"I don't even play Minecraft and I love your program!" - A Greasy Teenager
Configuration Gui
The Minecraft Assist Utility currently features a robust backup system that is both easy to configure and painless to use! Designed for use multiple computers or on a single PC! Easy to setup your backup folder to be on a local/network/synced/external drives! Play your favorite Worlds by sharing backup data on a synced/network drive! Using a synced folder, like Dropbox, for your backup data allows you play your current World on any Windows PC connected to internet! Protect your save game files today by using Minecraft Assist Utility!
Requirements
- Windows XP, 7, or Vista.
- You have purchased Minecraft Alpha.
- The Minecraft executable, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or IE 7.
- An up to date Java Runtime (only required for Minecraft)
- (Optional) Dropbox or Windows Live Sync, USB drive, Shared Network Folder.
"Since I started using MAU I've gained the confidence to drop out of school!" - Some Random Guy
Restore Gui
Minecraft is currently in an alpha stage, which means the game can potentially be unstable! How would you feel losing hours and hours of work in your game Worlds because you did not have a backup utility? It's as horrible to think about as a creeper sneaking up on you with a inventory full of diamonds! Using the Minecraft Assist Utility will give you the peace of mind of knowing that your valuable save game data is being guarded, archived, and protected! Never worry again about whether your game data is going to suddenly become corrupt or deleted!
Features
- Proper error handling & prompts for when user does not have their USB drive/network is plugged in.
- Automatic Detection of your Minecraft Saves folder.
- Progress Bars for both Restore and Backup functions.
- Handles user mistakes such as launching MAU or Restore without Configuring their properties first.
- Full featured GUI front-end for the Configuration properties and Restore utility.
- Performs MD5 Checksum upon start and compares Timestamps of important game files before launching Minecraft.
- Prompts users and asks for action to be taken if newer or older data is found.
- The backup routine saves drive space and time by only backing up new or changed files.
- No automatic Restore functions; the user has full control over what files are changed in their World Save folders.
- Works with browsers and standalone versions of Minecraft.
"Every time you don't download MAU... God kills a Kitten!" - MAU Developer
MAU Icons
So you might be wondering how this works? Well when MAU is first launched, it performs a series of checks on data contained in your configuration file. If every location/file is found it performs start up check on Backup data. If your Backup.ini is not present in your Backup directory it will ask to perform a backup routine. You can proceed without an backup, but your local data will be used. MAU scans the level.dat files for each save in the backup folder. During the start up check, if the local data has an identical checksum to your archived data, you proceed to launch the game. If your local data is different, but has a NEWER modification date, you will be asked if you want to Backup your data, run Restore, or proceed without change. If your local data is older you will asked to run Restore or to proceed without change. Minecraft is launched, and its PID is monitored. When Minecraft closes, a Backup routine is run. When the Backup is performed Older copies of files are moved into numbered directories, which can be used to restore older versions of your game, this saves time as only newer files are copied into your Top level Backup directory. If you are exceeding your specified limit of file copies to retain, the oldest existing files are deleted from your Numbered folders.
Installation and Usage
- Extract all files from the archive into a folder of your choice. (It is not recommended that you run MAU from your shared backup drive if you plan on syncing game files on multiple computers).
- Run Configuration.exe and enter correct path information, Enter the Max Number of Copies (default is 5), and the method you wish use to launch the game.
- Run Minecraft Assist Utility.exe when you wish to play Minecraft. Make sure not to exit the program as it will close on it's own when it is finished. In order for the backup function to start Minecraft has to be fully closed. The first time your game data is backed up the program will take the longest as it is saving all game data.
- When using Restore.exe to recover a loss of all game data or for first time use on a new pc. Load your top level backup folder which contains a full backup of your most up to date files. Select all files excluding Backup.ini and press the Restore button.
- To use Restore to recover older game data select a numbered folder that resides inside your Backup directory (example: E:\Backup\NumberZero or E:\Backup\NumberOne). The higher the number the Newer the data. The number of directories are based on the Max Copies you set in your configuration. To update a specific world select all files within the directory with the correct path information and press Restore button. (Example of path for World1: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\saves\world1\)
