Mashakos 5 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) I remember posting this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJfuGoKqVN4 On reddit and just getting flooded by messages at my inbox asking me what "launcher" that was. Any gamer with an HTPC had a "I want that!" reaction when seeing GameBrowser II in action. The set up in the video above was possible for the following reasons: File extension support: GameBrowser II was capable of launching files within game folders with any file extension as long as it was configured in the companion config app or directly in the XML. This meant that emulators with complex command line arguments or that required different configurations (separate folders of the same emulator with a different configuration for a certain set of games) could be added as file shortcuts, without the need for specifying a set/single emulator path and GameBrowser II would be none the wiser. One of the games in the video (Ico on the PS2) requires a GUI-less command-line app as well as a special widescreen patcher so that it can run in 16:9, this is what the shortcut for that game looks like: E:\PcSX2\Util\PCSX2nogui.exe "E:\PcSX2\pcsx2-1.0.0-r5428 - Ico\pcsx2.exe" "H:\Emulation\Playstation 2\ISOS\Ico.ISO" "E:\PcSX2\pcsx2-1.0.0-r5428 - Ico\ICO WS Patcher Final v2.EXE". Try making that work for only one game in the current setup scheme of GameBrowser III. If GameBrowser III does not have support for user configurable file extensions, it loses so much functionality in comparison to GameBrowser II that it is almost a different application entirely. Ease of use. GameBrowser II had a fairy robust configurator. To get more advanced functionality out of it you'd need to delve it to the XML but for a first run through it was fairly easy to get started. Not so for the new version. Intelligent and graceful app termination logic. If you have an emulator or game that doesn't close using Esc or Alt+F4, just press the stop button - GameBrowser II will take care of it. Have a utility that you want to shut down after a game exits? Specify it in the XML using the <KillControllerMods> tag. Fantastic functionality which I have not been able to see implemented in GameBrowser III since it was non-functional after three days of experimentation and reconfigs. Flexibility = expandabality. I have written three command-line utilities for GameBrowser II because I was inspired by how easy it was to add games. Rom file, Iso, exe, shortcut, batch file, whatever you needed was supported. I wrote a special command-line app that launches the rom while switching the PC's audio to dolby digital 5.1, switching it back to standard audio when the game exits. Another utility sets gamepad control to work with media browser while in the frontend, reverting it back to standard XINPUT when a game launches etc. - none of this makes sense with the new scheme in GameBrowser III since it is so cumbersome and restricted. GameBrowser II was significant not only because it was a fantastic game front-end, it was also integrated into a fantastic media center. For a gamer it was akin to the holy grail: all your TV, Movie, Music and Internet content as well as your retro and Next-Gen games a finger tap away. No need to mess with numerous apps to get the whole experience. It was brilliant. No other media center solution had a game launcher as robust as GameBrowser II (believe me, I Iooked!). GameBrowser II was MediaBrowser's killer app for gamers like me. Resources might be scarce, but don't give up on GameBrowser III - it might just be Emby's golden goose. Edited April 29, 2015 by Mashakos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkadius 219 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Unfortunately I don't think the situation will change any time soon with GBIII. The developer of GB II/III does not seem to be active any longer and there is no one else adopting it either so this plugin as far as I am concerned is abandonware. The only alternative I could suggest is using another frontend just for games to give you the similar features that GB II did meanwhile or as a permanent solution... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c0m3r 95 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 It is very disappointing that gamebrowser has stalled. It was one of the main reasons I chose emby over kodi or plex. I hope the devs pick it up and make it a priority going forward. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mashakos 5 Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) Unfortunately I don't think the situation will change any time soon with GBIII. The developer of GB II/III does not seem to be active any longer and there is no one else adopting it either so this plugin as far as I am concerned is abandonware. The only alternative I could suggest is using another frontend just for games to give you the similar features that GB II did meanwhile or as a permanent solution... I luckily found a backup of my ProgramData folder on my external backup raid array. Managed to get MediaBrowser II back with all my plugins. What a relief! It is by far a much better experience than MediaBrowser Classic: - Faster startup - Seeking in movies is snappier, more responsive - Plugins work as they should - Search is faster MediaBrowser Classic is dead as far as I'm concerned. I wish the team lots of luck with the other platforms they are focusing on (mainly Apple and mobile), but I'm sticking with MB2 Edited April 29, 2015 by Mashakos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37112 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 we would like to spend more time with games. especially with our new tv apps on android. there are lots of emulators available and it would be cool to be able to launch them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainAss 22 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 What language is GameBrowser III written in? Do we have the source files somewhere so that someone could pick up the gauntlet and continue? @@Luke if GameBrowser III is no longer going to be supported, shouldn't it be removed from the Plugins list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37112 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 who said that it's not supported? did you read post #5? we might be slow to add new features to it right now, but existing features ought to work just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainAss 22 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 who said that it's not supported? did you read post #5? we might be slow to add new features to it right now, but existing features ought to work just fine Sorry. GameBrowser III isn't working properly (anymore) though. The threads that I've seen have all experienced the same thing, no consoles can be selected in Emby Theater anymore, they're blank. I've tried everything that was suggested. I've rebuild my games DB, I've removed and re-added the system, the library, etc. Do you have the source files for GameBrowser III in the even that someone wants to look at it and try and resume development? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37112 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Yes see GameBrowser here https://github.com/MediaBrowser/Emby.Plugins I will try to test out that issue soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainAss 22 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Thanks for the source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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