#1962 Docs: more in depth description of what portable Exult does

[Knight Captain]

If you use the -p command line option to start Exult in Portable Mode, the Exult.cfg file generated is missing the necessary <game> section. This makes it harder to use the game in portable mode, as you have to check the FAQ to set all of the required tags. This includes the game names (blackgate, serpentisle), and subtags: path, static_path, gamedat_path, savegame_path, and possibly patch (didn't test this). Ideally these tags would be at least listed by default, either with the qualities blank or as (default).</game>

Also, in Portable Mode the inferred static_path and gamedat_path don’t work like they would in non-Portable Mode, so you have to specify them even if the <path> tag is set correctly.</path>

It looks like the keys, autonotes, and waves lines will be added later by Exult if run in Portable Mode with the the <game> section added. I did not test this.</game>

There was at least one thread I saw on the forum where the placement of the <game> tags was confusing to the user so this should help prevent that problem.</game>

[Knight Captain]

The second paragraph should refer to the < path> tag being correct but SF removed it.

[Knight Captain]

Some of the tags under < gameplay> are missing as well.
< cheat>
< skip_intro>
< skip_splash>

[Knight Captain]

And the party heads and health bars are missing by default.

[Malignant Manor]

The cfg generation is the same without portable being used in Windows XP and 10. Dominus, does OS X generate the other configuration data?

I have not looked at the code since the end of 2010 and only did light testing on it. I basically made it use exult.exe's folder like it used to without the compile time setting instead of the user folder. That is all it does besides change when output files are redirected.

[Dominik Reichardt]

Just took a look at how the portable behaves and it actually does create the <game><gamename> tags on the first time you start one of the games.
If you set up your portable Exult correctly, meaning the games in the predefined folders (blackgate, foregeofvirtue,serpentisle, silverseed) in the folder of Exult.exe, Exult will find the games and when you start them add the correct tags in the cfg. No need to add the static_path and gamedat_path since those are automatically setup and assumed to be in the predefined folders (see above).</gamename></game>

All other gameplay tags etc. are NOT needed to be written by Exult, you are supposed to chnage that in the program.

So to recap: for portable mod the games need to be in the subfolders of the exult.exe named like the gamename http://exult.sourceforge.net/docs.php#terms Exult knows about.
If you don't want to use that you will need to edit the cfg but even then you just need to add <path>othername</path> to the cfg (of course you need the whole <game><blackgate> tag for that) and the portable Exult will assume gamedat, static, savegames will all be in that folder.</blackgate></game>

I should make that clearer in the documentation and thus assigning this to me.

[Dominik Reichardt]

I'm writing this in the documentation right now.