" Crafty "patching system for Unity projects.

Crafty_error.txt is a log with all the error that are detected by the script, it helps us a lot in searching for errors made in Crafty or anything that could effect the script ( that later on we find a way around it to fix the issue ).

It is not on all the time because Crafty will always detect one error.

" cannot apply file outpu_log.txt "

It will never be able to apply it as it is deleted after the patch is downloaded. It is important for us to keep our users project clean and tidy. That's why all not needed files are always deleted instantly after patching is finished.
Because we don't want to annoy anyone we usually keep this option on false and only change it to true when it is needed in search for an error.

 

But how come few have errors in Crafty and for rest it is working perfectly ? I never did understand that the same is with UniStorm or NGUI for some it works perfectly and for some there are errors. Is it because of Unity or something different ? Sorry that its a little off topic but i always wondered about such thing.

 

There is no such thing as perfect program. Everything haves its flaws, which means that from time to time there will be something or someone that will effect a program in a way that will provide an error. Our job ( the creators ) is to make sure that each of such errors will be found and the program adjusted. Even if only one user from dozens have a problem he needs to be supported by us as much as everybody else.

So once again to make it easier for us to repair any error in the Crafty please make sure to change the _1.debug from false to true in the LaunchieLogic.cs ( just like Wasikuss already stated earlier on the forum ) this will provide you with crafty_error.txt that you can send us ( support@penkura.com ) thanks to that data we will be able to repair Crafty much faster.

 

Hello everybody after five days of work on Crafty i have to talk about something that soon will be available on our website.
E&S ( Error Solution ) 19 out of 21 reports we receive by users mentioning an errors are not made by Crafty but by mistakes in setting it up.

Of course we don't mind helping anyone no matter if its small issue or big we will always be happy to help. But please before sending to us bug reports make sure that you did everything correctly with the documentation tutorial .

We spend almost five entire days on issues that at the end were not made by Crafty but by small errors made by users.

On our website we will build a small series of typical errors made while setting up Crafty and the way to repair it.
For example one of the most common error we receive in emails.

E: My launchy no matter what can't find patches that i had set on my server. ( constantly it says that the game is up to date ).

S:

1. Did you set your link with http:// ( or https:// depending on your website ) at the begging and ending with /patches ?

2. Make sure that versions.txt files ends with visible .txt ( or else launchie will not be able to check that file ).

3. Is your server/webpage open for programs to read files ? ( sometimes servers are blocked or secured ).

E: My launchy downloads the patch but deletes it after without patching my game.

S:

1. Are you sure that the Build 2 of your game is set as higher number than the previous patch ? ( Some users forget to change the number in the Build and Launcher things that he always is up to date ).

2. In versionts.txt file make sure you wrote the proper patch numbers.

We will add 20 / 30 of such E&S this is made only to save you ( the users ) and us the time, of course if you still have a problem you can instantly write to us and we will help you for sure .

We are making this because in 6 reports we receive users didn't wrote the correct URL in the Launchie. Everybody makes mistakes and we understand that, that's why we will build this E&S to help as much as we can.

 

About a month ago i was annoying one of you guys with this mistake i was so embarrassed that i was my errors after two days , i made you guys re check entire script i still feel bad about it. Thank you for the patients you guys provide me btw really awesome support.

Overall this is a very good idea can we help you with this ? For example i can send you info on errors i usually was making once.

 

That was me .

But don't be worried about this as everybody makes mistakes.

Happy to help .

Of course this is a very good idea any one can send us a problem that they had been facing for a while maybe we could even improve Crafty to save peoples time and frustration.

 

Hi!

I am also having the same type of errors after patching from one version to the next
I also get access violations:

MasterLibrary.exe caused an Access Violation (0xc0000005)
in module MasterLibrary.exe at 0023:0000003c.

At the moment this makes crafty unusable for me
Any word on this?

 

Hello Dkasselman this error appears when there are changes registered in the .exe file.

Launchy cannot update game.exe as it is in use by the in-game launcher. To repair this we need to create a third program that will separate files that are used by the project it self, save them and update them when the game is turn off. Its not that hard to create but its time consuming ( with this third program we will also add self restart for the game ).

