Author Topic: [TOOL] Flashpoint Importer for Launchers  (Read 1504 times)

oblivioncth

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[TOOL] Flashpoint Importer for Launchers
« on: September 03, 2022, 03:27:20 PM »
FIL (Flashpoint Importer for Launchers)

Not exactly a script or plugin, but this seemed like the most relevant place to post

FIL is an importer tool that allows one to add the platforms and playlists from BlueMaxima's Flashpoint project to their collection. It is fully automated and only requires the user to provide the paths to their launcher and Flashpoint installs, choose which Platforms/Playlists they wish to import, and select between a few import mode options.

This tool has existed for a bit, but I just recently rebranded it as part of adding support for multiple frontends, with the first being AttractMode.



AttractMode specific highlights:
  • All imported titles become part of the singular `Flashpoint` system/romlist
  • Platform and Playlist with the prefixes "[Platform]" and "[Playlist]" respectively
  • Game descriptions are added as overviews
  • After each import, if a Display titled "Flashpoint" is not present in your config, one will be created with sensible defaults
  • A Flashpoint system marquee is provided
  • Title images are added as 'flyers' and screenshots are added as 'snaps'
  • Everything should work out-of-the-box after an import

In the context of AttractMode's core usage (i.e. in a cabinet) I don't think Flashpoint necessarily makes sense as a platform to feature given that it consists entirely of web games that rely heavily on keyboard/mouse input; however, this just happened to be the first frontend other than LaunchBox that someone asked me to support and I know some people do use AM as a more general purpose frontend so here we are.

Given Flashpoint's size, is best to only import a set of the titles you really care about via the different filtering options as otherwise performance can seriously tank.

If any one cares to give it a whirl feedback is of course appreciated, and obviously let me know if you run into any issues.

Currently this is for Windows only.

See the GitHub page for more details. Particularly the AttractMode portion of the Launcher Specific Details section:

https://github.com/oblivioncth/FIL

Releases:
https://github.com/oblivioncth/FIL/releases

manzarek

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Re: [TOOL] Flashpoint Importer for Launchers
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2022, 08:04:38 AM »
I didn't understand what it's for, but it's my fault alone.
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oblivioncth

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Re: [TOOL] Flashpoint Importer for Launchers
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2022, 08:39:22 AM »
I didn't understand what it's for, but it's my fault alone.

Lol, it's basically serves the same role as importing an XML file to get a romlist for Flashpoint in AM, but since the setup of Flashpoint is so complicated an external tool is needed and this cannot be achieved with just AM's "--import-romlist" option.

Then, since you're already being forced into using a tool anyway, I made it also provide some extra conveniences like creating a default Display entry for the Flashpoint "system", as well as a few other things, so that you can get up an running faster.

Outside of that core functionality, any other potential sources of confusion stem from the various options the tools provides to customize which things from Flashpoint you want to import since its such a huge project and usually people only want a few of the Platforms it provides.