Self Installer Help

[falcon409]

I'm looking for the freeware self installer program that I see for virtually every addon (freeware) that I've ever installed. I can't remember the name of the company and a search is useless as there's gotta be thousands of these programs.

Anyone know the one I'm talking about?

 

[falcon409]

Got it!!!

 

[MCDesigns]

While not sure of the intended use, keep in mind, there are many (like myself) that really dislike an auto installer, especially for freeware if it's not absolutely needed.

 

[falcon409]

Well, the problem I have Michael is that with scenery addons, there are a lot of variables for installing. Many folks don't even install inside FSX, others have a separate folder for each scenery addon with subfolders for textures and scenery bgl's and others have offshoots of the two and then even others have no idea where all those files go, so finding a way to package the bitmaps, bgl's, text files, and then installation instructions that aren't two pages long but still address the basics is a challenge.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated:isadizzy:

 

[Moparmike]

I'm guessing that you're looking for the Clickteam Install Maker. www.clickteam.com

A few words of advice from someone that's been using WISE, Installshield, and Clickteam for right at a decade now...
You'll wind up spend nearly as much time testing the installer itself as you will the product that goes inside it.

-Keep it as user friendly as an installer should be.

-If you're looking to package an FS add-on, use the registry key search function to automatically locate the registered FS install location. Don't just use the generic "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Flight Simulator..........." path as many folks don't use the default location.

-Keep the option in there for users to manually browse to their own location just in case they're wanting to install the add-on into another FS install that's not registered (or just to let them dump it into a "temp" folder so they can drag-n-drop the files in manually.

-Always keep the "Back" and/or "Cancel" buttons available.

-Don't create a start menu item for a simple FS addon like a plane or scenery.

-If you're including some of the "standard" gauges or other common types of files that users might already have don't let your installer just randomly overwrite the existing version. (I'm not sure how Clickteam handles this...I haven't used it for several years now).

-another tip on the subject of "common files". Be careful about your uninstall if you include one. It might remove some files that are used by other add-ons. I prefer to use just a simple install.log file that let's the users see what files are all installed so that they can remove em manually or leave anything that's used elsewhere.


I don't want to sound like I'm discouraging you from using an install-maker. Just offering some tips that should help keep your users happy and your post-install product support chores a little easier!

 

[Kiwikat]

Very good tips moparmike!!!

The shared files is the most important thing by far. I cannot tell you how angry it makes me when an uninstaller ruins my effects and lights for all my other planes.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Very good tips moparmike!!!

The shared files is the most important thing by far. I cannot tell you how angry it makes me when an uninstaller ruins my effects and lights for all my other planes.

Agreed! Excellent recap of options and do's and don'ts.

 

[MCDesigns]

Well, the problem I have Michael is that with scenery addons, there are a lot of variables for installing. Many folks don't even install inside FSX, others have a separate folder for each scenery addon with subfolders for textures and scenery bgl's and others have offshoots of the two and then even others have no idea where all those files go, so finding a way to package the bitmaps, bgl's, text files, and then installation instructions that aren't two pages long but still address the basics is a challenge.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated:isadizzy:

Exactly when an autoinstaller shouldn't be used IMO. Actually normal scenery is pretty easy, texture files (BMP's) go in the scenery, texture folder, BGL's in the scenery, scenery folder and the text and/or instructions outside of the scenery, along side of it in the ZIP file. I never install inside my FSX folder unless I have to and that is only for larger, commercial type projects that alter a core file or add a traffic file.

I have a folder outside of FSX called FSX Scenery and everything goes in there, been that way since FS2002 for me.

IMHO the last thing an autoinstaller should do is install any file inside my FSX folder if it doesn't have to. That is why I almost always install into a dummy folder (or not at all) if it has one.

Explains why I was a little confused when I d/l your Miller's Field and all the files were just loose in the zip, was easy for me to sort out though.

 

[falcon409]

Yea, I have no system for packaging at all. I try to explain the installation in simple terms, but it can still get confusing. The other thing that has kept me from releasing anything I do is because I use a lot of the ez-scenery object libraries and then maybe one item out of one library and a few from the others and so on. By the time I'm done an intricate airport enhancement I might have gone through 6 different libraries. Do I have folks download all those libraries or do I sift through every library text file, pull out the bitmaps and bgl's that correspond and package that? I can tell ya. . .I wouldn't bother and I know a lot people wouldn't because they're very picky about what goes into their scenery folders.

I love doing scenery, but my opinion is that the only real way to do scenery releases and be certain that every person downloading it will see exactly what they're supposed to is to do all custom work, compile everything into a few bgls and be done with it. Otherwise it's a shot in the dark as to whether everything loads and looks perfect on every system under thousands of different setups.

 

[MCDesigns]

Yea, I have no system for packaging at all. I try to explain the installation in simple terms, but it can still get confusing. The other thing that has kept me from releasing anything I do is because I use a lot of the ez-scenery object libraries and then maybe one item out of one library and a few from the others and so on. By the time I'm done an intricate airport enhancement I might have gone through 6 different libraries. Do I have folks download all those libraries or do I sift through every library text file, pull out the bitmaps and bgl's that correspond and package that? I can tell ya. . .I wouldn't bother and I know a lot people wouldn't because they're very picky about what goes into their scenery folders.

I love doing scenery, but my opinion is that the only real way to do scenery releases and be certain that every person downloading it will see exactly what they're supposed to is to do all custom work, compile everything into a few bgls and be done with it. Otherwise it's a shot in the dark as to whether everything loads and looks perfect on every system under thousands of different setups.

You are going thru what most first time scenery designers go thru. keep in mind that some object libraries on the web don't allow for redistribution with other sceneries (how mine are set up since they are not object libraries resources, but scenery that includes a library). The beauty of making your own objects is that when a user flies into a airport they are seeing something totally new that they haven't seen before, this sets you apart from other designers and gives you a point of difference

The beauty of FSX is that you have access to a pretty extensive object library. Don't know if you have this reference, but it is very informative
http://lc0277.nerim.net/sceneobjects/

The big problem I am having with my Nam scenery is that with the custom landclass I have, it looks great on my system, but I am finding that the testers see something totally different because of texture addons like GEX.

Don't let this get you down, you are doing great work!

 

[cheezyflier]

just say no to self installers

 

[falcon409]

. . . . The beauty of FSX is that you have access to a pretty extensive object library. Don't know if you have this reference, but it is very informative
http://lc0277.nerim.net/sceneobjects/

Don't let this get you down, you are doing great work!

Thanks Michael, I bookmarked that reference page, great stuff!!