problems with installers than with manual installing. I can add manually all ships into one game but the installers overwrite necessary files, so that I need more armada2 installations to use mods with installers.

When i manually add things i know after a short time why this brought errors to the game and how i can change them. But if i have errors with installed mods i have no chance to find the reason.

[Major A Payne]

WISE based installers have the option to allow you to back up everything so files that would otherwise be replaced are backed up in a created additional directory. As for bug finding. You have the same amount of problems with an auto installed mod as you can with a manual installed mod.

[F/\}{I´3$]

Originally Posted by Major A Payne

As for bug finding. You have the same amount of problems with an auto installed mod as you can with a manual installed mod.

No I dont know wich files the installer has changed and added.

[werdborg]

2nd thoughts perhaps I was a bit too quick to think the end is nigh for this thread

[Major A Payne]

Originally Posted by FahreS @ -=WiCKeD=-HARKER

No I dont know wich files the installer has changed and added.

Maybe you don't but I've never had problems finding bugs that arise from actually playing. Its not difficult to actually locate a bug, no matter how a particular mod has been installed. I've been doing this for long enough to know.