Replicated post here to see if it gets more traction.
TLDR:-
1) WRONG DATE/TIME (somewhere in 2016 vs current) if using "Rotating Disc" instead of "Banner Animation" for GAME WINDOW MODE.
2) Can we have a separate flag to allow updates to STAR RATINGS? (currently part of "Block Game Settings")
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I am on what I believe is currently the most recent version of USB Loader GX (version 3.0 r1281)
If it matters I have a soft-modded 4.3E Australian (PAL) Wii. Most of the Wii library I have runs well apart from a few graphical glitches or refusals to start (suspected hard-coded USA checks in games like The USA-only $1,000,000 Pyramid and The Amazing Race which I don't care to pursue further at the moment)
I wish to question the following two anomalies:-
1) DATE/TIME PROBLEM SPECIFICALLY WITH USB LOADER GX
The Wii System Clock has been accurately set to the current 2024 date and time for my region. It keeps time accurately across many reboots so no suspected dramas with any internal battery.
But some games that noticeably depend on the date (Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City, EA Sports Active 1 & 2, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Wii Fit / Plus) that question the veracity of the date/time when starting, get a WRONG DATE/TIME!!!! I haven't checked but I also suspect every game's save game probably has the "wrong" datestamp as well then.
For example, today's date/time of 23 FEB 2024 5:17p.m. it believes is 29 MAR 2016 12:42a.m. (or something close to that)
After lots of investigation and quite a bit of empirical trial & error, I have stumbled on a "resolution" in that if I set the USB LOADER GUI option of "Game Window Mode" to BANNER ANIMATION then the date/time returned WILL BE THE CORRECT DATE.
However (for reasons I describe in my next question), I have this set to ROTATING DISC, and this returns the wrong date/time as described above.
It's been a while since the 1281 update so I wonder if anyone else can confirm this anomaly and, once confirmed, whether the coders of USB LOADER GX can identify where the discrepancy may lie (and indeed where the alternate wrong date/time is pulled from in that particular circumstance)?
2) PARENTAL CONTROL - RATING STARS (TIED TO BLOCK GAME SETTINGS)
I'm trying to child/family-proof the Wii from accidental changes as much as possible using the PARENTAL CONTROL feature of USB Loader GX.
However I wish to leave the option to change the STAR RATING on games open for adjustment. This however seems to be tied to the "Block Game Settings" option and must be set to OFF to allow this. However this also opens up access to ALLl Game Loader Settings which is what I don't want. Setting this value to ON not only hides the Game Loader Settings but also hides the display of the STAR RATING on the BANNER ANIMATION game window (and thus the potential opportunity to change it.)
It might be an anomaly but I did notice that setting the USB LOADER GUI option of "Game Window Mode" to ROTATING DISC (instead of BANNER ANIMATION), along with "Block Game Settings" to ON, does prevent access to the Game Loader Settings but still DOES ALLOW the ability to change the STAR RATING... Okay, not my first preference, but I can live with that.
But then I noticed the DATE/TIME issue as described in bullet-point (1) and I require that feature moreso than this. Unless that gets resolved though, could the devs contemplate a SEPARATE flag to control the STAR RATING display setting and whether it can therefore adjusted / not tied to the "Block Game Settings" option?
The source is out on github. Fell free to make changes and maybe they will be adopted. Not sure what bb has already fixed in his next version but its been in the works for a while.