PimpBot 4

[Yathosho]

over the last two weeks, i have taken the early pimpbot ui concept and added some functionality. the result is the first alpha version of pimpbot 4. it probably would deserve being called a beta instead, as it runs very stable. however, as long as not all of the features are implemented -you can currently only make avs installers- it will remain alpha.

so what's new?
-new ui: more responsive and more intelligent, should help you making any mistakes
-multiple instances will not interfere with each other (not that anybody should need this)
-if compilation fails, you can simply go back and fix your settings without the need to re-open pimpbot
-more apes supported
-more reliable ape detection
-some texer packs were included
-updated installer script

support for other plugins will follow, i also plan to add a completely new script for installers.

requirements:
-nsis 2.42 (or later)
-pimpbot 3.8.3 (only for now - to ensure you have all necessary files installed)

if you run into bugs or want to leave any sorts of feedback, please do so in this thread!

download:
PimpBot 4 α

[Yathosho]

forgot to mention, that pb4 already supports dropfolders and opening .pimp files (via drag&drop)

for a better impression of the ui changes, have a look at this!

[micro.D]

cooool!

[Yathosho]

didn't think it'd be so quick, but thanks to QOAL's contribution here comes a new alpha.

whats new?
-replaced ape detection (much faster)
-ui is more responsive
-runs standalone (previous alpha required existing pimpbot version)
-fixed a bug in the installer script

download:
PimpBot 4 α2

[Yathosho]

The first beta basically brings almost full functionality compared to the 3.x versions. You can now create installers for AVS, MilkDrop and SPS presets, open and create .pimp files, use DropFolder and a bunch of other things.

There are still a bunch of minor glitches, but room for improvement is primarily under the hood. PimpBot 4 should make it a lot easier to create installers.

I have only created a very feature limited installer, which uses a different install path than Pimpbot 3.x - so you can have both at the same time.

Download

[Yathosho]

couldnt post earlier, but shortly after my last post i noticed the dropdown menu for all will remain empty when trying to load a previous pack.

for now you can fix this by unzipping the attached file to your pimpbot beta installation path.

open the file and edit the value for PimpDir - any valid path will do.

[Yathosho]

i uploaded a new beta, mainly to fix some of the glitches mentioned above. it also has some new features, you can save default data sets into a file called defaults.ini (App Data\PimpBot). all included programs will run in multiuser environment by default (this can be tweaked though).

for future releases, i'm going to review the ape install routines (and channelshift's behaviour). there will also be a cheatsheet option for autocompletion of your website (type http://visbot.net to the url-field to see how it works!)

another thing i have to look into is pimpbot's multi-language option, which is currently the only feature working in the ui that doesn't apply changes to your installer. i might post some language files i need translated, hope you guys can help.

download pimpbot 4 beta2

[Yathosho]

i'm not numbering the betas anymore, but i have uploaded several new versions since my last post. the new version should install apes correctly and fixes some minor glitches regarding ui consistency. a major update has come to the installer, which now includes a dialog to specify your preferred .pimp file directory. it also integrates fully into an existing dropbox installation.

download pimpbot

[Yathosho]

another update! did some housekeeping and brought back some of the commandline switches (pimpbot.exe /? for details.) oh, and there was a bug with texer2 in the .pimp file creation.

as much as i see it, the pimpbot compiler is now feature-complete. next up i'm going to work on the installscript and on the runtime.

in the meantime.. download

[Yathosho]

<delete me>

[Yathosho]

my todo list is empty, the only thing missing is localization. so now it's testing, testing, testing!

get the first public beta and start using it!

http://pimpbot.whyeye.org/

[Yathosho]

if you're sticking to 3.x, please get the all new version at google code. functionality has not changed, but the new installer will make your transition to 4.x easier.

for those who upgraded already, there's a new beta version of 4.x available. most changes will remain invisible: some methods have been changed and some commandline switches have been added. the new version also brings back some of those useful scripts.

up next should be localization and possibly a new install script (maybe i'll keep that on the todo list for 4.1)

[Yathosho]

if you can help with translations, please use these language files as reference. the english language file has all new and modified strings marked with an asterisk (*)

native speakers of dutch, spanish and french might want to look over the included translations.

thanks!

