DDLaunch
 

So mrv2k decided to code a sort of front-end for my collection on his own accord ;)

It's called "DDLaunch", is pretty neat and has the following features:

• 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
• The window should automatically resize to your vertical desktop size.
• Has a bunch of filters. The title text will show you how many games are in the filtered / unfiltered list.
• Pressing <F1> for title or <F2> for screenshot will display an expanded image. Press <Esc> to return to the front-end.
• Floppy Drive Emulation Speed slider.
• Shows you which games have cheats, hints, level codes, manuals, maps, strategies, tips, walkthroughs. Ability to right-click on the title / screenshot and select any if available.
• Has a menu option to open the WinUAE GUI when you double-click a game.

https://i.imgur.com/5iCZQZM.png

Personally I won't use this as I'm sooooo used to the standard WinUAE interface and love it ;)

...but others might find it useful.

Anyway, just download from here, extract the correct "bit" version to your "WinUAE" directory and double-click to start.

Looks nice :)

Thanks for sharing. DDlaunch is not bad at all!

Maybe I should ask a GMod to move these "DDLaunch" posts to it's own thread.

People can then discuss / offer improvement to mrv2k that could possibly be implemented at some stage :agree

I see a lot of potential; for example if I was to add "Box" images then there could be another column next to the title / screenshot one showing these at the same time ;)

I'd quite happily take suggestions on improving DDLaunch. This is the WHDLoad/CD32 launcher I'm working on at the moment. It's a long way off from a release and it will probably look very different, but it gives an idea of having screens and cover art on the same window.

https://i.imgur.com/z9d9mav.png

Forgive the quick, dodgy mock-up... but I was thinking something more like this for "DDLaunch":

https://i.imgur.com/jAjxZlH.png

...but this would require me to find / download / cleanup "box" images for all 3320 games; so is a massive undertaking and very time consuming :help

Box scan archives (amongst others) are quite readily available via Launchbox site and forum and other frontend software repositories.


Heres one.
https://forums.launchbox-app.com/fil...mmodore-amiga/

This page has a box scan archive of over 3000 images. 400mb.

It's not even possible to translate this s*#t site with g@@gle...

I have the download, must have found it elsewhere. Sorry, that polish site asks for money, awful link so removed it.
malko, maybe you could remove your quote of it too please.

Found correct link.
ftp://ftp.untergrund.net/users/thunder/Amiga_Games/
Its a decent pack.

I've got quite a big selection of boxart images in my EAB ftp folder. Could be a start for you. Also Open Retro has a lot of hi-res boxart.

Thanks guys, I'll look into it at some stage ;)

Updated the mock-up image to include "information".

https://i.imgur.com/nMXNG4M.png

Was thinking that if a description is provided all about the game as well as year/pub/genre, then the box art could be at the top right as the area below would be pretty much filled. This would make it look all nice and even.

Thanks for creating this, I like it. Regarding descriptions etc, a link to the HOL page for each game would do for me.

I have all the info (year, publisher and genre) on the current WHDLoad games set. The genres are close to the catlist genres used by Mame. e.g.

Action / Destruction
Action / Duel / Versus
Action / Fighter 2D
Action / Fighter 2.5D
Action / FPS
Action / Multi Level
Action / Shooter / 2D
Action / Shooter / 3D
Action / Shooter / Isometric
Action / Shooter / Crosshair
Action / Shooter / Horizontal
Action / Shooter / Multi Direction
Action / Shooter / Vehicle
Action / Shooter / Vertical
Adventure / 3D
Adventure / Action
Adventure / Adult
Adventure / Graphic
Adventure / Isometric
Adventure / Point & Click
Adventure / Puzzle
Adventure / Text

I can write a bit of code that spits out a csv if that helps.

So I've started adding in "Boxart" from the above into my collection.

Taken 3 hours to do "# - B" :shocked

There's a lot missing, so will probably need to ask my friends at HOL:

Edit: So the above was roughly 450 games; so that means it will take around 24 hours to complete the process...

For now when I don't have a game's "Boxart" I created / will use this image:

https://i.imgur.com/4dtUFGm.jpg

DDLaunch v0.4
 

https://i.imgur.com/GtLAWOc.png

I've made a few changes to DDLaunch...

There is now a tab for box art and a panel for game info to be displayed. I looked at the mock ups you guys have made and decided on a tab to save screen space. I was worried that if you don't have a lovely high resolution screen, things could get chopped off. If you do have an ideal minimum resolution, I could make all the panels display on one screen.

The info panel will automatically load a text file called ___Info.txt from the game folder. The text file can be as long as you like, but just be aware of the width.

You can also now specify whether DDLaunch stretches it's window or uses a fixed size. This and the "Show WinUAE GUI" options are saved in a prefs file so you don't have to keep re-enabling them.

I've uploaded the files to my FTP account ~Uploads/mrv2k/
and Mega link... https://mega.nz/folder/Kd9gGChC#mZn3KNcPVoNrlgIrI8kG1Q

Nice :great

Personally though I think it would be much better having "BoxArt / Info" in a separate panel like my mock-up.

I mean; I'm running on a laptop with a resolution of "1366 x 768" and there's definitely enough room:

https://i.imgur.com/j0wBLke.png

I'd say most people have a higher resolution.

On my Win7 32Bit DDLaunch does not work, at the first run I get a loop no one and no GUI