Is there any video tutorial of downloading collections or levelsets for android?

[Blazindudereflamed]

I am a bit confused to download custom content into my RND game.

[Holger]

I agree that adding new level sets to the Android version of R'n'D is not as easy as dragging and dropping level set zip files right into the R'n'D window running on Windows, Mac or Linux. But at least it comes close:

- download and install R'n'D for Android (apparently you already did that)
- download any level package for R'n'D in zip format, using your favorite web browser on Android
- when asked which app to use to open it, select the R'n'D app (the green emerald icon)
- R'n'D is started and imports the level package
- restart R'n'D and select the newly installed level set

When done, please create a nice video tutorial which I can link to from the "Levels & Artwork" page! You will get proper credits for it, of course!

[Blazindudereflamed]

I agree that adding new level sets to the Android version of R'n'D is not as easy as dragging and dropping level set zip files right into the R'n'D window running on Windows, Mac or Linux. But at least it comes close:

- download and install R'n'D for Android (apparently you already did that)
- download any level package for R'n'D in zip format, using your favorite web browser on Android
- when asked which app to use to open it, select the R'n'D app (the green emerald icon)
- R'n'D is started and imports the level package
- restart R'n'D and select the newly installed level set

When done, please create a nice video tutorial which I can link to from the "Levels & Artwork" page! You will get proper credits for it, of course!

Hey Holger! I just made one! The link is here: https://youtu.be/Vq1ktpAfhMw?si=XJkfW4YIQUZF8H_9

[Holger]

Wow, that's cool! Maybe it is also helpful for others! So I will add a link to it to the "Levels & Artwork" page, as mentioned.

I'll let you know when it's there -- which will hopefully not take much more time than you needed recording that video...

[Holger]

Added the link to your video tutorial now -- you can find it on the Levels & Artwork page!

Thank you for your contribution!

[filbo]

Where is the new link on Levels & Artwork?

[Holger]

Where is the new link on Levels & Artwork?

Right there in the first section:

Note for Android: Directly accessing the data directory of the Rocks’n’Diamonds app is getting harder with every new Android version, so opening the zip archive of the level package with the Rocks’n’Diamonds app to install it is the best option now. There is even a video tutorial that describes how to do it!

[filbo]

Some sort of caching problem then... I just re-followed the link from this message and it was still the old version. Then reloaded the page and it finally showed up.

[BrownSky]

the link has gone from the downloads page, and the original YouTube video is gone too - yes I realize the two things are probably related

Holger I don't suppose you have your own copy of the video you can locally host?

A question about the Downloads page; it says:

Windows Rocks’n’Diamonds/levels in your Documents folder
Android Android/data/org.artsoft.rocksndiamonds/files/levels in your Device storage folder

Now this certainly seems accurate for Android, as I have been running up against the impossibilities of adding levels into this location manually; obviously I should have used the zip approach.

But for Windows, and I guess Apple and Linux, isn't this only half the story? Or one third? Because every install comes with a levels subfolder in the program directory, and although when installed, Windows makes it almost as hard to add levels to this folder as Android does, if the RnD is the portable version, the levels folder is wide open for pasting/dragging levels into. Which is the only way of giving multi-user access to the same levels, I believe.

So, it would be good to explain this, I think, as it is a really beneficial / good aspect of the game as it is currently. TBH I can't imagine why any Windows user would want to install RnD, as opposed to using the portable version.

I guess Android, being a single-user system, has no equivalent to this? Although I think that behind the scenes, Android is or can be, multi-user.

On the other hand, Microsoft seem to be wanting to make Windows do away with common programs, with massive programs like VS Code wanting to install into the user directory. So maybe all OSes are heading in the same direction.

John

[Holger]

Yes, I should have mentioned it here -- that video disappeared soon after its release, so I removed the link again. Unfortunately, I have not downloaded it to self-host it on my site.

(That's why I usually prefer to put everything on my site -- things on the net disappear faster than you can blink... )

Now this certainly seems accurate for Android, as I have been running up against the impossibilities of adding levels into this location manually; obviously I should have used the zip approach.

