ConquerLoader

ConquerLoader is a launcher for Conquer Online clients with a WPF-based main UI, compatibility with legacy WinForms forms, and a plugin system that now includes pre-launch autopatching.

Current Status

• The main launcher used by the app is WPF.
• WPF windows live under ConquerLoader/Forms/WPF/.
• Legacy WinForms forms are still kept under ConquerLoader/Forms/ for compatibility and behavioral reference.
• The plugin system still works for regular plugins and now also supports pre-launch hooks.

Solution Structure

• ConquerLoader/ Main application, WPF launcher, legacy WinForms forms, and launch logic.
• CLCore/ Shared models, constants, plugin system, and common contracts.
• CLServer/ Supporting components related to server-side tooling in the ecosystem.
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/ Official autopatch plugin based on compressed .zip or .rar packages.
• ExamplePlugin/ Example plugin for simple extensions.

Main UI

The application starts from:

• ConquerLoader/Forms/WPF/MainLite.xaml
• ConquerLoader/Forms/WPF/MainLite.xaml.cs

The current launcher layout is built around:

• server selection on the left
• the main enter action in the center
• launch options on the right
• a guided first-run wizard when the user has not configured any servers yet

Plugin System

Plugins are discovered from the Plugins folder and still implement IPlugin.

There is also a pre-launch extension point for tasks that must run before the client is started:

• CLCore/PluginSystem/IPreLaunchPlugin.cs
• CLCore/PluginSystem/PluginPreLaunchContext.cs
• CLCore/PluginSystem/PluginPreLaunchResult.cs

Execution of those plugins is handled from:

• ConquerLoader/Core.cs

CLAutoPatchPlugin

CLAutoPatchPlugin is the official autopatch plugin included in the solution.

Current capabilities:

• JSON manifest based on packages or archives
• compressed package application instead of individual file entries
• native support for .zip
• support for .rar through UnRAR.exe or WinRAR.exe installed on Windows
• persistent state so the same package is not reapplied when its signature has not changed
• its own WPF configuration window

Key files:

• CLAutoPatchPlugin/CLAutoPatchPlugin.cs
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/AutoPatchManifest.cs
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/AutoPatchState.cs
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/AutoPatchConfigurationWindow.xaml
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/README.md
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/manifest.sample.json

Important:

• Older manifests using files are no longer valid for the new autopatch flow.
• The current plugin format is documented in detail in CLAutoPatchPlugin/README.md.

Launch Flow

The overall launcher flow is:

1. load loader configuration
2. load and initialize plugins
3. prepare the launch environment depending on client version, DX8 or DX9, and required resources
4. execute pre-launch plugins with Core.RunPreLaunchPlugins(...)
5. if everything succeeds, start the client

If CLAutoPatchPlugin is enabled and configured to block on error, a patch failure cancels the launch.

Build

Relevant projects:

• ConquerLoader.sln
• ConquerLoader/ConquerLoader.csproj
• CLAutoPatchPlugin/CLAutoPatchPlugin.csproj

The autopatch plugin automatically copies CLAutoPatchPlugin.dll to:

ConquerLoader/bin/<Configuration>/Plugins/

Additional Documentation

For autopatch implementation details:

• CLAutoPatchPlugin/README.md

For a sample manifest:

• CLAutoPatchPlugin/manifest.sample.json