Launch Base Beta Test

[pd]

I don't see a reason why gamemd.syr should be changed, but if, it really has a reason.
The only reason it was changed this time was to ensure NPatch compability (Syringe tried to allocate space where NPatch has its code).

Well, if your update system can handle this, it's awesome!

[Marshall]

Indeed the LB update system can handle this, although I'll write some code in specifically to update the Syringe files. However I will need you, pd, to provide a URL to an LB update check file so that LB can check what the latest version is and where the two files can be downloaded from. If you can let me know where the URL will be I'll send you an example update check file - it will probably only need 3 lines of text.

By the way, pd, if you haven't had a chance to check out LB yet I'd much appreciate your thoughts. Let me know if your beta invite got lost in the post.

[Marshall]

In addition to my earlier questions regarding plugins and RockPatch support (I'm choosing to take the lack of any feedback on my proposals as a unanimous approval and so will being implementing them shortly) I am also finding the idea of supporting multiple versions of the same mod to be somewhat counter-productive. As such I plan to remove any special treatment for such mods. You'll still be able to have multiple installs of the same mod, but they won't be given any special treatment. This mostly just concerns the update check facilities.

I am presently in the process of implementing an improvement for the Mod Catalogue that DCoder suggested. The Mod Catalogue will not neccessarily check for updates to every single thing whenever you enter the Mod Catalogue window. Instead, a refresh period will be used to determine whether or not we recently checked for an update to a mod. You will be able to specify the refresh period in Tools > Options. A new file 'modcat.lbd' will store any downloaded update check information.

[Marshall]

Major update today.

Version 0.99.115 [2008-06-27]
Fixed corrupted data size readouts if the size was not an integer number of kilobytes.
Fixed bug where tool parameters were not saved to the correct tool.
Syringe is now automatically supported if a mod includes the neccessary DLL and INJ files.
Check For Updates now includes checks for Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge (only if you don't already have 1.006 or 1.001 respectively).
Automatic Update Check now includes check for Launch Base on startup. Note that disabling Automatic Update Check means that you will have to manually check for updates to Launch Base itself.
Rewrite of Update Check/Mod Catalogue facility. Catalogue is now saved locally and updated as required so is much more efficient. New options to control the frequency the catalogue is refreshed and a new button to force a full update.
Removed support for multiple versions of the same plugin - only the latest installed version will be handled.
Removed support for RockPatch.
Removed Broadcast Message.
There is no longer any distinction between Developer Tools and User Tools - these no longer appear on the Tools menu.
When downloading change logs, Launch Base will no longer show the download progress window or play the EVA alert. Such files download too quickly for this to be worth it, however this also means you can no longer cancel large change logs.
New option: 'Automatic Terrain Expansion'. This will automatically activate the TX for mods that allow it.
New Mod Catalogue filter option: 'Installed Mods'. This will show entries from the catalogue even if you already have the latest version of that mod. Can't imagine why a normal user would need this but I found it useful for debugging. Any invalid entries due to a failed update check will never be displayed.
LaunchBase.ini now stores the revision number without leading zeroes.

Version 0.99.103 [2008-06-27]
'rockpatch' category only allows DLL and INJ files.
'rockpatch' category renamed to 'syringe'.
Fixed bug where you could intermittently create an installer when there were still file errors outstanding.
RockPatch options removed (in-line with Launch Base changes).
Added Size column to files list.
Updated help topics.

For now at least, the latest Syringe will simply be included with Launch Base rather than having a separate component that needs to be downloaded.

A new mod has been released (use the update check facility to get it). It is simply pd's Except Checker so that you can use it with Launch Base and see how Syringe is now supported for future mods.

The RA2/YR update check is incomplete at the moment - on startup, if you don't have RA2 1.006 or YR 1.001 then you will get a message saying that the language hasn't been determined and that the update check will assume English language. I haven't figured out how I'm gonna determine this yet - possibly pd's getlang tool although I seem to have lost that and don't remember if it worked on RA2 or YR only.

Please bear in mind that there have been a lot of code changes to LB in this version - I've done a fair amount of testing but can't guarantee no slip ups. Please let me know if you have any problems.

[DCoder]

When downloading change logs, Launch Base will no longer show the download progress window or play the EVA alert. Such files download too quickly for this to be worth it, however this also means you can no longer cancel large change logs.

Wouldn't it be possible to show the dialog once the size of downloaded content exceeds a certain size? Not sure if it's worth it, though.

[Marshall]

Could do, but when is a change log gonna exceed more than a few KB?

[gordon-creAtive]

Could do, but when is a change log gonna exceed more than a few KB?

