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EmuCon PlayGround EX Changelog

What's new in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.7

Nov 22, 2017
  • Fixed:
  • Favorite game tag was not detected in "Last Played Games" (MRU) dialog
  • Could not delete games from favorites lists and hidden lists
  • Changed:
  • Arcade game entries detection in favorites profiles (from Emu Loader), so they don't get deleted when using "Cleanse" in "Favorites Manager"

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.6 (Nov 8, 2017)

  • Fixed:
  • Some internal vars were not initializing corretly ("Emulators Setup" screen)
  • Select a game in "Last Played Games (MRU)" was not exiting the MRU dialog, forcing you to click "Abort" button
  • Changed:
  • Last played games file format changed; "(game)" tag replaced by "(file)" tag"
  • Favorites profile changes:
  • game entry format changed to add "media type" info
  • filename extension changed from .ini to .txt since they are plain text files, either in ANSI or UTF-8 format - added a "Update Favorites Profiles" main menu so you can manually update all your fav profiles (EmuCon doesn't do that automatically)
  • this change is required to keep compatibility with Emu Loader v8.3
  • File format of "hidden games list" has changed, but it will not be updated by the frontend; current games listed in "hiddengames.ini" will be lost
  • Added:
  • Support for a new media type: "Hard Disk Drive"
  • used by MSX, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Apple II, Apple II GS
  • you can load HDD images now...
  • new emulator parameters added to "emulator_parameters[default].ini" file
  • you must select games folders were your HDD images are and make sure to not mix with another media type (cart, floppy, CD...)
  • this is a basic feature; your HDD images must be bootable for it to work

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.5 (Mar 6, 2017)

  • Fixed:
  • Minor fixes and optimizations in the source code
  • Changed:
  • Game image preview changes
  • compatibility with MAME emulator and Emu Loader frontend
  • zipped filename renamed from "boxart.zip" to "covers.zip" ("Box Art" image category title remains); I forgot to do this in EmuCon v2.7.4
  • support for image category sub-folder when searching unzipped images so you can have "snap.zip" in your "snapdir" path and unzipped images in "snapdirsnap" sub-folder (same behavior as MAME)
  • "sys_gamesnapdirsnapgamefile.png"
  • "sys_gametitledirtitlesgamefile.png"
  • "sys_gamecoverdircoversgamefile.png"
  • if folder of image category is emtpy (undefined), category entry in "sysimagefolders.ini" file is saved anyway
  • file "sysimagefolders.ini" is no longer deleted when writing settings into it, to prevent deleting entries required by Emu Loader frontend
  • you can use .zip files in each image category folder (snap.zip; titles.zip; covers.zip); you don't have to put all .zip files in the "game snap" folder
  • Added:
  • Compatibility between EmuCon frontend and Emu Loader frontend; use same config .ini files, favorites files, games lists (for future upgrade)

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.4 (Dec 30, 2016)

  • Changed:
  • Moved disc metadata file extensions from the EmuCon's internal list to "ignore_extensions.txt" so you can add .cue files in the games list
  • You are allowed to add zipped disc images (CD/DVD/LD...) as games when creating games lists. Note that Emucon will NOT unzip files before loading games in emulators!!! This is a job for the emulator...
  • Renamed image categories entries in "sysimagefolders.ini" to be the same as MAME entries: "titles_directory", "snapshot_directory", "covers_directory"
  • EmuCon will attempt to update the file without loosing your selected images folders, but I recommend you backup this file before using this frontend version

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.3 (Dec 2, 2016)

