[Locked] Basic Guide To Making A Custom Installer (Lengthy!)
17
Hello everyone! I wrote this guide back in May and while the guide doesn't tell you how to make an installer for a Visual Novel everything in here also applies to them. This details exactly what I do to make the custom installers for Visual Novels.
I hope this helps some of you understand, and most of all I hope you'll give it a shot.
*****************************************
Hello everyone and welcome to my newest guide. I try to make my guides as simple to follow as possible because I notice that a lot of guides explain but don't tell. All of my guides are easy to follow step by step tutorials that tell you exactly what to do.
I started making guides when I noticed that most people seem to believe writing a simple, easy to follow guide is beneath them. Sometimes people really do need to be walked through a process and because so many people either hate to explain it or don't want competition the others who do want to learn this stuff are missing out.
I'm not that self centered. I hope you enjoy my guide and find it beneficial.
Stuff You Need
AdminStudio
Latest InstallShield
20-30 minutes
Things To Know
First off, I've moved on from making Portables. It was fun but I always gotta try something new. Making installers takes a little more time setting it up, but it has fewer problems and more benefits. The major benefits are as follows:
*You can pre patch and crack the game so anyone who uses your installer won't have to hunt those things down.
*You can add any mods or new content to the installer you want, essentially making it better than the old release.
*You can add a feature list to allow the user to install certain content that you've added, which makes it a lot easier for the person to decide what they want.
*Want to make a multiple CD game fit on a DVD without problems? You can do that. Want to make a DVD sized game fit on multiple CD's without problems? You can do that too.
*The compression rate is pretty good. I was able to get nearly 10gb of a game and mods down to around 4gb. I was also able to get Bioshock, a large game, to fit on a dvd5 as well.
*These are not rips! The purpose of creating these custom installers is to make things easier. Essentially, you add, not subtract.
The Guide
*Get EVERYTHING you want to add to the installer. Download the Game/App with the crack and/or Mods in the same folder and make sure everything is extracted.
*Many of you paranoid people won't like this part but disable EVERYTHING. Yes that's right, your precious firewall must go down. If you're going to be that paranoid about it then just unplug your connection then disable your antivirus. If you don't do this then it means more work later. Even if you want to leave it on, everything else must still be closed.
*Click on Start>All Programs>Macrovision>Adminstudio Tools then the Repackager.
*Click on the option "Capture Installation Using Rapacking Wizard".
*Click "Next" then select the "Snapshot" option and click "Next again".
*Click on the "Single Step" option to simplify things and click "Next". At the top of the next area select the setup file of whatever you're going to install. If this is an App then merely select the executable. If this is a burned game or an ISO then mount it, select the drive letter, then click on the setup.exe.
*Below that you can create a name and version number.
*Click "Next" and from there you need to choose where you're going to put the package, and where the Repackager needs to scan. It is highly suggest that, if you have multiple hard drives, you put the package on the hard drive where you're not installing the game. It will save you some clean up.
*From then on click "Next" and it will start the initial scan. If you have ever used ThinApp before then you know what this scan does. It takes an initial snapshot of the hard drives you selected.
*When that is done it will start the setup program when you click "OK". Install the game to the hard drive you picked to scan. If you have any custom mods you want to add to your installer then add them as you normally would now. If you're installing a multiple CD game then you can switch CD's or ISO's without interrupting the process. Once you have everything installed be sure to start the game at least once to make sure all the registry files are added.
Once you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN everything is installed, cracked, and added then press the "Process" button in the "Repacking Wizard" window. This will perform a post scan and isolate the new files that were added to the hard drive after the install. IE, your installed game or application. The post scan usually takes longer than the initial scan so just be patient.
*After that's done it will move all the files to the package location and then load up AdminStudio. We'll only be using AdminStudio for cleanup purposes. If you decided to ignore my instructions to turn everything off then you're really not going to like this next part.
*Now you have to clean up some junk. If you listened to me this should only take about a minute. If you didn't then this can be an annoyingly long process. Click on "Files and Folders". If you see anything in the list to the right that doesn't need to be there, then right click on that particular folder and select "Exclude All". This is pretty simple to do. Use common sense. If you installed, for example, Far Cry 2, then you do not need files that are not in the Far Cry 2 folders now do you?
