Author Topic: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread  (Read 8367 times)

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Offline Soulstorm

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FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Well, I am tired of asking the same thing on the same thread, so I am starting a new one. Also, Here is the place where I must ask some questions that when answered, they will help me on improving the FS2_Open OS X Launcher.

I recently downloaded the BtRL demo and installed it. I did the same with WCS, and I noticed that these mods make separate folders in the user's Library. The OS X Launcher as it is, only works with FS2_Open, and any mod that will use the official FS2_Open application, but I would like to implement support for options for standalone mods, like BTRL, although I am not sure what changes that will need (and I have no idea how to fit those changes in the UI yet).

I have a question, and I am asking this here, because although there are other forums to ask this stuff, in here the devs know much more about the OS X Version of the FS2_Open, so they are most likely to know more about the modified versions as well...

My question is: How much modified are standalone versions of FS2_Open? Do they support the same set of command line commands? Do they intend to change the layout of the application bundles? If yes, that would make difficult any addition to the OS X Launcher for the time being.

Also, any recommendations for improvements or new feature requests are welcome. Besides, that's one of the reasons this thread was created.
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Offline taylor

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Standalone mods are modified at little as possible from the FSO release they are based on.  BtRL had certain changes which weren't in CVS at the time, but are now, like a new cmdline option for instance.  Other changes would just be to enable some helpful user things.  Both BtRL and the WCS Prologue require a minimum resolution of 1024x768, so in the Linux and OS X versions at least, the code defaults to using 1024x768 and also presents an error message if anything less than that is used.  The user directory is different, to avoid any issues interacting with the general FSO stuff.  That also makes it far easier for mod tech support as well.

The APP is changed as little as possible, with the only real differences being exec name and icon file.  Those are things easily found in the APP's Info.plist though.


I'm still going over the code for the launcher, but I haven't really had much time to do anything but give it a very quick browse.  Other than some memory leaks in the flags.lch parsing, nothing has really jumped out at me yet.  One thing that I did just think about as I was writing this message, there isn't a way to enter in custom cmdline options.  Not all builds advertise all options, usually for a good reason, so testing said options requires manually editing the cmdline_fso.cfg file if there isn't a way to enter them in the launcher GUI.

And a couple other things to possibly add to the todo list:

 - A dropdown for resolution selection would be good, kinda sucks to have to manually enter it in.  A custom setting would also be nice, but only if that setting was only usable when running with -window

 - If the argument based cmdline options (like -ambient_factor) are going to be in the GUI then they need range checking as well as listing default values and value ranges prominantly in the tool tip (rather than just a copy-paste out of the wiki)

 - The -no_emissive_light option doesn't take an argument, it's just left out of flags.lch on purpose.


That's all I really have at the moment though. :)

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Quote
One thing that I did just think about as I was writing this message, there isn't a way to enter in custom cmdline options.  Not all builds advertise all options, usually for a good reason, so testing said options requires manually editing the cmdline_fso.cfg file if there isn't a way to enter them in the launcher GUI.

Actually, there is!

There is a "special" menu in the application menu, which toggles a drawer that allows the user to enter custom command line options. To access it, just select the "Toggle Command Line Drawer" option, or just press command-T. Is that what you were looking for or am I understanding something wrong?

In the same menu as this option you will also find a way to extract the .lch file into a custom location, or load menus from a custom .lch file.

As for the memory leaks, I will look at it today.

EDIT: Damn. During the update, I didn't look if the custom command line insertion works correctly. It doesn't update the command line file. I will look at it today that, too. But, at least you can get the general idea of what it SHOULD be. It was foolish of me not to test the application with the commandline drawer properly. I am working on fixing the problem now.

As for the memory leaks, you mean that I forgot to free the Flag, etc in the importer.cpp file? I will do this now. When I'm done, I will release the update and I will give you the new source.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2007, 11:20:37 am by Soulstorm »
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Offline karajorma

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
:yes:

I fully support this and I'd love to have the launcher included in the next patch for BtRL. :D
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Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Well, that may be a problem, if you need it soon.

Making a separate launcher for BtRL will be far easier for me than to add support to the existing one. I am still trying to eliminate the bugs found in the custom command line drawer found in the application. I am very ill at the moment, so I don't know how long this will take, but I suppose I will have something ready this week.

As far as BtRL support is concerned, I really cannot give a timeframe. I have the illness, and I have some bugs to fix. Taylor has the source, and I suppose he will be able at some point to tell me exactly what additions to make, and how additional standalone mods can be supported.
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Offline karajorma

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Well there's no huge rush. We can put it in this patch or push it out at a later date. With Turey's installer there's probably no reason it can't simply be added whenever it's done.
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Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
In the newest version (1.1.1) released some days ago, all bugs mentioned have been fixed.
I am getting a little involved with the tooltips, and I will implement range checking now. I have one problem, however. How can I find what range of values is acceptable in each option? Some options in the wiki list only the default and recommended values, not the acceptable values.

