[REQ] Redesigning the Parent / Clone dats

[alexian]

Just give me a chance to dream here. I realize that this is complex programming that I'm asking for. But, if I don't ask, I may not get...

For the standard dat, we have the ability to choose not to list Unlicensed games, and in some cases not list Bios roms. We also have the option to filter in/out specific regions.

I'd like to see this brought over to the P/C dats.

The P/C dats currently do not have a way to filter out unlicensed roms. What if I like the 1G1R functionality that the P/C gives, but don't like the typically inferior quality and sometimes pornographic nature of the unlicensed roms? I may not want to see these in my miss list, but I can't automatically exclude them from the dat.

On a more general note -- what if a user only wants an English-only dat, but still wants the 1G1R functionality? We don't allow for filtering by region in the P/C dat -- a major oversight.

Granted -- this is not easy. It is quite possible that once such filtering is put in place, certain sets will no longer necessarily have their main parent. The backend software would need to adjust and ensure that, for each gameset, some rom is still designated as the Parent, while any remaining roms in the set would be designated as Clones.

This should not affect the release settings in most cases, except for a few rare but notable cases. Some games were released in Japan, but never released in other regions (i.e. Europe, or USA), but a Prototype was developed and found for some non-Japanese regions. In these instances, kazumi213 has kept the SNES P/C dat from noting the Prototypes as releases. (So, in these instances, using the 1G1R functionality, the prototypes are completely ignored, and cmp looks only for the Japanese version.) If the user chooses to filter out the Japanese regions, and include regions that would include these Prototypes, then the Prototypes should be seen as the releases for the appropriate regions. Some community discussion might be appropriate as to how to handle this situation, especially if there are multiple Protos / Betas for a given region.

This functionality should only be put in place for the P/C xml. The P/C lists and xmdb would not be affected.

[kazumi213]

On CMPro you should be able to remove unwanted regions from generated 1G1R list just by "unchecking" them when arranging for region priority. I'm not sure whether this has really worked this way in the past, but then being able to check/uncheck regions doesn't make sense if it doesn't serve a purpose. I will try to contact Roman on this.

Filtering out (Unl) or more generally "xxxx" entries from XML P/C DAT should be relatively easy to implement, as they are either parents of other (Unl)/xxxx or clones themselves. So when XML DAT is generated, database entries matching that filter mask would be ignored and not included in output.

Filtering out regions/languages would create havoc in output i.e if you remove (USA) or (Europe). The DAT generation routine should be able to rearrange "valid entries" so at least 1 parent exist in a given family and all cloneof references be updated accordingly. Plus, if the P/C database doesn't contain (XXX PARENT) info for valid entries in family, the generation routine would have to be able to generate it for them (and ensure that it is not used by one of the valid entries). Or if no region tag is assigned, they would become default pick depending on rearrangement. Not necessary if the ROM manager can filter the displayed list (see above).

Regarding your SNES comment, a P/C list always become arbitrary at some point. I decided that a non-commercial release would never be eligible when a commercial one exists. The other option leads to more arbitrary decisions, like the rule only being applied when the commercial one is non-english and thing like that. It is resposability of the end user to be sure that he is collecting exactly what he wants. Current 1G1R list do most of the job and greatly simplify the task of fine tuning a collection.

[xuom2]

ok, i will add the filters for BIOS, UNLICENSED, XXXX (where available) in the "P/Clone XML" download page.

[kazumi213]

Roman has just released CMPro 3126b implementing 1G1R list filtering by region (you can disable regions and corresponding games won't appear on resulting 1G1R list). Note that this is not exactly the same as filtering by in-game languages. I would like to know whether this solution is satisfactory enough for your filtering needs. Also remember to try the powerful CMPro "Set Selection" features to fine tune your resulting 1G1R lists.

Our XML DATs require a little tweak for the generated 1G1R lists to be correct again. xuom2 has been notified on this. Please wait for the required changes to be implemented.

[tetsuo55]

kazumi i want to thank you for keeping the 1G1R dream alive

[alexian]

I'll give that a try. It sounds like it would fix the region filters. But it would not fix all the filtering needs. Still need filters for Unl, Beta, Proto, and for alternate systems. I'd like to be able to filter out all Broadcast Satellaview (BS) and Sufami Turbo (ST) roms from the SNES set, and all the SegaNet games from the Genesis set.

[s4turn3]

Maybe add additional tag(s) in the dat, and let the rom mamager sort out what's not wanted? It would be nice to have "one" dat, but allow users to choose... ???

[tetsuo55]

"one" Dat to rule them all is the idea.

DoM makes it slightly less important but that would still be my goal.

The user adjust's (documented) settings in the rom manager to get the exact set he/she want's
By default it should be the full set(nothing removed), and with basic 1G1R mode it should prefer USA/English language

[kazumi213]

I'll give that a try. It sounds like it would fix the region filters. But it would not fix all the filtering needs. Still need filters for Unl, Beta, Proto, and for alternate systems. I'd like to be able to filter out all Broadcast Satellaview (BS) and Sufami Turbo (ST) roms from the SNES set, and all the SegaNet games from the Genesis set.

Again, as suggested in my previous post, please try:

- On CMpro, setup your region preferences for the 1G1R list (the following also applies for the full system set if you are not using 1G1R feature)
- Go to "Scanner".
- Click on "Set Information" (botton of "Scan Results" window).
- Look for the text box "Set Selection".
- Type:

*(Unl)*;*(Beta)*;*(Proto)*;*(BS)*;*(ST)*

(you get the idea)

- Click "Apply" button, then the "Invert" button.
- Close the window and scan your collection. All entries containing *any* of the strings above (separated by the semicolon) will not appear on your 1G1R list/full system set.

Read about all possible variables on the floating help for the text box.

When you check "Logical NOT", the list of strings above is treated as an "AND" list (when unchecked it is treated as an "OR" list, more suitable for your filtering purposes). This behaviour conbined with the "Invert" button should allow for any additional filtering needs.

[alexian]

Supercool. I'll try that with the SNES set in the near future. Now we just need to get the dat maintainer to mark all the non-game roms so that I *can* filter them out.