Old KGLoad Beta Download Thread - Page 4

Bloodwych · 10 December 2008, 22:30

I've now integrated it into the ClassicWB maxmem bootmenu.

You hold the left mouse button on boot, select KGLoad from the menu and it mounts a RAD: device, resets the Amiga and loads straight into KGLoad. This means maximum memory is available for the games.

Even better, since it's getting launched from RAD:, everytime you soft reset your Amiga (eg keyboard reset), it loads up KGLoad again!

Not sure if the RAD: will survive when running games. We'll see from testing.

Retro-Nerd · 10 December 2008, 22:33

@Bloodwych

Bloodwych · 11 December 2008, 01:48

After testing in the latest WinUAE I noticed two things triggered it to exit gracefully.

It will quit by itself if JIT is enabled.
It will quit by itself if you don't select a Joystick option in the WinUAE input settings.

When I disable JIT and select a joystick input (like a keyboard substitute), KGLoad seems happy.

Another few things. The System.Configuration file is missing an "n"; it's called "System.Configuratio".

The config file lists games/s/ as a path, but you only have games/r/ included.

As for the loader itself - I LOVE IT! Do you have any rough estimates as to how much memory it takes for itself with a full collection in use?

killergorilla · 11 December 2008, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodwych

After testing in the latest WinUAE I noticed two things triggered it to exit gracefully.

It will quit by itself if JIT is enabled.
It will quit by itself if you don't select a Joystick option in the WinUAE input settings.

When I disable JIT and select a joystick input (like a keyboard substitute), KGLoad seems happy.

Another few things. The System.Configuration file is missing an "n"; it's called "System.Configuratio".

The config file lists games/s/ as a path, but you only have games/r/ included.

As for the loader itself - I LOVE IT! Do you have any rough estimates as to how much memory it takes for itself with a full collection in use?

Well a few things to deal with here...

The menu quitting. It's a bug in WinUAE where it thinks the Play button is being pressed on a CD32 pad constantly.

See here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=40656

It's fixed in the latest WinUAE beta (which I've being using).

The system configuration thing is indeed missing an n! Oops. I rename it whenever I want to see the AmigaDos screens behind it so that I can output some messages to the shell for debugging, must have forgotten to rename it!

The config file does include s as well, was going to add another game but couldn't be bothered to convert the screenshot on my crappy laptop so left it out

I shall edit that for the next release.

As for memory use...

It never loads the whole gamelist into memory, it only reads the currently visible part of the gamelist in memory. So it shouldn't matter how big the gamelist gets, it'll always use the same memory.

I do plan on adding a config option to copy the selected gamelist into RAM: which might speed things up a bit if running from a CD for example. Although screenshots are still loaded from the CD, putting them all in RAM would be suicide!

Bloodwych · 11 December 2008, 13:55

Thanks for the detailed breakdown.

The memory usage is fantastic from what I can gather. It's the one thing that really sets your launcher into a class of its own, as iGame is a little memory hungry. Even my List launcher uses a bit of RAM, as it loads the entire game list into memory.

It really does work brilliantly with the RAD: launch. I'll send you a copy of the FULL pack once I've finished integrating it so you can try it out.

killergorilla · 11 December 2008, 14:17

Thanks mate, I really appreciate your observations (even more so because they are full of praise!

).

I really aimed for it to use as little resources as possible, and have to do as little processing as possible, it's just good to have it at a stage where people can use it.

I've still got a lot I want to implement, and I'd really appreciate any ideas/suggestions people have for improvements.

Retro-Nerd · 11 December 2008, 14:19

A display box for the Readme/Doc files would be nice, if it's possible somehow.

killergorilla · 11 December 2008, 15:45

That could be done yeah...

I'd make it very simple though, it would simply display the Readme file stored in the game's root directory. I made sure that all my whdload packs have it named exactly that way.

Nice idea...

