Updater

[Zjok]

Was notified at runtime that my version was in need of updating.
It said to run the Updater.
Could not find the updater because the name of my copy is: pslaunch.
I discovered that by searching for updater and found updater.icns and recognized that pslaunch used that icon.

So double clicking pslaunch ran the updater but the Yes No choice button was inside a container So Big that I could
not read all of the information contained on the main window of updater.

OK, I clicked Yes and the updater did its thing, I Guess, cause I left for coffee while it was updating.
Got back, updater was done, I Guess, Launched PS and received the same message as per 1st line here.
Either updater did not work Or it works a bit different than other updaters and I did not follow procedure.

So, I went to the PS website and downloaded the New Version 0.5.2. Will install in a minute and get going again.

Suggestions:
Change the name of pslaunch to psupdater.
Reduce the size of the Yes No container on the updater main window or better yet put Yes No choices at the bottom of the info without a seperate container.
If there is a special procedure for making updater work, include a bit of info somewhere explaining said procedure.

PS: I did read the enclosed installation-updating.html. Not only does it tell me to run updater which is named pslaunch, it tells me to run the PlaneShift pssetup program, which as far as I can find in the PS folder, does not exist.
Minor stuff but it would be nice if they were corrected.

[Akkaido Kivikar]

Hello.

PSLaunch is more than just an updater, it has settings for the game which are needed in a seperate application as having these settings wrong will crash the main client before you can get to change settings. That is why it is PSLaunch not PSUpdater.

[verden]

PSLaunch replaced the two separate programs very recently in the development of this project, updates to the associated content will happen in time. But these sorts of things should be noted on the bugtracker for consistency.

[LigH]

Within minutes after hearing about the update to 0.5.2, we also got a warning not to use the updater to get version 0.5.2 via IRC (because the update server was unfortunately not yet ready -- and also could not stand the rush).

It is really recommendable - in case of doubts - to visit the IRC channel #planeshift on the IRC server FreeNode.

[Drey]

tbh psupdate or somesuch should link to pslaunch

because ambiguous naming is pro

[Xordan]

On windows pslaunch is the default application. You launch the client through it.
Should be the same on linux and mac too, but I don't have time to work out how to do that best.
I also don't have a machine with linux or mac on, so it's a bit hard to test it

[Vakachehk]

Well.

There are issues with updating on Planeshift!

1) it does not save (like a patch) to your PC so you cannot copy it onto another PC, wastes internet space.
2) Its well... lets put it this way confusing! and wastes a lot of internet GB. Which quite frankly pisses me off, why cant you just get like a patch instead of re-fully downloading it again. Also to simple clarify that you have to fully download it (we are not brain geeks so how would we know) by not via IRC, I have school all day I don't site on IRC just in case a certain update comes through I have a life beyond PS, It would be best to be via email. With that becomes problems with oldies with accounts still, I hope that they can still delete there account so that they cannot keep getting update emails.

[LigH]

I don't really understand you, Vakachehk ...

1) Of course pslaunch loads an update package to your PC locally. How else should it access it after it got downloaded? -- It just deletes the package after applying it. Because it would is not useful in its form after applying it, and would waste harddisk space afterwards.

2) If a normal update works, it is rather efficient: It downloads ZIP archives with only difference patches. Exactly the opposite to your assumption. You should not judge the application from its result, without watching its progress while being active.

But I can understand that you would prefer to be able to download the patch packages only once, and copy them locally to other PCs. In fact, this is possible with enough knowledge of the networking basics and the content and meaning of updaterinfo.xml: pslaunch retrieves XML and ZIP files from a web server via HTTP, it is possible to do the same with e.g. a web browser or a downloading tool, copy the files to a local web server on your LAN, and redirect the updateinfo.xml mirror to your preferred "local updater" PC (and if it is "localhost" in case of only one PC). But that would require you to regularly download the update patches manually, including the parsing of the package management file.

[LadyOfLavender]

Within minutes after hearing about the update to 0.5.2, we also got a warning not to use the updater to get version 0.5.2 via IRC (because the update server was unfortunately not yet ready -- and also could not stand the rush).

It is really recommendable - in case of doubts - to visit the IRC channel #planeshift on the IRC server FreeNode.

What does this mean?  How do I visit the IRC channel on the IRC server FreeNode?  I have no idea what this is, but I will go there to try and fix my own problem of crashing just before entering the game world.  The new 0.5.1 along with its update, or 0.5.2 if that is what is I downloaded last night, along with it's update, is still not getting me into the world of PS.  I am obviously no teckkie, and I have no idea what to do, but I will try use the info above, if I can be given the knowledge on how to find it.  Thanks, from a very frustrated player.

[Zjok]

LadyOfLavender Asked: What does this mean?  How do I visit the IRC channel on the IRC server FreeNode?  I have no idea what this is, but I will go there to try and fix my own problem of crashing just before entering the game world.  The new 0.5.1 along with its update, or 0.5.2 if that is what is I downloaded last night, along with it's update, is still not getting me into the world of PS.  I am obviously no teckkie, and I have no idea what to do, but I will try use the info above, if I can be given the knowledge on how to find it.  Thanks, from a very frustrated player.

To visit the IRC server FreeNode do the following:
Click the name PlaneShift Steel Blue at the top of this forum page window. That will take you to the PlaneShift home page.
Click on the word Community in the menu on the left side of that page. That action will drop a list of links.
Click on Chat I. that will take you to the PlaneShift Chat Guide. Look in paragraph 1) for the word here <- Click on that word
At the center of that page type in a Nickname: Your_Nickname and type #planeshift in the Channels: field Then Click Connect.
Wait a few seconds and your in.
The text entry field is at the bottom of the page. A list of people in the IRC channel is on the right.

[LigH]

Furthermore, you would have been able to find the "FreeNode" website via web search engines (e.g. Google), and could have read on their page what IRC is, and how to join a channel.

They even have a webchat client for your favourite webbrowser, so it is not even necessary to install a dedicated IRC client.

And on top, there is the Wikipedia which is able to explain IRC = "Internet Relay Chat".
___

Indeed, we are techies... But PlaneShift is by far not yet finished, it is "a game in development". Technical issues are to be expected, and some level of technical experience is very advantageous still.

According to the motto of the "Knowledge Seekers" guild: "We come to teach". And hope not to sound too arrogant, without purpose. 

[Akkaido Kivikar]

@LigH: He means like WoW patches, which save as a patcher exe and are there for later use if necessary, so you can throw it on a USB drive and use it to patch all the computers in your home at once, rather than spending bandwidth getting a patch off a mirror.

HOwever, PS patches are small usually, and therefore it's not too bigger bandwidth spend. Usually if it is a big update it's just released as a new installer and the updater doesn't work...

[LigH]

Because PlaneShift is a multi-plattform game (Windows / MacOS X / Linux,BSD), PlaneShift update patches should be platform independent as much as possible (except for those which contain platform specific files, especially executables).

Therefore they should not be self-installing executables, because then we would need to build binary patches for each operating system PlaneShift runs on (or even: might run on -- as people might build it there from sources).

ZIP archives are therefore quite convenient, because the updater (in each platform specific form) handles the extraction and the difference adding. And one would be able to copy them if he was able to download them manually instead of by the updater. And then it only needs a way to tell the updater not to look on the update server, but on a local directory.

One way which should already work would be to use a local webserver (either as service/daemon or portable tool), and configure the updater to use "localhost" as update server.