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    Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections

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    gamelist.xmlpremade scrapeeasy config
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    • Used2BeRXU
      Used2BeRX @meleu
      last edited by

      @meleu Sounds good. I'll test it out as soon as I can.

      Are you suggesting to add an option to omit the <desc>?

      Yes. The Pi Zero is very low on performance, and some of those <desc> are reaaaaaaaaly long and make the gamelist.xml files really big.

      I'm hoping that if we had a script that only did those 3 things and nothing else that combined with the shrunk jpg box images that I made that I can actually use this with all the games on the Pi Zero without crashing it.

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      • meleuM
        meleu @Used2BeRX
        last edited by meleu

        @Used2BeRX

        I'm hoping that if we had a script that only did those 3 things and nothing else that combined with the shrunk jpg box images that I made that I can actually use this with all the games on the Pi Zero without crashing it.

        Looks like you're very very proud of the images you have. Otherwise I would suggest the use of the Sseph's scraper. It's a very powerful tool with many options, as you can see in its wiki

        EDIT
        You can even run it on Windows: https://github.com/sselph/scraper/releases

        EDIT 2
        It has an option similar to what you talked about some posts above:

        -gdb_img="b": Comma seperated order to prefer images, s=snapshot, b=boxart, f=fanart, a=banner, l=logo.
        
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        • Used2BeRXU
          Used2BeRX @meleu
          last edited by Used2BeRX

          @meleu I tried sselph's scraper and was never able to get it to work.

          Our images are superior I'm guessing. I touched up over a thousand of them by hand myself and for every game that didn't have a boxart like prototypes and pirates and homebrew we had a talented graphic artist that made boxarts for them.

          lol... why would I use a scraper after we've done all of this work?

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          • meleuM
            meleu @Used2BeRX
            last edited by

            @Used2BeRX

            lol... why would I use a scraper after we've done all of this work?

            haha. I'm doing this because I take it as a diversion. If a scraper can give you the results you want, please, use it! :-)

            I'm a kind of data manipulation enthusiast. I love shell scripting, regular expressions, parsing files... With your request in this thread I saw a possiblity to improve my hability to parse files and manage xml files and this is already happening :-)

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            • Used2BeRXU
              Used2BeRX @meleu
              last edited by

              @meleu Nah man. I got everything I want already if we get the code working.

              Have you had a chance to upload that new script, or were you still doing some tweaks on it before I test it out?

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              • meleuM
                meleu @Used2BeRX
                last edited by

                @Used2BeRX

                I've just uploaded the script. You can get it with the --update option.

                I didn't implemented the option to create the gamelist.xml with no <desc>. And I'm going to be busy for a week. Will only have a chance to work on the script next week.

                But you can put your feedback/suggestions here.

                Cheers!

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                • Used2BeRXU
                  Used2BeRX @meleu
                  last edited by Used2BeRX

                  @meleu Got it. It works with the following command:

                  ./Used2BeTxt.sh /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.*

                  Seems to be going through the files one by one and slowly adding them. It says "data has been added to "atari2600_gamelist.xml" after each file. Looks like it takes about 10 seconds for each entry.

                  I'm able to open atari2600_gamelist.xml right now and it looks to be working right for the roms.

                  It's not working for the folder entries though. It is making folder entries and adding the correct <name></name>, but it is not putting anything for <path></path>

                  I'm pretty sure that this is going to have all of the roms themselves working once its' done though. I'll let you know.

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                  • meleuM
                    meleu @Used2BeRX
                    last edited by

                    @Used2BeRX

                    It's not working for the folder entries though. It is making folder entries and adding the correct <name></name>, but it is not putting anything for <path></path>

                    Yeah. I've spent my last free time learning find tricks to optimize the processing time and didn't work on finding folder's path yet. And I'm still learning advanced find options...

                    I'm pretty sure that this is going to have all of the roms themselves working once its' done though. I'll let you know.

                    I noticed some fails but didn't fixed yet. Examples of games that the current script version is unable to find

                    • mega man - wily wars (megadrive)
                    • mickey mouse - fantasia (megadrive)

                    Currently the script tries to find the files based on the game name (first line of a synopsis.txt). I'll make it try to find based on the synopsis file name too.

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                    • Used2BeRXU
                      Used2BeRX @meleu
                      last edited by

                      @meleu The script is still going after about 2 hours for the Atari 2600 (about 750 entries). I think it will have taken about 2 1/2 to 3 hours once it's done.

                      Yeah. I've spent my last free time learning find tricks to optimize the processing time and didn't work on finding folder's path yet. And I'm still learning advanced find options...

