[Request] Saved Configurations for Different Games

[Shonumi]

(04-21-2014, 03:04 AM)jrwho Wrote: I've only been playing with three games (Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Okami) and already have had to go back and tweak settings numerous times. I can't imagine how tedious this would be with more games and manually editing the .inis.

Once you find the right or "perfect" settings, you never have edit the .ini files again. At least I've never had to.

(04-21-2014, 03:04 AM)jrwho Wrote: There are currently ways for users to set different settings for specific games, I'm just making a request for a simpler and more efficient method in the future.

What would you have Dolphin do? It's one thing to say something should be improved; it's something else to explain how. As Link_to_the_past noted, GUIs for this sort of thing tend to get really messy and really cluttered really quickly. How would we reasonably implement a GUI that's easy to maintain code-wise and doesn't overwhelm new and experienced users alike?

The .ini files as they are seem the best compromise to me. Noobs don't usually mess with it unless they're looking for something specific, and advanced users already have an idea of what they want. Parsing the .ini files avoids adding potentially complex GUI options to an emulator that's already saturated with GUI options. Instead of focusing on "tweaking" options, just find the most ideal ones and be done with the .ini file altogether. Set it and forget it once you've got what you're looking for.

[RachelB]

Oh, someone once suggested adding an option to save current settings to game ini. I should do that.

[Link_to_the_past]

(04-21-2014, 07:47 AM)RachelB Wrote: Oh, someone once suggested adding an option to save current settings to game ini. I should do that.

Sounds like an interesting idea, you mean a button for saving the current graphic, sound etc. settings in the gameini?

[Shonumi]

@RachelB - I can imagine that being really helpful too for the forums. We can just ask for the .ini instead of screenshots (though screenshots are more immediate, a .ini file let's us recreate a user's settings exactly). I definitely approve

[RachelB]

(04-21-2014, 08:21 AM)Link_to_the_past Wrote:

(04-21-2014, 07:47 AM)RachelB Wrote: Oh, someone once suggested adding an option to save current settings to game ini. I should do that.

Sounds like an interesting idea, you mean a button for saving the current graphic, sound etc. settings in the gameini?

Yeah, exactly.

[shiftymoonwalk]

(04-21-2014, 07:47 AM)RachelB Wrote: Oh, someone once suggested adding an option to save current settings to game ini. I should do that.

This is a step in the right direction.

(04-21-2014, 06:07 AM)Shonumi Wrote: Once you find the right or "perfect" settings, you never have edit the .ini files again. At least I've never had to.

I was into Okami for a few hours and then an issue arose from having AA on. I probably have the perfect settings right now, but in the future when I upgrade my computer I'll probably tweak them again. But I'd hate for something like this to arise again in the future, especially since the development moves quite rapidly on this emulator.

(04-21-2014, 06:07 AM)Shonumi Wrote: What would you have Dolphin do? It's one thing to say something should be improved; it's something else to explain how. As Link_to_the_past noted, GUIs for this sort of thing tend to get really messy and really cluttered really quickly. How would we reasonably implement a GUI that's easy to maintain code-wise and doesn't overwhelm new and experienced users alike?

As for my solution, the first way I was thinking of this was just a drop down on the main graphics config screen to save and load different configs. However, now that I have been thinking about it more I think it would be better for the user to right-click on the game, go to properties, and edit them there. There already are some options present in this menu.

The custom game configuration would just be a clone of the graphics settings window in one of the games' properties tabs. These would be set up similarly to how the options in the properties area already are, where they inherit the default settings unless the user changes them. If they are changed, they will be saved in the game’s .ini. It seems like anything in the properties window would be for more advanced configurations anyway, so I don't think that would scare new users away.

[Shonumi]

From a developer's point of view, cloning large parts of the GUI (which the Graphics config is a big part of) is not a good idea. That almost always increases the amount of code that needs to be maintained, while actually doing nothing to tone down GUI complexity. The problem with per-game settings in the Properties menu is that there are more options than we can cleanly fit in that space, not unless someone has some really fancy UI experience.

Personally, I think an option that exports the current settings from the GUI straight to a game's .ini file works as the best compromise. It lets users interact graphically with their settings and is relatively easier for new users and advanced ones alike to quickly change things. It also adds the least amount of cruft to Dolphin's already overgrown UI.

[neobrain]

(04-21-2014, 07:47 AM)RachelB Wrote: Oh, someone once suggested adding an option to save current settings to game ini. I should do that.

That actually sounds terrible. How would you decide which of the settings to save to the game ini? Literally all of them, including stupid stuff like postprocessing shaders and the D3D adapter used? Aren't you worried about people misusing the feature, being confused when their games use completely different settings than what's adjusted in the main configuration? Or the same people being unable to revert their changes because that'd require having a little clue about things, hence those people having to use the "save current config to game ini" feature over and over again when they just want to perform some trivial change like changing the IR because the currently played scene is too demanding or something?

[RachelB]

Quote:Aren't you worried about people misusing the feature, being confused when their games use completely different settings than what's adjusted in the main configuration?

I rarely worry about that unless someone brings the possibility to my attention.

idk then.

[Shonumi]

Wouldn't the issue be negated to some degree depending on the placement of the option? Sufficiently "obscuring" the option would reduce the chances of clueless users from doing something they aren't supposed to. Even the options in right-click -> Properties rarely get abused, at least we don't get people randomly complaining about things like sync GPU thread or Projection Hacks. Of course it's not an idiot-proof option, but visibility sometimes makes all the difference between having idiots get to the option at all.

As for determining what settings to save, just use the settings that Dolphin already saves on exit (Dolphin.ini, gfx_opengl.ini, gfx_d11.ini). For all the other little settings (e.g. Projection Hacks, Speed Up Disc Transfer, etc), save them in the file only if they've been enabled through the GUI, if not pass it up when outputting the file.