"Automatic Launcher and online play " project for NHL'94

[PixelDragon]

Hey everybody,

I have discovered in the past a Sensible Word of Soccer community.

What is interesting here, is that they have built an automatic launcher for the game, for The PC version and the Amiga version.

http://www.sensiblesoccer.de/community/downloads

You can choice, the version of the game, the patch in use, you can play online and the online result are directly uploaded on a database, for competitions and statistics.

The emulators in use are not so different that Gens or Fusion. And they use Kaillera too for the online.

So my question here is : can't we do the same for the NHL'94 community ?

I'm pretty sure we have some programmers here who can built a similar tool.

Personally I have the global vision on how the tool works, but my knowledge with some code is too basic, I'm not a programmer.

I can learn but unfortunately don't have the time actually.

But I can participate.

I contacted the SWOS tool programmer 1 year ago, to know if at his point of view a similar tool for NHL'94 was possible. His answer was positive.

Are there some volunteer for this project ? I'm pretty sure we can built a similar tool if we put our efforts together.

The first good way for me is too ask directly to the SWOS community programmer, for some advice. We can have good credibility if an administrator from NHL'94.com contact him directly.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Pearate

[smozoma]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=learn+to+program

It always seems like most free program programmers are self-taught...

It's actually pretty fun, but when you do it for a living forty hours a week, it becomes hard to want to spend your free time on it, too.

I think chaos is self taught? And he made the whole nhl94online system. Dadonch made that offline stat tracker. I think it was dmac who made that sim site a few years ago? Statto made the snes editor. So that's 4 examples of self-taught programmers just in this small community. Just have to put in the time to learn. Feel free to ask me any specific questions and I can guide you along the way.

[PixelDragon]

Smoz, can you confirm that such Launcher for NHL'94 is possible ?

[smozoma]

Yes, it's possible.

I would probably do it in Gens, by adding options to the menus. Something like being able to configure/associate a ROM and an upload URL. Then at the end of the game, instead of hitting F5 to save, you'd hit some other button that would save and upload the game. (Maybe the swos system is better, but I didn't look into how it works)

[PixelDragon]

Fine, so what do we wait ?

If no one can participate on this project. I will make it myself.

But has I said, don't have much time in the next 6 month.

For precisions the swos sytem let you choice the version of the game, the graphics in use, the database in use, and lot of more options.

You really need to install it for a test. Really impressive, I think a lot of work have be done for this system.

[smozoma]

Start small, the first thing you will need to do is learn how to build gens rerecording (https://code.google.com/p/gens-rerecording/downloads/detail?name=Gens11svn.zip&can=2&q=) using Microsoft visual studio "express for desktop" (https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/products/visual-studio-express-vs.aspx).

The instructions are in compile.txt (https://code.google.com/p/gens-rerecording/source/browse/trunk/Compile.txt)

You might need to install this, too (directx sdk (software development kit)) https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=6812

[DominikJagr]

Been a long time I used this SWOS launcher utility last time but AFAIK it's not the SWOS launcher at the first place but Amiga Kaillera client (http://kaillera.abime.net/) with SWOS implemented. Which mens they (guys from SWOS community) took virutal hard drive with installed Amiga SWOS (floppy disks would work too, check the configuration file), which is not difficult at all (you can do this with almost any multiplayer Amiga game) plus made virtual hard drive (hdf file, with custom teams, tactics etc), which is pretty easy too (any Amiga emulator can make this), rewrote the configuration file, and the guy from the Sensible Soccer community just added some code into that Kaillera client (I guess he edited the exe file) to give it SWOS look at the startup, which requires some skills but they definitely did not write the launcher from the scratch.

About the PC version I know nothing but the coders most difficult task was to make the PC SWOS game playable online/P2P, they do not need the emulator like you need it when playing a Genesis game.

Edited December 17, 2015 by DominikJagr

[saintsfan2500]

This sounds fairly interesting and it'd probably prevent me from having to redownload everything everytime I stop playing this game. As for the online play part, I didn't read much on how that would work, can you tell me how you could implement it into the launcher if possible?