Home Page Forums Other Emulator Message Boards Nestopia Image info in XML format

This is not how ROM are named on the PCB.

ex: http://bootgod.dyndns.org:7777/profile.php?id=2529

PAL-MW-0 PRG
NES-MW-0 CHR

They could be named:

PAL-MW-0.PRG
NES-MW-0.CHR

But for now it is unclear whether Nestopia will use split or joined images.

One still has to wonder how frontends would handle the included documentation and artwork.

At first i was thinking of something standard like:

mario kart.zip
(mario kart.bin)
(manual.pdf)
(screenshot.png)
(box.png)\
and so forth

However i then started thinking, how would a frontend or emulator cache 100's of screenshots with the exact same name..


@messfan
Yeah i was talking about non-split roms, when applying xml to current games(regardless of system) we will be stuck at first with merged single files, i assume the best name for those would be that of the pcb, at least untill they get propered with split roms(and is that really proper or just byteswapped)

Not to be mean, but that's the frontend's problem, not ours :-)

Doesn't messui support screenshots and such??

I don't know, I've never seen or used messui so that would tend to not be my problem. Also, THIS IS THE NESTOPIA BOARD. MESS can fend for itself when this format becomes the standard.

i see your point, but why reinvent the wheel twice i say

I would be more interested in understanding how nestopia will handle the xml inside the zip.

I mean: I assume at start it will support .nes images (to be crc'ed as a whole file minus the header) and use the board & prg & chr info (and the pins at a deeper level) to correctly emulate the game.

but, looking in perspective, wouldn't be better to add hashes to prg & chr in the minimalistic approach as well... on the long term, it would be nice to add support for splitted sets without force the user to edit each xml files...


my 2 cents

Actually, given Bootgod's involvement, there will almost certainly be brand-new certified dumps in the new format (although I'll understand if nobody wants to say as much in public). I strongly doubt the XML-points-to-NES garbage would ever be supported because it would simply encourage bad habits. It's not like the ability to open iNES files is going to go away as soon as this is introduced.

I hope so.

anyway, notice that most of the [!] in GoodNES and the images in NoIntro are exactly the bootgod prg+chr (that's the way I was creating a TOSEC dat bootgod-compliant last summer, before an unfortunate HD failure...)

so at start it could be well possible to simply release the xmls (which wouldn't violate any copyright) and let clrmame put them in the zip...

later, images could simply be splitted in header, prg & chr according to the xml and you would obtain (finally) a correct representation of the content of NES carts...

anyway, it's a bit too early to bother about this. I'll simply wait for Marty and next NEStopia, and see what will happen

Yup. This is the *definition* of "relax and cool things will happen"