  • Fixed:
  • Frontend crash if you clear all the entries in "Delete Selected Games" dialog
  • Changed:
  • No more gradient selection bar on games lists, and any other list that uses EasyListView; single color is enough
  • Load preview images with threads enabled by default... toggle button no longer available in images tool bar
  • Small modification to TFontDialog component to allow custom colors selection (first color in colors list); it's not perfect but it works
  • Video preview search sub-folder renamed from "videosnap" to "videosnaps"
  • Tweaks, tweaks... tweaks
  • Removed:
  • Setting "Selected Game Dark Font" no longer needed; font is always in black color on selected games (preferences screen)
  • Removed the "ding" sound if you press ENTER key in the select folder dialog
  • Added:
  • "Reset Parameter to Default" buttons in Emulators Setup screen
  • one reset button for each media type, above parameter edit boxes (cartridge, disc, floppy, cassette)
  • parameters are reloaded from "emulator_parameters[default].ini", but only if the parameter for the selected emulator is found
  • the only way to revert to previous user parameters after the reset is the "Abort" button and close the Setup Emulators dialog
  • New custom hint box for images panel that doesn't disappear after 4 seconds (mouse hover over image)
  • Support for Mednafen v0.9.39.2
  • support ".m3u" CD metadata files to properly load multiple CD games; this file extension is scanned before .cue extension
  • only disc images are supported by the emulator (no more physical discs loading)
  • updated parameters of all systems; none of them were working ("emucondiremulators_parameters[default].ini")
  • removed all -physcd entries since they are no longer supported
  • minimum emulator supported is now v0.9.39.2; older builds can still be used but you'll need to use the correct emulator parameters

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.2 (Oct 31, 2016)

  • Fixed:
  • Select a media player and reset parameters buttons were not working; video preview, preferences screen

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.7.1 (Sep 30, 2016)

