RetroLoader

Community Forums/Showcase/RetroLoader

Krischan(Posted 2015) [#1]
I've started coding a simple Loader/Packer for launching C64 games in Bmax for myself. Now I have all my favourite games with cover, music and trainers in a few clicks. I know there are already other solutions out there but I wanted to make my very own one. I'm planning to load Amiga and perhaps DOS games with it, too. Here is a running demo but I don't guarantee that it's working properly. When started the RetroLoader.exe just click the floppy disk icon and load from games/Adventures/Miscellaneous the Zak file. To start the C64 programs you must download VICE first and extract the contents to the RetroLoader folder, that's it. And the Keys F1-F4 have some useless but nice functions ;-)

And at this stage you should be able to use the RetroPacker too but don't expect too much, this is just a little tool written in Blitzmax+MaxGUI to help me packing several hundred games for the loader :-D No error handling, crashes at RSID files (only use PSID!), use PNG covers and it's still full of bugs I assume.

Future plans are to implement a better loading function which parses the games subfolder and start the game from a cover icon or something, it's just a simple RequestFile dialogue right now. Perhaps with a database and checksums to speedup the start. And with a 3D model of the machine. Anyway, have fun with it:

Download Demo+Source+Media: RetroLoaderDemo.zip [3.4MB]





AdamStrange(Posted 2015) [#2]
Yep, love the screen - not the dialog so much (sorta breaks the retro feel, but I understand ;] ).

MAME uses a list and favourites, with the option of shot of the working game.

It would be great to enter text (say if i remember correct, LD for list directory, etc) - but that would make it a much bigger project.

or left right to cycle through the screens to pick a game perhaps?


Xerra(Posted 2015) [#3]
I'd love to be able to tinker with this on my Mac. Any chance of a source code release so I can compile it manually? Or are you able to do that?

Thanks.


Krischan(Posted 2015) [#4]
?!? The source is already included in the download, check the "source" folder in the ZIP file. For successful compiling you need these modules in your mod folder:

brl.retro
brl.GLMax2D
brl.GLGraphics
brl.PNGloader
brl.timer
brl.eventqueue
brl.map
brl.blitz
brl.freetypefont
pub.Win32
maxgui.Drivers

and additional for the SID music and ZIP file handling:

bah.sid
bah.sidbass
gman.zipengine


Xerra(Posted 2015) [#5]
My bad. I didn't notice you had the source as well. Thanks for that. I'm having trouble getting gman.zipengine module to build, though, which is kind of stopping this working for me.

/Applications/BlitzMax/mod/pub.mod/zipengine.mod/bmxsupport.c:38:3: error: non-void function 'unzGetCurrentFileSize' should return a value [-Wreturn-type]
return;
^


Krischan(Posted 2015) [#6]
You can try these versions, zipped from my own mod folder, they compile fine here in windows (and I fixed a setting in the sidengine.cpp weeks ago but don't remember which one):

http://www.christianhart.de/bmax/retro/bah.mod.zip
http://www.christianhart.de/bmax/retro/gman.mod.zip


Xerra(Posted 2015) [#7]
Thanks, i'll give it a go and see how i get on.