Category: Quake Injector
Quake Injector advertisement
Click here to get the latest version of the Quake Injector.
After months of preparation the next issue of the UG Magazine has finally been released. It’s a user-made e-zine from the Underground Gamer community. If you are into archival or preservation of our digital gaming culture, that place is your paradise. I contributed an advertisement page for the magazine. Check it out and feel welcome to spread it. #tf folk were a tremendous help on the design, thanks again for that.
Using the Quake Injector with locally stored screenshots
We can already use a local “database” and zip files. What’s left for a real offline mode? Right, the screenshots. That looked like a good small task for me, so I forked it and went for a dive into the source code.
The screenshot is displayed in a PackageDetailPanel. The URL was hardcoded in PackageDetailPanel.java. Configuration values are handled in Configuration.java. The PackageDetailPanel is created in QuakeInjector.java.
I wanted to make a more detailed write-up about this but now I already forgot a lot of the process’ trail’n'error so I just added a few comments to my commit diff view.
The first working build was easy but then megaman noted that my setup was re-reading the config file on each new map selection. I had simply created a Configuration object before the URL construction in PackageDetailPanel.java. Hey, it worked! :-)
A huge headache was that the PackageDetailPanel was created before the configuration had been read. This was done with a method way outside my capatibilities.
A logical next step would be to add fields in the “Engine Configuration” dialog in the Injector to let the user easily set RepositoryDatabasePath and ScreenshotRepositoryPath. Maybe a task for YOU? Or how about making it cache the screenshots locally, much like the zip files? megaman is ready for your questions and feedback. I am not that knowledgeable about programming so you better don’t ask me for help.
Wrapping up: You can use this to point the Injector to a local mirror of the screenshots (which you have to download yourself). You can checkout and compile my fork to get a fully offline-capable Injector. Be aware that the repository includes a partially working implementation of caching the database locally and other new bugsthings.
How to make the Quake Injector partially work offline
Our most frequent feature request goes like this: “I would like to use the Quake Injector to launch maps even if I am offline or on a slow connection”. We plan to make it cache the database locally at some point in the future but a workaround is already possible.
Database (the file it tries to download and which fills the table):
In the same directory as your Quake Injector resides a text file called config.properties. We will edit that in a second but first download http://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/quaddicted_database.xml into the same directory. Now open config.properties and add a new line to it. I am on Linux, so the line for Windows might be wrong. MacOS users should be able to use a path similar to the Linux one. Below are single lines!
Linux:
RepositoryDatabasePath=file\:///home/quakeguy/games/tools/theamazingquakeinjector/quaddicted_database.xml
Windows:
RepositoryDatabasePath=file\://C:\games\tools\theamazingquakeinjector\quaddicted_database.xml
Now be aware that the Injector will NOT use the up-to-date online database anymore but only, always this local file. Simply remove the line or set it to http://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/quaddicted_database.xml if you want the freshest maps again.
Zip files:
Simply put them into your Download Directory as set in the Injector configuration.
Screenshots:
Not possible yet. See this post to see how you can hack it in. Will be included in the next release.
Speedmaps gone from the Injector again
You probably did not even notice, but after the recent update to the database handling the speedmaps were listed in the Injector. That was not intended, I simply forgot. Since they are not setup to install properly yet, I excluded them again. If you installed some, you probably have to manually remove them. Sorry about that!
Quake Injector Alpha2
Ladies and gentleman, what you’ve all been waiting for: A new version of the one and only Quake Injector, a tool to install and play maps with one click!
What’s new:
- Scan your Quake directory for already existing maps and mods
- More stable and safe, less bugs
- Icon by the graphical genius Starbuck
- Rating is shown with golden stars
- Progressbars for anything downloading
- Better engine config dialog
- Window that shows you the engine output
- Links open in browser
- Downloads are stored locally
- Uses a custom user-agent when downloading
- Conflict handling
For the whole list of commits check out the log on GitHub.
Thanks for all the feedback and for using it.
Download quakeinjector-alpha2.zip and read the readme. And don’t forget visit the project’s homepage.
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Easily install and launch Quake maps with the cross-platform