I got tired of editing eq2_default.ini in several different folders and never being sure if the client I am about to run is set to connect to my local server or the official server so I made this launcher, meant for my own use but decided to share it and its source. First thing you need to do is add a client Setting the folder will check to make sure it is an eq2 folder, when you first add a client the launcher will assume it is set to live, you can click any of the buttons below to change the eq2_default.ini, Emu will set it to www.eq2emulator.net, localhost will set it to localhost , live will set it to the default ip's for live (American version, not sure is other versions have different ip's and if they do what they are), custom will allow you to specify any ip and port you want. The buttons will also disable if that is what the selected client is currently set to, except the custom which is always enabled.

After the client is set up you can go ahead and hit launch and the client will start up.

I also added accounts You need to set a name and the username, password is optional (and doesn't do anything now anyways), if you have an account selected when you hit launch the client will use that account, hopefully we can get it to use the password in the future to bypass the login when the client starts up.

I added graphics for fun, but I suck at that stuff so not the best. If others find it useful I will continue to dev it, otherwise it works well for me in its current state.

Source is on tools svn (https://svn.eq2emulator.net/svn/eq2tool ... uLauncher/)

As well as the exe (https://svn.eq2emulator.net/svn/eq2tool ... uncher.exe)

Looks cool

Nice stuff there Jabantiz, I too get tired of changing that damn .ini lol...thanks for this

Forgot to mention a feature, not fully implemented as you cant change the setting in the program yet, but if you look into the xml file this program generates you should see this line Also when you add a client you may have noticed the live client check box, if you check that box and change that xml line to "True" when you run the client it will run EQ2.exe (Live launch pad). If you select a client that didn't have the live client check box marked it will run everquest2.exe like normal

And already did another commit, fixed the buttons so they deactivate like they should, also it will now comment out cl_resource_address if it wasn't already.

New code on SVN, mainly added the ability to edit or remove clients and accounts, also can now toggle the flag to run EQ2.exe in the launcher and no longer need to manually edit the xml.

Here is all the changes

Added: Ability to edit or remove accounts
Added: Ability to edit or remove clients
Added: Check box to use EQ2.exe on clients marked as live
Added: Minimize button
Added: Launcher and all its option windows should appear in center screen now
Added: Ability to just hit enter to accept client/account settings or escape to cancel

Fixed: EQ2.exe should no longer launch with a command line
Fixed: Password will only be set if there is a username (not that password does anything yet)
Fixed: Transparency issues on the graphic buttons

Updated: Renamed some button events to match the name of the buttons they belong to (old code when I was just testing the idea)
Updated: Rearranged the code so all related stuff are together and added regions

Finally had time to check this out today, and I must say even if it is just "basic", it is pretty damn kick-ass! Nice work, Jab.

Now if only Foof could make my helm not purple

I played around with the 2 auto play command line options, cl_autoplay_char and cl_autoplay_world, and it turns out that the client will handle those and try to log that character in bypassing the select screen, no additional support needed on the login server for it to work.

I was also going to try John's suggestion on how to handle a web clients back ground for news and see if I can get it looking nice, if I do then I will need to rework the layout to have everything fit.

Any one have any suggestions for other features?

Jabantiz wrote:Any one have any suggestions for other features?

Make the window draggable

thefoof wrote:Make the window draggable

Done locally, will get it committed later tonight, playing around with the news idea first.

Here is my attempt at the news I am not to fond of the black but it is the best result so far. Ignore the text formatting as I have to manually create the html and styles, both of which are not my strong point so it needs some work. Opinions on this? Different colors/border? forget news all together?

EDIT:
Another test, think this is better just need to adjust the background color some more. EDIT 2:
And another test, this one with improved html Again do any of these tests look good to anyone?

I like the red background the most personally.

Reworked the ui to fit news in, this is using the background color foof liked At the lower left of the news you will see a new button this opens up the options menu that will now handle client and account settings Clicking edit or add will make more controls show up Clicking account on the left will open the account settings And again clicking add or edit will show more controls When you are done click done to close the options menu.

The new combo box is for characters, and the characters button in the options won't do any thing yet. Passwords are enabled in this version so it will try to pass the password in the command line so don't be surprised if you get a login denied if you have a password set on your account.

Look at you go, little UI developer! Looks great, man

Using current launcher, and it's pretty kick ass. Nice work.

Here is one suggestion about the newsfeed. You can use parameters to minimize the data retrieved.
f=2 means just show posts from Forum #2, which is our News and Announcements forum. IMO, that might be enough of a feed - or you can even make it configurable in options if you wish. I don't think feed.php gobbles a ton of resources or anything, but just noticed my newest post showed up in there might not really be relevant if they are intros or bug spams.
for example would feed only this very topic

John Adams wrote:Here is one suggestion about the newsfeed. You can use parameters to minimize the data retrieved.

Code: Select all

http://eq2emulator.net/phpBB3/feed.php?f=2

f=2 means just show posts from Forum #2, which is our News and Announcements forum.

I saw that but it showed replies to topics as well, at the time I just wanted the topic in order they were posted that's why I went with "?mode=news", however looking at all the posts that brings up I am starting to think just the news forums like you suggested would be better, will make that change in my next commit which will hopefully also include character support as well.