  • Fixed:
  • EmuCon was unable to detect the presence of games list files at startup ("emucondirgames"); the old files with ".ec" extesion were being searched instead of the new ".txt" extesion
  • Removed size constraints from the images panel to fix weird behavior (main screen)
  • Moving main games list splitter was not updating the info texts in "Image Layout Dimensions" window
  • Image resampler was initializing twice at startup
  • Frontend crash due to a bug in the images panel update code; most noticeable in WinXP
  • Virtual drive mount/unmount parameters gets corrupted if you don't have a virtual drive executable selected (Emulators Setup screen)
  • Games popup menu appearing if you call it while no game is selected... mouse right-click on an empty space
  • Multi-floppy disk dialog selection was appearing for MSX games; blueMSX has its own internal v-DRIVE feature to swap multiple floppy disk games
  • All Atari system icons had 1 pixel cutoff from the bottom text ("ec_icons" folder)
  • Changed:
  • EmuCon games list files format has changed a little bit... again; to keep in sync with Emu Loader changes and reduce file sizes
  • end tags (/file) and (/size) replaced by /)
  • EmuCon will try to update your current games list; if fails and or EmuCon keeps crashing, you must delete files in "emucondirgames" folder and re-create games list for all systems
  • Times played/total playtime files format changed to fix problems with Unicode filenames and to keep in sync with Emu Loader changes ("emucondirplayed_games")
  • replaced the ¬ char by ;
  • end tag (/file) replaced by /)
  • You can switch between different favorites profiles while favorites filter is enabled (main tool bar button); all other favorites functions are disabled!
  • From now on, when a game is re-selected (filter change, view mode change, etc...), it will always appear in the middle of the list (vertically); it's easier to find this way
  • Tweaks in "Run Game Confirmation Dialog" (main menu) and messages dialogs
  • default font changed to "Segoe UI" size 9
  • games list version info and emulator version info texts merged into one line to reduce dialog height and to avoid waste of space
  • removed some redundant texts to avoid confusion
  • renamed "Run Game" button to "Execute"
  • Games list column header "Media Type" renamed to "Media"
  • Changes and updates to the video preview feature
  • new "experimental" setting: "Play Dummy Video to Stop Current Playback" in preferences screen; play a short video to stop current video playing if you select a new game that have no video to play
  • (also executed before starting a game and exiting the frontend)
  • new file "imagesnovideo.avi"
  • minor optimizations to the CallPlayVideoPreview() function
  • Replaced the weird "Segoe UI Semibold" font by "Segoe UI"
  • File 'videopreview.ini' is not available in the distribution pack anymore. It will be generated at startup if not found. This is to prevent overwriting your current video preview settings when updating the frontend
  • Changes and fixes to the custom games list font (preferences screen)
  • font settings are now saved on a separate file called "sysgamecustomfont.ini", so you don't lose the settings on a fresh frontend install
  • clicking "Default" system font button was resetting the fonts of all systems instead of just the selected system
  • if a system have custom font, its text will be displayed in red
  • if a system have custom font and it's the same as the default font ("All Systems"), it will not be saved in the .ini file when closing preferences screen
  • Replaced the THashedStringList array to only one var when loading "Played/Playtime" info into games list; each system used its own var, wasting RAM
  • User interface tweaks:
  • Minimum screen resolutions supported: 1024x768 (4:3) / 1366x768 (16:9) / 1280x720 (16:9)
  • ...in 1280x720 some controls are resized/ relocated to fit this resolution
  • a few forms auto-resize to fit more text if screen resolution is 1920x1080 or higher
  • font size increased on some screens if screen resolution is 1920x1080 or higher
  • form "Emulators Setup" reorganized for easier parameters reading/editing
  • preparations to support 4K resolution (3840x2160)
  • Menu items "Play with Emulator #" are now hidden if they have no emulator assigned to them (games popup menu)... experimental
  • Menu item "Delete Image" is now hidden if game's image is zipped... cannot be deleted (images popup menu)... experimental
  • Changes/improvements to Last Played Games (MRU):
  • a new "Total Playtime" column (playtime and times played); only for 1280x720 and higher resolutions
  • favorite icon added to the MRU list
  • if Windows desktop resolution is 1280x720, the MRU form self-adjust to fit all data
  • Games count text added for each selected system... for easier tracking
  • system filtering was a little bit off, showing games of wrong systems
  • speed tweaks
  • games list font changed to "Segoe UI" size 9; for better Unicode support
  • Removed:
  • Image effect "Scale 2x" is no more (main menu "Images" / "Resampler")
  • Added:
  • Second parameter "-tg16" added to PC Engine to run games with MESS (-tg16) as some games do not run with -pce parameter
  • New setting: "Splitter Color" for the images layout splitters; they're not bound by the images panel background color anymore (preferences screen, 'Images' tab)
  • New setting: "Allow Only One Instance"; prevent multiple instances of the frontend running at the same time (preferences screen)
  • New library "SynFastWideString.pas"; better handling of WideString vars; this libary is a lot faster than WideString var from Delphi 7, and use FastMM v4 improved RAM manager
  • New feature "Multiline Captions": enable it to show "two line" captions; 32x32 and 48x48 icons only (preferences screen)
  • Support for MAME since it can load non-arcade games (MAME v0.162 and newer)
  • File 'emulator_parameters[default].ini' updated with MAME entries and many redundant entries removed since EmuCon does approximate filename searches
  • Games list status bar color customization (preferences screen)
  • Games list/images panel splitter customization (preferences screen)
  • Games list last column sorted is now restored at startup
  • Two new systems:
  • Nintendo Wii U: emulator supported - CEMU
  • Nintendo 3DS: emulator supported - Citra
  • Added a thumbnails view mode; experimental feature!
  • access only via main menu "Games List View Mode" (there is no tool bar button)
  • unzipped and zipped images are supported (.png; .jpg)
  • unicode filenames only with unzipped images
  • images panel is disabled/hidden while in thumbnails view
  • game snapshots only
  • change thumb settings in "Games List View Mode" / "Thumbnail Settings" in main menu or games popup menu
  • view favorite icon in thumbs; enable "Show Favorite Icon in Games" in Favorites tool bar button or in thumbnails "Settings" dialog
  • view system icon in thumbs; enable "Show System Icon" in "Thumbnail Settings" (main menu)
  • new file "emucondirimagesfavicon_thumbnail.png"
  • threaded feature; the more cores your CPU has, the faster images will load

