Two new JG54 Campaigns - completing the History

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by csThor

Not to put a too fine point to it but I think you should really avoid using real installation files for a campaign. Not that it unnecessarily clogs up the registry - it's simply not necessary since even the main program doesn't require a registry entry to run properly. A simple ZIP or an auto-extracting file (also an exe but it doesn't leave data trash) is a lot better IMO.

I think the opposite for these offline campains as unless you are an IL2 veteran and know the file structure this helps a lot of the newer pilots get up and running without having to cut n paste files everywhere , perhaps an option for Instal exe and a zipped/rar'd package for us die hard file pluckers

Great looking package btw lots of skins !!

[IceFire]

I don't like the EXE installs because I never know what it's going to do. One EXE install I had downloaded and installed overwrote some of the default backgrounds to the games and left no backups either. I forget what campaign that was (it was a long time ago) but needless to say I do appreciate the ZIP versions better.

If you structure your ZIP files correctly then the person just needs to extra to the one correct location and it's nice and easy. A self extractor can do the same job I suppose... but then it's harder to tell what it will be changing.

Also... glad to hear about more JG54 campaigns. I had an immense amount of fun making the Kurland campaign and it's good to see some other efforts on the other areas that this group was involved in. Very interesting history!

[nearmiss]

1+

Using installers is nothing but trouble

[dflion]

Originally Posted by csThor

Not to put a too fine point to it but I think you should really avoid using real installation files for a campaign. Not that it unnecessarily clogs up the registry - it's simply not necessary since even the main program doesn't require a registry entry to run properly. A simple ZIP or an auto-extracting file (also an exe but it doesn't leave data trash) is a lot better IMO.

Thanks csThor, technically you have lost me a bit here regarding the registry being clogged up? My campaign files (Missions, Pilots and Skins folders) are collected into a 'Click' self-extracting .exe program then zipped up with a readme file and screen shot jpeg. All you have to do is extract the zip to a temporary folder and then follow carefully the 'Click' extraction' details on the .exe file. If you can give me some more details on the registry being clogged up with real installation files, I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Could the 'Click' program be causing the problem?

DFLion

[dflion]

Originally Posted by Juri_JS

Thank you for your work dflion. The campaigns look very interesting.

Do you know this new JG 54 skin pack by RDDR?
http://www.axis-and-allies-paintwork...php?f=10&t=839

The skins in the pack are some of the best I have seen for the Bf-109 and FW-190. I think they would be perfect for your campaign.

Thanks for this link Juri_JS. The JG54 skins look excellent and you are right, they are some of the best I have seen for the Bf-109 and Fw-190.

When the campaign requires updating I will incorporate some of them into the missions.
Many thanks,

DFLion

[dflion]

Originally Posted by IceFire

I don't like the EXE installs because I never know what it's going to do. One EXE install I had downloaded and installed overwrote some of the default backgrounds to the games and left no backups either. I forget what campaign that was (it was a long time ago) but needless to say I do appreciate the ZIP versions better.

If you structure your ZIP files correctly then the person just needs to extra to the one correct location and it's nice and easy. A self extractor can do the same job I suppose... but then it's harder to tell what it will be changing.

Also... glad to hear about more JG54 campaigns. I had an immense amount of fun making the Kurland campaign and it's good to see some other efforts on the other areas that this group was involved in. Very interesting history!

Thanks Icefire, I am starting to get 'the drift' of csThor's post. With self extracting 'Click' files, the biggest problem is getting the the path address to IL-2 exactly right. I have noticed over the years that this path address has changed slightly and this causes big problems. Obviously the 'Click' .exe is dumping unecessary stuff into the registry. I have to carefully' clean-up my registry from time to time to get rid of this stuff.

As KG26_Alpha says, there is another side of the coin when using self-extractors, they help our newer members get the files correctly into position.

I enjoyed flying your excellent JG54 Kurland campaign and hopefully my new JG54 campaigns will complete the very interesting JG54 story.

DFLion