We will try and add this third program this month in the release of Crafty 1.1.1 with all the features requested by the users.
API , Cancel button and few others.

 

Thank you Thinker

Looking forward to the update

 

Thinker swift question, you said that you are adding additional program to the plug-in making it three in one not two in one. Dose that mean we have to pay additional money for the update or are you rissing the price ? I'm asking just in case cause some developers do that and i rather be prepare.

 

No of course not. I mention it many times we will not rise the price of Crafty for Unity.
It's 50 $ and it will stay that way, no matter how much we will add to it.

 

Nice Update to Version 1.1.
Two things though:

1) Patching with the new Launchie works, but the Size of the patches via _l.getSize() is always zero for me. If I display it, it displays as 0 and also download progress jumps from 0% to 100% after the download is done. (Probably, because with a size of zero, no progress calculation can be done).

2) Even the new Patch creation system STILL has the bug I reported to you months ago that added files get added to the wrong path (not relative to the game folder)! This is annoying and frustrating! When will you fix this?

And the new patch creation doesn't seem to create so much smaller patches. I had a patch that was 303MB with the 1.0.5 version and is 299/300MB with the 1.1 version and a packet size of 1024/256. It still stores the complete files inside the patch.zip. Is that right?

 

New update is V.1.1.1 not 1.1.

This is fixed in version 1.1.1.

Also fixed in 1.1.1

Patch size difference from 1.0.5 to 1.1 is lowered by 9.4 % to up to 81.5 % from our tests that tester achieve. Everything depends on finding the correct packet size for your game project.
This patching system is also preparation for the full binary patch creation which will only creates patches out of bites of data.

 

Thanks for the quick answer. Asset store displays 1.1 for me. :/ Then I will wait for 1.1.1 and stay at 1.0.5 for the time being.

 

Now on the asset store Crafty 1.1 is available but the version we are putting now is Crafty 1.1.1.
If you want we can send you Crafty 1.1.1 and you can test it out before we officially send it to the asset store team today at night, just send us your Invoice No.

 

Thanks for the amazing Crafty / Launchie package. I'm hoping my issue that I'm currently having is something that others have experienced / found a way to fix.

My Unity game patches and works perfectly UNTIL I install it into Program Files on Windows. Suddenly, when I've made my installer and actually install the game in Program Files and I try to run a patch, it cannot patch the files without Administrator access. Has anyone encountered this issue and if so, has anyone worked out how to make this work?

 

I had this problem, not only with crafty but also other patching system and even with my UPLAY when i wanted to play Anno 2070.
The best way to be honest is just not to install in system folders ( i dont remember correctly but i think that they reason that this is happening is that its a system folder and any change made to files in it need an administration permission ).
Other way around this is lowering the restriction in the system options so it wont ask you anymore when any changes are made inside of the folder.

 

Thanks, I might just have to go with installing it in C:\ or some other non-system folder instead. Dealing with UAC and all of that is fine for me, but not for general release of a product. It all works fine if its in C:\, so that might just have to be the workaround unless someone else has encountered / solved this issue.

 

We seen this problem few times already in different programs but we think we have work around it, we will try and attach to the third installation program a sub script that will eliminate the need of administration system check. It should be available in Crafty 1.1.2 ( as it is not fully ready yet ).

 

I would like to second this request! We build our game for all our target platforms at once from a script by calling UnityEditor.BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer (as well as do things like UnityEditor.Lightmapping.Bake). It would be essential for us to be able to call Patchie.AddVersion(string version) and Patchie.MakePatch(string from, string to) from our custom Editor script. This should be as simple as marking the methods that provide this functionality as public.

We've already purchased Crafty and it looks like a great tool. Adding a scriptable API would make it that much better.

Thanks for making great tools and sharing them with the public.

Note: those methods may or may not exist, but I took a stab at what I'd expect the API to look like.

 

I already said that we will do API support, IN FACT its all done. Crafty from version 1.1.1 will support full API and few new amazing features.

 

Also, I'm curious if Crafty is compatible with OSX builds that are signed with an Apple Developer ID? We're currently in the process of setting up signed builds to get around the "Unidentified Developer" error dialog that pops up in Mountain Lion or later.

