Play withSIX Community Preview [Evolution of SIX Launcher and in time also SU]

Yeah, I'm sure you will :)

Regarding using optional mods with servers, I don't actually see how to do this. When I select a Mod, like ACE, I can add mods to that but that will obviously apply to any server that uses ACE. If I go onto the ServerBrowser and select a server I can look at the Mods and Signatures but don't see a way to add any mods manually.

Good points, logged it at http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/additional_mods_support_per_server

---------- Post added at 13:52 ---------- Previous post was at 13:51 ----------

The mod update overview / dialog: http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/improve_mod_update_overview_and_dialog

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Ability to open Server info from Servers Grid: http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/ability_to_open_server_info_panel_from_within_the_server_grid

And server signature handing http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/server_signature_evaluation_and_comparing_with_active_mods_to_indicate_failure_early

Good points, logged it at http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/additional_mods_support_per_server

Nice one, thanks.

Jesus! ..... got orphaned mod directories everywhere now ......

Thank fuck I renamed my I44 development directory just before I started updating this tool / updating I44 because it now completely ignored the I44 mod directory in MyDocuments and is now back to installing mods the game folder (which would have overwritten my updates! ) ..... gggrrrrrrr

.... and I cant see anywhere to change this behaviour.

..... and it STILL doesn't remember where it was installed before trying to Update/reinstall itself !

Yes my son?

Happy new year to you too, Gnat.

PwS by default installs mods to My Documents. If it's installing to your game folder then I suspect you have configured it as such.

You can configure the paths to games and mods folder by going to Settings -> Game Settings.

If not, then something VERY fishy is going on, and we would be glad to receive details and log files over at http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/

And yes it DOES remember where it is installed after you've upgraded past build 170, because we fixed issues in the installer preventing us from performing MINOR upgrade types:

http://play.withsix.com/posts/85-play-withsix-build-190-released-merry-x-mas

http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/sorry_and_thankyou_pages_are_shown_on_major_upgrade_types

The only exception is if we intentionally perform a Major Upgrade type, because of technical requirements of MSI. E.g a Major upgrade is required if we want to remove components from the package.

We're looking into ways to handle the path in this case too, but we feel the recent changes should be rather acceptable already.

Re your development folder; it sounds like you're missing some vital tools and processes, like backups and SVN/Git? Harddisks are tricky things, they're usually the first to go.

We offer free project hosting including Git over at Dev-Heaven if you're interested. Github also provides project hosting for free, if it's an Open Source project.

.git/.svn/.hg folders are untouched by PwS/SU.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Sickboy

Yes happy new year as well SB

Settings? My update doesn't even remotely look like that picture !

One of the most non-intuitive GUI I've encountered in a long while sorry.

only exception is if we intentionally perform a Major Upgrade type

Surprise ... it was an MSI install

Hadn't used PwS in many weeks.

And prior to the (todays) update, all Mod's were being installed to My Documents (which is what I preferred just for I44 ..... but give the history of me and this program, I took the precaution of renaming my development folder. Glad I was suspicious)

Log File

http://pastebin.com/tzSR1Cxk

missing some vital tools

No, I'm not. And restoring backups are a time consuming (and risky) pain in the arse.

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Arh! ffs .... theres a reason the picture was different ..... It was the Six Launcher it seems I was wrestling with :( so many "Six" directories laying around ......

PwS has disappeared .... so have to reinstall.

Sorry SB

I see, NP. Thanks for the log, though unneeded now and very old indeed :P

Play withSIX by default is installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\SIX Networks\Play withSIX and downloadable over at http://play.withsix.com

Play withSIX should be the only SIX app ya need now :) Only a handful of features left in SIX Updater to port.

Then we can start making some serious progress ;)

Having a weird bug trying to launch Namalsk Crisis.

I couldn't get in to the server launching from PwS so I tried copying and pasting the IP:Port and that revealed I was being kicked for not having ns_dayz.pbo. However I do have that, it's in @DayZ_Namalsk/addons and that was installed by PwS. The Namalsk Crisis servers show, under Mods, @dayz and Arma2:Namalsk Crisis. There's no @ in front of the latter, which seems wrong. This is what the RPT shows:

== D:\Games\ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead\expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe

== "D:\Games\ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead\expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -noSplash -noFilePatching "-mod=exp-ramdisk" "-world=empty" -nosplash -skipintro -nopause -connect=94.23.200.92 -port=2302 "-mod=D:\Games\ArmA 2;expansion;expansion\beta;expansion\beta\expansion;@namalsk;@NC;@DayZ"

I've used the Add Mods function to add Dayz_Namalsk now, so hopefully that will fix it. By the way, that Add Mods page is rather unintuitive, having to click the little OK down the bottom to add a mod. Would be much better if we could right-click on a Mod and Add I think.

