WinDuke3DMenu

[CombatGold1]

0.3 is about ready just need to give it a final whirl before you can all have it.

[gungriffon geona]

kah, last version I couldn't get to work. I kept getting "system error &H80070583 (-2147023485) class does not exist" and then it shuts down.

[CombatGold1]

Look at the readme file.

[gungriffon geona]

second time today that I've been confounded by the all-mighty readme file.

[CombatGold1]

it says delete the manifest file if you're getting that error

[gungriffon geona]

No I meant that I should've read the readme. that's the second time I didn't.

[CombatGold1]

Ah right.

Did deleting the manifest file work?

[gungriffon geona]

yeah, it worked fine.

[oak man]

is there support for EDuke yet?

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by CombatGold1

0.3 is about ready just need to give it a final whirl before you can all have it.

How is it going?

[CombatGold1]

Originally Posted by oak man

is there support for EDuke yet?

In 0.3, yes (already mentioned in this topic).

Originally Posted by Iggy

How is it going?

Quite well One or two guys are testing it for me before I hand it out, unfortunately they haven't got back to me yet maybe someone else can do that for me.


I understand that you guys require multiple groups/ZIP's to be loaded, and in a specific order. To solve that, I am implimenting this game management interface.





It's complex, and will take a bit of time for me to make, but it will be pretty sweet

[Iggy]

Looks plain great, keep it up.

[CombatGold1]

I really owe you all an explanation for why 0.3 wasn't released sooner.

Last week was the final week of college. I had to tie up all loose ends for my final result of course Luckily, I came out with 2 distinctions and a merit, eqivalent of 3 A-Levels, two A's and one B (for those of you that understand the UK grading system).

Now I'm free for 3 months until university, I can work on stuff like this more

[lycanox]

Looks great.

one question do.
Will the program be able to load zips from other locations instead of the main folder?

[CombatGold1]

No.

Why would you need to put them outside the main folder, other than a subfolder for ZIP's? Or is that where you put them?

If there is popular demand for a ZIP or Groups subfolder to be included, I'll add that (like I have for the Maps subfolder).

[lycanox]

Yep, that's what i meant.
I just like to keep the map as clean an organized as possible.

[CombatGold1]

We'd all have to agree on a folder or range of folders for the groups to go in. I'm happy with "Groups", is everyone else?

^

Ignore that. I've got it to scan all subfolders too, and return relative paths. The same goes to looking for custom maps. Can CON files also go in subfolders, or should they be in the root?

[CombatGold1]

Hm.. can you load groups from subfolders like this?

/ggroups\duke3d.grp /gfolder\group.zip

[CombatGold1]

Progress update:

Yes, the program reads the configuration file.
Yes, you can organise groups in whatever order you like.
Yes, groups can be loaded from subfolders too. Same for maps.
No, the program does not write the configuration file yet which means you have to edit the text file manually.

I have included a guide on how the text file works in the HTML help document. There are now balloon tips to help you without opening the help document.

0.3.1 will be soon 0.3.2 will write.

[CombatGold1]

0.3.1 is out, and works (writes the config file too).

Please see the official information page to download it and get screenshots.

Lol, the fact that the last 4 posts are by me really show the lack of interest in this utility I'm not supprised though, took me long enough to get the next public release out.

Please let me know what you think of this utility, and any problems you come across.

[DeeperThought]

When I click I get this:

Whoops!

The file you were looking for on Netidentity.com was not found.

[CombatGold1]

Just noticed I pasted in a private network link updated.

[ZaphodB]

Awesome dude! I've been waiting for your new release to come out, I think this is as great as the HRP in preserving and expanding duke! I have allways found it a hasle to either run carib.exe or run gamer to change between atomic/carib/dc or to run nwinter.exe for nw. This should be included with the next relase of the HRP IMO. If half the ppl here are half as much a fan of duke as I am (and from posts I've been reading lately, most are 10^10 beyond me), I'm sure that they would love to have this included so that they could play them all.

[CombatGold1]

I've heard that some games use multiple game compile files, is this true? I'm finding it hard to understand why 2 is needed, however if you want that feature, I'll add it like the group including and ordering.

I'll E-Mail the HRP guys to see if they would like this utility included.

[ZaphodB]

All I know is to play Duke it out in DC I had to (after intillation that is):
Run gamer.exe in the gamer dir, select Duke it out in DC and activate it (or deactivate it if I wanted to play episode 4 in atomic), then run duke3d.exe.
For carribean not only did I have to activate it thru gamer, but also had to run a carib.exe instead of duke3d.exe. for nuklear winter I had to run it's nwinter.exe it created when you installed the game. A real pain. Love the way your menu gets rid of all the run this/activate this/then run this mumbo jumbo.

