Hacking WiiFlow Lite Theme - Rhapsodii

[Tetsuo Shima]

Thanks @Hakaisha for this awesome update!
Many wonderful things added in this release, and your floppy disk coverflow and template is top notch!
I'm very happy about the 'Press + for Info' graphic. I had the same idea for my theme, but you implemented it better, allowing to auto-hide it with the rest of the icons. However I think I will change it to just '+: Game Info'
The new icons are very good too. I was also working on some of them but yours are fantastic.
I'm only having an issue with some coverflows, it seems that in my setup the PC engine, PC engine CD, Atari Lynx and Sega Mega CD are not correctly recognized as ShortFlow / SideFlow, and so I can't set them with the correct aspect.

 

[Hakaisha]

Thank you for your kind words, @Tetsuo Shima . I'm glad you like the new features!

It is unfortunate to hear you're running into issues with the new CoverFlow setup. I expected a few rough spots though. Until we find a better resolution, here is an alternate build of Rhapsodii with the CD Jewel Case, GB Case and Sega CD cases added back to the main CoverFlow in slots #7, #8 and #9.

Download Link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/37mmm3b8v01r3o3/Rhapsodii_2.0_ALT.rar/file

I have not tested it yet, so please let me know if it fixes your problem, whenever you can find time to try it out.


@fledge68 , would it be possible to add these magic numbers to WFL's ShortFlow list? :

"4d45449e", //WiiMednafen Lynx
"4d45484e", //WiiMednafen VB
"4d45494e", //WiiMednafen WS
"4d45424e", //WiiMednafen NGP
"5d45484e", //Mednafen VB
"4d57534e", //Mednafen Wonderswan
"5d45424e", //WiiMednafen NGP

I would also ask if PC Engine can be included, but there are also DVD-sized covers for TurboGrafx16 games. Users who would rather use those covers would be trapped in ShortFlow by default. For PC Engine, perhaps it may be best to just utilize ShortFlow wildcards if the user prefers CD Jewel Case from ShortFlow. (Or we could possibly just create a new magic number specifically for PCE Jewel Case and add it to the ShortFlow list)

@Tetsuo Shima , there is also the option to replace your current magic numbers with the Wild Card magic numbers for ShortFlow and SideFlow. To quote Fledge's instructions from the WiiFlow Lite thread:

51304dxx for short covers (gba style)
513053xx for side covers (snes style)

replace the 2 xx's with 0-9 and a-f in any combination. and then in wfl they will be displayed that way.

This method above could be used to make Lynx utilize ShortFlow, and Sega Mega CD utilize SideFlow. However, I'm unsure if your PC Engine setup would also be able to utilize ShortFlow with this wild card method, if it utilizes 2 magic numbers. I have not tested multiple wild cards in a single Source yet. It may just default to the main CoverFlow.

 

[fledge68]

@Hakaisha @Tetsuo Shima yes you can use the wild card magic numbers but easier still is just use coverflow and make the covers whatever size you need, they don't have to be in shortflow or sideflow to be short covers or side covers. the only problem is the first time you view those covers the coverflow layout will be wrong and you will need to use 1 and 2 to switch to the flow layout you need. but then from that point on it will be set in wiiflow_lite.ini to use that layout every time you come back.

Sounds like its time for me to implement the coverflows based on the platform name in platform ini.

 

[ultramodern]

Just want to say version 2 is great! I like the new added buttons would be great if you released the other variant styles.

 

[fledge68]

@Hakaisha what do you use FLATFLOW for? what type of covers?

 

[Hakaisha]

@ultramodern , thank you very much for your compliments! I will add Rhapsodii 2.0 with the variants soon. Thanks for reminding me.

@fledge68 , I personally use FLATFLOW for my WiiMC thumbnails, loaded from tier videos.ini.

Edit: @ultramodern , I just added the color variant backgrounds to Rhapsodii 2.0. Here are the download links:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/p172jieph83ii6a/Rhapsodii_2.0_-_Black_Space.rar/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/y40a89be7v5ap7t/Rhapsodii_2.0_-_Blue_Mist.rar/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/zbc1r73x7c4po0x/Rhapsodii_2.0_-_Green_Terminal.rar/file

Enjoy!

 

[fledge68]

@Hakaisha what plugin and magic number are you using for your movies? And i assume for your gamegear and gbc japan games you are using a custom plugin with custom magic #. Could you list those also.

