Diablo1123
LOL?
1. .LNK -> Shortcut, what source code?!
2. Since when is it hard to get the source code of Quick Batch File Compiler? Set a BP on DeleteFileA and copy it!
3. No you don't necessarily need -appid parameter.

Digitalpowered had a tutorial by Nyr??.. but it is very simple. The way I do it (probably the simplest, quickest way) is like this. ZeroX I think uses 7zip or UHA which are more complicated and which I'd be interested to read his tutorial on.


My way:

Get winrar, preferably the latest version.

Find the game you want to create a portable version of.

For example I will take Starcraft Brood War. The latest patch for this game: 1.16 means you no longer need a CD to play, but for games that do, you will need to download a no-cd patch from gamecopyworld.com or similar.

This is the installed directory for Starcraft Brood War. Highlighted is the main program exe file: Starcraft.exe




Making a portable application from here is very simple, firstly highlight everything in this folder.

Then right click. And click 'add to archive'.





From here, tick Create SFX archive and change compresson type to Best, for the smallest file, or Fastest for the quickest extraction speed. (note: the less the compression the file created has the faster it decompresses, which is useful for games with more files, or for slower computers with less memory.)



Then click the advanced tab, and press SFX options, from here type in the exe name (for me it is Starcraft.exe)




Then go to modes, if your game is for on and off playing, like ZeroX's counter strike releases, (nothing needs to be saved), you should tick 'Unpack to Temporary Folder', it is also the most useful for playing in places you shouldn't be. For example at school or at work. Then choose between 'Hide All' and 'Display All', (Hide all shows nothing on the screen while it decompresses, but does not show how far the file is from decompressing, Display All shows the file decompressing so you can see how long is left, but for school pcs where you can be caught this is not so useful)



You're almost finished, next title what the program will show while it decompresses, (this is only important when option 'Display All' is chosen, a picture to accompany this 'loading screen' can be chosen.)



You can then choose an icon for your portable if wanted, otherwise a standard SFX file icon will be chosen. Some games do not have an .ico file in the directory but the EXE does so in this case choose all files and click on the EXE.

Then Click OK, and the Archive will start to be created. Wait for a few minutes depending on the game, then Wala, you have a portable game and double click it, it should now work.

(Note: rarely, some EXE's when moved to different devices, like memory sticks get errors, which will mean you will have to repeat the process or copy the file on again as parts get corrupted, this is more common with larger games.)


I do not claim this is the only way it should be done with this tutorial, some of this may not work with certain games but it works fine for me, and I have made many games portable with this technique, I am interested in what other options I can use to create better portables, more specifically how to use 7zip & WinUHA.


Hope this helps people.

munchie400

I don't use WinUha, just 7-Zip and Winrar, your method is good, but not good enough if you need to have registry files that are needed to be implemented into the system, if you work through my portables you'll find em.