Forge from a USB?

[DMCheesecake]

Anybody have a tutorial on how to put MTG Forge on an 8gb USB drive? Even the pictures? I know the pictures download locally on the PC, so I've no idea how to change that to where it looks for and downloads them to a USB. Help?

[Fizanko]

Maybe this could help you, that's for windows as it's the OS i use, for other OS i can't say.

The way i am set up, i have Forge not using the OS user / appdata etc... for the downloaded content/cards/decks/etc... , i have Forge looking into a folder named "ca" located in the Forge directory itself :



In the same directory i have a file named
forge.profile.properties

That content is this (it's a text file without the .txt extension) :

Code: Select all

#
# forge.profile.properties.example
#
# To get started using this file, just copy or rename it to
# forge.profile.properties and edit one or more of the paths below.
#
# Normally, users will not need to do anything here.  Keeping the default paths
# is an easy way to make sure your Forge settings and data are kept safe when
# you upgrade Forge, even if you install to a different path or delete the
# entire Forge program directory before you upgrade.
#
# If you need to, though, you can use this file to set the locations that Forge
# will use to store your data.  However, remember that whenever you install a
# new version of Forge into a different directory, it will not see your data
# unless you copy this file into the new program directory.
#
# If you specify a relative path in this file, it will be relative to the Forge
# program directory.  Note that paths defined in this file will each have the
# whitespace trimmed from their start and end.  If you need the path to start or
# end with a space or tab character, put a slash before or after it, as
# appropriate.  For example, for the directory "<forge dir>/ local  ", use:
#   xxxDir=./ local  /
#
# Also note that all backslashes in this file need to be escaped themselves with
# a backslash.  For example: d:\\mtg-pics.  Forwards slashes work on all
# platforms, including Windows, and do not need to be escaped: d:/mtg-pics.
#
# EXAMPLES
# --------
#
# To have Forge use the default directories:
#   userDir=
#   cacheDir=
#   cardPicsDir=
#
# To use a specific user data directory but the default cache dir on Windows:
#   userDir=D:/ForgeData
#   cacheDir=
#   cardPicsDir=
#
# To put everything under a specific path on a Unix-based system:
#   userDir=/local/path/forge
#   cacheDir=/local/path/forge/cache
#   cardPicsDir=

# This is where Forge will save your personal data, such as your saved decks,
# preferences, and quest progress.  If you want to back up your data or copy it
# to another computer, this is the directory to copy.  The default value is
# platform-specific, and may differ a bit from what is listed here if you have
# an older version of Windows:
#   Windows: <your application data directory>/Forge/
#            (usually, C:/Users/<your username>/Application Data/Roaming/Forge/)
#   OSX:   <your home directory>/Library/Application Support/Forge/
#   Linux: <your home directory>/.forge/
userDir=./ca/

# This is where forge will keep downloaded content, such as card pictures and
# updated price lists.  The default values are:
#   Windows: <your local application data directory>/Forge/Cache/
#         (usually C:/Users/<your username>/Application Data/Local/Forge/Cache/)
#   OSX:   <your home directory>/Library/Caches/Forge/
#   Linux: <your home directory>/.cache/forge/
cacheDir=./ca/Cache/

# This is where forge will download and/or look for card picture data.  The
# directory structure and filenames are the same as those used by Magic
# Workstation, and if you have both programs installed, you can share the same
# picture database between them.  The default value (for all plaforms) is:
#   <the cacheDir defined above>/pics/cards/
cardPicsDir=./ca/Cache/pics/cards/

# You may also specify custom folder names for each set, just in case you are
# using any uncommon picture storage folder structure. Specify 3-letter codes
# from res/blockdata/setsdata.txt, an arrow (->) and the sub-folder name that
# holds card images from that edition. Separate records by a vertical bar (|).
#   Ex: cardPicsSubDirs=LEA->Alpha|ROE->Rise of Eldrazi
cardPicsSubDirs=

# Forge server port. Values under 1024 won't work on Mac OSX or on the various
*nixes.
serverPort=


The key points to look for in the file are :
userDir=./ca/
cacheDir=./ca/Cache/
cardPicsDir=./ca/Cache/pics/cards/

the ./ means that Forge will look into the same directory as where that forge.profile.properties file is (so regardless of where i have put it, regardless of the drive used, regardless of the Forge directory name)

It will then look for a folder named "ca" to find all the dowloaded content/pics/decks

And in that "ca" folder i have all the content that by default Forge would have moved to the user appdata location


This kind of setup allow you to put your Forge directory in an USB key , and thanks to the forge.profile.properties pointing to the "ca" folder in the same directory as forge.profile.properties it will then look into it.

The disadvantage may be that everytime i use a new version of Forge, i have to move the "ca" folder -and- the forge.profile.properties into the new one, but if everything is on USB key it's not a problem anyways

Now if you want to make a completely portable USB version of Forge (so the computer don't need to have Java installed) , refer to this post from Agetian :
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1603&start=15#p208888