Using Gamebase CPC with GameEx

[ldaneels]

Hi, I am trying to set up Gamebase CPC with GameEx, but I have a problem: I am unable to launch games (I have no problem whatsoever launching the game via Gamebase). Am I missing something ?

Also, is it possible to play a video snap the same way it plays for MAME games ?

[Bigby]

Do you have any other GameBases running in GameEX and are they working okay?

I also have some GameBases in GameEX, but not for CPC.

As for videos... this is not currently supported for GameBase, so I'm not sure if it would be possible as a feature in GameEx or not.

[ldaneels]

Yes, I have tried Gamebase Amiga & it's working fine. Did you ever run into some troubles to run games in other Gamebases ? If so, how did you fix it ?

Having the ability to autoplay videos while in Gamebase mode would be a great addition. There are many videos available for Amiga & that would make the whole interface & bit more fun.

Cheers

[Bigby]

For Amiga Gamebase, SPS and WHDload, try WinUAE Loader - http://www.gameex.in...ae-loader-v176/

Using it like this, you can also have the video previews too. (this is the only system that is gamebase related, that we can have videos for as far as I know)

I'm getting Gamebase CPC and will report back if I have any issues.

[Bigby]

It occurs to me that using GBLauncher.exe in the commandline might be a way to use gamebase and have video previews?

The user myonions mentions it here - http://www.gameex.in...tor/#entry90669

Running GBLauncher.exe pops up a window with more info.

[ldaneels]

I'll look into that. In the mean time, if you have questions on how I set up Gamebase CPC, let me know. I was planning on creating videos for each game & that would be awesome if I could get them to show in GameEX.

[Bigby]

I have Gamebase CPC v23... is that what you are using? (I see that there is also a AmstradMania gamebase)

Anyway, I tried it in GamEX and indeed it would not launch the games. The GameEx log showed this error:

Running: cmd.exe /c R: GBLAUNCHER.exe db="Amstrad CPC" id=1692 wait=1
Shutting down display
21 Consecutive Exceptions Occured
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at Direct2D.Direct2d.Device.BeginScene(Boolean Clear, Color ClearColour)
at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.c(Boolean A_0)
at GameEx.GameEx.mainform.dw()
Trying reinitialising the display after sleeping for 4 seconds
Exception count will be dropped to 15

I noticed that the CPCE emulator was the default emulator in Gamebase, so I made WinAPE the first emulator under "Manage Emulators". GameEX now launches the game when I select it. (so this might be an issue with CPCE and the way it displays in fullscreen. Just a guess, I really don't know)

Another thing I've found within this Gamebase CPC is that some games do not work with WinApe, while they do work with CPCE and vice versa. In the GameBase program you can right-click the "Play Game" button to choose which emulator to use for that game. I don't know how this could be replicated within GameEX.

This Gamebase also has the emulators - Caprice32, JavaCPC and wincpc. I am not at all familiar with CPC so no idea which ones should be used.

[Bigby]

Wait a second...

Are you the creator of this GamebaseCPC that I have, idaneels ?

[ldaneels]

Hi,

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a try.

I am indeed the one making GBCPC, which could explain my interest in getting it to run on GameEx If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

As for the emulator used, CPCE is by far the most flexible & compatible CPC emulator (the only downside is CPC+ emulation).

[ldaneels]

I just tried setting CPCE as an emulator & it works fine. It really is a mystery why it doesn't work with GBCPC...

Would it be possible to have Spesoft look into this, it seems like a GameEx bug to me.

[Bigby]

If you edit the topic title and put [ATTN TOM] at the beginning of the title... that should hopefully get Tom's attention.

[Tom Speirs]

Hi, I will take a look.

Thanks,

Tom.

[Tom Speirs]

By the way as a major gamebase contributor you are entitled to a free lifetime license. Drop me an email if you would like it.

[Tom Speirs]

Hi, the issue is now fixed for the next release and I attach a pre release GameEx.exe in the meantime. The issue was because the path to the emulator had an uppercase .EXE in the filename. This was obviously a bug in GameEx.

Enjoy!

GameEx.7z

[ldaneels]

Hi,

Thanks for acting so quickly on this, it is much appreciated.

I have already purchased a lifetime license, so consider it a donation. I am glad to support your project

I just tried the new exe & it works wonders. This most definitely makes GBCPC a lot nicer.

As a sidenote, is it possible to play video snap with Gamebase under GameEx ? If not could I request such a feature ?

At any rate, thanks a lot & keep up the great work,

Loïc

[Tom Speirs]

Extract the attached to the gameex folder and it will play the YM music

Its not currently possible to play videos and I dont think there any video snaps available for gamebase systems. It has been requested before. If there were video snaps available with the correct naming formats I would add the feature.

Cheers.

Tom.

GameEx.7z

[ldaneels]

Thanks for the YM update, that was my next request

I'm planning to create videos for every CPC software & upload them to Emumovies. I would also like to use videos there for other systems (C64, Amiga,...) & link them to their respective Gamebases.

What do you mean by naming format ?

[Tom Speirs]

I mean in order for GameEx to match a video to a game it needs to be named (filename) the same or similar. At the moment the emumovies naming is all NoIntro but "If you build it, they will come" and I will implement it.

[Adultery]

You know, such as No-Intro, TOSEC, GoodName, etc.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Adultery
: I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that pesky Tom and his damn dog! LOL!

[nullPointer]

I don't believe that the No-Intro project includes specifications for the Amstrad CPC. As a result, I think that TOSEC would probably be your best (and most modern) option in terms of a good naming convention.

[Tom Speirs]

It does not necesarily need to follow any convention it just must match either the game image filename or name of the game. In addition GameEx needs to know where to look for the videos (the folder they are in). This could be stored in paths.ini even though not supported by Gamebase itself or in a hardcoded folder name if the value does not exist. If this could be done I would love to implement the feature.

[ldaneels]

I was planning on using the same naming convention I use for GBCPC, so it's none of these.

I have modified the file paths.ini to add a section & gamebase does not erase it, so it could work. Would GameEx look into subfolders as I would keep all videos organised by letter.

Cheers,

Loïc

[Tom Speirs]

I was planning on using the same naming convention I use for GBCPC, so it's none of these.

I have modified the file paths.ini to add a section & gamebase does not erase it, so it could work. Would GameEx look into subfolders as I would keep all videos organised by letter.

Cheers,

Loïc

Like I said, it does not matter as long as they match. Following standards can be a good thing though. No, GameEx won't look in subfolders.

[Tom Speirs]

I also thought of something else last night. We could add additional data to your mdb file to allow for videos similar to how screen shots are.

[ldaneels]

all right, I looked into the database, the most convenient would be to include the videos as extras & create a new column to mark them specifically. This way they can easily be spotted & used in both GBCPC & GameEx.