Having a weird bug trying to launch Namalsk Crisis.

I couldn't get in to the server launching from PwS so I tried copying and pasting the IP:Port and that revealed I was being kicked for not having ns_dayz.pbo. However I do have that, it's in @DayZ_Namalsk/addons and that was installed by PwS. The Namalsk Crisis servers show, under Mods, @dayz and Arma2:Namalsk Crisis. There's no @ in front of the latter, which seems wrong. This is what the RPT shows:

== D:\Games\ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead\expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe

== "D:\Games\ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead\expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -noSplash -noFilePatching "-mod=exp-ramdisk" "-world=empty" -nosplash -skipintro -nopause -connect=94.23.200.92 -port=2302 "-mod=D:\Games\ArmA 2;expansion;expansion\beta;expansion\beta\expansion;@namalsk;@NC;@DayZ"

I've used the Add Mods function to add Dayz_Namalsk now, so hopefully that will fix it.

The ns_dayz.pbo was optional and intended for DayZ, but I suppose it is being used differently as well. I've added the addon to the @NC modfolder now :)

By the way, that Add Mods page is rather unintuitive, having to click the little OK down the bottom to add a mod. Would be much better if we could right-click on a Mod and Add I think.

Fully agreed, it was rather something I slapped together quickly to bring you guys long awaited control over the Mods in the Modsets around x-mas.

I am currently fully focused on porting the last bits of old IronRuby code to our new spanking C# codebase.

I expect to be ready by next week and we'll then be focusing on improving the Modset and Mod experience, and beyond :)

SU Custom repo support + surprise is also underway.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Sickboy

Cool, thanks Sickboy.

I wasn't sure if the Namalsk Crisis modset was meant to be just for Dayz Namalask but that's all the servers I saw under it so I assumed so :)

Looking forward to the future :)

Well the Namalsk DayZ situation is a bit special compared to the rest.

Technically they did a great job, as in, not duplicating DayZ code. Instead they have a ns_dayz.pbo which can be combined with the official DayZ package.

However, because the Namalsk Crisis has it's own mod.cpp, and this mod.cpp is also used for DayZ, filtering DayZ servers from the Namalsk Modset cannot be accomplished by conventional means.

We're planning to add customized handling for this situation in the near future.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Sickboy

A useful feature has occurred to me, which I can't see already implemented (apologies if it is).

VON doesn't work properly if some players are using pre-beta xxx (I can't remember the exact version) and some are using post-beta xxx. This also seems to affect ACRE judging by my experience last night. It manifests as the player can hear the other players but they can't hear him. Therefore, on some servers I have to not use the beta and on others it's fine so it would be useful if there were a beta switch that could be set per server that would override the global setting.

EDIT: I found out that my problem with ACRE was totally unrelated to the VON problem. Nonetheless, a beta setting per server would be useful for servers that use VON for the reasons described above.

Edited January 7, 2013 by doveman

According to the CBA thread:

No matter which type of ArmA 2 installation you have, you need the @CBA mod folder loaded.

• If you use ArmA 2: Combined Operations, that's all you need - load just the @CBA mod folder.
  
• If you have only Operation Arrowhead without ArmA 2 original, you are required to also use @CBA_OA mod folder.
  
• If you have only ArmA 2 (Standalone, original), you are required to also use @CBA_A2 mod folder.
  

Why is it that PWS launches with all 3 even though I have CO?

According to the CBA thread:

Why is it that PWS launches with all 3 even though I have CO?

Because that info is old. You now must run all three if using Combined Operations.

Sent from my DROIDX

I see. According to HIP thread, that is the most current/official CBA thread on the BI forums. The author should change the OP to display accurate info.

I'm finding that when joining the UnitedOperations server with PwS it doesn't connect to the server and puts me on the main menu and I have to connect manually, which is obviously not what's meant to happen.

I also found the other night that although PwS said the mods were up-to-date, I was getting kicked and when I checked with SixUpdater @UOMaps and @UOMods were out of date.

I'm finding that when joining the UnitedOperations server with PwS it doesn't connect to the server and puts me on the main menu and I have to connect manually, which is obviously not what's meant to happen.