Im using your rhapsodii coverflow ini for the platform coverflows.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@fledge68 if I may I also wanted to give you a list of the magic #s I'm using:

Arcade:
43505331 (fba_cps1)
43505332 (fba_cps2)
464E454F (fba_neo)
464E254F (fb_alpha)
4D414D57 (SDL-Mame)

C64:
4336344E (Frodo)
53433634 (ScummVM C64)

Gameboy:
474d4264

Gameboy Color:
474d4274

Gameboy Advance:
56425874

Lynx:
4D45449E

Nes:
46434D4D (fceumm)
46434555 (fceugx - for zapper games)

Pc-Engine:
4D45434E (black Jewel case)
4D45434F (white Jewel case)

Pc-Engine CD:
54473136 (Jewel case)

PC:
44424F58 (DOSBOX)
5343564D (ScummVM)
5052424D (PrBoom)
56434D6D (Nxengine)
44554B45, 444E4356, 444E4443, 444E4E57 (EDuke32)
51305730 (Keiserzoseh's Quake FPS)

Sega CD:
53454751

Sega Master System:
53454771

Sega Megadrive:
53454761

Sega SG-1000:
5247458E

Wonderswan:
4D57534E

 

[fledge68]

@fledge68 if I may I also wanted to give you a list of the magic #s I'm using:

Arcade:
43505331 (fba_cps1)
43505332 (fba_cps2)
464E454F (fba_neo)
464E254F (fb_alpha)
4D414D57 (SDL-Mame)

C64:
4336344E (Frodo)
53433634 (ScummVM C64)

Gameboy:
474d4264

Gameboy Color:
474d4274

Gameboy Advance:
56425874

Lynx:
4D45449E

Nes:
46434D4D (fceumm)
46434555 (fceugx - for zapper games)

Pc-Engine:
4D45434E (black Jewel case)
4D45434F (white Jewel case)

Pc-Engine CD:
54473136 (Jewel case)

PC:
44424F58 (DOSBOX)
5343564D (ScummVM)
5052424D (PrBoom)
56434D6D (Nxengine)
44554B45, 444E4356, 444E4443, 444E4E57 (EDuke32)
51305730 (Keiserzoseh's Quake FPS)

Sega CD:
53454751

Sega Master System:
53454771

Sega Megadrive:
53454761

Sega SG-1000:
5247458E

Wonderswan:
4D57534E

thanks i see a few custom ones in there - 53433634 (ScummVM C64) and 4D45434F (white Jewel case). i didn't know scummvm can play c64 games.
also 56425874 for GBA is slightly different - i have 56425854 for GBA.

but i mainly want to know is how do you use the japan coverflows for gamegear and gameboy? do you switch to them manually?

 

[Hakaisha]

I'll be near my PC again this evening, and provide my magic numbers for WiiMC media, and the Japanese variant GB/GBC/GG plugins. I apologize for the delay.

The Japanese variants act as separate Source buttons from the US/EU versions, with their own Magic Numbers and CoverFlows.

The FLATFLOW is a bit more tricky. I usually just create a new magic number (change the last 2 digits, similar to Wild Card), with its own new ini/file directory, each time I add a new show.

So I have an ever-growing list of Magic Numbers pertaining to FLATFLOW. =\

The default Magic Number provided with Wiimpathy's WiiMC plugin is used with the Blu-Ray CoverFlow.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

thanks i see a few custom ones in there - 53433634 (ScummVM C64) and 4D45434F (white Jewel case). i didn't know scummvm can play c64 games.
also 56425874 for GBA is slightly different - i have 56425854 for GBA.

but i mainly want to know is how do you use the japan coverflows for gamegear and gameboy? do you switch to them manually?

Yes ScummVM can play almost all version for each game. For c64 I use it mainly for Zack McKracken and Maniac Mansion, as they're playing much better than with Frodo (no diskswapping and wiimote controls for cursor). I had to create a new scumm.ini and a copy of the scumm.dol for c64, following Wiimpathy's instructions some years ago.
Don't know about the GBA #, I added it to my source_menu a long time ago. Maybe it could have been a typo.
About the japan coverflow, from what I understand, if we use different magic#s to identify jap consoles the correct coverflows will be automatically set by WiiFlow.
If on the other hand we use the same magic#s they have to be configured manually. Maybe if both jap and usa/pal games of the same console are present (with the same magic# but different coverflow), there could be some conflict with the right coverflow to use?

 

[kaisersozeh]

Great work all. Fyi the magic numbers are based on a four digit code (!?), where two digit hex numbers each express the ascii number of a letter. That is a bit of a mind fudge. Google ascii to hex convertor.

