[REL] Vista Game Explorer Editor

[Ryan R]

I just read through this entire thread and tried the VGEE program for myself on Vista 64. The program worked as intended and I'm happy with the results, however I have a couple questions.

1. Use VGEE or other methods to delete the GFW games from the VGE. Then use VGEE to add the games back in from scratch as if they weren't supported in the first place. This is the only method until EE is out.

2. In an older version I worked on getting CLI's (command line instructions) to work (from about 2.11). It's been so long ago that I can' remember if I did fix it completely or not, or if there was a workaround. You can at least go into your VGE, r/click a game and choose cutomise, then change the path for the default Play item. It's exactly the same method as changing a shortcut file (*.lnk) which exists at C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\{guid_for_the_game}\PlayTasks\0\gameshortcut.lnk

3. I played around with getting icon's to work in version 2.10 - however most people said this didn't work, and since I wasn't 100% sure on the manual method to change the icon, I disabled the function for future versions, leaving the code in place in case someone discovered a solution. EE will work with icons (Julius tells me it will anyway).

He is the only one here that has actually fixed up his VGE perfectly with ratings and icons and such using code that he has come up with (I haven't even got mine right yet since I'm still testing stuff). I can't wait for it to be released as much as you guys, and I'm the one making it (weird, eh?)

@yoran109

To edit ratings requires code to work with the WMI, which only Julius and I have, and which only Julius knows how to use properly :)

I'm just building the front-end of the app and all the other features and so-on and all the XP code, Julius is doing the Vista WMI game editing code for the app.

He's recently started a new job and is getting settled in with that, but he's just about ready to get right back into this project too, although I'm pretty sure his work is almost (if not already) done. He just has to explain it to me (again). :)

[Ryan R]

Turns out I was wrong about the Hard Drive thing - swapped the cable and got a new HDD to test on and no joy. I have, however, found the actual issue as confirmed by quite a few people (plus I've found this thread where everyone has the same issue): http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=325550...page=2&key=

[Malskazz]

Still epic program.. using Vista x64 and working great.

A picture of my game explorer:

[Ryan R]

Still epic program.. using Vista x64 and working great.

A picture of my game explorer:

Thanks mate - glad people are still getting good use out of it. I've fixed my PC (RAM timings & voltages were the issues it seems) so I'll tidy up the PC (HDDs are a bit of a mess atm) and will get back into programming EE, hopefully Julius will be around to help a bit more too.

[coolhund]

Same problem as nskid. VGEE says I dont have any boxart and shuts down without letting me add anything. Even tried the suggestion that it says, but it just wont work.

Nice try, but it was so funny that I burst out in laughter. A program that is supposed to add games to VGE and then shuts down with a message that there are no games in VGE. Well, DUH! ROFL!

Guess Ill stick to manual adding then.

And no, I dont have a "bad Windows account" (what is that anyway?). Vista was freshly reinstalled yesterday.

Edited October 29, 2008 by coolhund

[Ryan R]

Yes - I'm sure a program that does absolutely nothing would be downloaded over 10,000 times

In case it's hard to ask nicely, I'll just palm you off the the tutorial on the website that you mustn't have seen directly below the download links (http://vge.editor.googlepages.com). A dummy game that does work is also available via there as well, which will allow VGEE to work properly unless you have a bad Vista account - since you don't know what it means it's hard to say it isn't affecting you. A bad Vista account is one where no matter what you do, a legacy game doesn't download boxart from the Internet - and the only way to resolve it is to create a new Vista account and do it again.

In other news - I thought of some great features to include in EE (some are unoriginal and are already built into some of my other apps) - but I'm nearly ready to get an alpha version built (possibly only working on XP first, we'll see).

[Ryan R]

I received an email today from one of the lucky few already playing with Windows 7 pre-beta. (6801)

He just wanted to let me know that VGEE 2.14 works great on it - which is good to hear - I'm just wondering why he's tried that out so soon in spite of all the other things you'd do on a brand new OS :)

Of course - most of us will probably be using E-Explorer by the time the final build is available.

[SilentMage]

Hello, first-time user of VGEE 2.14a on Vista x64. Firstly, it works flawlessly - I thank you for providing a solution like this as manually editing the registry entries didn't do anything for me.

Secondly, just one question (sorry if this was asked before): Is there a way to edit the game rating (Everyone, Teen, etc) and its description (Mild Violence, Drug Use, etc)?

Thanks!

~SilentMage

[Hani]

your program is great, nevertheless it needs more tweaking like game ratings for example.

[Ryan R]

I've done a heck of a lot of programming E-Explorer this week and I only need to fix up a few things before the first alpha becomes ready. Editing Ratings, etc will be available in it at some stage (code is there, just need to tweak it and iron out bugs).

