3 main problems with having a game on portable device:
- Gameplay is saved on C drive in some dark location
- The game requires data reckoned in the registry to run
- The game requires .Net, directX 9.0c or physX which not all public PCs have preinstalled
These problems can usually be fixed manually:
SavedGames folder can be redirected with a symbolic link to your portable device, so you take them with you.
Necessary data in registry can be caught during game installation with fx Regshot and figured out, so those necessary lines later can be added with "REG ADD" before running the game.
And directX, physX etc. can be downloaded and installed.
Are there any portable application launcher that can manage symbolic links, registry settings and game requirements during its launching, so it doesn't have to be manually done for every game???
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I made some of my games portable for personal use. I never needed to use symbolic links.
Normally you adjust the path to save games and direct it to the data folder in each of your portable games folder. Sometimes it is possible to tell the game that the save games need to be stored locally instead of the documents and settings folder for example by an undocumented entry in the games' ini or config file (The Elder Scrolls - Oblivion) or by setting relative paths instead of absolute ones (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, Thief 3),. This can be donme by changing an entry in the config file or in the registry. Older games tend to store their savegames in a SAVES subfolder of their main folder. Then you can move the savegame folder in there during start up and move it back to the portable data folder after finishing the game. As the copy action on th esame drive just happens in the partition's file table and no data gets moved actually this is very fast.
A lot of games can be made portable. I have no example of one which needed the use of symbolic links. As long as you have access to the file path entry somewhere (config file, registry).
You loose registry settings when you plug into another machine...
They save all kinds of weird places like local application data, my games, company name\game name. It would be nice with a tool that just fix it whether it is on C drive or internal in game folders. So even internal game saves are kept when you delete the game.
Risen 2 save in two different places on win 7 and one on win xp...
You do not loose the registry settings because they are saved in a .reg file in the portable game folder after the game has ended. That is one of the many things the Portable Apps Launcher takes care of. Also it takes care of existing registry for a locally installed game entries such that they will be restored if the same game made portable has ended. If files are stored in some folders like under Documents and Settings and such you can simply move them back and forth between their 'official' location and the portable games data folder either as single files or as complete folders.
If you want to learn more about the PA Launcher please read the following:
https://portableapps.com/apps/development/portableapps.com_launcher
and
https://portableapps.com/manuals/PortableApps.comLauncher/
Maybe that helps you understand the 'mechanics' of portable apps (and games).
I have made several games portable for my personal use and yes, they are perfectly portable with all their registry entries and config changes. Some examples:
Blood 2
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Call of Priyat
The Elder Scrolls 4 - Oblivion
Thief / Thief Gold
Thief 2 - The Metal Age
Thief 3 - Deadly Shadows
Titanic - Der Tauchfahrt Simulator
Unreal
Unreal - Return to Na Pali
Also I have made several applications portable for my personal use which have the same mechanics when it comes to config files and registry entries.
All of these I can put on an USB Stick and take them with me without loosing anything.
I have tried to put something in portable applications folder, but if the game folder has more than one .exe fx. uninstall, mapeditor, gamelauncher etc, they all display in the menu.
And they say that stuff that requires .Net etc external can't be made portable.
So to make it portable you register registry settings during installation to make a .reg file?
Still I was looking for an application launcher, that would when you press launch a game first check if the OS has the game required fx. .Net, DirectX, PhysX, Visual C++ redist and install it, then make registry settings and correct game save location. AND keep default profiles of games/applications so you wouldn't have to specify requirements and save locations for every game.
I think making it portable just to have it appear in portable menu is more difficult than just making a batch file. Only downside is that batch files all have the same icon. Fx. to launch "Company of Heroes" I use this
ECHO OFFmd "%DOCUMENTS%\My Games\Company of Heroes"
md "%CD%\..\Documents\Saved Game Data\Company of Heroes"
REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Sysinternals\Junction" /v EulaAccepted /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
JUNCTION\junction.exe -d "%DOCUMENTS%\My Games\Company of Heroes"
JUNCTION\junction.exe "%DOCUMENTS%\My Games\Company of Heroes" "%CD%\..\Documents\Saved Game Data\Company of Heroes"
CD "THQ\Company of Heroes"
RelicCOH.exe -unlock_all_missions
CD ..\..
JUNCTION\junction.exe -d "%DOCUMENTS%\My Games\Company of Heroes"
One more thing btw: If the games were portable on my drives, I'm not sure portableapps would work, because I got two 1T USB drives, one with tons of videos and portableApps + applications and a separate partition for downloads also with portable download applications that obviously can't appear in menu because they are on another drive. And then I got games on the second USB drive.
I don't think another portableapps would work there. Fx. have you tried in a commandprompt to check environment variables with "set", portableapps have more settings there than the system. And if two portableapps were launched they would probably mix up.
Frankly, I do not understand what your concern is.
The Portable App Launcher takes care of all necessary actions before the game.exe is run and after the game has ended. Of course you have to tell the launcher what it has to do by a .ini file it reads. Most things are automated by the launcher so you only need to tell it that it needs to put registry entries into registry and remove them afterwards, to move directories and files back and forth, to replace file paths and so on. That is far more advanced than a batch file.
For games to run the machine you want to run it needs some software modules as you describe it: DirectX etc. The VC++ Redist can be taken care of by putting the appropriate .dll file into the app folder where the portable game resides. You can not expect an office PC to run your demanding games properly.
If you put just the raw game folder into the Portable Apps Platform subfolder then you see all the .exes of the game there. Therefore the Portable Apps Launcher is used to launch the game and to present only on icon in the Portable Apps platform.
If you want ot make games portable the right way read the documentation about the PA Launcher I can not help you more than that because I do not understand what you want. It is everything there. I started with very simple examples and worked my way through to the more advanced games. Of course this forum was and is a valuable resource for me.
Thanks for the reply.
I will read that launcher documentation and try it.