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SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 5:09 pm
by sven
Known installer issues:

  • When running sis_installer.exe, you see an error that says: "error opening file for writing". This will happen if your account doesn't have write access to c:\Program Files (x86) (or whatever your default install directory is.) Changing the install location to somewhere where you know you have the ability to write files -- like your "My Documents" folder, should resolve the issue.

    Update: The default install directory is now "C:\Stars in Shadow". I believe this should make the file writing error far less likely on Windows 8/10. Please let me know if it's still happening for you.

Features of the Stars in Shadow Updater:

  • Switch to Stable / Swich to Dev: Use this button to change which version of the distro your install is syncing with. Patches to dev go up quickly, as I'm attempting to post new features / respond to bug reports. Once I'm confident that patches on dev are relatively stable, they'll show up in the stable distro. After clicking the button to switch from one distro to the other, you'll need to hit the "Update" button to download the file diffs.

  • Default Port / Alt Port: Firewalls or security software sometimes cause issues on certain ports. If the updater is having trouble connecting, try hitting this button, then hitting "Update" again. If you have any success with this strategy, please write a post about it in this thread -- I'd like to collect more info on just what sorts networking quirks are out there.

  • Update: Ideally, the updater will update your game files automatically, without needing to be told explicitly to do so. However, if you see a range of "connection failed" or "connection closed" errors, there's a chance that you're looking at an intermitent networking error of some sort. In that case, restarting the update process by hitting "Update" may be a viable workaround. Again, if this happens to you, please write a post about it in this thread.

  • Asset Check: Much of the high-res art is "built" during the initial install process, rather than being downloaded from our servers. If this build process fails during your install, the game should still run, but you will experience pauses or latency the first few times you load certain screens. Hitting the "asset check" button will re-check all the art, which is probably a good idea if your initial install crashed.

Experimental 64-bit build

  • You may notice that there are 2 executables in your install directory capable of running the game. 'sis.exe', and 'sis64.exe'. For most people, sis.exe is the build you want to run. It uses a 32-bit binary, and is slightly faster on most machines. However, sis64.exe may be more stable on some computers -- in particular, if you have a laptop with an integrated graphics adapter, I'd suggest running using sis64.exe. Right now, the 64-bit build is still somewhat experimental, so please let me know if you encounter any crashes while testing with it.

Machines with Multiple Video Cards

  • When the game starts up, you'll notice that there are 3 important variables listed in the upper-left of the screen. One of these is the name of the video card that's currently rendering the game. On machines with multiple video cards, in particular, on laptops with both an Intel integrated graphics adapter, and an NVIDIA adapter, you may find that your less-capable card is rendering the game. In the case that the card you want to render with is made by NVIDIA, you may be able to configure SiS to run with that card by going into your NVIDIA Control Panel, and adding sis.exe to the list of programs to run with NVIDIA acceleration. If you run into any other issues related to multiple video card setups, please post about them here, so others can benefit from your experience ;).

Which File To Run?

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 2:22 pm
by Gyrfalcon
I didn't have any significant difficulty installing, but now I have a folder with three applications: new_update, sis, and update. Which of those is actually the launcher for the game, or maybe a better way to ask: which of them should I use to make a shortcut for the desktop?

Re: Which File To Run?

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 2:25 pm
by luciderous
Use either 'update.exe' if you want the launcher, or 'sis.exe', if you want to start the game directly. Personally, I'd recommend using the launcher, so you can see if there were any updates after the last session.

Re: Which File To Run?

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 5:02 pm
by sven
As the game is currently setup, 'sis.exe' will always check for a new update, and, if one has been posted, update.exe gets launched automatically. The use-case that's best debugged atm is launching with sis.exe. But, in theory, you really ought to be able to shortcut either of them, at your preference.

There is, however, a known bug that will come into play if you shortcut update.exe -- if a patch is posted for the updater executable itself, it isn't replaced until sis.exe is next run independently (i.e., you click on it explicitly, rather than hitting "Play" from the launch menu). When you see "new_update.exe" inside your install directory, it means that a copy of the patched updater executable is waiting to be applied, but, hasn't been applied yet. Given this bug, short-cutting update.exe actually means that you'll never get updated updater executables....

The updater executable very rarely changes in meaningful ways (in fact, the February 1st build is, I think, functionally identical to the one in the current distro). So, this isn't really a high-priority issue. All the same, I should really fix it :oops:

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:59 pm
by Gyrfalcon
sven wrote:Update: Ideally, the updater will update your game files automatically, without needing to be told explicitly to do so. However, if you see a range of "connection failed" or "connection closed" errors, there's a chance that you're looking at an intermitent networking error of some sort. In that case, restarting the update process by hitting "Update" may be a viable workaround. Again, if this happens to you, please write a post about it in this thread.

