Homebrew Oldies Others Homebrew app Introducing: Evercade Collection Builder

[esmith13]

Back again with something new for those of you with an Evercade VS & an EverSD or similar.
Say hello to the Evercade Collection Builder (ECB) - It's essentially a Windows batch file for your PC that will turn your backups of your own official Evercade carts into a playable collection combined on to one SD card for your EverSD or similar homebrew cart.

Since even just a picture is worth 1,000 words, the following video will hopefully serve as an explanation of what it is, what it can do and how to use it.
If you find this of interest - come find me, this project and my other Evercade toys on the EverSD discord: HERE

Spoiler: CHANGELOG

ECB (v1.7b) - Our Saviour is ON FLAME!
- Script now supports "native game" carts that cannot be altered to run properly on FAT32. Full Void is the current target. Should future carts require this, their backup name from X-Tra need only be added a cloud-updated list so this script will process them accordingly.

ECB (v1.6b) - Asking Questions & Time Is Money
- Script now asks for you to (E)nable or (D)isable the "Delete Cartridge" code in the cart launching scripts. Not providing an answer within 15 seconds continues the execution with the deletion code enabled like the previous version.
- Script can now skip comparing online assets to save time if the master list version number hasn't changed (master list now contains a version number).
- Script now detects if Full Void was added to the collection and asks at the end of execution if you want to replace the "Standard Edition" art with the "Special Edition" version. This will only be asked when the cart is first added or anytime it gets updated from a newer X-Tra backup.

ECB (v1.5b) - FIRST PUBLIC RELEASE - What year are we in?
- Script now decides if it should use ESC Characters for colored output or not based on a check if running on Win10/Win11 (enabled) or older (disabled).

ECB (v1.4b) - Tidying ups the mess & loose ends...
- Added per cart message if extracting a backup was successful or failed.
- ANSI Color coded output on Win10 or higher.
- Updated warning message displayed when using console hotkey to delete a cart.
- Fixed issue that left some assets on SD card if cart was deleted via console hotkey.

ECB (v1.3b) - Burn the evidence!
- Added hotkey to delete a cart by holding "R".

ECB (v1.2b) - Blame doesn't fix bugs...
- Fixed crash issues with ALWA special script change - ALWAx.zip updated.
- Added missing Hanheld/Hanheld TV-Out artwork for new HOME icon.

ECB (v1.1b) - It's not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it.
- Added timestamp function to prevent GDrive being hit more than once every 2hrs.

ECB (v1.0b) - To the Interwebs - AND BEYOND!
- Added wget functionality to pull Asset DL URLs "master_list" from GDrive using an "Updates" file.
- All wget actions will overwrite assets with older timestamps than the current GDrive version.
- Added Support file functionality to the script as well as the files themselves to GDrive.

ECB (v0.5b)
- First Windows release. Can add carts, update carts based on MD5 change, add assets if present and load dummy assets if not. Leaves *.tmp file to designate assets need updating once available and *.tmp file removal once proper assets have been added.

ECB (v0.1b) - Silly Evercade, these tricks are for Windows PCs.
- Failed attempt at an "on-console" Evercade VS version. Extraction issues.

 

[SylverReZ]

EverSD looks like it was a sponsored product of sorts. Like, why aren't there any open-source solutions out there?

 

[kirby2097]

Very useful. I looked at writing something similar, but to rename the ROMs to something legible to add to non-evercade devices. I got stuck when I found only some carts had .json files on them.

 

[esmith13]

EverSD looks like it was a sponsored product of sorts. Like, why aren't there any open-source solutions out there?

I am not "sponsored" in any way. EverSD just happens to be the only commercial product [that I've found] which means a website with decent stock photos/renders of it exists. I needed a thumbnail that got the point across and I'm no artist, what can I say... Maybe one day a person with PCB design experience will bring a new product to the market and there will be another product name to throw around. Then it won't be as one-sided, like with the saying, "I need to Xerox a document"...

Post automatically merged: Oct 27, 2023

Very useful. I looked at writing something similar, but to rename the ROMs to something legible to add to non-evercade devices. I got stuck when I found only some carts had .json files on them.

The easy solution to that IMHO is to either create and store your own jsons for the first 14 carts that this statement is true for or just keep an internal name database for the ROMs on those 14 carts. Sure, It will be a PITA for you on day one to create it, but it's not like that situation would ever present itself again in the future. A simple text file with "romName, friendlyName" would cover you. If my calculations are correct, there are 160 games across those 14 carts you would need to do this for.

If there is any info I can provide you with to help you reach your goal, just let me know. Maybe in exchange you would consider letting me "beta test" the fruits of your labor? No obligation of course. I just like playing with new toys.

 

[esmith13]

Updated 1st post to include a spoiler with the complete changelog.

 

[esmith13]

Evercade Collection Builder will be getting a second version soon as an Evercade VS app - ECB4VS
No Windows PC needed (though you do still need to be able to format a sd card to FAT32 and extract a zip to it to get started).

Here are some raw footage clips of my internal beta in action. (Please ignore the ugly icons - this is more about functionality testing)

Initial Prep - files are put on a FAT32 sdcard and the prep app reformats the cart EXT4, sets up the filesystem, and reboots the Evercade VS remounting the cart.


Assets Downloading - ECB4VS will grab the needed art assets via the internet connection on your Evercade VS if you hold 'R1' on the controller while launching it.


Error Handling - results of trying to run without any cart or with a flashcart inserted in the other slot


Loading Carts Into ECB - Demo of loading a console, computer and arcade cart into ECB.


Loading a Native Linux Cart Into ECB - Adding Full Void to the collection and running it to show proper Linux file permissions allow the cart to work in the collection.