User talk:Imago

Testing FAZ Beta

This entry is intended to help you get the latest allegiance R5 build running so you can help test FAZ beta. To simplify the instructions, the entry assumes you don't even have the release build (regular) Allegiance installed on your computer.

Getting Started

Downloads

This section lists all the downloads you may need to run the latest allegiance build for FAZ beta.

Visual C++ libraries

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a5c84275-3b97-4ab7-a40d-3802b2af5fc2

DirectX libraries

DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3

Video card drivers

Use the most recent versions with FAZ Beta.

ATI

 http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx?type=2.4.1&contentType=GPU%20Download%20Detail

Nvidia

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

Intel

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/

Choose Graphics->Products->Desktop graphics controllers or Laptop graphics controllers

Allegiance client

http://fazdev.alleg.net/FAZ/Allegiance_R5beta_090724.zip

The artwork

http://freeallegiance.sourceforge.net/Allegiance_R5test.exe

Setup

This section provides instructions to configure your computer to run the latest allegiance build for FAZ beta.

Files & Folders

Extract the client and artwork downloads into a new empty folder.

When you execute the artwork file it will create the artwork sub directory and dev sub directory for you, point the extraction to the same folder you extracted the client to.

Do not create an artwork folder, do not create a dev sub directory, do not create a beta sub directory.

Simply extract the client and artwork to the same folders, it can be wherever you want.

Windows registry

If the registry edits scare you, run this small utility and you're done:

http://freeallegiance.sourceforge.net/betareghlp.exe

If small utilities scare you, review the source code:

http://alleg.pastebin.com/f6ee919a2

Do it manually, like a pro:

Open regedit, in Registry Editor:

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft.

From the menu bar choose Edit->New->Key. Type Microsoft Games then press enter.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games.

From the menu bar choose Edit->New->Key. Type Allegiance then press enter.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Allegiance.

From the menu bar choose Edit->New->Key. Type 1.1 then press enter.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\1.1.

From the menu bar choose Edit->New->String Value. Type ArtPath then press enter.

Double left click your new ArtPath entry (in the right-hand side pane), type the full path to your artwork folder that was created when you extracted the zip file. i.e. C:\test\artwork (note: no trailing slash) then press enter.

From the menu bar choose Edit->New->String Value. Type CfgFile then press enter.

Double left click your new CfgFile entry (in the right-hand side pane), type or copy/paste http://fazdev.alleg.net/FAZ/FAZR5.cfg (note: case sensitive) then press enter.

Close regedit.

Troubleshooting

This section provides tips for common errors when following these instructions.

ASGS

It is not necessary to use ASGS when testing FAZ Beta nor is it recommended. To launch the game just double click the Allegiance.exe (the application file with a red icon) or your shortcut. (A shortcut to the application is recommended, see the tips #Use_multiple_clients)

Artwork

It is highly recommended that you have "clean" artwork. Clean artwork being an unmodified artwork folder, one can be found in the downloads section above. Testing FAZ Beta with custom mods, chat packs, etc. can have unexpected results and may prevent you from launching the game, connecting to the lobby, joining a server and piloting/commanding.

Downloads

The internet can be a tricky place. If you have strange issues with the client or artwork downloads verify their integrity. To do this compare the check sums from your download with the ones here. If they don't match up, clear your browser's cache and download them again. The tool used to verify the check sums can be found here: http://downloads.activestate.com/contrib/md5sum/Windows/md5sum.exe

Allegiance_R5beta_090724.zip md5sum: 750d05dbab426c930e91bce8f936ce1d

Artwork_R5test.exe md5sum: 34be934cf1382fccbdd24e51535fb93b

Vista

The Allegiance.exe beta is built with "Require Administrator". This should make it easier for Vista users as the UAC dialog will appear. You will need a username and password for an account in the Administrators group if you're not logged in as one already.

Playing the game

This section gives you background on what's changed and provides instructions for testing specific issues.

Change log

The list of changes can be found here:

http://freeallegiance.org/FAW/index.php/R5#Changelog

Test cases

Zapper is currently writing test cases? He can provide a link to his entry here!

Testing tips

Use multiple clients

Create a shortcut to launch Allegiance with the -multi and -windowed command-line switches. After creating a shortcut, right click on it then left click properties. Append (add to the end) of the target -windowed -multi after the quotes (if any).