Introducing San Andreas Mod Installer

[MuT7]

damn u's a muther f*cking genius.............when can we expect this thang?(i asked this before but u didn't give an exact date....)

[cpmusick85]

 

can i have a link to vice city mod installer?

http://www.gtacomplex.com/modules.php?name..._Beta#dldetails

 

 

 

damn u's a muther f*cking genius.............when can we expect this thang?(i asked this before but u didn't give an exact date....)

 

There's no exact date, it's just done when it's done. However, I've gotten a lot of work done on it lately, though there's still a bit to go. But I'm working on it extra hard lately, so not too much longer.

Edited August 22, 2005 by cpmusick85

[MuT7]

Awwww hell yeaaaa

[cpmusick85]

UPDATE: (Progress: 82%)

 

After working my ass off nearly half of the day today, I have completely finished the script mod installing part of SAMI. This means that mods that have script files can now be installed successfully.

 

However, automatic vehicle installation is not yet complete. (But if the vehicle comes with a pre-created script, then it can be installed). So this is what I'm moving on to next. I'm implementing the feature to automatically detect vehicle's handling\IDE\color lines, DFF\TXD files, etc, and automatically install it with the vehicle needing a script.

 

Once I complete that part of SAMI, all the hard stuff is over. After that I will need to finish the scripter (a decent amount of work, but not too much), as well as the "Restore a Backup" option (not very much work at all here, so I'll be able to implement it fairly quickly), and then all of the little tid bits of code that I have left to optimize or add to SAMI. Then after that......I'll be done.

 

So hopefully I will be able to get past the only real challenging part (automatic vehicle installation without a script) fairly quickly. Once I finish that part, the release will shortly follow.

[gtabmx]

Wow. I kinda feel the same hype as when I was waiting for San Andreas to actaully come out on the PS. This is going to be sweet.

 

By the way, if a download a plain .zip or .rar compressed file and extract it contents, being, for example:

a .dff and two .txd files that belong in the gta3.img file

another .txd file that belong in the gta_int.img file

and a pedgrp.dat file

and this downloaded mod does not contain a script, will SAMI be able to handle it automatically.

 

Also, just for clarification, this "script" that tells SAMI where to put stuff and what to do, is it the same script.img found in Rockstar Games/GTA San Andreas/data/script/ that is called script.img?

[cpmusick85]

 

Wow.  I kinda feel the same hype as when I was waiting for San Andreas to actaully come out on the PS.  This is going to be sweet.

 

By the way, if a download a plain .zip or .rar compressed file and extract it contents, being, for example:

    a .dff and two .txd files that belong in the gta3.img file

    another .txd file that belong in the gta_int.img file

    and a pedgrp.dat file

and this downloaded mod does not contain a script, will SAMI be able to handle it automatically.

 

Also, just for clarification, this "script" that tells SAMI where to put stuff and what to do, is it the same script.img found in Rockstar Games/GTA San Andreas/data/script/  that is called script.img?

If the mod does not come with a script, then it can not be installed with SAMI because it will be EXTREMELY difficult for SAMI to know what to do with the mod (as far as how it's installed), unless it's a very basic mod or something, or if I could make SAMI smart enough to read a normal read me file as a human being would, though that would require a bit of work.

 

However, once I release SAMI I will be going ape with creating script for most of the mods that are out, as well as for new mods as they are released. In a later version of SAMI I am going to implement an online script database so that if a mod does not come with a script, SAMI will look at the online script database and see if it can find a script for that mod, download the script, then install it automatically. But as I said, this will be in a later version, not the initial release.

 

No, the script is not the same as the script.img file. It's completely different. The script that SAMI will use is a script that is created particularly for that mod, which is created so that the mod can be installed using SAMI. It's basically a text file that includes instructions on how to install the mod. For example, a script may look like this:

 

|ImgAdd|txd\banshee.txd|models\gta3.img|

|ImgDelete|basketball.dff|models\gta_int.img|

|FileAdd|mymod.ipl|gamedir|\data\maps|overwrite|

|InsertText|here's the new text|data\pedstats.dat|below|STAT_GANG3 17.0|

 

SAMI will just go line by line down the script and perform each command or "instruction" to install the mod.

 

============================================

EDIT:

 

UPDATE: (Progress: 85%)

 

I decided to keep on working on SAMI today, until about 3:00AM. And doing so I was able to successfully finished the "Restore Backup" feature, as well as other various small things. It seems to work flawlessly so far, and if there are errors with anything, SAMI seems to find them before attempting to install the mod.

