Multiple Mod Auto-Updater for SoW mods

He's on the board and he writes tons of useful tools to make modding that much easier.
Post Reply
Garnier
Reactions:
Posts: 1258
Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 6:43 pm

Multiple Mod Auto-Updater for SoW mods

Post by Garnier »

I finally got around to publishing the mod updater I had mentioned a while back.

The idea is explained in more detail in the link above, but basically it's a way for all the players to keep their mods updated which is especially important when playing mods multiplayer.

DOWNLOAD LINK (100 kb)
Extract it anywhere you want, and run "LaunchModUpdater.exe"

So the way it works is this. Anyone releasing a mod can use this updater. For it to be usable, they must have it hosted at a static address (not filefront for instance). They create a folder on an ftp server, and put a file called index.txt in the folder. The contents of index.txt look like this:

AwesomeMod
part1.rar,1
part2.rar,1

Where "AwesomeMod" is the mod's name, and the other two lines are rar files that contain the mod's data. The numbers after the rar files are their version. A mod can have any number of rar files.

If you make an update to one of the rar files, you can simply change the version number. Like if I updated the contents of part1.rar, I'd change the index.txt to:

AwesomeMod
part1.rar,2
part2.rar,1

To release the mod they post the url of the FOLDER that index.txt is in. The updater will read index.txt, and then download all the rar files it lists from the same folder.

Now for the updater itself. The first thing the user must do is set up the path to the game here:
Image

The first one is the path to the game folder where each mod's directory is. I don't know where this will be yet of course.
The second is the path to the game's executable.

For a user to add a mod and update it, they go to Mods -> Add Mod and enter the URL that the mod author posted. The updater will check if there is a mod at that URL, and if so it will show it:

Image

To update the mod, you click the Update AwesomeMod button, and it will download any rars it hasn't yet downloaded, and place their contents in the mod's folder. The button will then change to "Play AwesomeMod" and clicking it will close the updater and start the game.

Here is the link to my AwesomeMod which just has some nonsense files, for anyone who wants to try this updater.
http://www.mastersofthefield.com/garnier/ModTest/Mod1

This updater updates itself so I can in the future add new functionality that we want. Of course this isn't very useful yet, but once the game is out it will be. ;)






www.mastersofthefield.com/public_html/g ... ter/Images

This is a tutorial for players using the Mod Updater.
By the end, you will have the Mod Updater installed, and have one mod (the Fictional OOB Pack) installed and working in game.

1. DOWNLOAD the Mod Updater.

2. EXTRACT the contents of ModUpdater.zip to any location.

3. Double-Click "LaunchModUpdater.exe"

4. Now you should see this:

Image

5. Click "Set Game Paths ->

Image

6.

Image

7.

Image

8.

Image

9.

Image

10.

Image

11.

Image

12.

Image

13.
Last edited by Garnier on Sun Apr 11, 2010 2:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Play Scourge of War Multiplayer! www.sowmp.com
Also try the singleplayer carryover campaign
Garnier
Reactions:
Posts: 1258
Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 6:43 pm

Re:Multiple Mod Auto-Updater for SoW mods

Post by Garnier »

I've set up the Mod Updater to alert you if there is a new patch available. It also provides an option to let the updater download the patch and then start the installation process.

Essentially it just compares the checksum of the SOWGB.exe you have currently with the one from the latest patch, if they don't match it lets you update. The update downloads the same exact file from the link norb posted, so the result will be exactly the same.

It may take a while to download because the patch file is still pretty big (120 MB). You can watch the loading bar in the lower left for the progress. Once it finishes it will start the patch installation process automatically. I tested it myself and it worked for me.
Play Scourge of War Multiplayer! www.sowmp.com
Also try the singleplayer carryover campaign
Post Reply