Armarize, yet another utility for ArmA2

[repeat 12]

[?] http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?103871-CBA-Community-Base-Addons-for-A2-OA-and-CO&p=2135662&viewfull=1#post2135662

[Nilmerg 10]

Posting just links is not as much helpful as some additional information would be. ;)

Anyway, it is fixed now.

[Nilmerg 10]

As already mentioned it is now time to add some content to the buddy list. The account management was the most important one so this will be available with this update. The next time you may see a chat functionality and group management that may also effect the game. :rolleyes:

• [FEATURE] Auto login added for the buddy list.
  
• [FEATURE] It is now possible to remove a buddy from the list.
  
• [FEATURE] It is now possible to request a new password for a buddy list account.
  
• [FEATURE] It is now possible to change the preferences (Username, Email, Password) of a buddy list account.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] Offline contacts are now displayed in grey color within the buddy list.
  
• [bUGFIX] Some issues with the buddy list were corrected. (But most of them were on the server side and are fixed since a few days after the last update.)
  
• [bUGFIX] Crash when closing Armarize from within the serverbrowser and the filter settings could not be saved.
  
• [bUGFIX] Crash when closing Armarize and a background operation is about to be exiting.

If you have already installed Armarize, just start it. Otherwise:

• Download Armarize for Windows 32bit
  
• Download Armarize for Windows 64bit

[Nilmerg 10]

Unfortunately no features for the contact list this time. I had not as much time as expected to work on Armarize but instead I played ArmA2 a bit more often than in the last months. (DayZ is just fascinating, isn't it? ;) ) So this update got some improvements and features mostly for the serverbrowser and the launch of the game.

The next update probably includes support for Armed Assault, Take On Helicopters, (Cold War Assault aka OFP?) and... ArmA3, to be prepared for the upcoming alpha. :cool:

• [FEATURE] You can now search for a modification within the modification management.
  
• [FEATURE] The server where a buddy is playing on can now be highlighted within the browser.
  
• [FEATURE] New type of mod selection added wherewith only those modifications defined within a profile are loaded.
  
• [FEATURE] It is now possible to configure how modifications are selected when joining a server without the context menu.
  
• [CHANGE] Support for the new game types on the Six-Rsync-Network added.
  
• [bUGFIX] The value entered in the modification filter was not saved within the selected profile.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] When not using automatic mod selection a user will not be notified about client/server differences anymore.

If you have already installed Armarize, just start it. Otherwise:

• Download Armarize for Windows 32bit
  
• Download Armarize for Windows 64bit

[repeat 12]

Thanks again your app helps us.

[Nilmerg 10]

Well, I could not hold my promise once again so I think it would be better not to promise anything this time... However, I was able to integrate a massive improvement to the serverbrowser with this update. Due to some more experience in network programming I have reworked the parts of Armarize which are responsible for the communication with Gamespy.

The result is a reduction of the refresh duration by a factor of 2 to 3. This certainly means that the network and cpu load has been increased, but I adjusted it as effectively as possible so that no one with at least 1024kbit/128kbit should experience any issues. This will probably configurable in the future wherewith users with a better connection are able to decrease the duration even greater. (uh oh, yet another promise... ;))

• [iMPROVEMENT] Some minor interface changes to make it more intuitive.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] It is now possible to manually add a new favorite gameserver.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] Decreased serverbrowser refresh duration by a factor of 2 to 3.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] For every single gameserver will now a (pseudo)ping be displayed.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] The gameserver favorites and history are now refreshed when entering the serverbrowser even when the automatic refresh has been disabled.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] When connecting to a gameserver per ip and port it will now be displayed as history entry even when the automatic refresh has been disabled.
  
• [bUGFIX] The automatic browser refresh has not been disabled when minimizing Armarize while the game was running.
  
• [CHANGE] The status notification sound will now also be played when refreshing a gameserver manually.

If you have already installed Armarize, just start it. Otherwise:

• Download Armarize for Windows 32bit
  
• Download Armarize for Windows 64bit

[zuff 10]

Nilmerg, I've made a video tutorial for Armarize:

JVXsysRM3bI

It was made for the gaming community "Shacknews" but it is still a tutorial for anyone interested in learning more about the program.

Thank you very much for making this great utility.

[Nilmerg 10]

This is really nice! Feels a bit incomplete for me as the developer but you have got the core functionality very well. Good job :)

---------- Post added at 21:12 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------

Due to some obviously annoying bugs for a few of you ;) and missing translations i decided to make a bugfix release this weekend. It is only an incremental update this time and that is the reason why v1.3.3.0 is still available for download.

• [iMPROVEMENT] It is now possible to manually select a mirror for the synchronisation when it was not possible to select one automatically.
  
• [bUGFIX] Crash after closing the synchronisation wizard if it was initiated from within the serverbrowser while a refresh was running.
  
