GameBase on 486 in Win95a

[drzeissler]

Hi,

the GameBase is a very nice tool. I currently use the GameBase only to browse through the collections and extract games to use them on the real machine (e.g. C64/Amiga/Atari-St).

Here are my problems:
I use my Unisys-CWD 486 DX2/66 and Win95a. I install GB1.0 full and the AmigaCollection does work with that. The Atari and the C64 Collection require Upgrading to GB1.3 but this does not work on my Win95a. So what can I do? Can I downgrade from 1.3 to 1.0 in Order to get it working?

I have all the Data on my NAS only the gb-frontend and the *.mdb is local.

Greetings
Doc

Perhaps there is another/better way to browse through the Games and Screenshots?

[drzeissler]

Perhaps I can create my on 1.0 GB Databases if I importn "rom-files".
Where can I find them?

[.mad.]

Can I downgrade from 1.3 to 1.0 in Order to get it working?

The main difference between v1.0 and v1.3 MDB files are extra columns of data.
These columns have ID's which are crosslinked to the GAME_ID.
some of the new columns...

Developer
Artist
Rarity
License
review rating
website link
download link

Once a GameBase MDB has been updated to v1.3, there is no simple way to downgrade it.
and doing so will loose all that extra data / info.
In some newer gamebases, these columns are renamed and used for other info as well.

Copy and Pasting the compatible data from a v1.3 mdb file into a v1.0 mdb file, using Microsoft Access, should be possible.
But you will loose the original gamebase GAME, PUBLISHER, PROGRAMMER ID's, if any of those have deleted entries from the database.
The auto-number will start at 1 and increment by 1 when pasting the whole column of data.
making all references display the wrong data / different ID's.

e.g GB64 has 25,700 game entries, but 26,831 database entries.
So 1131 entries have been deleted, due to duplicates or mistakes.
Once an ID has been deleted, it's gone and forgotten by the database.

I have tried to make the gb64 v15 gamebase v1.0 compatible by deleting the v1.3 columns and linked data...
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 9386690249

This probably won't work, but i tried.

Your best soultion is to get a cheap PC with XP installed.

[drzeissler]

I made a clean reinstall of the system and the gb1.0.
The registry went wrong for certain DLL's that worked before, but I think they were installed from other programs. I'll have to investigate which dll's came from witch software in order it get it working again.

(dao360.dll) Error ist still there
(comctlg32.dll?, etc.) error was gone after installing dcom95.exe?

[.mad.]

dao360.dll - from the GameBase v1.3 source code.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 7760285518

I guess it's part of the Visual BASIC 6 or Microsoft Office / Access install tools.

must be installed and registered to the correct folder.
in the command prompt "regsvr32 C:\windows\system\DLL filename"

https://www.ggy.com/support/kbase/print ... ticleid=97

[drzeissler]

...

[drzeissler]

Hi there,

I managed to install the gamebase 1.0 frontend correctly with no issues on my 486/DX2x66 in Win95a yesterday. I also got the gb1.3 update frontend installing properly, but if I run it, it works until the screenshot-path is set. While loading the screenshots I always get a "pnglib.dll" error. I am relatively sure that this is an issu with either win95a or the 486cpu, so I downgraded back to 1.0 which is working fine.

Can you please upload the 1.0 version of the databasis?

AMIGA and ATARI is working fine, but Apple2 (including GS) and Archimedes are 1.3 databases. I have to find an *easy* way to downgrade any database to 1.0.

If I loose some extra informations it's no problem for me.

What I am missing in GB-Frontend is the direct file-/copy access to get the game and copy it to a special path in order to write it back to disk or transfer it via lan/com/lpt to the real machine.

I am using GB to browse through old game collections and find interesting games to play them on the real machine later. I do not need all other functions like "emulation-setup" etc. I only install the frontend, generate a lokal database, copy the *.mdb over and set game-path and screenshot-path which are both on my NAS in order to save space.

