[Wintermute0110]

I must be daft. I'm on v0.9.9 and I can't find the option to manually add roms. Is that still a thing?

I ask because when I try to scan for Wii U, most of the roms are incorrect. And the ones that have update files in addition create duplicates. Maybe my issue is I'm scanning the wrong info (.rpx extensions). Thanks!

The option is no more. I removed it because it created a lot of problems internally (I can give you details if interested). If you have duplicates is because you specified multiple extensions I think. You can also go to the Launcher, open the context menu, select View Launcher, View Launcher scanner report. In the Launcher scanner report you can see the scanner operation and why you get duplicates. If you need more help I need a complete debug log, follow the instructions on the first post of the thread.

[Wintermute0110]

I must be daft. I'm on v0.9.9 and I can't find the option to manually add roms. Is that still a thing?

I ask because when I try to scan for Wii U, most of the roms are incorrect. And the ones that have update files in addition create duplicates. Maybe my issue is I'm scanning the wrong info (.rpx extensions). Thanks!

Maybe there's a better way to do it, I followed the guide at https://cemu.cfw.guide/dumping-games to get games from the Wii U but dumpling generates (at least to me) random names for the .rpx ROMs, so the scrapers never work. Since I don't really have a lot of Wii U games (who does? haha) I just renamed the files to something the scraper could work with, like "Mario Kart 8" or "New Super Mario Bros U". Note that you have to change the cos.xml (it's on the same folder as the .rpx) to point to the new file name, the line you're looking for is something like

xml:
 <argstr type="string" length="4096">Mario Kart 8.rpx</argstr> 

otherwise cemu will freak out and crash. To avoid duplicates, I placed all updates and DLCs on a completely separate folder so AEL can't scan them (I keep them there as a backup, but I don't think you really need the original files after you've installed the updates/DLC). That's just the way I found to be easier because the scrapers work great once you have proper file names, however you could always manually edit the .nfo files and ROM assets if you want to.

Yes, place the DLCs on a separate folder. Once you install them you don't need the installation files (I think).

To fix the other problem I would create a Python wrapper script. As launcher program use /home/kodi/bin/cemu-launcher.py and launcher arguments use $rom$:

python:


#!/usr/bin/python3

# File /home/kodi/bin/cemu-launcher.py

import subprocess

import sys

arg_list = [

    '/usr/bin/wine',

    '/home/kodi/bin/cemu/cemu.exe',

    '-g',

    # Insert Z: and change slashes into backslashes

    '{}'.format('Z:' + sys.argv[1].replace('/', '\'))

]

subprocess.run(arg_list)

Make sure that /home/kodi/bin/cemu-launcher.py is executable, file permissions 755.

[capewrath]

To fix the other problem I would create a Python wrapper script. As launcher program use /home/kodi/bin/cemu-launcher.py and launcher arguments use $rom$:

Perfect, worked great! Thanks. I submitted a pull request adding this script to the AEL-asset-library, maybe it helps in case someone is trying to do something similar.

[the_stag]

I must be daft. I'm on v0.9.9 and I can't find the option to manually add roms. Is that still a thing?

I ask because when I try to scan for Wii U, most of the roms are incorrect. And the ones that have update files in addition create duplicates. Maybe my issue is I'm scanning the wrong info (.rpx extensions). Thanks!

Maybe there's a better way to do it, I followed the guide at https://cemu.cfw.guide/dumping-games to get games from the Wii U but dumpling generates (at least to me) random names for the .rpx ROMs, so the scrapers never work. Since I don't really have a lot of Wii U games (who does? haha) I just renamed the files to something the scraper could work with, like "Mario Kart 8" or "New Super Mario Bros U". Note that you have to change the cos.xml (it's on the same folder as the .rpx) to point to the new file name, the line you're looking for is something like

xml:
 <argstr type="string" length="4096">Mario Kart 8.rpx</argstr> 

otherwise cemu will freak out and crash. To avoid duplicates, I placed all updates and DLCs on a completely separate folder so AEL can't scan them (I keep them there as a backup, but I don't think you really need the original files after you've installed the updates/DLC). That's just the way I found to be easier because the scrapers work great once you have proper file names, however you could always manually edit the .nfo files and ROM assets if you want to.

Awesome! Thanks for that. I managed to make that work. You're right, I only have 4 Wii U games. So it was a quick fix.

[the_stag]

I must be daft. I'm on v0.9.9 and I can't find the option to manually add roms. Is that still a thing?

I ask because when I try to scan for Wii U, most of the roms are incorrect. And the ones that have update files in addition create duplicates. Maybe my issue is I'm scanning the wrong info (.rpx extensions). Thanks!

