Possibilites of WHDload DAT

[killergorilla]

I'm kinda throwing this idea back into action as now clrmamepro can work with subdirs...

I was wondering what the general concensus was regarding a few items...

I'd personally only like to see whdload games in the dat that have been installed using the CAPS images, as this is the only real way that we can ensure 100% installs from original games (there will be some exceptions such as PD games/shareware games that were released as lha/exe for example)

Obviously as CAPS grows the dat will grow to, and it's quite a big job as it is so there will be enough to keep the dat-makers going.

I heard on the grapevine that a tosec dat may be underway but from what I understood it would leave the installed game exactly as the install leaves it... and anyone who uses whdload will know that sometimes the icons can be all over the place, and sometimes the tooltypes can be somewhat 'iffy'.

I'm not whinging at the whdload team but if I was to see a whdload dat go out I'd be hoping that the icons would be organised in some way and that tooltypes would all be fixed/standardised before the release...

This would change the crc's of the files from the initial packs which I'm not sure some people would be happy with...

Also... which icon would be used as standard... some people do not have amigas capable of seeing 3.5/3.9 icons, and some games come with a lot of icons to chose from, should all of the icons be included in the games archive in a subdir or separate archive?

I was just wondering what people's opinions on the above points are. I know there are whdload packs going out each month but I for one would certainly prefer a dat and would be happy to help or take up the task if I agreed with the way in which it was gone about...

Well!

[BippyM]

I am hoping to redo this DAT with Antiriad and anyone else willing to help out (whether it's renaming or install making)

I think all icons should be included, but I think it is important that the games are tested with each icon and that the icons are organised and snapshotted neatly in a window!

This would really only be of use to those spreading cuz everyone is different and once an icon has been re-snapped its crc would change

Alternatively the icons could be shipped as an add-on in the dat (like a zip with all the spare icons) and only the standard Kick2/3 icons are included with the game!

This way all icons could just be shoved in however they come in the games Install (as this won't change!!)

[Frog]

instead of making one archive for a game, why not making :
an archive of the latest install package
an archive of the disk file or files extracted from .ipf files using WHDLoad install package.

eg. : Dune11HD.lha (install package)
DuneFR.lha (ipf file extracted using WHDLoad install)
DuneUK.lha (ipf file extracted using WHDLoad install)

thus disavantage of this is that you can't use directly the archive but need to copy by yourself the file/disk.
Advantage : if the disk image don't change, you just have to replace the new install package to update ! Crc of the ipf archive can be done safely.

[killergorilla]

I suppose it's entirely up to how you envisage the releases being used.

I was thinking of doing a dat myself, and with my current monthly packs in mind, they would be put together so that other people can use the games, without the need to install them themselves.

So that idea would not suit my specific perception of the how the dat should be used.

Again there is the conflict between whether the dat can be used so that the user can download the caps image, download the install and make the pack themselves... with my way of doing things this would not be possible. The chance of the user aligning the windows/icons in exactly the same way as the dat would be extremely slim so the crc's would never match.

My packs would be more akin to the mame releases, where the packs are just spread from one initial source, people can not make their mame roms, much like they cannot make matching whdload installed games...

It is a very difficult decision as even including different icons makes the idea of the dat kinda redundant... if Person A chooses to use an Exoticon instead of the default 'normal icon' his crc will be out and won't match the dat.

I'm not sure how people use whdload games, whether they really care about what icons they use... (which is why I started this thread) and what the package looks like as long as it works...

so the question is... what would people think of me using a standard GAME icon for every game? The same would go for the readme/manual/solution etc etc... there would be a default icon that would work across all amiga's using the default colours....

Please do let me know.

[BippyM]

Not true KG!

If you install the install yourself and select your icon then once installed you DELETE that icon and simply copy all the icons from the install directly (renaming if required) the CRC will remain the same don't snapshot them just copy them over.

This way the icon CRCs will match what you'd download from the WHDLoad site!

Alternatively don't include the installer with the dat, just use whatever game files are needed

[killergorilla]

So you are saying that in each game directory you will have ALL icons from each install which all load the game directly?

That'll be a bit messy won't it? Some games will have around 7 icons! All named slightly differently... That'll take up most the screen!

EDIT: I never thought about including the installer by the way.

EDIT: This also won't solve the problem of bad tooltypes and poorly aligned icons/windows will it?

[IFW]

Why don't you make your own manager program that takes care of these problems?
It's not that hard and can be a pet project for someone.

[BippyM]

Originally Posted by killergorilla

So you are saying that in each game directory you will have ALL icons from each install which all load the game directly?

That'll be a bit messy won't it? Some games will have around 7 icons! All named slightly differently... That'll take up most the screen!

EDIT: I never thought about including the installer by the way.

EDIT: This also won't solve the problem of bad tooltypes and poorly aligned icons/windows will it?

it wont solve everything, but the user can delete what they don't want and I'm sure a quck txt file can be included explaining how to allign and snapshot icons/windows can be done

There is no ideal way so sacrifices have to be made somewhere!

[[idoru]]

There is also another WHDLoad dat (well, 2 actually) these days, so maybe its worthwhile taking a look at that and see if efforts can be combined ?

I can't say I know the maker, but he tends to hang around in #tosec2.0 on UnitedUsers IRC these days so I could mention this to him if you would like ?

I've uploaded both dats to the Zone so you can take a look.

[BippyM]

Cool