Plan for Updates (Was: [Gtkradiant] mo' bullshit)

[ydnar]

Good ideas. Should be implementable with different build targets. Maybe have
cons/msvc actually do the push to an ftp site that gets auto mirrored and
updates requisite web pages?

Oh, and I'll throw in my 2c here... we should give the user the option of a
zip file for packages instead of an installer. Personally, I hate installers
and would rather move/install stuff from a zip file anyway, but that's me.
:)

y


----- Original Message -----
From: "Hydra" <hydra@hydras-world.com>
To: <gtkradiant@zerowing.idsoftware.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 3:09 PM
Subject: Plan for Updates (Was: [Gtkradiant] mo' bullshit)


> > feedback welcome obviously :)
>
> Ok, here's my thoughts on what we should do:
>
> first, castrate newbies who bitch and moan :)
>
> second, sort the releases out like this:
>
> Stable Full Release (Everything!)
> + the editor binaries, support files manual
> + common tools and support files (q3map)
> + common plugins and support files (bobtoolz, gensurf, etc.)
> + Quake3 binaries, support files, media, q3 specific manuals.
> + Wolf binaries, support files, media, Wolf specific manuals.
> + and so on for each game we support.
>
> Stable Full Release (Quake3)
> + editor binaries, support files manual
> + Quake3 binaries, support files, media, q3 specific manuals.
>
> Stable Full Release (Wolf)
> + editor binaries, support files manual
> + Wolf binaries, support files, media, Wolf specific manuals.
>
> and so on for each game we support.
>
> Then for updates:
>
> Update Release (Editor)
> + editor binaries and and *NEW* support files, etc.
>
> Update Release (Tools)
> + common tools (q3map)
> + plugins and their support files/manuals. (bobtoolz, gensurf, etc.)
>
> Update Release (Quake)
> + quake3 binaries and any *NEW* Quake3 support files, media, menuals. etc.
>
> Update Release (Wolf)
> + quake3 binaries and any *NEW* Quake3 support files, media, menuals. etc.
>
> and so on for each game we support.
>
> For nightlies:
>
> + Have an automated procedure that generates a new "full (everything)"
> release
> + Have an automated procedure that generates a new release for each
update.
>
>
> Here's the reasons:
>
> Full Releases
>
> 1. i don't want to download an "everything" full release, ever, because
> there's
>    no way i'll ever be mapping for all the games that radiant will
support.
>
> 2. makes a download smaller for modem users.
>
> Updates
>
> 1. We can't release a new editor along with a game update.
>
>    take for example this scenario:
>
>    User downloads an everything release, 1/may
>    User downloads a Quake3 update that contained q3radiant.exe dated
> 1/august on 1/september
>    User downloads a Wolf update that contained q3radiant.exe dated 1/june
on
> 10/september
>
>    user would end up with old media + latest quake3 media and modules +
> latest
>    wolf media and modules, but an old q3radiant.exe (from 1/june)
>
> 2. makes downloads smaller
>
> 3. lets us release new editor, tools and game updates without having to
wait
> for anything.
>
>
> >From a new users point of view, they just download the latest of each
thing
> and you put a message saying "if you don't know what you need, get the
> Stable_Full_Release_(Everything!).zip"
>
> If you're updating from an old version, you skip the full releases (unless
> you want to map for a game that you don't have the media for) and just
> select the updates that you require.
>
> Now, this is a thought, and I can't seeing it being too difficult, but you
> could actually create a web form with drop down boxes that let the user
> choose what they want to do:
>
> example:
>
> Please tick games that you wish to map for:
> [ ] quake3
> [ ] wolf
> [ ] halflife
> [ ] ...
>
> Would you like experimental releases ? <more info>
> [ ] yes
> [ ] no
>
> What kind of installation ?
> [ ] New install
> [ ] Update
>
> <SUBMIT>
>
> User Selected Update Install:
> ask the user what games they currently map for and if the new list of
games
> they want to map for doesn't match up with the old list of games they
mapped
> for direct them to a Full-Everything release + updates. (or the nightly
> full-everything
> if they selected "experimental releases")
> If the list of games was the same then just direct them to the updates.
> (or the nightly update releases if they selected "experimental releases")
>
> User selectes new install:
> Direct them to either the Full-Everything + updates
> (or the nightly full-everything and nightly update releases if they
selected
> "experimental releases")
>
> Easy enough right ?
>
> We should stay away from automatic updaters that acutally download and
> install
> a new version, as ttimo says that's too much work.  However, there's
nothing
> wrong with a built-in automated weekly check that tells you if there are
> updates
> (obviously the user must be able to disable this from prefs, and there
must
> be
> a "Help/Check for updates" feature).
>
> Ok, this e-mail is getting a bit long now, comments...
>
> Hydra
>
>
>
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