Release DosBox EX - V4 [Video]


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DosBox v4 - Video


Version 4 will use EX Launcher by default, so there will be no directory digging with zenity :) .


To add a game to EX Launcher list , there will be required only dropping directory with game [example "Larry.1.vga" dir ] to dosbox-ex/roms directory [should be renamed to "games" but i didnt changed it :) ] and rename game executable to 01.exe or 01.com or 01.bat, then .. re-launch DosBox EX and voilla. Another game added :) . Using DosBox was never easier :)


Video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNf4R301W0I
 
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can you please add the ability to change the ROM/game directory incase I delete the appdata folder (which would delete any roms/gamefiles inside too) for whatever reason, I always keep my rom dirs outside the Pandora folder altogether.
 
can you please add the ability to change the ROM/game directory incase I delete the appdata folder (which would delete any roms/gamefiles inside too) for whatever reason, I always keep my rom dirs outside the Pandora folder altogether.

Maybe i'll add it in v5. Anyway , you could still make symbolic link to your games folder to prevent that.
 
v4 should have ability to automount ISO files if iso file will be added into game dir, for example


if we have directory [appdata]/dosbox-ex/roms/Mega.Race.CD and we put there 01.iso then iso will be automounted in dosbox v4 as "D" drive
 
what if more than 1 iso in the ROM dir? will it mount both? or fail? or mount the last one it finds?

also what about if you have the game files from GOG ? how would that work? does it auto find the exe?
 
what if more than 1 iso in the ROM dir? will it mount both? or fail? or mount the last one it finds?


also what about if you have the game files from GOG ? how would that work? does it auto find the exe?

Nope, it will mount only 01.iso [one cd image] at the time.


Games from GOG will work if game will be installed on PC firstly [i could rant all day about GOG and about crap installing solutions they chosen :p ] and all you need to "change" is to rename game executable to 01.exe / 01.com and thats it.. :)


btw. Is there any DOS CD game that was released for free / PublicDomain ?
 
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so we have to change the name of the game.exe for it to work? cant it just look for the correct file? or give us the option to choose it from a list?
 
so we have to change the name of the game.exe for it to work? cant it just look for the correct file? or give us the option to choose it from a list?

?how the script will know what kind of executable run if you have for example +5 executables in dir [in many games]? :)


Its better for user to rename game.exe to 01.exe , because the user know best what executable needs to be run to play the game.


btw. setup.exe's should be renamed to 02.exe / 02.bat / 02.com etc.


btw. This solution is best, because you're making modification only once and it works everytime.


Selectors like You said here: "or give us the option to choose it from a list?" will only slows down running game. And im trying to speed up things with DB EX compared to normal DB


btw.v3


At some point dosbox ex will use compressed zips of games [just like mame ex] called *.dbe to help maintain free space on SD cards.


dosbox will unpack *.dbe files on the fly before runtime and delete game files/dirs after closing dosbox.


This idea grows in me from 2007 when i was doing DosBox Blast! for GP2X.. :)
 
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OK, tested DosBox EX V4 with MEGARACE CD.. it works nicely.. and completely without user interuption.
 
can you please add the ability to change the ROM/game directory incase I delete the appdata folder (which would delete any roms/gamefiles inside too) for whatever reason, I always keep my rom dirs outside the Pandora folder altogether.

Maybe i'll add it in v5. Anyway , you could still make symbolic link to your games folder to prevent that.
This contradicts your goal of making everything easier for the common user. I'm pretty sure at least a third of all current pandora users never heard of a symbolic link. Configuration data and user data should always be seperated.

so we have to change the name of the game.exe for it to work? cant it just look for the correct file? or give us the option to choose it from a list?

?how the script will know what kind of executable run if you have for example +5 executables in dir [in many games]? :)


Its better for user to rename game.exe to 01.exe , because the user know best what executable needs to be run to play the game.


btw. setup.exe's should be renamed to 02.exe / 02.bat / 02.com etc.


btw. This solution is best, because you're making modification only once and it works everytime.


Selectors like You said here: "or give us the option to choose it from a list?" will only slows down running game. And im trying to speed up things with DB EX compared to normal DB
There seems to be no need to rename any file, it should be sufficient to just create a 01.bat file which starts the real game executable.

btw.v3


At some point dosbox ex will use compressed zips of games [just like mame ex] called *.dbe to help maintain free space on SD cards.


dosbox will unpack *.dbe files on the fly before runtime and delete game files/dirs after closing dosbox.


This idea grows in me from 2007 when i was doing DosBox Blast! for GP2X.. :)

I like this idea very much, one of the projects I don't start because I know I won't finish it. But my idea goes a little further, I think i would be great if it would not only hold the game files, but also metadata (like the ones you see on mobygames), screenshots, boxshoots, maybe even different versions of the game, ....


But back to your idea, maybe you could search for a small config file in archive, which shows your dosbox starter, which executable to start, something like



Code:
<dosboxex>

<run>ultima7.bat</run>

<setup>install.exe</setup>

</dosboxex>

config files could be hosted somewhere here.


