Auto-installers
 

I've now been downloading mods for the past three months and in that time I have had to deal with the fact that I wasn't going to be able to download all of my favourite ships.This is mainly because very few modders include Auto-installers . I find this concerning as it may put newbe's off from downloading from Armada 2 Files as many wouldn't have a clue how to add their favourite ships to A2. It may also be helpful if the Armada 2 Filefront staff could add installation utilities which could contain some of Clickteam.com's Products or maybe a link to that website. My main agenda here is to get modders to add options for people of different modding skill for example Porty's and 9ofnines A2_Cheyenne_Class_v2
Clean A2 Installation
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For installation into a clean copy of Armada 2 simply run the .exe file and it will install itself quite happily.


Modded A2 Installation
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To install into a modded version of Armada 2 you will need to do the following -

1) Run the .exe but change the install path to a temporary folder

2) From the temporary folder move the files to the following locations -

fMAPchey.bmp ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\bitmaps\AdmiralsLog\ShipImages
fMAPchey.odf ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\odf\ships
fMAPchey.sod ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\SOD
gbfMAPchey.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB
MAPchey1.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB
MAPchey2.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB
MAPchey3.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB
MAPchey4.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB
fMAPcheyWF.tga ----------> C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek Armada II\Textures\RGB


3) Open "tech1.tt" and insert the following line under Federation Ships

fMAPchey.odf 2 fyard2.odf fresear.odf // cruiser4 (Cheyenne class)



4) Open "fulltech.tt" and insert the following line

fMAPchey.odf 0



5) Open the "gui_global.spr" and insert the following line under the "b_fspecial" entry

b_fMAPchey gbfMAPchey 0 0 64 64



6) Also in the "gui_global.spr" file, scroll down to the Federation wireframes and above the heading "@reference=256"
insert the following lines

@reference=512

fMAPcheyw1 fMAPcheyWF 0 0 128 128
fMAPcheyw2 fMAPcheyWF 128 0 128 128
fMAPcheyw3 fMAPcheyWF 256 0 128 128
fMAPcheyw4 fMAPcheyWF 384 0 128 128
fMAPcheyw5 fMAPcheyWF 0 128 128 128



7) Open "fyard2.odf" and insert the line

buildItem# = "fMAPchey"

(# = what position you want the button to appear in the yard)
(Be sure to change all the other build numbers if you put it into position 2 for example)



That should be it, you're ready to go!! :)

This is what I'm striving for modders to do as you get the best of both kinds of installation. Allright thats me done, now I want to know what you think??????

Re: Auto-installers
 

I agree, but I have seen some installers that are best described as appalling.

You might be interested to know that next time I release my work (which should be in a couple of weeks) I am making everything available, and thats not just going to be full size layered PSD files that I work on with the artwork, it includes everything I can think of which will include to ready to compile NSI files for NSIS (http://nsis.sourceforge.net)

NSIS is the best installer out there and its the right price (IE. free), it beats even professional programs like InstallShield on compression size and ease of use and its got tons more features (and no ads)

Re: Auto-installers
 

i just dont like installers, coz i want to know what i do and i find it more comfortable to add the files than install to an other directory and search the files...

what i hate are those unistallers and other files wich i find evrywhere allthough i allready deleted the installed folder...

that are the reasons why i dont bring installers with my mods

Re: Auto-installers
 

I think as long as the instructions are clear (and, you will notice, reviews will pick up on this), it doesn't matter whether or not auto installers are used.

In some cases, auto's can mean you have less in-game, as most will just over-write files, instead of adding required lines, which gives you more playing room.

Re: Auto-installers
 

Also, if I may add. You'll find when you know more about a2 modding that installing new ships etc easier. I would go to a2files and acquire Westworlds Big Book of Modding. The installing would be do able regardless of faulty installation methods.

Also, welcome to the forums Werdborg.

Re: Auto-installers
 

Whilst small single ship mods dont' really need an autoinstaller, the larger complete mods definately benefit from them. Also I know NSIS is pretty good, but alot of people will find using a specific script to be very hard. WISE, on the other hand, is extremely easy to use (first time I used it, it took me around 5 minutes to work out and get a full installer working). WISE also supports complete removal, backup and replacement facility and roll back feature, which no other auto installer does (as those that have seen my own mods will contest to).

Re: Auto-installers
 

I agree WISE is much easier to use, but it also costs $250, which is a little excessive considering we are not making any money from doing mods. You can do backup and replacement via NSIS scripting, I just searched the NSIS Wiki for backup and there is an example script in there.

I agree that doing everything through scripting is a pain, but it is free and you can get free GUI's for it which does make it a lot easier as well.

I was wondering, from my knowledge of A2's directory structure certain file types always go in certain places don't they? If so, it would be possible to do a generic batch file which would automaticially sort the files for people that otherwise couldn't do the installation of a mod.

I was thinking that they could do the installation themselves, but then I remembered I started doing an installer because I was having a (large) number of people that were having trouble unzipping a folder and doing a cut and paste.

Re: Auto-installers
 

auto installers are not that big of a prob for me, i just install the ship in a seperate folder and place from there.

Re: Auto-installers
 

Seems like this thread is coming to its predictable conclusion that using auto installers for some is useful and for others not at all. Cheers to everyone who posted as now I have several auto-installers to choose from if I ever get round to starting my 1st mod which I hope to be providing either a clickteam or a NSIS installer with the mod. Thanx for the input

Re: Auto-installers
 

they can be useful , then again they can be a nightmare ( check my A1 1.2 topic ) .

useful cause it saves time
nightmare cause more things can go wrong than in a manual install

Re: Auto-installers
 

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.

Re: Auto-installers
 

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.

Re: Auto-installers
 

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.

Re: Auto-installers
 

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

Re: Auto-installers
 

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

Re: Auto-installers
 

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.