Software Support > controls.dat
controls.xml outdated
Howard_Casto:
Exactly, and with the changes sirp has been suggesting we can make things far easier as well....
Lots of things we could do with the proposed new system such as:
Flag games that are "ripe for submission" i,e games without an entry that DO have cp images, links to flyers, ect....
Make reports of missing artwork (flyers, cp images ect).
Insert a utility on the server end that generates flyers for us. Generally speaking, pretty much every game newly added to mame already has a hi-res flyer over at the arcade flyer archive, it's simply a matter of scaling it down.
Filter off invalid controls/validate controls for entries between mame versions. Sirp has suggested that we link entries with their mame listxml output on the db end. If this were done then MOST of the outdated entries would get flagged automatically. It would also mean that when a user was to start to input a new entry, we could read the listxml of the game and automatically filter off controls that aren't used in the game.
But honestly I think that having the artwork on there with the general info on the game (so you know what to look for if you do have to go out and get external sources) would be a trememdous help.
TheShanMan:
A concern I have is games that do have a controls.xml entry but have totally useless button labels, simply because the original CP was like that - labels like "A", "B". So according to the goals of the project, these labels are the correct, verified labels. But from a practical standpoint they're not helpful. I'd like to know what you guys think of how we can handle these situations in a better way, Howard or SirPoonga?
Example games: "Vs." games like Super Mario Bros or Excite Bike.
Howard_Casto:
Those labels are NOT useless when coupled with the game, they just look that way at first glance.
Examples:
NeoGeo - EVERY neogeo game has a "how to play" instructional video upon starting a game. Combos and buttons functions are coupled with "a, b c and d" and therfore without the buttons labled that way you have no clue how to play.
playchoice 10- There's a whole top screen deciated to instructions which includes button usage.
others- Generally when a button is given a generic label it's because either the button has multiple functions or the function varies dependign upon the level (or whatever). Either way, a full explaination wouldn't fit on the control panel, meaning it won't fit on the various control panel viewers, meaning it would be useless to modify these labels anyway.
So to answer your question shortly, we do nothing.... those are the labels, deal with it. :)
With that being said, if the buttons functions aren't explained in-game they are generally described on the instruction card for the game, and mame supports artwork... do the math on that one. Also that's what the misc details entry is for... generally we put well... misc info like that in it. Also there is of course the command.dat, which specializes in advanced button details.
TheShanMan:
I'm sure they are fine in the context of the actual arcade cabinet, but in the context of mame they're not so useful. I wouldn't of course want to see the official controls.xml updated (except maybe the misc info, which in the case of the games I specified doesn't really help). But the unofficial one (unverified or whatever it ends up being called) could certainly be more helpful. In the case of Super Mario Bros, one of the buttons is "jump", and for a while I didn't even realize that the other button ever does anything, but sometimes it does. Not enough of an expert to know if the function varies, but heck, "various" or "various functions" would be better than "a" or "b"!
Yeah, this kind of information may be on the game's instruction card, and it may be available via artwork, but calling up the artwork for someone who isn't a mame expert is expecting too much, but cp viewer apps like CPWizard that show when you pause the game are the perfect (and I think the only reasonable) way to show this information.
I understand your position, and I understand the "mission" of controls.xml, but at the same time I think this is one of the reasons there hasn't been more interest expressed in the project from the community. Somehow a balance needs to be struck between the mission and usefulness IMO. Otherwise one of these days there might be an "unauthorized" controls.xml project that aims to fill the void. Of course I think a unified project is in the best interests of everyone though.
SirPoonga:
http://fe.donkeyfly.com/controls is back up.
The index page is screwed up. But I can get back in and start looking at the project.
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