104 replies to this topic

[Van mw]

aGentleWarrior, on 24 January 2018 - 03:59 AM, said:

The portal has one annoying flaw to me.
It opens on my laptop which runs in 1366xwhatever in such a way that i have to click it, push it up, to reach the PLAY/PATCH button... (which is the only button i use).

ANy clues how I could shrink it or make it start on top of screen?

I couldn't find any universal solution, most of them require some additional utility.
However, maybe this (new?) option will help you:


Another way might be to "pin program" on task bar after the Portal launches the game (if you have spare space).
Or create shortcut for "MechWarrior Online\Bin64\MWOClient.exe". That will launch the game without the Portal, need to start it for patching only.

Edited by Van mw, 24 January 2018 - 05:57 AM.

[D V Devnull]

Van mw, on 24 January 2018 - 05:48 AM, said:

Another way might be to "pin program" on task bar after the Portal launches the game (if you have spare space).
Or create shortcut for "MechWarrior Online\Bin64\MWOClient.exe". That will launch the game without the Portal, need to start it for patching only.

Either way, the shortcut will probably still need modification. On launch, the game requires one of a couple Command-Line Options to be present. Add "flowthru" or "-nopatch" (no double-quotes needed on either of those Command-Line Options in the actual shortcut) on the shortcut's Command Line at the far right end if it isn't already there. You can view a couple examples @ https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/224380-force-32-bit-game-client-missing/page__view__findpost__p__5083378 if you need something to look at to understand how it would look on your own system. Sorry we don't have '.gif's there for viewing, but we were working overtime in compiling that. And just so you know, without the proper Command-Line parameter, it will choke and not let you just launch it.

~Mr. D. V. "Covering a possible hiccup before it becomes a headache..." Devnull

[Krist Smith]

Groutknoll, on 23 January 2018 - 11:25 PM, said:

Hey Krist, thanks for taking questions. I have a couple more for you. With the old patcher being retired, can i remove the MechWarrior Online\Bin32\PatcherLogs\ frontend and backend logs? I just ran the repair tool and to my surprise i have 1.3k files there (only 3mb though, heh). Or have the repair tool remove the old patcher files?

Yeah, these are no longer needed at all. You can delete them yourself or have the Repair Tool do it, either way it will end up being the same.

D V Devnull, on 24 January 2018 - 09:35 AM, said:

Either way, the shortcut will probably still need modification. On launch, the game requires one of a couple Command-Line Options to be present. Add "flowthru" or "-nopatch" (no double-quotes needed on either of those Command-Line Options in the actual shortcut) on the shortcut's Command Line at the far right end if it isn't already there. You can view a couple examples @ https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/224380-force-32-bit-game-client-missing/page__view__findpost__p__5083378 if you need something to look at to understand how it would look on your own system. Sorry we don't have '.gif's there for viewing, but we were working overtime in compiling that. And just so you know, without the proper Command-Line parameter, it will choke and not let you just launch it.

~Mr. D. V. "Covering a possible hiccup before it becomes a headache..." Devnull

Actually, we recently removed the requirement for extra command line arguments to run the game. You can run MWOClient.exe as-is unless you want to actually do something extra.

[Groutknoll]

Krist Smith, on 24 January 2018 - 10:36 AM, said:

Groutknoll, on 23 January 2018 - 11:25 PM, said:

Hey Krist, thanks for taking questions. I have a couple more for you.

With the old patcher being retired, can i remove the MechWarrior Online\Bin32\PatcherLogs\ frontend and backend logs? I just ran the repair tool and to my surprise i have 1.3k files there (only 3mb though, heh). Or have the repair tool remove the old patcher files?

