-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 37
/
changelog.txt
994 lines (633 loc) · 45.6 KB
/
changelog.txt
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
[B]Speculative/futuristic features[/B]
WIP [CORE] Complete Extranafart support for Categories/Launchers/ROMs.
Does this make sense?
WIP [CORE] Think about exporting the AEL platform database using JSON-LD as in Garbear's idea.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=295463&pid=2625754#pid2625754
WIP [SCRAPERS] Advanced fuzzy search engine based on the Levenshtein Distance algorithm,
for both online and offline scrapers. There is a Python implementation of
the algorithm here: https://github.com/seatgeek/fuzzywuzzy
WIP [SCRAPERS] LaunchBox Games Database scraper.
**NOTE** Do not implement this. AEL offline scraper is more than enough.
Apparently LaunchBox GamesDB started as a copy of TheGamesDB. Currently there is no
API to access LaunchBox GamesDB but an XML with all the database info can be downloaded.
See http://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/
See https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/902/api-access-to-launchbox
WIP [SCRAPERS] Fix GameFAQs scraper.
It has been a while since this scraper is not working any more.
GameFAQs does not have an API. Should this scraper being removed???
Currently the GameFAQs metadata scraper works well. The GameFAQs asset scraper
does not work due to changes in GameFAQs. See the comments of method
GameFAQs._load_assets_from_page()
[B]Current planned features[/B]
WIP [CORE] Check out the ListItem constructor offscreen parameter in Leia. It can
dramatically speed up ListItem creation and population.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=329315&pid=2711937#pid2711937
WIP [CORE] Disable LNK $rom$ launcher with global setting.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2640857#pid2640857
WIP [CORE] categoryID is redundant in SHOW_ROMS URL. Remove it or make it optional.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=276002&pid=2643218#pid2643218
WIP [CORE] Should plugin URL be rationalized and simplified to make skinner's life easier?
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=276002&pid=2643218#pid2643218
WIP [CORE] Support for Advanced MAME Launcher exported virtual launchers or
Read Only Launchers. This feature requires AML 0.9.X
AML creates the Category "Arcade (AML)" and places the exported launchers there.
WIP [CORE] Use Libretro_BIOS_cores.json for the Retroarch BIOS audit and not the internal
database. However, Libretro_BIOS_cores.json does not have the ROM size.
WIP [MANUALS] Port the PDF manual reader from AML into AEL.
WIP [MULTIDISC] Edit multidisc ROMs. In general, improve the support for
multidisc ROMs.
WIP [MULTIDISC] Fix artwork support for multi-disc ROMs.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2628912#pid2628912
WIP [MISC] Changes and suggestions propoed by Atsumori.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2560843#pid2560843
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2586596#pid2586596
WIP [SCRAPERS] Persistent scraper cache browser. Ability to browse the stored scraper
searches. Also, context menu to delete stored cached data.
WIP [SCRAPERS] Asset scrapers are disabled/not working for standalone launchers. Fix this.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/issues/62
WIP [SCRAPERS] MAME offline scraper: include ESRB field. Take it from GameInfoDB.
WIP [SCRAPERS] MAME offline scraper: include plot field. Take it from GameInfoDB.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.11.0 | xx August 2022[/B]
NOTE Implement these features in master branch for Python 3.
NOTE misc.py and utils.py are shared between AEL and AML.
Make AEL look like AML.
Use pure functional programming.
DONE [CORE] Rename the plugin from `plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher` to
`plugin.program.AEL`. Create a development version `plugin.program.AEL.dev` that
can coexist with the stable version. Copy this feature from AML.
DONE [CORE] Remove the Main() class in main.py. Use a functional approach like AML.
DONE [CORE] Change "from .module_name import *" into "import module_name" and use
calls like "module_name.function()". Remove function names prefix "module_name_".
DONE [CORE] New ROM storage high level functions. db.get_launcher(), db.load_ROMs(), etc.
Copy feature from branch `old-master-chrisism-python2`
DONE [CORE] New ROM rendering engine. Copy feature from AML.
These functions render ROMs in all kinds of launchers, either real or virtual.
Functions render_ROMs(), render_ROMs_filter(), render_ROMs_process(), render_ROMs_commit().
WIP [CORE] Improved context menu handling. Create a new non-recursive implementation.
--> [DONE] Start with the Edit Category context menu (easiest). This is a fixed menu (never changes).
--> [DONE] Then Edit Collection. This is a fixed menu (never changes).
--> [DONE] Then Edit ROM. This is a dynamic menu (changes for standard ROMs, Favourite ROMs, etc.)
--> [DONE] Finally Edit Launcher (most complicated). This is a dynamic menu.
WIP [CORE] Improved FileName class. All IO must be done using the FileName class.
Copy feature from branch `old-master-chrisism-python2`
WIP ==> Make a list of top priority new features, like the unified ROMs artwork directory,
==> the PID support, the new ROM's database fields, and add these features to the TODO list.
