I personally don't think adding a large new UI to the core program is a good idea. I would actually suggest something very different:
Add a lightweight socket-like API to Dolphin that effectively lets you remote-control the software once launched. This API allows you to get/set config elements, get a list of available games, their paths, icons, etc, and most importantly launch games.
This would allow two things:
(1) Another computer, mobile device, something else, can control Dolphin and/or make queries to Dolphin over a network.
(2) A local program can control Dolphin, acting as its UI. This means anyone can write a new UI or integrate an existing one (such as XBMC/Kodi) without having to mess with the core application, as long as they follow the API spec.
Perhaps Dolphin could have an argument that launches it "headless mode", so a launcher or other UI won't have to contend with the QT window, effectively running it as a service.
While some of the above can be achieved using launch arguments, they are unwieldy and require odd work-arounds depending on the usage (such as in Steam), and don't let you have simple access to config or the list of available games that Dolphin knows about in its path.
Add a lightweight socket-like API to Dolphin that effectively lets you remote-control the software once launched. This API allows you to get/set config elements, get a list of available games, their paths, icons, etc, and most importantly launch games.
This would allow two things:
(1) Another computer, mobile device, something else, can control Dolphin and/or make queries to Dolphin over a network.
(2) A local program can control Dolphin, acting as its UI. This means anyone can write a new UI or integrate an existing one (such as XBMC/Kodi) without having to mess with the core application, as long as they follow the API spec.
Perhaps Dolphin could have an argument that launches it "headless mode", so a launcher or other UI won't have to contend with the QT window, effectively running it as a service.
While some of the above can be achieved using launch arguments, they are unwieldy and require odd work-arounds depending on the usage (such as in Steam), and don't let you have simple access to config or the list of available games that Dolphin knows about in its path.