Also, I've now edited the first post of the thread with download links, control info and new ideas etc. I'll be updating that from now on (Until v1 is done!)

Retro-Nerd · 11 December 2008, 16:00

Do you have ideas for the search filter? Direct keyboard entries for an easy search in the game list would be nice. You enter i.e. "Tu" and KGLoad list/filter all games starting with this letters.

killergorilla · 11 December 2008, 16:18

Yeah, I've got some stuff documented on how I'm going to achieve it, I just wanted to make sure everything I'd done so far was working ok.

It won't 'filter' the gamelist as such, it will just move to the first game beginning with the letters you've typed.

So if you type "T" it'll move to the first game beginning with "T", then if you add a "u" on it'll move to the first game beginning with "Tu". If you then type "Tuu" or something similar and it can't find anything it'll remain on the game it was previously on (The one beginning with "Tu").

There will be a time-window to catch the next letter, probably 1 or 2 seconds.

Retro-Nerd · 11 December 2008, 16:23

Quote:

It won't 'filter' the gamelist as such, it will just move to the first game beginning with the letters you've typed

Sounds good enough for me.

DDNI · 13 December 2008, 22:28

KG you should be very proud of yourself! This is a fantastic app! Well done!!!!

I have been playing with it on my A1200T and almost everything seems perfect.

Can the frontend find the games in directories "0" through to "z" if the path only points to the root?
ie
GamePath=0toQ: instead of

GamePath=0toQ:a/
GamePath=0toQ:b/
GamePath=0toQ:c/
etc?

Also when scrolling down a long list with could a key combo skip a page at a time? ie LCtrl and DOWN/UP?

Bloodwych · 14 December 2008, 00:46

I've noticed you have a custom WHDLoad.prefs file. The trouble is, it isn't compatible with other launchers like iGame or my list launcher.

I know I should not dare use another launcher, but I like to give the user choice.

The RAD: boot launch is fine, as I can assign S: to your exclusive file, but launching from Workbench means it has to be in the main S: directory, over-writing the default file.

Am I being think (it is late), or is there a way to run KGLoad in Workbench without having to over-write the main WHDLoad.prefs file with yours (which contains the needed Cleanup command).

killergorilla · 14 December 2008, 01:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDNI

KG you should be very proud of yourself! This is a fantastic app! Well done!!!!

I have been playing with it on my A1200T and almost everything seems perfect.

Can the frontend find the games in directories "0" through to "z" if the path only points to the root?
ie
GamePath=0toQ: instead of

GamePath=0toQ:a/
GamePath=0toQ:b/
GamePath=0toQ:c/
etc?

Also when scrolling down a long list with could a key combo skip a page at a time? ie LCtrl and DOWN/UP?

I'm pretty sure you've not written the individual paths properly but...

No there is no chance you lazy git! You typing 26 lines out is going to be a lot quicker than me adding more lines of code to cope with that :P

As for scrolling, the individual letter keys (A-Z) will move to the next letter. If you want me to also add some kind of "skip 20 lines" functions then maybe I could do that... I'll think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodwych

I've noticed you have a custom WHDLoad.prefs file. The trouble is, it isn't compatible with other launchers like iGame or my list launcher.

I know I should not dare use another launcher, but I like to give the user choice.

The RAD: boot launch is fine, as I can assign S: to your exclusive file, but launching from Workbench means it has to be in the main S: directory, over-writing the default file.

Am I being think (it is late), or is there a way to run KGLoad in Workbench without having to over-write the main WHDLoad.prefs file with yours (which contains the needed Cleanup command).

Hmmm....

Try the attached files...

They are structured in the zip correctly so just unpack them to the dirs (either kgload/reboot or s:kgload-startup depending on which version you are using.).

It should work in all cases. I just did a little check and it was fine here.

It's pretty simple really!

Plus, it removes the need for using whdload.prefs at all.

Bloodwych · 14 December 2008, 13:20

Thanks KG. All issues now resolved.

