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ByCrom UI Patcher - The AoC Swiss Knife
by Nefersety - EU PVE Server Crom
Nefersety's customized UI of choice: InspirationUI
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ByCrom is a lightweight, compact and standalone program that takes care of the most common maintenance tasks involved in using AoC.
Besides updating the UI components version numbers on a per-file basis, with no manual intervention needed, it sports an advanced option to completely and automatically uninstall any custom UI, no matter where its files are located inside the client folder structure. It also has a feature to optimize your operating system to avoid memory-related issues.
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Key Features
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In spite of being a small and very portable application, ByCrom includes some advanced features to improve its usability and reliability:
[Advanced version number detection]
If you use ByCrom to patch the version number of your custom UI to make it compatible with the current AoC build, it will do everything by itself. There are no residue xml files to update manually when it finishes its file scan.
[Automatic Windows optimization to prevent memory issues]
Even though according to Craig "Silirrion" Morrison, the new AoC Game Director, the so-called "PVP patch" has reduced memory related issues by a good 80-90% (gj Funcom!), there are still players experiencing them. This new option of ByCrom analyzes your system to determine if it is safe to reconfigure Windows to allocate more memory to AoC, and if so it does it for you, taking the necessary steps whether you run Windows XP or Vista. Using this same technique I've played AoC without a single grey map since launch.
[Fully automated Custom UI uninstall and unneeded files removal]
This is ByCrom's most advanced feature.
As you probably know, the AoC client patcher is aware of which files are supposed to be present in a healthy AoC installation. Proof of this is the fact that if you, for instance, modify, delete or rename an XML file in the Default subtree, next time you launch the game the file will be downloaded again. That's the reason behind the presence of the Customized folder in the game client.
ByCrom takes advantage of this feature to dynamically understand which files have been added by the user, or discarded by FunCom, to remove them without touching anything the patcher thinks is needed to run the game.
That means it can completely uninstall even those Custom UIs, like Mirage, that have dependancies outside the Customized folder.
On top of that, the cleanup feature is useful to get rid of duplicate files that are originated when FunCom moves client components around. In those cases the patcher downloads the file to its new location, leaving the old copy behind to occupy unused space on your disk. ByCrom detects the old file is no longer protected by the patcher and removes it.
All deleted files are moved to the Recycle Bin, from where you can restore some or all of them, should you want to undo the cleanup process.
[Compact and lightweight]
ByCrom is just a single executable file, with no external dependancies that aren't already included in Windows XP or Vista. No need to install or upgrade .NET framework or the like: just drop it anywhere and double click on it.
[Automatic Client Folder Detection]
You don't need to browse around to tell ByCrom where you installed Age of Conan: whether it was the default location or not, it will find it by itself.
If the Registry information needed for automatic detection is missing, and a valid client location is manually provided by the User, ByCrom will attempt to restore your registry data to their proper value.
[Automatic privileges management under Windows Vista]
ByCrom automatically requests administrative privileges under Windows Vista, to be granted the access rights needed to update or delete files under the "\Program Files" or "\Program Files (x86)" directories, which are AoC setup's default target folders.
[Optimized for ClearType™]
ClearType is a feature introduced by Microsoft in Windows operating systems starting from Windows XP. It greatly improves font readability on digital displays and less on CRT monitors. ByCrom is optimized to take advance of ClearType technology.
ClearType is active by default on Windows Vista, while it has to be manually enabled on Windows XP. To activate ClearType on Windows XP follow this procedure:
- Right-click on a blank area of the Desktop and in the popup menu that appears left-click on "Properties"
- Click on the "Appearance" Tab
- Click on the "Effects" button
- Make sure the "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" check box is checked
- In the drop-down combo box select "Clear Type"
- Close all the dialog boxes by clicking on "OK". Don't click on "Cancel" or the change won't be saved.
[Exhaustive logging]
ByCrom logs the operations it performs as it performs them. You have all the feedback you need to understand what it does.
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Changelog
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Version 2.3.125
- ByCrom is now able to dynamically understand where the custom interface files are located inside the client's folder structure. This means it works on the current TestLive client, and will work without breaking on future AoC releases even if the client's directories structure is changed, provided the folder where the "Default" and "Customized" folders belong is still named "Gui".