==> Have a look at the former master branch, there could be interesting features there
==> like the recursive context menus and the URL router class based on decorators.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WIP [CORE] Support Kodi VFS and ROMs in remote filesystems for Retroplayer.
See Chrisism patch in Github. Copy remote ROMs for external launchers?
WIP [CORE] Proper support for Retroplayer launchers. Add functionality like
Retroplayer core selection for each platform.
WIP [CORE] Automatic generation of 3D Boxes using BoxFront and BoxSpine.
Copy this feature from AML.
WIP [CORE] Automatic generation of BoxTextures from BoxBack, BoxSpine and BoxFront.
Copy this feature from AML.
WIP [CORE] Unified ROM artwork directory. This will require heavy changes in categories.xml.
I still have to think how to properly implement this. This is related to the
design of a prototype Kodi games database.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2865413#pid2865413
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2867785#pid2867785
WIP [CORE] New fields in database to be prepared for the future. See NOTES.md
WIP [CORE] Support for BoxSpine artwork. Support for BoxTextures artwork.
Have a look at LaunchBox for other types of artwork that may be interesting.
WIP [CORE] New Utility "Delete ROMs redundant artwork"
Redundant artwork is orphaned artwork. This is not easy to code specially
for launcher with recursive scan where ROMs can be in different
directories.
WIP [CORE] Make m_genre metadata field a list for Categories, Launchers and ROMs.
Support several genres as a comman separated string, for example
"Action, Adventure, Puzzle". See Sagrath comment here
https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.AEL/issues/128
WIP [FAVOURITES] Change the way artwork is stored in Favourites, Launchers and
Categories directories. Avoid using IDs in the artwork name unless absolutely
necessary. Use same scheme as ROM collections.
WIP [ROM AUDIT] Separate the ROM Audit code from the Parent/Clone code.
WIP [ROM AUDIT] Add an option to create a default Parent ROM for Redump DATs or NoIntro DATs
with no PClone information. See NOTES.md for implementation ideas.
WIP [ROM AUDIT] Options to generate the 1G1R parent list, like prefer ROMs from Europe,
Japan or USA. This resembles what NARS No-Intro filtering does.
WIP [SCRAPERS] In ScreenScraper, check for daily allowance and scraper overflows in general.
This will require changes in the scrapers API. Currently, the scrapers return
the asset URL and the addon download the asset, not the scraper. In the future
the asset download must be done by the scraper and hence the overloading controlled.
WIP [SCRAPERS] Improve the Offline Scraper. Improve the quality of the databases.
WIP [SCRAPERS] Change the Offline Scraper format from XML to JSON. Include the new fields
`parent` **string**, `region` **list of strings** and `language` **list of strings**.
In general, write down the specifications of the new Offline Scraper database and
have a look at NOTES.md for guidelines. Create the XML databases to be merged with the
No-Intro/Redump DATs, also giving support to Extra ROMs (hacks, etc.).
WIP [SCRAPERS] ScreenScraper must choose the correct artwork depending on the region/language.
AEL must have an official list of regions/languages, extracted from the No-Intro/Redump
DATs, to translate to ScreenScraper values. A No-Intro filename parser is also
required.
WIP FIX Fix launching of ROMs with Windows network filenames.
Fixing this requires the creation of a custom version of the shlex module.
To test this I created a test script in dev-core/test_argument_generation.py
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2919639#pid2919639
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.10.1 | 04 August 2021[/B]
FIX Fix crash when reading a launcher NFO file when importing a launcher XML file.
Refactored the NFO file functions a bit.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=3045045#pid3045045
FIX Error when scraping metadata.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.AEL/issues/146
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.11 | 04 August 2021[/B]
NOTE This version is for Python 2 and feature identical to 0.10.1
Main development is in the Python 3 branch.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.10.0 | 22 June 2021[/B]
NOTE Python 3 version for Matrix in branch release-0.10.x-python3
FEATURE Create a Python 3 Matrix version 0.10.x to track release 0.9.x.
Current master branch will be release 0.11.x in Python 3.
First release 0.9.10 Python 2 and then do the Python 3 conversion into 0.10.0.
FEATURE Port release 0.9.10 to Python 3.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.10 | 22 June 2021[/B]
NOTE Python 2 version for Leia/Krypton in branch release-0.9.x-python2
Have a look at AML code to ease the conversion.
FEATURE Create file misc.py and refactor utils.py. Copy structure from AML.
Replace Kodi dialog functions with wrapper functions to facilitate the transition
to Python 3. For example, eliminate all the .decode('utf-8') functions or
at least as much as possible.
FEATURE Complete remove legacy Advanced Launcher launcher.xml loading/parsing functions.
FEATURE [CORE] Disable Kodi screensaver when launching and reenable after app finishes.
Featured ported from AML.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=304186&pid=2934194#pid2934194
FEATURE Add support to remove unneeded blank spaces in `dev-core/check_line_endings.py`.
FEATURE In the ROMs CM add a menu to edit all assets as once, including scraping
all assets at once.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.AEL/issues/140
FIX Check issue #142, TGDB scraper not working well.