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.6.2 (Sep 30, 2014)

  • Fixed:
  • Unicode image filenames were not loading/deleting. For now, EmuCon will use the DOS name to load/delete image files

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.6.1 (Sep 29, 2014)

  • Fixed:
  • App crash when adding/removing games to/from custom favorites profiles
  • Hidden games filter was not restoring on restart

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.6 (Sep 29, 2014)

  • Fixed:
  • I forgot to set the natural sorting to mount multiple floppy lists (1, 2, 3.., 10,11)... it was 1, 10, 11, 2, 3
  • Reselect a game after game filters change was not actually selecting anything and sometimes causing the frontend to crash
  • Systems list sorting was a little off:
  • Commodore 64 should be listed before Commodore 128
  • Game Boy Color should be listed after Game Boy and before Game Boy Advance
  • Atari 400/800/XL should be listed before Atari 2600
  • 3DO was showing before "All Systems"
  • Some functions were executing multiple times in the same task, specially at frontend startup
  • Game not executing when "Play With Associated Application" option is selected (games popup menu)
  • Index out of bounds / access denied errors after manual create games list if using zipped images
  • Zipped images fixes/changes/optimizations from Emu Loader
  • Icon for batch files ".cmd" not showing correctly (visual bug only)
  • Emulator settings loading twice in Emulators Setup screen when selecting a system or emulator filenames
  • Select emulators tool bar button would always leave one system out of the list
  • Updated PPSSPP parameter to exit with ESC key from "--escapeexitsemu" to "--escape-exit" (required for new builds)
  • Reselect last game was not working if you have two games of different media types but same game title
  • Changed:
  • Documentation files updated
  • Extensive improvements to 'emulator_parameters.ini' handling (most changes/tweaks for Emulators Setup screen):
  • file 'emulator_parameters[default].ini' is now part of the frontend and CANNOT BE DELETED OR MODIFIED, or vital frontend features will malfuncion!!! (do NOT edit this file)
  • if emulator parameters are not found in 'emulator_parameters.ini', they are read from 'emulator_parameters[default].ini' (Emulators Setup screen and when running games)
  • no need to keep unused emulator entries in 'emulator_parameters.ini' anymore
  • unused emulator entries is NOT auto-deleted by EmuCon, no current data is lost in your file
  • no need to overwrite your 'emulator_parameters.ini' file on new EmuCon builds anymore
  • emulators titles are no longer available in 'emulator_parameters.ini'; they are parsed directly from 'emulator_parameters[default].ini'
  • section [Emulator Title] is auto-deleted from 'emulator_parameters.ini' file every time you open Emulators Setup screen; to keep file clean
  • Split/tweaked an important function into smaller functions to prevent executing them multiple times in the same task
  • New folder selection dialog (no Unicode support)
  • Buttons are back to normal size and font format
  • Replaced game size string generator by a more accurate function (from Emu Loader)
  • Preferences screen redesign
  • Updates to main menu/popup menu drawing functions:
  • smaller height for "Play With Emulator #n" menu items if emulator is not bein used (emtpy)
  • each item in the same menu can have a different height
  • games popup menu can have icons of different sizes; 24x24 for "Play With Emulator #n" ; 16x16 for "Add to Favorites" (experimental)
  • grayscale icons on disabled menu items (experimental)
  • changes/fixes/tweaks from Emu Loader
  • extra minor tweaks
  • Function uMain.ELV_SelectItem() adapted to search 'Item.Caption' in lists other than main games list (EasyListView)
  • Function uMain.RunProcess() updated to include tweaks from Emu Loader and to support CreateProcessW() API for Unicode handling
  • All date/time strings are now in 24 hours format (no more AM/PM)
