GoPatch.It - My little patching sideproject

[Chronos]

 

Note: The service, website and certain areas are very much a work in progress. Any feedback you can give me on the workings of this website is more than welcome.

 

https://my.gopatch.it/ 

(The main website is still a work in progress on my end, so no fancy stuff just yet!)

 

A service designed to get your games updated with as little effort on your side as possible! Upon logging in you will find yourself in a management interface much like this one:

 

Here you can add new games to your account, upload a new version to your game and download a key file to use with a basic updater I have written so you can get your users the latest version of your game without the hassle of setting up a webserver or anything of the sorts yourself!

 

Of course, now you ask me? How do I get started with this? Well! It's simple! Just follow these steps:

 

1. Register an account and log in (https://my.gopatch.it/ )

2. Click the blue + icon on the bottom right of the page.

3. Enter your game's name and click Add Repository*

4. Click the Upload symbol () and upload a *.zip file containing your entire game.

5. Wait for the system to e-mail you about the progress of your update. This generally takes a minute or two.

6. Download the patcher. (http://www.ascensiongamedev.com/resources/filehost/4bb64656d9e2c4e5efcf8c6567f50795.zip)**

7. Edit the LauncherTitle and ClientFile parameters in Options.Json to your game name and executable name.

8. On the website, click the Download symbol () and place the file downloaded next to the updater.***

9. Launch the updater and watch it go!

 

*= While there is currently only a free option, I am debating on whether or not to add paid options for more space or rely on Donations.

**= Still working on proper API documentation so you can write your own, sorry!

***= This file contains all the necessary information to run the updater application for that specific game.

 

For any future updates, just make a zip file of ALL your game files (not including the updater) and upload it much like you did the first time, the system will determine what has and has not changed and your clients will automatically be updated the next time the updater application is ran!

 

There are currently a few pages that are not accessible, and some things may seem unfinished. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions about the service or provide feedback on what you would like to see made or changed about this.

[Hanox]

Nice ideea! Keep up the good work!

[Mighty Professional]

This is actually a great idea! Good luck with it.

[Kibbelz]

Its a nice idea, simple and clean, but why not just host the files on a VPS or a simple webhosting service instead? What does this offer to make me go out of my way for a separate service? 

[Chronos]

13 minutes ago, Kibbelz said:

Its a nice idea, simple and clean, but why not just host the files on a VPS or a simple webhosting service instead? What does this offer to make me go out of my way for a separate service? 

Mostly convenience, really. Not to mention it's free at the moment. (And honestly I doubt I'll ever charge for anything below a certain threshold). I imagine most advanced users are more than capable of hosting their own updates and whatnot. But if they want something quick, simple and without any hassle on their own end this'll do the trick; No pesky patch makers to run, no configuring webhosts and no remembering what files you've changed.

[Giligis]

I really like this. I always hated the process of setting up a new web host or better yet explaining how others do it, this will provide extreme usefulness with users who are unaware of how to set an auto updater, or simply use it for convenience. Thank you!

[Phenomenal]

I clicked it and I get a error? ;w;

[Chronos]

39 minutes ago, PhenomenalDev said:

I clicked it and I get a error? ;w;

It seems one of my links I copied messed up, should work now. There were some odd characters behind it.

[Giligis]

I'll be using this for 4GoE, especially useful for devolpment and saves me the hassle of having to setup a web server and all that jazz. I will let you know how it goes!!!

[Chronos]

I've seen a few repositories pop up, but no error logs (in the places I keep track anyway).. So I'm guessing all is well!  Still need to get up and finish some of the pages. But I just haven't found the time as I'm moving and sorting out the new place.

 

If you find anything or need something, shoot me an e-mail though. I'll take a look at it!

[Chronos]

First big update in a while, you can now add a customized version number (e.g. 2.0.5b) and patch notes to your updates! These changes will -not- break your old updates, and you can keep using the old updater if you want to.

