All in one installer progress

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All in one installer progress

Post by thunderchero »

Hi Everyone,

after looking at some of the problems with installing/troubleshooting, I starting looking to improving the installer more.

A single installer file would install vanilla and all mods with gui improvements (1024/1366 patches)
command prompts would run hidden so user could not close them early
the backup files would be part of the installer files, instead of stored in install path
files would be directly extracted to install path when possible, instead of temp folder first, then copied to install path

here is a preview on how new installer would run


if you watched the video you would see installer runs with commands prompts hidden, and runs quickly. (on example video the system was dual core 2.0ghz 8gig memory ssd hard drive laptop)

4 min to install vanilla and ECM I think is good. btw my 8 core 3.50GHz 16 gb memory ssd hard drive desktop installed both in under 2 min.

download size; current multi-installer (only installs vanilla) is 628mb, The "all in one" as is, is 644mb and installs both vanilla and ECM both with 1024.
As other mods are added file size would also increase quickly.

So I ask what size download would be too large for this project?
I also ask what mods should be part of this installer?
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by Martok »

Good idea, thunderchero. :up: I've actually wondered about the possibility of doing this before, but had no idea as to how feasible/practical it would be (or not) to do.



thunderchero wrote:So I ask what size download would be too large for this project?

Hmm. 1 Gb, perhaps? Certainly not more than 2 Gb at most.


thunderchero wrote:I also ask what mods should be part of this installer?

All the Ages
Balance of Power
Ultimate Dominion Mod 3
Ultimate Mod 5
Uncivil Wars 2
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

Martok wrote:Good idea, thunderchero. :up: I've actually wondered about the possibility of doing this before, but had no idea as to how feasible/practical it would be (or not) to do.
same here, I still am not sure if I can get the installer to do everything I want/need.
Martok wrote:Hmm. 1 Gb, perhaps? Certainly not more than 2 Gb at most.

All the Ages
Balance of Power
Ultimate Dominion Mod 3
Ultimate Mod 5
Uncivil Wars 2
I would hope to add a few more, but you got most of the majors.

But as for final size lets do an est of current Dxwnd list

vanilla and backups 628mb
ECM 20mb
all the ages mod 48mb (size of current installer)
Balance of Power 6mb (size of current installer)
Ultimate Dominion Mod 3 110mb (size of current installer)
Ultimate Mod 5 98mb (size of current installer)
Uncivil Wars 2 107mb (size of current installer)
galaxy mod 82mb (size of current installer)
flagship mod 15 mb (size of current installer)
no building upgrade 21mb (size of current installer)
thunderchero M/P mod 10mb (size of current installer)

1024 gui
Ultimate Dominion Mod 3 25mb (size of current installer)
Uncivil Wars 2 20mb (size of current installer)

1366 gui
limited availability 50mb (size of current installer)

that list above would be 1.25gb

Plus some of the older mods like;
planet mod 2mb (size of current installer)
building mod 48mb (size of current installer)
colonies 4mb (size of current installer)
Babylon 5 9mb (size of current installer)
AFC 10mb (size of current installer)
Borg Incursion Mod 5mb (size of current installer)
DELTA MOD 34mb (size of current installer)
Fluids Multiplayer Mod 2.0 2mb (size of current installer)
Mirror Mirror mod 10mb (size of current installer)
Resistance Is Futile 38mb (size of current installer)
Stargate Universe 5mb (size of current installer)
Ferengi-Dominion Alliance Mod 55mb (size of current installer)
Imperial Mod 23mb (size of current installer)
Prime Directive Mod 3mb (size of current installer)
The Beginning Mod v 2.0 85mb (size of current installer)
Vanilla Milkshake Mod 8mb (size of current installer)

even if I add all the mods above installer would still only be 1.5gb

one other question should "tools" be added and if so what tools?
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by Martok »

If you were to add tools, the two that most immediately come to mind are Ultimate Editor and QuasarDonkey's patcher.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by cleverwise »

For these modern times I would say a few GBs is fine. People download multiple gig games from places like Steam. Plus people stream all kinds of content from Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, etc. So I don't think something around two to three gigs is an issue.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

cleverwise wrote:For these modern times I would say a few GBs is fine. People download multiple gig games from places like Steam. Plus people stream all kinds of content from Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, etc. So I don't think something around two to three gigs is an issue.
I agree, but still want to keep it as small as possible.