[Yathosho]

multi language support and some internal changes. looks pretty good to me, though there are still some known bugs to be improved

PimpBot 4 pre-beta 3

[Yathosho]

Get the all new version!

Beta 3 (Changes?)

[Yathosho]

So, the news is that beta4 of PimpBot 4.0 will be the final version! In the last couple of days, I've added more features, improved some code and tested it heavily. The project pages are growing on information, basically putting the manual online.

New features since the last beta?
-added pre-compiler to test interface components for validity
-added a fuzzy-mode for DropFolder, respectively called FuzzyDrop
-added support for alternative UIs
-added new commandline switches
-added chinese translation
-fixed some GUI inconsistencies
-improved install script
-upgraded 3rd party components

What's missing?
-new default UI, will be added in 4.1
-support for other Winamp plugins, will be added in 4.1

How can you help?
Apart from testing all the features thoroughly, you can submit a translation of the installer script

When will it be available?
January 1st, 2011 - watch out here!

[Yathosho]

PimpBot 4.0 FINAL - Download

[Yathosho]

it simply works.. even on linux!

[Yathosho]

bugfixes, support for more texer packs and an improved installer

Download PimpBot 4.0.1

[Yathosho]

A first beta of PimpBot 4.1 is available now. Supports the creation of installers for any Winamp plugin, has an update check inbuilt and fixes some minor bugs.

Download

[Yathosho]

Four months after the initial release of the 4.x-series, here's the first new major version. As promised, it now features the support to create installers for any Winamp plugin. The installers might not be as perfected as those for AVS or MilkDrop, but they should work for most cases.

Whats New?
- update notifications
- support for any Winamp plugin
- more consistent interface
- updated components
- minor bugfixes

Download PimpBot

Already working on 4.2, which should introduce the long-promised new installer interface. As a step towards that, you can already disable the the components selection dialogue in latest release. With the improvements in APE installation over the last couple of releases, I find it unnecessary to present that option to the end-user.

[Yathosho]

if you've installed 4.1, you should've gotten an update notification by now. otherwise, let me notify you myself.

added a couple of minor features, some in preparation of the forthcoming 4.2, others improving your workflow. the backup tool and the runtime were also updated.

Get PimpBot 4.1.4

[Yathosho]

Uh-oh, I've noticed a severe bug in the APE detection that slipped in with version 4.0.1 already. It's been fixed in version 4.1.5 alongside another bug in a feature that nobody ever used (classic UI, opposed to the default Modern UI). In any case you should update and if you've used the APE detection recently, you should rebuild your installers using the new version.

Thanks to QOAL's amazing new plugin, PimpBot 4.2 will introduce the detection for resource files (images, videos etc.) - probably the last feature most of you have been missing. I've also refined the update check and I still plan to implement the long-announced new installer interface and an improved (slimmer) setup.

Get the download!

[Yathosho]

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Alright, I'm sure you ran into a comment about your installer being a virus, trojan or any other kind of possible malware. I've investigated a little and found that the Upack header compression is the only reason that produces these false positives. So, I've decided to switch for UPX compression. This means that installers will be slightly bigger (we're talking about 3kb here, so nobody will care), but the problem with false positives should be reduced dramatically.

I've uploaded the same installer with different types of compression to VirusTotal, here are the results for UPX and Upack compression and without any header compression.

In other words: UPGRADE!

There were also a couple of other changes:

code:
 * Compiler: added support for UVS resource files

 * Compiler: improved subfolder detection for preset files

 * Compiler: increased tolerance on missing components

 * Compiler: modified components checker

 * Backup: switched default header compression to UPX

 * modified install script debugger

 * switched default header compression to UPX

 * fixed a bug in uninstaller

Download PimpBot 4.2 b3

[Yathosho]

for the wise of you that have migrated their plugins dir into userspace, installers created with the latest beta no longer require admin privileges - same goes for pimpbot runtime. the majority still using the default avs location will have to live with installers requiring admin rights.

also updated some this & that (tm), refer to the changelog for all changes.

beta 4 is likely the last beta before the final release, grab it here!

