What's New:
Core Feature Enhancements: On-the-Fly File Mounting
The most significant change is the introduction of on-the-fly file mounting, which allows users to launch games directly from compressed or disk image files without needing to manually extract them first.
Note: You need to install the Dokan from GitHub for ZIP and XISO file mounting.
- ISO & ZIP Mounting for RPCS3: The launcher can now mount .iso and .zip files for the PlayStation 3 emulator (RPCS3). It uses PowerShell for native ISO mounting and a new SimpleZipDrive.exe tool for ZIP files. After mounting, it automatically finds and launches the required EBOOT.BIN file.
- XISO Mounting for Cxbx-Reloaded: Support has been added to mount Xbox ISO (.xiso) files for the Cxbx-Reloaded emulator. This is handled by a new MountXisoFiles service that uses the xbox-iso-vfs.exe tool to create a virtual drive and launch the default.xbe file.
- XBLA ZIP Mounting: The system can now mount .zip files for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games, searching for a specific nested file structure required to launch them.
- ScummVM ZIP Mounting: The system can now mount .zip files for ScummVM games and automatically launch the game.
Major Refactoring & Dependency Changes
The project's core dependencies and internal logic for handling files have been substantially overhauled to improve robustness and unify functionality.
- Unified Archive Handling: The application has migrated away from using multiple libraries and external executables for file extraction. It now primarily uses Squid-Box.SevenZipSharp and ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, providing a more integrated and reliable way to handle .zip, .7z, and .rar files. The ExtractCompressedFile service was refactored to use these new libraries.
- Removal of Caching System: The CacheManager has been completely removed. The previous system of caching game lists for each system has been replaced with a more direct, on-demand file scanning approach. This simplifies the application's logic, eliminates the cache directory, and ensures the game list is always up to date.
Update Tools
- BatchConvertToCHD: Improved UI. Added the ability to check the integrity of CHD files and convert CSO files to CHD.
- BatchConvertToCompressedFile: Improved UI. Added the ability to verify the integrity of compressed files.
- BatchConvertIsoToXiso: Improved UI. Added the ability to verify the integrity of XISO files.
- BatchConvertToRvz: Improved UI. Added the ability to test the integrity of the RVZ files.
Bug Fixes and Other Enhancements
- Fixed Threading Issue: The PlayTimeWindow and FavoritesWindow have been refactored to handle file operations and UI updates more safely across different threads, preventing crashes and ensuring a smoother user experience.
- UI Consistency: The system selection screen now limits the maximum size of system thumbnails to 100 px to prevent oversized images from distorting the layout and to ensure a consistent look.