Battle City Installer

[Deceth]

Hi!

I'm thinking of compiling a new release of Battle City to make available for download.

I haven't done this for a while and even when I last did, I've never done it properly. I don't know how to create a proper installer so there are always problems with missing dependencies, DLL files, etc...

ex: http://battlecity.org/battle-city-winter-classic-server-up-and-freezing/#comments

I have no problem setting up the development environment or compiling the game to run on my own computer. In fact, Riley has created an excellent article that now makes this easy for anybody:

see: https://github.com/Deceth/Battle-City/wiki/How-to-Setup-your-Development-Environment

My issue is when it comes time to distributing the game for download... How do I prepare it properly to maximize compatibility across Windows XP, 7, 8, etc...

Depending on the compiler I am using to create the executable, I need to include the proper Visual C++ Redistributable files for Visual Studio... Thus far, I've always created a ZIP file that includes the required DLL files... but that's not the best approach.

The proper way to do this would be to have an installer that installs Battle City and any required dependencies... Does anybody have experience with this?

[rileyw]

Deceth, a new release seems like a great idea especially with the holiday season approaching. Players will have free time to play. We can observe documentation at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/2kt85ked.aspx on creating an installer. I may run through the exercise to see what's involved.

[Deceth]

Looks like InstallShield is not available for Visual Studio Express... :(

[rileyw]

Yikes, I'll look at alternatives that are supported by Visual Studio Express.

[Deceth]

I'm looking at NSIS right now. Some links:

http://nsis.sourceforge.net/VC_8.0_Redistributables
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Talk:VC_8.0_Redistributables
http://kobyk.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/deploying-the-visual-c-libraries-with-an-nsis-installer/

[rileyw]

I'll read through them today.

[Deceth]

Another option I've come across is:

http://wixtoolset.org/
http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/howtos/redistributables_and_install_checks/install_vcredist.html

This is free and open source, but I haven't had a chance yet to compare it with NSIS or to read any reviews.