[Yathosho]

At last, the final version of PimpBot 4.2 is here. It's the first version that feels feature-complete and not only by 4.x standards - the new version has all the features I ever imagined. A big thanks goes once again to QOAL, without whom's help there wouldn't be that new "Magic" button, a scanner for all required files (Texer images, videos, GVM etc.)

The final version also features a working version of that long announced user interface, though that still needs some work in detail.

Another nice feature, is the previously mentioned possibility to run installers in user-mode, though that requires the user to have his Winamp plugin directory in user-space as well. Fortunately, you can use PimpBot's own migrator to do just that for you. This and other tools came with previous version of PimpBot, but for the very first time you can compile them directly from the (new) installer.

For the next versions, I've only got plans for the install script. Mainly I'm trying to make the source more readable and I'm improving some things on the new interface. Until the, have fun with Pimpbot 4.2!

Download PimpBot

[QOAL]

Okay, I'm confused.

I've just had a little play with 4.2 and it seems to copy every (selected) resource file type in the resource folder, not what avstools (sh|w)ould return, so you get huge pile of files in the installer. :S

Am I doing something wrong? (Or am I missing this 'Magic' button?)


Also for the actual pimpbot installer, the default path for the AVS dir is "C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins\avs", which is wrong for me -- does it not auto detect it's location?

[Yathosho]

i just got out of hospital and will look into it in the next couple of days

[Yathosho]

Originally Posted by QOAL

Also for the actual pimpbot installer, the default path for the AVS dir is "C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins\avs", which is wrong for me -- does it not auto detect it's location?

folder detection works in this order:

1. get winamp installation path from registry
2. read winamp.ini for VISDir (D:\Anywhere\You\Want\..\avs)
3. if VISDir is empty, use default structure based on installation path (/Plugins/avs)
4. if all above fails, use default dir ($PROGRAMFILES\Winamp\Plugins\avs)

most of the time #4 fails is when people have copied their old winamp installation over the years, probably even using a different drive or directory name. if the winamp installation is proper, there should be no problem (verified using 2.9 and 5.5)

[Yathosho]

the update within pimpbot will fail when using 4.2 or 4.2.1, hence it's recommended to manually upgrade to the latest version!

[Yathosho]

a new version is out now, fixing some bugs with certain characters in filenames. also added more texer resources, improved the new installer ui and the pimpbot installer itself. unfortunately the automatic dropbox detection is no longer working when using the latest version of dropbox, this will hopefully be fixed in the next release. of course you can always specify your dropbox directory manually.

update notification should be working if you at least run pimpbot 4.2.2 (or some 4.1 version), otherwise get the new version below.

download pimpbot

[Yathosho]

Originally Posted by Yathosho

unfortunately the automatic dropbox detection is no longer working when using the latest version of dropbox, this will hopefully be fixed in the next release. of course you can always specify your dropbox directory manually.

i think this only applies when using the latest experimental builds of dropbox (1.2 and later), not the stable download

[Yathosho]

i've used this function since pimpbot 1.0 - turns out things can be sped up notably

speed: 4.2.3 vs 4.2.4

[Yathosho]

new! faster! better! hands up in the air!

Download PimpBot 4.2.4

[Yathosho]

if you using an ssd, you might be interested in using a alternate location for your temporay folder. pimpbot 4.3 allows just that by adjusting the %APPDATA%\PimpBot\settings.ini. it's the only change, but substantial enough to justify the jump to 4.3!

download pimpbot

[Yathosho]

quite some substantial changes lead to this new major version of pimpbot 4. the updater has a fallback url, .pimp file has been improved (no more accidental inclusion of unrelated files) and some of the advanced features can now be recreated from their .pimp files. also fixed a bug in the new ui and paved the ground for a new .pimp format (implemented but still disabled.)

this & more in pimpbot 4.4

[Yathosho]

pimpbot 4.4.4 beta

please test this thorougly!
thanks

[Yathosho]

beta 2
* new interface on vista/win7
* no longer requires admin privileges
* bugfixes, many of them

[Yathosho]

beta3
-visual improvements
-better font installation
-improved additional tools

probably one more beta before the final version. never tested a new release this thoroughly, but it's worth it!

[Yathosho]

beta4
-lots of bugfixes