Yeah, these are no longer needed at all. You can delete them yourself or have the Repair Tool do it, either way it will end up being the same.

hmmm, the current repair tool does not delete them ... what options do i need on? can't check right now, but i think i have all on but clean profile and del sys override.cfg

I can delete them but now I'm wondering how many files in my mwo dir are not needed anymore and the portal patcher/repair tool are not auto removing

[Krist Smith]

Groutknoll, on 24 January 2018 - 11:04 AM, said:

hmmm, the current repair tool does not delete them ... what options do i need on? can't check right now, but i think i have all on but clean profile and del sys override.cfg

I can delete them but now I'm wondering how many files in my mwo dir are not needed anymore and the portal patcher/repair tool are not auto removing

Ah, yeah, that's right. Since the patcher is still supported, to maintain backwards compatibility the Repair Tool ignores these files (along with the other patcher files). Once the patcher is retired, these files will start getting flagged by the Portal's repair tool for removal. Sorry, when I replied to you I was looking at the new version of the Portal/Repair Tool with this backwards compatibility removed, which will be released with the February patch.

You can still feel free to remove these files yourself if you'd like. They're not doing much harm except for slightly slowing down Repair Tool scans, but they don't really serve any purpose anymore. As for extra unnecessary Patcher files kicking around, there are a few in Bin32. Once the old Patcher is retired and I deploy the updated Portal, the Repair Tool will track and remove these files.

[D V Devnull]

Krist Smith, on 24 January 2018 - 10:36 AM, said:

Actually, we recently removed the requirement for extra command line arguments to run the game. You can run MWOClient.exe as-is unless you want to actually do something extra.

I didn't know. That's actually kind of cool, thanks! This makes it a lot easier to help people who have unusual issues with lack of RAM or some other item running on their computer.


I'm still left with one question from earlier, though... In reply to...

Krist Smith, on 23 January 2018 - 03:03 PM, said:

Which reminds me, there is another case in which admin access is required (and there's no real way around it) - when there's a Portal update, the update process requires elevation. I try not to drop updates too frequently for single small-scale fixes, but Portal updates do happen, and they do require admin access. Just felt I should point that out.

...I asked the following...

D V Devnull, on 23 January 2018 - 04:30 PM, said:

Does this still hold true even if I do the MWO Portal Install to a directory where the only permission is "Everyone > Full Control"???

~D. V. "Or would that solve the problem?" Devnull

...but I never saw a reply with an answer. I'm sorry if I seem like a "nag" that's asking a stupid question. You could jokingly call me one of those "propeller-heads", as I try to make sure I fully understand things, such that I don't misinterpret a Developer's design.


~D. V. "always thankful for knowledge" Devnull

[Krist Smith]

D V Devnull, on 23 January 2018 - 04:30 PM, said:

Does this still hold true even if I do the MWO Portal Install to a directory where the only permission is "Everyone > Full Control"???

~D. V. "Or would that solve the problem?" Devnull

Yes, this does apply regardless of where it's installed. The Portal updates via Windows MSIExec (in other words, the standard Windows installer approach), as opposed to the game, in which we just patch the files themselves. The Windows installer interacts with the registry/install records, which requires admin access. Sorry, I know you're keen on getting everything cut down to not require admin access, but this is one case where I need to impose. However, Portal updates are typically not absolutely crucial to be applied immediately (I don't make fundamental changes where the new version will work and the previous one won't, I tend to spread that impact over multiple updates) so if you get prompted with an update and just don't wanna fiddle around with admin rights, or someone else is trying to play the game and they just don't have permission, the update can be skipped at that time and applied later. The update prompt shows up every time the Portal starts and detects an update, but it isn't actually imposed.

[D V Devnull]

Krist Smith, on 24 January 2018 - 01:40 PM, said:

Yes, this does apply regardless of where it's installed. The Portal updates via Windows MSIExec (in other words, the standard Windows installer approach), as opposed to the game, in which we just patch the files themselves. The Windows installer interacts with the registry/install records, which requires admin access. Sorry, I know you're keen on getting everything cut down to not require admin access, but this is one case where I need to impose. However, Portal updates are typically not absolutely crucial to be applied immediately (I don't make fundamental changes where the new version will work and the previous one won't, I tend to spread that impact over multiple updates) so if you get prompted with an update and just don't wanna fiddle around with admin rights, or someone else is trying to play the game and they just don't have permission, the update can be skipped at that time and applied later. The update prompt shows up every time the Portal starts and detects an update, but it isn't actually imposed.

