Hacking WiiFlow Lite with emulator's database

Wiimpathy · Dec 30, 2018

WHAT IS IT?
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It displays a game info window and synopsis for almost all emulated systems. It's also possible to show a snapshot and a cartridge image.
Here are some screenshots :

HOWTO
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- Download and extract this modified WiiFlow Lite : https://github.com/Wiimpathy/WiiFlow_Lite/releases/download/v5.1.0/wfl_v5.1.0_DB.zip
EDIT : Now you can use the Official version.

- Download the databases for each console/computer : https://www.mediafire.com/file/4blrpsqqn5g0bdu/Wiiflow_Database.7z/file

- Download the snapshots and cartridge/disks images : https://www.mediafire.com/file/3k3geemnnx06049/Wiiflow_Snapshots_MOD.7z/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/xegmyb7uxid4nki/Wiiflow_CartDisk.7z/file

- Extract the images and databases to SD or USB. By default, Wiiflow searches on sd card. If you want to change the paths to USB, edit wiiflow_lite.ini :

* dir_cart=usb1:/wiiflow/cart_disk (It's the cartridges, CD, and disks images)
* dir_snap=usb1:/wiiflow/snapshots (In-game snapshots)
* dir_plugins_data=usb1:/wiiflow/plugins_data (databases)

- Now launch WiiFlow, select a plugin and press + button on a game.

Notes
#####

If you want to help filling data or adding images you'll find what's missing in the missing.zip.

The filenaming convention used here is No-Intro(minus country flags etc) when possible. It covers most of the known 8/16 bits consoles.
For CD based, it's more complicated. Tosec was used but quite incomplete(seems better now). Redump is a reference nowadays.
For less known consoles and some computers it can be anything. Dedicated websites or whatever...

The GameID is screenscraper.fr filled with A letters. I've made it this way to have a fixed length string.

There are invalid/illegal characters in xml files. They need to be replaced(escaped).
Main escaped characters :

Code:

" &quot;
'   &apos;
<   &lt;
>   &gt;
&   &amp;

How to check xml validity:

- The quick way but not very informative : open xml file in Firefox or any web browser.

- With xml tools (recommended) :
* xmllint
xmllint AMSTRAD_GX4000.xml
* XMLStarlet
xmlstarlet val -e -s AMSTRAD_GX4000.xml

Identify the system

To know which database to use for the current plugin, Wiiflow reads a file called platform.ini in /wiiflow/plugins_data.
This file is a list where a plugin magic number corresponds to a platform name. For example, the current plugin is genplus-gx_cd :
53454751=MEGACD
From there it will try to load info in /wiiflow/plugins_data/MEGACD and images in /wiiflow/cart_disk/MEGACD and /wiiflow/snapshots/MEGACD

The magic numbers are from Abz masterpiece pack.
If you have modified any .ini plugins files (specifically their magic numbers), you must edit/add you magic # platform.ini.

Identify the game

Due to various naming conventions (tosec/goodset/no-intro...or just user renamed!), we can't rely on names only.
CRC is fast enough for almost all systems. Few years ago, it was hard to find good crc lists so that would have been a lot of
hit and miss. Now, it's a lot better even for less known platforms.
CD based system like PS1 and MegaCD are using serials(found in iso's header) instead. CRC would be much too long, about 30s to calculate!

The databases are formatted like wiitdb.xml. Like Wii games, each game has a unique GameID(from Screenscraper.fr). Here's how it works in Wiiflow:

For example, Pocky & Rocky (USA) for Super Nintendo.

1. Look for the GameID in SUPERNES.ini

a) Based on filename minus region flags. If found go to #2 else b).
b) Based on CRC in this case.

2. Search the GameID(2267AA here) in SUPERNES.xml to retrieve the game's detail.

3. Look for images first based on the game's name from the database else with the GameID.

Known issues/Todo

- There may have issues with combined plugins.
- ScummVM is not implemented...
- Dos : add new crc to DOS.ini(from libretro db).
- Dos : parse the .conf files to retrieve the exe path and get crc.
- The databases are very incomplete, sometimes malformed or contains invalid characters.
- There's no default cart/snapshot in Wiiflow when not found.
- The rating /20 should be shifted in carbonik theme.
- The 'coop' value isn't used in Wiiflow.

