New WHDLoad launcher - seconds on a standard A1200!

Bloodwych · 24 December 2007, 17:17

iGame is a brilliant launcher, but it isn't so fast or memory friendly on low end machines.

The last ClassicWB introduced using lazybench as a low resource launcher.

Now I've just finished writing a script that automatically adds ALL your WHDload games or demos to the launcher with a single double click!

It searches the games directory for slaves, sorts them alphabetically, then creates a textfile for lazybench.

Once the "addgames" script has been run (may take a while) the waiting is over. For 1000 games on a standard 68020, it took 5 seconds to load the first time, then 1 second to reopen! It also uses very little memory - about 40K to provide a launch list for 1000 games!

It's no iGame, but if your after a very fast and low on resources launcher watch this space.

Retro-Nerd · 24 December 2007, 17:22

Wow, that's very interesting Bloodwych. I love igame too, but it's slow and eat 2MB of my fastram for the gamelist (1600 games). Is lazybench in the latest CWB Lite too, i didn't tried it so far.

Bloodwych · 24 December 2007, 17:25

It is, but I'd wait until I add the latest additions to make it more usable.

At the moment, you have to create the WHDload games list for lazybench yourself. Once I add this script to the packs, it'll do everything for you.

Shoonay · 24 December 2007, 17:25

Cool one! Moar!

Can I edit each and every's game preload settings?

Retro-Nerd · 24 December 2007, 17:28

This is an awesome addition to your CWB packs, can't wait for the next update to test your script.

Bloodwych · 24 December 2007, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5h00n4y

Cool one! Moar!

Can I edit each and every's game preload settings?

I'm afraid not - like I said, it's no iGame and I'm not a programmer, just ok with Amiga script files. It's purely just a very light launcher.

The ideal thing would be to use iGame as your WHDLoad game manager, and this to play or launch them with more resources.

keropi · 24 December 2007, 18:03

wow, all that post here have the xmas-dizzy-custom-made-avatars...!
I post too!

Retro-Nerd · 24 December 2007, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropi

wow, all that post here have the xmas-dizzy-custom-made-avatars...!
I post too!

Nope, i created my avatar myself.

Graham Humphrey · 24 December 2007, 18:16

Nice work Bloodwych, as you say it's no iGame but still could prove useful

Bloodwych · 06 January 2008, 17:02

I'm about to upload these new packs and I'll post in the forum once they're available.

I must apologize for over-exaggerating the low mem usage - reality has now kicked in!

Here are the stats ON A STANDARD 68020 A1200:

Game links: approx 2600 (every KG WHDLoad pack)
Time to first open: 15 secs
Mem Usage once open: 850K

and after being run once:

Time to reopen: 1-2 secs

Bamiga2002 · 06 January 2008, 23:08

Nice work! But i'm not giving up on my Wangipad game-list i've been managing for years now

.

Bloodwych · 06 January 2008, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

Nice work! But i'm not giving up on my Wangipad game-list i've been managing for years now

.

I've never tried it! I'll give it a go.

I'm sure many people have their own solutions.

I chose LazyBench because it seemed the best tool I could find for the job. It's not without its problems and limitations though that I had to work around and iron out!

This really is a simplistic solution for all Amiga users giving the packs default WHDLoad launch support. Even basic Amiga's can use it, as long as they have enough RAM.

It's easily replaced if anyone has better solutions for their Amiga.

Retro-Nerd · 06 January 2008, 23:26

The main problem is the lack of a search filter. So you have to scroll up & down a lot, right? Anyway, i would love to try your finished script.

Bloodwych · 06 January 2008, 23:46

Very true, it's basic, but works well for a default install that doesn't know how powerful the target system is. I had no problems finding a game quickly, even from the full 2600+ gaming list on a 68000 speed A600 config!

The FULL, with its 640x256 resolution, displays 15 games at a time (LazyBench allows removal of the gadgets shown above for more room), and it seemed to scroll smooth and quickly. I found it works pretty well.

The script is very basic - not much skill involved. The real skills were the people who programmed the shell programs it uses to form the list!

I think the excellent iGame is probably the one for you as I doubt this will suit your needs. iGame is much more feature rich and the latest release actually seems to work quite fast!

Retro-Nerd · 06 January 2008, 23:51

Yes, igame is much faster since v1.4. My M-Tec 1230 supports only 8 MB fast ram, and igame eats 2-3 MB for a full KGWHD list. This prevents me to start 5-6 games, apart from this it works fine.

But there is hope... Jedi KG strikes back one day with his WHDLoad launcher.

Bloodwych · 07 January 2008, 00:09

Yes, a dedicated launcher that can be booted into directly would be great!

Imagine just holding down a mouse button or having a bootmenu to select a nice WHDLoad games launcher or Workbench.

That would help save the max memory possible!

In the ClassicWB you can boot into a slim pure Workbench or a CLI prompt to launch the games, but it's just not the same as a dedicated front end with nice custom graphics.

Come to think of it, LazyBench could probably be made to run directly from the ClassicWB CLI prompt or be made to boot directly into if you required max mem. It would be fairly easy to do, but really wouldn't save that much compared to the RMB slim/safe mode.

Bloodwych · 07 January 2008, 01:13

Well the new packs are up.

Retro-Nerd - here is a sneak peak in order for you to gauge mem usage in the LITE version (with every WHDLoad game included).

The first is the RMB safe mode, the other normal (in WinUAE - you may have less mem if your HD buffers are large).

You can easily add igame of course as your main launcher, using this as a fallback solution.

Retro-Nerd · 07 January 2008, 01:18

You lose 800-900KB fast mem, that's fair enough.

But first i have to reinstall your package again. I'm a bit lazy atm, all things running fine with your old (pre 21F) CWB Lite.

