The one you edited out.

collector wrote:

That link is not exactly legal, given that the file they have for download is essentially the entirety of the game's data. It does nothing that my installer doesn't do, except that mine does not need the intact main data file. Mine only requires the original CDs to install.

Yours has a critical issue, at least on my Windows 10. The included launcher requires administrative rights and, then, once it's run with them, deletes BLADE.EXE and pops up a message box saying that BLADE.EXE is missing. The user then needs to copy BLADE.EXE from CD1 (and delete the launcher or change the shortcut so that it doesn't happen again), but my guess is that most people won't realize that they can do that and will give up, instead.

If you'd like to update your installer, my suggestions are:

1. Remove the launcher, which isn't needed. The game runs fine from BLADE.EXE.
2. Install (or give the option to install) the "CPU patch," like the replaying.de installer does, so that users don't run into the game-breaking bugs that it supposedly fixes. If you do, disable ForceBltNoTearing and NoVideoMemory in aqrit.cfg, since I've found that those being enabled cause mouse issues (Windows cursor flashing and laggy movement).
3. Fix the Sierra Help Pages icon and shortcut being copied to the parent folder (ex. I installed to C:\Games\Blade Runner and those files were copied to C:\Games).
4. Remove or hide whatever the uninstaller is doing when it scans the user's hard drive. It's terrifying to see all of my other game folders being scanned with wildcards at the end... in an uninstaller, since it seems like it might be deleting a lot more than just Blade Runner.
5. Try not to have the installer be fullscreen and use Windows copy dialog boxes, so that it's easier to do other things while it installs.

If those are addressed (but particularly the first one), it'll become a better option than the replaying.de installer.

It looks like that "CPU patch" is addressing the same issues as my patch, but if I get some time I'll take a look at it to see if it covers anything mine does not. I'll admit that while it has been extensively tested on Win7, I have not tried it on Win10. The BLADE.EXE included is the official Westwood updated file still accessible on their website via the Wayback. There is *nothing* that the launcher does that could delete the game's EXE. Perhaps your AV is doing it? Most of the rest are personal preferences, but I'll think about it.

Oh, so your launcher patches the game for the CPU issues. I didn't realize that.

No, my AV (which is simply Win10's built-in Defender) isn't deleting BLADE.EXE. It has no problem when I run BLADE.EXE directly. Also, when I created a blank text document and named it BLADE.EXE, the launcher deleted that, too, so it's definitely the launcher doing it.

Oh, I just discovered that I was mistaken about something. I said that it asks for admin rights and, then, when it's run again with them, deletes BLADE.EXE. Actually, what happens is that, if it's not run with admin rights, it deletes BLADE.EXE. If it is run with admin rights (and it hasn't already deleted BLADE.EXE), then the game works. The primary problem is that the installer didn't make it so that the launcher runs with admin rights automatically in Windows 10, so it deletes BLADE.EXE before you even realize that it needs admin. I don't think that simply fixing it so that the launcher is run with admin rights is a good solution, though, since that can be undone after installation, some users disable UAC completely and it could fail again with later Windows builds.

Since the other "CPU patch" is simply a ddraw wrapper + config file, I think that it'd be simpler and safer to just include it instead of the launcher. Its author, aqrit, seems to have no problem with people redistributing his wrapper.

collector wrote:

Most of the rest are personal preferences, but I'll think about it.

Thanks. I know that they're picky, but they do go against Microsoft's guidelines and are liable to be irritating to many users. If you'd like to try switching to the free Inno Setup, I have a lot of experience with building installers with that and would happy to help. Also, if you need any testing done in Windows 10, let me know.

My machine is set up to dual boot 7 and 10, but I much prefer 7 and rarely boot into 10, so if and when I get back to the installer testing in 10 would be welcomed. While I have used both NSIS and Inno I like using NSIS more for a number of reasons and it is the one I am most comfortable with. I also have a number of tools that I wrote to help automate parts of creating an NSIS script.