VamLightYear
patreon
VaM Thin Twin 5.0.0 (FULL) - Super fast load times
🕑 Added 2023-07-18 20:01:45 +0000 UTCNew in 5.0.0:
- Major improvement in automatic identification of dependencies needed by Saved scenes (finds and includes more required var files which contain appearances/looks, plugins, and assets).
- I'm implementing the voted feature "Support for multiple Presets" first testing with beta testers.
Hugely reduce your VaM load times! Now with full graphical interface!
This tool seamlessly integrates with your VaM installation, providing shortcuts and a graphical interface to automatically create and start a thinned-down version of your VaM installation that only contains the files you will need, hugely reducing the load times.
- Does not use extra disk space.
- Dramatically reduce load times.
- Almost instant creation/update.
Features (FULL VERSION):
- Choose which files you want to use each time you launch the Thin VaM
- Favorites: Include all / do not include / Select some specific ones
- User default plugins: Include all / do not include / Select some specific ones
- Saved scenes: Automatically scans and includes all needed files
- Search and select any other var file
- Create shortcuts
- Choose shortcut location in desktop or in your VaM folder
- Shortcuts for launching VaM.exe, Desktop Mode, or Open VR
- Launch the Thin VaM
- Customize what to do when launching the thinned-down version of VaM
DOWNLOAD
(note: you will receive your license automatically in your patreon email)
VaM Thin Twin 5.0.0
https://mega.nz/file/JKFnDChb#bEZQtbRlQEMO2FJfuWQXEnuYXGl6V6H8rs8XADZGQjQ
VaM Thin Twin 5.0.0 debug version (in case you get any errors please run this version and send me the log files, I will provide support to you until it works correctly)
https://mega.nz/file/lC8FiKJY#hmFtKdrMmVzo1S00TdUcnAC7pWsydslEY4p3qDnHdaE
Please read all the information in this post before using it for the first time.
How to install VaM Thin Twin
Just drop your license (VaM_ThinTwin_X_license_YourUsername.txt) in your VaM installation directory, next to VaM.exe ; and run the installer inside the zip file.
(Note: You will receive your license in an email when you sign up in Patreon check the spam folder if you can't find it. Mark it as "not spam" and add to your contacts so that you don't miss any future licenses)
Usage instructions
The VaM Thin Twin graphical interface opens automatically after install/update. When you use it for the first time, select the VaM.exe of the main VaM installation where you have all your var files. You can have thousands of var files here.
Once you select which files you want to use, you do not need to open the graphical interface again, just use the shorctus to launch the Thin VaM directly in the fastest way. Come back to the graphical interface if you want to change the selected files or other settings.
- In the center tab you can select exactly what you want to include. Whenever you make changes, click Save or Update Thin Files to update the Thin VaM.
- You can launch the Thin VaM directly from the buttons at the bottom. You can also customize the launch behavior using the checkboxes next to the buttons.
- Once you Save or update the Thin VaM with your desired files, you can create shortcuts with the buttons on the right. Next time, if you don't need to change the selected files, use the shortcuts for launching the Thin VaM directly in the fastest way!
To make selecting any file or many files quicker and more convenient; for each category you have helper buttons to Select/remove all, Show only selected, and a Search bar.
Other info
- Vam Thin Twin does not modify or change anything in your original VaM installation. It runs in parallel in a folder called VaM_Thin_<Preset name>.
- If you use SteamVR through Virtual Desktop and have issues launching in VR or with your controllers, you might want to add a "non-Steam-Game" to you library pointing to VaM.exe inside VaM_Thin_<Preset name>.
- The folder VaM_Thin_<Preset name> contains links to files in your main VaM folder.
- Deleting VaM_Thin_<Preset name> is safe, it only deletes links to the files from your VaM install.
- Deleting individual files or folders inside VaM_Thin_<Preset name> is not safe! You might accidetally follow a link and end up removing the actual files in your VaM install.
- If you get a Safe delete error it's because VaM Thin Twin has a built-in check before deleting anything. If it doesn't look exactly like a Thin VaM, it aborts the delete operation, to avoid accidentally deleting anything that it shouldn't.
- In case of Safe delete error, or if you want to clean up, just delete the Thin folder like this. Never go inside that folder and delete things there.
- Even though features such as safe-delete are included in the app to make it as safe as possible, errors can always happen, so you should make a backup of your existing files before using the app. This is good practice when using any kind of software.