I downloaded the latest WinUAE beta - fixed all quiting problems.

Used your test examples to get rid of the reliance on a custom WHDLoad - now it uses the universal one along with all the other launchers - perfect.

Such a simple solution - I didn't realize the launch script waited for your main program to return before continuing or I would have thought of it myself! I think it's better that way on the Workbench install, as people might already have custom WHDLoad.prefs files before installing your launcher.

Great work. Another satisfied customer.

I can finish integrating your launcher now into the ClassicWB.

killergorilla · 14 December 2008, 13:32

Cool, glad you brought it up now as this solution is much tidier really.

I've also just added HippoPlayer support as well, loading any (supported) modules in the user's "MusicPath" specified in the setup.ini file. It auto generates a playlist made up of all files in the dir (sorry no subdir support) and plays them in a random order.

I've "borrowed" some of the files from your music directory and added some more of my own and will be including it as a "extras pack" of sorts, much like the screenshot and boxart packs will be separate downloads.

Bloodwych · 14 December 2008, 13:41

This just gets better and better!

I'm really excited about the next ClassicWB release and your Launcher is a major part of it.

It's just so cool. Since this is an on going development, I'll highlight your packs are in beta stage for the ClassicWB xmas release. Then I'll make update packs as you improve the program in the future.

ppill · 14 December 2008, 13:44

@Bloodwych

Out of curiosity, what type of RAD: are you using? The default one?

Bloodwych · 14 December 2008, 13:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppill

@Bloodwych

Out of curiosity, what type of RAD: are you using? The default one?

It's been customized a little to use the least RAM, but yes it's the default RAD: device.

ppill · 14 December 2008, 14:01

You could try using vdisk.device. It can utilise FAST instead of CHIP memory and still can be made bootable. Some of those slaves can be pretty CHIP hungry.

10 December 2008, 22:30	#61
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	I've now integrated it into the ClassicWB maxmem bootmenu. You hold the left mouse button on boot, select KGLoad from the menu and it mounts a RAD: device, resets the Amiga and loads straight into KGLoad. This means maximum memory is available for the games. Even better, since it's getting launched from RAD:, everytime you soft reset your Amiga (eg keyboard reset), it loads up KGLoad again! Not sure if the RAD: will survive when running games. We'll see from testing. Attached Thumbnails

11 December 2008, 01:48	#63
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	After testing in the latest WinUAE I noticed two things triggered it to exit gracefully. It will quit by itself if JIT is enabled. It will quit by itself if you don't select a Joystick option in the WinUAE input settings. When I disable JIT and select a joystick input (like a keyboard substitute), KGLoad seems happy. Another few things. The System.Configuration file is missing an "n"; it's called "System.Configuratio". The config file lists games/s/ as a path, but you only have games/r/ included. As for the loader itself - I LOVE IT! Do you have any rough estimates as to how much memory it takes for itself with a full collection in use?

13 December 2008, 22:28	#72
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	KG you should be very proud of yourself! This is a fantastic app! Well done!!!! I have been playing with it on my A1200T and almost everything seems perfect. Can the frontend find the games in directories "0" through to "z" if the path only points to the root? ie GamePath=0toQ: instead of GamePath=0toQ:a/ GamePath=0toQ:b/ GamePath=0toQ:c/ etc? Also when scrolling down a long list with could a key combo skip a page at a time? ie LCtrl and DOWN/UP? Last edited by DDNI; 13 December 2008 at 22:50.

14 December 2008, 00:46	#73
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	I've noticed you have a custom WHDLoad.prefs file. The trouble is, it isn't compatible with other launchers like iGame or my list launcher. I know I should not dare use another launcher, but I like to give the user choice. The RAD: boot launch is fine, as I can assign S: to your exclusive file, but launching from Workbench means it has to be in the main S: directory, over-writing the default file. Am I being think (it is late), or is there a way to run KGLoad in Workbench without having to over-write the main WHDLoad.prefs file with yours (which contains the needed Cleanup command). Last edited by Bloodwych; 14 December 2008 at 00:57.

