The Dink Network

What is this? The really short version is that it's a DFArc alternative running on .NET on Windows and Linux

The really long version is, go check out the github page: https://github.com/drone1400/martridge

LATEST RELEASE: https://github.com/drone1400/martridge/releases/tag/V0.7.0.1

Change Log: https://github.com/drone1400/martridge/blob/master/martridge/src/VersionInfo.txt

Update 2024-04-14
> V0.7.0.1 released on github

Update 2023-04-03
> V0.6.4.0 released on github
> V0.6.3.0 released on github

Update 2023-04-01
> V0.6.2.0 released on github
> V0.6.1.0 released on github

Previous releases:
> V0.6.0.0 released on github
> V0.5.2.0 released on github

Update 2022-09-03
> V0.5.1.4 released on github

Update 2022-08-20
> V0.4.4 released on github

Update 2022-08-15
> V0.4.3 released on github
> V0.4.2 released on github
> V0.4.1 released on github
> Now using GithubReleases for hosting binaries

Update 2022-08-07
> V0.4.0 released on github and my OneDrive [Link Redacted]

Update 2022-07-24
> V0.3.0 is loaded on github now!
> Released binaries are currently on my OneDrive [Link Redacted]
> In the future I'll probably use GitHub releases, but for now I can't be arsed to learn how that works because it's late and I'm tired.

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Original Post is below
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A few months ago, I was chatting about this and that with Skurn and Bluedy over on the discords, when I had this idea...

FreeDink is cool, but it's kind of a hassle to install right for newcomers. Due to licensing issues and whatnot, you can't really distribute it bundled together with the original V1.08 Dink Data and etc. But then I thought, wait, couldn't you automate the installation process? Have a script or tool download FreeDink, download Dink V1.08, and install a copy of FreeDink with the original Dink data?

Anyway, long story short, I started working on something like that, and ended up with a kind of DFARC replacement application.

For lack of a better name, I've been calling it "Lil Dinky" [Probably gonna change this for the "final" release, but that is quite some ways away]

So what can this Lil Dinky do and where can you get it?
- Well, for now I have some "alpha" versions up on OneDrive, along with the source code to them: [Link Redacted]
- I'm releasing the source under MIT license, so anyone can do whatever they feel like with it
- It's developed in C# using Avalonia UI, with the intention that when it's done I might port it to Linux at some point...

What can it do so far?
- It can install a bunch of versions of Dink with but a few clicks of a button! [*]
+ FreeDink with V1.08 data and localization files for the main game
+ FreeDink with V1.08 data
+ Dink V1.08
+ Dink HD
- It can install DMODs
- It has a functional DMOD browser
- You can add *unlimited* DMOD installation folders / Dink engines and launch any of the dmods with whatever engine you choose [**]
- The DMOD browser looks kind of nice, I think
- You can define custom localization files for the text in the application itself, but I'm not going into detail on how that works right now...

[*] - So basically, the way the installer process works, is it downloads the game archives from over here on the dinknetwork.com, then it extracts certain files to a location of your choosing based on some whitelist/blacklist filtering. The installation is scriptable using the "config\configInstallerList.json" file... I should probably document this at some point.

[**] - Some limitations may apply, for example Dink V1.08 doesn't seem to like certain path formats...

What other features do I want to add but aren't included yet?
- An online DMOD browser (kind of like in DinkHD but nicer...);

What's the catch?
- This is a work in progress, there may be bugs, although hopefully nothing too severe! So far it "works for me (tm)" and Bluedy / Skurn managed to run it just fine too...
- I don't really have a manual for this thing or anything of the sort... (Although it should be pretty intuitive, that's the whole point after all)
- I kind of wanted to test it more, but Skurn/Bluedy/RobJ aren't really giving me any feedback about potential problems, so I suppose it works well enough?
- I'm basically posting this in the hopes that someone might test it and point out more issues / give me ideas on what to improve

Known issues
- Uh, apparently after you install a version of Dink for the first time, if you go to Tools -> Settings, it doesn't show up under "Game Locations" correctly until you hit Cancel and go to Tools -> Settings again... I thought I had fixed this but I guess I didn't yet

Other ramblings:
- So, over on the One Drive folder, I have some screenshots if you wanna see what it looks like!
Screenshots: [Link Redacted]
- The latest version right now is V0.0.4, so if you want to try it out, make sure to download that and not an older version.
- If you want to build it yourself, all you need to do is get Visual Studio Community edition and load up the solution file
- You can hit me up on discord for more info
- For now I'm just hosting the builds / source over on my One Drive, but I plan to upload it to github once it reaches a proper release state.

PS: Another reason I'm basically posting this, is that I feel like I'm behind schedule with finishing it and I'm trying to light a fire under my ass to motivate myself to get it done faster. Basically, feels like I had started off strong but then been getting sidetracked this last month.