  • Replaced all message boxes by EmuCon's custom message box... because I'm sick and tired of the 'bling' sound every time a msgbox pops up
  • Custom message box updated:
  • used by all messages in the frontend
  • dynamic height according to text length and screen resolution
  • interface tweaks
  • URL detection; click on URLs now possible, using default internet browser
  • Generic messages show a generic icon
  • Top bar color turns red on fatal error messages (experimental)
  • Last played games UI optimizations
  • A lot of source code optimizations. I hope I didn't break anything
  • Splash screen replaced by a regular opaque screen
  • Setting 'Run Game Confirmation Dialog' is now disabled by default
  • EmuCon games database files have changed due to Unicode support
  • files are updated by the frontend at startup, you don't have to do anything. Backup copies are created in 'emucon_dir\games\backup\' folder in case something goes wrong, or if you need the old database for some reason...
  • files now have a .txt extension insted of .ec
  • there is no title entries anymore; they are the same as filenames (no custom game titles support)
  • Removed:
  • File 'mru.ini' is obsolete and won't be used anymore:
  • last played games info stored in 'emucon_dir\played_games\system_name.ini' files and they use game filenames, not game titles like older EmuCon builds
  • contents of your mru.ini cannot be transfered to new files
  • Tiles view mode is gone. Only details view is available from now on
  • File 'ec_extras.ini' no longer required
  • Added:
  • Core update: Unicode game filenames support:
  • Unicode filenames detection when searching files
  • show Unicode texts in games list
  • emulator folders, game folders, emulator filenames file extensions must still be in ANSI format
  • favorites profile title and filename must still be in ANSI format (might change in the far future)
  • not all emulators can run Unicode filenames from the command line, specially from their config files
  • feature 'Run With Associated Application' cannot read Unicode strings from Windows registry (Delphi 7 limitation)
  • run game confirmation dialog does not show Unicode texts in the RichEdit control (Delphi 7 limitation)
  • the following emulators do NOT support Unicode (tested by me):
  • MESS / UME (no Unicode filenames in command line for any system)
  • WinVICE (Commodore 64, 128, VIC-20)
  • Kegs32 / GSport (Apple IIGS)
  • WinAPE (Amstrad CPC)
  • AppleWin / JACE (Apple II)
  • Atari800 / Atari800Win Plus / Atari++ (Atari 800)
  • Bsnes / higan v0.94 / Zsnes (Super Nintendo)
  • puNES / RockNES (Nintendo 8-bit)
  • JPCSP: JAVA PSP Emulator (Sony PSP) - zipped image files cannot have Unicode names; they must be unzipped (ZipForge + Delphi 7 limitation)
  • several new WideString functions were added to the source code to handle Unicode strings (uCommon.pas)
  • The following emulators can load Unicode files from command line (tested by me):
  • WinUAE / FS-UAE (Amiga)
  • PPSSPP latest svn builds September 2014+ (Sony PSP)
  • Dolphin Emulator (Nintendo Wii and GameCube)
  • Altirra (Atari 800)
  • Snes9x latest builds (June 2014+) / higan v0.93 (Super Nintendo)
  • Nestopia Undead Edition (Nintendo 8-bit)
  • Support 2K / 4K standard cartridge mappers (type 57 and 58) for Atari 800 emulators "Altirra", "Atari800", "Atari++"
  • puNES Emulator support
  • Favorites lists, ported from Emu Loader:
  • profiles are stored in new 'emucon_dir\favorites\' folder
  • system_IDs must have leading zeros (valid IDs from 001 to 063)
  • Unicode filenames are encripted with Delphi 7's Utf8Encode() function (only ANSI strings allowed in fav files)
  • add/remove games to/from favorites list using games popup menu (mouse right-click) or with hotkeys Shift+F / Shift+D
  • show only favorites filter; new favorites tool bar button
  • create as many favorites profiles as you want with the favorites manager (favorites tool bar button)
  • profile titles and filenames MUST be ANSI format (no Unicode names... at least for now)
  • profile title entry MUST be placed at the top ('favorite_title=your_fav_title')
