SRB2 Mod Retriever & Manager

This is a (windows only) launcher and mod manager that I created that pulls a list of mods from external sources (currently only the srb2 forums) and provides an interface to quickly download and play them. I mostly made it for myself, but I thought others might like using it too.



The point of using this manager is you wont have to deal with the hassle of moving/extracting/etc. mod files to play them while also keeping meta information about the mods (their release profile, description and screenshots, if there are any updates available, ...), and the type of mod grouped.

Not a direct replacement for other launchers as I haven't implemented most of the net game stuff (creating a server, joining a server, etc) and don't have plans to really, and am missing some launch options.

Features:

• A few simple launch options with your settings saved transparently to your user profile (no need to juggle a .cfg file from folder to folder or anything).
• An easier experience downloading and using mods from the forums with minimal network overhead.
• Mods are grouped by categories to be able to quickly distinguish what the mod does what and what it affects.
• Access to the downloaded profile for any mod, complete with their description and screenshots (which are only downloaded when viewed). This will also notify you if the mod has an available update.
• A few other helpful things.

This program is licensed under MIT and is open source, with source code and other helpful information available on my github page linked here.

This requires .NET Framework 4.5.2 at minimum, but all later versions would work as well. A link to that specific version can be found here. Any lower versions are not tested, but they may or may not work. This should work on versions of windows as low as windows vista, but windows 7 and above are confirmed to be working.

It is heavily suggested that you use the mod manager itself to download and manage mods instead of locally adding every mod yourself, though you have that capability if you need to.

There may still be issues and I could probably add a new icon and things like that, so any fix or (small) feature requests I'd be willing to implement. Special thanks to LazyMK/Kunai on one of the SRB2 discords for testing.

[Prime 2.0]

Sorry for the delay. Welcome to Releases!

[-CG7244-]

Wow, this utility is very helpful! Nice work on it! But there's a problem when I go to select which type of mod I want to download (Get more mods option). example: I want to download a character wad, when I click on "characters", the program has stopped working, and I have the .NET Framework 4.7.1 (lastest).

[RomioTheBadass]

Nice, If only Doomseeker had access to mb files like this tool.

[Steel Titanium]

I would like to suggestion something, what about showing the name of the addon creator, maybe under the addon name or next to it?

[Sapheros]

My god this launcher is AMAZING, but I feel like this wasn't entirely meant for SRB2 Veterans/Long Time members... but the newcomers crowd.

Members that have been here for a while know how to use the launchers seen in Miscellaneous Releases, they can access files and depending on the launcher, can have easy accessibility to drag and dropping files into the launcher straight from their folders. New members probably won't even think about visiting the MB first when looking for a way to play as Shadow the Hedgehog, hence this launcher doing the work FOR them would be a great gateway into how mods work and how to play with them. It's better than trying to launch SRB2 via Steam or launching the .exe itself. but not as useful when you're a common player that uses mods consistently.

[Monster Iestyn]

Any idea why the this manager might not want to even start up? I definitely have .NET Framework 4.0 at least since it also happens to be the same requirement this SRB2 launcher has: https://mb.srb2.org/showthread.php?t=38488 And yet the .exe appears to close almost as soon as I run it.

[GreenKnight9000]

Ohh
Ohh my god, I'm tearing up right now. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
It's something I've dreamed of for so long <3
I LOVE YOU

[Monster Iestyn]

I was informed on Discord just earlier this mod only supports Windows 8 and later, not Windows 7 (which is what I use normally). May help to state that in the post so people don't get caught out.

[StardustSpeedway]

Tried this out and I have some issues with it:

1. The 'Get More Mods' feature is broken for me, as it crashes the app, after selecting a category. Please fix this.
2. As you stated, to get mods to show up otherwise... You have add them yourself. I would like to suggest allowing it to read out all the wads you have in your downloads folder, and then putting them in one 'undecided' category, until the user has moved them to another one(which should also be a feature).

Apart from that, it was fine, although I do have some suggestions:

Spoiler:

1. Allow us to move the wad(s) around/edit them, in case we screwed something up.
2. If you do plan to expand this more than being a mod loader, please allow us with change our nickname, skin and colour in-game.
3. You could add tabs for hosting and joining servers. If you wanted to host, you could set the gamemode, title and everything, along with setting emeralds for match off/on, intermission timer.etc. If you wanted to join, the app could connect to the MS for you to select a server and join. (Maybe, if possible... you could make the app notify you when someone's hosting? Dunno, if that's possible or even allowed.)

[Legendary Emerald]

Hmm, not working for me. I tried adding files manually and downloading them through the manager, but every time it says "A WAD file was not found or not valid. Check the log to see which ones." It will launch the game just fine, but not any mods. I don't even see a log file. I'm on Windows 10.

Edit: Found the error log file.