                      Cool. Just making sure that the script wasn't designed to work on the folders yet.

                      Currently the script tries to find the files based on the game name (first line of a synopsis.txt). I'll make it try to find based on the synopsis file name too.

                      I noticed that the <xtrasname> field was added, but it's not being populated atm. That should be the synopsis.txt file name. If the script searched off of that it should be able to find things a lot quicker since every single piece of media and the rom itself is an exact match of that name.

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                      • Used2BeRXU
                        Used2BeRX @meleu
                        last edited by

                        @meleu I've just checked it and the Script on the Atari 2600 had 108 erroneous entries out of 724.

                        Almost 100% of these would be avoided if two things were done:

                        1. Use only the SYNOPSIS.TXT name (<xtrasname>) to find the media.
                        2. Fix the issue where "&" is turned into "&"

                        Here is the list of the errors:

                        M*A*S*H* entry wasn't even created.  (Filename MASH.TXT)
                        
                        TRACK AND FIELD ------ & character showed up as "&amp;" so title line was "Track &amp; Field"  (This happens every time a & was used in any part of the synopsis.txt)
                        
                        STEEPLE CHASE and STEEPLECHASE ------ Both of these fought for media/rom STEEPLECHASE instead of their separate ones.  US version STEEPLECHASE shows properly, EU version STEEPLE CHASE does not.
                        
                        TARG and TARG (ALT) both are called just "Targ" on the first line.  Only an entry for TARG.TXT was made and TARG (ALT).TXT was skipped.
                        
                        Specific errors:
                        
                        (1_1) US
                        ATLANTIS I / Atlantis
                        BUCK RODGERS / Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
                        BUMP 'N JUMP / Bump 'n' Jump
                        CIRCUS / Circus Atari
                        COMBAT I / Combat
                        DEFENDER I / Defender
                        ENCOUNTER AT L5 / Encounter at L-5
                        ET - THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL / E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial
                        FROGGER I / Frogger
                        FROGGER II - THREEDEEP! / Frogger II: Threedeep!
                        GHOSTBUSTERS I / Ghostbusters
                        GI JOE - COBRA STRIKE / G.I. Joe: Cobra Strike
                        HERO / H.E.R.O.
                        HOME RUN BASEBALL / Home Run
                        JAMES BOND 007 / James Bond: 007
                        JOURNEY - ESCAPE / Journey: Escape
                        JR PAC-MAN / Jr. Pac-Man
                        KOOL AID MAN / Kool-Aid Man
                        KUNG FU MASTER / Kung-Fu Master
                        MAD / M.A.D.
                        MARIO BROS / Mario Bros.
                        MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE / Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man
                        MINER 2049ER - VOLUME II / Miner 2049er: Volume II
                        MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE / Montezuma's Revenge featuring Panama Joe
                        MR DO! / Mr. Do!
                        MR DO! / Mr. Do!'s Castle
                        MS PAC-MAN / Ms. Pac-Man
                        MUSIC MACHINE / The Music Machine
                        PITFALL! / Pitfall!
                        PITFALL! II LOST CAVERNS / Pitfall! II: Lost Caverns
                        QUICK STEP! / Quick Step
                        RAMPAGE! / Rampage
                        RIVER RAID I / River Raid
                        SMURFS - RESCUE IN GARGAMEL'S CASTLE / Smurfs: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
                        SNEEK 'N PEEK / Sneak 'n Peak
                        SPACE SHUTTLE - JOURNEY INTO SPACE / Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space
                        SPACEMASTER X-7 / Space Master X-7
                        SPIDER MAZE / Spider-Maze
                        STAR GUNNER / StarGunner
                        STAR SHIP - OUTER SPACE / Star Ship
                        STAR TREK - STRAGEGIC OPS SIMULATOR / Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
                        STAR WARS - DEATH STAR BATTLE / Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle
                        STAR WARS - JEDI ARENA / Star Wars: Jedi Arena
                        STAR WARS - THE ARCADE GAME / Star Wars: The Arcade Game
                        STAR WARS - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK / Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
                        STRAWBERRRY SHORTCAKE - MUSICAL MATCH / Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-Ups
                        SWORDFIGHT / Sword Fight
                        SWORDQUEST - EARTHWORLD / SwordQuest: Earthworld
                        SWORDQUEST - FIREWORLD / SwordQuest: Fireworld
                        SWORDQUEST - WATERWORLD / SwordQuest: Waterworld
                        TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE / The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
                        TOMCAT - THE F-14 FLIGHT SIMULATOR / Tomcat: The F-14 Flight Simulator
                        TRON - DEADLY DISCS / Tron: Deadly Discs
                        VENTURE I / Venture
                        VIDEO CUBE / Atari Video Cube
                        YAR'S REVENGE / Yars' Revenge
                        
                        (1_2) Europe (NTSC Conversions):
                        STEEPLE CHASE / **** see specific notes
                        SURFER'S PARADISE / Surfer's Paradise: But Danger Below!
                        
