Installshield LE for Visual Studio and RPG Maker

[AceOfAces_Mod]

So, I am using Installshield LE for Visual Studio to pack my game since the launcher uses Microsoft .NET Framework. While it covers me fine, it hs some stupid flaws:

1. Lack of a proper patching system. This is annoying at best, since there are times that I want to push a small exe file. Instead I have to set up an upgrade path, then issue a new Product ID (which Flexera does not recomend) and then build it. Repeat this for every single update. And designing the patch requires a paid upgrade.

2. Forced Font Installation. Imagine that you want to use a font that the system uses (say Roboto font). If you included the font files, it will install them to the font folder. When the player uninstalls the game, it will also remove them from there (after they are prompted that continuing the uninstallation will modify their system because ominous message for ominous sake). This can be damaging if the font is the default one used by the OS (Segoe UI for example). To prevent this, you'll have to either upgrade the edition so you can set up the components and set the fonts to  or write a custom action (VBScript, InstallScript or JavaScript) to add them manually. Note that it only allows you to make a pre-setup custom action.

3. Cannot overwrite stuff that you want. What I mean is that you have to attach a version number to the files that you want (or to be more exact, override their version number) so if you have modified the RTP and/or the Game.ini file, you have to go to each file one-by-one and do that. Yes, no batch option.

There is also an option to sign all exe, dll and chm files with your own signature file (which requires a paid upgrade and it's pointless unless you break the EULA just to get the Windows Logo Certification, I only signed the setup.exe and the msi file).

You may be thinking why not pay them, and I would if a) I can't buy it with PayPal and you have to pay 600 euros for the Express Edition. And while I found a packager that costs less (CyberInstaller Professional 2015 costs 190 euros) that  thing does not have Unicode support, which means that an OS with languages such as Taglish, Malaysian and Greek won't run the setup program unless they dig into the Region settings and set the Non-Unicode language to English. InstallAware is better (as it includes stuff that I need) but it is expensive (400+ euros for the express version).

Any ideas or recomendations?

 

[Esrever]

I feel like all of these problems have solutions which can be found in free and open-source software by the name of Inno Setup and the plugins/scripts available from third parties which are made for it. Want to provide the latest updates on-the-fly for all new installations, regardless of which version of the installer they have on their PC? Here.

EDIT: This won't offer a solution which will build installers on the fly through Visual Studio, but you can compile your game and build the installer through Inno Script Studio straight after. You'd only need to make the installer once and point the installation compiler to a directory which will hold your files so that it updates as you update and you simply make a new build of the installer after compiling the build of your game inside of VS.

If you prefer an AIO solution, there is a paid Visual Studio add-on for Inno Setup which may be found here.

 

[AceOfAces_Mod]

I feel like all of these problems have solutions which can be found in free and open-source software by the name of Inno Setup and the plugins/scripts available from third parties which are made for it. Want to provide the latest updates on-the-fly for all new installations, regardless of which version of the installer they have on their PC? Here.

EDIT: This won't offer a solution which will build installers on the fly through Visual Studio, but you can compile your game and build the installer through Inno Script Studio straight after. You'd only need to make the installer once and point the installation compiler to a directory which will hold your files so that it updates as you update and you simply make a new build of the installer after compiling the build of your game inside of VS.

If you prefer an AIO solution, there is a paid Visual Studio add-on for Inno Setup which may be found here.

OK. I'll give it a shot.