[Ben]

Ok, I've been doing some thinking about the new installer - I think that if we can get it right with the next release, we can just use the same source for all future releases (with only some minor tweakage), rather than having to start again.

This is only minor, and shouldn't be too hard to implement. Carrying on a similar line to Craig's audio blanker, I want to try and tidy up the LC directory somewhat.

After a small amount of testing, I've discovered that the following can be removed with no effect on game-play (this is all just VC stuff that isn't applicable to LC):
Files:
data\maps\map0.dat
data\maps\map1.dat
data\maps\map2.dat
data\maps\map3.dat
data\maps\map4.dat
data\maps\map5.dat
data\maps\map6.dat
data\maps\map7.dat
data\maps\map8.dat

Folders (within each folder are the following 3 files which are to be removed also - xxx.col, xxx.ide and xxx.ipl, where xxx is the name of the folder. I'm assuming that if you remove the folder, the files inside will be gone too ):
data\maps\airport
data\maps\airportN
data\maps\bank
data\maps\bar
data\maps\bridge
data\maps\cisland
data\maps\club
data\maps\concerth
data\maps\docks
data\maps\downtown
data\maps\downtows
data\maps\generic
data\maps\golf
data\maps\haiti
data\maps\haitiN
data\maps\hotel
data\maps\islandsf
data\maps\lawyers
data\maps\littleha
data\maps\mall
data\maps\mansion
data\maps\nbeach
data\maps\nbeachbt
data\maps\nbeachw
data\maps\oceandn
data\maps\oceandrv
data\maps\stadint
data\maps\starisl
data\maps\stripclb
data\maps\washintn
data\maps\washints
data\maps\yacht

If the installer can be written to remove those files from the directory the user chooses to install LC into, it will save space and make the LC directory neater (and easier to mod for less experienced people).

I'm going to look further into this over the coming weeks to see if there are other files which can be removed as well. For now though, I've added this to the first post.

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

PS - Actually, before you dive in with thoughts, suggestions, etc., please make sure you've got v6test3, otherwise you'll find that a lot of unused VC files have already been removed (as I did !).

[ITBTD]

sorry if i missed this but when are you expecting this new installer? i mean what month?

[Craig Kostelecky]

I've been trying to get in contact with CTM a little bit in the past few days (as I've started working on the mod again) but I have not received any response yet. I hope we can get together soon to improve on his v5 installer. No promises on when though.

[Dwayne Pheonix]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but the installer just DOESN'T work!

Status: Decompressing installation archive
[ _______________________ ]

Overall Install ation propgress
[ |_|_|_|_|_______________ ]

It gets to 4 bars, then just stops!
I've left it for almost an hour, and nothing has happened!

What should I do?!

[SteaVor]

Try to deactivate your antivirus software.
Try to install manually as described in the first post of the FAQ topic.

This post has been edited by SteaVor on Sunday, Jun 4 2006, 19:52

[Ben]

G'day all . First off I want to apologise on behalf of the team for not having had an installer recently. I'm afraid though, that it's going to be a while yet before we do have one .

Anyway, Craig has been trying to contact CTM, although he's lack of activity suggests that he's probably busy with RealLife™ at the moment, and therefore *MIGHTN'T* have the time to dedicate to making a new installer. I've also tried to contact nsane, as he expressed some interest in helping out a while ago, although he hasn't been online since before I PM'ed him.

So, what I'm wondering is if anyone is interested in making the new installer. The only stipulations at this stage is that it is compatible for everyone, bug-free, runs smoothly, and includes the features outlined in the first post (I can go into more detail regarding those features if need be). Furthermore, this installer will form the foundations for all future installers, so ideally we want to get it right this time .

If you have the know-how to whip up something like this and the time to dedicate to it, please post here .

[nsane]

sure, i can write you guys an installer, just give me a few days to free up some time and i'll get right on it

one things tho, i dunno about an online installer. altho inno does have a download dll it's kind of a pain to work with (never even got it working to be honest). but everything else should be no problem...

[Ben]

Sure, no problems. I look forward to seeing what you can come up with - it'll be great to finally have an installer so we can get a new major release out .