I also found the other night that although PwS said the mods were up-to-date, I was getting kicked and when I checked with SixUpdater @UOMaps and @UOMods were out of date.

UOMaps and UOMods are not on the official network but on their SU Custom Repo. PwS Custom repo support is underway :)

UOMaps and UOMods are not on the official network but on their SU Custom Repo. PwS Custom repo support is underway :)

Ah gotcha. As you can tell, I haven't got my head round all this Custom repo stuff yet ;)

Hello Sickboy,

I'm creating a private pack of addons for my squad (private because I don't want to bother with signatures and rights, and we are playing on our own private server anyway).

The thing is about 8.5 Gb big, uncompressed. Hosting it isn't an issue as I do have 25 Gb webspace that I can reach through an FTP client but what is worrying me is how to maintain the pack easily, both for the end-users, my squaddies, and myself as I don't want them to download the whole pack again if one of the file is corrupted or outdated nor I want to upload the whole pack everytime I update or modify it.

After a good googling session, it seems that what I'm after is some sort of "delta patching" and it seems that your updating tools are working that way.

Now what I just can't figure is which one to use and how to set up the whole delta patching process. I've read the CustomRepos Setup page but my ears started to bleed after the first paragraph.

Could you please point me to the right direction?

Hello Sickboy,

I'm creating a private pack of addons for my squad (private because I don't want to bother with signatures and rights, and we are playing on our own private server anyway).

The thing is about 8.5 Gb big, uncompressed. Hosting it isn't an issue as I do have 25 Gb webspace that I can reach through an FTP client but what is worrying me is how to maintain the pack easily, both for the end-users, my squaddies, and myself as I don't want them to download the whole pack again if one of the file is corrupted or outdated nor I want to upload the whole pack everytime I update or modify it.

After a good googling session, it seems that what I'm after is some sort of "delta patching" and it seems that your updating tools are working that way.

Now what I just can't figure is which one to use and how to set up the whole delta patching process. I've read the CustomRepos Setup page but my ears started to bleed after the first paragraph.

Could you please point me to the right direction?

Hi,

Thanks for your message and interest!

SIX Updater indeed offers exactly what you are after; delta patching support on both ends.

Play withSIX is on the verge to support it as well (the client part for starters), and the processes will be simplified and improved coming time.

Have you also checked the +UI doc variant, it is probably easier to handle? http://www.six-projects.net/Six_Updater+CustomRepos_Setup+UI

There's also a Skype support chat linked I believe on the non +UI variant, if you would like some more personal assistance from other CustomRepo admins.

I am afraid that currently you require some sysadmin skills for the initial setup. Also zsync is not compatible with every webserver or configuration.

Once the initial setup is completed, it should be quite straightforward to push more mods or updates.

I suspect we will be able to improve this process by mid this year.

I would recommend to at least split up the mod pack over folders preferably not larger than 1 GB each.

This will improve the experience on both ends; for you as uploader and for your users as downloaders.

Also, if some mods are already available on the official SU network, I can recommend using those instead of putting them on your custom repo;

- The SU network has worldwide nodes, and is partially community powered and self powered.

- The content is generally considered stable, in the sense that usually you will not find broken mods on the network, or only very shortly

- All mods have v2 signatures, although as you say you won't use them (from a technical perspective, I can definitely recommend enabling signature checks, even if its just to make sure none of your users run unexpected content, either outdated or completely different http://sickboy-six.blogspot.nl/2011/11/v2-signatures-bisign-and-bikey-what-is.html)

The beauty of the SU custom repo architecture is that it supports this effortlessly - any modfolder you specify for a server, that is not located on your custom repo, will be automatically looked for on the official network,

and even if it's not found there, it will check if the user perhaps already has the modfolder installed :)

I hope this helps!

Edited January 8, 2013 by Sickboy

Definitely helps, thanks a lot Sickboy.

I may have an additional question though: is SU able to delete a file to match a reference configuration?

There already are some pbo in some mods that I choose not to use for compatibility's sake or simply to save space and in the future there will be files we eventually decide to just let go or replace. I feel it would be somewhat inelegant to have the user having to delete them manually.

As for signatures, if it wasn't for the headache legally acquired DLC's bisigns are giving me when I do activate V2 signature check, they would be used for sure.

Best wishes by the way. ;)

A small update on progress on Play withSIX

We're about to release yet another major technology update, bumping the version finally from v1.0 to 1.2!.

In terms of functionality not much has changed with the exception of fixed bugs.