For those that are interested, here is a tutorial on how to go about signing your Unity builds:
http://code.compartmental.net/2014/03/14/digitally-signing-a-unity-mac-build/

 

That's great to hear! I tried searching, but these forums leave much to be desired. You should consider moving discussions to your own, rather than stuffing it all into a single 20+ page thread.

 

Answer to your question is on the same page that you wrote it on. Page 21.
Also Crafty supports Windows / Mac and Linux maybe in the feature Mobile devices.

 

Thanks for posting the new version! Just a heads up: it won't let me download it using Unity 4.3.0f4, and I can't tell what version it's demanding because the text is cut off and replaced with ellipses.

 

My mistake, ( your Engine is fine you just need to widened your asset store window as it cuts out ).
I have to contact Asset Store Team to change the Crafty Needs from Engine 4.3.2 to 3.5.7.

 

CRAFTY 1.1.1.

Please note that some Users are experiencing an error with patch installation, we look in to that problem and decided that we will be changing installation system to the one which is very similar to the STEAM updating system. Crafty from version 1.2 will download the patches ( all of the patches not one by one ) and install them after the game will be turn off, it will than turn the game by it self, making it much less annoying for the players.

This will fix all the issues that some users experience plus it will add new features to the Crafty overall ( game will launch it self after installation is completed, all patches will be downloaded and not one by one and it will give as ability to create a repairing system which will be available on the later date ).

Crafty 1.2 will be available in the next few days.

v. 1.1.1

+ Fixed BUG#0010 Launchie was unable to work properly on Linux Universal builds.
+ Fixed BUG#0009 (Patchie sometimes added files to patch using absolute paths instead of relative paths)
+ Added button to stop patch creation on the patchy window.
+ Added PatchieAPI to use Patchie in batch mode.
+ Added methods to manage headers in requests.
+ Added notification message while patch is being created.
+ Code clean up to speed up patch creation process.
+ Updated documentation with new informations on Multi-platform version.txt.
+ Added new series of code preparing for outside Installation system (which will be added in Crafty 1.2)

 

Is there any documentation for the new PatchieAPI? I have a build in the Patchie/_output folder, but when I call AddVersion I get a NullReferenceException. Unfortunately because it's a DLL it won't give me a filename or a line number... The code I attempted to use is as follows:

Code (csharp):

1. PatchieAPI patchie = new PatchieAPI();
2. patchie.AddVersion("3.0.0-rc1-mac");

I am running Unity in batch mode from the project directory itself. The line I use to create a build does work and places it where it needs to be (namely, the '_current' directory). It looks something like this:

Code (csharp):

1. BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(scenePaths, "Patchie/_current/Answerables.app", BuildTarget.StandaloneOSXIntel, BuildOptions.None);

Regarding the 'compat' boolean parameter to MakePatch, I assume this is related to upgrading from Crafty 1.0.5. As I am starting from scratch with 1.1.1, I assume I should be setting this to false?

Thanks in advance

 

Yes " compat " stands for Compatibility and it's used only by users who wish to upgrade their Project from Crafty 1.0.5 to Crafty 1.1.

We will make a full documentation on API and it will be available with the release of Crafty 1.2, as we want to make it as detailed as possible with all the code references and images to make it more easy to use. It will be available in few days as Crafty 1.2 is not a big update, we just want to add new installation system and complete the documentation on the API section.

 

OK, good to know. Until then, do you have any tips on how to fix / avoid this NullReferenceException I get when calling AddVersion?

 

Exciting developments! Just waiting for the standalone version of this product before I throw my money at it, any new information on that possibility?

 

Hi, tonight ( 23:00 UTC + 2 ) i will preprare example files "How to use PatchieAPI". I never used batch mode before and I based PatchieAPI on this https://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/CommandLineArguments.html.

 

Sorry, the "batch mode" information above turns out to be irrelevant. Calling the method from a Menu Item also results in the same NullReferenceException. My full example code and its output is copied below. It tells me that patchie itself is not null, but something happens during AddVersion that throws the exception. (I have a fresh build in the same directory that works with the normal Patchie Editor Window: Patchie/_current)

Code (csharp):

1.     [MenuItem("File/Add Version")]
2.     public static void BuildPatchie () {
3.         PatchieAPI patchie = new PatchieAPI();
4.         Debug.Log("patchie null? " + (patchie == null));
5.         patchie.AddVersion("3.0.0-rc1-mac");
6.     }

I'm not sure what you mean by "based PatchieAPI on [Unity batch mode]", but I look forward to reading the "How to".

