Atlas included?

[metalliandy]

Hey Aaron,

I was wondering why the Atlas plugin is not pre-installed in the version that is downloaded from this site...

I know there are prob. licence issues of something but would it possible to include it by default, as people who bought L3DT before the GG version came out can already download the plugin?

Am i right in stating the both versions are identical, apart from the included plugin?

I only ask this because i download all the most recent builds and its a pain in the arse to constantly reload the plugin...lol

Thanks for looking

[Aaron]

Hi Metalliandy,

Yes, it is part of the agreement that the 'L3DT for Torque' version with the plugin pre-installed is only available from GarageGames.

Am i right in stating the both versions are identical, apart from the included plugin?

Yes.

I only ask this because i download all the most recent builds and its a pain in the arse to constantly reload the plugin...lol

I see. What I'll do is allow users to make plugins 'shared' across different versions, so if you install l3dt_atlas.dll on one version it is automatically available to any other installed version, and to all subsequent updates. Would this suffice?

Best regards,
Aaron.

PS: The alternative L3DTio_Atlas2 plugin can (and one day will) be included with all L3DT installers because it contains no GG code. If only it worked properly...

[Aaron]

Hi Metalliandy,

In the latest dev build (2.5.1.14), you can maple plugins 'global' in the extension manager (there's the 'make global' button). This will move the plugin to a folder shared by other builds of L3DT, and write an appropriate shared settings file. All subsequent builds of L3DT will then load this global plugin.

In case anyone is wondering; the reason the plugins aren't shared by default is because many plugin updates are not backwards compatible with older versions of L3DT due to API upgrades. For example, Sapphire should never be made a 'global' plugin because each build often uses the bleeding-edge version of the plugin API that is only in the latest build of L3DT. Hence, that plugin won't work with any older versions of L3DT, and that's why each version of L3DT uses it's own build of Sapphire.

A plugin like 'l3dt_atlas', however, is only updated infrequently, and it's still using the API build from January. Hence, it will work with almost any version of L3DT (well, v2.5 or later), and therefore is a good candidate for a 'global' plugin.

Cheers,
Aaron.

[metalliandy]

Hey Aaron,
That's great news and will help me loads
Will the feature only export the latest compatible version of the said plugins?

[Aaron]

Hi Metalliandy,

This feature doesn't check plugin versions; it shares/un-shares whichever plugin you choose. However, plugins are always forwards compatible, so you if you share a plugin, it will be compatible with any later build of L3DT that you install.

Cheers,
Aaron.

[metalliandy]

Hey Aaron,
Ok sweet ,
Thanks for the heads up mate.

[Aaron]

Hi Guys,

I apologise for the thread necromancy, but I thought I'd mention that I've deprecated the 'global' plugin feature that I had announced above. For the reason, please refer to this blog post.

Cheerio,
Aaron.