I believe I heard that OTT is programmed in VB... But when I downloaded and installed it I did not notice it distributed the vb run time files (vbrun60sp5.exe). Since a lot of computers still do not have these files installed yet, I'm sure OTT would need to distribute these files in order to not lose many customers...

My question is this:

Do you really need to include the vbrun60sp5.exe file with vb games? Or maybe OTT installed it itself in it's installation app... If so, could maybe the creator or someone direct me down the path on how this is done?

I am writting a vb game right now and it's around 5MB overall... If I include the vb runtime files this will add another megabyte or so onto that filesize... And some people who attempt to install my program and it doesn't work for them won't even think to install the runtime files and would probably delete the program without ever getting to try it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :D

I don't think you actually have to register the dll or anything with any installs of Windows.

I'm sure it works as long as the dll is present in either the programs path or the system directory.

The VB runtime is optionally included if you create the install via the package and deployment wizard (in VB6 although VB5 is mostly likely the same). So if you have problems you could probably use that.

I don't think you actually have to register the dll or anything with any installs of Windows.

I'm sure it works as long as the dll is present in either the programs path or the system directory.

I'd like to be 100% sure however, since I don't have a good way of testing this since the dlls have already been installed on my computer and all of my friend's computers. I'm not even entirly sure what dlls are included in the runtime files, but I doubt it'd be too hard to figure out with some searching.

I'm going to be using Inno Setup Compiler, just like OTT for my setup file. So if what you said is correct then all I would have to do is gather all of those dll files and include them in the setup script to be placed in the app folder, or system folder and either will work fine? Maybe APE (I believe is the creator's username) could clearify this for me?

yes you can just place the files in the app folder. You don't have to install any dll in the system folder. ( i don't know why some people do force install some DLLs in the system directory since it is useless )

else there are program that will embed the DLLs into the VB exe ( can;t remember the name) , and programs like http://thinstall.com/

pat.

What DLLs that are needed probably depends on what functionality your program uses. Any game I've ever done in VB have only required one dll, (MSVBVM50.DLL for vb5 or MSVBVM60.DLL for vb6).
It does not have to be registered, it only needs to reside somewhere in the path, meaning it would work if it's in the same directory as the executable, and it would also work if it is in the systems directory.

HI,

OTT includes msvbvm60.dll as it was done in vb6.0. Innosetup actually has a Q in its FAQ about vb runtime files, and I just did what it said there. It also includes vbdx70.dll (or whatever the direct X vb library is) and mabey one or 2 more.


Before you put too much effort into vb, let me share this bit of info with you: I've recently experimented with OTT in Blitz Basic, and I found that I got much better performance, and about 700K smaller download with BB. The porting was mostly painless too. I'll probably do a more detailed comparison of BB and VB at some point in the future, but for now let it be known that I've recently become a very big fan of Blitz Basic. :)

Thanks everyone for your input, it was very helpful.

Before you put too much effort into vb

Too late :p

Yes, after my first project is done I may switch over to blitz basic since I've already heard a lot of great things about it. I just have one question however, how is the learning curve to that language compared to VB? I'm guessing it's a lot like basic but how much alike is it?

Thanks again

however, how is the learning curve to that language compared to VB? I'm guessing it's a lot like basic but how much alike is it?

I had to change the data structures because I used classes in VB and BB only allows Types, which are kind of like struct or a class, but there are no member functions. BB allows pointers though and that was a real delight because it game me more of a c++ flexibility in a basic-style language. The only way to know is to get the demo and see for yourself.

Ok thanks, Since the demo only allows 30 uses though, I think I'll wait until I'm finished my project and then give it a shot.

Not that this is necessarily relevant, but I have been using RealBasic for years and find it to be one of the best IDE's I've ever used. They have versions for windows and mac (9, OS X) and you can compile executables for os9, OSX, Windows, and shortly Linux as well.

http://www.realbasic.com/