Addons at ease

[Blake]

...That's why the modding community would appreciate receiving decrypted v1.91 config source files from BIS so total conversion mods would be possible. Total conversion mods are the direction which OFP is going. Combining single addons for big packs would be best, single addons are a bit annoying to download and install. Nam Pack 2 and BAS delta rangers are good example of addons forming into something bigger and better.

[Dwarden]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Hellfish6 @ April 13 2003,23:46)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I&#39;m pretty sure that Marek or Suma said that 1.91 was the final patch.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
That will be sad, cause i can garant to u that setting High and Very High surface details + hi resolution + AA + AF make OFPR unstable and jerky.

nor GeforceFX 5200/5600 nor Radeon 9500/9700/9800 (both checked myself).
nor speed of CPU (XP 2400+ or p4 2.53 and higher)
nor size&speed of memory (1GB DDR400)

AND i find that REALLY strange cause i remember when was told me from BIS staff, You will be able use excelent visual details and number of units with next generation of VideoCards and CPUs. Now when that time comes i discovering truth isn&#39;t so nice.

[Lt_Damage]

I would like to voice my support of this initiative. I think it is a great idea.

Addons have been around for a long time, but as a server administrator I have had many headaches using them.

Players simply have problems installing them, or even knowing a server uses them. You can write all the instructions in the world, you can create automatic installer packages but players still have problems and the unfriendlyness for simple players means they go play something easier.

When we setup the OGN server I wanted this problem eliminated so we did something very simple.

We use many great addons on the server. We do not provide any links to where to download the individual addons, we don&#39;t need to, we have 1 simple file that takes care of all of it.

We made an automatic update tool which simply is run by the player whenever they are about to play on the server, it checks our ftp server for a filelist and compares whats in the player&#39;s OFP dir with what is on the server. If the player is missing addons it automatically downloads them and installs them into the correct area of the OFP directory.

It could not be more simple.

For a look at how it works you can download the installer here


If more servers used this method it doesn&#39;t matter how computer illiterate a player is, anyone can run this tool.

Of course this is quite apart from the actually TAGing of addons for compliance, I think this is a great step forward.

Regards,

[Skier55d]

continuing on thoughts on the "updater" program...

in more detail i think it could work like this...

1. Establish a page or small site that is hosted by Codemasters or BIS, that way everything is done officially and can be reviewed and rated according to one official grading system. This site would be dynamic (similar to OFPEC&#39;s addon system), if you wanted to submit an addon, go to the submission page, submit the file add a description, picture, and other necessary info (for the OFPEC tag system for AAE) to be reviewed by BIS, Codemasters or whoever hosts the site. When it has been reviewed and accepted, it would be uploaded to the site, then a link along with the description and so on would be added to the database i mentioned earlier, that way files aren&#39;t spread between a variety of sites ***and narrows the field of error.

2. At the site, you can download an official "AAE" updater program made by BIS or Codemasters. The interface should be simple, straight-forward and easy to understand (similar to something you might see on the Windows Updater web page). You can check for updates which would retrieve the current list of files then check it against the OFP Addons folder (or in this case ofp/res/addons folder since it is primarily made to support 1.91) to see which addons are currently installed. Ones that are not installed can simply be downloaded and automatically installed for the user so there is no copying of files to any OFP folders therefore no confusion among simple computer users. Inside the updater could be an addon manager that allows you to easily get information about currently installed addons, and allow the user to automatically un-install the file if necessary, with once again, no messy file sifting.

but with every idea there are problems, some of which could be keeping databases up to date, the time-comitment for reviewing files, or the amount of official sponsorship from BIS (hopefully this won&#39;t be a problem).

This is what i have in mind... ***

[Skier55d]

dang, lt_dammage got his reply out before me (3 mins before me cause i was typin) , but its nice to see we both have similar ideas.

BY the way lt_damage, your addon/installer program is almost the perect example of what i want, only its missing more detail and info on each addon and lacking my idea for a addonmanager too, but i think BIS should use his installer as a template for the AAE.

[Lt_Damage]

We are still working on those features.

It is custom designed for the OGN server, we don&#39;t really need descriptions of each addon. Nor an addon manager. But those things are easily done.

Its the core use of the tool that keeps EVERY ofp player on ogn, from the guru&#39;s to the fresh players, up to date with the server addons.

Its just a way to overcome the problem where servers that use addons have players that cannot connect.

