The X3 Savegame Manager - updated 07/01/2012 - X3: Albion Prelude Version released

[Spaceweed Adict]

Hay nice piece of kit mrbadger been trying it out today and the beta version seems fine to me.
Just wish I would of had this baby a few weeks ago before I had that bloody system crash would of saved my last game from oblivian.

Anyways mate brilliant little tool will be using it in future not having that happen to me again

Hay just a little point mrbadger it might be worth enforcising a bit more to make sure you have Java Runtime installed before trying to run the program.

I didn't and my winrar program keeped unpacking it till I read your instructions properly and realized I didn't have Java runtime installed

No problem with the program the problem was me being a thicko and should of realized a Jar is a java script

[mrbadger]

Hi

Glad you like it. The current version is actually stable, the beta of the next version is what I'm working on right now.

I added a mention of the java runtime requirement in the installation section of the guide.

- MrBadger

[draffutt]

small request:

would it be possible to change the backround and font colors? i understand if you are not able to. but it never hurts to ask.

[mrbadger]

small request:

would it be possible to change the backround and font colors? i understand if you are not able to. but it never hurts to ask.

To what though?

If I have time I'll make it an option in the config file.

[GrahamAtome]

looking at the program at the moment and black on white and black on beige seems to be a pretty good contrast.

what do you want pink on burple?

[draffutt]

lol no

bright colors hurts my eyes; so i try and change whenever i can to a "darker" color. and white / off white is a really bright color to me.

[mrbadger]

The present colour scheme is one I selected because it's visually easier for me (I'm dyspraxic, an off white/pinkish background is clearer). I will make it so you can change it to your own preference, but only once I've got the current major program updates finished.

By this I mean the ability to change the colours used by the savegame manager will appear in the next release.

[draffutt]

no rush. but thanks for doing it and great program.

[Vlad Zet]

First of all, really, really Thanks!
It’s very useful!
I translated yours plugin to Russian. First post + FAQ. Fully.
How about xml file for buttons/dialog boxes?
Whether it is possible after translation for buttons and dialog boxes to create the cyrillic version of SG Manager?

[mrbadger]

First of all, really, really Thanks!
It’s very useful!
I translated yours plugin to Russian. First post + FAQ. Fully.
How about xml file for buttons/dialog boxes?
Whether it is possible after translation for buttons and dialog boxes to create the cyrillic version of SG Manager?

That's great thanks. I can make it so the buttons and text in the savegame manager can all be populated from the config xml file. It will take a while, I have to finish the new vault feature first, but once that's done I'll start work on making translations of the applications text into other languages possible via the config file.

I'll make that the next update after this one is completed. I'm not sure whether there is a dedicated russian language forum, so I think you'll have to discuss the best place to post your translations of the usage guide and the FAQ with a mod.

Bear in mind that the next release will mean I make some changes to the usage guide post, so that will mean some more text has to be translated. There will also be a need for russian language screenshots of the application, we can talk about that when the conversion is done.

- MrBadger

[Vlad Zet]

OK!
I'll wait for new features and next release and
I'll be back!

[mrbadger]

The beta testing build for version 1.c of the savegame manager is now available for download. The link is, as usual, in the first post of this thread.

Edit - Testing completed, you can now consider this stable.

----------------

I'll go over what's new, then how to use the new stuff.

Breifly, what made it into the testing release is as follows:

1: Links in the file menu to this thread and direct to the FAQ post.

2: The Vault - which lets you archive copies of particulerly important or interesting savegames. These can then be used as 'templates' to create new campaigns later. This feature was suggested by Alan Phipps.



3: Exporting of the pilots log file to a text file.

4: Changes to the user interface and dialog texts. This is in preparation for the production of tools that will allow the savegame manager to be translated into other languages.

What didn't make it is the idea of only moving files around that have changed. I'd thought that if you updated the stored copy of a campaign, only moving those files that had been altered would be a good plan. However it turns out that this is impractical, and may not actually save any significant amount of time.

So on with how to use these new features.


Web links to this thread and the FAQ

These are available via the file menu. See the following image

[ external image ]

It's pretty easy to use, just click the one you want, and the page will open in your default browser.

The Vault

The vault stores copies of your campaigns, the originals still remain in the campaigns folder as before.

To access the vault, click the Vault Manager button on the main window.

[ external image ]

On doing this, the stored version of your currently active campaign will be updated, so it matches the copy of the campaign currently in the X3TC savegame folder. After this, if it doesn't already exist, a new sub folder will be created in the savegame managers folder, called 'Vault'.

