[WIP] Release Manager. (Installer, Patcher, Launcher)

Don't worry about the open file issue, it hasn't happened since. I'm more concerned about the versions/versions.xml file as I believe once this file exists, it will all work.

Thanks

 

Apologies its

releases/releases.xml

It is created when you take a release live.

 

Travis,

If I surf to that URL, I can view the xml in my browser, so why is the launcher failing with Downloading manifest... ?

 

I will email you if that's ok. Its a bit easier there.

 

Update

Version 0.1.9 is coming along on schedule. We have just released a version to the beta testers for it.

One of the new features is a verification.



We have noticed that sometimes that local files get modified by accident or we recompile and forget to upload the new version. The feature checks all these things. If there is something going wrong this will pick it up and help you identify the next steps to take.

 

Can the launcher Settings be modified to include certain user preferences, such as language/region?

 

Hi Vedrit,

Currently that is not possible, we are adding scripting though. With scripting you can build you own, we will be supplying the default one as a script so its easily modifiable.

Travis

 

Hi Travis, when you try to start an installed application, I get error window "Launcher not found!"

 

Hi Vet-cat.

The first time your user runs the launcher of your application it needs to download the various data files that make up the launcher version control and then eventually your application.

If you see the above error then the Launcher is not able to download some of those files for one reason or another. Please check the "Problems" pop up at the bottom left of ReleaseManager are there any Problems highlighted there?

Regards
Travis

 

Hi Travis,
final log



full log
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ya7lwzrbgy6ms7/log.txt?dl=0

created msi file from "Completed output is C:\Project\ummo\Release\package\Win64\instalation\Ummo64.msi"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7alxxzuo65qy2ul/Ummo64.msi?dl=0

online data
http://185.144.29.41/Release/

ftp test


Regards
Vitaly

 

Looking at the bottom of your screen I can see two things you need to fix. I suspect they will be the issue.

Can you see the

Updater: Not available.

Also the

Design: Your designer needs to be updated. This will happen the next time you push your design out.

For some background the actual Launcher is patched in installations when there is a new version. Your project does not have one uploaded yet. When you upload your design from the design tab the Launcher will go with. After that the Updater version at the bottom should show which version you currently have up for that project.

Travis

 

Hi Travis,
after a successful upload ("Upload this Layout" in Design Launcher)
the problem persists (Updater:Not Available)

 

Hi vet-cat.

That should not be the case. could you send me the log files from your installed folder. Email them to travis@celestial-games.com

Regards
Travis

 

Hi Travis
We need to add mime type ".version"

Thank you, and now there is no error

 

Glad to know, we already adding the different file types to the test's so we can identify when this is an issue earlier.

Regards
Travis

 

Is there any way to have the update button show and have no start button only if there is an update available?

 

Hello,

Yes this is now an option for Update and Play you can hide them when disabled. This is already in 0.1.9

Also we have added an install button that will show only on fresh installations then after that the update will show.

 

Any idea as to when 0.1.9 might be out? Thanks!

 

It's due in the next week.

Have been chasing some large bugs.

Zip files greater then 4gig now work

And one compiler bug that we still need to resolve.

All other features we could include or exclude but those must be fixed.

 

HI @Travis Bulford ,
I'm having a problem where I'm stuck in a download loop when running the packaged msi. It downloads Win64Full.zip, gets to 100% then restarts downloading Win64Full.zip, over and over.
I have sent you an email with my log file attached.

Thanks,

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

This is a known issue resolved in the 0.1.9 candidate. I will respond with more details in email.

Travis

 

Release 0.1.9 (26 July 2016)
Release Notes
This is a large bug fix and features list. With only one major feature missing for out feature complete version we close to a final full release. We expect that to be at the end of August.

General

• The solution now has support for log in systems. The set up and configuration will still go through some refactoring. Current support is for a POST system and PlayFAB. Various other types are planned too.
• Memory use is not configurable. Both the heap and the stack space used. This allows more use of available memory on larger machines when compiling large files.

Releases

• You can now import releases from a series of locations on your drive. So if your build always outputs to the same location Release Manager can simply import from there.
• We have added a verify button for releases that can compare a release's version, release files and online catalogue to make sure everything matches.

Installer

• You can now create complete applications as apposed to only the launcher that updates. This is useful if you clients prefer to download the full version or alternatively if you planning a disk release.

Designer

• You can now have both an installation and an update button. Each will show when appropriate.
• Buttons now support the idea of vanishing as apposed to being disabled. This creates far neater launchers.
• There is now support for groups. Groups can be hidden or shown based on a set of rules. This allows you to reconfigure your launcher based on the state. (For example you can only show a progress bar when its actually needed.)
• Added support for input boxes. These tie into the new Login system.

Compiler

• [FIX] The compiler can not handle final compressed files greater then 4gig in size.

Launcher

• [FIX] No longer incorrectly identifies some files as corrupted and patches them.
• [FIX] Various issues with downloading and recovery resolved.

