2014-01-23

Emu Loader v7.5

EmuLoaderEmu Loader v7.5 is released. Emu Loader was created to manage an arcade games emulator called M.A.M.E. With this frontend, you can change practically any option that is available in the emulator, like the screen resolution, sound quality, game options, etc. There are lots of extra features that makes your life much more easier, like the snapshots viewer where all captured images from M.A.M.E. games can be viewed when selecting games.

Emu Loader v7.5 Changelog:
Fixed
Games list was still scrolling back to the title column if sorting games by a column (details view)
No more scrolling back to the title column when changing games filters (details/grouped view modes)
Create games list fixes:
- create list for multiple systems was NOT working (main menu "Create Games List")... and no bug reports ?
- it was parsing wrong info from MAME database, also messing up with ZiNc driver names
- small speed increase
I had to adjust my CheckBox and RadioGroup custom components once more. Radio/check and texts were not aligned correctly, clearly noticeable if you place both components side by side
When in grouped view mode, if a parent game is hidden and the clone is visible, the clone game would mix with an unrelated group. To fix this the hidden parent is forced to visible no matter the games filters being used
eg.1: "Megaman 1" clone set (cps1) seen as clone of parent set "Megaman 2" (cps2)
eg.2: "Missile Command" clone set seen as clone of parent set "Millipede"
Application freeze and crash if button "Enable Threads" is enabled, after switching favorites on/off
Feature "Delete/Copy/Move Selected Games" was NOT working at all if "Auto-Check" options were unchecked even if you select files in the list, they were NOT deleted/copied/moved... again, no bug reports :(
The dialog will not automatically close anymore if you answer NO to the confirmation dialog
Fixing game titles from "King of Fighters, The" back to "The King of Fighters" was adding a letter "e" at the end, making it read "The King of Fitherse"
Exit code for both MAME and AlterMAME emulators, are displayed in the error message box... after trying to run a game (when "Autorun Game With AlterMAME" is enabled)

Changed
Each game ROM has received a tag to facilitate ROMs validation, and to display "Bios ROM" in game details screen along with the "Device ROM" text. It's easy to know what ROMs are from the game and what ROMs are from device sets and/or bios sets
- for all systems except Daphne (no ROMs database)
- Demul doesn't have CHD files as they are in .bin format and need to be in the game set as regular ROMs
- Demul bios sets are required to be present even if they are not used by any game. Without bios sets, Demul doesn't run games!
- 0 -> game ROM
- 1 -> device ROM
- 2 -> bios ROM
- 3 -> chd file
Scan games feature (audit ROMs) is finally fixed and updated more options
- fix: all games are recognized correctly no matter the order they appear in the main games list, specially clones and CHD files
- new feature: "Scan Games Mode". Supported (and selectable) in by scan games and create games list features You have three options (games popup or system selection dilaog):
- Full Scan: ROMs and CHDs are fully validated by CRC32 / SHA-1 checksum
- Quick Scan: No ROMs validation. EL only search for the gamename (.zip; .7z) and CHD files, but CHDs are validated (SHA-1 info text from header)
- Force Games Available: This mode sets games to available even if game files are nowhere to be found (it replaces the "Set All Games Available" from preferences screen)
- new scan option in games popup menu: "Force Selected Games Available" (Shift+F6 hot key). Use this to force the available status in games (single or multi selections)
- fix: many clones were set as merged or as missing ROMs/CHDs even if set is ok
- fix: CHDs were set as found and OK when the file was actually missing
- fix: games with no game set (gamename.zip) similar to Taito GNET (only bios set + chd) were not recognized at all or sometimes, incorrectly
- improved: "Scan Selected Game" (Shift+F5) and "Scan Multiple Selected Games" (Shift+F6) merged into one option: "Scan Selected Games" (Shift+F5)
... NOTE: Shift+F6 hot key is now used in another option!
- new "scan mode" tag for each game, so you know what mode was used to validated a game, visible only in game details screen (games popup menu or Shift+I hot key)
this tag is saved in games list files "\arcade\sysname.el" (see "docs\el-listformat.txt" file for the "Scan Mode" notes)