*Next click on "Registry Entries". This is pretty much the same as above. If it has nothing to do with your installed game or application then exclude it from the list. The ones who didn't listen to me will find this one especially annoying. The ones who turned everything off will find 50 entries or less, resulting in a very quick exclusion which should only take a few seconds, while the ones who ignored me can get anywhere between 800-2000 entries. Not fun. ;)
WARNING: Do NOT skip the cleanup part. The registry holds all kinds of personal information that you probably don't want to get out. If you take the lazy way out then you might as well just hand your personal information over to a complete stranger.
*Next click on "Repackage Output" and uncheck "Create Windows Installer Package". Don't get confused because you probably think that should be checked. In my guide it shouldn't. Once you do that click on the disk in the left corner to save and then click "Build" in the side window. This part shouldn't take long at all. (Few seconds)
*After that, go to the project folder and open the "InstallShield project file" that shares the name of the game or application you're workng on. This will start "InstallShield" and when it opens it will look somewhat similar to what AdminStudio had before, but also look a lot more complicated. Don't worry, in this basic guide you won't even bother with most of it.
*This is where it gets more complicated, but once you get used to it you can usually finish all of this up within ten minutes. Continue the rest of the guide below.
Polishing Your Installer
It gets more complicated from here but once you get used to it the entire thing only takes about ten minutes. This part of the guide will be punctuated by blue text containing information you might need to know. Please read them also to avoid confusion.
*Ok everyone, lets get to the last parts of creating your own installer. Once the screen comes up you need to click on "Files and Folders" in the left panel. In the right panel you should see a blue folder called "INSTALLDIR". If it has a name like, for example "Far Cry 2" then it already has your install directory mapped out. You need to click on that blue folder and move it all the way to the top and drop it on "Destination Computer". This will delete the rest of the folders that were leading to the directory. For example, if the directory was C:\Program Files\Far Cry 2[INSTALLDIR] then once you move it it will just be Far Cry 2[INSTALLDIR]
Here's some useful information. If you want it to install to a folder with the name of your choosing like: C:\Program Files\I PWN J00\Far Cry 2 then merely press your "Insert" key, name the folder, then move the blue folder into your new folder. Now that folder name will appear every time the game is installed.
*Next, scroll down the left panel and click on "Registry". This part is pretty simple. Find the registry settings in the right panel that have to do with your game. You probably found them before when you were cleaning up your registry. Once you find that folder some registry entries should appear to the right of the right panel. This part is VERY IMPORTANT! This could break your installer if you don't do it right. If you see any registry entries to the right that point to the directory you originally installed the game then double click on them and replace the line with "[INSTALLDIR]" without the quotes. Replace them all that way. Now the installer will automatically correct those entries depending on where the user installs the game or application.
Here's some more useful information. If it ever points at an exe then merely put [INSTALLDIR]\name.exe. Same thing if it ever points to a specific folder inside of the directory.
*At the top of the page click on the "Project Assistant" tab. At the bottom of the new page click on "Application Information" and enter in all the info required. If you don't have your own website then enter in a fake one.
*Next click on "Installation Requirements" This page is pretty obvious. You can make sure that the game or application can only be installed on certain operating systems and give it program requirements. This isn't necessary for you to make a basic installer but you might find it useful.
*Next click on "Application Shortcuts". If there are shortcuts already listed then delete them. Click on "New" and click until you reach the game's directory and select the game's executable. If you're not sure what the executable is, then right click on the shortcut on your desktop, then click on properties and it will tell you the name of the executable. Once that's selected you should rename it. Next click on "Create an uninstallation shortcut" then click on the uninstall shortcut, make sure only "Create shortcut in Start Menu" is selected then click on your executable and make sure both there is an option selected both for the start menu and the desktop.
*Next click on "Installation Interview" and select Yes for "Do you want users to be able to modify the install location of your application?"
*We are almost done! Hang in there!
*Click on the "Installation Designer" tab at the top of the page then in the left panel select "Shortcuts". This one is pretty easy to comprehend. This part will allow you to make a folder in the Start Menu where you can place all of your shortcuts. So if you want the "I PWN J00" folder to appear in the start menu, then you merely right click, make and name your new folder, then drop the shortcuts into it.
This little tidbit is useful. If you want to make a Start Menu folder where all of your future games or applications will be placed, then merely make two folders. One for the executable with the game's name, and one for the name you want to use and put the executable folder into the folder of the name you want to use. I do this with the name "1M Edition" all the time. It makes it a lot easier to keep things organized.
