Einstein Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 Step 1: Download & Install the W3D Hub Launcher Get the W3D Hub Launcher from the official source! Download here, or click the button in the "Quick Links" section at the top of our forum - (useful for instructing friends). This will take you to the Launcher page in our downloads section. Click the big blue Download button to get the installer. Once downloaded, run the installer and follow the prompts. Choose whether or not you want a desktop icon on the first screen, then press Next. Advanced users can choose an alternate install folder. This is useful if you have a small primary drive and want to keep your games on a secondary drive, or if you simply don't like the default location. This screen means you're done! Step 2: Configure & Update the Launcher Enable/Disable Automatic Error Reporting - On the first run, you will be prompted with a screen to opt in (or out) of automatic error reporting. Selecting either option will not affect functionality in any way. W3D Hub does not collect data about anyone. This features simply enables the launcher to send error reports to us automatically if it encounters a problem, instead of requiring that you submit them manually. Update the Launcher - The launcher contains an automatic updater that will run each time you open it. For the latest and greatest features and program stability, we recommend always installing the most current update when prompted. After an update installs, the launcher will restart normally, and display the new version number. Choose a Nickname - Pick a name that other players will never forget! Nicknames are required for online play. If you choose to not pick a nickname now, then you will be prompted to do so the first time that you join a server. This nickname will be retained, so you will not have to set it again unless you wish to change it. Keep in mind that offensive nicknames are not allowed, and a moderator will ask you to change your name if it is deemed inappropriate. To choose a nickname, navigate to the "Server Browser" tab, and press the "Set Nickname" button on the right side of the window. A smaller window will appear. Type in your desired nickname, and press Save. Your chosen nickname will be displayed on the left side of the window. Log in to the Launcher - Currently, logging into the launcher with your w3dhub.com/forum/ account credentials is not necessary, except for anyone who wishes to play Expansive Civilain Warfare (ECW). In the future, there will be more features that utilize the login function - Everything is a work in progress While logging in currently adds no function or benefit for other games, it is necessary for the function of ECW because of the unique way that ECW is built. Each player is unique, and you have things such as bank accounts, property ownership, and other settings which are retained from one match to the next. The best way to secure a player's account and verify ownership is to associate it with a forum account. To log in, simply click the "Login" button in the top right corner of the launcher window, enter your credentials into the small window that appears, and click "Login to W3D Hub". Thats it! Extra settings - Did you change your mind about automatic error reports? Or perhaps you decided that you want to change the location where games are installed, or where the launcher package cache exists. Do you prefer to use the launcher in your native language? Well you are in luck, as we have settings for that Access this screen by clicking on the cog/gear button in the top right corner of the launcher, next to the Exit and Minimize buttons. The launcher currently supports 10 languages, with more to come! Remember to hit "save" in the bottom right corner after making any changes here, else you'll be back! Community links - For your convenience, there are quick links to many of our communities and services on the Community tab, along with a brief change-log for the launcher program. From here, you can quickly jump to the W3D Hub Forum, our Discord server, Facebook page, and Teamspeak3 server. Step 3: Download & Install Games Download & Install a Game - Now that we have our launcher installed and up to date, lets download something a little more fun. Our games are listed as sidebar tabs on the "Games" main launcher tab. Selecting an icon from the left sidebar will open the section for that game. From there, you can browse news articles related to each game, but more importantly, this is where games are installed. Detailed installation steps below. Notice that some games, such as Red Alert: A Path Beyond have more than one version available for download. "Release" refers to the most current (Delta 3.x) and the other one is the Classic Beta 1.2 version from 2007. After choosing which version to install, hit the big blue Install button. The launcher will begin downloading packages for the selected game. If all goes well, you will be prompted with a message stating that the install was successful. You may encounter this message after the game installation is complete. Choose the option to download the .NET framework packages as shown below. This is very important, because none of our games will run without this package! This should only have to be done once. If you encounter this message (or any other), then please contact us in the #tech-support channel on our Discord server, and we will assist you. (Spoiler - it usually means that either your internet connection is unstable, or your hard drive is completely full!) Step 4: Configure your Game(s) Settings Configure your games to work best on your system - After installation has been completed, each game must be configured for your system. The launcher has a built-in settings screen for each game, located in each game's dedicated section of the launcher. Spoiler Note: The first time a game is launched, it will ignore many of the settings, regardless of what you have set them to. I recommend running the game once, quickly closing it, and then configuring your settings as needed. Hint: I usually set the game to run in windowed mode the first time (as that setting is one of the few that is respected on the first launch) because otherwise the game will default to 640x480 or 800x600 resolution, and will likely rearrange all your desktop icons In this example, I am configuring APB Beta 1.2 that I installed a moment ago. So I will navigate to the Games tab, APB section in the left pane, select the Beta 1.2 version, and then click the "Game Settings" button to bring up this screen. Many of these settings can be configured from within the game, but some can only be changed while the game is not running. This screen has everything from major settings such as Resolution and Detail levels, to smaller things such as toggles for defaulting to First/Third person, etc. Configuring wwconfig.exe - Anyone who has been playing Renegade or any W3D-engine game for any length of time remembers the days before our launcher - way back when all we had was the wwconfig tool. Westwood shipped a configuration tool for Renegade with the game, which is considered to be mostly a relic of the past, but we keep it around just in case the launcher's settings window doesn't work correctly, or for those who run W3D games without the launcher. After selecting a game and version (as before), select the "Install Folder" button. Doing so will open the folder in which that game resides, which is useful for many reasons. WWconfig.exe should almost always be the last file in the directory. Open it, and you will be greeted with this nifty little tool. Like on the launcher's game config screen, here reside many useful settings, most of them exactly the same as the launcher's config screen, but some different. Most people should never have to use this utility, but knowledge of what and where it is can help, just in case. Step 5: Go Play! Play a Game! - Once you have a game installed, you will notice that the buttons "Play Now" and "Single Player" have appeared at the bottom of the launcher. As the names suggest, "Play Now" will immediately launch you into an online multiplayer game on one of our servers, while the "Single Player" option will launch the game in offline mode, where you can explore all the maps by yourself, OR set up a good old fashioned LAN-party game! Additionally, you can navigate over to the "Server Browser" tab, to see a full list of servers for all of our games. All servers associated with games which are installed will show a "Join Server" button. Furthermore, games which have not yet been installed will give the option to install from this page as well. Notice that Renegade does not give an install option - because while our games are free, Renegade is still a game that must be purchased and licensed from EA. Importing Renegade Guide coming soon. Uninstalling a game Steps coming soon. Uninstalling the W3D-Hub Launcher Steps coming soon. [WIP] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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