 

[Hakaisha]

Okay, finally. Here's my list of Magic Numbers pertaining to your query, @fledge68 .

56424138 _Game Boy (Japan) - Rhapsodii ShortFlow#2
4d45440a _Game Gear (Japan) -Rhapsodii ShortFlow#2 (I use WiiMednafen for GameGear)
56424148 _Game Boy Color (Japan) -Rhapsodii ShortFlow#3
534e4555 _SNES MSU1 -Rhapsodii ShortFlow#4
534e4563 _Super Famicom Vertical - Rhapsodii SideFlow#4
534e4573 _Super Famicom Horizontal -Rhapsodii SideFlow#5
534e4583 _Super Famicom BSX Satellaview -[Experimental_No CoverFlow defined yet]-

57494d43 _WiiMC Standard DVD -Rhapsodii CoverFlow#1
57494a01 _WiiMC Blu-Ray Blue -Rhapsodii CoverFlow#6
57494a02 _WiiMC Blu-Ray Black -Rhapsodii CoverFlow#6
57494a03 _WiiMC Blu-Ray Red -Rhapsodii CoverFlow#6
57494a04 _WiiMC Blu_Ray Green -Rhapsodii CoverFlow#6

57494c01 _WiiMC Thumbnail -Rhapsodii FlatFlow #1-6
(I change the last two digits of this one and make a new ini/magic number, each time I add a new show I want to use FlatFlow with. Not sure if this really helps.)

4D555343 _WFL Music Player -Rhapsodii ShortFlow#4

As for the GBA plugin being discussed, I've just been using a ShortFlow Wild Card with the standalone mGBA: 51304d0a
I'm not too particular about it though. If a separate magic number becomes required, I will change to it.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Great work all. Fyi the magic numbers are based on a four digit code (!?), where two digit hex numbers each express the ascii number of a letter. That is a bit of a mind fudge. Google ascii to hex convertor.

yep, in fact the number I used for the EDuke plugin was 44554B45 for a reason

 

[fledge68]

fyi, i got the code working. currently setting up platform ini and coverflow ini to work together. will post a beta soon for you to try.

 

[fledge68]

ok so here is test build one.

backup your current wfl boot dol
download and use wfl v5.3.0 beta 2 - https://www.mediafire.com/file/zqgnh4givtqfr8b/wfl5.3.0beta2.dol/file

backup your current rhapsodii coverflow ini
download and use this one - https://www.mediafire.com/file/1g7f18c0mcb806z/Rhapsodii.ini/file

backup your current platform ini
download and use this one - https://www.mediafire.com/file/hgwvgssrc5rtj2l/platform.ini/file

we are using rhapsodii as our example so you can see how everything's supposed to work.

coverflows:
all flows are still put in one coverflow ini file. each flow will still have its own number of modes/layouts.
we are still using _coverflow and _smallflow. _smallflow is for homebrew and sourceflow if you are using smallbox. _coverflow is still the default dvd coveflow for wii, gc, wiiware/vc and anything else that doesn't need or have a specific flow.

the other flow names are based on the platform used and what they are assigned in platform ini. based on what hakaisha and tetsuo have told me the main flows are pc_box, standard cart_box (nes), smallcart_box (gameboy, gamegear), snescart_box, sfc_box, blu_ray, cd_case, and sega_cd.
and some non main ones such as gamegear_jp, gameboy_jp, gbc_jp.
and for _flatflow which hakaisha uses I've renamed it to thumbnail. and as long as those plugin ini's have box_mode=no they will still display as flat covers.

so here's how hakaisha's rhapsodii coveflows were and are now.

COVERFLOW
1. DVD                    coverflow
2. DVD2                    coverflow
3. DVD3                    coverflow
4. NES/GEN/SMS/etc.        cart_box
5. BIG BOX (PC)            pc_box
6. BLU-RAY                blu_ray

SIDEFLOW
1. SNES1                snescart_box
2. SNES2                snescart_box
3. SNES3                snescart_box
4. SFC1                    sfc_box
5. SFC2                    sfc_box
6. SEGA CD                sega_cd

SHORTFLOW
1. GB/GBC/GBA            smallcart_box
2. GB (JAPAN)/GG (JAPAN)gameboy_jp
3. GBC (JAPAN)            gbc_jp
4. CD JEWEL CASE        cd_case
5. FLOPPY                 floppy

FLATFLOW
1-6                        thumbnail

_sideflow and _shortflow are no longer used and plugin numbers are no longer hard coded to switch to them.