It is however a major milestone for us due to having fully dropped IronRuby code in favor of C#/XAML,

which means that the Distribution functionality (download/install/update of mods, dlls, etc) and the handling of the Main Action button (the One-Button-To-Rule-Them-All) have been reimplemented.

And we can now focus on developing in a single language with a single set of Tools.

We have also replaced the unhandled exception handler and reporter for a much more user friendly version, incl the option to include your e-mail address so we can get back to you with resolution etc.

Besides that, we've implemented Opt-In Feature Reporting, which will help us improve the reliability, performance and functionality of the Application.

Progress information is refreshed more frequently for a smoother experience.

The setup package size has been reduced by about half, many dependencies have been merged,

distribution tools are now downloaded separately once they are needed and mod/game assets like images are no longer distributed with the software but are obtained online and cached locally.

Performance and Memory usage should again have improved slightly as well.

ETA: Between now and Sunday.

Near future

We are working hard to move PwS out of the Preview phase. We expect this will finish in the next few weeks.

I know a lot of you have been waiting for SU Custom Repo support, and further developments in this area.

Our latest line of (major) technology updates were required for us to be able to commit to development of these improved and new features.

We expect to have test-grade Custom Repo support ready coming days, and production-grade in 1-2 weeks.

We also have a surprise in regards to repo/protocol support, which will be revealed around the same time we release production-grade SU Custom Repo support ;-)

More improvements and new features are being planned for coming time.

Stay Tuned for more Play withSIX news and releases!

Edited January 10, 2013 by Sickboy

I may have an additional question though: is SU able to delete a file to match a reference configuration?

There already are some pbo in some mods that I choose not to use for compatibility's sake or simply to save space and in the future there will be files we eventually decide to just let go or replace. I feel it would be somewhat inelegant to have the user having to delete them manually.

Currently this is unsupported to apply this through repo config, but we can look at that for PwS. You can at least exclude files through the "incl" and "excl" fields locally, in the Mods grid, or directly in the .rsync\config.yml

As for signatures, if it wasn't for the headache legally acquired DLC's bisigns are giving me when I do activate V2 signature check, they would be used for sure.

I see - DLC issues with keys should be resolved quite a while ago.

I believe the trick is to install the 1.62 patch (again) after installing the DLCs.

Best wishes by the way. ;)

You too

@Sickboy

I would like to say how impressed i am with Play withSIX, it is a great tool for downloading Mods and addons. I find it alot easier to use that Six Updater, which is great.

As you already kindly host my Nogovan Mod, how easy is it for me to get that updated when i am ready to release my new version?

Thank you for your hard work, its appreciated :)

@Sickboy

I would like to say how impressed i am with Play withSIX, it is a great tool for downloading Mods and addons. I find it alot easier to use that Six Updater, which is great.

As you already kindly host my Nogovan Mod, how easy is it for me to get that updated when i am ready to release my new version?

Thank you for your hard work, its appreciated :)

Thanks, glad you like it! :)

Currently we would like to receive a notification over at http://getsatisfaction.withsix.com/withsix/topics/mod_update_or_addition_requests

For the future we are looking at giving access directly to you and other Mod Makers :)

The latest Play withSIX v1.2 build (282) is now available on auto-update!

This build brings several improved features and reduced setup size

(click image to enlarge)

Highlights

• We have arrived at v1.2, nearing first non-Preview release
  
• Setup size reduced by half;
  Separated tools to a downloadable package, and dropped and merged many assemblies.
  Assets like mod and game images are no longer distributed with the application but retrieved online
  Regretfully this requires a "Major Upgrade" type, performing an uninstall and reinstall of the software. Apologies for the inconvenience
  
• New and improved exception handling and report dialog
  
• Feature Reporting ("Customer Experience Program") helps us to improve the reliability, performance and functionality
  
• Completely dropped IronRuby, migrated fully to C#/WPF XAML
  
• Improved performance, reliability and responsiveness
  

Many more big and small improvements, Check the full changelog for details.

We are very close to moving Play withSIX out of Preview. For the next few weeks we have planned: Custom Modset finalization, SU Custom Repo support, and a surprise ;-)

NOTE: If you get an error during startup about System.Core - please make sure you have Microsoft .NET KB2468871v2 hotfix installed. Alternatively, you could instead install the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

NOTE2: If you get an error during startup about System.Windows.Interactivity.dll - please try and run PwS from the start menu, SIX Networks, Play withSIX icon instead, or go through Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Play withSIX, repair. To repair the installation.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

In case of feedback or issues, please let us know

Enjoy!

Edited January 11, 2013 by Sickboy