Create Release script

[Saborknight]

Implement release script, to allow automatic building and publishing of the mod.

Hopefully there's a way to force publishing using a custom user!

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Requirements to pull this off

• A user account on steam needs to be created
• The user account needs to have Arma 3 bought on it
• SteamCMD needs to be downloaded on each users computer (this should be done within the script)
• Publisher data needs to be included in a vdf file, this should be committed into the repo with all data except contentfolder, previewfile and changenote. The first two need to be handled by the script (goddamn absolute values)
• A preview file, Arma 3 publisher recommends a ratio of 1:1, and the guide recommends no bigger than 1mb. Must be committed into repo in the same folder as the make.ps1 file

Script actions

• If the current Git commit does not have a tag associated with it (use this to check) then prompt for which version the user wants to release as (make sure only one single "v" is ever on there, in case user puts "v2.0.1" instead of "2.0.1")
• Build the script as per usual
• Download SteamCMD (if not already present) into the \tools directory (alongside armake.exe)
• If the workshop-data.vdf file doesn't already exist, create a template file and prompt for the desired data to fill in for visibility, title, and description
• If empty, place the absolute paths relevant for contentfolder and previewfile
• Error if the actual preview file does not exist for whatever reason (just in case, and also for when this script is copied to other projects)
• Prompt the user for any text to add in the changelog (can this be done in the same way github does committing?)
• Execute the SteamCMD file with: C:\steamCMD\steamcmd.exe +login myLoginName myPassword +workshop_build_item C:\WorkShopItems\myMap\myMap.vdf +quit, replacing the absolute paths with variable $projectRoot

[Saborknight]

Whilst we're at it, just FTP the release to the Arma 3 server, as well as the key, plus stopping and starting the server.

[UrekD]

publishing using a custom user!

I don't belive this is possible sadly, alternative could be an account with only arma..

[Saborknight]

So far research has lead to the conclusion that we can implement an automated way of releasing to Steam Workshop. However, the requirements listed in the first comment under "Requirements to pull this off" need to be fulfilled first.

Reference this guide for more in-depth instructions on how to set up.

On the user's end, the make script should be called with a simple -release flag. The script should then do what it says in the first comment, under the "Script Actions" header. The user should never have to touch the workshop-data.vdf file!

[Saborknight]

We don't have to do this anymore! ACE saves the day once more: https://github.com/acemod/ACE3/blob/master/tools/publish.py

[Saborknight]

Try this for the workflows: https://github.com/Project-Hatchet/Repository_Template/tree/main/.github/workflows

[Saborknight]

More examples:
CBATeam/CBA_A3@929649b
acemod/ACE3@5a4451a

[Saborknight]

Steam Workshop now allows contributors to upload to workshop. Could use this

[Saborknight]

So someone wrote a guide on how to allow contributors to upload, not just owners... it just seems to be the regular SteamCMD method, but considering the previous example was for a different game using the vdf file, it's good to see an Arma 3 specific example: https://discord.com/channels/105462288051380224/105464579600977920/899967388144001124.

Another fun note that the guide mentions is that we could also use PublisherCMD to do it, which is Bohemia Interactive's very own Publisher that would be used to manually upload like we currently do. Wiki for that is here: https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Publisher. We should compare the two methods and see what's best for an average contributor to use.