 

Download the new patcher here: http://www.ascensiongamedev.com/resources/filehost/ef72f949df90cba32eba0a3187811057.zip

 

I still need to sit down and document the API some time, unfortunately it's really really boring to do so.   I'll get to it at some point.  It's all fairly simple, just need to know how to use it! Currently still moving stuff into my new house, and I'm getting married soon. So I'm not sure when I'll get to it.. but I will!

 

 

 

(Also a big thank you to @DudeItsCorey for reminding me to add this!)

 

[Giligis]

Love it, testing it out now<3 

WHATS THIS? YOU HAVE A SPELL CHECKER BUT I CANT CHANGE THE COLOR OF MY FONT..

Kidding<3

No, but on a serious note good idea to make it so people can change color of the font, lets say red, so it stands out to someone. 

[Chronos]

Just added a color picker, though it refuses to work in Edge for some reason.  

[Chronos]

I've found an issue with the patching application earlier today, I'll get it fixed after I get back from work. My apologies. I've not seen the issue before, oddly enough and it hadn't appeared until just now for me. But I'll make sure to fix it just in case.

 

I've also been told that uploading files doesn't work for everyone, but thus far nobody has provided me any specific information besides possibly disabling adblocker. I'd really like to get this fixed so it works for as many people as possible. Any information you can provide about what happens, what your browsers or adblockers are blocking and what the browser consoles are telling you would be much appreciated.

[Kibbelz]

Its worth stating the layout is broken on mobile device

[Chronos]

2 hours ago, Kibbelz said:

Its worth stating the layout is broken on mobile device

What device is this on? I see roughly what I expect to see on my Lumia 650.

 

EDIT: I've just fixed a glaring fault on my part in the patching application, new version available here: http://www.ascensiongamedev.com/resources/filehost/4bb64656d9e2c4e5efcf8c6567f50795.zip

I was trying to use the display version as the internal version number, this caused my cast to an Int64 to go awry when saving the current version to a file.

 

I've not received many questions regarding the use of the API to make your own patcher, is this still something people would be interested in? I might write something up about it this weekend.

[Kibbelz]

Samsun Galaxy A3

 

Edit: as a side note. Does this automatically run a client after patching?

[Chronos]

 

3 minutes ago, Kibbelz said:

Samsun Galaxy A3<snip>

 

Edit: as a side note. Does this automatically run a client after patching?

 

Oh dear, I'll have to look into that! It shouldn't do that.

 

And yes, it'll run whatever file you set it to run in the config file after X miliseconds.

 

{"LauncherTitle":"GoPatch.It Update Application","ClientFile":"Client.exe","LocalVersion":0,"StartDelay":5000}

 

Alternatively, you could use the GoPatchItApi.dll file and write your own updater, though I may have to explain how downloading files works. (Or you can write your own from scratch if I document the entire API.)

[Chronos]

@Kibbelz

 

Could you check again, I've just updated the page layout.

[Kibbelz]

Checked and working

[Chronos]

Awesome! wish everything was that easy to fix.

[Chronos]

Added the ability to delete repositories from your account, note that this is a FINAL decision! You can NOT undo deleting this, and I can not recover the data.

[Aesthetic]

So far my experience with this service is absolutely fantastic. It runs flawlessly, it's beyond convenient and simple to set up, and he even gives you the tools to change anything you don't like in the Launcher. Chronos is also very willing to work with you and make sure you get the best experience you can.

 

10/10 would recommend.

[Puregamemale]

Really good Idea, we use this for our project and its works fine. One Question is there a chance to customize the Patcher, like graphical Buttons and another things. Big Thanks from our Team for your effort.

[Chronos]

1 hour ago, Puregamemale said:

Really good Idea, we use this for our project and its works fine. One Question is there a chance to customize the Patcher, like graphical Buttons and another things. Big Thanks from our Team for your effort.

 

There is, but I've never finished the documentation around the API. I was planning on getting that done this weekend but I ended up doing other things. If you want to know how it works I can explain it. Just PM me.