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[CLOSED] Advanced Launcher - Applications Launcher Addon for XBMC - Printable Version

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- Angelscry - 2011-09-25

Invincer Wrote:The download works! Thanks a million!! Strangely enough when I look at your 2 files in PSPad the 2 lines are identical to what I tried, and both mine and yours open UTF-8; but for whatever reason mine errors out. No rhyme or reason to it that I can figure... either way thanks a million!!!
I,m happy that it is finally working on your system. Now... if you still have it, could you please post your files. I want to test them on my system and see what is wrong with them. If you have got this problem... maybe another user will also have it, and I want to know what is going wrong.Nod


Controller Issues - lobinski - 2011-09-27

Hi all,
I finally finished setting up the emulator side of things last night and came across a slight issue. I was playing a game using PCSX-Reloaded, Windows 7, full screen with a wireless Xbox 360 controller connected to the microsoft receiver and everything was going fine. However, i paused the game for a while and when i came back the controller had switched itself off due to inactivity and when i switched it back on the emulator wouldnt pickup any input from the controller and had switched back to the keyboard.

Has anyone else had this issue and have any advice on how to reconnect it?


- lobinski - 2011-09-28

lobinski Wrote:Hi all,
I finally finished setting up the emulator side of things last night and came across a slight issue. I was playing a game using PCSX-Reloaded, Windows 7, full screen with a wireless Xbox 360 controller connected to the microsoft receiver and everything was going fine. However, i paused the game for a while and when i came back the controller had switched itself off due to inactivity and when i switched it back on the emulator wouldnt pickup any input from the controller and had switched back to the keyboard.

Has anyone else had this issue and have any advice on how to reconnect it?

Forgot to mention, i'm aware that i could usually press ESC and change the controller input through the menus, but pressing ESC seems to completely close the program.

Any help appreciated Smile


- rudeboyx - 2011-09-28

Hi angelscry


Dont know if its a bug or something im doing but when addidng multiple cd roms to a game with 5cd's (possibly more) the 5th CD is detected as a seperate game AS WELL as the 5th cd in the collection.

eg

Back to the future the game-cd1
Back to the future the game-cd2
Back to the future the game-cd3
Back to the future the game-cd4
Back to the future the game-cd5

Now I scan with AL and back to the future is found and all 5 CD's work as expected. (I select the game and I am presented with 5x CD options.

However, whilst scanning these in AL also creates a game in the collection called "
Back to the future the game-cd5" which I have to delete every time I scan for new games.

Hope I was clear enough. it may occur with other amounts of CD's also but this is my only multi CD game I have at the moment (until i install half-life episodes 1+2)

regards
RBX


- Angelscry - 2011-09-28

rudeboyx Wrote:Hi angelscry


Dont know if its a bug or something im doing but when addidng multiple cd roms to a game with 5cd's (possibly more) the 5th CD is detected as a seperate game AS WELL as the 5th cd in the collection.

eg

Back to the future the game-cd1
Back to the future the game-cd2
Back to the future the game-cd3
Back to the future the game-cd4
Back to the future the game-cd5

Now I scan with AL and back to the future is found and all 5 CD's work as expected. (I select the game and I am presented with 5x CD options.

However, whilst scanning these in AL also creates a game in the collection called "
Back to the future the game-cd5" which I have to delete every time I scan for new games.

Hope I was clear enough. it may occur with other amounts of CD's also but this is my only multi CD game I have at the moment (until i install half-life episodes 1+2)

regards
RBX
Oupsss... my fault. Actual advanced Launcher only support game with 4 CDs max. I will fix this for the next version.


- Rumik - 2011-09-29

This addon looks amazing! I'd love to try it out, but it's not appearing in your repository. I'm using the latest pre-eden nightly.

Is there a direct download link?

Thanks


- rudeboyx - 2011-09-29

Angelscry Wrote:Oupsss... my fault. Actual advanced Launcher only support game with 4 CDs max. I will fix this for the next version.


Great stuff. Nice to know im not doing something wrong for a change.Laugh
keep up the awsome work.

RBX


- Angelscry - 2011-09-29

Rumik Wrote:This addon looks amazing! I'd love to try it out, but it's not appearing in your repository. I'm using the latest pre-eden nightly.

Is there a direct download link?

Thanks
After installing the repository you need to refresh it into XBMC to make appear the list of add-on. BTW, you could also always manually download it here : http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-advanced-launcher/downloads/list


Version 1.5.8 - Angelscry - 2011-10-01

Version 1.5.8 : This new version of Advanced Launcher bring some bug corrections to multi-disc selection (to the number of multi-disc detected and to files containing several dot characters), to TheGameDB scrapper (Commodore 64 platform detection) and bring also some python code cleaning (for ComicVine scrappers).

Changelog:
  • Fix multi-disc selection bug for .cd# filenames.
  • Increase the number of multi-disc detection limit.
  • Update game platforms list for TheGameDB scrapper.
  • Clean ComicVine scrappers.



