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Beta Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Printable Version

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RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Wintermute0110 - 2017-01-07

(2017-01-06, 22:40)NatroN Wrote: Wow.

thanks for the quick reply.

here is my AEL log

http://pastebin.com/CjvPvvxC

I did a fix in Github for this problem. Please install the development version from Github (instructions in first post) and report.


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - NatroN - 2017-01-07

Its working! Good job!

thank you


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - yallah - 2017-01-07

Hi

Is it working with retroplayer ?


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Wintermute0110 - 2017-01-07

(2017-01-07, 16:15)yallah Wrote: Hi

Is it working with retroplayer ?

Retroplayer is no supported yet. I have to ask Garbgear about how to implement it (currently I have no idea how I have to use the Kodi API to call Retroplayer).


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - billyc666 - 2017-01-07

just been doing some testing and all seems good.
im using rocketlauncher for the emulator settings so i cant comment on any other rom settings.
not sure about trailers as the skin im using doesnt show them, looking forward to rufoo's skin, theres some great looking views.
im testing the xmls as i make them so if you want me to upload them to the git i can

**edit**
quick question regarding multi disk will
(Disk 1),(Disk 2)
(Side A),(Side B)
(Disk 1)(Side A),(Disk 1)(Side B)
be supported and variuos others im sure i could create a list if needed
also the option to manually add roms to multi rom where side or disk isnt defined , something like Resident Evil (Leon Disk) , Resident Evil (Claire Disk) <<not sure if thats right but as an example


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - KODser - 2017-01-08

I am using and I'm happy with it. With pc games it works great, i will test with the wii emulator. On the advanced launcher I could never get it to work, not even with the pc games, user error for sure...
However I have some problems with the addon - doesn't run scrappers automatically (pc games) and it won't download images when I run them. Maybe it's because it only works for roms, at least it looks like it when I see the addon settings menu.

Two suggestion for the scrappers
- User should able to choose different scrappers for different things (title, about, year, etc)
- add an option to remove these <tags>

Finally two images of the addon on the Arctic: Zephyr. As you know, inside the app there are no views to show the full potential of it but the widgets look rather good

Image

Image


Thanks for the work, really appreciate it.

________________

EDIT- I found an interesting bug, don't know if it is the addon's fault, kodi's fault or mine...
If I enter a game and exit it using a keyboard and a mouse it all works fine. If I use a gamepad, when I exit, the same game launches multiple times and my pc freezes. The button to confirm the "quit" it's the same as select/open on kodi. ("X" on thrustmaster dual trigger)

Already tested the wii emulator and it works great, but the scrapers have the same problem
here are the parameters for the wii emulator (dolphin) for anybody who wants to know /b /e="%ROM%"


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - billyc666 - 2017-01-08

at present im trying to complete the offline scrapers for the big databases ie cpc, c64 atari st, amiga and zx spectrum i have all the info but need descriptions, so my idea was to use AEL to scrape the info and extract it from the json files but i have a problem and im not sure if you can change the scrap_metadata.py file to help in this
at present it scrapes the plot like this

Code:
"m_plot":"Leader+Board\ authors <a href=\"/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1084/\ and <a href=\"/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1083/\ tried their hand at tenpin bowling, in one of the game's earliest recreations. The process of bowling the ball involves timing a succession of clicks to set the right angle, speed and curve, similarly to Leaderboard's system. Three skill levels are provided - Kids level sets the speed and hook automatically, while Amateur has more margin for error with hook/slice than professional. The game is played from a plan view, with four other (empty) lanes visible. Single matches or a league structure can be played.",

so the problem i have is all the html code in the plot rather than plain text is there anyway i can work around this
it would save heaps of time copy and pasting

here's a couple of xml files to add to resources

http://www.filedropper.com/xmlfiles

**edit** actually i may of just done it in notepad++


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - billyc666 - 2017-01-09

xml files for
atari 5200,7800,Jaguar,Jaguar cd,Lynx

http://www.filedropper.com/xmlfiles_2

can you add Amstrad CPC to cover both CPC and GX4000 in the moby scraper,
ive started adding the descriptions to cpc but it may take a while as ive ended up doing copy and paste to add them
ill upload as soon as its finished.
in the mean time ill create the missing xml files and check then upload them


