Release v1.5.0 (beta)

Download: XCOM2_AlternativeModLauncher_1.5.0-beta.zip

Note that this is a beta-release and may contain bugs. Consider waiting for the final release to get a more polished experience.

Preface

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of updates. I have been pretty much the only contributor to AML during the last 2 years and real life kept me busy. Maybe I will consider to roll out smaller but more frequent updates in the future.

AML v1.5.0 introduces some new features and changes that mainly aim to improve usability. There are also a bunch of bug fixes. See the changelog for details.

Infos

Refer to the installation instructions about how to install or update AML.

• Check out the Wiki for some useful tips.
• For questions or suggestions you are welcome to join our Discord channel or start a Discussion.
• If AML is crashing or otherwise not working as expected, you can report a bug here.

Changelog

New features

• Added context menu option "Unsubscribe" to unsubscribe from Workshop mods without deleting them from the mod-list. Resolves #209.
• Added context menu option "Resubscribe" to re-subscribe to Workshop mods. State will be shown as "Downloading" until the Workshop download finished. Resolves #208.
• Automatic mod update when AML is starting can now be limited to "enabled" and "new" mods.
  • If you have many mods that you are not actively using, this can greatly reduce the time until AML is ready to launch the game.
  • Can be enabled/disabled in settings dialog. Disabled by default.
  • Mods will be automatically updated when they get enabled because mod data could be severely outdated.
• Added "Copy to clipboard" option to mod context menu. Resolves #233.
  • Mod name, installation path, steam URL and workshop URL can be copied.
  • If multiple mods are selected, all entries will be listed separated by line breaks.
• File menu now provides options to easily access some game related folders and log files.
  • Options to open installation and data folders from AML/X2/WotC/Chimera.
  • Options to open log files from AML/X2/WotC/Chimera.

Usability

• When WotC is available, the "Run XCOM 2" and the "Run Challenge Mode" buttons are now hidden from the menu by default. Can be changed from the settings if desired.
• Mods are no longer automatically hidden when detected as "Not Installed" on application start. The user is now prompted to choose if those mods should be hidden instead.
• Context menu option "Show in Explorer" will now be hidden if selected mod is not installed.
• Use proper Markdown text formatting when displaying release information in the update dialog. Resolves #222.
• Use modern folder selection dialog when selecting mod directories. Resolves #225.
• Mod folder selection dialog now uses most recently used documents folder.
• Replaced the mod list "ContextMenu" with modern variant ContextMenuStrip, which also supports tool-tips.

Misc improvements

• Added support for md file extension for readme files.
• "Not installed" now has precedence before "Not loaded" with respect to the state shown in the state column.
• Config and log Files are now always stored in the AML executable folder, even if the application was started from a different working directory. Resolves #223.

Fixes

• Fixed not getting the correct ini file path, when the mod folder name contained the word "Config". Resolves #241.
• Fixed AML using wrong base path ("...\XCOM 2\XCom2-WarOfTheChosen" instead of "...\XCOM 2") when user selected the XCOM executable from the WotC sub-folder.
• Fixed wrong character encoding in mod title and description to properly support other languages. Resolves #215.
• Updated Steamworks.NET to v15.0 (steam_api64.dll v6.28.18.86) which fixes corrupted UTF8 strings.
• Properly escape characters above 7-Bit ASCII for correct display in RichTextBox.
• Fixed some context menu entries being added twice (this had no side effects though).
• Fixed crash with Unhandled ArgumentNullException when Steam UGC workshop request for a mod dependency failed. Resolves #258.

Technical

• Removed obsolete compatibility warning regarding VERY old (AML v0.4.1 alpha version from 2016) settings file format.
• Updated Sentry SDK to latest version. Resolves #196.
• Replaced deprecated Sentry DSN with new one. Resolves #252.
• Removed MessageBoxManager class - no more usages and default MessageBox is sufficient.
• Added XML schema description file for log4net to avoid warnings.