SS2Tool v6 Beta Test

[67442124aad82Kolya]

SS2Tool v6 has been released here.
Version 6.0 is a major rewrite of SS2Tool, it works differently than all previous versions. The main point is that it can connect to a master build of SS2, which is hosted on Systemshock.org, and compare the local game installation with it, making appropriate changes to local content. The advantage is that no matter how screwed up the local files might be - if it is an SS2 game, we can fix it. And with consequent uses SS2Tool will keep your game up to date.

This idea grew out of necessity: People come by here with all kinds of different game installs, with weird and obsolete fixes, broken directory structure, patches from the official game distributors (Steam/GOG), or super-duper pre-patched torrents they found somewhere on the net.
Previously our strategy was to say "Start with an unmodified game!" and try and make SS2Tool adapt to the major distributions. That was tedious and inefficient for us and for the gamers, because for us it meant that we always ran after others, although no one knows more about SS2 than we do. And for gamers it meant that they had to follow a certain sequence of patching that wasn't always obvious. And they had to start anew with every SS2Tool version, because it could only deal with some standard setups. 

Now I want to change that and I need testers. SS2Tool v6 has been in development for 18 months. It has gone through lots of changes and it's not a beta version any more. I don't have any more features to add at the moment and if tests are successful this version will become official.

In order to test this program you will need to know a bit about how it works and I'll go through it here the way it happens when you run the program:

VERSION CHECK
Even before you see the program open it will run a version check, comparing its own version with https://www.systemshock.org/ss2tool/version.txt.
If it cannot connect it will tell you so.
If it feels old it will offer to send you to the SS2Tool thread for an update.
If an update is required it will offer the same with no option to continue.

SYNC METHOD
If this is the first time you use SS2Tool a Clean Install is recommended. If you've used SS2Tool before (ss2tool.log exists) the default selection will be to update your game.
Clean Install makes your local game a copy of the master build, also removing old and unnecessary files. The update option updates the local game with new or changed files from the master. It ignores files it doesn't know as well as all config files in order to preserve your settings.
Whichever you choose, save games, mods, FMs and screenshots are not affected. Any files that are affected will get backed up to the folder SS2ToolSyncBackup.

GAME VALIDATION
This is the first actual installation step: SS2Tool will search for and validate a bunch of files (Videos, CRF, MIS, shock2.exe) that are required in order to proceed. There's some fuzziness built in, so missing one or two files won't matter. Although it's mentioned in the install options you won't notice this step unless the game does not validate.

Next it will check for the required DirectX and MS Visual C++ 2008 runtime versions. These checks are the same as in previous SS2Tools.
Then SS2Tool will copy some required files to your system's temp folder.
Then it will set up the folders: Data, DataPermMods, DatatempMods, FMs, FMsArchived and move the original resources to Data.
Then it tests whether this is the German game version so it can switch to the German master build (once that exists).

SYNC
Finally SS2Tool syncs the local game with the master build. These factors affect the sync:
- Game language (English or German master)
- Sync method (Clean install or Update)
- SS2ToolExcludeSync: This file is being downloaded before the main sync. It lists directories and files that are excluded from synchronisation. It is deleted after installation finishes.

GAME OPTIONS
- Reset keybinds: This fixes the standard keybinds. On a clean install this is mandatory.
- Following are various options you may already know from previous SS2Tools: Multiplayer (still buggy), Soft bloom effect, Blending explosions, Weather effects, New mantle method, Limit GPU buffer, Crop movies, Multisample anti-aliasing. All of these except multiplayer are courtesy of New Dark by Le Corbeau. Merci!

MOD MANAGER
Install Blue Mod Manager.

GAME EDITOR
Install Shocked Basic Toolkit

SAFE MODE
This option is also known from previous SS2Tools: Use DirectX 6 renderer on old graphics cards and disable hardware sound acceleration.

SHORTCUTS
Install shortcuts for the game, docs, logs, FM manager, mod manager and game editor.

Finally the temporary files from your system's temp folder are removed.

Now install some mods, play a bit, make a save game, install a fan mission. Generally do what any normal player would do and check if everything works as expected. Then run SS2Tool v6 again with the "Update" method. Check again if everything still works as expected.
And please leave a message below to tell me how it went. Thank you!

New fixes in SS2Tool v6 include: Voodoo47's DML fixes

[SS2Tool-BETA-v.6.0.0.0.exe expired]
[SS2Tool-BETA-v.6.0.0.5.exe expired]

[67442124aaf2cSystem Shocked]

Oh my ..... first to download.

