Weimer vs. Bigg

[Wounded_Lion]

I am currently using WeiDU v185.

 

If I update to WeiDU v197, do I have to do anything differently? The contents of the two WeiDU folders differ significantly. Does the Setup-MyMod.exe~Setup-MyMod.tp2~MyMod(Folder) mod structure still work? Or are mods structured differently now? (Prior to my recent activity, I've been away for a while... )

 

BTW, I just couldn't resist using that title...

 

- D

[cmorgan]

exactly the same; the bigg has added functionality, but not changed the way WeiDU works. If you use mods with REQUIRE_FILE, REQUIRE_PREDICATE, SUBCOMPONENT, FORCED_SUBCOMPONENT, or GROUP (like BG1 NPC does), the best thing to do is move up to v197 immediately. If you want to do stuff on the Linux/Unix/Mac side, v197 is a must, as he has been bugfixing to make this easier/work better.

 

Some functional "good things" - you no longer need to create a separate .bat to use auto-update, it works right out of the box. You can use all sorts of good installer-organization tools with no problems, like assigning components to groups and subgroups, and requiring different parts be installed (or not) alot easier. the bigg has also (while resisiting the temptation mightily) done some good work for us non-number-oriented modder-wannabe types by adding some ADD_CRE_ITEM like stuff, so that for much of your modding pleasure instead of doing it all out longhand you may very well be able to find a BIG_LONG_SIMPLE_NAME_THAT_DOES_WHAT_I_WANT_WITHOUT_ALOT_OF_FUSS.

 

Plus INCLUDE, where you can rip off libraries of CamDawg's code directly, to prep whatever install the user is using with all the stuff they should have done, but didn't

 

I should note - some of this stuf is availavle in v185, but has now had some fixes done to it so it works better. You will have to talk to the bigg about the included new GUI experiment thing for WeiDU - I don't think that is ready for primetime yet, but I dunno.

[the bigg]

Yes, it'll continue to work. You can safely ignore all files added and removed from the usual WeiDU packaging - some have been removed because of no interest to normal users (E.G. the source code), while the others are simply a GUI and a CLI wrapper to the mod installation process.

Frankly, I'd say that there no reason to use WesDU over BiggDU these days (and no, not because I'm an interested party): since many mods use BiggDU (including the ever-present bg2fixpack), you should use BiggDU yourself, just because this way you'll be sure that your mod doesn't print out warnings that were absent from WesDU (in particular, with some out-of-bounds and BCS problems).

 

Some functional "good things" - you no longer need to create a separate .bat to use auto-update, it works right out of the box.

Did I do that? I must've done that drunk, because I sure recall trying to do that and failing

[CamDawg]

Some functional "good things" - you no longer need to create a separate .bat to use auto-update, it works right out of the box.

Really? I always thought this was impossible--self-modifying programs are great vehicles for virus/trojan/malware-of-your-choice.

[Wounded_Lion]

Thanks for the info, guys. I trust BiggDU. I haven't been using the new versions for the simple fact that I've been away; I posted my question because I was curious about whether I'd have to learn new mod structures and installation procedures, etc. I appreciate the detailed heads-up on what's new.

 

 

- D

[the bigg]

Really? I always thought this was impossible--self-modifying programs are great vehicles for virus/trojan/malware-of-your-choice.

Think again. Code that self-modifies its RAM image works on both Linux and Windows (but not BSD/MacOSX). As an example, the WeiDU executable is compressed with upx and unzips while in the RAM before execution (= it can modify the program segment).

 

What Windows does (I believe, at least) is caching the Hard-Drive image of setup-mymod.exe and, in case it's trying to relaunch itself, it runs the cached image, rather than the HD image, thus requiring the .bat to re-launch itself. Wether it does so for optimization, stupidity or protection (or if there's something more obscure behind this) you'll have to ask to Mr.Bill.

[CamDawg]

And there we go.

[Shaitan]

How do one update WeiDu? I don't really get it, allways thought WeiDu did it somehow on it's own...

[cmorgan]

I'd be interested too, 'cause it seems to be autoupdating itself on my install sans .bat; that could just be because I don't understand completely what is going on .

 

Perhaps my terminology was wrong. I do know that if I copy the new WeiDU.exe to Setup-BG1NPC and run it, it does not stop the install the way it used to, with the error message "rerun this, 'cause windows won't let me". I then take a look, and it has updated all of the exe files. When I use a clean version, I still have to run the .exe again; when I run CamDawg's package, it jumps right in after this and installs the package.

 

Sorry if I was adding illusionary "functionality", guys - but do I need to still package in a bat that does the whole @echo off, update, etc.?

[the bigg]

Perhaps my terminology was wrong. I do know that if I copy the new WeiDU.exe to Setup-BG1NPC and run it, it does not stop the install the way it used to, with the error message "rerun this, 'cause windows won't let me". I then take a look, and it has updated all of the exe files. When I use a clean version, I still have to run the .exe again; when I run CamDawg's package, it jumps right in after this and installs the package.

The problem happens when you run an older version of WeiDU: E.G. you unzip BG2tweaks and Refinements; bg2tweaks comes with WeiDU v196 and Refinements with WeiDU 192. If you run setup-refinements.exe without the .bat, it'll shout the "rerun me message", because the program itself changed.

However, if you run setup-bg2_tweaks.exe, it will update setup-refinements.exe without problems, as WesDU used to do as well.

[CamDawg]

All of the G3 (Windows) mods run a small script when you decompress them to your game folder. If there's a mod with a newer copy of WeiDU, they update themselves then re-start their install process. Without the batch file, they would update themselves and then simply quit, leaving users to hunt down and run setup-foo.exe in the game folder themselves. It does this 'silently' so users may not even realize this functionality exists.

[cmorgan]

ahhhh... got it! (Hey, did you know BiggDu automatically solves world hunger and allows screen resolutions up to 1255555 x 354456 on a standard CRT - next time I will double check with someone before accidentally attaching observational stuff without researching carefully!)

 

Upshot of post - use v197, it s good, new, and shiny, and does good things for modders and endusers. Check the changelog, and for end user the whole package can be scrapped after you get the file marked "WeiDU.exe" out of the .zip, put it into your game install directory, delete an older version of setup-mymodsnamehere.exe, and run that setup routine.