The option is no more. I removed it because it created a lot of problems internally (I can give you details if interested). If you have duplicates is because you specified multiple extensions I think. You can also go to the Launcher, open the context menu, select View Launcher, View Launcher scanner report. In the Launcher scanner report you can see the scanner operation and why you get duplicates. If you need more help I need a complete debug log, follow the instructions on the first post of the thread.

I moved the updates to another folder as was suggested and that took care of the issue. I'd still like to see an option for individual add, but if it causes problems then I understand not wanting to (re)implement it. Thanks for all the help!

[SpiralCut]

Hey Wintermute,

I was hoping I could pick your brain for a second. I’m considering working on a new launcher plugin for Matrix and I’m trying to figure out the best way to store bulk data. When you were building AEL, why did you decide to go with XML vs SQLite?

PS, I’d PM but apparently that’s been disabled for most users at some point.

[Wintermute0110]

Hey Wintermute,

I was hoping I could pick your brain for a second. I’m considering working on a new launcher plugin for Matrix and I’m trying to figure out the best way to store bulk data. When you were building AEL, why did you decide to go with XML vs SQLite?

PS, I’d PM but apparently that’s been disabled for most users at some point.

AEL primarily uses JSON and not XML for bulk data. Have a look at AML, it's a little bit more optimized that AEL at the moment. Also, this thread is a must-read for you. Apparently XML loading in Python 3 is much more optimised than in Python 2 and even faster than JSON. I use SQLite in other projects and the performance is not that great as just a raw store of the data. SQL is useful if you need to do complex queries but a launcher addon for Kodi must focus on speed and pre-compiled queries (pre-compiled queries is what I call virtual launchers in AEL, like games sorted by Title, by Genre, etc.).

EDIT: some more advice. Choose carefully when you need a list, a dictionary or a set. For example, if you frequently need to test if an element exists then you need a hashed container. The performance penalty for using the bad container for a task can be huge. Do not use generators (functions with the yield keyword). Exploit the fact that in Python all data variables are references to save memory and improve speed.

[SpiralCut]

Thanks a ton! I haven’t messed around with AML much yet but I’m blown away with how fast AEL is at handling large data sets. From what you’ve said it sounds like a lot of that speed is just being smart with how you address the data. I am still new to a lot of this but you’ve given me a ton to look into. Thanks!

[Wintermute0110]

Thanks a ton! I haven’t messed around with AML much yet but I’m blown away with how fast AEL is at handling large data sets. From what you’ve said it sounds like a lot of that speed is just being smart with how you address the data. I am still new to a lot of this but you’ve given me a ton to look into. Thanks!

AEL can handle easily libraries with 50k games, for example in my setup I have a complete No intro set which is about 40k games over 30 launchers. AML deals with a library of 40k mame machines plus 120k games on the software lists. Both add-ons are very similar technically but AML is a bit more optimised because I spend some time with it in 2020 with the Python 3 conversion. Finally, it will be worth having a look at IAGL, Zach spent quite some time working on optimizing the addon and I'm sure the performance of the new version is great.

[Jachin99]

Would the AML library and configuration files be directly compatible with AEL?  Could I for example build launchers and game libraries for console games using AML today, and install AEL later on when it has been updated to Python 3?  Thanks.

[Wintermute0110]

Would the AML library and configuration files be directly compatible with AEL?  Could I for example build launchers and game libraries for console games using AML today, and install AEL later on when it has been updated to Python 3?  Thanks.

AEL and AML are independent add-ons. You can have either or both installed. In AML you don't setup any launcher, just point to the mame executable and the roms directory (which can be empty) and AML extracts all game information from the mame executable. AML is much easier to setup than AEL. AML only supports MAME and no other application. Currently AML works in Python 3 but not AEL.

[Jachin99]

Would the AML library and configuration files be directly compatible with AEL?  Could I for example build launchers and game libraries for console games using AML today, and install AEL later on when it has been updated to Python 3?  Thanks.

AEL and AML are independent add-ons. You can have either or both installed. In AML you don't setup any launcher, just point to the mame executable and the roms directory (which can be empty) and AML extracts all game information from the mame executable. AML is much easier to setup than AEL. AML only supports MAME and no other application. Currently AML works in Python 3 but not AEL.

That helps a lot, thanks.

[xaax]

how do i add roms to my collection? is there anywhere to get them? i really dont know how to upload mine and add new ones i am very bad at these things

[Wintermute0110]

how do i add roms to my collection? is there anywhere to get them? i really dont know how to upload mine and add new ones i am very bad at these things

The internet archive is full of treasures. Use your favorite search engine.

[misterright1]

in Advanced Launcher there was an option to add plot/info to launchers by linking a txt file. is that feature in Advanced Emulator Launcher? if it isn't I suggest it be added.