  • setting "Show Favorite Icon In Games" (favorites tool bar button) to show a small fav icon in each game tagged as favorite; useful when Favorites filter is disabled
  • New "Show Games Status Bar" setting, enabled by default (main menu "View"); uncheck it to hide the bar
  • Menu item "Select Random Game" in games popup menu, if the tool bar button is not visible
  • Main tool bar buttons improvements (main menu "View" / "Tool Bar Buttons"):
  • small tool bar ...to save some space
  • customize tool bar; to hide buttons you don't wanna see, including the search bar
  • New games filter "Hide Games", disabled by default; hide games the main filters cannot; MESS/UME bios sets ?:
  • add/remove games to/from hidden games list using games popup menu (mouse right-click) or with hotkeys Shift+H / Shift+R
  • enable/disable hidden games with the new filter button in main tool bar buttons
  • remove games from hidden list with games popup menu
  • filter "Show Hidden Games Only" in the new filter button so you can remove games from hidden list easier
  • only one list can be created, no multiple profiles
  • new 'hiddengames.ini' file
  • Play a video preview of your games using a media player of your choice (external player):
  • settings located in preferences screen, 'Video Preview' tag
  • auto-search feature (EmuCon exclusive): search for video/audio files in 'Game Snapshot' folder without the need to select a folder for video files ('snap_dir\' and 'snap_dir\videosnap\' folders)
  • any video/audio format can be used; limited only by the media player your using and/or codecs installed in Windows
  • any media player that load files from command line can be used, but this feature was coded for/works best with 'Media Player Classic Home Cinema'
  • New game data:
  • 'Times Played', 'Last Played' and 'Playtime' game columns
  • info stored in a new folder '\played_games\'; each system have its own file
  • recent played games are always moved to the top of the list
  • file format is 'GameFilenameMediaType IsUnicode TimesPlayed¬PlayedDateTime¬TotalPlayTime'
  • Last played info is also shown in 'Last 25 Played Games' screen
  • these files replace the now obsolete 'mru.ini'
  • Games sorting routine is now using an undocumented Windows API called "StrCmpLogicalW", for a more natural sorting (like Windows Explorer does)
  • New setting "Disable Natural Sorting (1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 20)" (preferences screen):
  • for the purists that want to enjoy the full ASCII sort glory (1, 10, 11, 2, 20, 3)
  • sort disks for multiple games loading still use natural sorting
  • Delete Selected Games (games popup menu). Delete games from the list and/or the actual game files. Recycle bin is not supported!
  • Select one or more games to delete. A list of all games will be shown so you can remove games from that list and confirm the operation
  • Modify image layouts; assign an image category to the panel you want:
  • only the current layout can be edited... for easier and quicker usage
  • you cannot hide panels; pointless as there are only 3 categories
  • single image layout cannot be modified. Image category is always 'game snapshot'
  • access in images popup menu or layout selection button in images tool bar button: 'Change Layout Settings'
  • data saved in 'screenshot_layouts.ini'
  • Customize images panel background color and splitters; preferences screen, 'Images' tab:
  • only one bkcolor for all images categories
  • splitters color is not customizable, it's the same as the panel color
  • splitters 'mouse hover' color can be customized; to work with the new bkcolor setting
  • splitter style 'Office 2007 Luna' removed; only solid single color is supported from now on
  • Load multiple floppy disks improved:
  • new multi-floppy dialog so you can change the disks order before loading the emulator
  • Read .rtf files in 'docs\special_rules\' folder to more details and for supported emulators

New in EmuCon PlayGround EX 2.5.2 (Mar 14, 2014)

  • Fixed:
  • Random button was not clearing current games selection(s) before selecting the new game