[ scummvm-Feature Requests-1721706 ] Add support for Windows Vista Games Explorer

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Feature Requests item #1721706, was opened at 2007-05-19 09:18
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Category: Interface Improvements (example)
Group: Next Release (example)
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Private: No
Submitted By: Adam Hearn (adamhearn)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Add support for Windows Vista Games Explorer

Initial Comment:
Further to details introduced in forum post: http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=3851

To quote Microsoft's definition "Windows Vista Game Explorer is a custom folder for the Windows Vista shell that provides a rich presence for games". It simply makes life a little easier for a user to locate their installed games using a central 'game aware' location. Each entry can have expose meta data such as web links, game image, publisher information, etc.

Background information on Games Explorer can be found here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb173446.aspx

Whilst you can add games to the Games Explorer manually, the presentation is less than ideal for games that are not listed in Microsoft's games database. For these games, the icon from the game's executable is simply scaled and also occasionally replaced with a default image.

There are two parts of the ScummVM repository that would need updating in order this be supported.

1) Addition of 2 binary resources to the ScummVM executable for the Windows platform.

a) A Games Definition File (GDF).
This is a UTF8 format XML file that defines the game. The schema definition of this file can be found here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb173445.aspx

I've attached an *example* GDF. Please note that the element content is subject to discussion/agreement with the ScummVM project team!

b) Game image thumbnail (PNG preferred as transparency is supported)
Artwork appropriate to display in the Games Explorer for ScummVM. This should be sized as 256×256 pixels but look good scaled to 48×48 as well.

Notes:
- These new resources may exist in any Windows executable as their presence has no undesirable effect when running on a non Vista platform.
- The GDF files can be localised if required.
- Any build specific information would need to be added to the GDF (date of release for example) so an additional script similar to update-version.pl may be required.

2) The installer (InnoSetup) would need updating to register the game in the Games Explorer on successful installation and also unregister on uninstallation.

Notes:
- The SVN binary install package uses the same executable name as the official release. The Games Explorer registration would therefore not be modified for an SVN installation.

To confirm, I am willing to make the necessary changes myself. All source code, etc. will be supplied to ScummVM.

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