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Personally I prefer it when the game developer takes the little extra time and creates a custom installer for the game they''ve made. Doesn''t need to put things into the registry or otherwise mess with your system. Just put the icons in the start menu, give the user the option of adding an icon to the desktop, include an uninstall shortcut and you''ve got it.
Everyone remember the nice installers that came with command & conquer, NOX, ETC? What about those?
PyroBoy: I couldn''t agree more about hating installers that leave bits and pieces of crap all over the system.
"Two wrongs do not make a right; it usually takes 3 or more."
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"Two wrongs do not make a right; it usually takes 3 or more."
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
Never anger a dragon, for you are crunchy and you go well with brie.
Of course installers do have the rather useful job of making sure that files are placed in the right place and icons appear on the start menu. Users so love needing to fire up explorer to find the executable, which has been placed on the wrong drive by the copy of WinZip that was used to make the zip into an exe and then they are confused when the game fails to run correctly because they didn''t run the setup file first to select the right graphics card, register with DirectPlay for lobby support or any number of other problems that you''ll end up facing.
Not having an installer ruins your image for the user as they think that you haven''t even put the effort in to add one. Not to mention that you are alienating all of your non technical users who don''t want to have to learn about deleting directories to uninstall software. PCs have been getting easier to use for a reason, don''t assume that your users will be as technicaly experienced as you.
quote:
Original post by PyroBoy
This reminds me... There''s something I''ve been meaning to rant about. Hope this is the right place! :-)
->Begin Rant<-
I HATE installers. Hate ''em.
I know they serve a useful purpose for "application programs" in windows, like allowing them to integrate better with the OS (ex - right click on something, get a "edit with this program" option) but I see NO reason why a game would need to use one.
What happened to the days when you got a program, which came with an exe and some supporting files, you started the exe and it JUST RAN?? I don''t want to have to go through a complete install/uninstall to try out a game. I don''t want to worry about doing a proper uninstall instead of just nuking the game directory. And I sure as hell don''t want to deal with installers/uninstallers that don''t fucking work, and leave remenants on my computer. When''s the last time you uninstalled a program and it actually removed EVERYTHING that it installed? (by this I mean program directories, shortcuts,etc) Very rare. God only knows what these things are leaving hanging around in my registry.
I''ve seen plenty of demos that arrive on my desktop and run without a hitch straight from the exe. So why can''t everyone just make games that run by themselves? So maybe you won''t be able to automatically insert a shortcut on the user''s desktop/start menu. So what? People ought to know how to do that themselves. Half the time the stupid installers go ahead and put shortcuts all over the place without asking you where, or whether you even want them (Microsoft, I''m looking in your direction...).
So I implore all of you - if it''s techniclly possible (and it almost always is) distribute your games in runable condition without a setup/uninstall program. Saves a lot of hassle.
->End Rant<-
I''d be interested to hear what everyone thinks. Am I insane? Or are these things just not nessesary in our field?
I use Inno setup too. http://www.jrsoftware.org is the website.
I use the installer for the same reason that''s been mentioned here: Provide the user with an easy way to run the game properly.
Believe me, I run a website for ''Supaplex'', a 10 year old game that''s still popular today. It does NOT come with an installer (it''s a DOS game) but it''s still very simple: download the zip, unzip it, and run the executable.
Well, I can tell you, that''s NOT simple at all. I get daily emails from people who don''t know what zip is ("I double click the file and I get all strange symbols on my screen", or "Adobe doesn''t know how to open the file", or "Wordperfect doesn''t know how to open the file", or ... I could go on...)
Since people expect to be able to use a computer without doing any kind of learning (why? There is nothing else in life except breathing that you can do without learning!!!) and if it doesn''t work they blame the person they can find easiest.
The DON''T read FAQ''s, they DON''T look for answers. Any email addresses seem to attract them like flies are drawn to light.
Also, my game has separate level files, and people expect (demand may be a better term here) to be able to double click a file to run the program that opens it. For this you need registry entries. That''s life.
So there is no other way anymore...
By the way, to the comment that people expect professional installers, and not some ''cheap stuff'', I can say: Inno setup looks pretty much like installshield. If configured properly it is even friendlier in some cases (IMHO). It''s free, and it''s good. So why not use it?
(I''m in no way affiliated with Inno Setup, just a happy user ;-)
