Installing the toolset

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Revision as of 16:12, 3 November 2009 by Allan Smith (Talk | contribs) (Authentication: This section no longer relevant to general release version of the toolset)

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The Dragon Age Toolset installer comes with several pieces of third-party software that are needed for the toolset to function. They are:

  • DirectX 9.0c
  • Visual C Runtime Library
  • Microsoft SQL Server Express 2005 Edition
  • Nvidia PhysX drivers

These components will be installed along with the toolset by the toolset's installer.

Location

The first screen you'll get to after starting the installer and passing the title page is the install location selector. The toolset can only install the program into a specific subdirectory of the Dragon Age game directory, so you won't be able to alter the installation path; it's for informational purposes.

Note: MSSQL Express 2005 is bundled with this toolset and is required for it to function. Unfortunately, MSSQL Express 2005's installer has a limitation that prevents it from installing to a directory path that's longer than 58 characters.[1] If you've installed Dragon Age to a directory with a longer path than this, an error message will pop up indicating the problem. The solution is to uninstall Dragon Age: Origins and reinstall it in a directory with a shorter path length.

Components

The next screen after location has been selected is where you can choose which components to install. There are only two selectable components here; Core Resources (the toolset itself) and Microsoft SQL Server Express. To run the toolkit you'll obviously need to install the Core Resources option. SQL Server is presented as a separate option so that if you already have a database server installed on your system you can use that instead of installing a whole new one.

If you don't have an SQL server installed, or if you don't know whether you have one installed, it's safe to go with the default and install SQL Server Express. SQLServer's installer will check the existing components and, finding that all required components are already in place, won't do anything after you click "finish."

Manual database selection

If you choose not to install SQL Server Express, the installer will ask for a database server and database name to install the toolset's resource database to instead. The default server is .\SQLEXPRESS and the default database name is bw_dragonage_content.

Installation

Once you have selected these options the Dragon Age toolset will begin the installation process. This can take a while. When the install process is finished you'll be given the option to read a readme.txt file.

The toolset will create a start menu folder named "Dragon Age". The start menu folder will include a link to start the toolset, a link to the toolset's uninstaller, and a link to the toolset's external configuration utility.

The installer will write a log file in your My Documents folder. If installation fails this log file will be helpful for debugging purposes.

If you are installing over a previous version of the toolset, you may need to update the format of your old database to make it compatible with the new version of the toolset. See database migration for details.

Lightmapper

The lightmapper is the tool used to calculate lighting in level layouts. You only need to use it if you're going to be creating or modifying level layouts. The lightmapper included with the toolset requires Python to run but Python isn't currently bundled with the toolset, so if you don't already have it installed you'll need to do the following:

  1. Install Python 2.5
  2. Install the win32all extensions for Python 2.5

Note you can do both of these steps at once if you install Activestate Python 2.5, which comes with the needed extensions.

Configuration

The external configuration utility is used to configure the toolset's database connection. You shouldn't need to run the configuration utility during routine usage of the toolset, and if the defaults set up by your installer work you may not need to run it at all.

The default database string is "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=bw_dragonage_content;Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS". For advanced configuration, click on the ellipsis button (Ellipsis.png) to open the data link properties window.

Note that the configuration utility will first ask where the game build is. The game executable is not currently available for distribution but it is not necessary for the toolset to run so there's no need to be concerned about this.

Uninstallation

An uninstaller shortcut is available from the same start menu folder as the toolset itself. It will autodetect the location you installed the toolset in, display it to you to confirm that this is correct, and then after you click "next" it will ask which components to uninstall.

  • Core Resources - uninstalled by default, this is the toolset itself.
  • Database - Since the uninstaller can't automatically determine if you're using SQLServer Express purposes other than just the Dragon Age toolset, SQLServer is not uninstalled automatically by default. To have the uninstaller remove the database server as well, unselect this checkbox.

The uninstaller is generated on installation and therefore isn't signed. This may cause Vista to complain under some circumstances but shouldn't affect the uninstaller's functioning.

Troubleshooting

See installation troubleshooting for a list of common problems that can occur during installation and how to correct or work around them.

If you experience a crash logs can be found in My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Toolset\logs. The log filenames will include the date on which the log file was created. Sending in a log will help greatly with bug fixing.


Firewall issues

In its current pre-release state, the toolset requires constant internet access in order to deliver telemetry. If you use a router or firewall you will need to ensure that the toolset can connect properly with the outside world. If the internet connection is lost the toolset will pop up the authentication window again.


Documentation

Documentation is currently provided via the wiki at:

http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/