[Windows/OSX] Endless Sky nightly builds: Test the latest features

[M*C*O]

Update: These builds have been superseded by Continuous Builds.

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Currently, the only way to test the latest features mid-version is to compile the game from source. Since a lot of people seem to be either unaware of this or have trouble compiling the game, i decided to let my jenkins serve nightly builds for the game.

The Server can be found at https://ci.mcofficer.me and holds daily builds for both ES itself and the Endless Sky Map Editor[github.com]. Note that "daily" means "if any changes occured", so there won't be a build when no commits have been pushed that day.

The Map Editor is a standalone executable, just download and run it. Check the first comment for instructions on how to install the Nightly.





Post Updates

2018/07/27:
OSX Nightly builds are now available. This is very much untested, as i don't own a mac, so i can't offer detailed instructions. The archives can be downloaded here[github.com] and include the game data. This means that, unless you opt to download the Binary-only version, you don't have to follow the "How to Install" below.

If the nightly fails with an error similar to this, try the following steps:

1. Install homebrew[brew.sh]
   
2. Open a terminal and run the following commands:
   

   $ brew install libpng
   $ brew install libjpeg-turbo
   $ brew install libmad
   $ brew install sdl2

   (without the $, that's the usual annotation for a new line)

2019/01/11:
Updated URLs to point to ci.mcofficer.me (mcofficer.me:8080 is still supported, but discouraged)

2019/02/17
Created a batch script that automates the manual installation. Thanks to LaNc3lc3 for helping me debug for 3 hours.
2019/02/17 #2
Updated the Script URL to always point to the latest revision.

2019/02/22
The Script no longer fails to install to paths with spaces in them.

2019/03/02
The Script will use the .NET WebClient when available. This should fix some download issues for Users of Windows 7 and greater. Thank You, Bones :)

2019/04/25
The Script will prompt the User for an Installation Directory.

2019/11/02
Added EndlessPy as "experimental way".

2020/01/19
Since my server died, i took the opportunity to change some things as far as the build is concerned. Anyone using an update script will have to replace it with this[gist.githubusercontent.com]. Alternatively, just reinstall.

[M*C*O]

How to install

The easy way

Download this script[gist.githack.com] (make sure to save it as .bat file!) and run it.
Note that this has been tested only with windows 10, but i tried to maintain compatibility with at least windows 7 and perhaps even XP.
Should you encounter any issues, please upload the file "installnightly.log", otherwise i will not be able to help you.

The experimental way

If you're feeling bold, you may test this tool[github.com] i've been working on. Just download EndlessPy.exe from the latest release's assets and execute it. Be aware that some AntiVirus programs falsely detect this as malicious (my Avira did). If you don't trust me that far, follow the easy way above.

This is still in early stages of development, so if you encounter any bugs, it would be nice if you reported them with screenshots.

The hard way

Step 1: Clone or Download the Source Code
Since Endless Sky doesn't run as standalone executable, we first need download the necessary data files. There are 2 ways to do this:

1. Download the Repository manually. This has the downside of having to re-download the entire Repository again if changes to the datafiles happen.
   
2. Using Git to clone the Repository. Git is the version control system github uses. Instead of downloading the entire repository, git only downloads the changes that have been made to the repository at github since the last update.

To download manually, just download this archive[codeload.github.com] and unzip it whereever you want ES to be installed.

To clone the repository, we first need a git client of any sort. I will use the Github desktop client for this guide, but feel free to use your git client of choice.
First, head over to https://desktop.github.com/ and install the github desktop client on your computer. Open it, and go to File -> Clone Repository. Select the tab "URL", then enter "endless-sky/endless-sky" (without quotes). "Local path" is where ES will be installed, so change it to whatever you like. Once you're done, press "Clone". Github Desktop will download the repository now. If you ever want to update your datafiles, all you need to do is open Github Desktop and it will automatically pull the latest changes from the repo (You can tell it's pulling from the refresh symbol next to "Fetch origin").

Now you will have a directory that contains folders named "data", "images", "source" etc. For the rest of the guide, i will refer to this directory as "ES root".

Step 2: Download the required Libraries
Endless Sky requires some libraries to run. Download them from here[mcofficer.me], then unpack the archive and place the .dll files you find inside in your ES root.

Step 3: Download the EndlessSky.exe from Jenkins
Head over to the Jenkins server[ci.mcofficer.me]. You will see a link named "Artifacts of the last successful build", and below it the link to the EndlessSky.exe. Download it an place it in your ES root. Note: currently, there is no automated way to download the latest nightly builds, you have to do this manually - there is no need to re-do steps 1 and 2, though.

Edit: there is a small script available:

Originally posted by M*C*O:

I made a small script that downloads the latest nightly before launching ES. It's pretty much a makeshift construction (for example it downloads the nightly every time, regardless of whether you have the latest version already), but it gets the job done. Just put it in the same folder as the EndlessSky.exe and run it.
https://gist.githubusercontent.com/MCOfficer/96f02a3e91c043d25ed74b3d26cb2d61/raw/ESUpdate.bat

Have fun with your ES nightly build!

[Ker]

Pinned

[ほむーもん]

Is the mcofficer.me link dead?

[warp_core]

Originally posted by mewls:

Is the mcofficer.me link dead?

Works for me.

[M*C*O]

Originally posted by mewls:

Is the mcofficer.me link dead?

I can't guarantee 100% uptime for my server, you probably just happened to hit a downtime. If it doesn't work, just wait a few hours and try again.
If i run into any major problems, i will post here to keep you updated.

[Cosette]

so basicly i can just play 1 nightly build forever?

[Cosette]

btw now that i have downloaded all the files and do everything u say it says that it cannot find the .dll files (do i need to put them in a folder? that is inside of endless-sky-master?)

[Cosette]

please reply when possible

[Cosette]

it can find all of them exept 4 of them

[Cosette]

it cannot find glew32.dll libjpeg-62.dll OpenAL32.dll libmad-0.dll what should i do? they are there before u ask

[M*C*O]

crap, the one extended period of time i don't check my steam is the time you ask questions... sorry for the late reply.

Originally posted by Kirito:

so basicly i can just play 1 nightly build forever?

yep. you don't have to update.

Originally posted by Kirito:

it cannot find glew32.dll libjpeg-62.dll OpenAL32.dll libmad-0.dll what should i do? they are there before u ask

if they are in the same folder as the EndlessSky.exe, I have no idea why it doesn't work, so my guess is that they aren't.

[Cosette]

they are there but it doesnt see them

[Cosette]

Originally posted by M*C*O:

crap, the one extended period of time i don't check my steam is the time you ask questions... sorry for the late reply.

lol no problem

[Cosette]

oh sorry i missunderstood in witch folder should the .dll files be

[Cosette]

are u still updating the nightly builds?

if yes then what time (utc+0) are u updating it?