 

I made the Restore Backup feature as simple as possible. It shows a list of all the backups that SAMI has made (one for each mod). Then all you do is choose one and press "Uninstall". The mod is then removed from your game, and all files that were altered will be changed back to their previous state. So it's as if the mod was never installed.

Edited August 23, 2005 by cpmusick85

[buBbakuba]

i can try translate SAMI to czech

[Mikerush76]

Mabye this was covered and i missed it...but.. Will mods installed via SAMI require a game restart? and if so is someone working on bypassing this?

[cpmusick85]

 

i can try translate SAMI to czech 

Thanks for offering. I have added you to my list of translators and will contact when it's ready to be translated.

 

 

 

Mabye this was covered and i missed it...but.. Will mods installed via SAMI require a game restart? and if so is someone working on bypassing this?

 

All SAMI does is install the mod. Whether or not you'll have to restart the game depends on the mod and only the mod. SAMI will not affect whether the game will have to be restarted or not, only the mod affects that. But to furthur answer your question, it's usually only "main.scm" mods that require a new game to be started. Though there may be other mods as well, but it's up to the creator of the mod to specify whether the game will need to be restarted or not.

 

----

 

UPDATE:

 

I have been working on the scripter quite a bit and got some of the features working quite nicely. Also, I have been working a bit more on the design on SAMI.......so here's a new screenshot:

 

 

 

 

[gtabmx]

Sweet, so... what's the word I'm looking for... I'll get back to on the word...

 

In the meantime, another question, can I tell SAMI that this .dff goes here to replace this one, while this .txd replaces this, etc.... in the program itslef, like in the menu screens, or can I just write my own script for the mod? Either way, I think installing, for example, the Fast Food mod found here, that requires finding, backing up, and replacing over 40 .txd files in two different .img files will take a hell of a lot longer than just writing my own scripts for the mods and making SAMI do all the hard stuff. Beautiful, that's not the right word, but its the first word that comes to mind...

[cpmusick85]

 

Sweet, so... what's the word I'm looking for... I'll get back to on the word...

 

In the meantime, another question, can I tell SAMI that this .dff goes here to replace this one, while this .txd replaces this, etc.... in the program itslef, like in the menu screens, or can I just write my own script for the mod?  Either way, I think installing, for example, the Fast Food mod found here, that requires finding, backing up, and replacing over 40 .txd files in two different .img files will take a hell of a lot longer than just writing my own scripts for the mods and making SAMI do all the hard stuff.  Beautiful, that's not the right word, but its the first word that comes to mind...

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. Are you asking if you will have to create the scripts "by hand" (such as in notepad)? If so, then the answer to that is nope. The Scripter feature of SAMI is what will do most of the script creating. All you have to do is tell SAMI what file will need to be edited (for example "gta3.img") and what file will need to be inserted (for example "banshee.dff"). SAMI will then create the command (or "instructions") in the script, based on the information you provided.

 

If this isn't what you're asking, then please let me know what you mean.

 

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UPDATE: (Progress: 88%)

 

I have now finished the Scripter. For those of you who are to lazy to read the first post (or what I just wrote), the Scripter is a feature in San Andreas Mod Installer that allows you to easily create script files for mods. Well, I finally finished it and it is incredible. I surprised myself. It's so easy to use and is really convenient because it allows you to easily arrange commands, add commands, delete commands, duplicate commands, and so on.

 

Now the only big part of SAMI that's left to do is the automatic vehicle detection and installation. This will be a pretty decent amount of work, but nothing I can't handle.

 

The dawn of a new era is approaching.........

Edited August 25, 2005 by cpmusick85

[gtabmx]

That's exactly what i meant and its good to know SAMI can do that for me too.

[DiCanio]

good man

[cpmusick85]

Here's screenshots of the scripter. I decided to keep the design fairly basic for the scripter because I don't want the background to be too "busy", otherwise it just makes it a little more complicated to work with. So here's what it will look like:

 

 

Edited August 26, 2005 by cpmusick85

[gtabmx]

Yay, amazing. And will the scripts we create with this be saved for later use? That way, we can upload them to your future site for others to download and not have to make their own!

[Bigun]

Oh, cpumusik, dont forget to either make a command which adds all files in a folder, or make similar funcionality by the scripter. It was hellish nightmare to script 20 ImgAdds in GMI

Of course make this available for both ImgAdd and FileAdd and similar stuff .

@gtabmx: Of course they will be saved!

 

Looking forward for this little gift from above.

Edited August 26, 2005 by Bigun

[UHMaroc]

hi everybody

i look for san andreas mod installer but i dont find it

help me

[VeilSide835]

Huh?, you don't find it because it hasn't been released yet, if you read the first post you are informed that its 88% complete. Great tool anyway!, i find img tool slow and tedious. Great work!

