Checking for newer version on game start

[titi]

Softcoder added a new ( currently disabled by default ) feature that checks if  a new version of MG is available and auto downloads this.

In general I like this feature, but after thinking about this I don't like that this functionality is part of the game. This auto updating should be done by using an external tool ( which can be written by us too ) but  this is nothing MG specific. and makes things more complicated and may raise security concerns for some people.
For the moment it's ok to have this code for vejvoda internal use,  but in general this should be changed to something external which is launched by the startscript or something like this..

( on a first thought git with a bit scripting might be a good option to implement this )

[kagu]

Why not the auto-updater, its the very useful.
If you want an external tool, this looks promising http://winsparkle.org/

[andy_5995]

What about simply a feature that checks if there's an update available, and if so, simply notifies the user?

[titi]

This test is not done on game start, because under some circumstances opening network connections will not work and block until a timeout is reached. This is annoying to wait on every start of the game.
And it doesn't matter for single player too much which version you have. But when you enter the multiplayer lobby this check is done and you get a red "This version is outdated..." . For me this is good enough.

In General
Updating software is not the job of the software itself! This should be done by the operation systems package system or steam or whatever. At work where I am forced to use windows I for myself hate it when every piece of software checks for updates and brings his own odd update system.