PlaneShift Auto-Update

[Talven81]

Note: I hope this is the right place to post this, if not plz move it... I could not find a forum that properly fit this topic. (May I suggest a forum for contributions to PS?)

I ran across planeshift and think you have an awesome project going on here. To this point I can find no other free 3D 1st Person MMORPG that is as far developed as yours.

The one thing I think that could easily be solved in PS is an auto-update feature. Currently you must go to the update and verify you have the newest version... which I\'m sure many people, especially newcomers to PS, will miss. This could end up with frustrated unhappy users using old versions that give up and never give PS a try.

I am not a programmer but I do dabble in various languages, and the first one ever learned was batch files, back on my ol\' 286 25Mhz (Don\'t laugh it was a powerhouse! LOL)

Anyways my point is I created a batch file that will automatically run the update program and then launch planeshift. It can be run from any directory so it doesn\'t matter where you put it.

Feel free to look over it and verify it is safe before you run it.

(Right click and Save As... to save the file)
http://knights.hyperdtech.com/files/PlaneShift.bat

Code: [Select]


@ECHO OFF
ECHO Loading PlaneShift Autopatch... [OK]

ECHO Locating PlaneShift...
CD \"\\Program Files\\PlaneShift\\\"
if errorlevel 1 goto dirfail
ECHO Planeshift Located... [OK]

ECHO Loading Patcher...
updater.exe
if errorlevel 1 goto updatefail
ECHO Patching complete... [OK]

ECHO Loading PlaneShift...
psclient.exe -video=opengl
if errorlevel 1 goto exefail
ECHO Planeshift Exited... [OK]
goto end


:dirfail
ECHO Unable to locate PlaneShift... [ERROR]
ECHO [ERROR] The \\Program Files\\PlaneShift\\ directory could not be found!
ECHO [ERROR] Please edit the planeshift.bat file to point to the proper location.
pause
goto end

:updatefail
ECHO Unable to patch PlaneShift... [ERROR]
ECHO [ERROR] The autopatcher was unable to execute the updater, or the updater has failed.
ECHO [ERROR] For further assistance please check the documentation or visit the PlaneShift website at [URL]www.planeshift.it[/URL]
pause
goto end

:exefail
ECHO Unable to load PlaneShift... [ERROR]
ECHO [ERROR] The autopatcher was unable to execute PlaneShift, or PlaneShift has failed.
ECHO [ERROR] For further assistance please check the documentation or visit the PlaneShift website at [URL]www.planeshift.it[/URL]
pause
goto end

:end


[Xordan]

lol, yeah that works good.

[Olig]

Ah, the wonders of a batch file. Nice idea, but many people use client mods to make the interface a little easier, like for taking screenshots for instance. Running the updater will replace many of these modifications so some users, such as myself, would find this as bad news if they announced it perminent. (Although it will prevent hackers and cheaters who use mods to find extra crystals, so your idea may be good in the long run)

I used to have a computer like your 286. I kinda wish my 1.4 athalon with 512ddr and radeon 9800 had a turbo button, just for show.

[Talven81]

Nah wouldn\'t be perminant, just a temporary solution.

The perminant solution would be to have the patcher call the planeshift exe and set the default shortcut that the install program creates to point to the patcher. The patcher would also have to pass arguments to the planeshift exe.

[acraig]

BlueCommand (  Androgos ) has been working very hard on our updater application and it will be very useful.  I think it can even be used to download the new Crystal Blue version ( although it will probably download everything ).  The server tracks it\'s version and it will inform any clients if their client version is out of date and you need to run the updater.  When you run the updater it will inform you of what files it needs to update and will rip those down.


One of the reasons to have a seperate application to do the updates is the idea of trying to update something that is in use.  Take for example VFS.dll which is the file system plugin. Windows won\'t let us change that while it is in use.  This could be a problem. That is why the updater will be built statically linked (ie won\'t use any .dll\'s) and will have no problem updating those files.

[Xordan]

Acraig: Maybe you could have a \'launch game\' button in the updater then?  So we can just launch the updater everytime we want to play the game, quickly scan for updates and then press the launch game button which\'ll exit the updater and run the client. Would make things alot easier.

[Androgos]

That\'s a little missunderstanding.
The nice thing is that it IS able to update files in use

[Zeraph]

Originally posted by Xordan
Acraig: Maybe you could have a \'launch game\' button in the updater then?  So we can just launch the updater everytime we want to play the game, quickly scan for updates and then press the launch game button which\'ll exit the updater and run the client. Would make things alot easier.

I also do not like this because It will definitely make logging into the game slower, & I like to mod the level files, I am creating a room inside a building right now for practice, & I really do not want that to be ?updated? over?

[Xordan]

You\'re not forced to run the updater first, you can still run the client seperatly, and it\'s quicker, as it means you don\'t have to run the client, find out that you need to update, update, then run the client again.

Zeraph: You do know that bug patches will be released fairly often? And that the server won\'t allow you to connect unless you have the latest patch?

[Zeraph]

ya, I just wouldn\'t like if I was working a mod & a update was released right then & boom it\'s gone...
I would like to be alerted to the fact that it\'s going to override something...

[Xordan]

There\'s a handy \'read only\' option you can place on files to stop that

[Zeraph]

oh ya, thanks for reminding me about that lol, I had some trouble with that when I was first learning computers  :]

[Kiva]

Originally posted by Zeraph
I also do not like this because It will definitely make logging into the game slower, & I like to mod the level files, I am creating a room inside a building right now for practice, & I really do not want that to be ?updated? over?

You should probably keep in mind that if you try to move your character somewhere out of the map, in CB, and you\'re not originally supposed to be able to go there, it will be detected as cheating, and map modifications can be a reason for bannage, even though you\'re just making a room for yourself. Just a friendly reminder, that\'s all.

[Beregar]

Originally posted by Xordan
Acraig: Maybe you could have a \'launch game\' button in the updater then?  So we can just launch the updater everytime we want to play the game, quickly scan for updates and then press the launch game button which\'ll exit the updater and run the client. Would make things alot easier.

As far as I can see from the CVS, this has just been added to the updater, right? Which is something I really like.

Anbother option would be like the NWN launcher, which ... launches a splash screen like window with  (among others) a button to play and one to update. No need to have 2 shortcuts on the desktop then, but also no need to open the directory where PlaneShift is installed and manually select one of the starters. And of course, those who do not like it can just change the shortcut to point to the regular starter.

[Xordan]

Yeah, Androgos(Bluecommand) implimented it.

Yes, that would be a good option for maybe the next release, but for now, just having a shortcut to the updater would allow you to do everything.