Anyway, whoever has a bug to report, please do so, but I won't be releasing a fix these days, because I am migrating into a new computer and things are really messy here...
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Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Been updating the application with a more easy-to-use screen resolution selector. Just wanted to know, is there any other option supported in the fs2_open.ini file, apart from the screen resolution? I remember taylor saying something about anisotropic filtering... What's the exact command for that?
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Offline taylor

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Been updating the application with a more easy-to-use screen resolution selector. Just wanted to know, is there any other option supported in the fs2_open.ini file, apart from the screen resolution? I remember taylor saying something about anisotropic filtering... What's the exact command for that?
It's an ini file option.  Here are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head:

SoundSampleRate - the Hz value to use for OpenAL (44100 or 22050, default is 22050)
TextureFilter - switch between bilinear and trilinear texture filtering (0 = bilinear, 1 = trilinear, default is trilinear)
OGL_AnisotropicFilter - float value to set anisotropic filter level (0.0 - 16.0 being valid range, <2.0 is considered off, default is 1.0)

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Done. Version 1.1.3b supports all of these features, plus a prettier interface for changing the screen resolution.

I also realize that we are nearing June, and I haven't been involved with the Launcher development as much as you would possibly want. If there are some more things you want implemented before 3.6.10 release, tell me so. I intend to implement range checking in the final 1.1.3 release.

Damn... I need an icon! I don't know how to make decent icons.

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: May 12, 2007, 07:26:02 am by Soulstorm »
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Offline Tinman

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
TextureFilter - switch between bilinear and trilinear texture filtering (0 = bilinear, 1 = trilinear, default is trilinear)

2 is then ?  :wtf:

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Damn. Thank god my excuse is the 'b' after the version. Thanks for the notification.

EDIT: I am receiving reports that my ISP's server does not work, so users cannot download the file. I want people to try and download the file from my site, or at least check if the "Check For Updates" function works as it should be, since it depends on my ISP's server, and if that's down, the application is inaccessible.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2007, 01:27:23 am by Soulstorm »
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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Soulstorm - I just downloaded it from your site with no problems (Wednesday 5/16/07 at ~ 10:15pm pacific).  I also used the in-app check for updates the other day (I think last weekend) with no problems.  Just tried the in-app again but it told me I was up-to-date.

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Then all should be ok then. It was an isolated incident. The latest version of the application should be 1.1.3b. BTW, soon I will have a new beta ready, which will include standalone mod support. So far, only Beyond the Red Line and Wing Commander Saga are supported (since these are the only ones I know :)). I will upload the newest version here, but will not replace the old one, since I will at first omit some of the functionality present in the current version for the sake of stability and ease of testing.

If someone has any of these mods installed, please tell me so, so that I can have a tester or two, when I have a version ready.
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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
I've got Beyond the Red Line demo installed - never really occurred to me the launcher could be used for the stand-alones...

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
The launcher can be used for the standalones. I already have a test build ready, which implements support for Wing Commander Saga, and Beyond The Red Line. The executables in these mods are actually lightly modified versions of the FS2_Open executable, so the launcher can easily work with them.

The only problem I have with the newest version of the Launcher is that it doesn't yet load the screen preferences correctly. Once I have fixed that, I will post here an early version, but I won't be releasing any multiple-mod-support version until it has reached functionality of the current official version of the launcher.
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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
hmmm,  I just noticed that if I change the -ambient_factor flag in the installer's gui I can't tab out or click in any of the options below -ambient_factor...

 

Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
Fixed. Use the "Check for Updates" option to download 1.1.4. It was a mistake in a formatter that I has missed. The values that ambient_factor accepts are between 0 and 999, so if you give something else, it won't let you do anything else until you have given a valid value. The version you are using now has the exact same parameters set, only that the values it accepts are between 0 and 23 :). I typed it accidentally on my keyboard it seems.

I also need to say that I HATE interface builder's formatters. It seems that the "Detach Formatter" button has no effect on a field of an NSMatrix!

Anyway, problem fixed, please update! :)
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Offline Soulstorm

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Standalone Mod Support Implemented (early version)
New test release of the FS2_Launcher with multiple standalone mod support (MSMS). I seem to be lazy about this, but I really am full with other things right now. Otherwise, this thing is a one-day project.

New additions:
--Fixed many bugs over the official 1.1.4 version.
--Improved the "Reset" function
--Added custom command line arguments
--Code is MUCH cleaner.

I will upload the new source soon. Oh, and... sorry for not having updated the CVS with 1.1.4 yet. I haven't installed CVS yet into my machine, I hadn't got the time. I will do it soon.

Here is the new test release of the Launcher
« Last Edit: June 12, 2007, 11:07:04 am by Soulstorm »
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Offline Soulstorm

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Re: FS2_Open OS X Launcher Improvement: Suggestions and Help Thread
I have a new version of the Launcher for OS X ready, with multiple standalone mod support. Code has been completely rewritten, so until this thing gets testes by more people (you, guys!) I can't make it final, so the "Check For Updates.." button will not show version 2.0 of the launcher.

Official stable version is 1.1.4, but you can have the latest one here. Also, its readme has been also changed, and it introduces a number of bug fixes over 1.1.4. The application works for me just fine so far, without any problems, but I want more people to see it.

Please check it out and send me bug reports and recommendations.
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