Launch Base Beta Test

[Marshall]

Code:

Version 0.99.0038 [2008-02-15]
Fixed bug where closing LiveLog and reopening it would clear the log entries from the window.
Fixed crash that could occur if a mod included a <.txt> string table.
After installing a mod, the mod's disk usage will now be recalculated. Note that, when uninstalling a mod, disk usage changes due to new screenshots and save games, etc are ignored.
Improved Launch Base internal error handling.
Fixed bug that prevented mods being auto-launched via command line switch.
Attempting to install the RockPatch or Terrain Expansion when they are already installed will no longer display an error message - Launch Base will simply uninstall the existing RP/TX first, automatically.
When installing a mod, disk space requirements will now be calculated more accurately, however the space needed for extracting the original audio.bag, ra2md.csf and side*.mix files, as well as the requirements for converting *.ogg files to *.wav, are still not calculated (the safety space value is assumed to account for this).

I am planning a big change for plugins.
The plugin list will be replaced with multiple drop-down lists (one for each plugin) so that you can select the version of the plugin that should be installed.
All plugins will have to be known to Launch Base in advance, however as plugins have to have security keys anyway this shouldn't be a problem.

There will be a new directory "Plugins".
The Terrain Expansion would always be stored in "Plugins\TX\[version number]"
The RockPatch would always be stored in "Plugins\RP\[version number]"
The official map packs would always be stored in "Plugins\yrmaps\[version number]"
...and so forth.

Plugins will only have their update check file listed in the mod catalogue, not in the liblist.gam file. Plugin files may be lumped together rather than categorised.

Thoughts?

[Renegade]

Wouldn't it be easier/better to have a normal list of plugins, and a "Version: " drop-down list in the plugin information?

[gordon-creAtive]

I noticed a 'problem' since you added the "Check for signs of tampering" option: Starting up LB takes quiet long (~30 secs), and during the startup, the application hangs and the splash screen has a title bar. (Now trying to make a screenshot)

Edit: exact 27 secs

[Marshall]

Well the 'check for signs of tampering' has been in there for ages and I haven't changed it recently. I'll look at this further...

As for the title bar on the splash screen, I don't get that so no idea what's causing it.

The changes I'm working on at the moment may require a fresh install of LB, maybe that will solve the problem.

Renegade, it's an idea, although I think the combo boxes will be more intuitive. Attached is a screenshot of the changes so far.

Clicking on the label or the combo box will display the selected plugin's details (haven't written that code yet)

[Renegade]

See, I think that looks kinda fugly....I think it'd look better if the left part was a real list, and you could choose the specific version on the right (after the Version: label would offer itself as a place, for example).

[Marshall]

I agree that would look better. However by doing it that way you'd have to select each list item in turn to see the status. Doing it the less attractive way means you can see the status of all plugins at the same time.

I'm open to suggestions.

[gordon-creAtive]

Maybe you can add an Icon to each list entry which shows the status and add the activated/installed version number at the end:

RockPatch (v 1.08)
Terrain Expansion (v 1.337)

[Renegade]

I agree that would look better. However by doing it that way you'd have to select each list item in turn to see the status. Doing it the less attractive way means you can see the status of all plugins at the same time.

I'm open to suggestions.

You could make the available versions be displayed in the list:

• Official YR Map Packs (1-5) [all, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, disabled]
  
• Assault Map Packs
  
• Terrain expansion [2.03 beta, 2.02a, 2.02, 2.01, disabled]
  
• RockPatch [1.10.0026, 1.09.0103, 1.09.0051, 1.02, disabled]
  

[Marshall]

This is what I'm working on:
A single list (just like for Mods).
One entry per plugin type.
In square brackets, the version installed or "Not Active"
On selecting the list item, details loaded as per current.
Next to the version number will appear a dropdown list if and only if there are multiple versions installed.
Selecting a version that is not installed will offer the 'Activate Plugin' button.
Selecting the version that is installed will offer the 'Deactivate Plugin' button.
Plugin buttons will no longer have RA2/YR versions because most plugins are for YR and it is assumed that RA2 plugins will have RA2 in their title.
Throughout the program I am rephrasing:
Activate/Deactivate = in the game
Install/Uninstall = in Launch Base
-This means some skin updates will be required.

Right-clicking on a list item will give you the option to remove from Launch Base any of the installed versions.

Plugins do not have to be known to launch base unless special actions are required (e.g. TX and RP must be stored in pre-chosen directories.
A plugin ID is determined based on the folder installed to Plugins\PLUGINID\version
Example: Terrain Expansion 2.02a will be stored in Plugins\TX\whatever

Obviously this will require replacements for all the plugin installers, and RPMI so that the files can be put in the correct place.

