The Ultimate Harmony Rom Pack Project

[psquare75]

Continue work with the changes that were presented?

[A.J. Franzman]

Satan165, you misunderstand-- it's a good pack, for people who want that style. It's just not what most people would consider to be "ultimate". Ultimate literally means "final" (and to most people means "absolutely complete"), so unless you're going to stop people from making new homebrews and hacks, or finding unreleased games, it's impossible to make a truly "Ultimate" ROM pack. You should have called it something else.

 

For those who are REALLY REALLY completionists, there are ROM sets that can be found on torrent sites which have just about every known incremental version of all the recent hacks and homebrews (in many instances, dozens!) that had those files posted. Also available, are all of the dozens of hack versions of Combat and Indy 500 with custom playfields and tracks that various people posted. Not really my cup of tea, but I'm trying to sort through them for the best nuggets.

Edited July 31, 2010 by A.J. Franzman

[KevinMos3]

I had to use a mass renamer on ROM Hunter's pack also to get rid of the tilde, since you can't easily search on it since it is a wildcard character. I also have mine by folders with controllers. So I only see games that match the controllers I am useing. I go to the "Paddle" folder to play paddle games...

That's an excellent idea. I'll sort mine like that as well. Thanks for sharing!

 

 

...no Atari collection can be complete without Oystron, Thrust, Space Instigators and all the other homebrew games...

I play homebrews and hacks WAY more than the official games. Some hacks to note: Space Invaders Deluxe 8K, Pac-Man 8K, Moon Patrol Arcade, all my hacks :wink wink:, as well as several others. Many of the homebrews speak for themselves.

 

 

good points made, it was not a well thought out idea

 

carry on, nothing more to see here.......

Nah, feel free to share your work when you finish. I presume you'll continue for your own personal use. What some of us are saying is that we would like to see it done differently if it is to be called the Ultimate Harmony Rom Pack. With a name like that, it pretty much demands community input and constructive criticism.

 

Personally, I have no dog in this hunt because I'm already happy with my Harmony set-up. But, I'm willing to help others make the best pack possible.

[satan165]

finally done

 

had to make some judgement calls and try to sort through re-released games so i didnt include anything twice

 

if any and all dare to use my 'ultimate' rompack please let me know about missing games, bad dumps, etc... so i (we ) can improve it

 

roms.zip

[Rom Hunter]

Can someone please explain to me what's so special about this ROM pack?

 

To me it feels like going back ten years.

 

[GroovyBee]

Where are the PAL versions?

[Nukey Shay]

And why are there duplicates (Dk Jr, Sea Hawk, etc)? Needs work if you were trying to avoid that sort of thing. And some PAL-only games were hacked to create NTSC-compatable versions.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

finally done

 

had to make some judgement calls and try to sort through re-released games so i didnt include anything twice

 

if any and all dare to use my 'ultimate' rompack please let me know about missing games, bad dumps, etc... so i (we ) can improve it

 

roms.zip

 

Downloaded, my lazy ass appreciates your efforts!

[satan165]

Can someone please explain to me what's so special about this ROM pack?

 

To me it feels like going back ten years.

 

 

i was pretty understanding and nice when i got about 14 posts laying into me because they disagreed with my 'standards' for the pack and more outrageously for use of the word 'ultimate'

 

took it in stride, admitted my failure and moved on. didnt even look at the thread for a while but saw people saying please post it anyways when you are done, etc...

 

i hesitated to do so since at this point i was completing the project for myself and no longer planned to share it but thought id be a good sport and show i wasnt crying myself to sleep at night

 

so that comment is so far beyond unnecessary im speechless. yes sir, its been established, my pack sucks by the standards outside of the room i am typing this post in. i know. ive been told by a number of people, who pointed out exactly what was bad about it. but thanks for reiterating in sledgehammer like fashion.

 

Where are the PAL versions?

they are in there, minus duplicates (if an NTSC or english language version also existed)

 

And why are there duplicates (Dk Jr, Sea Hawk, etc)? Needs work if you were trying to avoid that sort of thing.

yes i know, but alas i seem to have made a mistake or 2 or 14 out of the nearly 500 roms i was going through one at a time. i acknowledged that when i posted the pack that it surely has errors and simply to point them out. that is to say, it 'needs work'. if you have a concrete list id appreciate it so i could go back in and make needed repairs. if you do not wish to furnish one i fully understand since clearly the pack is of no use to you. however if that is the case, why did you not only take the time to download it, but then to make a vague comment about it being incomplete or altogether shoddy. please see the previous 10 posts, its been established and acknowledged by myself.

 

And some PAL-only games were hacked to create NTSC-compatable versions.

i am aware, all that i found are included. and just to save anyone else the time when they find that i missed some:

 

[quote]'HEY SOME OF THE NTSC COMPATIBLE PAL GAMES ARENT IN HERE'. THIS ROM PACK IS NOT ULTIMATE AT ALL![/quote]

 

i tried admitting defeat once already and stepping away but apparently that was not enough as i continue to field comments from people who have no interest in the product, but only an interest in pointing out my already acknowledged shortcomings

 

in conclusion:

-i initially used the word ultimate in that i wanted a rompack that was especially tailored to the harmony by use of its bankswitching file suffixes. there was a thread which i referenced which alluded to the idea of making such a pack but i could not find that one had been completed. ironically, the work never necessary; i only thought it was as there was a section in the instruction manual devoted to it.