Uploader

• In the S3 configuration you can customer the S3 connection string this is useful if you are using an alternative to S3 that supports S3 communications. (For example Dreamhost)
• Fixed a FTP bug when connections had timed out there was no recovery.

 

Closer look at the New Designer and the Login System.

This is just a sneak peek at some of the changes to the designer.



Above is the login screen group. It is set to hide when logged in. And everything else is set to show when logged in.

Here is a view of the properties editor for the Login button.



We will be improving the properties editor and making the whole solution more flexible.

In the mean time once loged in you can pass the session details to your launched application through the executable properties editor.



So in your game you can access the environment variable. playfab_session for the session id. For example.

One more detail is you so choose you can now prevent players from updating unless they are logged some developers do this to save bandwidth usage.

 

Hi,

Wanted to try the trial and got the patcher to download itself over and over again (here's a video showing what I mean)

http://screencast.com/t/dHq8N5l5

Is there a way to have a Trial for your patcher (I own 2 of the 3 major patcher on the asset store but none have all the thing you are showing off)

 

Hi,

Just bought it and have the same problem?

 

Hi Guys,

Will test the full download only tested the patch, might be the upload corrupted.

Travis

 

The issue has been fixed, please just relaunch Release Manager and it should patch correctly.

 

Release 0.1.9b (28 July 2016)
Release Notes
Launcher

• [FIX] Fixed some of the file cleanup code that was causing an issue on fresh installs.

 

Building your own Post authentication.

We have had quite a few queries about the Post login mechanic and how to build your own.

If you are interested in building your own Post Authentication take a look at the tutorial.

http://info.celestial-games.com/doku.php?id=releasemanager:tut:postauth

 

Is there the option to not use the login tool but still only allow start button to be pressed if the game is upto date?

 

Hello,

Thanks for the question, it was not obvious to me that there might have been that impression.

The login is 100% optional. There is no need to use it. Release Manager gives you a lot of flexibility how the update, install, play and checking of files operate.

 

Hi,

Already send an email about this but other people might want to know also.

1) Is there or will there be a way to have a EULA presented upon installation? So that after the first page of the installer people will need to click the I accept (or checkbox) to proceed with the installation

2) On the setting windows have an option to select on what display to start the game (like the Unity box ask what display to use)?
2.1) I have change the Launcher to present the setting button as in the video tutorial; but everytime I press the Edit Properties it does not keep my changes; Like setting always shoes Button Type: Update (and not the UnitySetting) Same goes for the Start does not keep the value UnityGameLaunch. The Screensize and Resolution are kept when I switch the button type to UnitySetting

EDIT:
3) Have a game that's 24Gb, then 8Gb after compiled; problem is when people download it and it decompress their PC hangs on decompressing; what's the compress strength (well ZIP Ultra, Normal etc) and would it be possible to be changeable; I know that would impact the File Size I would prefer having a bigger file size download and less compress than smaller size un-decompressable.
I know that the package works I my PC specs are a bit over normal people PC (6 Cores at 4.2Ghz, 64Gb of Ram and 512 PCI-SSD) Took about 4 hours to compile (compress) and when I tried the patcher about 1 hour to decompress.
ENDOFEDIT
Thanks for the great product

 

Hello, don't think I have seen your email. Please resend to travis@celestial-games.com

We have plans for a more comprehensive ELUA. One that is part of the launcher. This also means you can adjust the ELUA later and end users will need to accept the new one when the time arrives. This includes the ability to post a receipt of the acceptance back to a service for recording. Any further suggestions regarding this are welcome.

Great suggestion I will add this top the backlog.

Hmm that sounds like a bug I will look into it today.

Wow that is the largest game I know of to date using Release Manager. Previous record was 6gig zipped. I would prefer to fix the zipping issue then offer alternatives that require the user make choices. I have 2 ideas in mind. The first is to make multiple files for download. This would also mean while downloading we can start unzipping the earlier files. (This would require we support restarting too since the ability to restart a download it really critical for large solutions)

In the mean time do you think you could get your hands on the log files from your the failed installations? Email them to me please. I would like to see if there was a specific error. I doubt it just froze its more probably there was an exception of some kind.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Hi Travis,

Just send the .txt log from a failed installation. Thanks for the quick updates.

 

Saving the design as a template and reloading it seems to have fix the problem.

Also a throttling function for downloader would be great for client (as not all of them want to use their full bandwidth speed)

I sent you an email couple of days ago and have not yet receive an answer, might be that my emails are marked as spam (Changed mail server and DKIM was incorrect) let me know.

Thanks

 

Hi,

So we are having an Alpha this weekend for our game 4 people out of 5 cannot install the game as the patcher hangs on decompressing the large file. Work around for now is to let people know that after downloading the 12Go zipped file (yes its up to 12Go) to then go in the install folder (after closing the hang patcher) and to decompress the game manually. And to make sure to do that before relaunching the patcher (as relaunching it deletes the downloaded zip file).

Hope all is good as I havent heard anything from you in the last 5 days.

Thanks

 

@Travis-Bulford any word on dealing with larger file sizes.

 

Hi Tom and Mega.

