80 replies to this topic

[theweirdn8]

Installation
Pros:
-More Professional
-No noobs replying about not extracting the file
-Best for external loading
-No winzip or winrar or whatever is needed

Cons:
-No Yoyogames or instant play
-Many virus protection problems
-Hard to get .exe downloaded these days

Zip/Rar
Pros:
-Yoyogames and instant play compatable
-Many people prefer .zip over installation

Cons:
-Files out in the open
-Noobs forgetting to extract
-Winzip or winrar is needed
-No nice little preprogram interface
-No startmenu option


What do you all think on installation vs zip/rar?

What is your opinion?

Edited by hardcoregamer, 11 November 2008 - 09:14 PM.

[Thomas]

What do you mean "files out in the open?" They are like that when you install a program, too. Also, you can make it so that when the game runs, it adds itself to the start menu (although preferably you should ask the player).

[theweirdn8]

I mean, there is not many people who open up the c:/programfiles/game folder.

[Grundoko]

Actually, a lot of people would. Especially if they are interested in the resources. If anyone wants any of your resources, the first place they'll check is program files.

Theres no point trying to hide the files anyway though, even if you encrypt them, someone will still be able to get them, it would just make it harder.

[Johnnsen]

Since an installation program only hinders the playing.. and it does nothing else. It extracts the files. But is an annoyance to most users. And the zip Vs. rar issue is really getting annoying around here too. You can extract zip and rar with Winrar, and its free. Well, let's not go into this, since this is personal opinion only.

I've heard from many people that they don't like installing a game with an installer. They rather just click something. Plus the user group that is always afraid of things harming or spamming the system. They also like it simple, mostly.

[TheMagicNumber]

I prefer compressed archives as they do not need to be installed, it is possible to have your archive set up in a way to have external loading easy too (folders can be in it). Installers for a game you may not play for a while is quite stupid.

If they don't extract it, tell them to stop being a noob. If they don't know how to extract archives, tell them to stop being a noob. If they can't get the game to work, why should they bother playing.

RAR files ftw!

[Dangerous_Dave]

When you are going through the creations forum, testing out 10 or 20 games a day, you do not want to have to install them, play for 10 minutes then uninstall. If you're distributing on the GMC, installers are a no-no. Other places you may get away with it.

Edited by Dangerous_Dave, 12 November 2008 - 12:27 AM.

[hpapillon]

Since an installation program only hinders the playing.. and it does nothing else. It extracts the files. But is an annoyance to most users.

Most users on the GMC. Different groups of users find different things annoying. Really, it depends on where you're releasing your game and what your audience expects. If you want to have an audience, annoying them is generally a bad idea.

[xot]

I provide both ZIP and EXE. Problem solved. My only gripe with installers is that it doesn't take very many installations before the "Change or Remove Programs" panel becomes excruciatingly slow to load. I also worry a bit about possible compatibility problems in future versions of Windows. Other than that, I think they are ideal for general audiences, especially when you use a popular, and most important, familiar installation shell like Install Shield or NSIS. A lot of users don't know how to make shortcuts, or where to install software (or where to find it again if they ever want to uninstall it), or how to safely clean up the registry after a manual uninstall.

RAR files ftw!

That's what I use for personal stuff, but I would never use it for a software release. I'd rather not listen to the complaints and general failings of newbs who have no clue what a RAR file is. RAR is superior to ZIP, but only in a few ways that have little to do with ideal software delivery. ZIP on the other hand is handled natively by all modern Windows OSes.

[theweirdn8]

Another pro of the installation is that most commercial games, including the Game Maker Software uses it. I believe it makes people wonder less about noobyness.lol

[Grundoko]

Well, a pro over all of them, would be to store all of your files in the .exe, and have them extract when you first run it.
Although, would there be a way of doing it so that after the first run, the files are deleted from the .exe so it wouldn't use more memory?
If so, I think thats the best way to do it.

[fawful]

Installation fails for such things,you just dont feel like installing things you will probably only use once mabe twice,only iji would be able to get away with it,having the content it has.

[Krisando]

Some people dislike Installations as they seem abit overkill/bulky, although some people do not understand unzipping
before opening your game.
My favorite are zip auto extractors

[TheMagicNumber]

I'd only like an installer if the extraction of the whole thing takes a long time or the game has a "first open" setup. Installers generally do these things better. (First open for things that need to be done elsewhere on the computer, like registry)

[SilentxxBunny]

I think that zipped exe's are good for short, arcade style games, or beta releases. But I think that all final releases (of substantial quality) should definitely have an install file. Plus that way you can make people agree to a ToS that states they can't decompile and re-distribute your game or else face legal charges.

[score_under]

I think that zipped exe's are good for short, arcade style games, or beta releases. But I think that all final releases (of substantial quality) should definitely have an install file. Plus that way you can make people agree to a ToS that states they can't decompile and re-distribute your game or else face legal charges.

Legal matters aside, any final releases of something with an installer are annoying. I like zipped or rar'd much better, because then I can be certain that ALL the files are going where I want them to. Plus, in installers which force you to add the program to your start menu, you would have to type "nul", then tape down "enter" for each error that causes.

I mean, there is not many people who open up the c:/programfiles/game folder.

I must be unique. I like to inspect things like this (mainly because my desktop is full and I access everything by pressing win+r then typing out c:\progra~1\whatever\ ...), but especially if the game is protected by something or if I don't trust it (In which case I run it in Sandboxie).

You can extract zip and rar with Winrar, and its free.

It's a free trial, implying that it stops working after a set amount of time. But yeah, illegal stuff, using OllyDBG how it's not meant to be used...

ZIP on the other hand is handled natively by all modern Windows OSes.

Be careful what terminology you use there - it's handled by the Windows XP (and above) Explorer shell. Handled natively implies that CreateFileA or CreateFileW on, for example, "C:\test.zip\source\thing.c" would work (as in, create or open the file inside the ZIP).

Hardcoregamer, I know what you mean about it being hard to get EXEs downloaded (lots of DRM proxy servers, for example, at school, block them), but..

-No nice little preprogram interface
-No startmenu option

I prefer AlZip's interface for things, even if it does look a little plastic-y. Start menu options? Hah, hate 'em.

Edited by score_under, 13 November 2008 - 07:07 PM.

[NakedPaulToast]

Handled natively implies that CreateFileA or CreateFileW on, for example, "C:\test.zip\source\thing.c" would work (as in, create or open the file inside the ZIP).

No it doesn't.

[xot]

I think that zipped exe's are good for short, arcade style games, or beta releases. But I think that all final releases (of substantial quality) should definitely have an install file. Plus that way you can make people agree to a ToS that states they can't decompile and re-distribute your game or else face legal charges.

That's a good point. Legally, in "Teh USA", your EULA is worthless if a person can not read and agree to it before purchase or installation.

[theweirdn8]

Most commercial games use installations. The installation thing is used for things with many resources. Also when you have the files attached to gm, instead of external loading, loading takes way more time.

[Rybo5000]

Theres no point trying to hide the files anyway though, even if you encrypt them, someone will still be able to get them, it would just make it harder.

Well der! That's the entrie point.

Retail games are hacked all the time but the creators dont just say "oh well, let's give it away for free - no point making these poor hackers work harder"