-many of the file names in my old pack were very long as they contained other info about the game (year, publisher, etc) so i wanted to shorten and simplify them. i overcompensated due to my own personality, the format used here (caps, no spaces, etc...) suits me and satisfies an apparently illogical piece of the organizational system in my brain.

 

i already acknowledged the people that gave me their opinions on why this pack is not 'ultimate' but now ill outright thank them for their constructive criticism. since as i outlined above, some of it is inapplicable to me because the changes i included were not technically based but for me personally. but i appreciate the comments. thank you.

 

and to those who reiterated that the pack did not please them and continued to comment after i had stepped away, think deep about your own issues which seem to go deeper then a poorly organized set of video game binaries.

 

had i been able to edit the word 'ultimate' from the subject line or actually delete the entire thread i would have since as pointed out it was not a good idea.

 

and to those who for reasons now unknown even to me actually downloaded the pack and asked for it, well thank you, i must admit its gratifying to recieve such accolades after spending a number of hours working on this. sorry for the delay before finishing, i had to step away from my computer for a number of days to attend to a more pressing matter (and i never step away from my computer for days under normal circumstances).

[Rom Hunter]

Can someone please explain to me what's so special about this ROM pack?

 

To me it feels like going back ten years.

 

i was pretty understanding and nice when i got about 14 posts laying into me because they disagreed with my 'standards' for the pack and more outrageously for use of the word 'ultimate'

 

took it in stride, admitted my failure and moved on. didnt even look at the thread for a while but saw people saying please post it anyways when you are done, etc...

 

i hesitated to do so since at this point i was completing the project for myself and no longer planned to share it but thought id be a good sport and show i wasnt crying myself to sleep at night

 

so that comment is so far beyond unnecessary im speechless. yes sir, its been established, my pack sucks by the standards outside of the room i am typing this post in. i know. ive been told by a number of people, who pointed out exactly what was bad about it. but thanks for reiterating in sledgehammer like fashion.

You're not really answering my question.

 

I'm not interested in your personal frustrations or speechlessness, the only thing I would like to know is why this ROM pack is so special.

 

Since I don't own a Harmony cart myself, what makes this ROM pack so valuable for the Harmony cart?

 

Is it because of the seperate maps?

 

Or is it because of the removed dupes?

 

Also, what exactly is the function of the F6 and F8 additions?

 

[satan165]

by including the specific bankswitch type to the file suffix, you prevent the harmony from failing in its autodetection

 

as it turns out, it is able (according to the developer) to correctly autodetect 99% of the time. the remaining 1% will be addressed in future firmware updates

 

this is how i intended the pack to be specifically tailored for this specific piece of harware

 

the other choices were my own and as they are not all inclusive to every rom available, the pack cannot be fairly called 'ultimate'

 

i meant 'ultimate' moreso in reference to the bankswitching which ironically despite by good intentions is altogether useless

 

so, once again, had i been able to edit my post beyond a few minutes after creating it i would have reworded the subject line or possibly deleted the entire thing as i understand why it is objectionable

 

i was 'speechless' towards your comment as i thought it was not serious in garnering a real answer. the answer you seek has been sufficiently explained in the responses in this thread previous to our most recent ones.

[Rom Hunter]

I see.

 

Is the Harmony Cartridge capable of clearly displaying the long filenames of my collection?

 

[satan165]

I see.

 

Is the Harmony Cartridge capable of clearly displaying the long filenames of my collection?

 

 

in the previous post you said you were interested in a real answer

so i humored you with one

 

 

this time you are either interested in an answer you already have or one you can get easily on your own, you just want to hear it from me for unknown reasons

 

8)

 

if you need documentation on the hardware it is available on the site, doubtful you would use a person such as i for your source

 

8)

[Rom Hunter]

Ok, found the answers.

 

Perhaps I can add a Harmony Cartridge friendly ROM set to my V6.0 release.

 

Will ask Fred what's preferable.

 

Thanks!

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Is the Harmony Cartridge capable of clearly displaying the long filenames of my collection?

It was designed with your ultra long filenames and odd '~' character in mind.

[A.J. Franzman]

Is the Harmony Cartridge capable of clearly displaying the long filenames of my collection?

Harmony can display filenames up to 255 characters in length. Files over 24 characters and folders over 22 characters will be truncated in the menu, but simply highlight a desired name and hold down the button to display the entire name. See Harmony Menu Character Set for the full range of characters it can display.

Edited August 10, 2010 by A.J. Franzman

[+Gemintronic]

Hey, this pack looks good. I always liked the option in MAME to sort by different criteria. I think by company is a valid and useful organization. Gives me a better idea of how I'll arrange mine when I finally get a 2600 ROM dumping attachment for the Retrode.

 

Nice work!

[Greg2600]

Rom Hunter, you're archives are fantastic, but the file names are totally not pretty on the Harmony. That was the goal of Satan165. Satan165, you're work is much appreciated though! Only downside is you don't have any hacks, prototypes, homebrews from what I can tell?

 

In both cases, directories are based on publisher, and I'm not sure if I'm big on that. I mean, I know off hand who published most games, but I wonder if it's better to have alphabetized groups (A-C, D-F, etc.)?

Edited August 22, 2010 by Greg2600