Gamebase CPC V33 happening soon

[extracampine]

Any sign of a GameBase v34?

[ldaneels]

I am currently at 3525 entries so things are moving along. I am also doing a lot of re-scanning & re-dumping.
I typically like to release the files when I reach a round number (so 3600 entries is the next milestone).
That being said, I am currently doing a full pass of the entire database to integrate source files (I'm starting with RAW files) & it is extremely time consuming, not to mention mind numbing.
All that to say I am working on it but as a one-man team progress is slow (but steady).

[GUNHED]

3600 will be a great number! Thanks a lot for your huge effort!!! 

[extracampine]

Great to hear work continues to be going on! I'm still using Launchbox as the front end and it's a shame that it's still not possible to release a Launchbox version, either as a switch or as an alternative. By the way, is there a DAT for the collection that can be used with ROM managers?

[ldaneels]

I am considering moving to Launchbox, but I won't do it until I have released the next version & I would still need to to make sure it makes sense (last time I tried was not very satisfying).
As for a DAT, it is not necessary as Gamebase itself has a file auditor (Tools>Verify Available Files) but be aware that commercial physical homebrew files are not included unless I have permission from their respective authors.

[GUNHED]

Well, if you even find something of interest from my work (TFM) then you have permission to include it.  True for past, present and future(os)

[ldaneels]

@GUNHED:
Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated.
Speaking of which, if anyone has any contact with Psytronik, Poly.Play, Bitmap Soft & Cronosoft, I'd appreciate the help in trying to get their releases be made available in Gamebase CPC. I have tried to contact them but have not had any reply, so I can't make the files public

[zhulien]

Any chance for an 8bml interface for it?  Happy to guide you through it or even code it if you provide access to the structure.

[ldaneels]

I don't know what 8bml is but I'm all ears
Do you have a link that explains what it is (cursory Google search didn't yield any relevant result...)?

[zhulien]

Basically an alternative to html for which 8bit computer browsers can render it more easily, but the site although simple looking works on both 8bml browsers as well as modern computer browsers if you used the provided SDK.  8bitology.net is an example of an 8bml website that works in html and 8bml.  The SDK is there...  and a cpc 8bml browser is in development.  You can see what it would look like on a cpc if you look at the 8bml browser POC.

[ldaneels]

That seems interesting, but I am not sure how that relates to Gamebase CPC.
As I understand, that would enable the Amstrad CPC to access the database, am I right? But then the issue is you can't use most of the files (namely scans).
So, how you would use 8bml with Gamebase?

[zhulien]

Yes there are some files that are not currently viewable on cpc. PDFs for example... but they can be used to fill up cpc sd cards until someone later makes a PDF viewer.  This could later be achieved by converting PDFs to 8bml from the backend perhaps.

[ldaneels]

While I like the idea, I fail to see the practicality of this. If the scans are adapted to the CPC, they will not be of a sufficient resolution, which renders their use more of a curio than anything else.
Of course, if you wish to tackle the challenge, I will be first in line to try out the end result but I personally can't spend the time on this.
Either way, I hope to see some cool & out of the leftfield applications.

[extracampine]

Why a  lot of re-scanning Idaneels, if I may ask?

Also, how does this project handle games that had muiltiple releases for different regions/languages? If one language preferred, are they all added, or something else? Apologies if this has been asked already.

[ldaneels]

Well, for one I am a maniac & I can't stand having varying levels of quality in scanning. In 2013 I changed my scanner & have modified the settings I use as baseline & the results are of a much higher standard.
That being said, it also came with a need to redump most games, so it kind of worked out. If I ever get a new scanner that produces better results, I am not sure I would do this again as this was a massive undertaking (not to mention extremely costly).
There are several things I consider when I have multiple versions of the same game:
- Does the game have a different title? If so, I create a new entry for the alternate version (for example Super Ski & Super Ski Challenge).
- if it is a language version or reprint, I group it together with the main entry (for example Thanatos).
Of course I am only one person & certainly prone to making mistakes, so if anyone sees anything out of place or mislabelled, certainly do let me know.

[extracampine]

How's the progress looking here?

[ldaneels]

Pretty good, I'd say
I finally finished linking all the original dumps (RAW / IPF / CDT) from dlfrsilver & maxit after many years of work, so that's a huge step in the right direction.
I have also added a considerable amount of software to the database. As of today, there are 3574 unique entries, with some of them having multiple variations of the same software.
That being said, I have had a complicated year so far & have had to cut back on the time I devote to GBCPC. I'm slowly catching up with what I want to do before releasing a new version, but it certainly is in the works.
We'll see how things pan out, but as stated previously, this is a project that is very near & dear to me, so I'll always keep plugging at it however slowly that may be.

[extracampine]

Great news about the progress Idaneels. Looking forward to seeing the next version! Hope the complications have settled somewhat

[extracampine]

How are things coming along with this?

[ldaneels]

Things are progressing nicely, I have reached 3600 entries.
I am drowning in software to re-scan & re-dump, so I keep pushing back releasing the new GBCPC version. On that topic, I wanted to give a shout out to David who has been lending me his originals & has been extremely helpful with my project.
Hopefully I can catch up & finally upload the new version soon(ish).

[extracampine]

Sounds great! Are there any changes to the metadata fields, in terms of name changes or new ones? Thinking ahead to Launchbox integration  

[ldaneels]

Not that I am aware of. The most that might have happened is that I added new "game genres" but I don't think so.
Could you post a couple pictures of your Launchbox integration? Does it retain all data fields? How much work is it to migrate to Launchbox?
I have been thinking of moving GBCPC to Launchbox for a while but I have very little time on top of scanning...

[extracampine]

Hi Idaneels! I'm more than happy to help you out with this as much as I can.

I imported the games into Launchbox by using a Gamebase data importer: https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/3385-gamebase-database-importer/

The creator of the importer is helpful and I'm sure would be happy to link with you if necessary.

Importing this way brings all the games in as well as the metadata. All data fields are/can be preserved. If there are new fields then these would presumably need to be added to the importer.

My main CPC window in Launchbox looks like this:

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When I click on a game, I see the metadata in the game details pane (2 screenshots as you have to scroll vertically to see all the info with my current theme):

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The fields coloured orange are the "custom fields" which were created to accommodate the metadata in Gamebase. Launchbox allows any custom fields to be created. Please note that the above is using my custom theme, which is a slight modification of the default theme.

For the artwork, I have had to go through those manually - currently you have all "packaging" artwork for a game grouped together in one PDF. I used an app to batch separate each of these into separate images. I can them import them into Launchbox and have them show as separate images. You can browse them using the carousel, which also allows them to be viewed fullscreen. The manuals I have had to drop in manually.

Any further info you need, let me know!