Packaging

Tools Used
Windows packaging is down with the NSIS scripting language. To compile the NSIS script you will need to download the NSIS program from http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page. It is also helpful to have an editor for syntax highlighting. Many are available from links on the NSIS site. Currently we have been using this one: http://hmne.sourceforge.net/.

Compiling the Installer
The installer script is compiled with the MakeNSISW command. This command can be run from the windows explorer right click menu (it will be named "Compile NSIS Script") or there may also be a corresponding command in the NSIS editor you are using (for HM NIS there is a compile command). The installer script is meant to be compiled from it's current location which is trunk/game/packaging. It must be run from this location because it uses relative paths in order to find all the files that must be included in the installer.

Gathering Dependencies
There is an empty directory in SVN called trunk/game/packaging/dependencies. This directory is reserved for any 3rd party files and executables we may wish to include in our installer. It is the packagers responsibility to gather any such files and place them in the dependencies directory before compiling the script. One such example is the OpenAL sound libraries we use (oalinst.exe). If the NSIS compiler cannot find all dependency files it will generate an error and the installer will not be created.