Questions About the Standalone Installer

ID:840073
 
Jun 28 2012, 10:38 am
I've been keeping a close eye out for the update with the standalone installer and client since SilkGames first posted about it on their website several months ago. I think it's very useful, and what they've been able to create with it for NEStalgia is great.

I have a few questions about the installer's usage and customization, as I intend to make use of it, and I hope that Tom or Lummox won't mind publicly answering a couple of them. I have more than the usual "when will it be here?", so if they don't want to release any further details right now, I understand.

  • Will it require an active BYOND membership to use? (This doesn't affect me, but curious minds have to know.)
  • Will everything shown on the NEStalgia client be customizable - such as the news feed, social media buttons, etc - or will it be limited because they're working directly with the BYOND devs?
  • Will single player games be possible, or will this require the old make exe function?
  • Will the client program require a login for every game, or can this be turned off for single player games?


Thanks very much. :)
#1 Jun 28 2012, 1:45 pm
Also, are we getting custom installation GUIs along with the standalone installer (that could possibly also function on the site and pager as well?)
#2 Jun 28 2012, 2:03 pm
I'll answer what I can, but I'm not 100% sure about everything you've asked.

Will it require an active BYOND membership to use? (This doesn't affect me, but curious minds have to know.)

I believe so, at the very least I do know it requires a special key obtained from BYOND to build the standalone.

Will everything shown on the NEStalgia client be customizable - such as the news feed, social media buttons, etc - or will it be limited because they're working directly with the BYOND devs?

These were done by Silk's team themselves, the entire GUI for the listing page is customizable using CSS and HTML.

Will single player games be possible, or will this require the old make exe function?

Should be possible, but I'm not entirely sure how it's gonna work for these yet.

Will the client program require a login for every game, or can this be turned off for single player games?

I believe it's possible to set it up to make all clients connect as 'Guest', so this would probably be what happens for single-player games.

Also, are we getting custom installation GUIs along with the standalone installer (that could possibly also function on the site and pager as well?)

I assume you mean custom splashscreens and things of that nature, as far as I know this isn't being changed for the stand-alone installer update.
#3 Jun 28 2012, 3:05 pm
I will make a post on this with the next release.

As Nadrew said, the stuff in NEStalgia was just designed by Silk's team, and anyone is free to customize their page in the same way. The standalone system simply provides a blank html canvas in which you can put your own material and integrate custom BYOND stuff (like the login function and the live games list). You can also configure some stuff dealing with subscriptions. If you use this system and also choose to sell your game, you must use the BYOND subscription system-- that is our primary requirement.

Currently, the standalone installer requires a hub entry to do some validation and interaction (eg, for things like auto-updates of new versions), so technically Membership is required (although it doesn't have to be active). However, we could lift that in the case of particularly good games. The point of the system is to get BYOND games some outside exposure.

Single-player games work fine, and the game can be bundled right in with the installer. At the moment, there is no direct login to the game-- you have to pick a key or Guest-- but we will probably lift that restriction-- allowing an autologin as Guest-- in a future release. This will only apply to distributed/single-player games, as we want users using the key system for multiplayer games (it is one of the few things that keeps BYOND in the loop).

The standalone system includes a sample NSIS installer file for making a true installer, and also bundles an "installerless" exe that can be run to play the game (it does some tricks behind the scenes).
#4 Jun 28 2012, 3:09 pm
Sounds great. I can't wait. Thanks for the replies!