Yes, that's the recommended way to add levels on Android!

Because every install comes with a levels subfolder in the program directory

Do not install additional level sets there -- they will be gone after each program update.

I guess Android, being a single-user system, has no equivalent to this? Although I think that behind the scenes, Android is or can be, multi-user.

Yes, as every Unix system, Android is a multi-user system. (For example, you can add more than one user on a family tablet.)

However, if you install an app, it is usually only available to the user who has installed it (although Android is usually clever enough to not store an app a second time that was downloaded from the Play Store after another user has already installed it -- not sure about side-loading, though.)

But if you want to install large level collections, they will be duplicated in each user's user data directory, as installing stuff in a directory inside an APK file is not possible (and should never be done if it would be possible -- see above).

On the other hand, Microsoft seem to be wanting to make Windows do away with common programs, with massive programs like VS Code wanting to install into the user directory. So maybe all OSes are heading in the same direction.

Really? That sounds crazy! I thought it would go into something like "C:\Programs" or something shared like this...

[BrownSky]

Do not install additional level sets there -- they will be gone after each program update.

How about when the installation is the zip version? - I guess still vulnerable to loss depending on how the version upgrade is done, but then the zip version isn't really about easy upgrading, is it?

But in another sense, the zip version is easy to upgrade, if you just paste all the new files and subfolders into the root directory, and tell the file manager to replace old versions of files with new versions. - that should protect user-created levelsets. There is some danger of deprecated components hanging around, and another user did point out that if the program logic is sufficiently complex, that could lead to different baheviours. But still, that doesn't seem like much of a concern.

The point is, that this approach, of storing the levelsets in the \levels subfolder of a zip-based install, is the easiest way that I know of to allow different Windows user accounts to share a common set of levelsets.

The other alternative I can think of would be to add a feature to R'n'D, to allow specifying of a folder path for it to load levelsets from. This would break the nastiness of having to choose between levelsets restricted to a single user and risking loss of all the custom levelsets.

With this idea, the local levelset in the user's Documents folder would still be available, and the levels\ subfolder in the program directory, so no loss of functionality, just a great enhancement to R'n'D's multi-user friendliness.

Holger, could we have this enhancement please?

[Holger]

Do not install additional level sets there -- they will be gone after each program update.

How about when the installation is the zip version? - I guess still vulnerable to loss depending on how the version upgrade is done, but then the zip version isn't really about easy upgrading, is it?

Well, one could also say: What could be easier than unpacking a zip file? Start the R'n'D program inside it, and that's it!

This also had the big advantage that it is extremely easy to go back to any previous version: If you wonder if some behavior is new with the latest version, or if it was always there, just start R'n'D from an older extracted zip file and quickly check it.

But I may have to correct what I wrote above ("Do not install additional level sets there -- they will be gone after each program update") -- maybe the installer from the "setup.exe" file just overwrites existing files with the new ones, and keeps additional level set files where they are. But I have never tested this... If it keeps old files, upgrading would be easier with the installer than with the zip package.

But in another sense, the zip version is easy to upgrade, if you just paste all the new files and subfolders into the root directory, and tell the file manager to replace old versions of files with new versions. - that should protect user-created levelsets. There is some danger of deprecated components hanging around, and another user did point out that if the program logic is sufficiently complex, that could lead to different baheviours. But still, that doesn't seem like much of a concern.

Yes, this should also work fine. Old stuff should either be overwritten with new files, or should be ignored (if things are not used anymore in later versions).

But pasting the contents of a newly extracted zip package over the contents of a previous one may be counter-intuitive for many people, I think...

The point is, that this approach, of storing the levelsets in the \levels subfolder of a zip-based install, is the easiest way that I know of to allow different Windows user accounts to share a common set of levelsets.

Yes, you may be right here! Early versions of R'n'D (long before Windows was supported by R'n'D) indeed used a "shared" directory to allow playing on multi-user platforms (Unix) without the need to install everything for every user separately.

But later versions focussed more on single-user systems.

