[Chreekar]

Hello everyone! I have made a plugin that works as a launcher for emulator games. It lists all the ROMs on the harddrive and starts the selected game in the associated emulator. Opinions requested :-)

The plugin can be found here:
MEDIAPORTAL - free media center - My Emulators

And emulator thumbnails here:
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/at...8&d=1168379310

Newest SVN version:
https://myemulators.svn.sourceforge....ot/myemulators

CHANGELOG
-------------------------------------------
v3.1
-A new prefix, %ROM_WITHOUT_EXT%, that
works like %ROM% but will not include
the extension of the file
-New section in Configuration for setting
thumbnails
-Bugfix regarding exporting game meta data
-Esc can be used to go back one level
instead of just exiting
-Maximize box in Configuration window
-Bugfix in resizing method
-Configuration window resizable
-Blue3wide skin included

v3.0
-Built for Mediaportal 1.0
-Code completely rewritten
-New Configuration interface
-Improved translation system, see below
-Autoconfiguration of filter string
-Working folder for emulator can be set,
and default value is the location of
the emulator executable file
-Games can now be in subfolders
-More fields in the game database, among
others one to hide the game
-Create a custom view by marking some
games as favourites, and this view
can be shown on launch
-Ctrl + F opens a search field in the
database tab in the configuration
-Database optimization, so it should be
a lot faster and easier to work with now
-Possibility to import and export games
meta data through custom xml files
-PC Games have their own group and config

v2.0
-Filter for showing files made case-
insensitive

v1.9
-Support for Windows Vista and MP RC1
-Execute PC games, or other programs without
arguments. See USAGE below for instructions.
-Support for using .bat files as emulators
-Added a column for genre, or type of game,
which can be used to filter games via the
context menu in MP. The translation files
will have to be updated with two new
strings, shown in the TRANSLATION section
below.

v1.8
-A couple more skin files are now included
-More flexible passing of arguments, see USAGE
-Use delete key in Emulator list in setup

v1.7
-Built for MP 0.2.3.0
-Fixed bugs with paths to thumbs and data-
base, fixing error with SQLite: CANTOPEN

v1.6
-Solved problem when returning from
a launched emulator
-Added support for translations, see below
-The ROM images must now be placed in a
subfolder of thumbsmyEmulatorsgames
named as the emulator it belongs to

v1.5
-A ROM Database accessed from the configuration that lets the user:
-Change the name of each game
-Write a description
-Set a grade that is displayed in the plugin (can also be set from the context menu inside MP)
-Change and view a play count and the latest date the game has been launched.
-Buttons to sort the ROMs according to grade, number of times played or the latest date launched.
-Thumbnail support! After the first run, directories will be created in the thumbs-directory. Name the image exactly the same as the emulator or game to make it visible.
-An option to change the label of the plugin
-Switched to rar file format for the distribution file, and included source code. Most of the comments are in Swedish though.
-Loads of GUI improvements to the setup...
-...and a much better looking skin...
-...with animations and different views.

v1.0.2
-Option to not use quotes on ROM paths, which should solve some compability issues
-All settings are now stored in a database (which means the plugin must be reconfigured)
-Tabbed configuration layout
-New header logo

v1.0.1
-Added an option to not close MediaPortal after launching a game

[mPod]

Doesn't MyPrograms do the same? Waeberd invested most of his time in supporting emulators and their ROMs. Just wondering.

[CHli]

My Programs does the same but My Emulators look quite simple I will have a look to configure some other emulators. Thanks

[mirk]

I like the clean look and easy setup. But i think is to bad that it close mediaportal before it start the emulation. Bug?
As it is now i dont see the mening with start the game from mediaportal...

Keep it up.

[shewless]

Nice work, but "My Programs" has some nice features... like it will scrape for all games/images/info in a certain directory for mame and automatically populate the my programs database... quite useful when you could have thousands of games to add... is "Waeberd" still around? maybe you could take a look at working on "my programs" instead of making another plugin....

[mPod]

Originally Posted by shewless

is "Waeberd" still around?

Unfortunately he "retired". He built himself a arcade game cabinet and is playing his MAME games on that cabinet rather than via MediaPortal.

[Chreekar]

I haven't tested My Programs, I will look into that :-) The reason why I close MP is that it's always on top, so the game would be placed behind MP if I didn't do it. Anyone know how to minimize MP?

[stormbringer]

You can leave the function MediaPortal always on Top unmarked in config.exe.

A question ; why only hdd games ; why not playing sega or PSX Games from CD?

[Jake m]

The always on top feature can be disabled, and it helps if you disable the exclusive directx mode

[Chreekar]

Originally Posted by Jake m

The always on top feature can be disabled, and it helps if you disable the exclusive directx mode

Yeah, but i don't want the user to have to change their own settings.

Stormbringer: Because it was easiest, I'm still new on the plugin development part :-) It would be nice with CD support, I will just have to think about how to implement it.