Score saver utility for non saving games.

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Pixel_Outlaw
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Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Pixel_Outlaw »

Hello,

I've been away for some time. I'm currently working on a small utility to save scores for older console games. This is slightly better than pencil and paper because it is harder to misplace a computer. The end product will support Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. This is mostly for myself, I know old console support is hit and miss around here. This is good for games such as Star Solder which do not support saving.

Somebody will probably do a better version but I will share my utility for free when I finish. I like to have a sort of database for my scores rather than 200 little random sheets of paper.

The score format will be limited it is not good for modern shmups.

Format

Name - Score - Level - Info

The info selection will be a short user defined section that will show as a tool tip when the score is hovered over. This can be anything.

Example Info

(Star Soldier)
"Finally destroyed both eyes at the end of the level for 80,000 pts!"

(Qix)
"Destroyed Qix with a HUGE 90% area claim on the first level"

Screen capture:
Image

So take it or leave it, this is mostly for my use.
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Udderdude
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Udderdude »

Fun stuff.
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Ed Oscuro
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Is it going to have automagic date appending?
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Pixel_Outlaw
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Pixel_Outlaw »

I don't know what you mean. I can easily note the date of entry for each score. This could be the default value for the "Info" part of each score.
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Ed Oscuro
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Ed Oscuro »

If I were uploading historical scores, obviously manual date entry would be a good idea, but entering one the day of the play would make auto date tagging a nice time saver.
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by ZOM »

You deserve a prize - looking good 8)
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Lordstar
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Lordstar »

thats pretty clever. Would there be anyway to check for the settings? (default cheats used)
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by crithit5000 »

This makes me wish victoly was still around. :cry:
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Pixel_Outlaw
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Pixel_Outlaw »

Here is another shot from my work today. Still a way to go with this. I only have about an hour of programming each day. Please be patient as I work on this. :D


(Here you can see the optional Info attribute being shown as a tool tip when the mouse hovers over a score.)
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Ed Oscuro
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Looks promiseful!
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Elixir
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Elixir »

I'd use it if you could make it so it can keep track of your 1cc and scores, with the ability to export the list to a .txt.
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Andi
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Andi »

Now how about a program that earns your high scores for you?
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croikle
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by croikle »

Yeah, a genetic algorithm for replay file creation would be awesome.
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Pixel_Outlaw
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Pixel_Outlaw »

I'm about 75% done now with the coding. I just had a thought for a sort of game of the day. Instead of a "tip of the day" maybe the computer suggests a game of the day from a premade database. I'm now working on the data saving aspect of this. I plan to have it save automatically when you close the window. It will also load automatically when the application starts. I'll probably add an option to export everything to a text file for quick copy/paste forum posting. If I DO add a sort of game of the day opytion it might get people playing missed games.

Here is a short video of the current build in action. This is still under heavy development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqpQo9PDfkg

EDIT: 7-26-09

This is a very early version of the *Windows* program. Should be fairly bug free. 113 KB. Once I get the Windows version finalized I will begin work on the other two versions.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=a36c ... 0a1ae8665a
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Ghegs
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Ghegs »

Really nice little program, I'm gonna start using this. Few thoughts after trying it out:

Personally I'd like it if date was its own field and that information was automatically visible in the main score list. Comment could then be its own field.

Related to that, I'd like it if also the comment was visible in the main score list instead of the hover over. If you're worried about cluttering the list maybe there could be a "Show/hide comments"-button?

Being able to sort the list by Player/Score/Level/Date would be a nice lil' feature.

Bug: When entering a new game's name nothing happens when you press Enter, you must click OK for it to accept.

Bug: Using commas, periods or spaces in score (like 358,000, 358.000 or 358 000) to make it look nicer doesn't work right; when viewing the game's scores again all the numbers after the comma, period or space are lost.

And I'm sure you already know that the player name always defaults to RNB. Making it default to whatever name was used in the last score entered would work good.
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Pixel_Outlaw
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by Pixel_Outlaw »

----Program Update--- v. .80a (Odd version syntax no?)

I have cleaned up the interface a bit and added a new feature. In many older games you often were provided with a notes section in the booklet. This utility now has a memo/cheat/notes section for each game. This makes this utility helpful for saving important things. You may use this for saving passwords and other things. Keep those instruction booklets clean and use this.

This solves the folliowing problems for me.

1 How do I organize scores for non saving games?
2 What is the best way to comment on some funny and unique scoring moments?
3 How can I keep info and passwords/cheats organized for older games without paper?


Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijZ8IBYciDw



Here is the current (Windows) version. Still very interested in how useful people find this...

Download version .80a
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=a36c ... eaa7bc68bc
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Re: Score saver utility for non saving games.

Post by ZOM »

Nice video :)

Just tried .80a - shaping up nicely, might come in pretty handy. I like the new notes feature, and the game suggestion function could make less boring days. heh.

Would love to see a "difficulty" field added to it: Name - Score - Level - Difficulty - Info.
Keeps the comments box a bit cleaner, I think.

Now that I think about it, I could just add a new game like: NEXZR (PCE) [HARD]
Still, I'd prefer the former method.
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