FG2 on USB stick?

[bislab]

Just wondering if anyone has attempted this? My work has me traveling a fair bit and my work laptop gets swapped out on a regular basis. It would be rather nice to have a portable version of FG2 on my thumb drive that I can fire up on whichever laptop R&D happens to hand me that week.

[mr_h]

I've never tried it, but I think you'd have some issues with registry settings and what not. :/

[Lithl]

I've never tried it, but I think you'd have some issues with registry settings and what not. :/
Also the problem that a lot of stuff is stored in the user's AppData directory, which isn't on a USB stick.

[Griogre]

It would be tough to do. Probably possible, though, if you have access to the laptop's registry.

[unerwünscht]

In theory it could be done by making a new launcher application, that held the registry information in memory with a relative path. However I can almost promise that this would be against the TOS from Smite Works, as it would require a minor amount of reverse engineering of their launcher application (I think). Also you would run into some issues when dealing with different operating systems (also an 'I think')

[Zeus]

Is FGII not compatible with U3 then?

I thought U3 provided a wrapper for applications to run directly from a USB stick, mimicing registry and local FS access so the application believes its installed on a standard system.

[Ukki]

Works fine like that in Mac OS X :)

(Crossover and FG2 on stick... every "bottle" contains everything I want to install to that particular windows (currently some games and my work related windows-only stuff) so I have "3 different instances of windows xp on a stick")

Wine works in linux too, I suppose?

[unerwünscht]

Is FGII not compatible with U3 then?

I thought U3 provided a wrapper for applications to run directly from a USB stick, mimicing registry and local FS access so the application believes its installed on a standard system.

Sounds like basically what I was suggesting, I was just not aware that a universal application existed to do that already, and since no reverse engineering would be required it should be allowed within the TOS.

[Praxi]

I made a little application that creates the reg keys that FG2 Full is looking for, and changes the paths to where the application is called from. Its fairly simplistic, but I will post the code. I made it using AUTOIT (https://autoitscript.com).

Basically when it launches, it creates the registry keys, launched the FG exe, then when FG exits, it deletes the registry keys. I will probably expand it in the future to backup any keys it finds, then restore them when FG exits, but thats a lot more work, still trying to learn FG itself :)

If your interested in this and want to try it, go download Autoit from Here. (https://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/downloads.shtml) I use the Scite editor for it also, its available on the same page. After you have autoit installed, create a new script and paste the following code into it. Hit F5 to check it for syntax errors, assuming there aren't any, hit F7 to compile it to an exe. Put the exe in your FG directory. Copy your FG2 folder to your USB stick, find your user folder (lets of other tutorials for that) and copy the CONTENTS of that to a folder called DATA on your USB stick. I have only used this on computers that didn't previously have FG, so haven't seen what it does to computers that all ready have it installed.

PS I didn't reverse engineer anything unless you count looking at my registry :P If Smiteworks has a problem with this though I won't post it again. It just makes things convenient for me, as I have a lot of computers I use.


FG2_RUN()

Func FG2_RUN()
FG2_REG_CREATE()
RunWait(@ScriptDir & '\FantasyGrounds.exe',@ScriptDir)
FG2_REG_DELETE()
EndFunc
Func FG2_REG_CREATE()
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","LicenseKey","REG_SZ","YOUR KEY HERE")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","LastUserName","REG_SZ","GM")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","InstallDir","REG_SZ",@ScriptDir)
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","DataDir","REG_SZ",@ScriptDir & '\Data')
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20","Name","REG_SZ","d20")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20","Package","REG_SZ","d20.pak")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\foundation","Name","REG_SZ","foundation")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\foundation","Package","REG_SZ","foundation.pak")
EndFunc
Func FG2_REG_DELETE()
RegDelete("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds")
EndFunc

[CampbellR66]

Could I suggest a Virtual machine To make the installation portable.. I did some experimentation using VMware and it did run ... I did not host a session however.

These VM images can be run from a USB drive .... recommend one with seperate power supply.

Or copy the VM image onto the host before running.


Just an idea.

[Astinus]

Works fine like that in Mac OS X :)

(Crossover and FG2 on stick... every "bottle" contains everything I want to install to that particular windows (currently some games and my work related windows-only stuff) so I have "3 different instances of windows xp on a stick")

Wine works in linux too, I suppose?

Just to be clear, are you saying you're able to put FGII on a USB stick, and use a program (U3, Crossover, not sure) to run FGII on a Mac? One of my players wants to get a Mac, but isn't sure about dual booting or other solutions. This one sounds painless, if it is so. Can it be so :D ?

