About WHDRun (how does it work and future features)

[Retro-Nerd]

Edit by eLowar: This thread was split from the News thread about the GameBase Amiga v1.4 release. [end of edit]

This WHDRun tool is really awesome. How doesn't it work exactly, it makes the need of an installed Amiga OS obsolete?

[eLowar]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

This WHDRun tool is really awesome. How doesn't it work exactly, it makes the need of an installed Amiga OS obsolete?

Heh, that's giving it a bit much credit. What it does is just unzip the game files, remember their checksums, modify a user-startup file generated by GameBase Amiga with user settings (quit key, custom values), then run WinUAE with a config generated by GameBase Amiga, wait until WinUAE is finished, identify changed files and rezip them to a different location.

Settings are simply passed as command line options to WHDLoad. All required files are in the directory WHD in the GameBase Amiga directory, which is mounted as DH0. The temporary dir with the unzipped game files is mounted as DH1. The startup scripts then simply run WHDLoad, set up to load the slave from DH1.

[Retro-Nerd]

A very elegant solution, imho. Is it possible to modify all WHDLoad tooltypes, in further WHDRun updates?

[eLowar]

I'd like to avoid clutter in the interface, but I'll gradually add more options and we're planning on making mini-GUIs for the CUSTOM values of every install that uses them. So instead of having to set CUSTOM1 to 1 to enable some option, you may just have to click a checkbox saying something like "enable trainer".

To answer your question, it's definitely possible to set most, if not all, WHDLoad switches and options like this. There are some minor limitations on the command line (as opposed to using tooltypes), but I'm sure they won't affect much, if anything.

[Retro-Nerd]

Sounds good for me. Yes, GUI settings like "enable trainer" or "enable/disable caches", "savedir=" etc. would be very useful.

[cybermat]

I will use this thread.....

I've seen that a new WHDLOAD version came out (*** 16.9 (05.02.2009).

WHDLOAD with Gamebase is preinstalled....so would it mean that i cannot update WHDLOAD manually?

Or is it enough to replace WHDLoad/WHDLOAD.prefs files inside the package with the old ones under C: and S: ?

[Retro-Nerd]

Originally Posted by cybermat

Or is it enough to replace WHDLoad/WHDLOAD.prefs files inside the package with the old ones under C: and S: ?

Yep, overwrite the old files. That's all.

[cybermat]

Thanks!

Now i'm trying to install CLASSICWB in order to install WHDLOAD in the way it meant to be! I noted that launching a WHDLOAD games with Workbench enviroment is faster than Gamebase. Isn't ?

I was used to lurk this site, but i can say that everytime i asked for something i QUICKLY had the answers i need!

thanks

[eLowar]

Originally Posted by cybermat

Now i'm trying to install CLASSICWB in order to install WHDLOAD in the way it meant to be! I noted that launching a WHDLOAD games with Workbench enviroment is faster than Gamebase. Isn't

Well, I suppose it must be faster. WinUAE is already started up, the game data is already extracted, etc. Somewhat less convenient to browse though, of course, but you might want to have a look at KG's KGLoad project: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=33499 (still under development).