*Here we go. This is the last part and thankfully simple. At the very top of the page slect "Build" and then "Release Wizard". From there, keep clicking next until you reach "Media Type". From here you can select what it's going to fit on. If you want it to fit on multiple CD's then you can do that. It really depends on the size of your game or app and how many cd's or dvd's you want it to fit on.
*After that click "Next" click "Automatic" and then "Next" again. Now this part is completely up to you, but I HIGHLY suggest you "Compress all files". A lot of games can be compressed quite well and it will increase your number of downloads if you choose to upload this. But it can also take longer. Choose which one fits you best and move on.
*Click on "Create installation launcher" and move on. Skip the next screen. Here, you can password your setup. What happens is that when someone mounts your installer then it will ask for a password. This is a pretty effective way of putting your name in the installer if you want to. It tends to annoy people though.
*On the next screen you can include the .net framework but I don't usually suggest it unless it's really needed.
*On the next screen check "Optimize size" and "Generate Autorun.inf" and click "Next".
*This is the final screen! Congratulations! Look through the text and make sure everything is how you want it and make sure "Build the Release" is checked then click "Finish".
You're Done!
And that's it for the basic guide! The installer will take a while depending on the size of what you're making and whether or not you decided to pack it. Either way the hard part is over with. If you read through this entire guide then you deserve a pat on the back.
If this guide was useful to you then please show some appreciation. I made this guide only to help people avoid the months of mistakes I made. I'll probably type up an advanced guide in the near future, but now that you know the basics you should fiddle around with the program a bit and learn new things.
Thank you for reading!
I hope this helps some of you understand, and most of all I hope you'll give it a shot.
*****************************************
Hello everyone and welcome to my newest guide. I try to make my guides as simple to follow as possible because I notice that a lot of guides explain but don't tell. All of my guides are easy to follow step by step tutorials that tell you exactly what to do.
I started making guides when I noticed that most people seem to believe writing a simple, easy to follow guide is beneath them. Sometimes people really do need to be walked through a process and because so many people either hate to explain it or don't want competition the others who do want to learn this stuff are missing out.
I'm not that self centered. I hope you enjoy my guide and find it beneficial.
Stuff You Need
AdminStudio
Latest InstallShield
20-30 minutes
Things To Know
First off, I've moved on from making Portables. It was fun but I always gotta try something new. Making installers takes a little more time setting it up, but it has fewer problems and more benefits. The major benefits are as follows:
*You can pre patch and crack the game so anyone who uses your installer won't have to hunt those things down.
*You can add any mods or new content to the installer you want, essentially making it better than the old release.
*You can add a feature list to allow the user to install certain content that you've added, which makes it a lot easier for the person to decide what they want.
*Want to make a multiple CD game fit on a DVD without problems? You can do that. Want to make a DVD sized game fit on multiple CD's without problems? You can do that too.
*The compression rate is pretty good. I was able to get nearly 10gb of a game and mods down to around 4gb. I was also able to get Bioshock, a large game, to fit on a dvd5 as well.
*These are not rips! The purpose of creating these custom installers is to make things easier. Essentially, you add, not subtract.
The Guide
*Get EVERYTHING you want to add to the installer. Download the Game/App with the crack and/or Mods in the same folder and make sure everything is extracted.
*Many of you paranoid people won't like this part but disable EVERYTHING. Yes that's right, your precious firewall must go down. If you're going to be that paranoid about it then just unplug your connection then disable your antivirus. If you don't do this then it means more work later. Even if you want to leave it on, everything else must still be closed.
*Click on Start>All Programs>Macrovision>Adminstudio Tools then the Repackager.
*Click on the option "Capture Installation Using Rapacking Wizard".
*Click "Next" then select the "Snapshot" option and click "Next again".
*Click on the "Single Step" option to simplify things and click "Next". At the top of the next area select the setup file of whatever you're going to install. If this is an App then merely select the executable. If this is a burned game or an ISO then mount it, select the drive letter, then click on the setup.exe.
*Below that you can create a name and version number.
*Click "Next" and from there you need to choose where you're going to put the package, and where the Repackager needs to scan. It is highly suggest that, if you have multiple hard drives, you put the package on the hard drive where you're not installing the game. It will save you some clean up.