The issue was a bug with TGDB engine and has been fixed.
FIX Fix TheGamesDB scraper. New asset titlescreen in TheGamesDB.
See https://forums.thegamesdb.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1947
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.AEL/issues/127
FIX Fix launching of LNK ROM launchers with spaces in LNK filename.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.AEL/issues/125
FIX Fix Standalone Kodi builtin launchers.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=3036064#pid3036064
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.9 | 13 March 2020[/B]
FEATURE [COLLECTIONS] When exporting ROM Collections assets are always exported. The option
to export only metadata has been removed. When importing assets are also always
imported to the ROM Collection asset directory.
FEATURE [COLLECTIONS] Current way of storing the collection artwork, in a unified JSON file,
is not good. Think of a good way to exporting collections (for example, store the
artwork in a subdirectory).
FEATURE [COLLECTIONS] Do not consolidate Collection artwork before exporting. Also, when
importing always import to the Collection artwork directory. Exported artwork
collection filenames in the JSON file must be relative, not absolute paths.
FEATURE [COLLECTIONS] Store Collection ROMs artwork as filename_platformCompactName_assetType.png
and not filename_ROMID_assetType.png. This solves a lot of problems of duplicate
artwork. ROMs with same name are allowed on different platforms but not on the
same platform, which makes sense. Collection own artwork use the special
platform name 'collection'.
FEATURE [CORE] Rename offline scraper XML databases to use new platform name.
FEATURE [CORE] Changed the Offline Scraper XML fields. Now the XML files are not compatible
with HyperSpin but they make more sense.
FEATURE [CORE] Update the platform icons. Github issue #112.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] MAME offline scraper: include NPlayers field. Take it from nplayers.ini
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Store when there is a bad JSON from the scrapers for further
analysis. Working for ScreenScraper scraper.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Update MAME Offline Scraper database to version latest version 0.219.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Include isBIOS, isDevice, isMechanical in AOL MAME database. This is
required to filter BIOSes and Devices in MAME launchers.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Filter MAME BIOSes, Devices and Mechanical machines with the new
Offline Scraper JSON databases. Use the offline scraper DB to determine what
is a BIOS/Device/Mechanical in MAME.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2697000#pid2697000
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Add a delay of 1200 ms between downloads to ScreenScraper scraper
to avoid scraper overloading. This is configurable in the scraper object.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2923181#pid2923181
FEATURE [CORE] New Utility "Check Launcher ROMs sync status"
FEATURE [CORE] New Utility "Check ROMs artwork image integrity"
Sometimes the scrapers download wrong/corrupt data, or produce 0 sized files
if a file is open() and there is an exception. Sometimes a JPG image is renamed
as PNG, etc. Check that all artwork have correct file extensions, etc.
FEATURE [CORE] Extra ROMs directory. Extra ROMs are not audited. The extra ROMs directory
is intended for ROM translations and hacks that should not be taken into account
in the ROM audit.
FEATURE [CORE] New Utility "Show detected No-Intro/Redump DATs"
This utility shows the automatically detected No-Intro/Redump DATs.
Create addon settings for the No-Intro DAT directory and the Redump DAT directory.
FEATURE [CORE] New Utility "Check Retroarch Launchers" This utility checks all Retroarch
launchers to verify if the core set with -L exists.
FEATURE [CORE] Remove the LAUNCHER_DMODE_1G1R Launcher display mode. The Launcher display
modes will be LAUNCHER_DMODE_FLAT and LAUNCHER_DMODE_PCLONE, like AML.
FEATURE [ROM AUDIT] Current way of doing the ROM audit is inconvenient. User has to set a DAT
file. Create two new settings: a) directory for No-Intro DATs, b) directory for Redump
DATs. AEL must be able to choose the DAT file according to the platform.
Some fields in categories.xml have been changed.
FEATURE [ROM AUDIT] Create a tool to select the No-Intro/Redump DAT file automatically for
each platform. This will be very useful for the new Offline Scraper database and
for the ROM tag histogram.
FEATURE [CORE] In the "Global ROM Audit statistics" report show only the audited launchers.
FEATURE [CORE] Increase the number of platforms to include all No-Intro, Redump and
Libretro platforms. This is in preparation of the Kodi Games Database.
FEATURE [CORE] Settings to hide Utilities and Global Reports from root window.
FEATURE [CORE] Setting for skin kiosk mode. See pull request in Github.
FIX Fixed crash when setting display_launcher_roms was True.
FIX When fixing ROM Collections the order of the ROM list is lost. Repaired items are
placed at the end of the list and the original order is lost.
This was a very long standing bug.
FIX Fix crash when using "Export ROM metadata to NFO files"
Crash was related to the deprecated kodi_busydialog_ON()
FIX TheGamesDB URL API has changed. Verify that the scraper is working OK. Github issue #109.
See https://forums.thegamesdb.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&p=2228
FIX ScreenScraper crashes for aliased platforms. Github issue #113.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.8 | 16 September 2019[/B]
FEATURE [CORE] Added new artwork contributed by Sagrath.