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - KODser - 2017-01-09

I'm attempting to make changes on the Arctic: Zephyr to support the addon. all the metadata isworking, but now i wanted to use some other features like trailer and clearlogo. the other stuff like cartridges and manuals are cool but it's two mutch stuff to show at once and deafeats the purpose of Arctic: Zephyr skin - clean, modern, simple.

About the clear logos, where do i put the path for the image on the addon? this questions works for the cartridges, manual and stuff (all the tings that we can't add on the context menu) to.

Other suggestion that i have is allow to use a youtube link on the trailer.
I will share the work sometime this week on the metadata support to anyone how wants to download

Keep up the good work


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - billyc666 - 2017-01-10

@Rufoo is there a release date for Skin xxxxx, the addon works great just unfortunate that no skin support at the momnet Sad


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - KODser - 2017-01-11

@billyc666 i'm working on a Arctic: Zephyr MOD to support Advanced emulator launcher and Advanced Launcher.

Here are some images

I wanted to add clearlogos, but I don't know how to test it, because there is no option on the context menu to add them, there is no tutorial about folder hierarchy, I don't know if the offline scrappers work in standalone launchers or rooms, but it's a start. Here it is the Mod thread - http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=303774


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Wintermute0110 - 2017-01-11

(2017-01-09, 18:34)billyc666 Wrote: xml files for
atari 5200,7800,Jaguar,Jaguar cd,Lynx

http://www.filedropper.com/xmlfiles_2

can you add Amstrad CPC to cover both CPC and GX4000 in the moby scraper,
ive started adding the descriptions to cpc but it may take a while as ive ended up doing copy and paste to add them
ill upload as soon as its finished.
in the mean time ill create the missing xml files and check then upload them

Thanks a lot for your work, billyc666!

Currently I'm busy to spend time on the scrapers, but I have plans for the future. I was thinking on sending you a PM but maybe it could be a better idea to discuss this in the thread so other people can contribute with ideas. This are some random thoughts:

1) AEL scrapers can be used outside of the plugin. I have prepared a repository to test the online scrapers and also to build the databases of the offline scraper, you can find it here. Of course... a lot of work to do.

2) For platforms supported by No-Intro, I want to create an utility (let's call it AEL-DB-CREATE.py) that allows manual editing of the database (in XML) and simplifies the upgrades when a new No-Intro DAT file is released. To create the AEL scraper database for the first time, an utility takes the No-Intro DAT, MAME software lists, you GameDB database, Tempest INI files and Hyperspin XML DATs. The output is the AEL database in XML, which is compatible with Hyperspin. Also, this utility will support parent and clone games: it is required to put the metadata of the parent game and it will be used in all the clones if the metadata of the clone is not available.

The AEL XML databases can be manually edited to correct mistakes, add new ROMs no present in the DAT file, etc.

When a new version of the No-Intro DAT is released, another utility (AEL-DB-UPDATE.py) takes the new No-Intro DAT and the old AEL database. This utility will detect if ROMs have been added/deleted/renamed in the No-Intro DAT file and change the AEL db accordingly.

3) For MAME there will be similar utilities, but instead of a No-Intro DAT the main DAT will be the XML file output by MAME itself.

4) For platforms not included in No-Intro and MAME then the current Hyperspin format will be OK.

5) I am willing to code any other utility in Python you may need or consider useful for the project, but it will take me some time.

6) I will suggest you reorganise your repository in Github, get rid of the ODT/CVS files, and stick with the XML files only. The reason is that XML files can be easily edited to correct for mistakes.

Of course this is open to discussion. Surely once I start coding the utilities new issues will show up.


