Battlezone and Games Explorer

[Ded10c]

I know a lot of people around here probably don't use Games Explorer (the inbuilt shortcuts folder in Windows Vista and 7), but I use it now and again and recently found a way to add absolutely anything to it.

Using the program Vista Games Explorer Editor (which is also compatible with Windows 7), it is possible to add your own programs and customise their details. Unfortunately, this program only allows you to add executables - anything else will cause an exception.

The workaround I have found is thus; create a dummy .exe file (the most efficient way is using a blank notepad file with a .exe extension) and use that in the editor. When you add the new "game", it will display all the correct details; all the details are there, but unsuprisingly, your dummy executable won't run. To fix this, you need to change the shortcut the explorer uses. The appdata folder used by the game explorer stores all the context menu shortcuts for a game; play tasks and support tasks. This folder can be found at "C:\users\*username*\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\gameexplorer". Unfortunately, you won't be able to tell which program is which from the folder names; you'll have to figure it out yourself by trial and error. Once you find the right one, open the "PlayTasks" folder, then "0". Delete the "Play" shorcut - it's to your dummy executable, which won't work - and replace it with the shortcut you want to use, renamed "Play". Now, when you double-click on the game in game explorer, it will open the shortcut. More play tasks can be added by putting them in different folders with ascending numbers.


Using the method I've described above allows you to add any program, file or shortcut to the game explorer; the reason I've put it here is that it can be used to add every Battlezone mod imaginable. If you want to add modding tools and similar, put shortcuts in the SupportTasks folder. Things look even better if you make box art for your mods (I plan to make and post some soon).

[HitchcockGreen]

Nice trick. Never used game explorer, but nice hack nonetheless.

[bobreece20]

Hi,
When I used game explorer, I found it quite limiting and didn't do what I wanted so I used my programming skills to make an alternative, its called Photon GameManager and is currently at version 3. So if your looking for an alternative to games explorer why not have a look at GameManager, oh and its free

About
GameManager is a program that is designed to automate the process of downloading game fan art, front and back box art, banner art, screenshots, game info, official patches, walkthroughs and organise the data in a functional and sleak interface, allowing you to browse, sort, filter, patch, mount game images and run your games.

Download
http://photongamemanager.com/GameManagerDownload.php

Features
-Downloads fan, front box, back box and banner art, screenshoots and Game Info and showcases the data in the user interface
-Showcases games in InfoView, CoverFlow or BannerFlow
-Run games from the interface
-Take screenshots in games and view them from the interface
-Download and install official game patches
-AutoMount image files when you run games, unmount them when done(Requires DAEMON Tools or Alcohol 120% to be installed)
-Run post-game and pre-game batch files
-View game Info such as release date, publisher or genre
-Quickly find your games by filtering by keyword/s you type
-Organise Games by categories such as release date, publisher or platform
-Show only games from a certain platform
-Launch straight from the interface into games of many consoles (requires use of emulators/roms*)

ScreenShots

[VSMIT]

Not sure if spam...

[MrTwosheds]

Well its spam on topic...

[Ded10c]

-self-promotion spam snip-

Tried it and it's terrible.

This is mainly because it relies on an online library of unmoderated, user-submitted content. The fact that it is a full-screen launcher rather than a simple library of shortcuts like GE, Steam or Origin is another major drawback.

Non-.exe games also cause issues; expecting every single game to be launched from an executable is bad. I have dozens that launch from shortcuts and batch files only, hence the method above.

[Zero Angel]

Looks like the XBMC of game launchers. Mind, XBMC is a great program, its just that it's style of interface is best suited for people using controllers and remotes on big screen TVs. Not a mouse and keyboard.

[bobreece20]

Tried it and it's terrible.

This is mainly because it relies on an online library of unmoderated, user-submitted content. The fact that it is a full-screen launcher rather than a simple library of shortcuts like GE, Steam or Origin is another major drawback.

Non-.exe games also cause issues; expecting every single game to be launched from an executable is bad. I have dozens that launch from shortcuts and batch files only, hence the method above.

Hi AHadley,
Thanks for the comment, although how am I meant to improve the program if all the users just think its terrible but I wont comment or tell him how to improve it, spamming message boards seems to be the only way to get users to tell me what they think of the program.
I'm currently in work on V4 of gamemanager and I'm addressing a lot of problems. Firstly the online library isn't unmoderated, i frequently report bad artwork and such to the admins via their forum and they very promptly deal with it. The problem with 'your' (believe me I've tried looking for other game databases, their isn't any) moderated library's is they don't allow my program access, its against their TOS.
Also in V4 their will be an alternative interface that is similar to GE. And thanks for the comment about exe's I'll add that to the list of things to fix.

For anyone else that's tried my program, if you think that its crap, please tell me so at my website forum, it really does help me make it better.
Thanks

[Nielk1]

Looking at it, it appears to be based of the idea of a Media Center type program. These are often designed around using a remote or controller and thus are very simple in their input methods. In addition, the interface is full screen rather than simply a maximized window, making it hard to use along with other programs.

Look at programs like Desura or Steam and how they handle. While neither has the fan type display of games you have the are very well mouse driven.

I would suggest you solve the full screen difficulty and make the program able to better respond to mouse input. I give the following suggestions having not used your program but only read what is above, however I have been working on a program of similar purpose and thus have thought of this at length. When using a fan type display, be sure that not only the mouse wheel works for fast scrolling but that the user can click anywhere in the fan and rapidly 'zoom' to that portion. As such fast navigation is possible I would suggest some method to show the larger portions, like perhaps a letter floating over the area where games that start with that letter beginning, allowing for rapid browsing.

Finally, I would be sure that your program supports a full range of shortcuts and not just EXEs. I have run into issues with trying to start Minecraft through Steam as I use a batch file to give it more RAM and even an EXE version of that BAT causes the game to crash when launched through Steam.

I do not agree with AHadley's issue with the game database, but I might suggest handling your own unless this alternative is far easier to use. You might even want to have an overriding custom database and have the one you use now as a fallback. I know my plans involve an entirely custom database that I and any "staff" would maintain.

[Ded10c]

Setting the database aside (my issue with it now that I know it is moderated is the fact that it has very little content (or maybe I'm unlucky - none of the games I attempted to add were recognised)), full screen and non-.exe games are the remaining issues.

Fixing the inability to use anything other than executable will allow users to add older games that rely on batch files or shortcuts entirely and don't use executables at all.

Removing the limitation of full-screen only (maybe adding a couple of alternate views like the Game Explorer's default one, maybe a Steam-like details list) would make the program much more usable and would make it easier for users to have open beside other programs, rather than having it force itself upon the entire screen.

Finally, adding some ability for users to add their own context menu options (which is what I described in the opening post) for things like mods, expansions and supplementary programs and tools (maybe in two lists, like the original Game Explorer does) would give your program an advantage over whatever else is out there.

[bobreece20]

Thanks again for the comments.
About running non exe games, I'm not sure how to read shortcuts in my programming language so would support for running exes/batch files and an added command line work? Also what types of files can be run, i know about .exe and .bat is their any others?
And I've added the suggestions to my big fix list

[Ded10c]

Not sure what programming language you're using, so I can't help with specifics, but if you were to simply get it to behave as a normal shortcut (whichever file + command lines specified) then you'd cover all your bases.