FEATURE [CORE] In XML configuration files, support multiple <args> tag and deprecate <args_extra>
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] In ScreenScraper, if a ZIP file contains one and only one archive
use it to calculate checksums and not the ZIP file itself.
FIX Fixed a path related issue in _command_add_new_category() and
_command_render_all_ROMs().
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.8-beta1 | 06 September 2019[/B]
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Copy scraper stuff from master branch by Chrisism.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Fix MobyGames scraper and use new MobyGames API.
See http://www.mobygames.com/info/api
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Fix TheGamesDB scraper.
There has been a change in the web site including a new API.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/issues/75
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Have a look at ScreenScraper and consider it for an online scraper.
See https://www.screenscraper.fr/
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2622839#pid2622839
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Fix ArcadeDB scraper. Use the new ArcadeDB API.
It has been a while since this scraper is not working any more.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Fix AEL Offline Scraper.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Add support for ScummVM platform in the Offline Scraper.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2629084#pid2629084
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Warn user if missing scraper API keys, required stuff, etc., before scraping.
Also, improve the scraper error reporting and the disabling of the scraper object
if the web site is overloaded.
Make sure TGDB scraper works like a charm. And then update the rest.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Utility to check TheGamesDB monthly allowance.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Utility to check MobyGames monthly allowance.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Utility to check ScreenScraper monthly allowance.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Make sure all scraper platforms are OK and synchronised with AEL platforms.
FEATURE [SCRAPERS] Option to rescrape all ROM assets in a similar fashion to
"Scan ROMs local artwork". Create a menu entry in "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROMs",
"Scrape ROMs artwork".
"Scrape ROMs artwork" will use the same scraper settings in options as the ROM Scanner.
I think the best location for the code is in the ScraperStrategy class.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/issues/72
FEATURE [CORE] Create a couple of new ROM context menus, "Manage Recently played ROM" and
"Manage Most played ROM". Both will have the following options: "Delete this ROM",
"Delete all Unlinked/Broken ROMs".
See AML for an implementation.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2698811#pid2698811
FEATURE [CORE] New ROMs artwork type 3D Boxes, asked by Rufoo.
FEATURE [CORE] New entry in root menu named "Global Reports"
FEATURE [CORE] New entry in root menu named "Utilities"
FEATURE [CORE] Move stuff from addon settings into the Utilities menu, including the
database upgrading functions.
FEATURE [CORE] Make sure AEL never crashes when rendering the root window, even if
categories.xml is corruped. Users must be able to access the Utilities menu always to
be able to upgrade the database. In case of crash when rendering the root window,
ask the user to update the databases (in the case the crash is due to a missing
key in dictionary).
FEATURE [CORE] New properties to notify skins about Std launchers, ROM launchers, Categories,
and number of items in a Launcher. Upgrade documentation in SKINNING.md.
FEATURE [CORE] Add Year and Developer for Categories.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2688653#pid2688653
FEATURE [CORE] Per-launcher setting to disable multi-disc ROM support.
FEATURE [CORE] Added "Edit Category" context menu, "Export Category XML configuration".
FEATURE [CORE] New AEL Theme of Icons/Fanarts for the Virtual Launchers. Kudos to Sagrath for
this contribution.
FIX Fix crash in _gui_scrap_launcher_metadata() when scraping Launcher metadata with the CM.
FIX Fix metadata and artwork scrapers when ROM name has Unicode characters.
See Github issue #52
FIX Fixed display_fav_status label in settings.xml
See Github issue #56
FIX Unicode fixes in kodi_update_image_cache()
FIX Fixed MobyGames scraper.
See Github issue #60
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.7 | 23 November 2017[/B]
FEATURE Export individual Launcher XML configuration.
FIX Fixed crash when editing Launchr Title in context menu.
FIX Fixed crash in the ROM Scanner when Launcher had unconfigured ROM asset paths.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.7-beta2 | 19 November 2017[/B]
FIX Currently AEL multid-disc parser supports "Rom name (disc 1).bin".
Fixed to also support "Rom name (disk 1).bin".
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2656844#pid2656844
and https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2657243#pid2657243
FIX Fix export of Launcher and ROM NFO files.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2658080#pid2658080
FIX Fix import of Launcher and ROM NFO files.
FIX Poster artworks do not appear anymore (got them mapped to flyers for all launchers).
When I try to change the mapping (manage rom/choose roms default assets/artworks),
then AEL is throwing me an error.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2660404#pid2660404
FIX Fix crash in "Add ROMs", "Manually Add ROM".
Error Type: <type 'exceptions.NameError'>
Error Contents: global name 'assets_search_local_assets' is not defined
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2665544#pid2665544
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.7-beta1 | 07 October 2017[/B]
FEATURE Added a lot of new platforms.
FEATURE Add an option to see ROM Maps image if it exists.
Add an option in context menu "View ROM/Launcher".
