New Skunkcrafts Standalone Updater Client v3.0

[Stephen]

 

 

New Skunkcrafts Standalone Updater Client v3.0

 

The X-Plane Simulator first got an Updater Client with FlightFactor, and the X-Updater application back in 2018. Based on Java, the application could remotely up date aircraft files directly to the installed folder. First it scanned the current files in the folder, then compared the list with the one on the developers application, the missing files were then uploaded to the users folder, and the older files were then removed. The system allowed the user of not having to download the full aircraft package (say from the X-Plane.OrgStore) every time there was an update. Biggest savings were when the developer want to do a quick, or urgent update or patch. The Updater Client could do the job far quicker and remotely for you.

 

Personally I didn't use X-Updater in the early years. It had a habit of not downloading and inserting the files "Cleanly", so I was always trying to fly buggy, file damaged aircraft, a few of those and I always then went back to the full complete download from the Store to be safe of a clean download.

 

Later came the Skunkcrafts Updater by Lionel Zamouth. The Skunkcrafts Updater was slightly different from X-Updater, in that it was created as an X-Plane Plugin Application, so it sat in your Resources/Plugin Folder. It worked, but you had had to switch out of your current loaded aircraft to update it, it was a little slow as well, in processing the ever growing list of aircraft.

 

So here is a new version of the Skunkcrafts Updater Client v3.0. It is a slightly different version in that it is now a desktop Application and not a Plugin Application. The new updater has been by Lionel Zamouth completely written from scratch in go with the fyne UI library and takes advantage of concurrency, so allowing up to 32 simultaneous downloads (configurable). The Application is available for Windows 10/11 (.exe), MacOS (both Intel and Apple Silicon.app) and GNU/Linux (tested on Ubuntu 22.04) (.lin) and you place the required app file into your main X-Plane root folder...  On MacOS you must authorise the app for it to run through Settings/Security.

 

 

Clicking on the Updater file will activate it, and then you can save the Icon to the Taskbar (windows) for easy use.

 

The interface format is the same, if slightly more modern in look and feel, but you use it exactly the same way as before...

 

 

You can "Rescan all local Configurations" to check for new additions to the aircraft folder (Sceneries and Plugins can also be updated), then "Check all available Updates" to see if any aircraft need updating...  of which the updater will show on the list. Finally "Update or repair all Addons" will go through the list and do the remote updating of the files. You can of course update any single aircraft, by selecting that aircraft and doing the singular "Update or repair all Addons" selection.

 

 

When all done, everything in the list should be green, and successfully updated.

 

 

 

There are a few options you can choose from. One is the amount of concurrent downloads you can use (to 32) and the text size of the interface.

 

 

Several enhancements are very noticeable...  you don't have to close an aircraft now to update it, or mostly you would usually run the v3.0 Skunkcrafts app before you run the X-Plane Application. It is FAST, seriously Skunkcrafts is now far faster than before, and the (confusing) BETA logo is now more prominent and accessible. The Application feels far, far more sturdy as well, it works fast and clean for me. So it is a very good update to the tool.

 

Overall all Updater Client tools have evolved very well over the last few years from their buggy beginnings. More reliable, and yes even I is using them on a regular basis without now downloading the complete file package. This is a very nice, even welcome update to the Skunkcrafts Client tool.

 

You can download this updated v3.0 Updater free here;

 

SkunkCrafts Updater Standalone client

 

Just press the "Download Link!"

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Plugin Application by Stephen Dutton

18th August 2023

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