Compiled for SDL version: 2.0.7
Linked with SDL version: 2.0.3
Setting up SRB2...
Looking for WADs in: SRB2WADDIR,.
Z_Init(): Init zone memory allocation daemon.
System memory: 2047MB - Free: 2047MB
I_StartupTimer()...
W_InitMultipleFiles(): Adding IWAD and main PWADs.
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\srb2.srb (6214 lumps)
Loading main config from D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\srb2.srb
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\zones.dta (962 lumps)
Loading main config from D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\zones.dta
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\player.dta (526 lumps)
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\rings.dta (444 lumps)
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\patch.dta (94 lumps)
Added file D:\Games\Sonic Fan Games\Sonic Robo Blast 2\music.dta (171 lumps)
ERROR: File Sonic not found.
ERROR: File Fan not found.
ERROR: File Sonic not found.
ERROR: File Robo not found.
ERROR: File Blast not found.
ERROR: File Level not found.
Added file ./Level Packs/sc_2006.wad (1074 lumps)
Loading Lua script from ./Level Packs/sc_2006.wad|LUA_MACH
Pardon me while I initialize the Lua scripting interface...
Loading Lua script from ./Level Packs/sc_2006.wad|LUA_ITEM
Loading Lua script from ./Level Packs/sc_2006.wad|LUA_SKTB
Sprite SPR_SKTB allocated.
MobjType MT_SKATEBOARD allocated.
State S_SKATEBOARD allocated.
State S_BOARDOVERLAY allocated.
Loading main config from ./Level Packs/sc_2006.wad
ERROR: File Sonic not found.
ERROR: File Fan not found.
ERROR: File Sonic not found.
ERROR: File Robo not found.
ERROR: File Blast not found.
ERROR: File Level not found.
Added file ./Level Packs/2006Music.wad (32 lumps)

I_Error(): A WAD file was not found or not valid.
Check the log to see which ones.

I_ShutdownGraphics(): graphics never started
I_ShutdownSystem(): end of logstream.

[-CG7244-]

Originally Posted by Monster Iestyn

I was informed on Discord just earlier this mod only supports Windows 8 and later, not Windows 7 (which is what I use normally). May help to state that in the post so people don't get caught out.

Bad for me then, I have Windows 7. Was worth trying to use it heh. Anyway, I will be aware of the news, this utility has caught my attention.

[MK.exe]

I was eger to try ths out but like MI stated it didnt load at all. I have win 10 and i have NET framework v4 on my pc. Not sure whats going on

[dmille]

Oh hey, I guess this released today while I was at work and it's broken already. Sorry for all the problems with it everyone, I'll be looking into it immediately! I actually spent a bit of extra time testing this since I'd be releasing it to the public and went through multiple machines (both W7 and W10) and had feedback from people on what issues came up, but I guess I still have some things to check. I'll try to have a new build within a few days, at that point hopefully everyone here should be able to run it.

So note, it should be working on W7 (and really even lower versions), and the framework 4.0+ should be fine, so I'll be looking into it.

[Zwip-Zwap Zapony]

Originally Posted by Sapheros

- the launchers seen in Miscellaneous Releases, -

Speaking of which, is there a particular reason that this is in "Editing" > "Utilities" as opposed to "Releases" > "Miscellaneous"? The former kind of implies to me that this could be used to aid in making one's own modifications for SRB2 (as the "Editing" > "Utilities" sub-forum makes it sound like it's a utility for editing), not... well, something to "simply" download and load other people's already-made modifications. And the other community-made launchers are in "Releases" > "Miscellanous" as far as I'm aware, too.

[Mystic]

Because we aren't really sure how to handle it either and figured we can rename things later if it becomes a problem.

[Legendary Emerald]

Something else I've noticed: if I download a mod through this client, I can't actually find the mod files anywhere in the folder where the Mod Retriever is or my main SRB2 folder. Where are these files being downloaded to?

Edit: Using a fresh download of SRB2, I can see now that a Mod folder is created within the main directory, with another Mod folder inside of it, which is where the mods are kept. Still no luck on actually getting any mods to run with this retriever, though. I get the same error message I posted last time, no matter if I have the applications stored on the C or D drive, whether admin permissions are turned on or off, whether fresh install or not, whether compatability is turned on or not.

[dmille]

Alright, I updated the client with a few fixes. I believe legendary emeralds problem (spaces in paths), not being able to launch (too high of an initial framework version) and crashing on clicking categories/releases (incorrect date parsing for non-US regions) should all be fixed. If there are still problems, I guess I'll figure out soon enough and will go ahead and fix them. Apologies for the rocky start.

edit: as a note, I also changed the minimum requirements to .NET Framework 4.5.2 with a link to that version, just because that's the lowest version I could confirm testing on.

[Legendary Emerald]

Alright, its working for me now after the latest update. The only bug I have right now is that the counter for how many mods are currently running gets bugged after you launch the game; it'll either be stuck at saying how many wads you loaded last time, or saying you have no wads selected at all. But outside of that interface problem, I've had no problem downloading and playing wads with this retriever.

[Biielz]

the ''Get more mods'' button doesnt work for me, sadly

QUOTE