[Lt_Damage]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Skier55d @ April 14 2003,16:05)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">continuing on thoughts on the "updater" program...

in more detail i think it could work like this...

1. Establish a page or small site that is hosted by Codemasters or BIS, that way everything is done officially and can be reviewed and rated according to one official grading system. This site would be dynamic (similar to OFPEC&#39;s addon system), if you wanted to submit an addon, go to the submission page, submit the file add a description, picture, and other necessary info (for the OFPEC tag system for AAE) to be reviewed by BIS, Codemasters or whoever hosts the site. When it has been reviewed and accepted, it would be uploaded to the site, then a link along with the description and so on would be added to the database i mentioned earlier, that way files aren&#39;t spread between a variety of sites ***and narrows the field of error.

2. At the site, you can download an official "AAE" updater program made by BIS or Codemasters. The interface should be simple, straight-forward and easy to understand (similar to something you might see on the Windows Updater web page). You can check for updates which would retrieve the current list of files then check it against the OFP Addons folder (or in this case ofp/res/addons folder since it is primarily made to support 1.91) to see which addons are currently installed. Ones that are not installed can simply be downloaded and automatically installed for the user so there is no copying of files to any OFP folders therefore no confusion among simple computer users. Inside the updater could be an addon manager that allows you to easily get information about currently installed addons, and allow the user to automatically un-install the file if necessary, with once again, no messy file sifting.

but with every idea there are problems, some of which could be keeping databases up to date, the time-comitment for reviewing files, or the amount of official sponsorship from BIS (hopefully this won&#39;t be a problem).

This is what i have in mind... ***[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Well I keep the file list for OGN addons up to date quite easily, only takes 15 minutes out of my day.

As it stands the tool does everything you ask except the addon management and descriptions of addons.

[[CCCP]Stalker]

You now that the same file compressed with clickteams installer is 15Mb large and using WinRAR 3 only 13Mb. So what is the compression rate of AAE ?

[Fiestel]

I would like to put my 2 cents in regarding installers. In one word: NO&#33;

The reason, as I saw in at least one other post, is simple. It&#39;s spelled V-I-R-U-S. Sure installers make it easy to install an addon, but I personally do not see the difficulty in unzipping an addon into your addon directory. It is very simple and anyone can learn how to do it. The same would be said for unzipping missions.

Sure an installer will install the .pbo into your addon directory, or the mission in the appropriate place, but my primary concern is "what else" it may install without my knowledge. Now, I&#39;m NOT saying that OFP addon makers are virus writers, but at the same time I have no way to verify that they are not. I know I can scan an .exe file the same as I can a .zip file, but at least with a .zip file I can see all the files and if I want to, I can unzip only the .pbo and scan it again if I so desire. With an installer, who knows how many files are in there? I would definitely classify myself as an advanced user and I do insist on knowing what is happening on my system at all times. Perhaps I am just a little paranoid, but don&#39;t they say that to stay relatively safe from viruses and such that you should only surf or download from reputable sites? It all comes down to trust and I do not know any of these addon makers personally. But running an installer puts you in the addon makers hands and, I believe, pretty much leaves you out of the loop while the installer runs. Hopefully anti-virus software would catch anything suspicious, but why risk it?

Don&#39;t get me wrong, I&#39;m not against easy installation, but I don&#39;t see unzipping files as difficult. All I can say is that if installers become the norm and as I saw in a few other posts, I will not be downloading any addons that are not simple .zip files. Perhaps as a solution, that if the addon maker chooses to use an installer, maybe they will also have a version of their addon/mission in a .zip file for those of us who are against installers.

I&#39;d like to comment on one other related item even though it is not really part of this particular forum. I like downloading addons in .zip files - not .rar or any other format. I do not want to have to install X number of different zip utilities just so I can unzip all the different file formats. This particular forum is about setting standards, so being that .zip is the most common, why use something else? Again, as a solution, rather than using one format only, maybe have your addon available in an multiple formats, ie. .zip, .rar, .exe as BAS did for their Delta/Ranger addon which I appreciated very much.

I didn&#39;t mean to write a novel here, but I just thought I&#39;d pass along my thoughts.

Fiestel

[OxPecker]

If the installers are endorsed and distributed by BIS, I think the chance of virus is almost 0%.
I mean, you run the exe files that BIS distribute their patches in, right? And I bet most of you installed the BIS Camel addon?