xbmc4gamers Adding Artwork to a folder of Shortcuts?

[PRince404]

So two months ago I was really enjoying playing doom on my Xbox via Odamex and found out that it can also directly be run through the use of shortcuts.

So I made some shortcuts for the wads that I wanted to play and put them in a folder.

 

When I tried to add artwork (_resources) to it they don't show up at the hombrew screen but inside of the folder (also it doesn't show the name of the folder) :

 

Now I don't think this is supported but I wanted to know if there's a way to pull it off. Xbmc probably requires a default.xbe inside the folder for it to not get recognized as "just a folder" and show the name and artwork.

What I was thinking is that would be possible to make it read some dummy xbe and use that to recognize the folder's name and artwork? (But then launching the shortcuts might not be possible)

Also for some reason it reads the _resources folder as an item and it's subdirectories as well. (If there's a way to make xbmc ignore/don't do this that would be great as well) :

https://i.postimg.cc/7PM1FTMc/IMG-20231124-134650.jpg

(Shortcuts works fine tho)

[HDShadow]

For emulators this may not apply as they have their own file structure but for shortcuts which are just XBEs to get artwork to display for individual XBEs with XBMC or any of its variants you will likely, not 100% certain, need to add individual images manually.

TBH I'm not quite clear about exactly how you want this to work and what it is you're trying to do so apologies if this doesn't apply:-

For folders containing an XBE or a playable file type eg. MP3/4 you need to use "folder.jpg". I believe it must use the JPG extension but the file itself can be PNG or, I think, BMP too. It may also work with "default.jpg" and, possibly, "default.png" too but as the file type is practically irrelevant it is better to keep everything with a JPG extension.

If the shortcuts are 'loose' ie. not in a named individual folder then you probably need to use "name".tbn ie. exactly the same name as the XBE with a TBN extension. It may also work with "default.tbn". Again the actual images can be JPG,  PNG or, possibly, BMP too.    

[PRince404]

1 hour ago, HDShadow said:

For emulators this may not apply as they have their own file structure but for shortcuts which are just XBEs to get artwork to display for individual XBEs with XBMC or any of its variants you will likely, not 100% certain, need to add individual images manually.

These are .cut files that are made with xml. I should have added that first, my bad.

1 hour ago, HDShadow said:

TBH I'm not quite clear about exactly how you want this to work and what it is you're trying to do so apologies if this doesn't apply:-

I have this structure :

Hombrew\Odamex Shortcuts\*.cut files and a _resources folder (with the win xp doom background and artwork (cd case) that you see in the photos)

The problems are :

1. The Odamex Shortcuts folder does not appear with the artworks and name.

2. The artwork intended for the Odamex Shortcuts folder appears on the items inside it (.cut files)

3. The _resources folder is read like an item so it's selectable and when selected shows three blank folders with nothing in them. (Probably _resources\media,screenshot,artwork that we don't want)

4. (Optional) Have different artwork for each .cut shortcut, which I don't yet know how to do.

1 hour ago, HDShadow said:

 

If the shortcuts are 'loose' ie. not in a named individual folder then you probably need to use "name".tbn ie. exactly the same name as the XBE with a TBN extension. It may also work with "default.tbn". Again the actual images can be JPG,  PNG or, possibly, BMP too.

I have not tried this, so I'll give this a go.

I will try to set them like this :

Odamex Shortcuts\Alien Vendetta\default.cut, default.tbn

Odamex Shortcuts\Ancient Aliens\default.cut, default.tbn

etc.

[HDShadow]

If .cut is what the shortcut is using as an extension I have no idea if those suggestions of mine will work.

That is an Odamex specific extension and, as I said, emulators often have their own protocols.

But those examples you provided are not quite what I meant. I think, if it is going to work, it should be like this:-

Shortcut path: Odamex Shortcuts\Alien Vendetta\default.cut

TBN image path: Odamex Shortcuts\Alien Vendetta\default.tbn

I'd try that with a "default.jpg" instead of the TBN if that doesn't work but I've no confidence either of those will. You really need advice from an Odamex user on this matter. 

   

 

[PRince404]

5 hours ago, HDShadow said:

If .cut is what the shortcut is using as an extension I have no idea if those suggestions of mine will work.

That is an Odamex specific extension and, as I said, emulators often have their own protocols.

It's not an Odamex specific extenstion, it works on XBMC 

https://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/wiki/HOW-TO:Create_shortcuts_to_.xbe_(Xbox_executable)_files

5 hours ago, HDShadow said:

But those examples you provided are not quite what I meant. I think, if it is going to work, it should be like this:-

Shortcut path: Odamex Shortcuts\Alien Vendetta\default.cut

TBN image path: Odamex Shortcuts\Alien Vendetta\default.tbn

I'd try that with a "default.jpg" instead of the TBN if that doesn't work but I've no confidence either of those will. You really need advice from an Odamex user on this matter. 

I tried placing a .cut in a folder then renaming it to default.cut and adding a jpeg as default.tbn but it didn't work, XBMC4Gamers opens it as a folder and shows the shortcut inside.

Then I tried to make a .xbe shortcut with XBE Shortcut maker, and it seems to solve my (Optional) Problem#4. BUT unfortunately the parameters don't seem to work with the xbe shortcut maker. It only launches the Odamex.xbe.

[PRince404]

.

I Don't think this will work without editing XBMC source.

[nikeymikey]

@PRince404 Have you tried folder.jpg?  This might solve your art issue

 

[PRince404]

8 hours ago, nikeymikey said:

@PRince404 Have you tried folder.jpg?  This might solve your art issue

Two problems with that still.

1. If I try to set custom artwork for every shortcut via setting them up as folders then the folders inside the shortcuts folder still get read like an folder instead of an selectable Item. So you'll have to select the same folder two times before opening a specific shortcut plus you can't even see the name. 

2. I don't use this feature which allows you to use folder.jpg/default.tbn and fanart.jpg because almost all of my artwork are based on the Artwork installer which only has _resources not the parent jpgs so I have to rely on that option instead.

Big problems are :

1. Name doesn't appear on folders/items that only have .cut files in them, because the name is read from the .xbe.

2. I can't use .jpg and .tbn because then I'll have to make for almost all of the media installed.

3. I need to find a way to make XBMC4Gamers read a folder without an xbe inside as an item. And use the folder name as a name of the item.

Which I believe will require editing the source code.