I'm done with this stuff, finished or not. Do what you want with it. Here's the source code: https://github.com/Wiimpathy/WiiFlow_Lite/tree/Plugins_Database

CREDITS
########
screenscraper.fr, thegamesdb.net ...

fledge68 · Dec 31, 2018

looks great! sorry i stopped messing with this idea. i was in a hurry to get wfl 5.0 out and focus more on thanksgiving and christmas and other stuff. i'm in the midst of changing the coding for the config screens but would like to add this to wfl if ok with you.

Wiimpathy · Dec 31, 2018

No problem if you want to add it. There are still adjustments to do but the essential should be there.

fledge68 · Jan 2, 2019

@Wiimpathy is there any way you can send me a PR? or a patch file? or should i just clone it and copy the changed files over to my local repository?

stomp_442 · Jan 2, 2019

I'm a CFG fan but might have to give WiiFlow another chance. Great work.

Wiimpathy · Jan 2, 2019

OK fledge68, I've sent you a Pull request.

I've added Dosbox in the Todo. Right now, there's no fallback if the name isn't found when using the plugin with .conf files. It would need a special case like what I've done for Atari st and .cfg files. It'd be a bit more complex because the .conf could contain any commands. But it should be possible to guess the exe path and compare crc...

fledge68 · Jan 2, 2019

so here's some things that i'm not sure about.

1. the rating (16/20, 8/20). do we really need to show this? at first i didn't even know what it was. i personally would like to omit that.

2. the controllers. again do we really need to show this? i can see text showing how many players or co op. or maybe something indicating its a light gun game or a keyboard is required.

3. i see you omitted the text genre:, publisher:, developer:, etc.... maybe to give more room for the snapshots and carts? personally i think we need to add this text back. and maybe put buttons on the right to click to view the snapshot or cart.

everyone's feedback is welcome. otherwise i looked over the code and all the database and ini files and want to thank wiimpathy for doing all this and all the time he spent on it. thank you vey much! well done as always!

Wiimpathy · Jan 2, 2019

1. Yes, it's a screenscraper.fr user's rating, you can remove it or maybe make it optional. There's very few PEGI or other rating data, so I've used that instead.

2. Just like for Wii/GC games it shows the number of players. Personally I found it useful. And the coop value too, but for that we should perhaps add a new icon and the corresponding code off course...
Regarding the control type, it's just the default and same controllers in all databases. I didn't bother to change them per system (keyboard for computers, required classic/GC for N64 etc.).

3. You're right, there's a lot less space with these texts particularly in languages other than English. It's still not enough sometimes specially with carbonik theme. I like to have this general view with info + both images. At first, I thought of another solution : truncate the text at a max length and add 3 dots. And a scrolling text when hovering with the Wiimote.
Your idea to toggle between snapshot or cart(if I understand well?) may be an alternative. I'm also curious about other's suggestions...

Re-creating the databases took more time than I thought. The MegaCD serial detection is homemade because I couldn't find any info about headers. Some of the atari st pasti crcs are a bit exclusive too.
But with about 50 systems, I'm sure you'll forgive all the mistakes!

fledge68 · Jan 19, 2019

so i looked at dosbox wii conf files. using m_cfg would be good except when we get to the end [autoexec] no longer use 'key'='value'.

so i'm thinking read the conf like a text file. read 2 lines of it (if the line is just a \n\r then skip it). if the 2nd line = 'exit' then the first will contain the name of the games main executable. with the path to the conf file it would be easy to just add 'games' to the end. with this path and the name i should be able to get the crc.

how does this sound @Wiimpathy

Wiimpathy · Jan 19, 2019

You're right, you have to parse it yourself. There could be any Dos commands in [autoexec] though. The 'exit' command isn't mandatory for example.
It's not that simple to get the game's path. The .conf or 'romdir' doesn't give you the full path. That was my plan that is also far from perfect:

- retrieve 'mount c ...' line and just keep 'root' path. (mount c usb:/dosbox/games)
- retrieve 'cd ...' line to keep game's folder. (cd prehist2)
- concatenate both : usb:/dosbox/game + prehist2
- detect line containing .exe|.com|.bat to get game's executable.
- path + executable

In Tetsuo pack : https://gbatemp.net/threads/dosbox-conf-and-map-files-collection-for-wiiflow.348496/, there are cases where it wouldn't work like Pinball Dreams because D is used to mount the iso... Not much time right now... If you have better ideas...