How it works now:
we get the plugin magic # and use platform ini to convert it to a platform name (listed under [PLUGINS]).
then we take that platform name and use it to get the flow name (listed under [FLOWS]).
then we find that flow name in the current coverflow ini and use it to display the covers for that plugin.

if more than one plugin selected they must all have the same flow name or else we default to using _coverflow.

Conclusion:
so take a look at the platform.ini and rhapsodii.ini and see how i added everthing. hopefully it isn't too hard to understand but if you have any questions feel free to ask.
tetsuo you wiil need to add your eduke and pc engine magic numbers and other ones. feel free to modify them but i'm hoping we can keep a naming convention for flows instead of everyone going crazy and naming them whatever they like which will make things incompatible with each others platform and coverflow ini.

edit: also check to see if i fixed the theme switching and that all custom backgrounds show properly.

 

[Hakaisha]

This is pretty amazing! I'm currently testing out the new dol, along with the replacement platform.ini and rhapsodii.ini files. It's working great!

I took a look over the ini files and it makes sense to me. I like how this works better.

All of the Sources I am selecting in WFL are showing the correct corrosponding coverflow, according to platform.ini. Backgrounds defined by source_menu.ini files are working correctly for Source buttons and tiers/SourceFlows.

The only small change I would make is under [FLOWS] in platform.ini:

FDS=cart_box
GAMEGEAR=cart_box

Both platforms use standard cart_box artwork in Mastershoes' thread, but are currently utilizing sfc_box and smallcart_box in platform.ini.

I tested theme switching, and experienced a black screen crash on my first try. It worked fine the next time though. Both instances of theme switching were tested a few seconds upon booting the WFL program.

Thanks for this great update!! I will certainly be keeping busy making new CoverFlows for the next Rhapsodii update.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

@fledge68
I see you assigned PCENGINE=cart_box. imo PCENGINE should be =cd_case because it should identify the japanese console, for which there is a jewel case set of covers on Mastershoe's thread.
The cart_box flow should be assigned to Turbografx for which there is a standard set of covers.

So I made some changes to platform.ini:
Renamed 54473136 from PCENGINE to TURBOGRAFX (54473136 is 'TG16' converted to ASCII)
added 4d45434f=PCENGINE (for games with black case)
changed PCENGINE=cart_box to PCENGINE=cd_case
added TURBOGRAFX=cart_box
added 53433634=SCUMMVM_C64
added SCUMMVM_C64=pc_box
added
44554B45=EDUKE32
444E4356=EDUKE32
444E4443=EDUKE32
444E4E57=EDUKE32
added EDUKE32=pc_box
added 51305730=QUAKE (if @kaisersozeh agrees to use this magic number)

Will test everything as soon as possible

 

[fledge68]

@fledge68
I see you assigned PCENGINE=cart_box. imo PCENGINE should be =cd_case because it should identify the japanese console, for which there is a jewel case set of covers on Mastershoe's thread.
The cart_box flow should be assigned to Turbografx for which there is a standard set of covers.

So I made some changes to platform.ini:
Renamed 54473136 from PCENGINE to TURBOGRAFX (54473136 is 'TG16' converted to ASCII)
added 4d45434f=PCENGINE (for games with black case)
changed PCENGINE=cart_box to PCENGINE=cd_case
added TURBOGRAFX=cart_box
added 53433634=SCUMMVM_C64
added SCUMMVM_C64=pc_box
added
44554B45=EDUKE32
444E4356=EDUKE32
444E4443=EDUKE32
444E4E57=EDUKE32
added EDUKE32=pc_box
added 51305730=QUAKE (if @kaisersozeh agrees to use this magic number)

Will test everything as soon as possible

Ya i figured you would modify it for your own needs. But dont forget the platform name is also used for the game info xml and snapshots and cart pics. Changing pcengine will also affect those. Wiimpathy didnt make a separate turbografx and pcengine xml.

 

[Tetsuo Shima]

Ya i figured you would modify it for your own needs. But dont forget the platform name is also used for the game info xml and snapshots and cart pics. Changing pcengine will also affect those. Wiimpathy didnt make a separate turbografx and pcengine xml.

Oh I didn't think about it. Ok so I renamed 54473136 back to PCENGINE, but left it to cd_case. To use it with the TG16 cover set people can easily change it to cart_box.
Also, on second thought, there's no need for custom SCUMMVM entries like SCUMMVM_C64. They always use the pc_box coverflow anyway.

Tried beta2, it still freezes whenever I change the theme (wiifow never reboots). I tried to go from my theme to Rhapsodii or to Default, same behaviour.