- Fixed a bug that caused ByCrom to not recognize some client files as protected by the patcher when there were more than 256 files in a single folder. This bug didn't have any practical consequence on the Live client.
- Updated the download page address on Curse.com
- Removed the link pointing to ConanMods.com as the site doesn't seem to work anymore.
Version 2.2.110
- Added a new option to allow ByCrom to remove all bxml files also when patching a customized UI (Before it was only available when using the cleanup option). Credit goes to Alrond for suggesting this improvement.
- Added a new option that forces ByCrom to leave the content of the "scripts" folder untouched when the Cleanup operation is performed. Although it can be useful when using scripts, if activated could result in an incomplete uninstall of some UIs, like Mirage, that include scripts.
- Further improved the version recognition engine. Now ByCrom will be able to read the customized UI xml file version even when the author has unintentionally changed the format of the file header, provided it still follows Funcom's guidelines albeit loosely. In these cases it will try to "repair" the header while patching the file.
- Solved an issue that prevented the Cleanup option from removing read-only folders.
- When a new version is released, ByCrom will now open both the Curse and the ConanMods pages.
Version 2.0.98
- Added a new functionality that, if possible, automatically optimizes x86 versions of Windows XP / Vista to minimize the chance of getting memory related issues while playing AoC.
- Added the amount of maximum memory available to AoC in the log header
- Every time you start ByCrom, it will automatically check for updates and prompt the user to download the new version if it's been released.
Version 1.8.50
- Optimized performances of the version update engine. It is now quicker in disk read/write operations on those machines that have a slow disk subsystem.
- Removed a limit by design that prevented the cleanup option from deleting folders and files that didn't belong to the game client when they were inside folders that were not protected by the patcher. The cleanup option is now able to remove any unneeded file and folder, no matter what its position is.
- Following feedback from some users that found the maintenance options text difficult to understand, I have redesigned the interface to explain every option better and in a simpler language.
- As a consequence, the log has been greatly reduced in size. To compensate for this, the log size will be automatically increased when a maintenance operation is run, unless the form has been resized by the User to give the log enough space. There are two new buttons that allow the User to manually expand/minimize the log at will.
Version 1.6.41
- Added a browse (...) button that allows the user to manually provide the location of her/his Age of Conan client. Useful when for any reason automatic detection fails, or the User has more than one client installed.
- When automatic detection fails and a manual location is provided, ByCrom attempts to repair the registry information about the Funcom's Age of Conan last installed client key.
Version 1.5.35
- Fixed a client detection problem on some 64 bit systems
- Various interface tweaks and optimizations.
- Added the Cleanup option, which automatically uninstalls any file that doesn't belong to the AoC Client.
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User Agreement
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1. You agree to this agreement by downloading and using any and all files and intellectual property contained in this compilation.
2. You agree to NOT discredit any Author of their original work found in this compilation, be it code, graphics or intellectual property.
3. You agree to NOT hold any author responsible for any damage, data loss or any problems caused directly or indirectly by this compilation.
4. You agree to NOT use any material found in this compilation for monetary gain, as it is against Funcom's EULA agreement and it is NOT your right to make money off of other Author's work.
5. You may redistribute any and all files contained in this compilation ONLY if they remain unmodified, this user agreement is included and remains unmodified and proper credit to any and all Authors is given.
6. You may modify and redistribute any and all files contained in this compilation ONLY with the expressed written consent of any and all respective Authors.
7. If you do not agree then delete any and all files included in this compilation as well as previous and future versions of it, by doing this you implicitly agree to NOT use any and all material found in this compilation for any purpose.
8. Original Authors of Modifications included in the compilation have the final say in how any and all of their work is to be used, redistributed and modified, and in so doing taking precedence over any and all of the previously defined agreements.
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Installation
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There is no installation needed. Just unzip ByCrom anywhere on your disk and run it!
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Donations
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ByCrom is free for you to use, but of course if you want to give a cookie to show your appreciation for my work or to support my future hardware upgrades, that's more than welcome.
You can Paypal donate to my Paypal account nefersety(at)3dalchemy(dot)com
Thank you for downloading and using ByCrom.
See you all in Hyboria!
Follow the individual addon's installation instructions.
