AoE Installation Tool 2.0 for K&B (Please comment your vote)

Hi, on (the second) suggestion of peugeot407, I thought to add K&B on the mods supported AoE Installation Tool 2.0
What does it do?
It is a tool to install, run, and uninstall any mod without ruining the original game. Here's a video of using AoE Installation Tool 2.0

(I cannot insert the link, search for AoE Installation Tool 2.0 on youtube)

As you can see, it is very fast to install and run mods (uninstallation too), these are the current mods supported on AoE Installation Tool 2.0

Napoleonic Era 2.01
(supported only on AoE Installation Tool 2.0 Beta) War of the Triple Alliance Gamma Version 1.0 - not supported anymore

Tell me if you are interested. I'll need all the mod files, if it isn't much heavy I can include it alone.

If you like, vote it on (I cannot insert the link, find the topic on NE site)

P.S. If you can vote it also on youtube please, sorry for the splits but the filters blocks me because I'm a new user

So if I understand correctly, this is not just an installer/uninstaller, but also a mod loader of a kind?


peugeot407

Of course, I don't call it an installer, because it's much more. If you watch the video, you can see that the mods can be run only with the tool. This means that you can have infinite mods theorically to run. The reason for doing is that everyone who likes a mod, should always be able to run the original game to play ESO or other. Infact, installing normally a mod, you can't play ESO with other players and you have to reinstall game.

You can, by making two installation in your computer.

What do you mean? To backup the game folder? That was an old solution, but is heavy 3,66 GBs

Instead with this, the backup is around of 30-40 MBs (depends from what your mod replaces in the game).

The problem is that KNB has several options to load aswell



this is the curent dialog to change settings. I launch it with "Another Modloader" which dont need installation at all (launch button also use either another modloader or AOE3Y.exe)

But i must admit your video was still impressing

Thus?

K&B has different options when launching to have different features disabled and what not. We'd just like to know if you could include that in your Installation Tool.

I'd like to know it too. But I think that you can simple address it to Documents\AoE Installation Tool 2.0\Expansions\Knights & Barbarians.
Obviously you have to download the new version downloadable here.

http://aoeinsttool.altervista.org/download.php
The differences from the beta version are explained here
http://aoeinsttool.altervista.org/aoeit/aoe-installation-tool-2-0-new-using-concept/


Anyway, I'd like to see the beta of K&B and also to see a link of my site on this site. This is necessary if you want to have K&B included in my tool. So K&B would join to the sponsorized mods.

This is how the Mod Downloader looks like


K&B would enter in this list.

Please on installer. Think of the Mac downloaders that can't mount exe files. When I installed Napoleonic Era and War of the Triple Alliance, the manual installation was just fine. If you are going to make an installer, at least have another link for a manual installation as well.

I guess Misterscp knows better what kind of modloader we are using, I am really dizzy of all the new installers, modloaders, etc...

@Losinal: We need to see how the features like Diplomacy and weather work without any kind of modloader, as I think the current idea is to let the player to select them when starting the mod.

I don't understand, you want to work without any kind of modloader, but you want to let the player to select the game to play? The project of AoE Installation Tool 2.0 is to combine every total conversion mod (unhofficial expansion) in an unic Mod Loader, but always keeping the original game unmodified..

And for what I saw for now. There's no mod loader better than this.

(for Losinal)

If you are going to make an installer, at least have another link for a manual installation as well.

I'm not goint to make an installer.
Everyone can make an installer from itself.
This programme's objective is that to install mods without ruining the game, making optimized backups. This is why I will never allow to copy only the files.

Eh, as you saw above, Misterscp has been making his own modloader. But anyway, I don't think we are distributing inteam versions to anyone outside the team, so it is needed to wait for the actual release.

But your mod would get more success because everyone'd see it on Mod Downloader.
Peugeot asked me if I would have included K&B in my tool.

well about my modloader:

https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/543/scp1.png/
-saves disk space because you just need the orginal files once and for every mod the modded files
-dont requiress install/uninstall
-is compatible to all known TAD mods
-let you customize KnB and use any other Third Party Custmizer via "Customize" Button
-dont need admin rights
-well a negative point: it requires a dll that not all users have installed allready
-and finally another: no mac support

and i have no clue what robert told you, he isnt also here atm...

It's interesting, but its whole support would be of K&B, NE 2.01, WotTA Gamma Version (bugged) and TFN?

-saves disk space because you just need the orginal files once and for every mod the modded files
-dont requiress install/uninstall
-is compatible to all known TAD mods
-let you customize KnB and use any other Third Party Custmizer via "Customize" Button
-dont need admin rights
-well a negative point: it requires a dll that not all users have installed allready
-and finally another: no mac support

Well, it's the mine
- Saves optimized space for every mod, for a fast installation
- The install/uninstall concept is totally different to the normal, in fact, in my tool install means only that the game is ready to load a mod.
- Can be compatible for every mod purposed
- No customization for now
- Needs the administration rights (I have no idea on how you could not need)
- The only .dll needed are installable in the .NET Framework 4
- No mac support too.

