Solved Build 14: New Installer Method for Testing and Feedback

[Pieter Boelen]

I like this new internet connection! Upload is SO MUCH faster than it used to be.
Look.... already done:

http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_installer.exe
http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_full.cab

These two files can be used to make a clean install of the latest modpack version.
The new Installer EXE contain all the latest changes to the process and should be cleaner, faster and more reliable.

Some changes:
- Since the archive now has a different file extension, hopefully users won't get the bright idea of touching it themselves
- You'll get an error message if you still don't let the installer take care of the archive file
- It no longer exports in one folder and then moves the files later, which saves time and also gets past any space limitations if you use multiple disc drives
- You should now be able to do multiple installs simultaneously without them interfering with each other
- You should be able to place the installer files IN the main game folder, so no need to make a separate folder anymore
- Additional storylines (Devlin and Gold-Bug) are ALWAYS installed; the installer option only unlocks them (that explains the 0 KB required for that option)

The following checks are still in place:
- "ENGINE.exe" and "readme.txt" must already be in the destination folder to indicate that the unmodded game is actually installed there
- CRC check on the archive file to prevent issues from incomplete/corrupted/outdated downloads

I tested it on my end and, as far as I can tell, it works as it should. Has to be tested by more people, though, of course.
Here's to hoping it is even less prone to breaking than the previous one was.

 

[ANSEL]

Is there anything wrong with the second link : http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_full.potc
I cant get it working , I mean the downloading process.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Is there anything wrong with the second link : http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_full.potc
I cant get it working , I mean the downloading process.

Hmm... It is indeed acting a bit weird. Try right-clicking, then select "Save As".
For me it wants to save as a text document for some reason, so re-add the .potc extension.

Apparently some server/browser things are a bit confused about this ".potc" thing I made up.

EDIT: If I remove the extension altogether, it behaves the same. But changing it to .zip or even .dll DOES trigger normal download behaviour.
But why is that? It's annoying. And if indeed I cannot use .potc, what could we try instead that wouldn't get people to try manually extracting the file?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Try these instead:

http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_installer.exe
http://www.piratesahoy.net/build/b14_beta4_full.cab

Same as before, but with .cab instead which does trigger normal download behaviour for me.
If I recall, that is normally a file format used by installers anyway, so perhaps that would work.
It's not REALLY a .cab file though; we're just faking it....

 

[Levis]

Else use a .dat extension. It normally can be downloaded right but won't be recognized by the extractors.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Can do too. Let's see if this one works for people and I'll try that after we've had some feedback.

Do extractors recognize .cab as something they might want to extract? If so, indeed we do need something else.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I split the above posts from their original thread to make this more visible and encourage testing.
The links in the opening post have also been replaced with the cab-based ones. I'll change it to dat-based once we've got some more feedback.

There is now also a POLL for people to have their say on when we should start using this.
I'd very much appreciate if everyone would consider the pros and cons here and make a vote.
And if there are any further questions, comments and suggestions.... POST THEM!

 

[ANSEL]

@Pieter Boelen I have made a complete new install with the new installer, but it freeze
in the loading menu.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Pieter Boelen I have made a complete new install with the new installer, but it freeze
in the loading menu.

But nothing useful in the log files at all. And it's working on my end.

 

[ANSEL]

Any suggestion for me, what to do now. The game is not running and I can do nothing.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Any suggestion for me, what to do now. The game is not running and I can do nothing.

I'm currently working on making a Beta 3 and Beta 4 base EXE Installer so that in both cases, you should get the same game versions.
In the meantime, the previous Beta 3 base version works, right?

 

[Grey Roger]

You could re-install from CD's, then use the previous installer from here:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-5-internal-wip-for-testing.24817/

Did you install the game from CD's before running the new installer?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

As per @Levis' suggestion, the Installer EXE now uses a .dat extension. The archive is identical to the one posted yesterday; it has only been renamed.
I've also updated the EXE to contain ALL the latest updates. I'm still working on recompiling the Beta 3 base EXE to do the same.

 

[ANSEL]

You could re-install from CD's, then use the previous installer from here:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-5-internal-wip-for-testing.24817/

Did you install the game from CD's before running the new installer?

Yes! It was a complete new install I was doing . Now nothing will work
I tried a new install , with my old installer and No it isent working. I will try
again with the link above. It is the first time I have problem with installations

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Well, I decided to give this new doodad a try and made a new POTC install in its own folder, DLed the EXE, and when I left clicked on the DAT I got this.

 

[Grey Roger]

Right-click on it instead, then click on "Save Link As..." (or whatever equivalent your browser has if it's not Firefox).

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ok, got the DAT. Was I supposed to DL from the 1st post or from another post?

Anyway, now to see how it installs and runs.

 

[ANSEL]

You could re-install from CD's, then use the previous installer from here:
http://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/build-14-beta-3-5-internal-wip-for-testing.24817/

Did you install the game from CD's before running the new installer?

When I use this link I have this message:

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I installed everything ok and started the game. Got the cannonball and the ships and it froze. Logs here.

 

[ANSEL]

Its exactly the same that happened to me
But worst I cant get my game back as it was before.