GameManagerV2

[gameaddict20]

Hi all,
If this isnt allowed please delete this thread (Sorry)
Bassically Im a programmer and Ive made an app that i think ppl may be interested in, i dont usually release my work, usually its just for me but ive decided i might as well release it to the public, if anyones interested please download and submit any bugs to back to me. This software is Free and always will be so enjoy.

Download
All releases now avaliable from: http://PhotonGameManager.com

Features
Downloads FanArt, BoxArt, Screenshoots and Game Info and showcases the data in the user interface
Showcases games in InfoView or CoverView
Run Games from the interface
Download and Install of official Game Patches
AutoMount Image Files when you run games (Requires DAEMON Tools or Alcohol 120% to be installed)
View Game Info such as release date or publisher
Filter Games by keyword/s you type
Sort Games by categories such as Release date or publisher

[dkma841]

Looks awesome how did you make this? Will be downloading soon

[gameaddict20]

I used a programming language called blitz3d and programmed it to take the fanart from thegamesdb which has alot of really nice fanart
Ive not written a manual for it yet so hopefully its not too hard to work, but if you find any bugs or things you want improving dont hesitate to submit them to the issues section.
Note:
f key - brings up filter menu
i key - brings up info screen

[Covarr]

Using Blitz3D, which is designed for games, for a game LAUNCHER? How meta. The thought wouldn't have occurred to me, but it seems like a great idea! I'm gonna try it out right now.

How well does it work for games that already use a different launcher (ie on Steam) or for ROMS/disc images in emulators?

edit: pretty major bug already: when adding games, it goes one folder deeper than whatever I select, choosing the first folder inside the one I pick.

[dkma841]

Yes will it work for ROMs that's what i really want to know if it does then great!

[gameaddict20]

Using Blitz3D, which is designed for games, for a game LAUNCHER? How meta. The thought wouldn't have occurred to me, but it seems like a great idea! I'm gonna try it out right now.

Yeah I used 3D cos its much easier to get transparency and also easier for cover flow

How well does it work for games that already use a different launcher (ie on Steam) or for ROMS/disc images in emulators?

For steam it uses the steam developers page to get the game ids and uses the steam.exe with a command line to launch them. (When the databasemanager is on the steam folder select from the menu 'This is steam folder' and it will give you a list of avaliable games to add)
Im afraid its designed mainly for PC games atm (Im not sure but i think there is already rom managers around?)

edit: pretty major bug already: when adding games, it goes one folder deeper than whatever I select, choosing the first folder inside the one I pick.

Yeah it was designed that way, the idea was that if ppl have a Games folder they select that and it runs through them (or alternativly the Program Files folder). What do people think, bad or a good idea? Worth changing?

[Covarr]

The problem is, it's only looking through the first subfolder. I go to Program Files, and it only looks through Adobe. I only just figured it out that you're supposed to use the skip button.

It's a decent idea, but people will expect to see the folder they're in, not the folder beneath that. It's a bit more effort, but probably a better idea to just have them choose a folder directly instead of giving them th eone below that.

[gameaddict20]

Ok, in the next release ill change it so when you select a folder, it'll start with that folder but then progress through the folder that the selected folder is in.
Also you can use the 'Not a game folder' button for stuff like adobe cos then it will never show that folder again and always skip it

[gameaddict20]

Just to let you guys know Alpha 4 is avaliable now,
it has alot of fixed bugs in it, so i recommend updating.
Also this will be the last Alpha release, the next release will be a RC release!

[gameaddict20]

GameManagerV2 has now been fully tested and a 'Release' version is now avaliable!
There will be no more updates to GameManager for a while so its recommended that everyone upgrades to this version.

[dkma841]

Just updated thanks soo much for this a brilliant tools thanks a bunch

[theosiris2010]

Wow this is amazing. I have been WAITING for something like this for a very long time, and it looks quite impressive

A cool suggestion would be a downloadable embedded game trainer option if possible? Unless it closes and then launches the game. I don't know yet, I'm just downloading it now. I wouldn't use the trainer myself, just sounds like a cool idea lol. Even an embedded instruction manual/embedded pdf reader for strategy guides or whatever it may be (if it stays open and doesn't close when you start a game). Just throwin' some cool ideas out there.

[gameaddict20]

Hi theosiris2010,
At the moment it closes straight after the game is launched but im working on a small resource program to stay open which could handle stuff like screenshots, post batchfiles and unmount images and will most likly be in the next update so ill see about trying to add things like you said. Anyway thanks for the comments, its always great when people actually talk about how to improve it cos if nobody tells me then I could end up with a rubbish program that i think is amazing and everybody else thinks is crap

[theosiris2010]

No problem. I'll support what I see is either worth supporting or hasn't been done before. From the looks of it, this hasn't been done before, so I'm all for it. If you even send me a txt file of your entire game database, I can possibly go through and see what games are missed for you to add along with screenshots and covers for them too. I'm enjoying this software TOO much. Didn't have The Godfather 1 in the database, but making your own is of course an easy fix the mounting and unmounting sounds like a good idea! Even if you were to make mini images ready to go when you boot the game (as a patch download) instead of using your own full-size image. Good for people that actually have retail copies of games and not pirated versions. Also, if you're going to make a screenshot function, maybe even a "FRAPS" type in-game recorder could go good too? All depends on what you're hoping to make out of this project, but whatever you want to do, I'm all for it! Congrats on making such great software.

[gameaddict20]

The database isnt actually mine, its open source my program just uses there api so if you want to add anything just visit http://thegamesdb.net/ and anything you add is instantly avaliable in the program