====================

I am also considering an improvement to the update facility that will:
1. Allow multiple update installers to be specified (i.e. version 2->4 and 3->4 installers can be specified in a single update check file.
2. Download mirrors can be specified. i.e. rather than having a single download location for each installer, you will specify a list of download locations and Launch Base will randomly pick a location to download from.
3. Possibly (I have to check how much work this would require) the ability to right click on a mod and check for updates to just that mod. Also the option to automatically check for updates to a mod prior to launching it.
This will require changes to the update check files.

[Marshall]

Big update coming soon. Plugins system is done plus a whole bunch of other stuff. For TX and RP, no changes are neccessary to work with the new system, and I've gone back to keeping Plugins in the Mods directory for simplicity.

Just working on some changes to the check for updates system before releasing the new version.

I think it was Renegade who mentioned a while ago that if you download an update and then don't install it there is no tracking of that download.
I'm working on a basic system of recording downloads and a new manager for the downloaded files, although this will probably be completely manual and independent of the update checks.

Watch this space!

[Marshall]

Launch Base

Code:

Version 0.99.100 [2008-03-08]
Bug fixes:
    Fixed bug that prevented any Red Alert 2 mod from being launched if you had The First Decade.
    Fixed bug that caused the first skin in the list to become the default skin if you deleted the default LaunchBase.ini file.
    Fixed bug that caused some disk usage calculations to be one block too high.
    Fixed bug that caused the Play Video dialog to be displayed even if there were no videos available.
    Numerous program optimisations have been made.
Redesigned the way plugins are handled:
    There is now only one list of plugins.
    The list only contains one entry for each unique plugin, regardless of how many versions you have installed.
    For each plugin, the name and version number of the version you have activated will be shown.
    If a plugin is not active, then the name of the most up-to-date version you have installed will be shown along with the text "[Not Active]".
    Clicking on a list entry will display the associated plugin's details (if the plugin is not active then the details of the most up-to-date version you have installed will be displayed).
    If you have more than one version of a plugin available, a drop-down list box will be shown, allowing you to select a version. Selecting a version will display that version's details.
    If the displayed version of a plugin is not active, then the 'Activate' button will be shown, allowing you to activate that version of the plugin.
    If the displayed version of a plugin is active, then the 'Deactivate' button will be shown, allowing you to deactivate that plugin.
    Right-clicking on a list entry will display a menu listing all the installed versions of that plugin, allowing you to select a version to uninstall.
    The liblist.gam file for plugins must now include a flag "PluginID". This will require updates to all existing plugin installers (except in the case of the Terrain Expansion and RockPatch, where existing flags are used to identify these).
    Plugins can no longer specify an update check url - this will always be taken from the Mod Catalogue now.
Options:
    'Show Mod Types' dropdown list replaced with two check boxes; 'Show RA2 Mods' and 'Show YR Mods'.
    'Max Log Size', 'Verbose Log', 'Safety Space' and 'LiveLog Delay' settings are all now controlled from Tools > Options instead of LaunchBase.ini or command line switches. End users should never modify LaunchBase.ini
    'Safety Space' can now only be set in the range 64-4096MB, with a recommended minimum of 128MB.
    'Max Log Size' can now only be set in the range 0-16384KB, with zero representing 'unlimited'.
    'LiveLog Delay' can now only be set in the range 0-99999ms.
Check For Updates:
    New option: 'Automatic Update Check'. Switch this on to have Launch Base automatically check for updates to a mod/tool/plugin before launching/activating it, and ask if you want to download and install the update if one is found.
    New option: 'Only Download Full Installers'. When checking for updates, only full installers will be considered valid - update-only installers will never be downloaded.
    Update Check Files can now specify multiple update-only installers as well as multiple download mirrors for each file. Unfortuantely the structure of the check files has changed to accomodate this and so all existing check files must be updated - see the Help Topics of the latest version of Launch Base Mod Creator for details.
    All installers are now downloaded to the shared Setups directory rather than the mod's own directory. Downloaded installers are now recorded in a new Download History facility available from the Tools menu.
    All changelogs are now downloaded to the shared Setups directory rather than the mod's own directory. Changelogs could potentially build up over time as Launch Base ignores these files once downloaded.
    If you have multiple versions of the same mod installed, Check For Updates will no longer list an update for the legacy versions (this also applies to the new Automatic Update Check feature - a check will not be performed for legacy versions).
    TX and RP prerequisites are now checked based on whether or not you have the ability to set up the neccessary prerequisites, rather than if they are already set up. Like before, this doesn't affect your ability to download the mod.
Other enhancements:
    Launch Base will now display the name of the file that is currently being processed on any 'Please Wait' dialogs.
    Automatic RockPatch will now always install the most up-to-date version that will work with the mod you are launching.
    If a mod or plugin is removed from Launch Base it will automatically be deactivated - you can no longer have an active mod or plugin that isn't installed in Launch Base.
    Active mods/plugins will now have an additional disk usage figure in brackets. The figure in brackets is the disk usage of the active files.
    Tool Parameters text box will now change colour with the selected skin.
    When removing a mod from Launch Base using the right-click menu, Launch Base will automatically remove all known folders and files. The Uninstall section is only consulted when unexpected files are left over. The Uninstall section should no longer include folders - empty folders are automatically removed. If a folder is listed it is assumed that the entire folder should be recursively removed. The Uninstall section no longer requires the Lines= flag. The Uninstall section is only intended for Tools.
    You will no longer be warned about signs of tampering as they are discovered. Tampering should not affect Launch Base as it will automatically deactivate any affected mods/plugins. Tampering will, of course, affect the game outside of Launch Base and could lead to the accidental deletion of mod files, but it is not up to Launch Base to monitor this. Signs of tampering will continue to be reported in the log file and Persistant Mods will automatically be disabled.
    The term "[Un]Install" now explicitly refers to whether something is available in Launch Base.
    The term "[De]Activate" (or 'Launch') now explicitly refers to whether something is active in the game.
    The URLs that Launch Base downloads the Broadcast Message, Mod Catalogue and Launch Base Update Check File from can now be overridden by General flags in LaunchBase.ini, should these files ever be kept on another server.
    Added a timeout setting to all file downloads. When checking for the presence of a remote file, a timeout of 3 seconds is used. When downloading a file, a timeout of 60 seconds is used. This should eliminate the delay when attempting to download the Broadcast Message on Launch Base start (if you were not connected to the Internet).
    Added notification sounds to Launch Base startup and shutdown (can be disabled by turning off Mod Dispaly Sounds).
    Major updates to help topics.