                        (1_3) Europe (Non-NTSC Conversions):
                        MISSION 3000 AD / Mission 3000 A. D.
                        MR POSTMAN / Mr. Postman
                        SEA MONSTER - SEE MONSTER / Sea Monster
                        
                        (1_5) Cassettes
                        FROGGER I (ALT) / The Official Frogger
                        
                        (1_7) Special Releases
                        PEPSI INVADERS / Pepsi Invaders: Coke Wins!
                        
                        (2_1) Homebrew
                        AMIGA BOING / Amiga Boing 2.0
                        ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD KO BOXING / Angry Video Game Nerd K.O. Boxing
                        CRAZY VALET / Crazy Valet CGE
                        EDTRIS 2600 / EDTris
                        GINGERBREAD MAN / Gingerbread Man: One Tough Cookie
                        INCOMING / Incoming!
                        INVPLUS / INV+
                        KO CRUISER / K.O. Cruiser
                        LORD OF THE RINGS - FELLOWSHIP OT RING / Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings
                        MERLIN'S WALLS / Merlin's Walls: Standard Edition
                        METROID PROOF DEMO / Metroid (Proof Demo)
                        PHANTOM TWO / Phantom II &amp; Pirate (adds that bad "&amp;")
                        REINDEER RESCUE / 2005 AtariAge Holiday Cart: Reindeer Rescue
                        SEAWOLF / Sea Wolf
                        STARFIRE / Star Fire
                        THRUST PLUS - PLATINUM / Thrust Plus: Platinum
                        TOYSHOP TROUBLE / 2006: AtariAge Holiday Cart: Toyshop Trouble
                        
                        (2_2) Prototypes
                        A-TEAM / The A-Team
                        BALTHAZAR (AKA BABYLON 5) / Balthazar
                        CAREBEARS / Care Bears
                        COMBAT II / Combat Two
                        DUKES OF HAZZARD [STUNT CYCLE VERSION] / Dukes of Hazzard (Stunt Cycle Version)
                        ENTITY / The Entity
                        LORD OF THE RINGS - RIVENDELL / Lord of the Rings: Journey to Rivendell
                        MCDONALD'S / McDonalds
                        RED VS BLUE / Red vs. Blue
                        REVENGE OF THE JEDI - GAME I / Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi: Game I - Ewok Adventure
                        ROCKY & BULLWINKLE / Rockey &amp; Bullwinkle (adds that bad "&amp;")
                        SNOW WHITE / Disney's Snow White
                        SNOW WHITE (VERSION 2) / Disney's Snow White (Later Prototype)
                        WINGS / Wings [6-3-1983] (NTSC Version)
                        WINGS (ALT) / Wings [10-01-1983] (PAL Version)
                        
                        (2_3) Hacks
                        ADVENTURE (NEW GRAPHICS) / Adventure ( New Graphics Hack)
                        BATTLEZONE TC (2 JOYSTICK HACK) / Battlezone TC
                        BERZERK - RENEGADE / Berzerk: Renegade
                        MR PAC-MAN / Mr. Pac-Man
                        MS HACK / Ms. Hack
                        PAC-MAN (MS PAC-MAN HACK) / Pac-Man Hack
                        PITFALL! I - UNLIMITED / Pitfall! Unlimited
                        RED VS BLUE 2600 WARS / Red vs. Blue: The 2600 Wars
                        RETURN OF MARIO BROS / Return of Mario Bros.
                        STAR WARS - THE BATTLE OF ALDERAN / Star Wars: The Battle of Alderan
                        TARG (ALT) / NO SYNOPSIS (SEE NOTES)
                        TOMB RAIDER (CLASSIC) / Tomb Raider: Mystery of the Scarlet Dragon (Classic Outfit)
                        TOMB RAIDER (UNDERWORLD) / Tomb Raider: Mystery of the Scarlet Dragon (Underworld Outfit)
                        VENTURE II / Venture II: The Abysmal Abyss
                        
                        (3) Adult Games
                        TERRANCE & PHILLIP / Terrance &amp; Phillip: Asses of Fire (adds that bad "&amp;")
                        TERRANCE & PHILLIP 2 / Terrance &amp; Phillip 2: Not Without My Anus (adds that bad "&amp;")
                        X MAN / X-Man
                        
                        (4_5) Kid's Controller
                        MONSTERCISE / Monstersice
                        (5) Non-Working Games
                        SWEAT! - THE DECATHALON GAME / Sweat!: The Decathalon Game
                        `
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                        • meleuM
                          meleu @Used2BeRX
                          last edited by

                          @Used2BeRX said in Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections:

                          That should be the synopsis.txt file name. (...) every single piece of media and the rom itself is an exact match of that name.