FEATURE Audit all launchers. Check if app exists, ROM path exits, artwork paths are configured,
etc. When a user uses XML to import configurations it is easy to make a typo when
writing directory names, etc. This command will report if AEL configuration is OK.
FEATURE Use substituted artwork from the Parent/Clone group.
So far implemented only in "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROMs", "Rescan ROMs local assets/artwork"
FEATURE I discovered that in the ROM Scanner most of the time is spend looking for artwork. Before,
I though it was the Offline scraper the culprit. Instead of using FileName().exists()
create a set with all files in the directory and use that for the search.
Implemented only in "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROMs", "Rescan ROMs local assets/artwork",
must be ported to the ROM scanner if it works well (faster than the current approach).
FEATURE ROM scanner should be able to scrap all assets, not just the ones supported by the
selected scraper. This will require a redesign of the current scraping engine.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2628383#pid2628383 and next post.
FEATURE Make sure all asset scraper requests are cached in the ROM scanner. For example, Title
scraper choose a game in the list, then Snap scraper for the same ROM must use the
cached selected game.
FEATURE Port to the ROM scanner the asset file cache. This will increase the scanning speed a lot.
FEATURE ROMs in UNC paths. It seems Retroarch added UNC path support recently.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2647152#pid2647152
[Windows]
Workaround in _run_process() to add an extra '\\' character if argument starts with
a '\\'. This is to fix shlex.split() behaviour.
Tested in Windows only with the following configuration:
<ROM_path>\\SERVER_NAME\AEL-ROMs\sega-genesis\</ROM_path>
<ROM_asset_path>smb://SERVER_NAME/AEL-assets/sega-genesis/</ROM_asset_path>
This configuration also works in Windows:
<ROM_path>smb://SERVER_NAME/AEL-ROMs/sega-genesis/</ROM_path>
<ROM_asset_path>smb://SERVER_NAME/AEL-assets/sega-genesis/</ROM_asset_path>
Artwork is stored in JSON DB as "smb://SERVER_NAME/AEL-assets/sega-genesis/boxbacks\\Sonic.jpg"
ROMs are saved in JSON DB as "\\\\SERVER_NAME\\AEL-ROMs\\sega-genesis\\Sonic.md"
Kodi artwork does not work with paths like \\SERVER_NAME\AEL-ROMs\sega-genesis\image.png.
Correct path for artwork is smb://SERVER_NAME/AEL-ROMs/sega-genesis/image.png.
Retroarch requires a ROM path like \\SERVER_NAME\AEL-ROMs\sega-genesis\Sonic.md.
FEATURE Launcher flag to enable non-blocking launchers. This is required for wrapper scripts
that close Kodi to avoid problems (such as Kodi getting gamepad commands instead of the
launcher app or Kodi running in standalone mode withouth a Window manager).
FEATURE Ability to import launcher and categories assets in the XML configuration files.
Create a working example for Gamestarter addon. Also, refactor the AEL asset library.
FEATURE Rename "Studio" database field to "Developer" in Launchers/ROMs.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=295463&pid=2625754#pid2625754
FEATURE New Launcher asset 's_controller' for Console/Computer controller picture.
FEATURE Renamed 's_thumb' -> 's_icon' in Categories/Launchers/Collections.
FEATURE Renamed 's_flyer' -> 's_poster' in Categories/Launchers/Collections.
FEATURE Renamed 'roms_default_thumb' -> 'roms_default_icon' in Launchers.
FEATURE Improved Retroplayer support.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=295463&pid=2620489#pid2620489
and https://alwinesch.github.io/group__python__xbmcgui__listitem.html#ga0f1e91e1d5aa61d8dd0eac90e8edbf18
FEATURE Audit Retroarch BIOSes in System directory.
FEATURE Scan for artwork in the Parent/Clone group of a ROM. Implemented only in the context
menu "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROM List", "Rescan ROMs local assets/artwork".
FEATURE Support for <Launcher_NFO> tag in XML configuration files.
FEATURE Preserve path_title, path_snap, etc. when exporting a Launcher into an XML file.
FEATURE Add an option to suspend/resume joystick support at launch. This is to prevent Kodi
and the launched app to grab joystick events.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2627128#pid2627128
Cannot be implemented because setting input.enablejoystick does not exist in Krypton
any more.
FEATURE Removed ElementTree dependency in addon.xml. It's not longer needed.
AEL ONLY WORKS ON KRYPTON NOW!!!
FEATURE Use the <news> tag in addon.xml. In general, have a look at http://kodi.wiki/view/addon.xml
and modernise addon.xml.
FEATURE Update code to use new xbmcgui.Dialog().select() useDetails parameter. Get rid of the
ImgSelectDialog() class. This need Krypton Beta 4 to run!
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=250936&pid=2438074#pid2438074
FEATURE Make use of Krypton features in the several dialogs of the addon: new param: "preselect"
for Dialog().multiselect() and Dialog().select().
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=250936&pid=2327011#pid2327011
FEATURE Option to group Unknown ROMs as clones or keep them as parents. I realised it is not
conveninent that the Unknown ROMs are clones in the Parent/Clone view.