Sorry it took me so long to pick this up. I believe the problem has been resolved in the current Beta Stream of Release Manager and I have sent the link to you.

Travis

 

Hi Travis,

Can tell you that Beta works perfectly for lots of users that could not patch because of the huge file size. Great job.

Thanks again

 

New version completely broke my game (it gets stuck on the game version xml file - for example Release0.1.1.xml). Luckily I still have the beta version that's old and working so I could still please my users.

Designer upload still gets stuck on the last file when using local as source.

Loading the launcher still fails 30% of the time (even your own launcher, Travis!). You have to end task on Java Runtime and load again before it works - many of my users have reported this issue to me - please fix!



Thanks

 

Hi Auroxi,

I only saw this now, didn't get an email update :/ . Could you get in touch on email so I can get some extra details? I am unaware of any issue that would cause a failure so often so it might help if I can see specifics. travis@celestial-games.com

Regards
Travis

 

Release 0.1.9e (21 August 2016)
Release Notes
Launcher

• [FIX] Group behavior when logging in was erratic, has been solved.
• [FIX] Operating system buttons were not function correctly.
• [FIX] Embedded values in labels and buttons were case sensitive when they should not have been.

 

I was looking over some of the version changes there is a very strong possibility all you need to do is push the designer out. (That will upgrade the updater) My apologies we had to add some meta data to the .xml and in all probability the old updater will not be able to read that file.

 

Hi Travis,

I would love to push the designer out but it doesn't upload correctly remember, it always fails on the last file (99%).

I upload to local directory.

Regarding the screenshot where the launcher hangs, it never gets as far as creating the "temp" directory. You see this in the log only:

Aug 21, 2016 7:52:23 PM celestial.launcher.Updater main
INFO: Started Updater

And that's it. Obviously the next line should be (if it gets past the hang):

Aug 21, 2016 7:53:00 PM celestial.launcher.UpdateThread unZipIt
FINE: Unzipping D:\Games\MyGame\.\base\temp\temp.zip

Whatever is causing this issue is between these two messages.

No matter what version I try (latest release or beta), I cannot upload my design. I'm not sure what the last file is that it tries to 'upload' to my local directory, or where it copies it from?

Thanks

 

Hello,

Can you send me a screen shot of the Upload Tab when its stuck at 99%? Also could you send me the logs for ReleaseManager. You can open them from the help menu.

Send them to my email please travis@celestial-games.com

 

Done.

 

Travis,

I have a few users who have purchased my game and they are receiving the message:

You must be connected to the internet to complete the installation.

If they disable the windows firewall, it works fine. What ports is this launcher using? I've tried adding the launcher exe file to the exceptions but it still doesn't allow it until the firewall is disabled. I can only presume it's because there's a java engine or something that needs to be added as an exception?

Also, any news on the designer being stuck on the last file? I sent an email last Thursday. I really need these issues resolving as it creates a poor first experience for some of my users.

Also, even though I have the option 'play button only active once game is updated' ticked on the designer, it still doesn't work. What file is managing these options as I need it to work like this until you fix the designer upload.

Thanks

 

Travis,
I love this Release Manager program you have designed. This is definitely a very handy tool to use. I would like to suggest a feature that may broaden the possible consumer base for this product.

I will use the genre of racing games as an example as this pertains very much so to that genre. Regardless of the style of racing (cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATV) in any game that is slightly beyond "arcade" whether it be "simulation" or a mix of the two you start to get into a territory where customization for the user comes into concern. Features such as users being able to design their own paint jobs for their vehicles in programs like Photoshop then saving them and putting them in the game. Some games even have upgrades for vehicles the user can earn while playing the game and the game saves such user data with a folder inside the game. These are just a few examples, but many examples can be made of games requiring information to be stored with the game install in new files or already existing files to be modified.

My suggestion is if possible to put a feature into Release Manager that allows the user to set specific folders or files within their game's package that allows the launcher to know certain files or folders can be ignored if they are not up to date and that even while checking for updates and downloading/installing updates the launcher could know not to update that specific folder/file. Allowing users to update the game while knowing their player profile and other information within the game that has been modified will not be over written or lost would be a very welcomed feature by some game designers.

Thank you Travis for your great work on Release Manager. This post is just a friendly suggestion, thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Thank you, we are pleased with the results so far but are well aware there is still some hard work to get done.

We have a point for files that should be ignored, such a log files etc. This would work more or less like a .ignore file in git.

Currently if your game creates folders and adds files to them RM will ignore those provided they were not in the downloaded or compiled RM version. So to sum up your game can build work with add and remove files that are unknown to RM. RM should ignore those files for patching or upgrading. The one provision is the files are never in a compiled version of your project. I hope that might help.

Regards
Travis

 

Thank you Travis. I do have one more question. Is it possible for the launcher to delete files that were previously added in a release? Say if I as an example added in a map to my game and later reworked the map and removed some objects or textures completely and compiled a patch for said changes could the launcher cleanup and remove the files or would I have to go back and remove the files from the release they were added in?