a while ago i installed antilles 2004 1.1never had time to check it outi did todayhundreds of landclass squares in the middle of the seaforced my decision to take it offand it was then that the scenery showed its clawsthe "smart" uninstaller restored the scenery libraryfrom the time of antilles installationtook me a long whileto figure out which of my dozens sceneries(well over a hundred, actually)were added after antilles 2004some i had to reactivatesome i had to reinstall...dear scenery creators, people, fellow humans,i beg you, i'm on my knees...don't write install wrappers to copy three friggin' filesit's not cool, quite the opposite, it's nastyno candy for you:)

I agree--I have a disdain for these wrappers. OTH, many designers also get grief from people who don't have a clue as to how to install scenery, aircraft, etc.... They get deluged with emails asking how to install, or where the scenery.cfg file is located, etc. When you are on your own dime and time, you simply don't want to have to deal with the issue--so you automate the process by creating a wrapper/installer.I'm afraid there's no easy way out--you saw Tom's thread on the nastygrams he got over the file library being down? I have a ton of sympathy, since my mailbox got similar trashtalk over my own tiny contributions to the hobby by people who didn't know how to install scenery on their own. My solution was to create no more scenery. The wrappers/installers are attempts at solutions by developers with more stamina than I had to give the community what they want. You are flamed if you do, and flamed if you don't :)-John

i understand, johni write programs and their installers for a livingi guess the universal solution to the dilemmais to learn how to do it properlydon't get me wrongmy gratitude to you people is enormousand i thoroughly enjoy every single piece you createbut when, as i just discovered a minute ago,some p.o.s. uninstaller not only wipes cleana month's worth of arduous scenery tweakingbut also restores my old fs9.cfg(one created under a different hardware configuration)my good will and patience reach a boiling pointjudging from the resultsantilles 2004 is a virus:-lol

I think a point to be made is that installers can be fine if they are used properly. Your reasoning about heading off the deluge of emails if only a manual install is supplied is valid, John, although even then people could read the README now and again; if that is well written, they shouldn't have to be in touch.But these would be my requests to those making autoinstall files:1. Please, please, please always give an option to install to a temporary folder. The Antilles scenery, referred to above, is the worst I have ever seen for not doing this, with all respect because I know it's freeware. It had errors within it also, which compounded the problem for many.2. Do tell people in the preamble what files are included and what is going to go where. This is easily done in the text boxes that are provided.3. Do not create auto-updaters for the SCENERY.CFG file. This was a major bone of contention for me in FS2002, as I was up to the limit and had to consolidate my scenery library as I built it; any autoinstaller trying to add a category would screw this up.4. Do not create a WIndows program group for your aircraft/scenery/whatever. This is totally unnecessary and can be avoided.5. With exceptions, do not create a desktop icon.6. Please do not create an uninstall file that mucks about with registry. If the destination of installed files is explained from the outset, then these are unnecessary too.7. Do take the time, after you have created your masterpiece whether it be scenery, aircraft, or whatever, to explain things carefully in a well-written README. It's hopeless to have things like "you'll need the base pack from AI Aardvark for this livery" and then to make no reference to where to find that, or give a file name. You get the message.That's all. I think. I hate autoinstallers myself, period, but realise that many rely on their simplicity of operation. Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontP.S. The recent LFRD scenery by Vauchez is a perfect example of all the above, and how things ought to be - and can be - done. He has clearly put much thought into how his scenery will be handled by the end-user, and this is a vital part of any development work. Beautifully done. Plus, he even adds in a QUICK INSTALL FILE as well, which to my great amusement reads as follows:1. Run LFRD2004-v1a.exe2. Click on all the 'yes' buttons as fast as you can without reading anything. ;)3. Run FS9 and declare the 2 scenery folders (in Addon Scenery)4. Flyhttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

I always point autoinstallers into a dummy fs2004 directory on a separate drive. Most of the installers (especially the poorly written ones) don't have any kind of check to see where they are actually being installed. Just make a dummy fs2004 directory. Mine is F:fs2k4. I keep it empty and then I can see what files the installer dumps there. You'd be amazed at how many things can be overwritten by installers. Old versions of fsuipc, old gauges, etc. Then I can manually copy what I need myself, and give myself control over what is modified/overwritten.

Hi,Some of these "Wonder Installer" need to "see" fs9.exe into the dummy fs2004 directory, so I do like you but my dummy contains fs9.ex, just in case.

Howdy,Bizarre, to say the least. Have had no trouble. Period. Full stop. (And yes, have installed, and uninstalled, the scenery twice ... both times when installing the 2K4 updates of Islands of the West Indies).Maybe just lucky, I suppose.

you may have had a different version of the installeror you may have never installed anything new after antillesor you may have missed the trouble :-)do a search for *.ant files in your fs9 folder (and subfolders)if you find any, you _are_ in trouble :-)ps.i forgot a possibility:you're just one lucky fellow :-lol

I've got a folder called PANTillies, and it's full of .ants - what should I do?Sorry. ;)Too much coffee.

keep your pant(ill)ies on! :)i think files like fs9.cfg.ant and scenery.cfg.antmay be those antilles backed up at install timeand will restore at uninstall timesame for a whole bunch of *.bmp.ant texturesbut i guess the damage is in restoring the configsperhaps the authors could shed some lightas to what else they porked ;)

Cap, I think you may be referring to a different scenery than being discussed on this thread. ;-) I also have a dummy FS9 to install things to that demand to be directed to FS9. I've already been burned by not installing to a temp directory once, so never again! I have all of Chris Wilke's Island of the West Indies series so didn't have the need/desire to try the Antilles scenery with the auto installer.Best, RobTDM9111

Howdy,I'm in trouble. :-( Found 15 of the little .ant(y) beggars in SceneryNAMEScenery. Hmmmm. Time to get the NAME CAB file offa whichever 2K4 disk and reload. Bugger!Thanks for the heads up.

Howdy Rob,Nope, have had both sceneries (Antilles upon its initial release whilst awaiting IWI).

Nice post, Vilk!Peter Sydney Australia