Hi,
I’m currently developing/improving the Game Launcher plug-in: http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php?/topic/14280-game-launcher/
El Massman (who did Stark for Plex) wants to add this plug-in in his skin’ main menu, with media flags for consoles, year displayed, etc.
I added these attributes as extra parameters for DirectoryItem (“year”, “console”, “publisher” and “genre”), but he can’t access them.
Is there something we are missing to display those? Do I need to change something in my code, or him in the way the skin accesses information?
Is this a known limitation of the plug-ins, with no work-arounds possible?
Thanks,
Matt
plugins cant pass arbitrary parameters to plex (well i suppose they probably can, but plex just cant read them), the skin does not interact directly with the plugins, they pass xml to plex, which then processes it and relays info through the skinning engine. see the docs : http://dev.plexapp.com/docs/Objects.html#media-item-objects “class DirectoryItem(key, title, subtitle=None, summary=None, thumb=None, art=None, ratingKey=None)”
Holy smokes, Massman! This would be totally awesome if it all works out. Keep it up!
this has progressed so far since i left for work and came back again! i figure it’s only fair i post a proof of concept before i go to bed. the nes icon is a ‘console flag’. this is by no way what i intend on the final thing looking like. just to show it works and what can be done with the plugin. i’ve got some spare time on wednesday which i’ll use to take a proper look at this. thanks again matt, this is really awesome. i’m going to have a lot of fun playing with this.
Woah. :o That... THAT'S AWESOME!
Even for a work-in-progress, it's already great-looking. Kudos.
And good to know you can use the console info. You should maybe try to get the consoles' "logo" (like this for NES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NES_logo.svg ) as media flags. Or the consoles themselves. I leave that up to you. :)
Thanks for the first screenshot,
Matt
the one in the shot is literallty just the first usable hit for 'nes logo' i got and it was about 2:30am. don't worry. :) what i plan to do for the current aeon views is to use the console logos as you said. i will look at eventually adding my own game specific view and try and be a little more creative. it would be possible *i think* for example to select a diffent image overlay depending on the console. so you could have something like nes cartridges with the thumb on top for nes games, same with snes, mame etc... which would make a really great graphical view without the need for much text at all. my hard drive died recently so i'm still not entirely set back up but i'll try and provide a mockup once i get back on my feet.
The second view would be great! Cabinets for MAME, etc.
In the meantime, nothing stops you to release on github a first version with what you already have. What I meant to say is "I want the first screenshot very soon on my machines". :D
This should actually be really easy to add to the Plex/Nine Alexandria library, it would be awesome to have games in there.
Yep, I'm waiting to see what Plex/Nine brings to the table (media flagging will be easier, apparently). I'll definitely re-do a version for it when it's out.
Also, I'm glad to see you like it. :D
My goal is to have games parsed as movies or TV shows; right now, it already scrapes, launches (btw, sorry about the "hard" way to quit Plex. If you have a better idea, or if Nine brings something to do this properly, I'll take it) and with the help of Marc, will be on main menu with a dedicated view. It's coming together nicely, for my first try at a plug-in.
With Plex/Nine we can pretty easily add a new hierarchy, like show > season > episode or artist > album > track.
If you think games fit into a similar hierarchy, that’s awesome 
I’m sorry if I missed it, but what is that hierarchy, like Company > Year > Game or something?
Feel free to contact me privately if you’d like to start getting your plug-in ready for Alexandria.
probably “Games” >> console >> genre >> game, or something, although, that new screen you added in the last alpha that everyone was complaining about (you know what i mean) will make multiple sorting methods easy.
Sorry to keep you waiting around. Like i said, my hard drive died and i'm not fully sorted yet. I'll be completely honest, i can't actually figure how to get git working again! What i have done is to upload exactly what i'm using at the moment for you to play with. 'Games' needs to be enabled for the home menu and i'd recommend using the panel view for roms as this is the one the flags are working with. I couldn't find any nice atari logos so that's not in yet and the mame logo will have the black background removed as soon as i find where i left photoshop. Let me know how you think it's working and obviously besides the submenus, anything you thing might need to be added.
[DOWNLOAD](http://www.megaupload.com/?d=059PGXTJ)
Marc
Hi Marc,
sorry, didn’t have a chance to reply, Red Dead Redemption took most of my free time.
It really is a good menu. Maybe the thing that bugs me the most is common to most of the skins: the “poster size”. It works for NES/MD/Genesis boxarts (and a few MAME games), but for the others, we lose a lot of the art.
I’m pretty sure it’s set at an higher level than the view, though, so it’s not a major issue, nor should it be easy to solve.
Anyway, good luck with your computer’s configuration! I think I won’t change the plug-in much until Plex 9 arrives.
Matt
Matt, I know what you mean with regards to the thumbs, it's been driving me mad. I've been trying in vain to design something that works well with all sizes but it's very hard to keep in line with aeons look. Normally a view is made up of only one thumb size so trying to accommodate many is quite challenging. I've settled on going with something like the xbox menu. What i have at the moment is the attached image. Hopefully it's a little more to your liking. I'll keep you posted as the view develops and will be keeping a close eye on your plugin. :)
Marc
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