Important notes:
- to work properly, the game set (gamename.zip) or the bios set is required. If neither is found, game will be set as missing, even if CHD files exist!
- for systems like Taito GNET (only bios + chd), having the CHD file but not the bios set, game will be set as "missing"!
- games from the "globalvr.c" driver are not validated as they only have CHD files and nothing else (this is the only limitation in EL's scan feature now)
just select those games and force them available using Shift+F6 hot key or use the option in games popup menu
More tweaks, both visual and internal
Text Filter Bar renamed to Search Bar
Improvements when creating games lists for multiple systems (manually or at startup). All lists are created first, then loaded back all at once instead of system by system. No speed improvement but it feels better this way
Settings in search bar are now saved/restored at startup (tool bar filters)
Updated FastMM library to latest v4.991 (3 September 2012)
Messages dialog box now accept clickable URL links
Long overdue updates for Demul... and full support for v0.5.8.2 (Oct 23 2013):
- games and bios titles were not handled correctly
- machine names are extracted from the romof="" entry and are now used to generate the run parameter ("-run=machine gamename")
- driver names info is used as machine names so games can be loaded correctly
this removes the limited machine detection function in EL's source code, and it makes possible to run the "gaelco" games ^-^
...except modelgd, model2, model2gd, atomiswave games which still need to be handled internally by the frontend (hard-coded)
- still no support to use MAME .chd files... this needs an external database, which Demul doesn't have, or have CHDs listed in its internal XML generator
ZiNc database file "ZiNc_xml.dat" updated:
- Game descriptions and manufacturers changed to match MAME 0.152
- Source driver and game index added (sourcefile="" gameindex="" tags). File "\ini_files\zinc.ini" no longer needed
- Tags moved around to make file format consistent with MAME -listxml output
- made "Beastorizer (USA bootleg)" a clone of "Beastorizser (USA)" to match MAME 0.152. It makes no difference to the emulator
Delete multiple games finally updated to use ROMs list from the games list instead of external files
Improved the accuracy of the file size string generator. File size info in games list is displayed correctly now (and in other screens too)
CHD list files (\arcade\sysname_chd.ini) are no longer needed, EL get CHDs list directly from the ROMsList info of each game
Source code cleanup (finally!): created general functions to detect CHD filenames and to search CHD files. Multiple features can now use the same functions instead of having duplicate code (scan games, delete/copy/move games, game details)

Improved
none

Removed
none

Added
Sega Model 2 update:
- support for SEGA Model 2 Emulator v1.1a
- emulator version detection (v1.0 or v1.1a) by searching for the new "FSAA" setting in emulator.ini file
- database file "SEGAModel2_xml.dat" updated for emulator v1.1a with new games and parent+clone relationship (I didn't know this was possible for this emulator)
- if emulator v1.1 / v1.1a is detected, file "SEGAModel2_xml.dat" is used to create games list
- if emulator v1.0 is detected, file "SEGAModel2-v1.0_xml.dat" is used to create games list
- if emulator.ini file is not found, EL assume you are using the new version 1.1a (Jan 02, 2014)
- the "model2" set is properly renamed to "Model 2 Board ROMs" - proper games audit: if the file "model2.zip" exists in your ROMs folders, EL will use it, no need to have those files on every game set
the emulator actually need this set to check for ROMs... and I DIDN'T KNOW about it!
Multiple systems filter! Choose multiple systems to filter the gameslist (main tool bar button)
- tool bar button "Arcade System" renamed to "Systems Filter"
- button's popup menu replaced by a custom dialog to allow multiple selections
- if "all systems" is selected, other selections are ingored
- if you select a single system, the last selected game for that system is still used (no change)
- only available systems are shown in the list (emulator + games list)
WinKawaks emulator detection in the AlterMAME feature. Emulator doesn't load anymore when you select it in the filename. Emulator version must be edited manually. http://www.winkawaks.org
New documentation file "docs\el-romsdatabaseformat.txt"
New feature: Multiple Favorites Profiles. Simple, quick and easy to use...
- favorites file moved a new "\ini_files\favorites\" sub-folder
- proper validation for favorites title to avoid empty titles
- create as many favorites lists your heart desires
- favorites manager to create/edit/clean/duplicate/delete profiles
- the favorites tool bar button have a new popup menu, but the "Ctrl+F3" hot key still works to enable/disable favorites
- option "Validate Favorites File" moved from main menu "Maintenance" to the manager as "Cleanse"
- the "favorite_title" entry must exist for proper titles, at any position in the file (default profile "favorites.ini doesn't need it)

Important notes:
- when setting a new active profile, EL needs to update the favorite tag in main games list. The more games you have in the favorites profile, more time it will take (around 2.3 seconds for 30000 games on a Core I7 2600 3.4Ghz)
- when in grouped view mode, if a parent game is hidden and the clone is visible, the parent is forced visible to avoid mixing games that are not related to each other so, you might see more total games than your actual favorite games count
New font style for games with preliminary driver and missing ROMs/CHDs (see "Font Settings" in games popup menu)
Option "Run Game With AlterMAME" is back (games popup menu). Run a game directly with AlterMAME without using MAME. You can use any emulator you want

Download: EmuLoader v7.5
Source: Here

0 Comments

Post a Comment