340 replies to this topic

[Tiptup300]

Wouldn't using SQL make everything a lot easier?

[B-ZaR]

Wouldn't using SQL make everything a lot easier?

Yeah... something like sqlite could really be worth looking at.

[Aimless_E]

"True" SQL no, sqllite isn't "truly" sql (in the since that there is no server to do the data acquisition) but I have considered using it.

@Vorporeal: Strategy? we don't need no stinking strategy. actually the closest definition would be heap.

Okay, nevermind the 100meg thing. I didn't apparently finish the 6th grade and don't know how to figure percentages :{ . PEF uses more like 68megs with the database at maximum. I removed all but 128 megs of ram out of the PII machine I keep referencing and it only reports 52% of the ram is used for PEF.

And.. I.. just realized what I'm doing wrong in my sort code. Stay tuned.

Oh and regardless to how much I end up optimizing I seen no reason why I shouldn't kill and restart PEF between games. Even if it doesn't free much ram, it will still free up one or two cpu cycles while the game is running.

I'll add it to the options list in the config file.

[Tiptup300]

"True" SQL no, sqllite isn't "truly" sql (in the since that there is no server to do the data acquisition) but I have considered using it.

@Vorporeal: Strategy? we don't need no stinking strategy. actually the closest definition would be heap.

Okay, nevermind the 100meg thing. I didn't apparently finish the 6th grade and don't know how to figure percentages :{ . PEF uses more like 68megs with the database at maximum. I removed all but 128 megs of ram out of the PII machine I keep referencing and it only reports 52% of the ram is used for PEF.

And.. I.. just realized what I'm doing wrong in my sort code. Stay tuned.

Oh and regardless to how much I end up optimizing I seen no reason why I shouldn't kill and restart PEF between games. Even if it doesn't free much ram, it will still free up one or two cpu cycles while the game is running.

I'll add it to the options list in the config file.

I just meant any sql, preferably sqllite. It seems like you're just reinventing the wheel.

[Aimless_E]

"True" SQL no, sqllite isn't "truly" sql (in the since that there is no server to do the data acquisition) but I have considered using it.

@Vorporeal: Strategy? we don't need no stinking strategy. actually the closest definition would be heap.

Okay, nevermind the 100meg thing. I didn't apparently finish the 6th grade and don't know how to figure percentages :{ . PEF uses more like 68megs with the database at maximum. I removed all but 128 megs of ram out of the PII machine I keep referencing and it only reports 52% of the ram is used for PEF.

And.. I.. just realized what I'm doing wrong in my sort code. Stay tuned.

Oh and regardless to how much I end up optimizing I seen no reason why I shouldn't kill and restart PEF between games. Even if it doesn't free much ram, it will still free up one or two cpu cycles while the game is running.

I'll add it to the options list in the config file.

I just meant any sql, preferably sqllite. It seems like you're just reinventing the wheel.

Not completely. But the problem seems to be WHEN I pull the data not how. I have some ideas and an entire weekend to work on it.

[Aimless_E]

Okay guys I'm an idiot.


I implemented a new sort/search function which gave me the numbers I posted a couple of days ago. I thought that since it didn't improve memory usage my code must have been solid or I needed to rethink the whole damn thing. But to make a long story short, I forgot to remove all the calls to the old memory hungry code. This caused the former numbers. I'll still be looking into sqlite or similar to see if I can beat the 9999 limit.


Oh and if your wondering it went from 1% of 3gb of ram to 0.4% of said ram. And thats still using the current information caching.

Edited by Aimless_E, 24 September 2009 - 09:44 PM.

[Aimless_E]

Small announcement

PEF will have two modes as of today (just got it working) Full Front-end and Integrated. The Default interface of the Pandora is beautiful and has come along much quicker than PEF (unfortunately) as such integrated mode will generate pxml files to add menus/sub-menus with the information gathered by PEF. In integrated mode a splash screen will be displayed for several seconds allowing the user to change the config of the individual game if needed. It will also include a quick launch button for those that don't need to change the config. Unfortunately we will most likely lose the ablity to search but realistically if the games are listed alphabetically by system, or year, or genre, it shouldn't be that hard to find the game you want. There will be a toggle button within settings on PEF to enable or disable integrated mode.

That being said Favorites will always appear on top for quick access to the games you've deemed "Favorite"

My computer is generating the pxml files now so after it gets through the list of ~8000 files I may have to tweak the settings so that only the Favorite games are integrated into the main program. If that is the case then there will be no need for the toggle switch but we will see.


