support rom patches as separate entities

Comments (2)

fraganator

How do you normally apply patches? I can't say I've done a lot of patching, so I am unfamiliar, but am guessing it's a tool which takes a clean ROM and patch file as inputs, and outputs the patched ROM. If that's the case, you may be able to use the Additional Apps option for a game (in LaunchBox, right-click the game -> Edit -> Additional Apps tab).

From here you can specify the patching tool and the patch to apply, and then launch the emulator (this may require a batch file). Similarly if the emulator supports patching on the fly, just call the emulator directly. After doing this, the patched version(s) will be available by right-clicking the game.

2016-12-14T01:14:32+00:00

anderbubble reporter

I've used autopatching emulators before, and that can be ok; and recently I've been manually patching with some patching tool, like you've said. I'll have to try out the Additional Apps feature you've pointed to and see what that does exactly.

But neither of those will really do what I want, which is to manage patch files as discrete entities with patch-specific metadata, and handle autopatching within LaunchBox. All autopatching systems I've seen before expect you to have a copy of the clean rom with the same filename as the patch, and then automatically applies the patch when you load the rom. I'd rather track explicit metadata saying what clean rom the patch is meant to be against, without having to maintain redundant copies of the clean rom. It'd go a long way towards treating certain romhacks as first-class creations in their own right, as well as simplify the maintenance of unofficial translation patches.

2016-12-14T05:43:32+00:00

fraganator
How do you normally apply patches? I can't say I've done a lot of patching, so I am unfamiliar, but am guessing it's a tool which takes a clean ROM and patch file as inputs, and outputs the patched ROM. If that's the case, you may be able to use the Additional Apps option for a game (in LaunchBox, right-click the game -> Edit -> Additional Apps tab).

From here you can specify the patching tool and the patch to apply, and then launch the emulator (this may require a batch file). Similarly if the emulator supports patching on the fly, just call the emulator directly. After doing this, the patched version(s) will be available by right-clicking the game.
- 2016-12-14T01:14:32+00:00
anderbubble reporter
I've used autopatching emulators before, and that can be ok; and recently I've been manually patching with some patching tool, like you've said. I'll have to try out the Additional Apps feature you've pointed to and see what that does exactly.

But neither of those will really do what I want, which is to manage patch files as discrete entities with patch-specific metadata, and handle autopatching within LaunchBox. All autopatching systems I've seen before expect you to have a copy of the clean rom with the same filename as the patch, and then automatically applies the patch when you load the rom. I'd rather track explicit metadata saying what clean rom the patch is meant to be against, without having to maintain redundant copies of the clean rom. It'd go a long way towards treating certain romhacks as first-class creations in their own right, as well as simplify the maintenance of unofficial translation patches.
- 2016-12-14T05:43:32+00:00
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