I have had the update interrupted by time-outs, but my internet connection is kind of flaky and will drop for a minute or two on a fairly predictable basis (which can be a pain in an MMO). I haven't had any difficulty hitting Update again and getting it to connect to the patch server to complete the patch.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 7:16 pm
by AzraelRavenwing
Im still trying to find the game on my files after I accidently closed out of the game. You all are working on a desktop link for a launcher yes?

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 7:26 pm
by sven
AzraelRavenwing wrote:Im still trying to find the game on my files after I accidently closed out of the game. You all are working on a desktop link for a launcher yes?


yeah, the tricky bit here isn't actually adding the shortcuts, it's making sure we remove them properly on uninstall. that's an issue we're dodging atm, as right now, sis is basically just a pile of data -- if you delete the "Stars in Shadow" folder, it's effectively uninstalled.

to properly support desktop and start menu shortcuts, we'd need to register the game with windows the first time you run the installer -- setting it up to be deleted via "Add Remove Programs". this isn't actually that hard... i just haven't gotten around to it yet. but, perhaps i should :oops:

in the meantime -- you should be able to run the game using the sis.exe file in your Stars in Shadows install directory.

edited: this has since been changed -- the installer should now have more standard defaults re: desktop shortcuts and so on.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 7:29 pm
by AzraelRavenwing
Yeah im running windows 8 and it dont even show up the folder for Stars in Shadow anywhere on my computer. its like it just dissappered into cyberspace or something.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 3:18 am
by sven
AzraelRavenwing wrote:Yeah im running windows 8 and it dont even show up the folder for Stars in Shadow anywhere on my computer. its like it just dissappered into cyberspace or something.


I've just pushed a patched version of the installer than has more conventional behaviors. I.e., there's an uninstaller that's accessed from Add/Remove Programs, and shortcuts automatically added to the Desktop and Start Menu. If you re-download the installer using the download link in your beta invite email, you should get an installer that includes the new behaviors.

I haven't tested it on Windows 8/10, so, if anyone with one of those OSs wants to give it a spin, let me know how well it works.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 4:00 am
by Doink9731
Using Windows 8.1 I keep getting "error opening file for writing" using sis_installer.exe.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Fri May 15, 2015 4:02 am
by sven
Doink9731 wrote:Using Windows 8.1 I keep getting "error opening file for writing" using sis_installer.exe.


Hrm -- it may be that your account doesn't have write access to c:\Program Files (x86) (or whatever your default install directory is.) Changing the install location to somewhere where you know you have the ability to write files -- like your My Documents or the Desktop folder, might resolve the issue...

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 1:57 pm
by Awaras
Not sure what happened exactly, but after installing the latest update (02:02.00PM Saturday, 03/19/16 (15039) : 98e4775a41e75df656318c1ec2d81181e0587aa2), my Update.exe file now has 0 bytes and, of course, won't run.
*edit*
'Reinstalling' the game using sis_installer.exe fixed the problem.

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:34 am
by Faramir
Hi! I can't run the game. In launcher i see this:
"updater modtime: 2016-01-23 04:13:00.000
running on 2016-03-23 03:26:36.980
connecting to update.stars-in-shadow.com:80
updater\connect_to_server.lua:165: wrong version number"

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:47 am
by sven
Faramir wrote:Hi! I can't run the game. In launcher i see this:
"updater modtime: 2016-01-23 04:13:00.000
running on 2016-03-23 03:26:36.980
connecting to update.stars-in-shadow.com:80
updater\connect_to_server.lua:165: wrong version number"


This suggests that you're running some security software that is attempting monitor our TLS data connection, and causing a bug by doing so :-(. There are 2 possible fixes. The first (and easiest) is to hit the button that says "alt port" then hit "update" again.

If that doesn't work, we'll need to figure out how to reconfigure your security software to stop it from interfering with SiS. What software are you running? (Given the error, I'm betting you have some kind of anti-virus service, or even a full VPN package of some sort.)

Re: SiS Updater and Installer

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:05 am
by Faramir
Thank you! Switching to an alternative port resolve the issue. I start the installation of the game.
We have in the organization installed Kaspersky endpoint security 10 for Windows - possible cause and there, but the unloading of its anti-virus did not help solve the problem.