So a soc member asked me in our Skype group the other day if it were possible to install EU to a flash drive and have it run on another computer. He has access to a faster computer, but isn't allowed to install anything on it (assuming a work PC). I've delved deeply into the registry entries that EU uses during my work on Entropia Tools, so I figured "this shouldn't be too hard" -- and I was right. I did a preliminary test on it today by copying over the game files (minus the dynamic content, participant content, and shader cache) and using this to "install" it on the target machine. I was somewhat worried by a couple of the methods called to then remove said registry entries, and tested it on a virtual install in VMware. I learned something quite valuable: the "installer" has to be run as Administrator to populate the registry to any great extent. Anyway, it's ready for some field testing if anyone's up to it. At this moment, it only supports initial setup with one planet (with a big enough flash drive you can expand it on your own from the client loader). It also requires you to download all content, though it does copy the settings-ce.cfg. Anyway, download link: http://www.adamh.us/entropia/EU_packager.zip (~2.85 MB) Windows XP Specific Build: http://www.adamh.us/entropia/EU_packager_XP.zip (~2.79 MB) Five files: EU_Packager.exe EU_Launcher.exe config.xml vcredist_x86.exe (Visual C++ 2005 Runtime files - installed by EU installation) dxwebsetup.exe (Updates for DirectX - installed by EU installation) Usage: Run EU_Packager.exe first to set it up the way you want it (planet, saved username, etc) or edit the config.xml file to match. In the Packager window, click "Begin Installation" on a computer that already has EU installed, making sure the paths are directed to the correct drive. Run EU_Launcher.exe from the external drive and click "Install" and then "Launch" (Alt+I and Alt+L, respectively) - Make sure config.xml is also present. When finished, click "Remove" to clear the registry entries. On first run (per "install") it will ask for the language to run in. One additional note: This is brand new. Just wrote it basically today. It lacks a lot of error handling, so incorrect values or attempting to overwrite existing files may produce some very lengthy error messages. You can choose Continue or Quit. You may have to close and then bring it back up, anyway. Also: Make sure you have .NET 4.0 installed. If this becomes a problem for XP users, I'll drop it back to 3.5. But 4.0 has run on XP before.
I added a little more handling, though it's still pretty rough. Mainly I re-checked to make sure everything could be removed and turns out I had missed having it delete registry entries on a 32-bit system. That should be fixed now.
Minor fixes: - settings-ce.cfg should now copy correctly all the time - Copying of packager/launcher files are now automatic (may throw an error if trying to copy to the same location it's running from) Additions: - Added "Load" function to restore previously saved settings (from config.xml) - the paths loaded will reflect the drive letter that the packager is running from, rather than where you actually want it to go. It copies these files to the root directory (in my case, H:\EU_Launcher.exe). So there may be an error message if trying to copy to C:\ in Vista/7 (due to UAC). Coming: - I have a working file listing for the dynamic content .pak files needed for Arkadia, and will be adding that in at some point as well. It does come to about 5.59 GB. Known issues: - When copying game files, it will say "Not Responding" for a few seconds to a couple of minutes, depending on the speed of the drive it's being copied to. I'm not sure a way around it as yet. I suspect it has to do with the fact that it doesn't display a copying dialog, but I've not tested that at length as yet.
Okay, special XP build coming up for this, too.. But in the meantime, I ran it tonight for further testing.. I did have to install a couple of Microsoft updates (they'll be included in the zip file when I upload next) to make it work. Also of note: the client loader yells at you with only an 8GB drive, something about needing at least 7 GB free on the drive the content is on. Since I was just booting into XP on the same computer (I have a multi-boot setup), I just directed the client loader to use the content I had already downloaded on my secondary HD. So recommended: at least a 16 GB flash drive or some other style of external drive. About anything will work. It doesn't have to be a thumbdrive. An external USB SSD or a standard external SATA/IDE->USB drive would work just as well.
Currently installing VS2010 in a WinXP VM so I can make a compatible XP build, but I've got the new Win7 build ready to go, with the required Visual C++ 2005 Runtime and DirectX updates. The C++ Runtime brings the zip file to about 2.8 MB from the 89 KB it used to be. So, that's been uploaded. Keep an eye on the OP for an XP build.
Thanks a lot Rick for building this for me. I am able to have Arkadia, Space, and 2 other worlds (not Calypso though on my 8 GB drive). Thats enough for me. Just takes a bit to open on a new computer.