[nsane]

ok, quick test...

http://files.nsaneproductions.com/?file=gta_copy_test.exe (left click - has referal checks)

just let me know if it properly detects your VICE CITY folder and copies it to another LC folder. i'm try to automate the entire task so you just need VC installed and you're good to go

i'd recomend renaming your current LC folder to something like "backup" before running it, or it might overwrite yours if you're using the same name it does!



btw, what files exactly are needed from the audio folder when copying the VC folder? i could speed that part up by ignoring the ones that get overwritten by LC files...

[GTAThomas]

That's quite the load of work you're putting on yourself.

[MegaVovaN]

QUOTE (nsane @ Sep 21 2006, 20:27)

ok, quick test... http://files.nsaneproductions.com/?file=gta_copy_test.exe (left click - has referal checks) just let me know if it properly detects your VICE CITY folder and copies it to another LC folder. i'm try to automate the entire task so you just need VC installed and you're good to go i'd recomend renaming your current LC folder to something like "backup" before running it, or it might overwrite yours if you're using the same name it does! btw, what files exactly are needed from the audio folder when copying the VC folder? i could speed that part up by ignoring the ones that get overwritten by LC files...

works for me!

it found my game at D:\GTA VC Clean

D is my games Hard Drive

[Ben]

None of the VC audio files (those in the "Audio" folder) are overwritten - all of LC's custom files are placed in the "audioLC" folder, so there's nothing to worry about from that perspective.

The only exceptions are SFX.RAW and SFX.SDT. However, they NEED to be copied over because of the way Nullpointer's Tool updates them. The map files/folders at the top of this page (in my post - there's a link in the first post too) can be left out in the copying process though .

[nsane]

ok, i think i pretty got everything now, so here's test #1 for the installer...

DOWNLOAD (93.16 MB)

Improvements:
- Smaller, obviously
- Creates a start menu folder
- Options to create desktop and quicklaunch icons
- Auto rebuilds SFX archive if LC audio is chosen
- Auto sets the loader's INI file for VC and LC radio
- Auto blanks unused VC audio (if chosen)
- Auto cleans the maps folder
- Auto copies your VC folder and makes a LC folder
- Functional uninstall
- Other minor stuff...

To-do list:
- GTA3 Radio and Cutscene audio (need more info, see below, before i can do that)
- oh, and i can easily rename the TXD and GXT files for people using the VC radio (left as it was tho, as requested in the first post)


<gta3 owners only>

could someone export its uninstall registry key and pass it my way? don't have a copy myself and it's an easy way to auto-detect program locations

the key should be located in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

the VC uninstall key, for example: {4B35F00C-E63D-40DC-9839-DF15A33EAC46}

remember, export to a .reg file and pass it my way. i do need the value names too ya know

fuhq2mofo[AT]gmail[DOT]com

</gta3 owners only>

[Craig Kostelecky]

I don't know when I can get a chance to test this, as I have another programming project to do (and another surgery coming up). But it looks like you've gotten the major features. And the filesize is under 100 MB.

I recently just heard from CTM as well. And he's been working on a new version of his installer. Like I said I won't have time to test either version anytime soon, but hopefully if your installer is not complete, you two can work together to improve it. Or maybe his version is closer to completion. I don't have a personal preferrence as to who makes the installer, but I do want the best work that I can get.

[MegaVovaN]

QUOTE (nsane @ Sep 28 2006, 07:39)

ok, i think i pretty got everything now, so here's test #1 for the installer... DOWNLOAD (93.16 MB) Improvements: - Smaller, obviously - Creates a start menu folder - Options to create desktop and quicklaunch icons - Auto rebuilds SFX archive if LC audio is chosen - Auto sets the loader's INI file for VC and LC radio - Auto blanks unused VC audio (if chosen) - Auto cleans the maps folder - Auto copies your VC folder and makes a LC folder - Functional uninstall - Other minor stuff... To-do list: - GTA3 Radio and Cutscene audio (need more info, see below, before i can do that) - oh, and i can easily rename the TXD and GXT files for people using the VC radio (left as it was tho, as requested in the first post) <gta3 owners only> could someone export its uninstall registry key and pass it my way? don't have a copy myself and it's an easy way to auto-detect program locations the key should be located in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall the VC uninstall key, for example: {4B35F00C-E63D-40DC-9839-DF15A33EAC46} remember, export to a .reg file and pass it my way. i do need the value names too ya know fuhq2mofo[AT]gmail[DOT]com </gta3 owners only>

I downloaded this, it installed flawlessly! Did not try to launch the game though - my VC CD is somewhere...