[Ukki]

If you use mac then cheapest version is to use Crossover as then you don't need XP/Win7 license. Crossover standard costs 37 euros and for example I did get it bundled with other programs.

Just remember to start your fantasyground.exe with "-r" switch to prevent screen flicker.

I ran most of my games in mac nowadays.

That "in a stick" means I could get FG installed as a whole in USB stick with crossover. Remember that Mac don't use any stupid registers thus it won't matter where you run or install (or copy :)) your program.

If you wan't "free route" you can try wine which is free (and actually Crossover IS just repackaged wine).

[suntzu777]

i hose all my games from my boot camp partiton running xp , i have used crossover and that works reasonably well but if you want to run any other software like hamachi or vent than that could prove tricky

when i ran my games under crossover the games were a little flaky as the server could crash unexpectedly so i now only use vmware and use a bridges connection to my router which allows me to open the correct port

Rob

[Astinus]

Thanks for the tips. We do use TS and Hamachi, so I'll have to give it some thought. Cheers.

[ZorxPotz]

hej there ! i stumbled upon this thread and found it quite interesting. so i gave it a try due to the fact that i like the idea of taking my FG2 along and use it on different computers. said that i followed praxis advice (see a few posts above) and got it to work flawlessly so far with the suggested autoit software.
the only thing i can't do is adding rulesets, mods and extensions to it. all has been put as advised into the data folder at the root level of the usb stick.. along with the respective .pak file in the fg folder - but still it won't work for me - also other ideas and tries went in vain... i am not even sure where the problem could possibly be.
i altered the script which praxi provided but i failed since i am quite a noob when it comes to things like that ...

here' s an example how i tried to add moon_wizards D20_JPG to it :


FG2_RUN()

Func FG2_RUN()
FG2_REG_CREATE()
RunWait(@ScriptDir & '\FantasyGrounds.exe',@ScriptDir)
FG2_REG_DELETE()
EndFunc
Func FG2_REG_CREATE()
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","LicenseKey","REG_SZ","YOUR KEY HERE")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","LastUserName","REG_SZ","GM")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","InstallDir","REG_SZ",@ScriptDir)
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\2.0","DataDir","REG_SZ",@ScriptDir & '\Data')
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20","Name","REG_SZ","d20")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20","Package","REG_SZ","d20.pak")

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20_JPG","Name","REG_SZ","d20_JPG")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\d20_JPG","Package","REG_SZ","d20_JPG.pak")

RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\foundation","Name","REG_SZ","foundation")
RegWrite("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds\Rulesets\foundation","Package","REG_SZ","foundation.pak")
EndFunc
Func FG2_REG_DELETE()
RegDelete("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Fantasy Grounds")
EndFunc

as i mentioned it didn't work out .. any hints of you scripting specialists ??

any help is greatly appreciated - thanks very much - zorX

[drahkar]

As was mentioned earlier. Your best bet on a windows system is probably U3: https://www.u3.com/

[ZorxPotz]

hm .. buying an extra smart drive seems not the best solution to me, because on the one hand there´s extra money to spend, while on the other it looks as if my problem is only related to an incorrect scripting. everything works fine - the only thing i need to fix is an additional ruleset (or extension) to be included for 100% satisfaction.

another major disadvantage to me with u3 system is e.g. when your at another computer that you leave your working environment at that desktop and enter a totally new one although you still might need it while running FG2.

[ZorxPotz]

hm, .. it seems there aren´t too many interested in having this software on a portable drive and making use of it from there - too bad! anyway, if there are any further advices related to my problem i am more than happy to hear them - all hints & tips are welcome! :)

btw - i also tried to contact praxi a while ago - but he seems to be offline or just not responding!:confused:

[Hye Jedi]

hm, .. it seems there aren´t too many interested in having this software on a portable drive and making use of it from there - too bad! anyway, if there are any further advices related to my problem i am more than happy to hear them - all hints & tips are welcome! :)

btw - i also tried to contact praxi a while ago - but he seems to be offline or just not responding!:confused:
I am definitely interested in doing this and am going to attempt to run on a U3 usb drive. I'll try and share my experiences once I get to trying it out.

[johros]

I suggest using mojopac

https://www.mojopac.com/


It should work with no problems, I have used it for gaming on my work computer (Crysis, WoW). It doesnt leave any traces on the host computer and works right out of the box. And it's free what more could you ask for?

Oh and it only works with windows XP that could be a problem.

[Scopique]

Damn! Johros beat me to it! XD

[Hye Jedi]

Sweet... I was just about to go deep into the thrawls of Package Factory to make my apps run on the U3, but I'm going to hold that off in lieu of MojoPac.

Thanks for the tip!