I've been working on the XP mode - so if I did release an Alpha 1 'as is' (as of now) you'd either need to use WinXP to test it or create a new Vista account (otherwise the XP method would stuff up your VGE). Anxious beta testers who don't mind creating another Windows account or don't mind temporarily ruining their VGE are welcome to get in contact with me.

After I finish a bit more of the XP code - I'll send an updated copy of the project to Julius to finish off the Vista stuff and the online searching (you can download game info (not just BoxArt) directly from Allgame.com via the program - no need to open a web browser.

@SilentMage - thanks for the +ve feedback. I'm not making any updates to VGEE since E-Explorer will replace both VGEE and the Windows VGE (if you want) and will let you edit everything (thanks to Julius) and add other features. I can only take credit for spending time creating a program - the methods used in them were discovered by members of the NeoWin community, and since no-one else had made an app at the time, I decided to give it a shot during my spare time since I'd like an easy way to edit the VGE as much as the next guy. :)

Regards

Ryan

[Ryan R]

New dedicated E-Explorer thread here - https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=696066

[Kronir]

Just found out about VGEE the other day. The program is a godsend: it allows the Games Explorer to be what it should have been in the first place, a central gaming hub (which means my desktop is a LOT cleaner!). :D Thanks! I gave it a 9-10.

[Ryan R]

Thanks mate

Just waiting for Julius to find some time in his extremely hectic schedule to finish a few loose ends in EE before Alpha-1 is released.

[The Shade]

I need some help here, I can't get VGEE to add games, I made sure that VGE was closed, and the works, but when I try to actually add a game, I get this error (attached) from the sound of it, I'm missing a runtime or framework or something, I have .NET Framework 3.5 installed, do I need any others? Thanks.

[Ryan R]

A few people still get that error. If you hit Continue everything should still work - otherwise let me know and I'll disable that command from running

[The Shade]

A few people still get that error. If you hit Continue everything should still work - otherwise let me know and I'll disable that command from running

I tried another game, and I think its working now, but let me go try the one that gave me problems again.

EDIT:

Nope, no cigar, same problem, since its obviously a problem with adding the url, let me try it without it.

EDIT of the EDIT:

Now its even worse, I did something and now my auto regenerating game is gone, and manually deleting the folder did nothing, I'm going to clear the keys in the registry, and see if VGE will reset itself.

EDIT OF THE, aww screw it, its an edit:

Would Halo 2 work as an auto regenerating game for this? Because I have a copy sitting around I could use.

Edited December 20, 2008 by The Shade

[The Shade]

(previous posts deleted)

Alright, I installed Rainbow 6 Vegas, and now I am able to add and edit games correctly, thank you so much for your help, and congrats on making such an awesome app.

[yatesl]

I realise I'm a month late (I found this topic whilst Google'ing icons for VGEE), but I can offer help on the Error window.

Go to C:\Users\*YOUR USERNAME HERE*\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\GamesBoxArt

Now select them all, right click and go to "Properties", and then deselect the "Read Only" box. Then, if you edit the game in VGEE again, it should work.

Hope this helps. :)

Edit: Oh wait, never mind - I thought it was a box art problem. Didn't read the screen shot fully. Never mind.

[morpheus2n]

Wanted to let you all know as I have tested this extenisvly and can say that this prog (currently) works 100% with windows 7

[Ryan R]

Wanted to let you know that I'm planning on spending some free time tomorrow to make a final update for VGEE, to include the following:

1. Ability to choose the search provider for Box Art (AllGame.com or Google Image Search)

2. Copy Game title to clipboard when searching with AllGame.com

3. Steam support

4. Better support for choosing Home Page for game

Besides additional editing functionality (ratings, etc) which can't be achieved using VGEE, if you really want another feature added desperately - post it here within the next 12 hours.

[Ryan R]

Anyone want to volunteer to BETA test VGEE 2.15?

Not as exciting as EE, I know - but still have made some decent progress in regards to what people want, and what I get emailed about as far as problems go...

Edit - I've made it so that older versions of VGEE will discover the new version since I'm impatient to get some feedback. I won't update the websites until I hear from some of you. If you want to try the new version - just run an old version of VGEE and click Yes when asked to download the new one. If you want to hold back for now, then just ignore the update prompt.

Hopefully the update notice for VGEE Beta 2.15 is the last one before you see one for E-Explorer (unless I've missed something and I have to release 2.15a).

Edited February 18, 2009 by Ryan R

[ryoran109]

I'll test it for Win7 build 7022.

[Unimatrix Xero]

i will test it as well

[Ryan R]

Thanks guys

[ryoran109]

As soon as I start it up I get a .NET framework error: "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." Error isn't fatal, though, and I can still run the program with no other errors. Also, I don't use Steam so I can't test that feature out, maybe Unimatrix?