I really like how it copies game for me and deletes extra files!

As for GTA 3 resistry key, I installed it, but I have like 20 keys in that directory with cryptic names How do I know which one is GTA3?

[CTM]

First off, without delay: I apologise immensely for my absence over the last few months. Real life is the worst virus you can catch; sitting exams and starting university have completely destroyed my online time.

However, that's all over and sorted now. I start university properly on Monday, which has given me a couple of weeks to work on my part of the GTA:LC project. I see that nsane has very kindly filled in the gap that I left, so I'm probably not needed any more, but regardless I've been working on a new installer (mainly to pass the time and to satisfy my curiosity in fixing some of the ridiculous bugs in the old installer). This is what I've come up with:

• Written almost from scratch. This eliminated all of the old bugs.
• Online. Compressed copies of the installation files are downloaded from any number of servers, then uncompressed, verified and installed as usual. The installer is more like 6MB than the previous 110MB, which means that more people can host both the installer and the files.
• Fixed GUI. This means it doesn't stop responding and freeze inexplicably; it'll run nicely whatever it's doing.
• Made more compatible with other versions of Windows. This is partly down to me finding a copy of VMWare Workstation through university because I can now test the installer on Win98/ME before it's even released. The new installer performs brilliantly on all versions of Windows above and including 98.
• Stable. The old installer was fairly rough around the edges, mainly because there weren't many verification checks. This one is full of them: every situation is accounted for, and even if it does stop working for some reason, a debug log is dumped and the user is asked to report it back to us so I can fix any bugs that might have cropped up.
• More flexible. "Manual installs" are possible if the user wants to download either the compressed or uncompressed files by themself and install from them rather than downloading from a mirror. You don't have to install GTA3 SFX or audio if you don't want to; the installer will adapt to that.
• Fully documented. Every possible way of running the installer differently is logged in a readme file that ships with the installer.
• Still customised to fit LC's needs. The options to install cutscene audio, radio stations, SFX etc. are still there and have been made more robust.

There are some other things, but they're minor and not really worth mentioning. I'm doing some final testing on the code I have at the moment to determine whether or not it's release-worthy; if anyone wants to take a look at it, I'll be more than happy to let you know when it's ready.

[nsane]

@CTM - now you got me feeling bad, making me feel like i'm underminding all your work. but, i guess, i could do the complete install while you handle it's online counterpart (if it came down to it). altho, if it were possible, i could use an stand-alone tool to copy the GTA3 audio from its CD (detecting the proper drive letter is turning out to be a pain on my end) :\

@MegaVovaN - the only way to tell for sure is to simply start at the top and scroll down 1 by 1 until you notice "GTA3" or something displayed in the pane on the right. like so, using VC as an example...



This post has been edited by nsane on Sunday, Oct 1 2006, 15:04

[CTM]

QUOTE (nsane @ Sep 29 2006, 14:25)

@CTM - now you got me feeling bad, making me feel like i'm underminding all you (if it came down to it). altho, if it were possible, i could use an stand-alone tool to copy the GTA3 audio from its CD (detecting the proper drive letter is turning out to be a pain on my end) :\

No, not at all! You filled in and produced another installer when I had to disappear with no warning. Please don't feel bad, if anything this situation is my fault.

[Ben]

@nsane - That sounds awesome!

I haven't tested it out, but from that list, it sounds as though you've got everything more than under control . Excellent work .

@CTM - That's fine. I contacted nsane because I wanted to keep the project rolling . So I guess in a way it's my fault too .

But yeah, your installer sounds excellent as well . I'm with Craig in thinking that you two should probably work together to see what you can come up with - some sort of super installer would be great !

Keep up the good work - hopefully I'll get around to testing out both of the installers in the near future...

[banxter667]

Two for nsane's installer, took it about 10 minutes total to swap out all the files and for me to start a new game (after the download that is, but that only took 5-10 minutes too). That's about 30 minutes quicker than it takes me to do by hand... and that's a good thing in my book.

Keep up the good work nsane, and thank you
(muchas gracias to Craig for pointing me at it too, I'd still be pulling my hair out trying to get that installed if he hadn't sent me the link to it...)

This post has been edited by banxter667 on Wednesday, Oct 11 2006, 03:02