Discovery Launchpad v1.3

[Jongleur]

Please note: The new DSLauncher.exe has an incorporated account changer. Everyone has this as you have to start your game using it.

This will be left up as some people are still using it, however we strongly recommend that you move on and use the new DSLauncher.exe instead

I thought now would be a good time to let you guys know about a little something I've been working on. I know there are currently a few different applications that get the job done, but when I started making this one I had no idea about these others and was kind of happy with it so I thought I'd let you guys know about it.

I've created a Freelancer account manager and launcher in one single application so you don't have to deal with multiple items to play Freelancer; you can load this one application and have everything in one place.

The account manager section allows users to:

• Activate an existing account;
  
  
• Create new accounts by:
  • Using an embedded version of Cannon's and Kazinsal's FLKeyGen or
    
    
  • Entering key information manually.
    
  
  
• Edit the name and comments of existing accounts;
  
  
• Delete an account;
  
  
• Import existing accounts from ADF or XML files;
  
  
• Export accounts to ADF or XML files.
  

The launcher section allows users to:

• Select a particular Freelancer executable to launch (this is useful if you have multiple installs);
  
  
• Display or hide 'Mouse Flight' text;
  
  
• Display or hide HUD;
  
  
• Run Freelancer in fullscreen/widescreen or windowed mode;
  
  
• Set custom display resolutions (applies to fullscreen/widescreen and windowed modes);
  
  
• Display or suppress events (player joins/parts, lag indicator);
  
  
• Enable or disable logging options (chat, append, time, and local/server time);
  
  
• Supports use of other command line arguments in as-is format (e.g. -s78.46.88.87);
  
  
• Launch Freelancer using specified settings;
  
  
• Kill the Freelancer process.
  

To use this application, ensure you have .NET framework 3.5 installed (link provided in the TL;DR section at the end of this post).

Then you simply download Discovery Launchpad (link provided in the TL;DR section at the end of this post) and install.

Note: The first time you run the application, you will most likely receive a message indicating that the retrieved registry account does not exist in the list of known accounts. This is because you currently have no accounts in the Discovery Launchpad database. The best option at this point is to select "No" to creating a new account for this since you will be importing the list of accounts you have been using.

Importing your accounts:

To update Discovery Launchpad with your accounts, simply select 'Accounts' from the menu bar and choose 'Import', then 'From ADF...' from the 'Accounts' sub-menu. This will open a dialog used to navigate to your account file (most likely in ADF file format). Once you've selected your ADF account file click 'Open'. The list should now be populated with your accounts.

Note: Notice the color of the close button at the top right of the application has changed from blue to orange. This indicates to the user that account changes have been made but are not saved to the internal database (you imported new accounts).

To save these changes, simply click on 'Save' at the bottom of the list. Your accounts are now saved to the database and will show up the next time you start Discovery Launchpad.



Creating an account:

To create a new account, click on the 'New...' button below the account list or select 'New' from the 'Accounts' menu item. This will display a simple dialog containing 4 fields.

The 'Name' box is the name of the account you wish to use. The 'Comments' is used to add any comments you want associated with this account.

The registry 'Code' and 'Signature' fields can be used in two different ways:

• Click 'Generate' and create a code and signature automatically*, or
  
  
• Enter the information manually.
  

* Generated using an embedded version of Cannon's and Kazinsal's FLKeyGen.

Clicking 'Ok' will check to make sure a name, unique code and signature combination has been specified. If the data is validated the new account will be added to the list.

Note: Notice the color of the close button at the top right of the application has changed from blue to orange. This indicates to the user that account changes have been made but are not saved to the internal database.



Editing an account:

To edit an account, select one from the account list and click the 'Edit...' button at the bottom of the account list. This will open a dialog similar to the create account dialog. The only difference is the key 'Code', 'Signature' fields and 'Generate' button are disabled. This is to prevent any potential damages made to the important account data.

Make changes to either the 'Name' and/or 'Comments' fields and click 'Ok'. The updated details, if any, are visible in the account list.

Note: Notice the color of the close button at the top right of the application has changed from blue to orange. This indicates to the user that account changes have been made but are not saved to the internal database.



Deleting an account:

To delete an account, select one from the account list and click the 'Delete...' button at the bottom of the account list. This will prompt you to confirm you wish to delete the selected account. Click 'Yes' to confirm.

Note: Notice the color of the close button at the top right of the application has changed from blue to orange. This indicates to the user that account changes have been made but are not saved to the internal database.



Reloading the database:

If for some reason there is a need to reload the database contents into the account list (maybe an unwanted edit or delete?), simply click the 'Reload' button. If there are any unsaved changes the user will be prompted for confirmation. Once a reload is done, any unsaved changes to the account list will be lost.



Scanning the registry:

Scanning the registry will update the active account status at the bottom of Discovery Launchpad. If the registry contains an account (code and signature combination) not recognized in the list of known accounts, it will prompt the user to create a new account for it (remember first launch?). Clicking 'Yes' will open the account creation dialog with the scanned account 'Code' and 'Signature' pre-entered.



Activating an account:

To activate a particular account in the list, simply double click it and that's it. The active account status information is updated with the selected account; ready for launch.



For now I've only included instructions to manage accounts since that's the only part that might not be as intuitive as I'd like. Setting launcher options and such are pretty much self-explanatory but I'm ready to elaborate should anything not be clear.

That's pretty much it. Simple and gets the job done. I've added tool tips to all the items on the page so a quick mouse-over should display a description of what's expected or what a control does.

I'd appreciate any suggestions, comments, questions, issues, criticisms, or any bugs encountered when running this.

Thanks!

~ Jong


Thanks to Mephisto for the following UAC workaround:

Note to Win7 users: If you dont want to trouble yourself with UAC, install game/FMM/Launchpad on Desktop. It worked or me.

TL;DR

• Download .NET Framework 3.5
  
• Download Discovery Launchpad 1.3 (Full)
  

[Curios]

Looks interesting, nicely done.

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[teschy]

Awesome.

[Alex.]

I noticed during testing this last night that importing ADF files with comments on more than one line means that the line breaks aren't shown.

[appleexpress1]

SWEET!!

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[Jongleur]

I noticed during testing this last night that importing ADF files with comments on more than one line means that the line breaks aren't shown.

I meant to fix that before releasing it but completely forgot. Anyways, I uploaded a new release and that issue should be fixed. Now you can comment to heart's content.

[alpha3]

Nice, it's like a more advanced version of FLAM. :P ^^

[Rommie]

Awesome.Kudos!

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In space, nobody knows I'm a panda

[Cond0r]

This is epic. Just one question. When you activate windowed mode, does your mouse cursor stay inside the FL window (like when you use Direct 3D Windower) or is it like when you just type -w in the target field?

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[17:23:05] Mini Me: pls
[17:23:06] Mini Me: gtfo

[Jongleur]

This is epic. Just one question. When you activate windowed mode, does your mouse cursor stay inside the FL window (like when you use Direct 3D Windower) or is it like when you just type -w in the target field?

It behaves like the -w in the target field. Sadly that issue with the screen not updating when the window loses focus is still there.