FEATURE 1 Game 1 ROM launcher display mode. Copy it from AML.
Changed launcher['pclone_launcher'] to launcher['launcher_display_mode'] to store the
display mode in categories.xml database.
FEATURE Addon option to hide [Browse Offline Scraper].
FEATURE Remove duplicates from recent ROMs list. Contributed by bonzini.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/pull/41
FEATURE Preliminary render support for LaunchBox scraper.
FIX Fixed launching of BAT files in Windows.
FIX In order for skin shortcuts and widgets to work OK, addon concurrency must be enabled
by database read-only commands.
FIX Fix scraper-related crash in the ROM scanner.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2628382#pid2628382
FIX When scraper downloads an image the parents JSON must be also updated. In general, every
time a ROM is modified in the main database the Parents JSON must be updated to keep
both DBs synchronised!
FIX Fixed Unicode-related crashes introduced in 0.9.6 in the ROM scanner.
See https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=276002&pid=2642201#pid2642201
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.6 | 20 May 2017[/B]
FEATURE Set Parent/Clone property so skins can display flag.
FEATURE Support ERSB and NPlayers in offline scraper.
FEATURE Support ERSB and NPlayers in online scrapers.
FEATURE Virtual category to browse the Offline Scraper database.
FEATURE Updated the number of databases in the Offline Scraper.
FEATURE ROM scanner reports.
FEATURE Refurbish ROM auditing and Parent/Clone view display mode.
FEATURE Added a "Display ROMs" setting valid only in Parent/Clone display mode.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2581878#pid2581878
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2582004#pid2582004
FEATURE Support Redump DAT files. Note that Redump does not include Parent/Clone data so all
ROMs are Parent ROMs.
FEATURE New platform Panasonic 3DO.
FEATURE Update NFO files after scraping. This is useful to interrupt the scanner when scanning
large collections and resume scanning later.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2548998#pid2548998
FEATURE Allow only one instance of AEL running at a time.
This prevents multiple launcher execution and also get rids forever of any database
corruption issues due to concurrency! Thanks Roman_V_M for ideas about the fix.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=310697
FIX Fixed crash when displaying a Launcher in Parent/Clone view with Unknown ROMs.
FIX Fixed the number of ROMs counter when importing AL launchers.xml
FIX ROM scanner ignores NFO files if option "NFO Files + Scrapers" is set.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.6-beta1 | 5 March 2017[/B]
FEATURE Import and Export of Launchers configurations. Will be very useful especially for
Android users.
FEATURE Use a Window property to let skins know wheter a launcher OR ROMs are being rendered.
Set xbmcgui.Window(10001).setProperty('AEL_Content', 'launchers')
xbmcgui.Window(10001).setProperty('AEL_Content', 'roms')
It must be set on entering and unset on exiting the plugin.
FEATURE Use setProperty() to inform the skin about ROM flags:
1) Favourite status: OK, Unlinked ROM, Unlinked Launcher, Broken
2) No-Intro status: Have, Missing, Added, Unknown
3) Parent/Clone status: Parent or Clone (Boolean)
For example:
setProperty('AEL_Fav_stat', 'Fav_OK')
setProperty('AEL_NoIntro_stat', 'NoIntro_Have')
setProperty('AEL_PClone_stat', 'PClone_Parent')
FEATURE Add Retroplayer support.
See https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher/issues/33
FEATURE New menu for the virtual launchers [Browse by ...]
FEATURE New virtual launchers [Browse by ESRB Rating] and Browse by [Number of Players].
FEATURE Added new platforms Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PSX 3 and PSX 4.
FEATURE Clearlogos in Categories, Launchers and ROM Collections.
FEATURE Edit clearlogos in Categories.
FEATURE Edit clearlogos in Launchers.
FEATURE Edit clearlogos in ROM Collections.
FEATURE Default to launcher icon if ROM icon is missing.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2500040#pid2500040
FEATURE Update launching mechanism. User Python subprocess module on all platforms and not the
deprecated os.system(). Current patched subprocess_hack module is from Python 2.4. Current
Python version in Kodi is 2.7.
os.system(), os.open(), etc. are deprecated, and the subprocess module should be used
instead for all platforms. A parser of arguments must be coded in order to use the
subprocess module.
FEATURE Log emulator/standalone launcher stdout/stderr into a file. Requires new launching
mechanism based on subprocess module. Have a look to AML for an implementation.
FEATURE Add nplayers metadata field to ROMs. Billyc999 database has nplayers NFO.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2407055#pid2407055
FEATURE Edit nplayers in ROMs.
FEATURE Add ESRB/MPAA/PEGI rating? >> User ESRB, new metadata field esrb in ROMs.
FEATURE Edit ESRB in ROMs.
FEATURE Support for multidisc systems. Have a look to NOTES.md for more details about the AEL
implementation.
