The Launcher and Updater

[Spush]

Cool stuff, but why are you using an .iso? won't that be difficult for a lot of people to figure out?

So people don't have to download parts.

[Guniv]

I thought the point of this though was like many other games, download launcher, run launcher, launcher downloads game? Or did I misread?

EDIT: I guess it is just for installing and updating. Just my two cents, but if it could work the way I just said it'd be really awesome, but I don't know if you guys wanna sink any more time into this.

[Web_cole]

I would also be curious as to what sort of integration PR Mumble will have with the launcher, if any? It would be a shame to have such a streamlined package only for Mumble to still be "separate".

[lucky.BOY]

I was wondering, since the updater itself can downlaod and instal the whole mod, why cant we just download and instal the launcher+updater and let it do its thing? Im perfectly fine with using a .iso, i just thought this might be a somewhat more subtle solution.

[martinhjerpe]

Damn, that's some nice launcher you got there, awesome!

[Psyrus]

I was wondering, since the updater itself can downlaod and instal the whole mod, why cant we just download and instal the launcher+updater and let it do its thing? Im perfectly fine with using a .iso, i just thought this might be a somewhat more subtle solution.

It does make a lot of sense, to be honest. Depending on the current implementation, it might not even be that hard of an extension.

[BloodyDeed]

We don't have the server resources to provide the large initial download. That's at least one of the reasons.

It's not that we didn't think about that, it's just simpler to keep the current solution.

[ChallengerCC]

Realy nice quality work! Cant wait to test it out.

[Frontliner]

Hopefully the new launcher won't mess with Steam purchased BF2 copies

A question regarding the new background, can we make our own ones(not saying it looks bad or anything, but I like to customize my games a bit) for ourselves?

[Phoenixo_Idaho]

I like a lot this new launcher. The "support" part is really usefull !

[Nate.]

I would also be curious as to what sort of integration PR Mumble will have with the launcher, if any? It would be a shame to have such a streamlined package only for Mumble to still be "separate".

This is the most important point. The only thing that I expected from the launcher was an integration of PR Mumble.

Other than that, what you have now looks awesome.

[speedazz]

[3===SPECTER===3]

So it says the updater will be used to get updates out quicker; and I get the idea behind bug fixes. But like, let's say a dev decides to make a new vehicle and the rest of the devs have nothing else coming any time soon. Will the updater be used for something like that? I open PR and install a quick update and now have a new vehicle to jump into?

[paul161616]

wow that is really amazing, caught myself saying 'awesome' outloud a couple times. like everyone else im wondering about mumble and its possible integration into the launcher.

i dont want to de rail this thread but i did see 5 new maps, and a returning one in the files

and i dont know about you guys, but the whole iso thing got me thinking that a hard copy of PR would be kinda cool, especially signed

as always devs youve rendered our brains from our skulls. really am appreciating the blitz of highlights lately. keep it up!

[lucky.BOY]

and i dont know about you guys, but the whole iso thing got me thinking that a hard copy of PR would be kinda cool, especially signed

Well you can always burn and sign it yourself Maybe even fake AMs signature lol.

[Conman51]

I asked this earlier but not sure if it was seen.

Will Mumble be incorporated into the launcher?

Also wont being able to change your CD key easily make it hard to ban people?

[ShockUnitBlack]

Looks great - very professional

Two things -

One, because the GameSpy profiles are PR-specific (as opposed to BF2-specific), is PR stat-tracking a possibility?

Two, will the updater mean many small patches/updates instead of large ones every year or so?

[AncientMan]

I intentionally didn't talk about Mumble, and that's all I'm saying about that . But, to satisfy peoples curiosity, I think you'll find a lot of empty space in the Audio options menu .

Cool stuff, but why are you using an .iso? won't that be difficult for a lot of people to figure out?

iso is a very common file format. With native integration in Windows 7 (for burning to disc), and Windows 8 (for mounting to a virtual drive), as well as support by commonly used archive tools such as WinZip, WinRAR and 7zip, plus plenty of other tools, there shouldn't be too much issue. As mentioned, there will be plenty of instructions on the downloads page when we release v1.0 for how to extract, burn or mount the file . As to why we use this instead of something even more common like a zip file, with iso you get added benefits of easy burning to a DL DVD or mounting to a virtual drive .

So it says the updater will be used to get updates out quicker; and I get the idea behind bug fixes. But like, let's say a dev decides to make a new vehicle and the rest of the devs have nothing else coming any time soon. Will the updater be used for something like that? I open PR and install a quick update and now have a new vehicle to jump into?

That's what we're thinking of, release updates with new stuff once they're done and tested, instead of waiting months and months until we have something "worthy" of it being called a new version. The idea we have is release updates as we please, then when the number of updates get too much, or the downloaded file size gets too much, then we release a new installer. Of course, this is the plan, we would need to see how things go when we get there . And obviously, we would have to test these features first to make sure they're good to go, instead of releasing them instantly .

Also wont being able to change your CD key easily make it hard to ban people?

No. Changing your CD Key doesn't somehow allow you to have a valid CD Key. You will still need a valid CD Key to play on servers. All this does is allow you to change it safely and securely, as well having the change actually work. BF2 came with a CD Key changing utility (/Battlefield 2/support/Battlefield 2_code.exe), but it doesn't work properly, and often users had more issues than they solved. This should help out a lot of people who have troubles joining a server and either crashing instantly (no cd key), or getting an error about an invalid cd key (when the key is not valid).

Oh, extra side note, to those people thinking I leaked my CD Key in the video, heh, you really think ABCD-1234-ABCD-1234-ABCD is my CD Key?

One, because the GameSpy profiles are PR-specific (as opposed to BF2-specific), is PR stat-tracking a possibility?

The two aren't related. We're simply shifting the profile directory so we can have custom settings and not have them conflict with other mods. Stats could have been done just fine with existing BF2 profiles .

Two, will the updater mean many small patches/updates instead of large ones every year or so?

Yes, that's the plan, release things when they're done, instead of waiting for a collection of things and releasing them all together. Obviously, we wouldn't go overboard on this with updates every single day , but it gives the development team a lot of flexibility with features and tweaks and stuff like that.

[theDaarkness]

Looking more and more like a game for the ages keep up the good work. If only EA and DICE knew what a Battlefield game should really be.

[K4on]

Atleast they know how to make money and how to do successful media campaigns.