• [bUGFIX] When custom parameters defined within a profile are not correctly formatted a message will be displayed now.
  
• [bUGFIX] Crash during the synchronisation when an error occured while trying to prioritize the available mirrors.
  
• [bUGFIX] Finally... a crash when a profile with a broken modification to load was opened.
  
• [CHANGE] When using the search function of the buddy list you can now search for partial names again.

If you have already installed Armarize, just start it. Otherwise:

• Download Armarize for Windows 32bit
  
• Download Armarize for Windows 64bit

[zuff 10]

If you could give me a list of items you want me to cover I will do a new video tutorial. The one I made was directed towards the shacknews community and I'll gladly make one more that's more generalized and covers all topics.

[Nilmerg 10]

That would be even nicer! :bounce3: But please use a higher resolution then. :p

Primarily the listing of features here covers the most important topics. But here are some additional things that I consider to be mentionable:

• Browser/Game launch
  
  • Steam support *should* work very well as long as Steam itself has been started by the user and not by Armarize.
    
  • It is possible to use the servername-, mission- and mod-filter to explicitly exclude words. (Put "-@dayz" in the mod-filter and you wont see any dayz server.)
    
  • By default games and applications are not ran as the "same" user Armarize has been started with. If a game or application should be ran with administrator rights it has to be explicitly set.
    
  • Below in the listing where the modifications running on a server are displayed, the same colors that are used within the configuration to visualize the "state" of a modification are used. (orange = outdated, red = broken, blue = frozen)

  [*]Modifications

  • The revision that is used to monitor the state of a modification which is available on the six-rsync-network can be deleted by opening the mod dialog. (Right click -> Show details) (Gives finer control about the way Armarize handles the automatic skipping during the synchronisation.) [You can also use it to force Armarize so that it marks a modifcation as outdated with above mentioned color. ;) ]

  [*]Settings

  • The names that are used to display modification directories within Armarize are changeable. (It is not necessary that they have the same name as the ones on the hard disk.)
    
  • When splitting the rsync package files from a modification directory, Armarize takes care so that the files are moved correctly to their new location. (Useful when using a SSD with limited capacity.)

  [*]Profiles

  • When marking a modification to load it will be automatically arranged in the list based on its dependencies though that is also manually manageable. (Right click in the list)
    
  • When ArmA2 and ArmA2: Operation Arrowhead has been installed separately, CombinedOps will be handled as modification so that it is not necessary to struggle with the commandline.

And of course everything what you has mentioned in your current video. :)

[zuff 10]

Excellent! I'll get started right away and record in 1080p and all of its HD glory.

[repeat 12]

Hello. I try search how use manual host for download server's mods but not found.

As it does six updater - sixupdater://six.tacticalgamer.com/bravo/tgbravo.yml (parse him get some info)

as far as understand it load six.tacticalgamer.com/bravo/config.yml after parse his was found mods @TGMaps

load six.tacticalgamer.com/bravo/@TGMaps/.repository.yml

then load to addons folder every file from .repository.yml (example: six.tacticalgamer.com/bravo/@TGMaps/addons/mbg_killhouses.pbo.gz)

[Nilmerg 10]

Custom repositories are currently not possible with Armarize but it is already on my todo list for some time.

[Varanon 892]

I downloaded the latest version from the website (1.3.3.0 is the currently available one, Windows 7 64 bit). When I launch it, it will tell me that there is an update available (which I try to download). It does download it, and then quits, nothing happens anymore.

Through Windows 7's Resource Manager, I found out where the updater is downloaded to. It turns out to be 1.3.3.2 Incremental update. Manually executing it tells me to download the latest full archive from the website, which I already have.

Any pointers ?

[Nilmerg 10]

Please see the following thread at my website: http://www.armarize.com/support-f6/problems-synchronizing-version-1-3-3-1-t47.html

At the very bottom on the first page you will find an attachment that contains files to manually patch Armarize to the latest version. But before you will run the contained batch file be sure to edit it so that it contains the path where Armarize has been installed on your system.

[Varanon 892]

Works like a charm. Thanks for the help, and the great tool

[Nilmerg 10]

It's been a while that I have released a new update for Armarize and I would not have done it this weekend anyway. However, as GameSpy capped the listed gameservers to 500 at a time a few weeks ago I realized that I have to set up an update that compensates this behavior.

Additionally I reintegrated the player filter wherewith it is possible to search for players and their squadnames. This even works without a complete refresh of the browser now! Besides this feature there are some improvements mainly for the browser part again. Notably is the new setting in the configuration wherewith it is possible to affect how fast Armarize fetches the gameserver information. (Setting "Next to nothing" causes Armarize to fetch the information from one of the "master servers" instead of querying each gameserver directly.)