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2495480#pid2495480
AL ROM scanner only added the first disc to the database and skipped disc numbers
from 2 to 9.
https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.launcher/blob/master/resources/lib/launcher_plugin.py#L2088
At ROM launching, if any of the strings ['.cd1', '-cd1', '_cd1', ' cd1'] is found on the
ROMfile basename then the rompath was scanned looking for all the discs. User selected
the disc number to launch from a select dialog.
https://github.com/Wintermute0110/plugin.program.advanced.launcher/blob/master/resources/lib/launcher_plugin.py#L1688
AEL will use a better implementation based on a ROM filename parser. See NOTES.md
FEATURE Delete ROM context menu integrated in Edit ROM.
FEATURE Display number of ROMs in launcher.
FEATURE Platform icons/clearlogos in AEL. Platform icons can be an icon of the console or gamepad.
EmulationStation has a lot of material that can be reused for AEL.
FEATURE Improved No-Intro audit.
FEATURE Remove No-Intro Added status.
FEATURE New style Parent/Clone launchers, ala Advanced MAME Launcher.
FEATURE Print number of parent and clones in PClone launchers.
FEATURE Split Launcher report into statistics, metadata and asset reports.
FEATURE Include databases for all supported platforms in AEL offline scraper (well... at least
included more databases).
FEATURE Updated Offline scraper MAME database from 0.173 to 0.183.
FIX Fixed crash when editing Collection ROM position.
FIX Keep order when Collection ROM is relinked.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.5 | 12 January 2017[/B]
FIX Fix ROM Collection exporting/importing.
FIX Properly remove HTML tags in MobyGames metadata scraper plot.
FIX ROM substitution keywords now use $ instead of the ugly %.
%rom% becomes $rom$
FIX Added new argument substitution keywords $rombasenoext$, $categoryID$, $launcherID$,
and $romID$.
FIX Fixed issues #31 and #32 (FileName class related stuff). This should fix also
"Edit Launcher" -> "Manage ROMs" -> "Scan for local artwork/assets"
FIX Fixed error in the ROM scanner when using semi-automatic scraping.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.5~beta2 | 27 December 2016[/B]
FIX Fixed crash when scanning ROMs and the asset scraper is ON.
FIX Improved ROM scanner debug output. Will make it easier to read scanner logs.
FIX Fixed crash in "Edit Launcher" -> "Manage ROM List" -> "Rescan ROMs local assets"
See http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2479446#pid2479446
FIX Fixed crash when adding single ROM.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2484522#pid2484522
FIX Fixed several uses of old function misc_split_path(). Now FileName() class must be used.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.5~beta1 | 13 December 2016[/B]
FEATURE New Arcade Database online metadata/asset scraper for MAME ROMs.
FEATURE Support for several arguments in launcher. This will be useful when using MAME for
console emulation (MAME consoles from a different region have different names, and an
European console will typically refuse to run a Japanese game).
Survey about this: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2467547#pid2467547
FEATURE New command SHOW_ALL_ROMS to render all ROMs in all launchers. Will be used by skins.
FEATURE Supend/resume Kodi audio engine at launching. This will prevent sound problems in Linux.
Include a setting for this in addons "Settings" --> "Advanced".
FEATURE Export/Import assets/artwork in ROM Collections. Encode binary files in base64 and put
in an auxiliar JSON files. Exporting assets should be optional, not mandatory.
FEATURE Extranafart for ROM Collections.
FEATURE All requests are cached in TheGamesDB scraper.
FEATURE All requests are cached in GameFAQs scraper.
FEATURE All requests are cached in MobyGames scraper.
FEATURE Resolve image URL for online asset scrapers. This will increase scraping speed a lot.
Requires a change in the scraping API.
FEATURE TheGamesDB scraper now returns Titles and Snaps. However, since there is no difference
between Titles, Snaps and shots in TheGamesDB this only is useful when doing manual
scraping.
FEATURE Improve message reporting in Kodi GUI when scanning ROMs.
FEATURE Improve launcher report and include is a No-Intro audit information.
FEATURE Remove ROM tags (for example, (Europe), [Rev A]) from parent ROM names when showing
parent ROMs in a PClone launcher.
FEATURE New No-Intro status 'Added'.
FEATURE Browse by Category Virtual Launcher.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2458080#pid2458080
FEATURE Deal with Kodi virtual filesystem smb:// paths. Merged a massive patch by Chrisism.
FEATURE New platform "Microsoft Windows"
FEATURE Add genre, plot and rating to ROM collections. Unify ROM Collections and Cateogories
metadata. During the migration current collections names will be lost and user has
to edit every ROM Collection and set a new name.
FEATURE Request monospaced font on text viewer dialog (window 10147).
FIX Fixed searches in launchers.
FIX Fixed artwork display in ROM Collections (Icon/Fanart/Banner/Poster).
FIX Fix "launching app not found lnk_launcher_app" error in Windows LNK launchers.
FIX Remove setContent() old code.
FIX Fixed the case of removing all categories and having just Standalone/ROM launchers on
addon root.
FIX Fix offline scraper search when there are hypens in filename.