Launch Base Mod Creator

Code:

Version 0.99.100 [2008-03-08]
Changes to support Launch Base's new method of handling plugins, including new 'Plugin ID' combo box.
Fixed bug where closing LB Mod creator with the Help Topics open would cause LB Mod Creator to restart.
Updated help topics.

This draws a line under previous bug reports - at this time I am not aware of any outstanding bugs. If you encounter a bug (previously mentioned or not) then please let me know.

The only actual problem that still remains is the missing DCoder DLL that will eventually allow CSF, BAG and MIX file compiling.

I do have a couple of other things planned for future development and any suggestions are welcome.


To Renegade and gordon-creAtive, please could you spare a few moments to update your skins as you see fit. I have made some crude alterations to the skins which may be sufficient, but in particular the plugin buttons should read "Activate" and "Deactivate" rather than "Install" and "Uninstall". Note that there is no longer a distinction between RA2 and YR plugins.

To gordon-creAtive and Blade, please can you update your update check files for the RPMI and TX respectively, the new structure is explained in the Help Topics of the latest version of Launch Base Mod Creator.

Any questions, let me know!

[Renegade]

Can you zip up a current template/guideline of what is needed where?

[Marshall]

The only changes required are:
1. tab1.bmp, the Available Plugins and Installed Plugins frames are now just a single frame.
2. The Install Plugin button (btnb1.bmp) should sport the caption "Activate Plugin" and should not feature an RA2/YR icon.
3. The Uninstall Plugin button (btnb4.bmp) should sport the caption "Deactivate Plugin" and should not feature an RA2/YR icon.

[Marshall]

Launch Base version 0.99.107 released today.
Numerous bug fixes in the last 7 versions which I won't go into detail of here - hopefully nobody has downloaded any versions prior to 0.99.106

Below is a list of the enhancements and new features since 0.99.100

Code:

New option: Persistant Plugins. If switched off, all plugins will be deactivated on Launch Base close and reactivated on next startup. This is in case the user wants/needs to activate any plugins outside of Launch Base.
Setup program now creates an uninstaller and adds an entry to Windows' Add/Remove Programs list.
If recording an IPB video, Launch Base will automatically delete the video without prompting if the game ran for less than 15 seconds (i.e. you got to the menu and immediately quit, or didn't put the CD in, etc).
Added a couple of website links to the Help menu. The list of websites is controlled from LaunchBase.ini.
Automatic Update Check would simply report that no updates were available if a download source could not be found, even if the latest version of a mod was higher than the installed version. Now the user will be advised to visit the mod's website in this situation, and be given the opportunity to abort the mod launch.
Automatic Update Check now occurs before the mod YPL check and before the launch sound is played.
Removed shutdown sound as this was cut off as soon as program terminated.
Startup sound is now controlled by Mod Launch Sounds rather than Mod Display Sounds.

[Blade]

I don't seem to be able to update the RPMI even though it has a newer version. I assume this is due to the update file not having been updated to the new structure? I've updated the TX update file if someone would like to double check that it works for them.