DonationCoder.com Software > DC Member Programs and Projects
GameShui Launcher
wraith808:
In response to another thread, I started working on a game launcher. That thread was given to someone that was a bit further along than I found myself, so I figured I'd make a new thread. It's in pre-alpha stages right now; I'm just looking for feedback in regards to the UI and fields right now. Currently because of the fact that games can be in multiple groups, I'm having to use a view for the main view of the data, so it's read only, with editing done in dialogs (that I haven't created yet). I might change that, though I haven't decided yet.
Just really wanted to show how far I was along, and see if it was beginning to look like what was being put forth before. Know that this will be sort of a slow process between work and home... so it could be a while before it's totally finished... though I hope to have the basic functionality in place to allow it to be at least used in the next couple of months.
GameShui LauncherFigure 1: Main List ViewEach of the games is assigned to zero or more groups. I haven't actually tested the zero yet (:-[). There's currently no way to see all of the games at once. I'm figuring that this could be helpful, so I'm looking into a way to do that. Notice that there is sorting and filtering functionality; those grey cells allow for filtering, and clicking the header allows sorting. There's no customizing of columns as of yet; I'll see how big of a deal that is to add, but though I'll probably do some preliminary research into that, it won't be in the original release most likely.
GameShui LauncherFigure 2: Main List View - Different GroupingAgain, the same view, but with the groups expanded. Note that the header in the grid area always corresponds to the selected game (with the title and publisher), and the run button acts on that game. I might put the ability to change the subtitle to a different column- I just thought of that, and it would be pretty simple, I think. There's currently no way to save settings; that would be the first one for that, I suppose...
GameShui LauncherFigure 3: Main Detail View (Overview Tab)This is the first view that is shown when the tabs are switched. A few main fields are shown always, and the subfields/tables are shown in tabs below. Note that though the main information is not editable from here currently, the sub tables have edit functionality planned currently.
GameShui LauncherFigure 4: Main Detail View (Notes Tab)Just as with the Overview tab, the Notes tab is a freeform field. It is rich text, so I'm thinking about adding that functionality, though I haven't yet.
GameShui LauncherFigure 5: Main Detail View (Links Tab)This allows specific links (the games page, hints pages, profile pages, or whatever) to be added. The links will be clickable from this interface to launch the web browser.
GameShui LauncherFigure 6: Main Detail View (Custom Fields Tab)This is an area for any custom fields that are per game, stored as description and value. They are free form, and not shared. You could store the same information in the notes field, I suppose, but I thought this an area where certain things could be stored in a more organized fashion.
GameShui LauncherFigure 7: Main Detail View (Custom Fields Tab)Another example of custom fields.
GameShui LauncherFigure 8: Main Detail View (Tags Tab)Games can be tagged with whatever tags are defined; I hadn't planned on this interface, but ran into a couple of problems with the db. This is subject to change if I can get the problems sorted. I wanted more of a text field type interface with all of the tags, and a +/- beside them.
GameShui LauncherFigure 9: Main Detail View (Genre Tab)Same issues apply to the genre as the tags.
GameShui LauncherFigure 10: Main Detail View (Command Tab)This is where the command is stored for running the game. The test button will test for the validity of the command (as much as possible) without running the game.
Things I haven't considered yet are screenshots and I also want to do a taskbar notification icon with a right click menu for launching games. The menu at the top holds all of the table maintenance options, along with a list of the recently played games. I'm still deciding on MobyGames integration- looking at their terms (1) there's no exposed API so I'd have to scrape the data, and (2) they are limiting access to their db. I might try to later host my own db for browsing online and integration and other things with the program- that would be far down the line though.
Any thoughts so far?
(Oh... GameShui- a reference to Feng Shui. Don't ask why I did that... I just liked the sound of it, and it went with the new site I'm going to try to launch later)
Deozaan:
Nice work.
I personally don't see myself using something like this (because I'm happy with Steam as my game manager) so I don't know if my feedback matters, but I don't like the Ribbon and the huge icons in it. Seems like a huge waste of space to me.
These days displays are going for widescreen, so it makes more sense to have a toolbar on the side where there's extra space than take up vertical real estate with huge icons in a Ribbon-style interface. Especially in a program where there could potentially be a long list of games. Wouldn't you want to be able to see as many as possible at a time?
Anyway, that's my 40 cents. :D
kamahl:
I agree, a ribbon feels like overkill in this application (At least the way it is now)
I'd recommend reading through this MSDN page and re-evaluating the choice and/or implementation of the ribbon.
Other than that, I assume that it automatically updates the PlayCount field?
Can it automatically grab the cover art, or do we need to do that manually?
What about the Publisher Details and Release Date?
What is the Digital checkbox supposed to represent?
Could you change the format for the Release Date to show Date, rather than DateTime?
Overall it looks promising. :)
doctorfrog:
Take or leave this bit of criticism:
If I use a game launcher at all, I would want it to look like a collection. Like this:
http://darkadia.com/member/doctorfrog/library
As it is, my current game launcher is based on Pegtop's PStart program. It's slim, quick, customizable, and relies on no external runtimes:
Note that Steam is capable of looking roughly like either of these: like a Library, or like a Launcher.
wraith808:
Currently, the ribbon gives me functionality that I'd have to code manually. I wasn't set on using it, but that's not the point of implementation that I'm currently in- I'll take it into consideration; I know it's a take it or leave it type of thing, but there will be other tabs on it later.
Thanks for the link; I already knew those considerations. It *is* for all intents and purposes a document viewer/browser, which is also one of the reasons that I considered it.
Other than that, I assume that it automatically updates the PlayCount field?
Can it automatically grab the cover art, or do we need to do that manually?
What about the Publisher Details and Release Date?
What is the Digital checkbox supposed to represent?
Could you change the format for the Release Date to show Date, rather than DateTime?
-kamahl (June 07, 2011, 12:59 AM)
--- End quote ---
It does automatically update the PlayCount field, and LastPlayed field, and also has a most recently used collection under the home button. Unfortunately, MobyGames has changed their TOS, so I couldn't use that for the information as I stated. I'm not sure of another central source for that information. And yes, the formatting of all of the fields will be taken care of when I'm putting that polish in. The digital field is supposed to represent whether the game is in a digital format- sort of a reminder or indication of whether there is physical media with the game.
Take or leave this bit of criticism:
If I use a game launcher at all, I would want it to look like a collection. Like this:
http://darkadia.com/member/doctorfrog/library
As it is, my current game launcher is based on Pegtop's PStart program. It's slim, quick, customizable, and relies on no external runtimes:
(image in previous post)
Note that Steam is capable of looking roughly like either of these: like a Library, or like a Launcher.
-doctorfrog (June 07, 2011, 01:56 AM)
--- End quote ---
Thanks for that bit- I might consider adding a more compact version after the full version is done; I'd alread decided that I was going to put a taskbar notification icon menu at some point. But as far as the main interface, if you look in the other thread, a lot of this is based on what was originally asked for. As far as the external runtimes bit- what do you refer to? .NET? That's what my major focus is in for work- and when I do these side projects it's because I'm trying to advance those skills, so that's not going away. Or were you referring to something else?
And I guess, to a large extent, I was asking about the available fields- was there anything I missed in terms of important information to be available?
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