Thank you for the answer. I'm glad to know this won't block the game launching process or many of the other useful things that the launcher provides. I see where you had to go with it, in order for users to be able to view things like version info without clunky digging in Windows Explorer, as well as to keep the install in-sync with its' registry parts.

If I have any more questions, I'll be sure to post here (or more appropriately, any future thread involving MWO Portal updates) where you can easily view and respond to them. Thanks again for the insight into the New MWO Portal!

~D. V. "I guess it's just up to me at this point to get switched over to the New MWO Portal." Devnull

[Groutknoll]

Krist Smith, on 24 January 2018 - 01:07 PM, said:

Ah, yeah, that's right. Since the patcher is still supported, to maintain backwards compatibility the Repair Tool ignores these files (along with the other patcher files). Once the patcher is retired, these files will start getting flagged by the Portal's repair tool for removal. Sorry, when I replied to you I was looking at the new version of the Portal/Repair Tool with this backwards compatibility removed, which will be released with the February patch.

You can still feel free to remove these files yourself if you'd like. They're not doing much harm except for slightly slowing down Repair Tool scans, but they don't really serve any purpose anymore. As for extra unnecessary Patcher files kicking around, there are a few in Bin32. Once the old Patcher is retired and I deploy the updated Portal, the Repair Tool will track and remove these files.

Cool! Thanks for the time and answers Krist.

Edited by Groutknoll, 24 January 2018 - 02:11 PM.

[Fox the Apprentice]

D V Devnull, on 24 January 2018 - 09:35 AM, said:

[...]
Add "flowthru" or "-nopatch" (no double-quotes needed on either of those Command-Line Options in the actual shortcut)
[...]

When dealing with end-users, they've reported it more intuitive (and it is also less verbose) to use italics instead of quotes when you need to emphasize some text that they are supposed to directly input.

Just your daily dose of pointless info

[D V Devnull]

Fox the Apprentice, on 24 January 2018 - 03:07 PM, said:

When dealing with end-users, they've reported it more intuitive (and it is also less verbose) to use italics instead of quotes when you need to emphasize some text that they are supposed to directly input.

Just your daily dose of pointless info

I've usually gotten feedback to the opposite for using severe italics. People didn't like excessive formatting, so I had to keep it 99% upright instead.

~D. V. "Not my mileage, sorry." Devnull

[Fox the Apprentice]

D V Devnull, on 24 January 2018 - 04:39 PM, said:

I've usually gotten feedback to the opposite for using severe italics. People didn't like excessive formatting, so I had to keep it 99% upright instead.

~D. V. "Not my mileage, sorry." Devnull

Interesting. But I also don't consider 2-3 words of italics to be "excessive formatting"

[Mochyn Pupur]

Is there any particular reason for the Portal forcing a fix run on my installation every time I try to use it, when the old Launcher access to the installation works perfectly fine and the client runs without error?

Seriously don't need to be reinstalling the game each time I try and run it.

[MrKvola]

Did you try to contact support with that issue? If not, now may be a good time.

[B L O O D W I T C H]

InnerSphereNews, on 22 January 2018 - 09:44 AM, said:

Switching to the MWO Portal is easy! All you need to do is install the application (available at https://mwomercs.com/game/download) and simply use the new Portal to run the game instead. There's no need to uninstall or modify your existing MechWarrior Online installation; your pre-existing install should work fine.

It's really nice that i won't have to download the game again. It only requires a little patch of 19 gigabytes, that's far better then downloading the whole game.

[D V Devnull]

Heads up, everyone... I just switched over, and things were relatively painless. Make sure, if you're setting the 'Install Path' with an Old MWO Install already present, that you map it to one Directory Level above your Game's Base Path Level. For example, if the Game Path is...

D:\Games\Piranha Games\MWO\MechWarrior Online\

...then set the Install Path of the New Portal Installer to...

D:\Games\Piranha Games\MWO\

...so it can then put the "MWO Portal" folder in the right place. Otherwise, the folders won't be side-by-side, and you'll be quickly looking at a Game Client Re-Download of about 19 GB.

---

Now, with that out of the way, I've got a few things to note to Krist Smith about the 'MWO Portal' & 'MWO Repair Tool v2'...

