Hacking Rominator for NDS

[antigirl]

pardon my ignorance, i should full check the program before i post, anyway upon further speculation that functionality exists [thanks urza btw] but the copy over seems to be a bit slow, is that a real time progress bar ? or is it slow because of the program ? maybe use a vbs script for copying in background?

anyway program is perfect but as far as suggestions go i think the refresh rate seems a bit choppy, is the box art stored in cache some where? and whilst scrolling games because of the icons it seems choppyish.

 

[Urza]

Turning off the icons speeds up the program dramatically.

 

[hankchill]

pardon my ignorance, i should full check the program before i post, anyway upon further speculation that functionality exists [thanks urza btw] but the copy over seems to be a bit slow, is that a real time progress bar ? or is it slow because of the program ? maybe use a vbs script for copying in background?

anyway program is perfect but as far as suggestions go i think the refresh rate seems a bit choppy, is the box art stored in cache some where? and whilst scrolling games because of the icons it seems choppyish.

No worries. The copy over goes as fast as your computer, really. It copies in chunks at a time. I had to program a copying method myself as the program is cross-platform -- This is something people need to understand. I cannot use OS-dependent functionality (like VBS scripting, or using external applications for Zip processing) because it would only work for that OS -- I'd need to do it THREE times for THREE different OS's. I like it better as a Write Once, Build Thrice.

The box art is stored in cache, if you look in the Application Data folder, there is a folder called Rominator Data. That's where all the magic is. The file with the box is called box.rsd. Scrolling with icons is a little choppy, yes... however, with Rominator 5, that choppiness will be a thing of the past

I've already worked out that problem.

--Henry

 

[antigirl]

thanks hankchill, keep up the great work.

 

[Auyx]

To be honest functionality wise the program is fine but its stability that I beleve needs addressing the most I have lost track of the number of times ive had to delete the cash now due to the program brakeing. I would love to see it get better at what it does and become even more so the worlds best NDS manager . I know you wana chuck in some more features and i bet there much more interesting to program but a seres of stability update's would be perfect.

 

[hankchill]

To be honest functionality wise the program is fine but its stability that I beleve needs addressing the most I have lost track of the number of times ive had to delete the cash now due to the program brakeing. I would love to see it get better at what it does and become even more so the worlds best NDS manager . I know you wana chuck in some more features and i bet there much more interesting to program but a seres of stability update's would be perfect.

Stability has been my number 1 priority with Rominator 5. Believe me, all of the current features will work better

Basically, Rominator 5 is a complete reworking of Rominator... practically rewritten from the ground up.

 

[Masterless]

Great program, it saved me from going insane!

I'm having a problem with the save database though. I have a .SAV in my game directory from opening the save database it is empty. The .SAV has the exact same name as the game (not the extension obviously). What am I doing wrong?

Couple of suggestions for features although I know you are busy adding many:

1. Make it possible to have .SAVs locate elsewhere
2. A duplicate checker, in case I have 2 (or more) of the same rom

Thank you thank you for the program regardless!

 

[Urza]

The only real instability issues I've had is when it tries to scan a corrupted ROM. At that point the entire list gets fucked up and I have to delete all the application data.

I'm having a problem with the save database though. I have a .SAV in my game directory from opening the save database it is empty. The .SAV has the exact same name as the game (not the extension obviously). What am I doing wrong?

You can't just put a save in the directory, you have to actually load it into the database from within the program.

 

[kmihalj]

Great app ... expecialy Mac OS X version ...

Well, just one bug to report, ... app cannot work thrue proxy .... well ... On workplace I must use VPN to connect to internet (proxy server also) ... so on every click on file which does not have boxart app is approx. 1 min "frozen" .... also I cannot update database..

I overcome that so I copy Rominator files from preferences folder at home and transfer them to preferencef folder on work (I have ROM files on external HDD), ... but this is pain in the ass.

Also would be great to make same application for GBA ROMs, ... since something like that is missing on Mac OS and Linux. (everything should be same, .... just diferent databases

).

 

[begedinnikola]

i would like to mention that not all carts use the .sav extension for save files. for instance, g6ds real uses .0. can this be fixed? personally, i think the program doesnt need to check file extensions at all.

 

[Auyx]

So i guess that rominator 5 will be out on monday then if the autoupdate is anything to go by. Realy looking forward to seeing what you have been up to with this one as you say its a total re-write so I know this is gona rock.

 

[Urza]

So i guess that rominator 5 will be out on monday then if the autoupdate is anything to go by. Realy looking forward to seeing what you have been up to with this one as you say its a total re-write so I know this is gona rock.

The update wasn't referring to next Monday, it was referring to the update itself, which came out yesterday because Zelda was dumped (aka the special event).

 

[Auyx]

Sorry I only realy quickly read the text. Doh

 

[hankchill]

So i guess that rominator 5 will be out on monday then if the autoupdate is anything to go by. Realy looking forward to seeing what you have been up to with this one as you say its a total re-write so I know this is gona rock.

The update wasn't referring to next Monday, it was referring to the update itself, which came out yesterday because Zelda was dumped (aka the special event).

That's right, I meant a database update on Monday (yesterday). If you would have scrolled down in the update window, you would have seen I was talking about Zelda

However, I'm making great progress with the recoding, so I should have something ready soon... All I can say, is that the redesign is much more stable and reliable. Also, it's 10x more compact... Basically, almost everything has changed. When I have something preliminary ready I'll provide screenshots. Here's a few different things besides the code rewrite:
• Game Details is now in a separate floating window, saving space in main window
• All buttons have been removed -- Now a contextual menu (aka right-clicky)
• Finding games no longer has to be in the find field -- Just type and it'll find what you type.
• The 'Message Bar' at the bottom plays a bigger part now, and is more easily noticable
• Game Lists now show the free space available in the list, no more when just selecting the list itself
• Working on automatic recognition of all inserted flash cards without Windows going klepto
• Save Utility no longer hangs out at the bottom of the window -- It's wherever you want it to be, and more compact
• Redesigned Settings window
• Box Art will no longer be stored in a database -- It'll be stored in a folder. This way you can have your own box art for the games (if you want higher quality boxes, not just 200x180 boxes)
• And a most requested feature, the Data folder will now reside in the same location as Rominator. You can now put Rominator on a USB drive and take it with you, retaining ALL of your settings and databases

It'll still be a while yet, as every single function needs to be recoded to meet up with the new changes... I'm hard at work, balancing out home/work/GBAtemp, but I'll deliver

 

[Urza]

Could you possibly add the option to have save files stored as seperate files, instead of one big database?

 

[FrankSinatra]

Sounds great! I can't wait for the new version. Thanks for such a nice program, I don't know what I'd do without Rominator.

 

[hankchill]

Could you possibly add the option to have save files stored as seperate files, instead of one big database?

Oh yeah, forgot to add that

No more big database -- Save files are now stored in folders with the same name of the game, with as many saves as you like per game.

--Henry

 

[NemesisHunter]

Alright! Thanks for the save-file system change Hankchill. I was growing concerned about how to separate a batch of save files from the HUGE database when needed.

 

[Dazimus]

Looking forward to having Rominator on a USB stick, and seperate save files

 

[Auyx]

Wow really excellent list of changes there hope it gets here soon.