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10 December 2008, 22:33	#62
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	@Bloodwych

11 December 2008, 13:55	#65
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Thanks for the detailed breakdown. The memory usage is fantastic from what I can gather. It's the one thing that really sets your launcher into a class of its own, as iGame is a little memory hungry. Even my List launcher uses a bit of RAM, as it loads the entire game list into memory. It really does work brilliantly with the RAD: launch. I'll send you a copy of the FULL pack once I've finished integrating it so you can try it out.

11 December 2008, 14:17	#66
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Thanks mate, I really appreciate your observations (even more so because they are full of praise! ). I really aimed for it to use as little resources as possible, and have to do as little processing as possible, it's just good to have it at a stage where people can use it. I've still got a lot I want to implement, and I'd really appreciate any ideas/suggestions people have for improvements.

11 December 2008, 14:19	#67
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	A display box for the Readme/Doc files would be nice, if it's possible somehow.

11 December 2008, 15:45	#68
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	That could be done yeah... I'd make it very simple though, it would simply display the Readme file stored in the game's root directory. I made sure that all my whdload packs have it named exactly that way. Nice idea... Also, I've now edited the first post of the thread with download links, control info and new ideas etc. I'll be updating that from now on (Until v1 is done!)

11 December 2008, 16:00	#69
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,435	Do you have ideas for the search filter? Direct keyboard entries for an easy search in the game list would be nice. You enter i.e. "Tu" and KGLoad list/filter all games starting with this letters.

11 December 2008, 16:18	#70
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Yeah, I've got some stuff documented on how I'm going to achieve it, I just wanted to make sure everything I'd done so far was working ok. It won't 'filter' the gamelist as such, it will just move to the first game beginning with the letters you've typed. So if you type "T" it'll move to the first game beginning with "T", then if you add a "u" on it'll move to the first game beginning with "Tu". If you then type "Tuu" or something similar and it can't find anything it'll remain on the game it was previously on (The one beginning with "Tu"). There will be a time-window to catch the next letter, probably 1 or 2 seconds.

14 December 2008, 13:20	#75
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	Thanks KG. All issues now resolved. I downloaded the latest WinUAE beta - fixed all quiting problems. Used your test examples to get rid of the reliance on a custom WHDLoad - now it uses the universal one along with all the other launchers - perfect. Such a simple solution - I didn't realize the launch script waited for your main program to return before continuing or I would have thought of it myself! I think it's better that way on the Workbench install, as people might already have custom WHDLoad.prefs files before installing your launcher. Great work. Another satisfied customer. I can finish integrating your launcher now into the ClassicWB.

14 December 2008, 13:32	#76
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Cool, glad you brought it up now as this solution is much tidier really. I've also just added HippoPlayer support as well, loading any (supported) modules in the user's "MusicPath" specified in the setup.ini file. It auto generates a playlist made up of all files in the dir (sorry no subdir support) and plays them in a random order. I've "borrowed" some of the files from your music directory and added some more of my own and will be including it as a "extras pack" of sorts, much like the screenshot and boxart packs will be separate downloads.

14 December 2008, 13:41	#77
Bloodwych Moderator Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm behind you! Posts: 3,763	This just gets better and better! I'm really excited about the next ClassicWB release and your Launcher is a major part of it. It's just so cool. Since this is an on going development, I'll highlight your packs are in beta stage for the ClassicWB xmas release. Then I'll make update packs as you improve the program in the future.

14 December 2008, 13:44	#78
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	@Bloodwych Out of curiosity, what type of RAD: are you using? The default one?

14 December 2008, 14:01	#80
ppill CON: artist Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Poland Age: 43 Posts: 1,250	You could try using vdisk.device. It can utilise FAST instead of CHIP memory and still can be made bootable. Some of those slaves can be pretty CHIP hungry.

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