Configurable "System boot" and "Lock-On" ROM files

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I was thinking that it might be useful to have the current "System boot" option 
from the system settings to show a new menu where you can select the BIOS/TMSS 
you want each system and region to load (if any), instead of having to save 
them on the SD card with a specific name.

I personally think this could be specially helpful when testing Mega-CD games, 
as trying all different BIOSes with each game would be a breeze.

Same could be done with the current "Lock-On" option, to allow for directly 
selecting any available versions of the Game Genie and Action Replay (or Sonic 
& Knuckles).

Then, and for completeness sake since there's official hardware that does it, 
there could be a new "Extra ROM" menu, which would be appended after the game's 
ROM (something that's needed for properly emulating Sonic 2 & Knuckles).

Do you think these could be worth implementing?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by superballena on 7 Jul 2012 at 1:21

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Or perhaps the menu shortcuts for the BIOS, Lock-On and Extra menus could just 
appear as small buttons to the right of the usual ROM list, for an even faster 
access.

Original comment by superballena on 7 Jul 2012 at 3:05

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Yes, i already thought it was a good idea, only need to find the easiest and 
most suitable solution.

About CD bios, here is a little trick: if you load them (even zipped) like any 
other ROM, they will be auto-detected as CD bios (so they run with CD hardware 
being emulated) and remain loaded until you load another ROM file. This means 
that you can "load" any CD image file afterward and it will make use of the 
previously loaded BIOS, providing they are region compatible, which is an easy 
way to test different bios versions. 

Note that if you load another ROM file in between or loaded BIOS region does 
not match emulated region, default BIOS (/genplus/bios/bios_CD_X.bin) will be 
reloaded instead.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 7 Jul 2012 at 8:56

• Changed title: Configurable "System boot" and "Lock-On" ROM files
• Changed state: Accepted
• Added labels: Type-Enhancement, Priority-Low, Usability

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Regarding lock-on I think it would be practical to have the option of having a 
very simple confirmation window show up when you try to load a ROM. It could 
just contain the following two options: 

*OK
*Load second ROM

If you want to cancel, you press B. This would also be useful if, say, the 
complete Pier Solar game gets dumped someday, because the game itself is on a 
cartridge, but you can get much-improved in-game music by keeping the game's 
"music disc" in the CD-drive and the game cartridge in the cartridge slot at 
the same time while playing.

Original comment by swsparkl...@gmail.com on 10 Jul 2012 at 10:53

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But that would be more annoying the other 99% times you'll be loading games...

Having the Game lists feature "BIOS", "Lock-On" and "Extra" (and maybe "current 
hardware") buttons as shortcuts to their respective selection menus would be 
much more convenient, I think.

Original comment by superballena on 11 Jul 2012 at 8:20

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I agree this would be too annoying, and 99.9% of  people do not use this 
feature anyway.

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 11 Jul 2012 at 9:09

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What about having for example X (If you're using a GC controller) trigger this 
option? If you don't need it you just load a ROM by pressing A as usual instead.

Original comment by swsparkl...@gmail.com on 11 Jul 2012 at 2:16

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Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 9 Oct 2012 at 11:30

• Changed state: Standby

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[deleted comment]

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Added in r893

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 24 Aug 2014 at 10:23

• Changed state: Verified