Greetings
Doc

[Jimbo]

Hi

You say "I do not need all other functions like "emulation-setup" etc"... but if you want the functionality to copy the game file somewhere, you can do that by creating/adding an emulator then using the gemus script to run a file copy program with the game path/file as a parameter. Just an idea.

[drzeissler]

Interesting! Thx! for the advice. This is in fact very! helpfull.

[drzeissler]

The Run_Program Function

Runs a program.

Syntax:

Run_Program(filenum||clp||waitflag)

Parameters (separated by the || delimiter):

filenum Required. Number of the file set in the script's Associated Files list that you want to execute. If this file is not directly executable, it will be run with it's default program (e.g. if you set the file to be a text file, it will be opened in notepad).
clp Required. The text to add to the command line of the program being executed. Any script environment variables found in clp will be replaced by their actual values when the script is executed. To specify no command line parameters, set this to an empty string (see example 1). If the script is set to use long filenames, any replaced environment variables that correspond to a filepath or filename will be surrounded by double quotes ("") only if they contain a space character.
waitflag Required. This must be one of two literal strings: WAIT or NOWAIT. If you want the script to pause until the executed program has terminated before continuing, set this parameter to WAIT, otherwise set it to NOWAIT.
Examples:

1 Run_Program(1||||NOWAIT)

2. Run_Program(2||%gamepath%\cover.jpg||WAIT)
Remarks:

When specifying the WAIT flag to pause until the executed program has finished, please note that this only waits on the program being run (as specified in the filenum parameter). If this program launches another program then immediately closes, the script will continue as soon as the first program has closed (the second launched program will not be waited on).

Script Function Reference | Top

[drzeissler]

MAN WTF!

I upgraded to a K6-2/450 WIN95B and installed GB1.3 full.
When I change the path to the APPLE2 Gamescreenshots I always get a PNGLIB error, what is that? It can not be fixed even if I install PNGLIB on that system. It works without screenshots.

How can I fix this bug?
Thx!

[.mad.]

the pnglib.dll supplied with gamebase, is a special gamebase only version.
it is not the same file as the installable pnglib / libpng.dll pack.

i have no idea if it works on win95.
but it will need registering at the install/system path.

[drzeissler]

Hi there, back on that thing...WIN95A Pentium 60. Installed GB 1.0 FullVersion. vbrun60 before required otherwise OCX Error. Working Databases AtariST, Amiga, C64, not Working ACORN, APPLE2, CPC. Using "MDBopener.com" shows some differences between a working DB like AMIGA compared to a not working DB like Acorn.

MDB Opener can make MDB to XLS, what about editing the XLS (take out the addiitional content) and write it back to MDB ? That should be possible?

Doc

Here is the machine and the initial setup:
https://youtu.be/DkI0mV29n2I?si=6Ux1qEidO8nWWiju&t=3252

[Seiya]

.mdb is made by Access and XLS you can edit with Excel, but i'm not sure.

[.mad.]

i take it you want to convert v1.3 gamebases (mdb), back to v1.0/2.

you can delete all the extra GB columns (v1.0 - v1.3) using Microsoft Access.

the default mdb format is Access 97.

I have to use Access 2003, to convert the file from the 97 to the 2003 format.
Then, and only then does the delete column and editing functions become available (greyed out).

You will need Access 97 installed on your 486, if you don't have a XP /Win7 pc to do all the editing.
there is still no guarantee it will work in GB v1 after doing this.

you can also use the export to Romlister function in gamebase v1.3 to get an XML file.
https://www.bu22.com/wiki/exporting_gam ... _frontends

which the result just has the basics.
example:
<game name="1079">
<description>Timebomb</description>
<year>1989</year>
<manufacturer>Electron User, The</manufacturer>
<category>Platformer - UXB</category>
<gb_genre>Platformer - UXB</gb_genre>
<nPlayers>1P Only</nPlayers>
<control type="Keyboard" />
<rl_buttons>buttons=2</rl_buttons>
<rl_control>joy4way</rl_control>
</game>