The other alternative I can think of would be to add a feature to R'n'D, to allow specifying of a folder path for it to load levelsets from. This would break the nastiness of having to choose between levelsets restricted to a single user and risking loss of all the custom levelsets.

With this idea, the local levelset in the user's Documents folder would still be available, and the levels\ subfolder in the program directory, so no loss of functionality, just a great enhancement to R'n'D's multi-user friendliness.

Holger, could we have this enhancement please?

Yes, of course -- it's already there:

Code: Select all

$ ./rocksndiamonds --help

Usage: rocksndiamonds [OPTION]... [HOSTNAME [PORT]]

Options:
  -b, --basepath DIRECTORY              alternative base DIRECTORY
  -l, --levels DIRECTORY                alternative levels DIRECTORY
...

That should do just what you need!

[BrownSky]

Well this looks amazing. I wanted to check it out before coming back to you. First, I wanted to look at the complete list of options. So, I tried this on my Windows system:

Command prompt:

E:\>rocksndiamonds.exe --help

E:\>rocksndiamonds.exe /?

The first one didn't do anything,
the second one started RnD, seemingly like normal.

PowerShell 7.7.6

PS E:\rocksndiamonds.exe --help
PS E:\rocksndiamonds.exe /?

Exactly the same as with the command prompt.

I checked the rocksndiamonds.log file, in case the command output is written to it,
which would be weird, but anyway:

There are warnings, and none of them seem relevant:

[WARN] cannot read directory 'E:\music'
[WARN] cannot read directory 'E:\music'
[WARN] cannot find any valid level series in directory 'E:\levels\removed4deletion'
[WARN] -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[WARN] cannot find artwork file 'rhythmloop.wav'
[WARN] trying default artwork file 'rhythmloop.wav'
[WARN] cannot find default artwork file 'rhythmloop.wav'
[WARN] cannot find music directory with unconfigured music
[WARN] no level template found for this level
[WARN] -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[WARN] unknown token(s) found in config file:
[WARN] - config file: 'E:\levels\Gems\editorsetup.conf'
[WARN] - token: '19-dec-24'
[WARN] - token: 'D'
[WARN] - token: 'D'
[WARN] - token: '[all'
[WARN] - token: 'should replicate either'
[WARN] -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dunno what I am doing wrong

Next I will just try passing a string for one or other of the 2 options you gave. I will do it on a system I haven't put R'n'd on yet, so it will give me a blank slate

Just on the face of things, the levels option looks crystal-clear, but the basepath one doesn't - I can think of at least a couple of ways that it could be applied:
- points RnD to a folder where everything except the exe is; DLLs, graphics folder, levels folder [unless the latter is specified by the levsls option?]
- only used for reading the DLLs?
- only points to subfolders other than \levels?

I can't see any point to having the exe on its own and everything else in a different folder. The exe and the DLLs always belong together, don't you think?

So I'm wondering why have a basepath option, instead of one for each of:
- levels [already done]
- graphics
- sounds
- music

???

I hope to find out whether when the -levels option is specified, RnD 'switches' to that path, or whether it adds that path,
while keeping the default path

[Holger]

That sounds strange! I must admit that it is a long time ago since I last tested using command line switches on Windows, but I was sure that this still works -- apparently not!

I will test this by myself as soon as I can, and check if something has to be changed to have command line options work again on Windows!

[Holger]

OK, just tested this on Windows 10, and everything works as expected (well, more or less)!

For whatever reason, R'n'D on Windows does not print its output to the command line -- but you will find it in the file "Documents/Rocks'n'Diamonds/rocksndiamonds.log". So it you start the game in the command line ("cmd"), using the "--help" option does not echo to the command line, but write it to the logfile.

You can also test the following to see that everything works as it should: Execute "rocksndiamonds.exe -l ." to use the current directory instead of the "levels" directory (to attempt to access the packaged levels), and you will be greeted by an empty level (if one of the packaged level sets was the last active level set). This proves that everything works as it should (because there are no level sets outside the "levels" directory). Use a valid level directory, and it will be used instead of the default level directory. (This sets the path for the packaged levels -- your personal levels will always be found and used).

Hope that works for you, too!