Itch.io and the Rai Manager

tl;dr: I will distribute my mods on itch.io. Two Forks VR is already there. My mods now come with a new, simpler installer.

Distributing on Itch.io

If you've installed Two Forks VR, my Firewatch VR mod, in the past few weeks, you have likely seen that the mod is now being distributed on itch.io.

I'm experimenting with this new distribution method for a few reasons:

• It's an alternative way to gatekeep early access versions of my mods for people who don't want to (or can't) go through Patreon.
• If you use the optional Itch.io app, you'll get automatic updates for all mods I distribute there. I've often had issues with people either downloading the wrong version, or just not realizing there's an update. I want to reduce the time I spend troubleshooting issues like these.
• I can generate as many itch.io keys as I want. I can also automatically grant keys to my patrons here on Patreon. This means I can distribute to a single place and everyone gets access to it.
• Itch.io is actually made for distributing downloadable files like games and mods. Distributing files directly on Patreon is awkward and clunky. My workflow improves since I can automatically deploy new releases easily, meaning more frequent and smaller updates.

Rai Manager

Almost all my mods so far came with an exe installer, where you had to drag the game exe and drop it on top of the installer exe. This is a pretty simple process, but some people struggled with it. Some users just aren't as comfortable messing around in the file system, and that's understandable. So I made a small app which I called Rai Manager (because I have a huge ego and I simply cannot be stopped).

Rai Manager does a few things:

• Tries its best to automatically detect where the game is installed.
• If that fails, lets you add a custom install path by dragging the game exe and dropping it on the window.
• Has a Wario icon.
• Allows you to uninstall the mod with one click, so you can easily go back to the flat version.

I still need to clean up some things in the app, but it currently seems to work. People have been using it for a few weeks now, and I haven't gotten any negative feedback, so that's probably a good thing?

What's next

I'm working on a new mod for a while now, and I'm having a lot of fun with it! It should be released some time this month. For this one I'm going for a more polished first release, as opposed to the very broken early access I usually do. After that release, I will be going back to The Stanley Parable and Shipbreaker. I will be polishing those up a bit, and preparing to open-source them. See you soon!