Krist Smith, on 22 January 2018 - 11:33 AM, said:

If you have any problem with the Portal at all, feel free to ping me about it.

Hi there, Krist! Things installed nicely (well, as nicely as can be expected when I'm running the Comodo Firewall, and answering prompts because it gets amnesia unless I use "Paranoid Mode"), and I can get MWO's Client to launch right off from the Portal without a hitch. I didn't even have to spend time re-verifying the install for some unknown reason. However, I found a few holes with the Portal & Repair Tool, so I'll give you a fast listing of what I found and my thoughts on each item...

• The "Latest News" in the 'MWO Portal' is only showing 4 items, and seems like it should have a scroll with more present. MWO's 'Old StandAlone Launcher' would standardly have about the 10 most recent News items present for easy Click-To-View at any given time. Is there any chance of an increase in how many items which that displays in the near future?
  
• Going to the 'Menu DropDown' in the top-left of the 'MWO Portal', and selecting "View Agreement" results in an empty box titled "MWO License Agreement"... Within that empty box is merely the text "RichTextBox" and an "OK" button. I get the impression that a feature is incomplete?
  
• Going to the 'Menu DropDown' in the top-left of the 'MWO Portal', and selecting "Small Window Mode" causes the "Latest News" section of text to become unreadable, as well as many of the images near it to become grainy-edged. Not to sound like I'm attacking anyone, but I feel this is not helpful to people with small monitors and/or a wish to keep the 'MWO Portal' in a petite state of operation. A cleanup on this issue would be extremely appreciated, as it effectively restricts people to disabling that and using the "Large Window Mode" for now.
  
• The "Server Status" in the 'Old StandAlone Launcher' used to be clickable, and provided a direct link to the "mwomercs.com/status" page on the MWO WebSite. Could we have the same functionality with the New 'MWO Portal', please?
  
• The newer 'MWO Repair Tool v2' that comes with the 'MWO Portal' has a severe interface bug. 'Version 1.x' could have the window resized vertically, and would never have parts of the scroll bars, text, and/or buttons fall out of view or get obnoxiously large. Could we please have this same polish happen to the 'Version 2.x Repair Tool'? It currently suffers from having things overlay each other and/or get knocked out of view.
  
• The newer 'MWO Repair Tool v2' is also unnecessarily scanning the "MechWarrior Online\Bin32\PatcherLogs" directory section. Instead of just wiping it out (which I think you said you were planning to do), please just instruct the 'Repair Tool' to ignore that directory section? If people really want to clear that, you could then provide a checkbox in the "Options" Dialog (Default Setting of "Unchecked") for explicitly telling it to attack that area? That way, users who have those files (and don't want to lose them) can still look back at them for nostalgia, and the directories can be potentially useful in the future to you and other Developers.
  
• When the 'MWO Repair Tool v2's File Scan is done, the text of what it was doing is currently wiped out and replaced. 'Version 1.x' left this text present to read. Could you please restore the old behavior in this regard, as it was very handy to understanding that the 'Repair Tool' had done its' job? It would be highly appreciated by anyone who took the time to read things.
  
• When text is populating the display as the 'MWO Repair Tool v2' is doing its' work, I noticed that the scroll bar can get extremely tiny. There appears to have been some kind of measure put into 'Version 1.x' to prevent that and allow the scrollbar to still be easily grabbed to some extent. Is there any way to put a fix into the 'Version 2.x Repair Tool' to avoid it shrinking too far?

...and I'll look forward to hearing back from you on all the items which I've listed.

---

Everyone, I'm out of here for now. My apologies for the long wall of text. On the funny side of things, I'm feeling unusually overloaded as I come to realize that I've been assembling this post for well more than a mere hour. Who knew time could fly so far when someone's typing out a Forum post?


~Mr. D. V. "Ah dangit, there I go, getting all long-winded again! I tried to keep it short!" Devnull

[Sonny Black]

All I get is Patcher already installed!