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=287826&pid=2461203#pid2461203
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.4 | 16 October 2016[/B]
FEATURE Create ROM and standalone launchers in addon root. "Categoryless" launchers.
FEATURE Improve the repairing for Favourite/Collection ROMs once and for all.
FEATURE Parent/Clone launcher display option when using No-Intro DATs.
FEATURE [Recently played ROMs] Virtual Launcher. List of ROMs played in reverse chronological
order.
FEATURE [Most played ROMs] Virtual Launcher. Histogram of how many times a ROM has been played,
ordered by the number of times a ROM has been played.
FIX Fixed loading of No-Intro files.
FIX Fixed "Edit Launcher" >> "Choose default Assets/Artwork..."
FIX Fixed "Add new Launcher" context menu in non-Windows platforms.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.3 | 8 October 2016[/B]
FEATURE LNK ROMs Launcher in Windows.
FEATURE Rename launcher ROMs JSON file if Launcher name changes.
FEATURE Favourite/Collection ROMs can be updated with information from parent.
FEATURE Reorganised all Edit Asset/Artwork context menus.
FEATURE Reorganised and improved all ROM context menus.
FEATURE Increased the number of AEL platforms to 50.
FEATURE Setting options to hide [Fav] and [OK] labels in Launcher/Collection/Favourite ROMs.
FEATURE Setting options to hide Favourites and ROM Collections.
FEATURE ROM Collections can be imported/exported and shared with other people.
FEATURE ROMs in a Collection can now be edited.
FEATURE Move ROMs up/down in collections has been moved from Collection ROM context menu into
Edit ROM in Collection context menu.
FEATURE Collection ROMs can be placed in any position in the Collection easily via the context
menu.
FEATURE Edit ROM -- Edit Metadata shows all available metadata scrapers, not just the one
selected in settings. The metadata scraper selected in plugin settings is only used
when scanning ROMs.
FEATURE Edit ROM -- Edit Assets/Artwork now automatically chooses the scrapers available
depending on the asset selected.
FIX Fixed launching of standalone launchers having LNK files in Windows.
FIX Fixed launching of ROM launchers having LNK files as ROMs in Windows. Any executable can
be chosen as the launcher program (it will be ignored), expect an LNK file.
FIX Fix information dialogs in _command_remove_rom() (shown when deleting a ROM).
FIX Fixed scraping of launchers in context menu Edit Launcher -- Edit Metadata. Now user is
able to choose scraper.
FIX Fixed TheGamesDB platform names.
FIX Removed Categories 'default_clearlogo' and Launchers 'default_clearlogo' JSON data files
introduced by error in previous versions.
ROM STORAGE IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF AEL!!!
MIGRATION: automatic. XML writer will remove those fields as soon as categories.xml
is rewritten.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.2 | 26 September 2016[/B]
FEATURE Display assets when editing ROMs using the ImgSelectDialog class.
FEATURE Collection ROMs can be repaired/relinked, like Favourite ROMs.
FEATURE Versioned ROM storage JSON files for Favourites and ROM Collections.
NOT COMPATBLE WITH PREVIOUS AEL VERSIONS!
FEATURE Reorganised context menu in Favourites/Collection ROMs.
FEATURE Relink Favourite ROMs with Unlinked Launchers or Broken parent ROMs.
FEATURE Tell if scrapers support asset or not in "Edit ROM" -- "Edit Assets/Artwork..."
FEATURE TheGamesDB asset scraper working OK.
FEATURE GameFAQs asset scraper working OK.
FEATURE MobyGames metadata scraper.
FEATURE MobyGames asset scraper.
FEATURE Initial implementation of Arcade Database metadata scraper.
FEATURE Ratings can be edited now for Categories/Launchers/ROMs.
FEATURE Improved URL page data retrieve function.
FIX Include 3 characters of the object ID in artwork directories. This avoids overwriting of
images in Favourites if there are 2 ROMs with same name from 2 different launchers.
FIX Use ROM title instead of rombasename in launcher notification. For standalone launchers use
then Launcher title.
FIX Add Clearlogo to "Edit Launcher" -- "Manage ROM asset directories..." menu.
FIX Do not include empty strings when checking for repeated asset directories.
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.1 | 6 September 2016[/B]
FEATURE Invalid characters in launchers.xml are fixed before importing AL legacy launcher/ROMs.
A copy of the fixed launchers.xml is placed in AEL ADDON_DATA_DIR.
FEATURE Check if there are duplicated asset directories. This will avoid overwriting of
artwork files!
FIX Changed video supported extensions from [mpg, mpeg, avi] to [mov, divx, xvid, wmv, avi, mpg,
mpeg, mp4, mkv, avc].
FIX Fixed issue 21: Crash when adding ROMs using _roms_add_new_rom().
FIX Fixed edition of asset directories in "Edit Launcher" -- "Manage ROM Asset directories..."
[B]Advanced Emulator Launcher | version 0.9.0 | 22 August 2016[/B]
* Initial release.