Ha. Ask Renegade about the qdb logs

I will "resign" from LaunchBase beta testing from 4. July until ~4. August, because I'm moving, but I'm pretty sure, I can test the latest release. (Posting from a friend)

[Marshall]

Version 0.99.117 [2008-06-28]
Fixed bug where the message "No updates available" would be logged if an update check file failed to download.
If 'Only Download Full Installers' was turned off and an update only installer was found during an update check, and 'Only Download Full Installers' was then turned on, but the refresh time period hadn't elapsed, a new update check would not be performed. Now it will.
Fixed several bugs with check for updates facility where mod catalogue file would grow with invalid entries and Launch Base would attempt to download from blank update check URLs.
If a mod provides an update check URL and the central catalogue lists a different update check URL for the same mod, then the update check file that offers the latest version will be used and the other check file will be ignored.
Plugins with wholly numeric Plugin IDs are no longer permitted.

[Marshall]

Version 0.99.118 [2008-06-30]
Added time-based check to see if the game/Syringe failed to load and appropriate warning messages.
Added checksum checks for the games' executables and appropriate warnings.
Added alternative view for Mods tab that lists all the mods' banners - single-click to launch the mod. You can switch between views by clicking the Mods tab again. Some skins will need to be updated.
Fixed "file not found" crash that could occur when reading file checksums.
Fixed bug where simply opening Tools > Options would show a message box if 'Persistant Plugins' was turned on.
After playing a mod that uses Syringe, the generated "syringe.log" file will now be moved from the Red Alert 2 directory to the Launch Base Resource directory.
Launch Base now recognises "MULTI.MIX", "THEME.MIX", "MAPS01.MIX", "MAPS02.MIX", "MAPSMD03.MIX", "MOVIES01.MIX", "MOV02.MIX" and "MOVMD03.MIX" as being stock game files - they won't be treated as residual files and mods cannot replace them.
Updated help topics.

Note that Renegade's and gordon-creAtive's skins are in need of a few tweaks:
The standard for plugin buttons is now "deactivate/activate" as opposed to "install/uninstall" and the skins now have a "tab4.bmp" file for the mod banners view.
Guys, if you could spare a few minutes to send me updated skins I'd appreciate it.

Note that a new Colors flag has been added to skin.ini to allow you to set the banner border colour. The skins in the current version of Launch Base should be a sufficient basis for anyone wishing to create their own skin.

[Marshall]

Version 0.99.119 [2008-07-02]
Fixed crash that would occur when manually deactivating a plugin.
Right-clicking a banner will no longer launch that mod.
Fixed internal error that could occur when performing an automatic update check if there were multiple mods with the same update check URL.
Added functionality to the restore process so that except.txt can be transferred to the mod's folder - just like IPB videos.

Surprised no-one had thought of the last one until now.

[DCoder]

That last one is pretty nice... what about backing it up as well so it doesn't get overwritten by the next crash?

[Marshall]

Each one will prompt you for a description and will move the file to the mod's folder and rename it as follows:
Except yyyy-mm-dd hh.mm.ss [mod_version] - description.txt

If there is any pre-existing except.txt file in the RA2 folder before launching the mod then it is treated as a residual file and is temporarily moved to LaunchBase\Backup

[Marshall]

Version 0.99.120 [2008-07-05]
When automatically checking for updates by launching a mod or using the right-click menu, if a mod has not specified an update check URL then Launch Base will log a message advising this.
When automatically checking for updates by launching a mod, Launch Base will skip checks where the user is launching a legacy version of a mod. When checking for updates using the right-click menu, legacy versions will cause Launch Base to check for updates to the most up-to-date installed version of the mod.
When checking for updates via the right-click menu, a message box should always be displayed regardless of the result of the update check.
Right-clicking on a banner on the mod banners view will show the same menu as right-clicking on the mods list.
Command line argument change: specifying an IPB file no longer requires the -play switch (which is no longer recognised). As such, IPB files can be associated with Launch Base so you can double-click on them. See Help Topics for more information about this change.
Added 'Associate With IPB Videos" button to Options window.
Launch Base setup program will erase the downloaded mod catalogue, in case any changes introduced in the latest version require the data to be updated.
Updated help topics.

Would like opinions on the eva sounds - considering removing them to reduce DL size as I don't think many people will want these.

[DCoder]

Would like opinions on the eva sounds - considering removing them to reduce DL size as I don't think many people will want these.

I agree with that.

[Marshall]

Then it is done (for the next version). Saves about 130KB. I'm leaving the 'downloading files now' sound in though.