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Dark Physics & Dark A.I. & Dark Dynamix / Dark Physics request - packaging driver DLLs with .exe

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Cash Curtis II
19
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Joined: 8th Apr 2005
Location: Corpus Christi Texas
Posted: 11th Nov 2007 19:11
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I think it would be good if the Ageia DLLs could be packaged with the EXE. My problem is that I want to add PhysX to every single thing I'm ever going to do (even a poker game I have planned for the future), but the issue is that nobody is going to bother downloading tons of drivers for an indie game. A lot of people will already have to install DirectX 9.0c in order to run the game. If they're forced to install two things it might just cause them not to try the game at all. That would be tragic.

I don't know if this is possible already by including some DLLs as media. If it is and someone is familiar with this then all I need is a good pointing in the right direction. If not I think it would be a fantastic addition to DP. DLL updates could come at the same time as DP updates.


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david w
18
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Joined: 18th Dec 2005
Location: U.S.A. Michigan
Posted: 11th Nov 2007 20:56
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yes I would like to know how this is done also

we need to figure out which dll's it needs.

Also does the install put anything in the registry
???
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Mike Johnson
TGC Developer
22
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Joined: 13th Sep 2002
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 11th Nov 2007 21:40
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To get around this problem I would make an installer for the game. The installer would include the Ageia installer which gets copied over in the install process. At the end of the installation you can call the Ageia installer and have it install the drivers silently. This may add around 30 mb to your installation program. It might not be ideal but not sure what you can do to avoid it.
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John Y
Synergy Editor Developer
22
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Joined: 4th Sep 2002
Location: UK
Posted: 15th Nov 2007 13:36
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If you're feeling flush then you can try 'virtualizing' the dll's so they don't need installation.

http://www.xenocode.com/Products/Studio/

Synergy Editor - Available in the WIP forum
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Cash Curtis II
19
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Joined: 8th Apr 2005
Location: Corpus Christi Texas
Posted: 15th Nov 2007 14:42 Edited at: 16th Nov 2007 10:14
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I assume that the PhysX wrapper looks for two files - PhysXCooking.dll and PhysXCore.dll, right? If it doesn't find them then it automatically sends the user to the web page and I assume that functionality was put there by you Mike. I also would assume that they're not loaded automatically by Windows because all I did was change the folder in Program Files to a different name and then Dark Physics would no longer run.

Would it be possible for the wrapper to check the working directory for the DLLs first (once again, assuming that I'm thinking about this right )? If this was possible then I could package the DLLs as media and have them automatically extract to the temp folder and get used.

*sudden thought*
Would this work if I created the folder "c:\Program Files\AGEIA Technologies\v2.5.0" myself and copied the DLLs there? I have to test this theory. Then I will have essentially masked the installation.

I saw elsewhere on the forum that if you include the single unique DLL for the latest DirectX 9.0c with your project it would find and use it with any version of DirectX 9. I'll have to find that thread again, but I just really want to simplify the installation of anything that I release.


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bosskeith
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Posted: 17th Nov 2007 01:15
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Please keep us updated on this one Cash I am definately interested in what you discover.

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SageTech
19
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Joined: 3rd Dec 2004
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posted: 17th Nov 2007 01:37
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Same here, the average user will be hard pressed to install the latest DirectX, let alone a physics runtime they've probably never heard of.


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SageTech
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Joined: 3rd Dec 2004
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posted: 18th Dec 2007 20:37
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Bump

any updates? This is something I really need to know.


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jason p sage
17
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Joined: 10th Jun 2007
Location: Ellington, CT USA
Posted: 19th Dec 2007 16:43
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SageTech? Interesting Name

Registry Entries Can be "ManHandled" as a last resort - but Com'ish (and like .net) DLL's have GUID's (When "Registered") in the registry - and unless the program specifically tries to load the DLL in its own directory (First Attack via filename if possible) - This GUID will have the DLL's Location in the REgistry - and that will get loaded.

I'm not a master here by a long shot - but I do Know - if you force registering the SAME VERSION of that DLL in YOUR directory - than other apps that use that DLL - will use your copy. Likewise - they can do the same to you with a simple RegSvr32 (in xp). Usually - no harm no foul - BUT - the mechanics COULD cause issues for end users if not careful.


http://www.jasonpetersage.com/?PAGE=ironinfantry&SECTION=ironinfantry
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