Q-Xpress Installer
| Q-Xpress Installer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | [[ModTheSims2]] |
| Latest Version | 1.0.88 |
| Release Date | April 30, 2006 |
| O.S. | Windows |
| Type | [[Download Tool]] |
| Website | q-xpressinstaller.com |
Q-Xpress Installer (sometimes known as QX or Q-Xpress) is a free application developed at ModTheSims2 to assist in the streamlining of content installation for The Sims 2. The main application coding was completed by Delphy, with interface and product branding design completed by Ambience-Design.
The current version as of June 12, 2006 is Version 1.0.88.
Contents |
Usage
Q-Xpress Installer can successfully install content with the Sims2Pack, RAR, ZIP, and PACKAGE extensions. The program is designed to install this content without the need of other multiple third party applications such as WinRAR and WinZIP. At this time, the application does not have the ability to determine the correct folder for installed content, which leaves minimal interaction for the user after installation to determine if Q-Xpress correctly placed certain content. A simple scripting interface for content authors has been planned, which would allow them to include a text file in their download package which would direct Q-Xpress to the folder in which the content belongs. An exact date for this implementation has not been announced.
In order to download items using Q-Xpress, the user must first download the program and install it. Users may or may not have to restart their computer for Windows to load the Visual Basic 6 runtime files which the program requires to run. Afterwards, with the program open, the user may click on the Q-Xpress link on any of their favorite downloads (denoted by a small blue "Q" next to the link) to add that download to the MTS2 Install tab in the program. The user can then click Install and Q-Xpress will download the content, extract it, and place it in the Downloads folder.
Community Response
Q-Xpress has seen a very favorable community response, especially for those that download large amounts of content in one session and those that might have difficulty with manual installation of content. The progam has been downloaded an estimated 10,000 times at least, to date. Donations towards continuing development of Q-Xpress have been relatively consistent since its release.
In The Future
Ambience-Design has worked closely with the developer and expressed interest in improving the user interface and feature set of Q-Xpress in a later version of the software. Among the features and improvements suggested are:
- The ability for the program to monitor the RSS feed of content authors for newly released content and the ability to install this content. ModTheSims2 recently implemented RSS syndication for downloads on the site, so this feature is a definate possibility for future versions of Q-Xpress.
- Discussion has been made regarding the ability for the program to uninstall content that it itself has installed, although no decision has been made.
- Discussion has been made regarding migrating the program to a more compatible coding environment such as Visual Basic 8, although the current concensus is that the difficulty in migrating Visual Basic 6 code to Visual Basic 8 would make it too time consuming to complete.