I am on a slow connection myself and I am sure others have even slower, for me new multi installer at 628mb it will take me 23 min.

installer is slowly progressing, I had some trouble with 1366 for BOP with the special map generation code changes Gowron uses. Now test installer has vanilla, ECM, and BOP all with 1024 and 1366 and installer is still under 670mb.

This is all theoretical at this point, but also hope to add download option so if an update is available the installer will prompt you to download newer files before running installer.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by cleverwise »

It sounds like you are making some good progress.

As for keeping size down I agree if you can reduce it while keeping all the functions that is always a win. However I wouldn't be scared off if the size balloons out some. This is after all a game and modern games require many GBs for example on Steam 4 to 10GB downloads are common.

All the separate pieces can still be offered but a giant download with everything (or at least core components) is a great option. If that means one to two GBs so be it; make it so! If you can shave off some size here and there cool.

In our modern age of Internet access a few GBs isn't that big of a deal. Yes I know there are some slow Internet speeds and I get it but still this is a game and many don't expect it to be 10MB.

FYI: My Internet is 30Mbps/5Mbps and soon I'll be getting 1Gbps/1Gbps.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by KrazeeXXL »

Not sure what the video shows as I can't watch it. A normal link would be nice instead of something which runs natively through the site. html5 is preferred.

@installer:
- Checkboxes - the user should be able choose the mods to install
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

here is a direct link to video
https://youtu.be/ap1z-IfE-W4
@installer
- it uses a drop down list for vanilla/mod selection, so one at a time install, but multiple instances of the installer can be ran at same time.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by KrazeeXXL »

Thanks for the link.

Just watched the video.

I like the idea but wouldn't updating of the installer be time consuming? Or are you able to just flip a module out after you did some modding?
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

KrazeeXXL wrote:I like the idea but wouldn't updating of the installer be time consuming? Or are you able to just flip a module out after you did some modding?
once installer is created...
as normal on my end, it would be as simple as adding files and compile unless code editing is needed for installer for special feature/file.

for user, it is possible to have 3 options

1. download updated separate version as normal and uninstall/re-install mod. (english.res/german.res would be required)
2. uninstall mod that needs updating then re-run all in one installer after mod is selected installer would check for update and download new files and re-install
3. uninstall mod that needs updating then download full updated All in one and reinstall updated version.
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

Hi Everyone,

I have a few questions I would like to hear your opinion on.

1. to clean up install folder, I want to move vanilla install into a separate folder (BOTF or Vanilla?)
so new default install path would be C:\BOTF\(BOTF or vanilla)\trek.exe

2.during install of mods with normal and large galaxy, should both be installed automatically like BOP did or option to install each separately?

3. on large version should extended view still be offered? example BOP never had this option.

edit;
progress report,
reorganized files and tested install speed vs compression my best combo resulted with a multi install of vanilla 1366, ECM 1366, bop 1366, bopL 1366 with all options (installer was only ran once) completed in 2 min 20 sec :shock:
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by cleverwise »

1) Vanilla or Original

2) Both

3) Yes
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by thunderchero »

cleverwise wrote:2) Both
was that "both" for both options? or both should always be installed?

how it is in current installers
---- = check box

Balance of Power tasks
-----install desktop icon

Ultimate dominion mod tasks
normal galaxy
-----install normal desktop icon

Large galaxy
---Install large galaxy
-----install large desktop icon
-----install zoomed-in view

so UDM large galaxy is optional, but if selected will install at same time as normal galaxy.
thunderchero wrote:3. on large version should extended view still be offered? example BOP never had this option.
cleverwise wrote:3) Yes
last night I tried adding 3 option to zoomed-in view and it was a mess, 3 resolutions with 3 zoom option and task page had to scroll to even see 1366 options.

I would like to keep the "tasks" page as simple as possible, so if a small tool was created and kept as part of "tools" folder (shortcut in start menu), would that be good enough?
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Re: all in one installer?

Post by cleverwise »

thunderchero wrote:was that "both" for both options? or both should always be installed?
Install both. This game doesn't take that much space for modern hardware.
thunderchero wrote:last night I tried adding 3 option to zoomed-in view and it was a mess, 3 resolutions with 3 zoom option and task page had to scroll to even see 1366 options.

I would like to keep the "tasks" page as simple as possible, so if a small tool was created and kept as part of "tools" folder (shortcut in start menu), would that be good enough?
Then pick one to install and have a tools directory as you suggest for users to install others if desired.
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