Installing the new Alpha update

[jaf]

I apologize ahead of time if this question has already been answered, is in another thread, or is part of the installer.  I've been on travel and don't have access to my "Terragen2 computer" until tomorrow.

I got the email and downloaded the alpha version.  Should I uninstall my T2 first and then install the new build or simply install over my current T2?

[mcmiller]

I'm not sure what you should do. But I was thinking of this myself. I was afraid of writing over my purchased copy of TG2. So I simply installed to a separate folder under the Planetside directory.

[Oshyan]

Generally with any updates you should uninstall the old version first. Your key file should already be copied to your User Data folder the first time you registered the previous install. The new install should find the keyfile properly, but if not you will have to find the original file again (in email or hopefully on a backup you have made) and put it in the install directory as before. However as I said if you only uninstall the old version and then install the new one your old key should be recognized automatically.

- Oshyan

[gregsandor]

I installed 1.9.88.1 in a separate directory and it found the key right off the bat.  However, the files for the previous version vanished from their directory. I thought I'd run both.  The new version runs my TG2 files fine though.  I've now properly uninstalled TG2, reinstalled the new version.

[Oshyan]

The installer is not designed such that multiple versions can be installed at once, however it's still best to do a full uninstall of the old version before installing the new one.

- Oshyan

[jaf]

Thanks 

[Jeremy Ray]

The installer is not designed such that multiple versions can be installed at once,

Perhaps it's time to reconsider the installer?  I've had multiple builds of Blender installed in the past, each with a new advanced feature not yet in the official release, and I didn't pay money for Blender.

[Oshyan]

In general our successive versions are across-the-board improvements on previous versions so having multiple versions installed is not likely to be advantageous. In cases where that's not so we make the update optional. I agree that in those less common scenarious it might be nice to be able to have multiple versions available simultaneously, but I'm not sure what's involved in making this an option, and I know that most programs in fact don't allow it, so it's not necessarily a common feature. Nonetheless the request is noted.

- Oshyan

[bigben]

Just had my first peek at the alpha...

I have both versions installed OK on my system into different directories. Both work well but it is necessary to change the %terragen_path% environment variable to match the directory of the version in use (including 0.9). This may not be a problem if you haven't configured the environment variable, but then you need it if you're using the CLI.

[Matt]

It is possible to install multiple versions, and it is also possible to install over a previous install without uninstalling first. However, in cases where we're troubleshooting we like to recommend only having one version installed and to uninstall first, just to rule out any installation weirdness.

If you want to install multiple versions to multiple directories it's probably best to manually copy the program folder for your older versions, just in case the installer automatically removes the previous installation before installing its own version. Of course you are then responsible for that copy of the program folder, as when you come to uninstall it would only remove the most recently installed folder.

Matt

[Matt]

This may not be a problem if you haven't configured the environment variable, but then you need it if you're using the CLI.

The environment variable isn't strictly necessary for CLI use, but it allows TG to work correctly in situations where you haven't CD'd to the TG directory before running. In some scripting environments it's useful to have CD'd elsewhere, and in that situation TG needs the environment variable.

Matt

[Jeremy Ray]

It is possible to install multiple versions,

This is good news. 

[Oshyan]

Yes, it's certainly possible - TG2 operates fairly simply as an application and its install files can be copied around more or less willy-nilly and it will usually still work. That's the key to getting multiple versions working. You can also build support for multiple versions into the install process, by using versioned Add/Remove and Start Menu shortcuts, but this is something we don't currently do. So as far as the installer is concerned only one version should be present at a time and that's where you'll run into problems unless you copy the files first.

- Oshyan