So the user has only to download the file, and add it to the archive


Edit:


Sorry, i forgot: thanks for letting us participate on your excellent work
 
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This contradicts your goal of making everything easier for the common user. I'm pretty sure at least a third of all current pandora users never heard of a symbolic link. Configuration data and user data should always be seperated.

[sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata] is default dir for all additional data for every app started via pnd run. Every common pandora users know it. Its a matter of being purist when we talking about sorting games roms in different directories than [sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata]. Some of You like appdata better, but some may not, but theres nothing to do with usability and easyness since copy to SD/pandora/appdata/DosBox-EX-App takes the same amount of time compared to copying to /SD/ROMS

There seems to be no need to rename any file, it should be sufficient to just create a 01.bat file which starts the real game executable.

Yes , of course, this works too [and it is supported] :) . Funny thing is: some games detecting renaming the file and refusing to work then.. for example: SilverBall from EPIC MEGAGAMES or HeartLight from XLAND

I like this idea very much, one of the projects I don't start because I know I won't finish it. But my idea goes a little further, I think i would be great if it would not only hold the game files, but also metadata (like the ones you see on mobygames), screenshots, boxshoots, maybe even different versions of the game, ....


But back to your idea, maybe you could search for a small config file in archive, which shows your dosbox starter, which executable to start, something like



Code:
<dosboxex>

<run>ultima7.bat</run>

<setup>install.exe</setup>

</dosboxex>

config files could be hosted somewhere here.


So the user has only to download the file, and add it to the archive

Basic idea is to keep quasi-meta file and screenshot outside *.dbe file for speed viewing, otherwise viewing screenshot or game info force DosbOx EX to extract content of dbe file [this thing will be resource eater]
 
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[sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata] is default dir for all additional data for every app started via pnd run. Every common pandora users know it. Its a matter of being purist when we talking about sorting games roms in different directories than [sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata]. Some of You like appdata better, but some may not, but theres nothing to do with usability and easyness since copy to SD/pandora/appdata/DosBox-EX-App takes the same amount of time compared to copying to /SD/ROMS

The point is not how long it takes the user to copy files to a cartain place on the SD its about giving the user the choice to store his ROMS where ever he wants (which makes it easier for him).


as I said before this means that if we have to delete the app data folder for what ever reason we dont need to rememeber to move the ROMS out of there before deleting it.


I can understand things other than emualtors like VVVVVV need to go into the appdata folder but I see ROMS as being the exception to this rule (yes people can put there ROMS there if they want but at least give the user a choice).


This is what makes emulators from like PCSX reARMed and picodrive such a pleasure to use.
 
[sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata] is default dir for all additional data for every app started via pnd run. Every common pandora users know it. Its a matter of being purist when we talking about sorting games roms in different directories than [sDCard]/pandora/[Appdata]. Some of You like appdata better, but some may not, but theres nothing to do with usability and easyness since copy to SD/pandora/appdata/DosBox-EX-App takes the same amount of time compared to copying to /SD/ROMS

I think there are more cons than pros using the appdata directory for additional game data:

  • appdata dir gets very crowded after a certain time, so overview gets lost, especially on the pandora it can get very cumbersome to do file managing
  • sometimes seperation between user and config data can be necessary, especially when taking into account that the pandora has two sd slots. Example: my card in the left slot is already full, so I would have to put DosBox ex on the second sdcard. Having pnds on both sdcards is a nogo for me as my management application currently supports only one card as synchronization target.
  • Backing up the config is more complicated, because you have to start to skip dirs, to avoid backing up the game data to
  • when synchronizing my sd card I usually have the option turned on, to move orphaned appdata dir on a "shelf" on my PC. This would mean a lot more sync time, which is also not acceptable for me
  • this bears the possibility of having to split the userdata. Example: Imagine having two versions of your dosbox port (or having your port and pickles port for example), a version which is more compatible but a little slower in performance terms, and a second version which is less compatible than the other but has better performance. Assuming that they need different appdata directory you are forced to split the userdata


Having the path configurable serves both desires, if you like it better when everything is in the appdata directory - fine just make it the default value and your happy, everyone else can choose another location.


This also hasn't to be super easy for the user to achive, it would be sufficient for me to edit a config file in the appdata directory to set the path.

Basic idea is to keep quasi-meta file and screenshot outside *.dbe file for speed viewing, otherwise viewing screenshot or game info force DosbOx EX to extract content of dbe file [this thing will be resource eater]
The idea of having additional info in the archive wasn't meant as a feature request, just me dreaming of things I'd like to programm, but certainly never will. My suggestion was only targeted at having the game executable and the games setup file in the metadata file.


This config file doesn't has to be in the archive, it could also think of having this config file with the same name as the games archive file in the games directory, and your port is just looking for that.
 
After checking a while...


I'll stay with [appdata]/dosbox-ex/roms dir, otherwise i'll be forced to re-write a big portion of EX Launcher, and that is not what i want to do.. really.
 
not if you force EX launcher to read the ROM dir from a config file, which we could then just manually edit?
 
Maybe i'll add it in v5. Anyway , you could still make symbolic link to your games folder to prevent that.

Only if your appdata folder is stored in a file system that allows symbolic links... in many cases the appdata folder is stored on a FAT formatted SD card, and so a symlink just wouldn't be possible.


- Neelix
 
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