Oh, and by the way, the Dos database isn't made yet!

fledge68 · Jan 19, 2019

Wiimpathy said:
You're right, you have to parse it yourself. There could be any Dos commands in [autoexec] though. The 'exit' command isn't mandatory for example.
It's not that simple to get the game's path. The .conf or 'romdir' doesn't give you the full path. That was my plan that is also far from perfect:

- retrieve 'mount c ...' line and just keep 'root' path. (mount c usb:/dosbox/games)
- retrieve 'cd ...' line to keep game's folder. (cd prehist2)
- concatenate both : usb:/dosbox/game + prehist2
- detect line containing .exe|.com|.bat to get game's executable.
- path + executable

In Tetsuo pack : https://gbatemp.net/threads/dosbox-conf-and-map-files-collection-for-wiiflow.348496/, there are cases where it wouldn't work like Pinball Dreams because D is used to mount the iso... Not much time right now... If you have better ideas...

Oh, and by the way, the Dos database isn't made yet!

oh right .... usb:dosbox/games + game folder + executable. i was forgetting the game folder. i have tetsuo's pack but only looked at a few of the conf files.
in your packs i see a dos.xml. isn't that the Dos database?

Wiimpathy · Jan 19, 2019

Yes, the data is there. I meant the .ini with the crcs. They are from screenscraper.fr, and they don't seem to match any exe. The crc from libretro are far better.
I have to recreate a DOS.ini with their data instead. Or if anyone with scripting skills can help, you're welcome.

cebolleto · Feb 3, 2019

What a great job!
I finally found some time to test it, thanks a lot @Wiimpathy
The way you match the screenshots instead of using the rom name works much better than trying to rename them

A bug I noticed... it seems that you cannot navigate Wii or Gamecube isos anymore with this mod

Wiimpathy · Feb 3, 2019

Thanks, glad you like it.

Regarging the bug, is there a crash when you open Wii or GC coverflow? Are you using source menu?
Normally, you should still be able to access sources other than plugins.

It also seems that Fledge68 has modified this gameinfo code and possibly fixed some bugs. No build yet but you can compile it if you want: https://github.com/Fledge68/WiiFlow_Lite

cebolleto · Feb 5, 2019

Yes, you were right: accesing the source directly works
I was also thinking... how hard would it be to display the screenshot when selecting a game just as the banner appears in Wii or Gamecube games?

Wiimpathy · Feb 6, 2019

It may be a good idea. I'll let fledge68 do it if he wants to cause he knows the code better than me.

Wiimpathy · Feb 26, 2019

Little update:

- ScummVM titles works now. Search is only based on names.
- ScummVM ini updated(names).
- NeoGeo database bad dates fixed.
- Arcade.xml and Mame.xml merged.

See wfl_DB_Test2.zip and Wiiflow_Database_V2.zip in the first post.

Tetsuo Shima · Mar 9, 2019

@Wiimpathy I noticed that wonderswan screenshots are not vertically aligned to the frame. The top and bottom transparent margin is bigger than the frame. No problems with the left and right margins.
They should look like this

They are 256 x 224 pixels
They should be 256 x 144 pixels

RunningSnakes · Mar 20, 2019

Here are 1050+ GBA cart_disc files for download if anyone is interested. Thank You Wiimpathy for this tremendous add-on. Also to fledge68, without your devoted & continued expansion of this great loader, this would not be possible. Thank You so much.

Added a few fixes to GBA cart_disk.

Added 170 Mega Drive cart_disk.

Wiimpathy · Mar 20, 2019

Nice @RunningSnakes. It's so rare to have people helping and sharing. I salute you!

Hacking WiiFlow Lite with emulator's database

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