Thanks Wasikuss!

 

I checked everything, and it's OK. I didn't had the time to prepare documentation for PatchieAPI yet. It's simple, don't instantiate object because Patchie has static property API.

Code (csharp):

1.     [MenuItem("File/Add Version")]
2.     public static void BuildPatchie () {
3.         Patchie.Patchie.PatchieAPI.AddVersion("3.0.0-rc1-mac");
4.     }

 

Hey Glader sorry for not replying but i was not available for some time ( a lot of work ).

Standalone is being build for few days now. This new installation system is based on the Crafty Standalone, which means it will be very easy for us to just transfer it to the Standalone version with few changes. Overall we need to create a binary system for patch creation as it is the best system it is possible to build ( for this day ), patches will be as small as possible which will make our life and all users work much easier.

That system will be set in Crafty for Unity and available in the Standalone version since version 1.0.0. Overall we are creating it much faster than we thought as our testers and users are patient and give us some extra time on adding features. ( which we use to create Crafty Standalone also ).

After the next Crafty update i will give a more detail update on the status of both Crafty for Unity ( binary ) and Crafty Standalone.

 

Thanks Wasikuss!

Note however, that the code you posted is not correct, as PatchieAPI is a class not a static property. You did point me in the right direction however, because even though I included a "using Patchie", the namespace conflicts with the class "Patchie" so both are required to get to the class (as you have done in your example). The static property is actually called "API".

Code (csharp):

1. Patchie.Patchie.API.AddVersion("3.0.0-rc1-mac");

With this in mind I have been making progress. My script can successfully create builds in Patchie/_current, and name them using the code above. Unfortunately I am now stuck on actually making the patches themselves.

For what I can tell, the MakeVersion method does it's processing asynchronously in its own thread. This makes sense when you don't want to block a GUI, but makes it tricky for writing automation code. Typically, we run headless Unity using the "-quit" flag, so as soon as the method we invoke completes, Unity is terminated. I believe this behaviour is messing up the patch creation that is still running on the other thread. You can see what I mean in this log file: View attachment $patchie.log.txt (Note: I cut out all the actual build stuff, this is just the tail end of the file)

To resolve that issue, I would like to request the addition of a blocking version of the MakePatch method. This would be the easiest for automation scripts, as you would call it directly and the rest of your script (creating patches for other platforms etc) would block until it is finished and ready to continue. Alternatively you could add an event hook(s) to signal the completion (success/failure) of MakePatch. This way you could invoke Unity in batchmode without "-quit", but wait for the event and call Application.Quit() manually when you know patch creation has completed.

Ignoring the fact that headless Unity would linger after patch creation, I removed the "-quit" flag to allow the thread to run past the end of my method, hoping this would give the MakePatch thread time to do its thing. Instead I got the following error:

However, calling the exact same script from within a normally running Unity via a MenuItem does work. There's no feedback other than watching my CPU usage, but when it drops there's a patch in the _output folder. I'm happy to report that I've successfully applied my first patch!

 

Sorry, my mistake. I want to write API not PatchieAPI.

I accept with you. I will setup default behavior to run MakePatch synchonous, and add overloaded version of function with additional parameter to manually choose if MakePatch should run on same thread or on new thread.

I'm glad to hear that

 

Hello Guys,

Soon Crafty 1.2 should be send to the asset store but i want to inform everybody about the changes for the future updates.

We are often in such situation that we repair and error but somehow one out of dozens of users have again the exact same problem.
Because of that we decided that when the new versions will be completed we will do a BETA testing for all users that already bought the Crafty ( and have any errors of course ) to test the new update, thanks to that we will save a lot of time in future. Beta testing will last a week a week and it will stand from the next Crafty versions.

We will do this in such way as we don't want to leave ANY ONE behind. We want every user to feel that they get as much support from us as everybody else, no matter if you are a one man development or an entire team.

 

+1 i really like this idea !

I notice that you said that the next patch is 1.2 yet on the 1.1.1 changes info there is a note about crafty 1.1.2 did we skip something ?

