GameEx as a display

[starbuck]

This is a off chute of a request I had last year. I believe alot of us spent more time tweaking GameEx then we play the games. Nothing impress people when they come over to visit and see my cabinet and then scroll thru the various screens and seeing game videos of old systems with the games runing. So much work has been done on the databases so that when a game is highlighted we can see all the neat things about the games we played when we were younger. Or because I have a account with Emumovies they can see the video or the box art etc. All this impresses.

But all of this is for naught if you don't have the rom. I've gone the route of making a map file. Just so I can have the game show up in my gamelist and display the data, the movie etc. in all its glory. It also motivates me to get the game when I can see the game being played and read about it in the database. I can't count the times that I had scrolled thru my game list in GameEx andf see a game and like it and then try to get the game.

Is there a way to create a ini file from the database and that is what GameEx would use to display your list under that emulatator. Perhaps an ini file simular to what Mame uses. The list would then show all the games in the database. It would then show all the moves from Emumovies. The boxes snaps etc would all work as if you had the game. When you select the game if you didn't have it. GameEx would pop open a box saying game not found or not available. Then if it was a game I wanted to play based on the movie or database. I would be inclined to search out the game. It would help alot for my friends and myself to remember games that we loved and long since forgot.

When you first install a new system, your game list would be created automaticly and you then could then edit that file to only show the games you have or want. I for one wouldn't edit the file because I would want to know what is available for a system. As new games are added to the database it would edit the ini file and add the new games to your game list. An option to play in the screensaver the movies from Emumovies wheater you have the game or not would be cool. I often leave my cab running in the room I am working in and it would increase the number of available games diplayed for systems that you don't have many of the games for.

[Domia]

This is a off chute of a request I had last year. I believe alot of us spent more time tweaking GameEx then we play the games. Nothing impress people when they come over to visit and see my cabinet and then scroll thru the various screens and seeing game videos of old systems with the games runing. So much work has been done on the databases so that when a game is highlighted we can see all the neat things about the games we played when we were younger. Or because I have a account with Emumovies they can see the video or the box art etc. All this impresses.

But all of this is for naught if you don't have the rom. I've gone the route of making a map file. Just so I can have the game show up in my gamelist and display the data, the movie etc. in all its glory. It also motivates me to get the game when I can see the game being played and read about it in the database. I can't count the times that I had scrolled thru my game list in GameEx andf see a game and like it and then try to get the game.

Is there a way to create a ini file from the database and that is what GameEx would use to display your list under that emulatator. Perhaps an ini file simular to what Mame uses. The list would then show all the games in the database. It would then show all the moves from Emumovies. The boxes snaps etc would all work as if you had the game. When you select the game if you didn't have it. GameEx would pop open a box saying game not found or not available. Then if it was a game I wanted to play based on the movie or database. I would be inclined to search out the game. It would help alot for my friends and myself to remember games that we loved and long since forgot.

When you first install a new system, your game list would be created automaticly and you then could then edit that file to only show the games you have or want. I for one wouldn't edit the file because I would want to know what is available for a system. As new games are added to the database it would edit the ini file and add the new games to your game list. An option to play in the screensaver the movies from Emumovies wheater you have the game or not would be cool. I often leave my cab running in the room I am working in and it would increase the number of available games diplayed for systems that you don't have many of the games for.

That's an awesome idea! I bought the movies from Emumovies and only uses 2 or 3 % of them, it would be great to have a "ALL EXISTING MAME ROMS" menu item...

[Fatone85]

I'm not brainstorming too much into this, but as a quick thought, you could create a pseudo-file (for example, create a new text document that contains nothing) and name it after the ROM that you don't have. This way GameEx would assume you had the file and display it as such. As an example, if you don't own "Metroid.smc", create a blank file and rename it to "Metroid.smc". GameEx will not know that it's not a ROM.

Just a though.

[bkenobi]

That was something I suggested a couple days ago for MAME (for a different purpose), but it sounds like it won't work there (due to filters from what I understand). However, I don't see why a dummy file couldn't work with other systems that don't validate roms like MAME does. The down side to that is there will be no indication in GameEx that the game isn't valid. As a result, you will have a list of games that for some reason just don't work. This could be complicated for you to explain to your guests let alone you figuring out which is which.

[headkaze]

I think map files will display a game even if you don't have it? Is that correct? If so I could add a special export feature to DBM that creates map files for all of the databases and post them here. It probably would be better to have as an option in GameEx though; something like "Show All Games from Database" or something to that effect.

[Fatone85]

As a result, you will have a list of games that for some reason just don't work. This could be complicated for you to explain to your guests let alone you figuring out which is which.

That's true. You would end up getting random load errors from the emulators and have to let your guests know that you faked them out, thus shooting down their hopes.

[starbuck]

Map files is how I do it now. It just seems that its a waste to have all the work that has been done already and future work on databases not create the file for you. When I make my map files on a new system I have to do alot of legwork for something that has already been done and alot better then I can do it.

Yes if you don't have the game,the game won't play. As good as Tom is, I would think he could do a routine that if the game doesn't exist, a message box could pop up and tell you that. Then if its a game that looks interesting you would know what the game name is and other related data and could then look for the game.

Maybe a mapfile could be generated from the no-intro date file.

[starbuck]

Map files is how I do it now. It just seems that its a waste to have all the work that has been done already and future work on databases not create the file for you. When I make my map files on a new system I have to do alot of legwork for something that has already been done and alot better then I can do it.

Yes if you don't have the game,the game won't play. As good as Tom is, I would think he could do a routine that if the game doesn't exist, a message box could pop up and tell you that. Then if its a game that looks interesting you would know what the game name is and other related data and could then look for the game.

Maybe a mapfile could be generated from the no-intro dat file.

[Tempest]

I think it would be better if the non-available games were "grayed-out", or flagged, or something else visual, instead of clicking on it to find out that you don't have it.

[bkenobi]

I agree. Grayed out menus in GameEx can't be selected at all, so it seems like that would be a good way to go. The only thing about having them grayed out is with my theme of choice (BlueEx), the gray is hard to differentiate from the regular items. Still, that seems like the right way to go if this is incorporated.

[starbuck]

In a request I did last year, I thought it would be cool for GameEx to have the games you have in green and the ones you don't have in red. Don't know if the theme controls the list colors or GameEx.

I put alot of my gameas (CD games because of space)on disk and put the disk in based on what games I want to play

I currently am using almost 90% of the 3DO game movies from Emumovies for example for that system even though I may only have 10 games on the disk. Yet I can stroll thru the games because of the map file and pick what games I want to put the disk in for. Only problem I run into is that I can't refresh the game list in GameEx when I change disk without getting out of GameEx and restarting.

[starbuck]

Been thinking about it and if incorporated, users would know what games are complete in the database based on what shows up to match the rom. Users could have a form to fill in and upload to the forum, with the needed information for the guys to add to the database. It could be as simple as game name,system, manufacturer, type of game and year. Or complete with the snap and movie and other information. Would spread out the workload for the guys slaving on the database.

As the information is added to the database, each new GameEx update would have the new gamelists.