- gfur732 - 2011-10-01

First off thanks for a great add-on. I absolutely love my current XBMC set-up and that's in large part thanks to your incredible add-on.


It's been a while since I set up my media center and with a busy school/work schedule, i haven't even had the opportunity to tinker with it lately. A couple days ago though, I decided I'm going to start setting aside money with the goal of building a new, better computer to use as a media center. I won't have much time to even think about the set-up until the end of the year (when i should hopefully be able to buy the parts as well), but I'm indulging myself a bit this morning Smile


Anyways, there were a couple things i wanted to do when I first set up my media center that I never did figure out a reasonable way to implement. In general, I'm looking for responses on how these might be implemented either through current features i may have overlooked, a bit of creativity or if it's something you've considered implementing.

1. Handling multi-CD games - The first thing i noticed when i opened this thread is that you have support for this now. I spent a few minutes setting things up in the way you describe and it seems to work fine. Awesome and thank you Smile

Something I'd like to see long term though (and I would expect would be so low on your priority list that if i want it, I'd have to figure out how to implement it myself) is a way to trigger switching to the next disc without closing out of the emulator entirely. This would probably relate to point 3, as i don't see how it could be handled without image mounting (as opposed to loading the image directly with the emulator). Any thoughts on this one?

2. Game specific configuration in file launchers - This is one specific issue that could probably be handled in two different ways. For some emulators, there are games that work better on one emulator than another. It would be nice if there was a way to configure two or more file launchers separately, but combine the results. Alternatively you could just add an option to modify the command line for one specific game.

Another specific example where this would help is with Playstation 1 emulation. I forget if this applies to all of the Playstation 1 emulators, or just ePSXe, but if you remember, there's a little button on the dual shock Playstation 1 controllers that causes them to switch between the dual shock mode and emulating the older model Playstation controllers. Some games (although not many) would not accept input if they aren't in the correct mode and with at least ePSXe, if you don't designate the correct controller type, the games won't accept input either. There is a command line switch to designate which controller mode ePSXe should launch the game in, but unless I want to generate a batch file for every single game, there isn't a reasonable way to put all of these games in a single launcher.

3. Image mounting - This was the other reason that I ended up generating batch files in some cases. With some file/program launchers, I needed an image to be mounted. There's definitely image mounting software that can handled through the command line (daemon tools for example). In retrospect, could your command line option have handled more than one line? I'm not sure i ever tried that... If not, could the ability to add a pre-launch (maybe even post-launch) command line entry be implemented?

4. Splash screens - This one isn't a big deal, but it's something I'd like to have in my set-up long term. This would just be used to show the controls for the game. It might be game specific, but more likely would just show the consoles buttons mapped to the controllers I use for my computer. I'm fairly certain I could handle this one through batch files too (just open some image viewing software in full screen, then close it out after a delay or button press)...but if you can't tell by now...i hate batch files. Hate... Worth noting, a pre-launch entry like in #3 would probably solve this one too.

5. Exporting metadata - In a lot of cases, the metadata found by advanced launcher was fine, but there were definitely also times where the information was incorrect, not present, etc. It would be nice if it was possible to export the meta-data so that corrections I make could be stored with the files (like in other areas of XBMC) and when setting up a new computer or moving the files, the manual corrections wouldn't need to be made again. Also, I noticed you do already have an option to import plot. Why not the other data?


Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read and again for the great plugin. I suppose the only real feature request I'm concerned with is number 5. If you (or anyone else) have feedback on or had considered something relating to the others though, comments would be appreciated as well.


- Angelscry - 2011-10-01

Most of your questions (except the last one) are related to the direct integration of post and pre command line entries into Advanced Launcher instead of using bash or script launcher files. I'm not sure it is a good idea. One example. If before starting an application you need to start 20 command lines, does this mean that Advanced Launcher will implement 20 command line entries into its launcher or item settings? That's make not sense. Bash and script files will always be more powerful and polyvalent than a direct command line entries integration into Advanced Launcher. Now to reply to you specific points :

1. Handling multi-CD games
Here I do not understand why Advanced Launcher have to do the job of emulators. If some emulators need to use several ISO images why they do not already have an option or a defined key to automatically switch between these ISO images. Why they do not support this option yet? I think it is better to ask to the emulator developers to add this feature instead of ask it to the front-end developers. BTW, it is totally possible to do this using an Autoit script : mount the 1st ISO image; start the emulator; when keys "1", "2", or "3" are pressed; unmount the actually loaded ISO image and mount the 1st, 2nd or 3rd ISO image. Actually I do not have the time nor the interest to work on such king of script. And if I would work on it, it will not be implemented into Advanced Launcher.

2. Game specific configuration in file launchers
You can already select specific configuration in files using the Advanced Launcher arguments : %rom%; %romfile%; %romname%; %appath% and %rompath% (http://www.gwenael.org/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4#p4). For example that actually how Advanced Launcher do with WinUAE, Arnold or Model 2 emulators. You have the possibility to start a specific configuration file or a specific savestate while launching a specific game. In this case you do not have to modify the command line for each game but only need to edit the dedicated configuration file. Now, in my opinion, if some games do not properly work with one emulator or do not have command line support to start with a specific configuration, try another one, or ask the emulator developer to fix the problem. Here I do not understand why Advanced Launcher will have to manage defective emulators.