• [FEATURE] It is now possible again to filter based on the names and squads of the players on a gameserver.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] Designed the serverbrowser more resource-friendlier.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] When joining on a DayZ-Server Armarize does not complain about "hive" anymore.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] Armarize has now its own collection of "master servers" to get the list of available gameservers.
  
• [iMPROVEMENT] It is now possible to configure how Armarize utilises the network when refreshing the serverbrowser.
  
• [bUGFIX] Frozen modifications can not be (accidentally) repaired anymore when using the batch action.

If you have already installed Armarize, just start it. Otherwise:

• Download Armarize for Windows 32bit
  
• Download Armarize for Windows 64bit

[doveman 7]

Hi

I can see there's a lot of good things in Armarize but it lacks several features that I find essential in Spirited Machines' launcher, namely the ability to create groups of mods that can be easily disabled, rearranging mod order by drag and drop, a beta switch, ability to set customs paths for both OA and Arma2 and display of the command-line that will be used to launch.

Armarize looks like it might come in handy for updating mods but without those features I can't see myself being able to use it for managing my profiles.

Thanks for your hard work on this tool anyway, just wanted to let you know what features I find most useful in case you feel like adding them.

[Nilmerg 10]

Hi doveman.

You are not the first one who misses a grouping feature for modifications but it is basically possible by the creation of profiles on the one hand (though that is a bit odd) and on the other hand I resisted to implement it because that is some kind of unique feature of Spirited Machines' launcher. But as I can see Spirited Machine does not work anymore on his launcher, is that right? If so I may implement some variant of this feature. :)

Drag and drop to rearrange the mod load order is not a part of Armarize because I did not look into how drag and drop works :o besides the fact that it is IMHO not often necessary due to automatic consideration of dependencies. (Right click in the listing.)

The beta switch is not necessary in Armarize because beta-patch support has been implemented in some other way. If you activate the "beta" mod to be loaded when the game starts, Armarize does automatically use the beta executable and the proper command line additions.

What do you mean with "custom paths"? Do you want to store modifications somewhere outside the main installation directories? If that is the case, please take a look at the right listing in "Main Menu -> Configuration -> Settings". ;)

And last but not least displaying the command line that is going to be used for the launch of the game... now I have exactly two suggestions regarding this feature, let me see if I find some nice way to implement this. :p (And no, that is not meant sarcastic!)

[doveman 7]

Hi doveman.

You are not the first one who misses a grouping feature for modifications but it is basically possible by the creation of profiles on the one hand (though that is a bit odd) and on the other hand I resisted to implement it because that is some kind of unique feature of Spirited Machines' launcher. But as I can see Spirited Machine does not work anymore on his launcher, is that right? If so I may implement some variant of this feature. :)

The beta switch is not necessary in Armarize because beta-patch support has been implemented in some other way. If you activate the "beta" mod to be loaded when the game starts, Armarize does automatically use the beta executable and the proper command line additions.

What do you mean with "custom paths"? Do you want to store modifications somewhere outside the main installation directories? If that is the case, please take a look at the right listing in "Main Menu -> Configuration -> Settings". ;)

Hi Nilmerg

Yeah I don't think Spirited Machines actively develops anymore (I could be wrong though). Certainly there's some issues with the online features and it throws up an unhandled exception if I try and do "Show player list" on a server and it shows "Server not available" for everything where it's meant to show the mission, maps, mods for the server.

I can't see the "beta" mod in the list anywhere, where abouts should I be looking? I see there's an entry for Combined Operations at the top so I presume it just launches ArmA2 if that's not enabled?

As for the custom paths, I find it useful to be able to specify the path to the OA/Arma2 executable (and beta) as then I can have say beta 95417 in one location and launch that with one profile and beta 95601 in another location (i.e. a Sandboxie sandbox) and launch that with a different profile. Or with 1.60 stable and 1.62 stable I can launch one or the other for different profiles. It's partly for testing but I seem to do a lot of that trying to find out why things aren't working, or I have to use an earlier beta for some servers but want to use the latest beta when playing offline. I see I can specify a custom Arma2 executable though, so that might be all I need.

[Nilmerg 10]

If Armarize crashed please send the error report off. That is the easiest way of telling me that there is something wrong with it. If you cannot reproduce the error you can find it in the logfile (in case you do not want to attach the entire file in the forum): "%appdata%\armarize\logs\errors.log"

The "beta" (in case it's the arma2 beta patch) or "beta (OA)" (in case it's the OA beta patch) respectively, should be listed in every list where modifications are displayed. (The listing in the upper right corner of the profile management for example.) But this is only the case if both patches were installed in their default paths so if you installed a beta patch somewhere else you have to set a custom executable and probably also some custom parameters.

