Creating a installer for my game

[JpSoft]

Hi you all;

Im not sure if this post belongs here, but i will try.

I will release a tool to create maps for my RTS (which is not released yet) and i want offer it with a installer, so when the game is released (next month) it will be installed too in the same folder. I were looking in the internet and i dont found nothign free (very important) which offer the posibility to detect if the map creator is already installed in the pc.

What im looking for is:

When the player will install the game, the installer must recognize if the editor is already installed and act according this: the player can add the map creator or not.

Anyone knows something about any aplication with this features?

Jp

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The Nullsoft Scriptable Install System is a very versatile and fully configurable installer creator.  Basically, if you read some online tutorials about scripting for it you can make it do whatever you like, and it's free.

http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page


There are other programs available like Clickteam's Installer that streamline the process more, though they also limit what you can do.  It depends on what you want from the installer, really.

[TwinMoon]

Inno Setup is also a good one.

[Khris]

To complete this installer thread: I hate 'em. They clutter up everything (registry, software list, start menu, ...) and are especially unnerving if they aren't even necessary (except to help people who are too stupid to handle e.g. a rar file).
And it doesn't add a touch of professionalism either.

To address the specific issue mentioned here: there's one thing I hate even more, and that's installers which don't let me choose the installation folder.

So please if you must use one, offer the downloads as archives as well.

[JpSoft]

KrisMUC, since (normally) people involved creating games with AGS are able to unzip a rar file and place it in the properly folder, it dont minds that the people thats is not able is stupid (my 14 years old niece is a good example) A lot of people love installers, specially the good ones (could you imagine placing yourself any Windows file in the properly folder?  ) including the option to uninstalls the selected application.

I read good things about inno setup in other forums and im giving it a try. Also i read a lot of good comments about CreateInstall, but its not free  About Nullsoft Scriptable Install System i really dont found nothing in the web  but i will try with it. In the same way there are some "recommended" programs for art work or sound manage, why not offer to the game designers a brief comment about install creators?

Thanks a lot for the answers.

Jp

[Ali]

With older versions of Nelly Cootalot I had a number of complaints that dialogue options disappeared off the bottom of the screen.

Eventually I discovered that people were playing the game without unzipping it, so it was running at 320 res rather than 640. So in conclusion, I think installers seem like wuite a good idea.