Old Zipping Guide

From Flashpoint Datahub
Revision as of 11:43, 13 August 2022 by CursedL1ght (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

This page describes how to create and test GameZIPs. The goal is to create GameZIPs for existing Legacy games, allowing the ZIP to replace the existing game files in Legacy\htdocs. You will need a copy of Flashpoint Core.

Creating a GameZIP

Setting it Up

To set up your copy of Core, open the Data folder and back up the flashpoint.sqlite file. (You can rename it to something like flashpoint.sqlite.bak, for example.) Then replace Core's flashpoint.sqlite file with the one from your copy of Infinity/Ultimate, or download a fresh database file. You then normally should see the same list of games you see in Infinity/Ultimate when launching Core.

Making a GameZIP

To make a GameZIP of a legacy game, search it in Core, right-click it and then select Make Curation from Game. Gather the files of the game and put them in the content folder of the curation you newly created in the exact same way as if you were making a curation, ie. the files need to be in their correct folders inside the content one.

After doing that, you can simply click on Export Data Pack to get a GameZIP and save it anywhere you want, the default location being Curations\Exported\Data Packs.

Gathering the Files

There are a number of approaches for finding the files for your zip. You might want to use some combination of the approaches below:

  • Launch the game in Core and check the Logs tab. Make a note of which files the game loads and where they are located. Find and copy these files into the content folder. You can right-click the game after launching it and select Open File Location to directly get to its files.
  • Find and download the game's original curation. Ensure that curation's files and file locations match those in your modified copy of Core. You'll probably need to launch the game and check the Logs tab to find those file locations. Copy the files from the curation into your content folder.
  • Go on the Flashpoint Ultimate index and download directly all the files you need from there. To get access to it, refer to the "Updater Data" section of the Staff Onboarding document. If you're zipping a multiasset game this is a very useful method to verify you have all the files, in particular if the multiasset game doesn't load all its files when launching.

Once you've gathered the files, you may want to run the new curation just to quickly test that you didn't miss any files. Be sure to clear your cache before testing!

Testing a GameZIP

Below are instructions for testing your own GameZIP after creating it, or testing someone else's GameZIP to verify that it works.

For setting Core up, follow the same instructions in Setting it Up.

Importing the GameZIP

  1. Open your modified copy of Core. You should see the same list of games you normally see in Infinity/Ultimate.
  2. Find the game corresponding to your GameZIP. You can search for id:TheUUID to find the right entry quickly. (Replace TheUUID with the game's UUID.)
  3. Select the game and click Open Game Data Browser on the right-hand side of the launcher.
  4. Click the Import Data button. Select your ZIP file and close the Game Data Browser.

Testing the GameZIP

  1. Clear your cache to ensure that cached files don't interfere with the test.
  2. Click Play to launch and test the game!