[The Fawker]

Man i cant wait till this installer is done

[cpmusick85]

 

Oh, cpumusik, dont forget to either make a command which adds all files in a folder, or make similar funcionality by the scripter. It was hellish nightmare to script 20 ImgAdds in GMI.  Of course make this available for both ImgAdd and FileAdd and similar stuff.

 

I have implemented multiple command adding support (batch adding) for both the ImagAdd and FileAdd commands. I probably won't add this support for other commands because they don't really need it since the values in each command will differ quite a bit, which means it will probably be easier just to add them individually (or else you'll have to modify each one anyway). Alternatively, you can just use the "Duplicate" command, and then just change the necessary values (which works well also).

 

---

 

UPDATE: (Progress: 90%)

 

I've been working on some of the smaller features and have successfully implemented various integration support. Now you can do all of the following things:

 

-Right-click on a ZIP\RAR file and choose "Install With SAMI" option to automatically launch SAMI with that file as the specified mod. After that, you just click Install......and that's it.

 

-Open a .sami file (like you would open any other type of file) and it will automatically launch SAMI and will default to using that script. After that all you have to do verify that the location to the mod's files is correct, then click "Install".

 

-Right-click a .sami file and choose the "Edit With SAMI's Scripter" option to automatically launch SAMI and it will automatically open that script file for editing.

 

Folks, it doesn't get any easier than this. If you can't figure out how to install a mod with SAMI using any of the easy methods above, then you'll be considered the reigning king of all noobs.

 

 

Oh yeah, I've also got a new screenshot:

 

 

 

 

[UHMaroc]

i want just the kernel ,no need of interface ,just add in an img file

thank you

[UHMaroc]

Huh?, you don't find it because it hasn't been released yet, if you read the first post you are informed that its 88% complete. Great tool anyway!, i find img tool slow and tedious. Great work!

i want just the kernel

[cpmusick85]

i want just the kernel ,no need of interface ,just add in an img file

thank you

There's no way I can release just the "kernel". If you want to just add something to an img file, then just use a program such as IMG Tool or Spark.

[bootypatrol2009]

I just want to say, I'm REALLY looking foward to this...I downloaded about 30 car mods, and I'm gona download as many as I can until i can replace every vehicle in the game...but I haent installed anything becuase I'm going to wait for this to come out...So I can replace the vehicles I want with extreame Ease.....you rock man....btw...did you make the "mod installer" for Vice?

[The.Ray]

yo, cpmusick85 is the best i can't waiting till SAMI released. GTA Mod Installer was very good and SAMI is better, wow. Cool design. better den GTA MI. hope you finish fast

[UHMaroc]

i want just the kernel ,no need of interface ,just add  in an img file

thank you

There's no way I can release just the "kernel". If you want to just add something to an img file, then just use a program such as IMG Tool or Spark.

thank you for the hard work, but img tool or spark does not allow mass inserting ,i need an automatisation tool

[cpmusick85]

UPDATE: (Progress 92%)

 

I've gotten some good progress on the vehicle detection features. SAMI can now search through the ZIP\RAR file (or mod source folder) and find the vehicle's DFF and TXD file. Also, SAMI can now detect if there's more than one DFF or TXD. If there is then SAMI will ask the user which one they want to use and all they do is click the file. This is useful for vehicles that come with two TXD's (such as two different types of textures for a racecar or something like that), or if it has multiple DFF files which are each a different version of the vehicle (like the BTTF Delorean did for Vice City).

 

I've also created some great functions that allow SAMI to parse the handling\ide\dat files just like the game does and with no problems at all. So this means I will be able to finish it faster now because it will be quicker for me to code.

 

The release of SAMI v1.0 should be no more than a week away. That is, if I don't run into any major problems. But as it looks now, I shouldn't run into any problems that would delay me much.

 

---

 

 

 

...did you make the "mod installer" for Vice?

 

Yes, I created GTA Mod Installer.

 

 

 

thank you for the hard work, but img tool or spark does not allow mass inserting ,i need an automatisation tool

 

There's a "console" version of Spark that allows you to read script files. In fact, that is the program that does the IMG editing for SAMI. Just create a script with the necessary files that are to be inserted to the IMG archive, then tell Spark to use that script and it will insert all of the files at once. Contact Aru (creator of Spark) for the program.

Edited August 31, 2005 by cpmusick85

[Angel BulG]

That is going to be a very cool tool !

[Bigun]

I can't wait

 

This will rock.

[The.Ray]

Perhaps you can insert a option to choose language. if you do it i will tranlate SAMI into German. Perhaps i' ll find a person who traslate it also in Romanian. don't know. Please answer.