You will then be presented with the following dialog

[ external image ]

You now have three options. Since you can't use the first - Open The Vault - until there is already something stored in it, we will start with the second option:

Add a Campaign to the Vault

Clicking this will bring up the following dialog

[ external image ]

Once you have chosen the campaign that you want to send to the vault, a new dialog opens that asks you to choose which savegames to include. This can be all, or just one.

[ external image ]

Having done this, click done and one more dialog appears

[ external image ]

Provided the name you give for this vault entry isn't already in use in the vault, when you fill in that and the optional description, clicking done will create the vault entry.

Open The Vault

We can now use the vault contents viewer, so clicking on Open The Vault will bring up the vault browser.

[ external image ]

You can now browse the various vault entries and read their accompanying descriptive text.
Unlike normal campaigns, the descriptions cannot be added to (unless you edit the xml file by hand).

Obviously there's not much point in just having these savegames in the vault, so the option to create a new campaign based on a vault entry is available. To create a new campaign using a vault entry, click the Create button.
This presents you with a vault entry selection dialog as follows:

[ external image ]

Pick the vault entry you want to use as a base for your new campaign, and click done. You will get the standard campaign setup dialog, asking for a campaign name and the first entry in the pilots log for the campaign, and then your new campaign is ready for use.

Once you've exited out of the vault manager, you will need to refresh the list of available campaigns using the refresh list button.

Delete a Vault Entry

This option allows you to delete previously stored vault entries. Deletion using this feature is permemant, unlike manually sending something to the recycle bin. Its pretty self explanatory, and replete with dire warnings as you go through the process.

---------------

As is mentioned in the first post of this thread, and the FAQ, this release is just for those who want to help out by testing the program prior to its proper release.
I'm not sure when that will be, as I will be waiting to see if any problems are found with this testing release first.

I can't find any myself, but that's not always a reliable guide, because I wrote it

- MrBadger

[GrahamAtome]

simple stuff first

both web links work

creating the vault works, campaign copied successfully

Attributes on the Vault folder set to read only

Attributes on the campaign folder set to read only

try to delete the folder success

this could be due to my login having admin rights though

[GrahamAtome]

creating a campaign from the vault works

oh and the delete in the last post was from explorer not inside the manager

[mrbadger]

oh and the delete in the last post was from explorer not inside the manager

Thanks for the testing.

In fact I couldn't find a way to definatelly prevent deletion of the folder in explorer, so I'm just going to have to say that it's not safe from deletion outside the savegame manager, which also goes for the campaigns folder too.

It is possible to assign a file/folder to another user, and protect it that way, but then writing to it starts to get really complex, and it could become undeletable by anyone, ever. In my windows 7 install I already have a couple of folders on my system drive (from when I had XP installed) that windows 7 won't allow me to delete, even as admin, which is a real pain.

There may be another solution that I've missed, I'll keep looking, but it looks like it will have to remain as readonly only in terms of the savegame manager.

Anyway, if you can't find any issues, and I can't, it looks like I can release it properly. I'll do that later today, when I've got the user guide updated.

[GrahamAtome]

OK

With the old files you can't delete have you tried taking ownership in the properties security tab?

properties > security > advanced > owner > edit > Change owner to

and check replace owner on subcontainers and ojects.

close the properties dialogue and reopen it, then grant youself full control

[mrbadger]

OK

With the old files you can't delete have you tried taking ownership in the properties security tab?

properties > security > advanced > owner > edit > Change owner to

and check replace owner on subcontainers and ojects.

Yup, but it still won't delete, It resets to ownership by some unknown user. It's my old cygwin folder, so having unix type files may be the cause. As I don't know why for sure (I'm not that good at windows security), I'm reluctant to be setting file properties like that deliberately for the vault.

I'll do a bit more research today anyway, just in case I can find a way to protect the vault that won't make it eternally undeletable.

[mrbadger]

Version 1.c of the Savegame manager is now available for download.

This release adds a vault feature which will let you stores copies of particulerly important savegames, and use them as a base for new campaigns.

I've also made a lot of changes to the text in the program, aiming to increase readability. A lot of the text has also been changed in preparation for producing translations of the savegame manager into different languages.
That won't happen for a while mind. Fun though this is to write, I have other projects that need some attention now.

Thanks once again to GrahamAtome for testing this release.

-MrBadger

[Alan Phipps]

Hi Mrbadger: Thanks for the vault - just what I wanted! By the way, you need to edit the title version number to 1c at the top of the first page post

[GrahamAtome]

Oh and if you have MrBadger's problem with files and folders that won't behave try this http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/05/2 ... -in-vista/