I just released the first beta version of a tool called Testfighter. You can check it out here.
I created this tool, because I was tired of sending my testers 3 GB of zip files, just to find out that I missed something and had to upload 3GB again. With Testfighter the upload client will automatically detect, which files changed and only upload them. Testers also will not have to download everything again as the same check occurs there.
In short: It simplifies and speeds up your beta distribution.
Key features also include:
Distribute the Launcher to your testers without needing to compile anything
Executable files are found automatically, so no specific place for it is needed. (See also known limitations below.)
Auto updates to latest versions
CLI Interface for scripting
Feed to display latest releases/updates
Planned features:
A script that automagically git pulls the latest changes of your game, builds it, and uploads it.
Linux compatibility (should work, but not tested at the moment)
Pausing/Resuming download/upload (It technically works with downloads, in that it remembers where you left it, when you quit the application)
Login or beta key requirement
Prerequisites (like c++ redistributables) are installed automatically
Steam is launched when your game needs it
Known limitations:
All application files must be in one folder. The executable file must have the same name as the folder name, which also gives it the display name.
Very nice, can’t wait to come home and try it myself. I hope you keep up with all the intended features. It looks really good. I also like the distribution mechanics: there seems to be no real setup required for this to function. I also like the uploading interface and plain php on the server (easy compatibility with must servers I guess).
Just a quick question: how much of space does Qt library as a dependency take? Also (I have not tried it yet), are there any plans to easily customize the user interface for downloading the content, like the background image and text. This is probably really easy to include ourselves if we just change a bit of code though, and very game specific, but there could be hooks for “special” file name and text that get downloaded first so people can enjoy. Also, you could automatically launch the game when the download is complete (maybe that is inside already, I do not know). But I would recommend doing the planned features (which are awesome!) first.
I plan on using this for our game as well and maybe I can help you with some aspect when I find the time. In any case, really nice from you to share this with us!
QT dependency on mac takes about 9 MB while on Windows 25-30. So almost the whole size is just qt libraries and on windows debug information (I might consider removing those).
Yes setup is pretty straight forward, just change the url to your server and your good to go.
I do not have plans for adding an easily customizable interface yet. I would like to up the ui a bit in the future with some modern graphics, although qt is a pain to work with when designing. I could however add a hook for loading a css stylesheet (which is already included in qt) to customize the ui.
Automatically launching the game is a great idea. Thank you. I probably will add an option to enable it.