*From then on click "Next" and it will start the initial scan. If you have ever used ThinApp before then you know what this scan does. It takes an initial snapshot of the hard drives you selected.
*When that is done it will start the setup program when you click "OK". Install the game to the hard drive you picked to scan. If you have any custom mods you want to add to your installer then add them as you normally would now. If you're installing a multiple CD game then you can switch CD's or ISO's without interrupting the process. Once you have everything installed be sure to start the game at least once to make sure all the registry files are added.
Once you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN everything is installed, cracked, and added then press the "Process" button in the "Repacking Wizard" window. This will perform a post scan and isolate the new files that were added to the hard drive after the install. IE, your installed game or application. The post scan usually takes longer than the initial scan so just be patient.
*After that's done it will move all the files to the package location and then load up AdminStudio. We'll only be using AdminStudio for cleanup purposes. If you decided to ignore my instructions to turn everything off then you're really not going to like this next part.
*Now you have to clean up some junk. If you listened to me this should only take about a minute. If you didn't then this can be an annoyingly long process. Click on "Files and Folders". If you see anything in the list to the right that doesn't need to be there, then right click on that particular folder and select "Exclude All". This is pretty simple to do. Use common sense. If you installed, for example, Far Cry 2, then you do not need files that are not in the Far Cry 2 folders now do you?
*Next click on "Registry Entries". This is pretty much the same as above. If it has nothing to do with your installed game or application then exclude it from the list. The ones who didn't listen to me will find this one especially annoying. The ones who turned everything off will find 50 entries or less, resulting in a very quick exclusion which should only take a few seconds, while the ones who ignored me can get anywhere between 800-2000 entries. Not fun. ;)
WARNING: Do NOT skip the cleanup part. The registry holds all kinds of personal information that you probably don't want to get out. If you take the lazy way out then you might as well just hand your personal information over to a complete stranger.
*Next click on "Repackage Output" and uncheck "Create Windows Installer Package". Don't get confused because you probably think that should be checked. In my guide it shouldn't. Once you do that click on the disk in the left corner to save and then click "Build" in the side window. This part shouldn't take long at all. (Few seconds)
*After that, go to the project folder and open the "InstallShield project file" that shares the name of the game or application you're workng on. This will start "InstallShield" and when it opens it will look somewhat similar to what AdminStudio had before, but also look a lot more complicated. Don't worry, in this basic guide you won't even bother with most of it.
*This is where it gets more complicated, but once you get used to it you can usually finish all of this up within ten minutes. Continue the rest of the guide below.
Polishing Your Installer
It gets more complicated from here but once you get used to it the entire thing only takes about ten minutes. This part of the guide will be punctuated by blue text containing information you might need to know. Please read them also to avoid confusion.
*Ok everyone, lets get to the last parts of creating your own installer. Once the screen comes up you need to click on "Files and Folders" in the left panel. In the right panel you should see a blue folder called "INSTALLDIR". If it has a name like, for example "Far Cry 2" then it already has your install directory mapped out. You need to click on that blue folder and move it all the way to the top and drop it on "Destination Computer". This will delete the rest of the folders that were leading to the directory. For example, if the directory was C:\Program Files\Far Cry 2[INSTALLDIR] then once you move it it will just be Far Cry 2[INSTALLDIR]
Here's some useful information. If you want it to install to a folder with the name of your choosing like: C:\Program Files\I PWN J00\Far Cry 2 then merely press your "Insert" key, name the folder, then move the blue folder into your new folder. Now that folder name will appear every time the game is installed.
*Next, scroll down the left panel and click on "Registry". This part is pretty simple. Find the registry settings in the right panel that have to do with your game. You probably found them before when you were cleaning up your registry. Once you find that folder some registry entries should appear to the right of the right panel. This part is VERY IMPORTANT! This could break your installer if you don't do it right. If you see any registry entries to the right that point to the directory you originally installed the game then double click on them and replace the line with "[INSTALLDIR]" without the quotes. Replace them all that way. Now the installer will automatically correct those entries depending on where the user installs the game or application.
Here's some more useful information. If it ever points at an exe then merely put [INSTALLDIR]\name.exe. Same thing if it ever points to a specific folder inside of the directory.