Bloodwych · 07 January 2008, 01:20

I know exactly what you mean!

I still haven't got round to updating my A1200 for over a year!

I bet someone could probably write a more efficient launcher that saves even more mem...the text file that lists the actual links is only 100K...

killergorilla · 07 January 2008, 02:00

This looks nice Bloodwych, it's certainly a superb addition to ClassicWB (which is already pretty much perfect in my eyes).

I'm considering spending some decent time on my launcher soon, would you guys honestly use it? Don't just say yes because you want some more amiga software

24 December 2007, 17:17	#1
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	New WHDLoad launcher - seconds on a standard A1200! iGame is a brilliant launcher, but it isn't so fast or memory friendly on low end machines. The last ClassicWB introduced using lazybench as a low resource launcher. Now I've just finished writing a script that automatically adds ALL your WHDload games or demos to the launcher with a single double click! It searches the games directory for slaves, sorts them alphabetically, then creates a textfile for lazybench. Once the "addgames" script has been run (may take a while) the waiting is over. For 1000 games on a standard 68020, it took 5 seconds to load the first time, then 1 second to reopen! It also uses very little memory - about 40K to provide a launch list for 1000 games! It's no iGame, but if your after a very fast and low on resources launcher watch this space. Attached Thumbnails

06 January 2008, 23:51	#15
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,438	Yes, igame is much faster since v1.4. My M-Tec 1230 supports only 8 MB fast ram, and igame eats 2-3 MB for a full KGWHD list. This prevents me to start 5-6 games, apart from this it works fine. But there is hope... Jedi KG strikes back one day with his WHDLoad launcher. Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 07 January 2008 at 00:01.

07 January 2008, 00:09	#16
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Yes, a dedicated launcher that can be booted into directly would be great! Imagine just holding down a mouse button or having a bootmenu to select a nice WHDLoad games launcher or Workbench. That would help save the max memory possible! In the ClassicWB you can boot into a slim pure Workbench or a CLI prompt to launch the games, but it's just not the same as a dedicated front end with nice custom graphics. Come to think of it, LazyBench could probably be made to run directly from the ClassicWB CLI prompt or be made to boot directly into if you required max mem. It would be fairly easy to do, but really wouldn't save that much compared to the RMB slim/safe mode. Last edited by Bloodwych; 07 January 2008 at 01:18.

07 January 2008, 01:13	#17
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Well the new packs are up. Retro-Nerd - here is a sneak peak in order for you to gauge mem usage in the LITE version (with every WHDLoad game included). The first is the RMB safe mode, the other normal (in WinUAE - you may have less mem if your HD buffers are large). You can easily add igame of course as your main launcher, using this as a fallback solution. Attached Thumbnails

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24 December 2007, 17:22	#2
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,438	Wow, that's very interesting Bloodwych. I love igame too, but it's slow and eat 2MB of my fastram for the gamelist (1600 games). Is lazybench in the latest CWB Lite too, i didn't tried it so far.

24 December 2007, 17:25	#3
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	It is, but I'd wait until I add the latest additions to make it more usable. At the moment, you have to create the WHDload games list for lazybench yourself. Once I add this script to the packs, it'll do everything for you.

24 December 2007, 17:25	#4
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,105	Cool one! Moar! Can I edit each and every's game preload settings?

24 December 2007, 17:28	#5
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,438	This is an awesome addition to your CWB packs, can't wait for the next update to test your script.

24 December 2007, 18:03	#7
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	wow, all that post here have the xmas-dizzy-custom-made-avatars...! I post too!

24 December 2007, 18:16	#9
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Nice work Bloodwych, as you say it's no iGame but still could prove useful

06 January 2008, 17:02	#10
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	I'm about to upload these new packs and I'll post in the forum once they're available. I must apologize for over-exaggerating the low mem usage - reality has now kicked in! Here are the stats ON A STANDARD 68020 A1200: Game links: approx 2600 (every KG WHDLoad pack) Time to first open: 15 secs Mem Usage once open: 850K and after being run once: Time to reopen: 1-2 secs

06 January 2008, 23:08	#11
Bamiga2002 BlizzardPPC'less Join Date: May 2004 Location: Finland Age: 46 Posts: 3,210	Nice work! But i'm not giving up on my Wangipad game-list i've been managing for years now .

06 January 2008, 23:26	#13
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,438	The main problem is the lack of a search filter. So you have to scroll up & down a lot, right? Anyway, i would love to try your finished script.

06 January 2008, 23:46	#14
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Very true, it's basic, but works well for a default install that doesn't know how powerful the target system is. I had no problems finding a game quickly, even from the full 2600+ gaming list on a 68000 speed A600 config! The FULL, with its 640x256 resolution, displays 15 games at a time (LazyBench allows removal of the gadgets shown above for more room), and it seemed to scroll smooth and quickly. I found it works pretty well. The script is very basic - not much skill involved. The real skills were the people who programmed the shell programs it uses to form the list! I think the excellent iGame is probably the one for you as I doubt this will suit your needs. iGame is much more feature rich and the latest release actually seems to work quite fast!

07 January 2008, 01:18	#18
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,438	You lose 800-900KB fast mem, that's fair enough. But first i have to reinstall your package again. I'm a bit lazy atm, all things running fine with your old (pre 21F) CWB Lite.

07 January 2008, 01:20	#19
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	I know exactly what you mean! I still haven't got round to updating my A1200 for over a year! I bet someone could probably write a more efficient launcher that saves even more mem...the text file that lists the actual links is only 100K...

07 January 2008, 02:00	#20
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	This looks nice Bloodwych, it's certainly a superb addition to ClassicWB (which is already pretty much perfect in my eyes). I'm considering spending some decent time on my launcher soon, would you guys honestly use it? Don't just say yes because you want some more amiga software

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