Also can you update us on the changes on the new installation system you mention it will be similar to steam, what you mean by that exactly ?

 

It's because we notice that after so many changes to the installation system we practically rewritten 30 % of Crafty, programmer pointed out that it's not 1.1.2 anymore but 1.2 because of the amount of changes.

It will work very similar to the STEAM patching system ( STEAM patching not games in the steam but steam it self ) first it will download the patches put them in correct order, after which it will turn off the game by it self and install all the patches in the order spectated by launchie. ( A small window will appear informing player that the game is installing new changes with a bar that provides info on how long installation will take. After which it will turn game back on with all installed changes ).

Thanks to this method we will save a lot of problems that some of the users experience with shadder assets being install in the wrong order.

 

Hi thinker. With the new patch coming will crafty be able to patch multiple patches in one session. for example if my versions.text was to read
1.0 1.1
1.1 1.2
1.2 1.3

will It be able to patch to 1.3 from any of the previous versions.
If not would functionality like this be possibly included in feature versions.

I bought the product to day and over all I am fairly satisfied. This seems to be my only thought on making it better as I would like for a client at any step to be able to patch to the current version.

 

Hello s3rraph,

From patch 1.2 all patches will download in one " session " without the need to restart the game each patch over and over again .

But if you mean patching from 1.0 directly to 1.3 skipping 1.1 and 1.2, well yes it is possible, but you need to create a patch from 1.0 directly to 1.3 and put it in the versions.txt. Than if player will have the oldest version 1.0 Launchie will notice that and patch directly to 1.3 using the patch 1.0 -> 1.3.
If that is what you mean, of course.

 

Hey Thinker,

Thanks for the info. That's exactly what I wanted.

The latter scenario could get quite complicated trying to create upgrade paths for all cases and is what I'm trying to avoid.

cant wait for the upgrade
do you have an eta for 1.2? It seems to be a great improvement

thanks,
S3rraph

 

Just wanted to add that this option is available since Crafty 1.0.0. ( you can already do this ).

What we are adding in 1.2 is.

And outside installation system very similar to STEAM which is much more stable and limits the possibility of an error.

Some developer experience error where their shader assets were not installed properly this is due the fact that the files were in used by the game it self, meaning that they could not be overwritten. The best and most stable solution is create a new installation system that will completely move installation outside of the game when its turn off.

Crafty 1.2 is almost ready we need to create a more clean documentation of the API system in Crafty and finish a security system that we were ask to add from one of ours MMO development team.

 

yes I had figured out how to utilize that function. I was working on a solution to the multi patch without restart function and happened upon this thread during my development. After reading your posts about the 1.2 patch I wanted to clarify that you were implementing the functionality so that I could stop working on my solution. I really like your product so far and have already implemented it in the MMO project my team is working on. Eagerly awaiting 1.2

 

I'm very happy to hear that we could help another MMO development team. We are doing our best to make Crafty as good as possible.

I will keep updating this thread with data on Crafty 1.2 but it should be out in the next few days. As always like i propose to everybody else if you wish to get Crafty 1.2 sooner before it will be released in the asset store ( as we know it may take a while for them to update the shop ) you can send me your Invoice No. to support@penkura.com and i will send you Crafty 1.2 before it will be send to the asset store.

 

Is it possible to use redirects when setting up the server? We were hoping to use a CDN to distribute patches, but that would be a problem for updating the versions.txt file, since it would be cached. If we can host the versions.txt file on our own server, and use redirects for the actual patches, this would solve the problem - but our attempts to do so have not worked.

 

Hey QuinnS,

Sorry for the late reply i was busy with Crafty 1.2.

Would ability to set two links ( one for the versions.txt and other for the patches them self ) be enough ?
As this is something we could do much faster. Then write redirection sequence.

No matter what, i wrote down your request for future addons to Crafty, when we will have time we will work on something similar that hopefully will help you with your project.

 

Is anyone using this with Photon Server? I was planning to have it patch through Photon but from the documentation it looks like it is requiring the patches to be hosted on a webhost. Or am I misunderstanding/missing something somewhere?

 

Hey thinker I sent support@penkura.com and email with my invoice number for the early access.