                          d'uh! I wasn't aware about it. I slightly modified the script to search things this way and indeed, it's faster.

                          Can you --update and run it again?

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                          • meleuM
                            meleu @Used2BeRX
                            last edited by

                            @Used2BeRX

                            1. Fix the issue where "&" is turned into "&"

                            It's not an issue! I did it intentionally. the & character alone is an invalid XML char. It needs to be encoded as &amp; and ES works just fine with it. Test it and see.

                            Side note: you have many bizarre game names in the Adult games folder... :-)

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                            • Used2BeRXU
                              Used2BeRX @meleu
                              last edited by Used2BeRX

                              @meleu

                              d'uh! I wasn't aware about it. I slightly modified the script to search things this way and indeed, it's faster.

                              Can you --update and run it again?

                              Sure. I'm going to do it right now.

                              It's not an issue! I did it intentionally. the & character alone is an invalid XML char. It needs to be encoded as & and ES works just fine with it. Test it and see.

                              Okay. It just wasn't finding the media because it was looking for media with "&.amp;" in it :) I'll verify it works right after this run.

                              Side note: you have many bizarre game names in the Adult games folder... :-)

                              If you think the names are weird, you should try playing them. ;)

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                              • meleuM
                                meleu @Used2BeRX
                                last edited by

                                @Used2BeRX I've just added the --no-desc option you asked. Update the script again. ;-)

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                                • Used2BeRXU
                                  Used2BeRX @meleu
                                  last edited by Used2BeRX

                                  @meleu It says I have the latest version. Nothing changed. Maybe I have to wait a few minutes? nevermind. got it now.

                                  About folders... How do you suppose we should go about that?

                                  The <image> for the folder is going to be named exactly the same as the folder name and the folder.txt file, and it's going to be in /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/{system_name}/Artwork/Folders/

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                                  • meleuM
                                    meleu @Used2BeRX
                                    last edited by

                                    @Used2BeRX said in Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections:

                                    @meleu It says I have the latest version. Nothing changed. Maybe I have to wait a few minutes?

                                    maybe yes. Just a few minutes...

                                    About folders... How do you suppose we should go about that?

                                    I'm taking a look at it.

                                    The <image> for the folder is going to be named exactly the same as the folder name and the folder.txt file, and it's going to be in /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/{system_name}/Artwork/Folders/

                                    Good. I'll stick with this standard.

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                                    • Used2BeRXU
                                      Used2BeRX @meleu
                                      last edited by

                                      @meleu I ran "--no-desc" after the command and it's running now but still adding the description. Overall, as well, I'm not noticing that the speed has picked up at all yet.

                                      I ran the command like this ./Used2BeTxt.sh /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.* --no-desc

                                      Should I run it like this instead?

                                      ./Used2BeTxt.sh --no-desc /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.*

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                                      • meleuM
                                        meleu @Used2BeRX
                                        last edited by meleu

                                        @Used2BeRX

                                        I ran the command like this ./Used2BeTxt.sh /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.* --no-desc

                                        Usage:
                                        ./Used2BeTXT.sh [OPTIONS] synopsis1.txt [synopsisN.txt ...]
                                        

                                        Yes, the options needs to be the first argument

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                                        • meleuM
                                          meleu @meleu
                                          last edited by

                                          @Used2BeRX by the way, if you want to interrupt the script in execution, hit ctrl+c.

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                                          • Used2BeRXU
                                            Used2BeRX @meleu
                                            last edited by Used2BeRX

                                            @meleu Got it. Will re-run it now. BTW.... I checked the entry for "Adventure (New Graphics)" which previously didn't work and it works now! :)

                                            by the way, if you want to interrupt the script in execution, hit ctrl+c.

                                            I accidentally figured that out when I stopped the script 10 minutes ago for your new update. Sometimes I get lucky and Linux behaves like DOS did. ;)

                                            EDIT: Start time was 3:42 by me. I'll try to gauge when it will finish so I can get an exact time to see how long it takes to do 745 entries with "--no-desc"

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