[CombatGold1]

Yeah I rather hated those activators, however this group loading within duke3d.exe has always been a feature of jduke3d/EDuke32

I've posted a mirror on fileplanet to prevent you sapping all my bandwidth Please use the rating If it does get into the HRP, at least I won't have to upload it from my house as often.

[Iggy]

Here's another mirror by me;
http://files.duke4ever.net/winduke3d.zip

Got you some coverage as well.

[CombatGold1]

Thanks but that first screenshot is very out of date, now that there is a new game management system.

[CombatGold1]

I've released a small update (0.3.2) to fix some GUI elements, which could cause problems in some situations. No new features yet though.

It's at the normal location (normally), but my server has a BIOS issue atm so it's here.

[Iggy]

I'm having trouble accessing your site at the moment so I'll try it later so I can update my mirror and the info on D4E. Good to see that this project is still going.

Edit;
Got it, the info on D4E has been updated and here's the new mirror-link;
http://files.duke4ever.net/WinDuke3DMenu-0.3.2.zip (192Kb)

[Psykomanius]

Please make one for Shadow Warrior....

[CombatGold1]

I don't know anything about that game unfortunately.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Iggy

I'm having trouble accessing your site at the moment so I'll try it later so I can update my mirror and the info on D4E. Good to see that this project is still going.

Edit;
Got it, the info on D4E has been updated and here's the new mirror-link;
http://files.duke4ever.net/WinDuke3DMenu-0.3.2.zip (192Kb)

I moved the file to this location;
http://files.duke4ever.net/misc/WinDuke3DMenu-0.3.2.zip

[CombatGold1]

Thanks for hosting it

[CombatGold1]

I moved to a domain name back in early 2007 but forgot to tell you guys here about that.

The new URL for this launcher is http://www.reece-eu.net/software.php...=WinDuke3DMenu

I've been learning C sharp a lot recently, so I'll probably be converting this project from VB.NET to C# soon-ish. I'll include global files (start and end) so you can put groups etc at the start and end of all game configs, many code optimisations (speed, compatibility, etc), and some layout tweaks.

[Aherin]

Hi there,
I just downloaded this program and I thought of something that might be useful.
Many of the TCs that I use frequently (like DNWMD and DukePlus) have multiple defs and cons that need to be included in the command line for them to work properly.
For example, this is the command line for DNWMD:
EDuke32.exe -jDNWMD -hdt.def -xdtgame.con

Would it be possible to have the option of saving a separate command line for each game, rather than the single one in the launch menu which affects all of them? Because as it is now, I need to manually put the different command lines in every time I use a mod with customs cons and defs. As it stands now, i'm still better off using separate bat files.

[Dopefish7590]

The program looks nice, could you possibly add a "user" option that changes the cfg file so people dont have to keep changing their interface for someone?

[CombatGold1]

I'll take that into account. I've nearly finished it anyway, thanks to C sharp being so amazing. Stuff left to do:

- Store the game config within the %AppData%\WinDuke3DLauncher folder. This is pretty much a requirement to work in Vista anyway.
- Additional parameters on a per-game basis.
- Additional parameters globally for the start and end of the parameters part.
- Global groups for before and after the game specific groups.

[CombatGold1]

As I've been playing Duke 3D again recently, I decided to upgrade this launcher that I knocked out 3 and a half years ago -- however I probably won't if nobody else requires it.

In my understanding, the following changes need to be made:

• Multiple CON and DEF files to be selected for each game
• Command parameters for each game
• Remove the launch button for the setup utility, as it's no longer used (I'll replace it for a community button or something that goes to www.duke4.net)
• Fix a bug that caused available group files to be added again every time you open the game management form
• Move the game configuration file to the user area (%AppData%) -- mainly for Vista compatibility
• Global game entry for groups and stuff that all games would use (like Duke3D.grp and Duke3D_HRP.zip)
• Change the silly text file to a nice XML file

The project will be done from scratch. I did start doing this af few years ago, but then plain forgot about it

Is there anything else you would like this launcher to do? I've read somewhere about TC's or something. I don't know what they are or how they work, but I suspect it may be desired to have it included.

I've seen around that this place isn't really used any more? If that's the case, then I've included a discussion here too.

Please post your thoughts I've attached my progress.