"CombinedOps" is a virtual modification that will be shown if ArmA2 and ArmA2OA were installed separately. If activated it modifies the command line that gets used to launch the game so that the ArmA2 content is loaded if OA is launched.

[doveman 7]

If Armarize crashed please send the error report off. That is the easiest way of telling me that there is something wrong with it. If you cannot reproduce the error you can find it in the logfile (in case you do not want to attach the entire file in the forum): "%appdata%\armarize\logs\errors.log"

The "beta" (in case it's the arma2 beta patch) or "beta (OA)" (in case it's the OA beta patch) respectively, should be listed in every list where modifications are displayed. (The listing in the upper right corner of the profile management for example.) But this is only the case if both patches were installed in their default paths so if you installed a beta patch somewhere else you have to set a custom executable and probably also some custom parameters.

"CombinedOps" is a virtual modification that will be shown if ArmA2 and ArmA2OA were installed separately. If activated it modifies the command line that gets used to launch the game so that the ArmA2 content is loaded if OA is launched.

I was talking about Spirited Machine crashing, not Amarize ;)

No "beta (OA)" in my list, it goes @BB_Units then @Bink_OMON. I've definitely got a beta installed in the usual place (Expansion\beta). That's why I like the system in Spirited Machines, where I can specify the path to OA and OA beta and then toggle the beta on or off with a switch checkbox, which is quicker than trying to find it in the list of mods and disable it there.

The "CombinedOps" options is similar to Spirited Machine then, as that has a drop-down to switch between Arma2, OA or CO per profile, which modifies the command line. I'd personally prefer to see this option and the beta option together with the other switches on the left rather than in the mod list on the right though, as they're not really mods.

[Nilmerg 10]

Well, reading and thinking at the same time is sometimes a difficult task...

"beta (OA)" is at the very bottom in my list, did you scroll down far enough? :p

As I implemented CO and beta support I thought it would be a good idea to handle these as "modifications". Sure they are not really modifications but it is content that is not included in the game itself (OA in case of CO) and that is the same with modifications. So new users may easier understand what these entries are for instead of some meaningless checkboxes without any context.

Custom game paths are just not possible because these are queried from the Windows registry and if that did not work the user will be prompted to select them manually when Armarizes launches the first time. But I have an entry for "advanced settings" on my todo list for ages and these includes such an sub entry.

However, I have to say that I am currently not very motivated to implement such a feature (as well as support for other games like ToH or ArmA3) because a proper implementation would require a complete rewrite of Armarize. And that is nothing I can/want to imagine currently. :raisebrow:

[doveman 7]

Well, reading and thinking at the same time is sometimes a difficult task...

"beta (OA)" is at the very bottom in my list, did you scroll down far enough? :p

As I implemented CO and beta support I thought it would be a good idea to handle these as "modifications". Sure they are not really modifications but it is content that is not included in the game itself (OA in case of CO) and that is the same with modifications. So new users may easier understand what these entries are for instead of some meaningless checkboxes without any context.

Custom game paths are just not possible because these are queried from the Windows registry and if that did not work the user will be prompted to select them manually when Armarizes launches the first time. But I have an entry for "advanced settings" on my todo list for ages and these includes such an sub entry.

However, I have to say that I am currently not very motivated to implement such a feature (as well as support for other games like ToH or ArmA3) because a proper implementation would require a complete rewrite of Armarize. And that is nothing I can/want to imagine currently. :raisebrow:

There's definitely no "beta" in my list of mods. I have Arma2 Free and when I first start Amarize it says it can't find Arma2 and I have to point it to the Arma2 Free path. I guess this is because it only looks for the Arma2 path in the registry, so if you could make it look for the Arma2 Free path if the Arma2 path isn't there, that would avoid that. I can't see that has anything to do with the beta not showing in the mods list though, as that's in the OA folder, not Arma2-Free.

I'm thinking the "Custom Arma2 executable" setting could be used to launch different versions without you having to do a complete rewrite. If there was a checkbox "Use Custom exe" that would help, as then I wouldn't have to delete the setting to switch back to the default stable or beta.

With Spirited Machines, there's a dropdown to select "A2, OA, CO" per profile, which makes it easy to switch between the three. I'm not sure how I'd do that with Amarize. I presume the default is to launch OA and if the CombinedOps mod is checked to launch CO, but there doesn't appear to be a way to run A2. I still think it would be easier for users to have a checkbox for beta and CO (or a dropdown as described for A2, OA, CO) than having to find those in the mods list.

[Nilmerg 10]

Uhm, yeah, different versions regarding the executable are possible but if also the remaining game files are different things become a bit more difficult. (The checkbox you have suggested is a quick change, that should be possible for the next update and that A2Free has another registry path is news to me, and no more a problem. :) ) If A2 should be started one has to define its executable in the profile.

I see that there is still something that might be improved, let me see what makes it in the next update. :)