After much hard work and research in the science of batch files and commands, I hereby present the latest revision of the Universal Mod Launcher (previously Universal 'Batch' File). The tool is mostly a result of me putting together the various solutions by the many helpful modders here to the latest Steam 'merge' update, which rendered the previous mod launchers like modStarter pretty much useless. Since there was a need of a new mod launcher, I went ahead to do some research into batch commands, and re-implemented features from the modStarter which was written as an application back into the simple batch files, such as the ability to work with any modification without the need of editing the batch itself.
With the latest update, I've incorporated another unique feature: Logging. Like the logs generated by Medieval II, these logs also provide details on what is going on within the program itself, as well as report any errors if found. Now, if you encounter any errors with the program, you can simply refer to the log and report the error with it attached. Hopefully with this feature, it will be faster for me to identify the problem directly without the need of more information from your side.
The new 'batch' file is now an application itself, like the old modStarter. However, this also comes with its limitations of a fixed icon. Therefore, I am releasing both the compiled binary (intended for players) and source batch files (intended for modders) in separate downloads. Both are compressed in 7zip archives. Programs like 7zip can extract these archives. (You can get 7-zip from here: http://www.7-zip.org/ or commandline equivalent p7zip from here: http://p7zip.sourceforge.net/ ) If you still have the older batch file version, running this new application will automatically clean them if detected in the same folder.
Terms of Use
This application is free and there is no warranty what-so-ever. Use at your own risk. Application was compiled using the free Bat To Exe Converter (v2.1.2.0) by F2KO Software.
Copyright © 2014 Guan Ziyang
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details at
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl.txt
Downloads
Binary
- [v1.204] UML - Binary Distribution (7zip) hosted at TWCenter.net
- [v1.204] UML - Binary Distribution (7zip) hosted at MediaFire
- [v1.204B] UML - Binary Distribution (ZIP version) hosted at MediaFire - Alternate version if you are experiencing problems with 7zip version.
Source
- [v1.204] UML - Source Distribution (7zip) hosted at TWCenter.net - Intended for modder use
- [v1.204] UML - Source Distribution (7zip) hosted at MediaFire - Intended for modder use
Known 'Bugs'
- This program does not work and will not work if the line in the cfg file containing the mod folder's name and the actual mod folder directory name do not match up. I strongly recommend that you leave a mod folder's name as default as changing it may cause problems with the functioning and stability of the mod itself.
- Obviously, this program, nor will any other batch or launcher will work if a .cfg file does not exist in the first place. Please check the log if a cfg file is not found.
I highly do not recommend you to do this: (obviously don't try this...)
- If you do not have a decent understanding of DOS language and programming, please do not try to modify the source batch files on your own as it will most likely break something. If you encounter a problem with the launcher, please submit a copy of the launcher_log.txt and let me know. Don't try to fix it on your own.
Credits
- Gigantus for being always helpful through PMs (and partial usage of the original batch file in the Bare Kingdoms mod)
- Everyone who has contributed by reporting errors and bugs within the program
*Terms of Use format partially borrowed from Tellos Athenaios's PACK Tool