3. Image mounting
It is already possible to do this using a 3 lines bash file (http://www.gwenael.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7). And only one bash file is necessary for each launcher. That the most fast an easy way to do it.

4. Splash screens
I understand that you do not like bash files, but in this case I do not see how I can do it without using an external script of bash file. Advanced Launcher is an XBMC add-on, that's mean that Advanced Launcher is totally dependent of XBMC. So if XBMC is closed or the started application take the control over XBMC, Advanced Launcher will not be able control anything. The only thing Advanced Launcher do is to start ONE application using command line. If you want to display a loading screen, mount an ISO image, etc... all this will be done by THE started application. And the only easily modifiable kind of applications that can do this are bash or AutoIt scripts.

5. Exporting metadata
I'm actually working on the integration of nfo files support into Advanced Launcher as for other XBMC media. BTW, actually all the meta-data are into the launchers.xml file that could be modified using any kind of text editors.


Version 1.6.0 - Angelscry - 2011-10-02

Version 1.6.0 : This new version of Advanced Launcher start to add the manual support of .nfo files for Advanced Launcher. You now have the possibility :
  • to manually import data from a .nfo file for each launcher and each item
  • to manually save scraped or manually entered data into a .nfo file for each launcher and each item
With this new features, launchers & items datas/infos menu have been modified by the add of 2 new options ("Import Infos from .nfo file" and "Save Infos to .nfo file") and a new settings option have been added to Advanced Launcher (Launchers .nfo default path).

Image

For Items data:
To be imported, created or updated .nfo files must be located into the same folder than the corresponding items (romspath) and must have the same filename. For example if an item is named "Super_Mario_Bros.zip" the corresponding .nfo file will be named "Super_Mario_Bros.nfo" and will be located into the same folder.

Image

For Items launchers data:
To be imported, created or updated .nfo file must be located into the same folder than the managed items (romspath) and must have the same filename than the application. For example if your application is named "zsnesw.exe" the corresponding .nfo file will be named "zsnesw.nfo" and will be located into the same folder than the SNES roms.

Image

For stand-alone launchers data:
To be imported, created or updated .nfo file must be located into the folder indicated into Advanced Launcher general settings (Launchers .nfo default path) and must have the same filename than the application. For example if your application is named "zsnesw.exe" the corresponding .nfo file will be named "zsnesw.nfo" and will be located into the folder defined by the Launchers .nfo default path. If the Launchers .nfo default path is empty, Advanced Launcher will automatically ask you to select the .nfo file (import option) or in which folder this .nfo file is located (save/update option).

This new version of advanced launcher also improve the launchers and items description modification option.

Actually .nfo support is only manual. If I have sufficient positive feedbacks and not to many bugs with this version, the automatic support of .nfo files for items will be added in near future version of Advanced Launcher.

ChangeLog
  • Add launchers & items nfo file manual import & save options
  • Fix launchers and items description modification option
  • Modification of launchers & items datas/infos menu



- bakito - 2011-10-02

hi everyone!
just a quick message!
thanks again for this great add on to xbmc!
I'm here just to share a way to launch dreamcast more easely and exit null dc just with "escape" button ( it's more easy than alt f4)

http://www.mediafire.com/?yqqjwuzeu99yttz

you have to adjust the path in the file.bat ,uncompress it in your nulldc directory...you configure your advanced launcher with the .bat file and it launch the script for exit key as well,then you can exit nulldc just with escape button and close the script as well...
that's all,hope it 'll be useful for someone!!


- Angelscry - 2011-10-02

bakito Wrote:hi everyone!
just a quick message!
thanks again for this great add on to xbmc!
I'm here just to share a way to launch dreamcast more easely and exit null dc just with "escape" button ( it's more easy than alt f4)

http://www.mediafire.com/?yqqjwuzeu99yttz

you have to adjust the path in the file.bat ,uncompress it in your nulldc directory...you configure your advanced launcher with the .bat file and it launch the script for exit key as well,then you can exit nulldc just with escape button and close the script as well...
that's all,hope it 'll be useful for someone!!
Thank you Bakito for you contribution. How works your ExitKey.exe application? Does it only dedicated to works with nullDC application or could it works with other emulators or applications? Do you have compiled your application yourself? If so do you have the source code? It will be great to share it with other, and post it on dedicated Advanced Launcher forums : http://www.gwenael.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=41


- gfur732 - 2011-10-02

Thanks for such a thorough response Angelscry and for the new release as well. I'm very excited.

As to most of your responses, you're absolutely right. A lot of these features should have been implemented into the emulators. Even where the development of emulators is dead though, I suppose the solution isn't to bog down advanced launcher with a ton of features already handled by other methods. I'll just read and experiment a bit. Thanks again.