[Tier5 Kerensky]

Im downloading the huge Steam thing because on my Windows nothing using DirectX 9 works, and this includes the Portal. This all came down from a Windows build update to my Insider preview version some time ago, and so I didn't expect PGI support to have any other leads than the things I tried to myself fix it.

It would have been cool to be able to manually download the patch and hook it up with the old launcher, but I guess that wouldnt have been long term sollution.

(18 GB download ready)
Oh, looks like the Steam "version" seem to be able to use standalone versions settings and other stuff.

Edited by Teer Kerensky, 19 February 2018 - 06:46 PM.

[Tarl Cabot]

Teer Kerensky, on 19 February 2018 - 06:39 PM, said:

Im downloading the huge Steam thing because on my Windows nothing using DirectX 9 works, and this includes the Portal. This all came down from a Windows build update to my Insider preview version some time ago, and so I didn't expect PGI support to have any other leads than the things I tried to myself fix it.

It would have been cool to be able to manually download the patch and hook it up with the old launcher, but I guess that wouldnt have been long term sollution.

(18 GB download ready)
Oh, looks like the Steam "version" seem to be able to use standalone versions settings and other stuff.

Download, unpack then run the dxsetup.exe to install the last set of dx9c update modules. Version 9.29.1974 - June 2010, Save this and rerun it when you believe a directx 9c module may have become corrupted or deleted.

https://www.microsof...ls.aspx?id=8109

[Krist Smith]

I'm going to trim this quote down a bit, just so that I'm not reposting your wall (no offense, it's just a lot to repeat, and I have my own wall of text in response)...

D V Devnull, on 19 February 2018 - 05:09 AM, said:

[...]
Hi there, Krist! Things installed nicely (well, as nicely as can be expected when I'm running the Comodo Firewall, and answering prompts because it gets amnesia unless I use "Paranoid Mode"), and I can get MWO's Client to launch right off from the Portal without a hitch. I didn't even have to spend time re-verifying the install for some unknown reason. However, I found a few holes with the Portal & Repair Tool, so I'll give you a fast listing of what I found and my thoughts on each item...
[...]
Who knew time could fly so far when someone's typing out a Forum post? ~Mr. D. V. "Ah dangit, there I go, getting all long-winded again! I tried to keep it short!" Devnull

Thanks a lot for this feedback, it's quite useful. We test the portal pretty thoroughly, but obviously sometimes we miss things or just don't have bugs happen at all. I'll try to respond to all your points, although some issues are already fixed (or being fixed) for the next Portal update.

-Latest news only has 4 items - I'll talk this over with our web dev, since he's the one who created the page and controls. This is something that can be updated live without having to release a Portal update, fortunately.

-"View Agreement" shows a blank box - This has actually been fixed in my latest build which be be rolling out after I finish with a couple more items and they all get tested.

-"Small Window Mode" display issues - Yeah, this is a side-effect of shrinking the whole window. The problem is that it's just rendering everything at a smaller scale, as opposed to reducing the individual elements (such as, say, lowering the font size). However, in our testing everything is still perfectly readable. Can you provide a screenshot of what you describe? Also, what's your resolution and DPI (or zoom percentage, as it's now indicated by Windows)?

-"Server Status" link - This should be do-able.

-Repair Tool resizing issues - I'm on it.

-Repair Tool scans old patcher logs - I'm much more in favour of getting the repair tool to clean these up rather than allowing them to be ignored (I actually don't like making the Repair Tool itself ignore anything - it's much better to present everything to the user who can then choose to ignore). They're a bygone artifact from the old days and the retired patcher. The handling of these files falls in with all of the other files that will be cleaned up now that the old patcher is finished. At this point, we're talking about log files that are over 2 years old and not of much use to anyone.

-Repair Tool output - I'll look into this a bit more while I address the whole resizing thing. The complaint about the previous version is the massive wall of text that overwhelmed or confused some people - they just wanted to see progress and then results. Might just be as simple as adding a "verbose logging" option or something that just suppresses the clearing.

-Scroll bar shrinkage - lol, dang, your list sure is comprehensive. I'll take a look at setting a min height so that it doesn't get too small to easily grab.

Again, thanks for the feedback. Lemme know if anything else catches your eye.