This'd Be A Good Addition To The Game ...

A better addition IMO is to make the updater run everytime SRB2 starts, so we don't have to. If you're not connected to the internet, you can press a "Skip updating" button of sorts.

Callum said:

FoxBlitzz, you ARE making that launcher cross-platform, right?

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I'm not the one coding the "official" launcher, but since it'll likely end up Windows-only, I'll probably make the ports myself in C++, using wxWidgets for Mac and GTK, and Qt for KDE.

Cheese said:

How about something like this:

Click to expand...

I take it you're duplicating the Advanced Mode (AKA my first design)? The biggest problem with your design is that, in keeping with the general objective of "a launcher that saves your settings", you are not making it clear to the user just what is being done with those settings.

In my Main + WADs combined Basic Mode, there are two checkmarks, one to save the general launch options, and another for the selected WADs. This information is presented to the user in a simple yet understandable way, and less knowledgeable users will be able to make informed decisions. In the Advanced Mode, there is a full-on profile system that allows more experienced users to save multiple configurations and recall them simply by selecting them from the drop-down list. It's not as n00b-friendly, but for a user who knows what he's doing, it can be very helpful. Know that there will be a "Last Used" configuration that will essentially be the equivalent of "Remember settings" in the Basic Mode. While these two modes operate on different levels, they both fit the common goal in that they inform the user about how the settings are being saved.

Your design does not have anything that can be used to adjust the saving of the current configuration. In fact, it doesn't even mention anything about remembering settings! In contexts like this, when you do something behind the user's back, the program's usability is tarnished.

Bit of a bump, I know, but I just thought I'd say that I am gonna go ahead and make the launcher myself. After those mockups, it seems that three weeks have gone by without anything actually being produced (Cue claims he's still waiting on Nev3r to make the GUI pretty - whatever that means). Here's what I have made so far:



Note that the only thing working so far is the About button. I'll work on the implementation stuff once I finish the layout. Also, the Basic Mode is being done last because it just takes the functionality from Advanced Mode.

It's being written in wxWidgets. I must say that it's quite fun to design these layouts visually, although wxSmith, the GUI builder I'm using, kinda craps on the code a bit with the way it generates the init code for each panel/dialog (or it could just be the complexity of the layouts I'm defining). I will probably release for Windows, and Callum or someone can do packaging for Linux. Mac users, do it yourself. ;(