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Wintermute0110 - 2017-01-11

(2017-01-08, 17:15)billyc666 Wrote: at present im trying to complete the offline scrapers for the big databases ie cpc, c64 atari st, amiga and zx spectrum i have all the info but need descriptions, so my idea was to use AEL to scrape the info and extract it from the json files but i have a problem and im not sure if you can change the scrap_metadata.py file to help in this
at present it scrapes the plot like this

Code:
"m_plot":"Leader+Board\ authors <a href=\"/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1084/\ and <a href=\"/developer/sheet/view/developerId,1083/\ tried their hand at tenpin bowling, in one of the game's earliest recreations. The process of bowling the ball involves timing a succession of clicks to set the right angle, speed and curve, similarly to Leaderboard's system. Three skill levels are provided - Kids level sets the speed and hook automatically, while Amateur has more margin for error with hook/slice than professional. The game is played from a plan view, with four other (empty) lanes visible. Single matches or a league structure can be played.",

...

I managed to clean all the HTML tags from all the scrapers. However, when I introduced the Arcade Database scraper I had to split the HTML cleaning functions into two, which disabled some of the HTML cleaning in GameFAQs and MobyGames scraper. The problem is specially annoying in the MobyGames scraper. Will have a look ASAP into this issue.


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - Wintermute0110 - 2017-01-11

(2017-01-11, 03:53)KODser Wrote: ...

I wanted to add clearlogos, but I don't know how to test it, because there is no option on the context menu to add them, there is no tutorial about folder hierarchy, I don't know if the offline scrappers work in standalone launchers or rooms, but it's a start. Here it is the Mod thread - http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=303774

KODser, thanks a lot for your work Big Grin

I think the best source of information for skinners is the AEL DEBUG view. You can easily access the up-to-date code here. Also, this document describes all the infolabels used by AEL.

I think in your setup you only use Standalone Launchers to launch your Windows games. AEL defines 2 categories of artwork:

1) Categories/Standalone Launchers/ROM Launchers/ROM Collections have Thumb/Fanart/Banner/Flyer/Trailer ONLY.

2) ROMs in a ROM Launcher/Favourites/ROM Collection have Title/Snap/Fanart/Banner/Clearlogo/Boxfront/Boxback/Cartridge/Flyer/Trailer

So, in order to effectively support AEL you will need two views: one for categories/launchers and another one for ROMs, at least.

When you create a ROM Launcher you have to introduce an "Asset directory". Inside this directory, AEL creates the subdirectories "Titles", "Snaps", "Clearlogos", etc.

The reason AEL only suppors a limited set of artwork for Standalone Launchers is because originally I though most users will have many ROM launchers and just a few Standalone Launchers. Many of the AEL features, like Favourites/ROM Collections/Virtual Launchers are only available for ROMs. If you want to launch standalone applications like ROMs, then in Windows you can create a directory and in there create LNK files to the games you want to launch. Then, create a special LNK ROM Launcher. Linux/OS X users will need to create a sh script file for every program/game they want to launch, and then use /bin/bash as the launching application. LNK/SH file creation may look cumbersome but actually it is much quicker than creating a Standalone launcher for every program you want to launch.

Currently, there are some bugs when exporting/importing ROM Collections with assets/artwork. I'm working on make the exporting/importing of ROM Collections ready for the 0.9.5 release. Once it is working OK, I will publish a couple of my personal ROM Collections so in a matter of seconds you would have a ROM Launcher (from the skinner point of view, ROM Collections are just another ROM Launcher) fully loaded with artwork.


RE: Advanced Emulator Launcher - Multi-emulator frontend for Kodi - KODser - 2017-01-11

You are welcome, that mod is nothing compared to what you are doing
you are right... It's just for Rooms, I'm really dumb... I have here a wii room and I can find some n64 ones (super Mario kart for example, what a game!) to test.

(2017-01-11, 10:54)Wintermute0110 Wrote: So, in order to effectively support AEL you will need two views: one for categories/launchers and another one for ROMs, at least.
This sounds great, the problem is that for now, I only know how to link view to a specific addon, but not for a section of the addon