Congrats on the milestone release. Your hard work and extensive long term commitment to the "Many"  is much appreciated.

EDIT: Your first feedback: I didn't notice an "Installation Finished" window, confirming that all went well.

[67442124ab03eKolya]

Hey, thanks for testing. Like previous SS2Tool versions it ends with the Triop chime (which one may not hear if speakers are off) and then self-closes. I did this because it's fast but if others find this confusing (please comment) I'll change it, no problem.

[67442124ab1d8voodoo47]

generally, an "everything went fine" message is a good idea. also, no mention about FMselect in the first post, is there an option to activate it/create shortcuts? if not, it should be added, we want to make FM installation and startup as painless as possible.

[67442124ab2caKolya]

The FM manager can be found under shortcuts. (It's just a parameter call to shock2.exe after all).

[67442124ab616System Shocked]

generally, an "everything went fine" message is a good idea......

People are accustomed to seeing some sort of visual "successful" confirmation when installing software. I suggest having an audio AND visual cue. An audio cue gets the attention of those that have stepped away or are doing something else on their computer or has the installer window minimized or in the background.  A visual cue will also assist the hearing impaired.

Just some thoughts for ya.

[67442124ab77eKolya]

I just updated the master build with some DMLs by Voodoo and NVScript.osm which had previously been forgotten.
This would be a good time to test the Update function of SS2Tool 6.

[67442124ab91fvoodoo47]

hmm, network error (sendrequest error). internet connection required. seems like the tool thinks I have no internet, even though that's obviously not true.

[67442124aba3dKolya]

Works fine here, retry?

This happens if it can't download version.txt. The download mechanism for this is the same as with previous SS2Tools.

[67442124abb31voodoo47]

so, anything I can do to make it work? I mean, I'm obviously connected, so why would it fail to download?

[67442124abc35Kolya]

I don't doubt you're connected but apparently SS2Tool isn't. Please check if it's cut off by a firewall or anything like that.
Also did it work before for you or is this the first time you tested it?

[67442124abd1cvoodoo47]

the previous versions worked fine, v6.0 private beta included (5.1 working ok, just tried). no intrusive software that could be blocking it as far as I'm aware.

[67442124abe43Kolya]

It will try to  download version.txt to your system's temp dir, usually one of these
C:\Windows\Temp\ss2tool\version.txt
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp\ss2tool\version.txt
but could be a different path, depending on the system.
If the file exists there, try deleting it. Do you have a temp folder? Does it have weird permissions?

[67442124abf2fvoodoo47]

nope - still on xp here, so no weird permission stuff should be going on. found C:\Documents and Settings\xxx\Local Settings\Temp\ss2tool, but it's empty.

[67442124ac039Kolya]

Well there has been a recent update to to inetc (the nsis download plugin).
I am attaching a version compiled with the new plugin.

[attachment removed]

[67442124ac10dvoodoo47]

no change.

[67442124ac252Kolya]

Yeah, I feared it might have more to do with winxp than with the plugin. I think I could bend it to download version.txt to the game dir. It's not a safe bet it will work, even if it downloads the file at that point, because $TEMP is definitely needed in other ways.
I will try that tomorrow. But if it doesn't work and if it turns out to be XP dependent as I assume, I might just ignore it and tell people to use 5.1 instead.

[67442124ac351Kolya]

Okay, this downloads version.txt to the game dir (and immediately deletes it after making the comparison). I tested it successfully on win7. Will be happy to hear how it goes on your winxp machine.

[attachment removed]

[67442124ac443voodoo47]

still the same. it looks like it's failing even before attempting to check for any files and folders.

[67442124ac52aKolya]

You get the same message as before?

//starts to dig for winxp machine, making grunting noises

[67442124ac614voodoo47]

yup, exactly same.

[67442124ac71dKolya]

I cannot reproduce this on XP. I tried the first release at the top of this thread and after the usual firewall warning it connects fine and everything else works as well. Not sure what to make of this, but it seems to point to a local problem.

[67442124ac84fvoodoo47]

will try a different xp machine on a different network connection. this one is a bit wonky (corrupting large non-torrent files, getting EP2 is close to impossible for example), but I can't see that making the 6.0 tool not see the connection at all.

I think I still have the older private build somewhere, will try it to see whether is still works/connects or not. //it connects, but bails out as expired when the actual patching process starts.

[67442124acb60Kolya]

//it connects, but bails out as expired when the actual patching process starts.

Bails out as expired? Do you get any message?