- File systems: VaM Thin Twin supports NTFS and other filesystems such as FAT. However, only NTFS supports links. If you run the app in a VaM install placed in a non-NTFS drive, the Thin files update will take minutes instead of seconds, and they will utilize a lot of extra disk space. Launching VaM from the shortcut will still be equally fast, but updating the included files will take much longer. I strongly recommend that you put your VaM install in a NTFS drive. It's the default in Windows, so almost everybody has it like this already.
Features coming next for patrons
- Select include all files from one or several Authors.
- Multiple Presets - In progress
- Button to add all items matching search.
- Use SHIFT-Click to select multiple vars at the same time.
- Shortcuts that perform update+launch.
- Filter Saved scenes.
- Export/import presets.
- Custom arguments in the launch shortcuts.
- Add tags to vars and select by tag.
- Select vars/files outside VaM installation folder.
- Add vars downloaded in Thin VaM back to original AddonPackages.
- ...
Please do not hesitate to send me your ideas and suggestions! Every time a new feature is implemented I will create a poll for the patreons to vote which feature they want me to implement next.
You can always send me a private message to get support if you encounter any issue.
Enjoy your faster VaM experience!
Comments
Vam Light Year
Yes, the actual process is a bit more convoluted to recreate the folders, adding the needed bits at each step, but that's the general idea yes. Links not only won't utilize extra space but are also much faster to add and move around. Glad that it's working well for you! I'm going to release the next version with support for multiple presets in a few days, next I'll work on some smaller features like the filtered select, and the Saved scenes switch.
Jeevz
Thanks so much for your quick answer mate! Sorry for me butchering my initial message/editing it so much but I had to make my question clear hah! Im glad you exactly know what im referring to and im glad to hear that more functionality for that is on it's way! You state "Also note that they are not copied, they are linked, so they don't use any extra space." So, the Addonpackages folder inside the "VaM_Thin_Preset1" Folder is just a Symlinked folder to the original VaM AddonPackages folder? Except this Symlinked folder has a bunch of vars excluded due to the profile you set up? Is my understanding of the process correct? Concerncing this tho, My issue is not having little disk space, my issue is getting VaM to load as little vars as possible at launch (it took MINUTES, at a certain point to just get to the main menu), thus when it now ads in way more vars then I initially selected due to the system including 75GB extra worth of vars because it thinks it's required because of my saved scenes, Even tho I perhaps use only 1 or 2 of my 100 saved scenes, it's now still adding redundant vars, so to speak. Again, you just stated that more saved scenes functionality is on it's way so i'll be waiting patiently for this, excellent work so far anyway, this tool turned my VaM experience from having to wait several minutes between certain scenes (In vr mode especially) to it only taking a max of 10-15 seconds. As for future features requests, the two on your list i'm really interested in would be; Filter Saved scenes and Add tags to vars and select by tag.
Vam Light Year
Regarding the saved scenes, I'm going to release a switch so that you can choose to not include your saved scenes, will be coming soon!
Vam Light Year
Hi! The tool automatically finds the dependencies of the vars that you select (and the dependencies of the dependencies recursively), so the ones that you see are the minimum amount to run your selection without anything missing. Also note that they are not copied, they are linked, so they don't use any extra space.
Jeevz
---Removed my previous question, due me being too lazy to read your FAQ, and I was asking dumb stuff ---- EDIT* After reading the bottom section in your tool it states "Your saved scenes will be included and processed" Am I correct to assume that this means that the tool scans my saved scenes, and then determines which specific vars it requires for said scenes? Thus, it includes the vars even tho I could have the individual var disabled in the previous setting? Aka, a solution would be for me, to simply remove my said saved scenes? Cause right now, my addonpackages folder went from 5GB to 80GB by solely itself adding var files it identified trough the saved scenes system, yet this is useless cause I installed this program specifically to get as little vars loaded in as possible. (My main addonpackages folder is sitting at 700GB, with over 10,000 files). I guess the only solution for me then would be to backup/remove my custom saved scenes, to get rid of the excess plugin vars that I was trying to get rid of in the first place. (Being able to create a preset which would include or be specificly bound to saved scenes, Aka a saved scenes tool perhaps in which you can select which scenes to load/not to load, similar to the var files themselves, or perhaps a section in your tool dedicated to that function, would be a HUGE improvement to your tool.)
Robert Cop
Great job man
w
Great work much faster load time