So, here seems that your own mod loader could be a bit better, but my also

- Supports Steam versions of AoE and should work for other
- Has an Autopatching system, so everyone can always have the tool updated
- Has a Weight of 2,5 MBs, the space occupated depends only from the mod that users want to have, for example: You like K&B and NE but not WotTA? You can download them only.
- Has a Mod Downloader included. Here you can download or upgrade everymod supported by me in your Mod Library
- Has a Multilanguage support

The only thing I miss is the customization, I didn't think about it.
How does your modloader work?

It's interesting, but its whole support would be of K&B, NE 2.01, WotTA Gamma Version (bugged) and TFN?

there is a combobox on the left top where you can choose any minor mod, however you need to create for every mod a Info.txt file which is requires to be able to load it (symbols and combobox).
-----------------------------------------------
- Supports any aoe3 install direction (read path from registry)
-well that is pretty cool no clue how i could realize it aswell
- the program use 450 kb (+KnB Customizer) and just 60 without graphic interface
-well just install what you like (remove functions dont exists yet^^). If you dont have KnB a message will pop up "Mod is not installed" - you would need create info txt file button and the add/update mod button
- no online function
-possibility to add code to the .exe like the scenario trigger that read registry values

How does your modloader work?

it loads all files from your modfolder, after it has finished it will add all missing files from the orginal folder. It is done via Dll code injection.

however this part is written in c++ (provided by my brother). I wasnt able to translate it to c# yet (60% done)

Where can someone get this modfolder? The mods have a weight. The only WotTA non-compressed is of 784 MB, and my tool is written 100% in Visual Basic.NET (after compilation, nothing changes from C#).
If I implement customization, it's perfect, but I need to know yet how it works.

I'd like anyway to try the beta of KnB.

The modfolder is the thing you have to download . and yes wotta is heavy but knb is "just" 120 mb.
well the customization works by file-copy functions. basicly there are two files per option. Languages are also done with this stuff but it will all copy all files from language folder.

I'd like anyway to try the beta of KnB.

We all want, but we have no Beta versions, yet. Team Alphas are only for inteam use. We can think about sending a version of K&B to you a couple of weeks before release, I guess...

Just a comment, I wrote a mod loader with a gui in python 2.7 for shits and giggles that lets me run FP, NE, and WotTA with the click of a button. It would probably only take me 30-45 minutes to add K&B. All I need is a list of what goes where and an icon. (Or else I'll make something, Synechdoche can vouch that I'm a terrible artist, so this is a semi-threat.) All the script really does is save versions of the various files that are changed for each mod and then when a version is selected, it puts them all into place. Since the files are all stored locally it takes maybe a second to do its work and then the game launches.

But most importantly, it runs on Mac and Windows. Thoughts?

Edit: Also, as runnable Mac .app program it's a "whopping" 398kb.

After no long time posting here. I heard more questions of more people about the "customization" of KnB.

This is my reply



The KnB customization is already ready in my tool.
I always said that I would have never implemented a function for only a mod, unless it could be useful for other mods. So I made again my dynamic methods. Now every mod can support the Customization. Obviously the mods which can do it are rare (theorically for now only KnB can), but the important thing is that everymod could do that without giving unfair disadvantages to other mods.

I'm not sure I understand the point of this, to be honest. If we already have a modloader, and the most widely supported possibility for expanding the AoE3 modding community to a single "launch system" so far is WotTA's Throne Room, why is another needed?

why is another needed?

Man, you don't understand. The modloaders aren't quantifiable such as the pencils. SCP Modloader and AoE Installation Tool 2.0 are modloader much different. In more, my tool includes a fully online support of upgrades and other. A multilanguage system and a support for all the versions of AoE (also Steam).

When I see people that talk about my tool such as a "communal modloader" I really get mad. Open the eyes. This is the VERY FIRST modloader. Although peugeot began one, as know he never released it.


Look at the first video of AoE Installation Tool 2.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcbDFxeD_HM

When was it published? 16 June.
And now tell me, what's the FIRST modloader and the OTHER one? I can give you the right to call SCP Modloader as such it is. But I don't give you the right to call AoE Installation Tool 2.0 as a modloader like many ones or "such another one".

Please give a bit of respect for the main point of inspiration of the other modloaders.
And talk when you will have tried the BOTH modloaders with the SAME mods.

Jeez, calm down man. I don't know much at all about computers, I'm the gosh-darn historian. I was honestly asking for an explanation on how it's different.