Thanks.

[grasshoppir]

i want this even more than i want the panda

[Aimless_E]

i want this even more than i want the panda

Really?

Well 8000 files is to many to sort through so I'm limiting it to favorites only.


Thanks

[grasshoppir]

i want this even more than i want the panda

Really?

Well 8000 files is to many to sort through so I'm limiting it to favorites only.


Thanks

yeah i've been waiting 10+ years

[fearofshorts]

There are other, full-pc, emulator frontends out there. They're mostly closed-source, windows-only freeware or donationware (with a small nagscreen) but they exist and can be quite pretty.

GameEx - The prettiest and easiest-to-use one, has integrated media centre features (audio, videos, weather, windows-hiding), Window-only and free with a nagscreen. My recommendation for people wanting a more powerful windows-media-center with emulator integration.

emuControlCenter - A powerful, highly customizable and compatible with nearly any emulator (thanks to community-made plugins) and is closed-source freeware for Windows, Linux and Mac (untested on Mac). My recommendation for power-users.

GameBase - Haven't tested this one, but it is open-source under the GPL. Maybe Aimless_E would like to experiment with it's code for ideas. Could be the best one of the lot, but I haven't used it.

Edited by fearofshorts, 04 January 2010 - 11:04 AM.

[B-ZaR]

There are other, full-pc, emulator frontends out there. They're mostly closed-source, windows-only freeware or donationware (with a small nagscreen) but they exist and can be quite pretty.

GameEx - The prettiest and easiest-to-use one, has integrated media centre features (audio, videos, weather, windows-hiding), Window-only and free with a nagscreen. My recommendation for people wanting a more powerful windows-media-center with emulator integration.

emuControlCenter - A powerful, highly customizable and compatible with nearly any emulator (thanks to community-made plugins) and is closed-source freeware for Windows, Linux and Mac (untested on Mac). My recommendation for power-users.

GameBase - Haven't tested this one, but it is open-source under the GPL. Maybe Aimless_E would like to experiment with it's code for ideas. Could be the best one of the lot, but I haven't used it.

Any suggestions for a linux-based XBMC media center used with a remote?

[fearofshorts]

Sorry, no idea. I'm not currently a Linux user (living in Aust. we have so little allocated bandwidth that I can't afford to get a large distro) so I have no idea about that. Plus I tried them just for the emulator frontend, not the media-center capability.

[Aimless_E]

GameEX is pretty cool though their website makes Firefox go nuts. The other two though I'm sure are well constructed have the same basic look of all emulator front-ends that I have seen on Linux PCs. Left hand column shows the available emulators/systems. Middle column shows the list of available games and the right hand shows information and screen shot. Though PEF does basically the same thing the interface is meant to be "minimalistic" and ultimately allow for theme based re-arrangement. I think that XBMC and GameEX are the closest analogs to what PEF is going to be.

Which is:

1. Single step setup. Program finds emulators and games creates database based on this information.
2. Configuration is saved for both the Emulator and the game allowing for modified configurations.
3. Finger and joystick friendly interface geared toward finding and playing a game not just organizing them.
4. Favorites can be integrated into the systems frontend or desktop using pxml and desktop file standards.

Later on I would like to add network config support so that if user(a) has a config for Mario64 and user( does not then PEF asks user( if he would like to use user(a)'s config. Also I have been thinking of adding a "auto favorties" feature and maybe an Achievements like system for grins and giggles.

[grasshoppir]

There are other, full-pc, emulator frontends out there. They're mostly closed-source, windows-only freeware or donationware (with a small nagscreen) but they exist and can be quite pretty.

GameEx - The prettiest and easiest-to-use one, has integrated media centre features (audio, videos, weather, windows-hiding), Window-only and free with a nagscreen. My recommendation for people wanting a more powerful windows-media-center with emulator integration.

emuControlCenter - A powerful, highly customizable and compatible with nearly any emulator (thanks to community-made plugins) and is closed-source freeware for Windows, Linux and Mac (untested on Mac). My recommendation for power-users.

GameBase - Haven't tested this one, but it is open-source under the GPL. Maybe Aimless_E would like to experiment with it's code for ideas. Could be the best one of the lot, but I haven't used it.

gameex webpage doesn't work with browsers and i'd prefer linux anyways.

the other two seem to rely on the mouse and thats not a very good frontend?

EDIT: yes, pretty much what Aimless said

Edited by grasshoppir, 04 January 2010 - 06:41 PM.