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Rom/Game information

Panja

By Panja
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Panja Super Member!

Panja

Posted
Posted

For some roms game Information is present but for others it's not.

Am I doing something wrong? Where in the settings can I change this?

It would be great to have game information available for all games.

Draco1962 GameEx God (Top Rank)

Draco1962

Posted
Posted

It depends on several factors. Since we don't have an example of the emulator(s) in question, my answer will be very broad. Some emulators do not have a representative database that is complete as of yet. Also, pulling data from the database depends on the ROM set in question - does the ROM set follow the recognized naming conventions used by the database (i.e., NoIntro, GoodName, TOSEC, etc.).

Panja Super Member!

Panja

Posted
  • Author
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At the moment I have 2 emulators set up.

Nestopia (NES) en SNESx9 (SNES). My roms are renamed Rom Center using the NO-INTRO dats.

The NES roms do not have a game description. The SNES do have a game description.

greatflash GameEx God (Top Rank)

greatflash

Posted
Posted

Nes roms should have descriptions for the majority of released games. I can only think that your rom names are very different from the norm?

It would be great to have every game and Rom with matching descriptions and data. As I sit here often sifting few a few hundred thousand database entries, I wish the work was already done. It will get done and I am increasing the data on a weekly basis. It is a monumental task, so please be patient. ;)

  • Like 3
Panja Super Member!

Panja

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm using the following names for instance:

  • Double Dragon (USA).zip
  • Double Dragon II - The Revenge (USA).zip
  • Super Mario Bros. (World).zip

All are renamed with Rom Center with the NO-INTRO dats.

Is there something wrong with these names?

Thanks for your hard work though! Much appreciated!

[update]

I have tried a few other NES roms and the description DOES appear for them...

Not all, but a few.

RedDog GameEx God (Top Rank)

RedDog

Posted
Posted

I'm using the following names for instance:

  • Double Dragon (USA).zip
  • Double Dragon II - The Revenge (USA).zip
  • Super Mario Bros. (World).zip

All are renamed with Rom Center with the NO-INTRO dats.

Is there something wrong with these names?

Thanks for your hard work though! Much appreciated!

[update]

I have tried a few other NES roms and the description DOES appear for them...

Not all, but a few.

Hi Panja,

I checked the NES database. There is nothing wrong with the names of your files. Unfortunately, the titles you listed do not yet have all the necessary data in the database to allow GameEx to find a match.

There are just over 1200 items in the NES database and although that database was updated with the latest version of GameEX, there is a lot of work left to do (as greatflash alluded to).

When I recently set up GameEx on my new HTPC, I went through the same situation that you are encountering and ended up adding entries to my own database to fill out the missing games...and it was a fair amount of work just for NES. I do not envy the GameEx team in the amount of work needed to fill out ALL of the emulator databases. It is a HUGE undertaking.

  • Like 2
greatflash GameEx God (Top Rank)

greatflash

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Thanks for appreciating the work RedDog & Panja.

Just as a heads up, the NES database is currently the one I am working on, so hopefully a more complete database will be released soon (time permitting).

  • Like 3
Panja Super Member!

Panja

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Okido, read and understood! Tnx!

If I want to fill in some info for a few games, how can I edit the DB myself?

RedDog GameEx God (Top Rank)

RedDog

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If I want to fill in some info for a few games, how can I edit the DB myself?

You could, but I will warn you...it took me quite a bit of troubleshooting and a few forum posts before I figured out how the databases interacted with Gamex. If you know a bit about SQL and databases and don't mind tinkering to figure things out, you could probably work through it. If not, you may want to leave it alone.

Here is a quick summary of what I did:

  • I used SqliteBrowser as a SQL browser.
  • The emulator databases can be found at in the GameEx/DATA/EMULATORS directory.
  • I strongly suggest manually backing up the database you want to work on and then make your edits there. That way when GameEx updates, your custom database file will not be changed.
  • To see the impact of your edits, you will need to configure your emulator to use your custom database in the Setup Wizard under 'Database'.
  • The columns in the database that GameEx uses to make matches are GameBase, HyperList, GoodName, NoIntro, and TOSEC. Since you used the No Intro Dats, I suggest using that column. If a game is not showing game info in GameEx, most likely the fields under these columns will be blank or will not match your ROM name.
  • You also need to pay attention to the Date, Category, Genre, NumPlayers, and Description. These columns are the actual data GameEx displays. If those are empty, then there is nothing to display.

I should also point out that the above 'stuff' is somewhat simplified and does not cover all contingencies. Some databases have duplicate entries, missing data, and game names that may not quite match what you expect. There were many times I had to make educated guesses and use trial and error before I got the results I wanted.

If you give it a go, then I wish you luck with it. :)

  • Like 2
Panja Super Member!

Panja

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Thanks for the explanation RedDog! Much appreciated!

Seems like it's not my average cup of tea, but I'll give it a go anyways.

I'm running GameEx on a test virtual machine atm so I can't kill anything really. :D

Panja Super Member!

Panja

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Installed SqliteBrowser and checked the DB out.

As an IT guy it's understandable for me and it's possible for me to do some changes.

But DAMN it's a lot of work!

After checking it out myself and changing some stuff in the DB I now appreciate the work that has been done (and will be done) even more!!

Cheers guys.

greatflash GameEx God (Top Rank)

greatflash

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Personal advice. Don't bother manually editing the databases unless you have a masochistic bent.

You are lucky that the database you want is currently being worked on, so, I would just wait for it to be updated.

  • Like 2
Tom Speirs GameEx God (Top Rank)

Tom Speirs

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Also just wanted to add that game editing including adding ratings is a planned upcoming feature of GameEx online but I agree with Flash in that he works incredibly hard on the databases and you are better waiting for updates.

The benefit of using GameEx online is we can later extract this data for the benefit of all. ie It will be in the cloud so to speak.

  • Like 1
Panja Super Member!

Panja

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Sound good Tom!

And greatflsh I'll wait till it gets updated. :D

Just wanted to know if and how it was possible to do it myself. Curious George. :P

greatflash GameEx God (Top Rank)

greatflash

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You've seen all the trouble Curious George gets into. Lol

I was working on the database last night. It's a large one but coming along nicely.

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