*At the top of the page click on the "Project Assistant" tab. At the bottom of the new page click on "Application Information" and enter in all the info required. If you don't have your own website then enter in a fake one.
*Next click on "Installation Requirements" This page is pretty obvious. You can make sure that the game or application can only be installed on certain operating systems and give it program requirements. This isn't necessary for you to make a basic installer but you might find it useful.
*Next click on "Application Shortcuts". If there are shortcuts already listed then delete them. Click on "New" and click until you reach the game's directory and select the game's executable. If you're not sure what the executable is, then right click on the shortcut on your desktop, then click on properties and it will tell you the name of the executable. Once that's selected you should rename it. Next click on "Create an uninstallation shortcut" then click on the uninstall shortcut, make sure only "Create shortcut in Start Menu" is selected then click on your executable and make sure both there is an option selected both for the start menu and the desktop.
*Next click on "Installation Interview" and select Yes for "Do you want users to be able to modify the install location of your application?"
*We are almost done! Hang in there!
*Click on the "Installation Designer" tab at the top of the page then in the left panel select "Shortcuts". This one is pretty easy to comprehend. This part will allow you to make a folder in the Start Menu where you can place all of your shortcuts. So if you want the "I PWN J00" folder to appear in the start menu, then you merely right click, make and name your new folder, then drop the shortcuts into it.
This little tidbit is useful. If you want to make a Start Menu folder where all of your future games or applications will be placed, then merely make two folders. One for the executable with the game's name, and one for the name you want to use and put the executable folder into the folder of the name you want to use. I do this with the name "1M Edition" all the time. It makes it a lot easier to keep things organized.
*Here we go. This is the last part and thankfully simple. At the very top of the page slect "Build" and then "Release Wizard". From there, keep clicking next until you reach "Media Type". From here you can select what it's going to fit on. If you want it to fit on multiple CD's then you can do that. It really depends on the size of your game or app and how many cd's or dvd's you want it to fit on.
*After that click "Next" click "Automatic" and then "Next" again. Now this part is completely up to you, but I HIGHLY suggest you "Compress all files". A lot of games can be compressed quite well and it will increase your number of downloads if you choose to upload this. But it can also take longer. Choose which one fits you best and move on.
*Click on "Create installation launcher" and move on. Skip the next screen. Here, you can password your setup. What happens is that when someone mounts your installer then it will ask for a password. This is a pretty effective way of putting your name in the installer if you want to. It tends to annoy people though.
*On the next screen you can include the .net framework but I don't usually suggest it unless it's really needed.
*On the next screen check "Optimize size" and "Generate Autorun.inf" and click "Next".
*This is the final screen! Congratulations! Look through the text and make sure everything is how you want it and make sure "Build the Release" is checked then click "Finish".
You're Done!
And that's it for the basic guide! The installer will take a while depending on the size of what you're making and whether or not you decided to pack it. Either way the hard part is over with. If you read through this entire guide then you deserve a pat on the back.
If this guide was useful to you then please show some appreciation. I made this guide only to help people avoid the months of mistakes I made. I'll probably type up an advanced guide in the near future, but now that you know the basics you should fiddle around with the program a bit and learn new things.
Thank you for reading!
0
Yamazaki Rojin wrote...
That was along wall of textHehe sorry about that. Sooner or later I'll type up a better looking guide. ;)
0
Aydrian wrote...
Yamazaki Rojin wrote...
That was along wall of textHehe sorry about that. Sooner or later I'll type up a better looking guide. ;)
Now move this to the Computer and Tech section. :P
1
ExESGO wrote...
Aydrian wrote...
Yamazaki Rojin wrote...
That was along wall of textHehe sorry about that. Sooner or later I'll type up a better looking guide. ;)
Now move this to the Computer and Tech section. :P
Alrighty then.
>.>
<.<
I don't suppose there's a button for that somewhere?
0
chaosbreak wrote...
epic. mods, please don't let this drift in randomAgreed.
I'll add EPIC once again!!
Aydrian wrote...
Alrighty then.>.>
<.<
I don't suppose there's a button for that somewhere?
The report button does the trick :)
PS: Guess someone has already asked it to be moved~
0
jmason
Curious and Wondering
Good guide. I'll keep this post in mind for VNs in case of necessity ^_^
0
Yo! thx for more info...Loved your custom installer so imma' gonna try this out someday....lastly your the man +rep like everday
