Actual hardware selection from load menus

[GoogleCodeExporter]

We know how the "Console hardware" option in the System menu forces emulation 
to one system or the other, which is indeed useful... But, from a user's point 
of view, that's what I'd think that selecting "Load SMS game" or "Load Mega 
Drive game" would actually do. Like choosing the system you want to use until 
you go back and select a different one.

For example, if I wanted to test a certain SMS game with graphic bugs when 
being played on a Mega Drive, I'd instinctively select the "Load Mega Drive 
game" icon (as if you plugged that system in) and then select the SMS ROM (as 
if I was using a Power Base Converter to play it). The same could be applied to 
Master System games running on Game Gear hardware, or SG-1000 games running on 
the Master System and Game Gear (the latter seen in many pirate cartridges).

If there's actual hardware distinctions between different versions of the 
emulated system (SMS1, SMS2, Mark-III), perhaps the "Console hardware" option 
could just be moved to a button on top of the game list saying something like 
"Current hardware: SMS2".

I believe this could make things more intuitive than having to go  back to the 
System menu to force the current hardware. I hope it makes sense...

Original issue reported on code.google.com by icedoma...@gmail.com on 8 Jul 2012 at 4:19

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I disagree, mostly because a game is different from the console itself and as 
you said, you may want to play a sms game on genesis but i guess you wouldn't 
like it to be displayed like a genesis cartridge in the rom browser, right ? 
That's the purpose of the distinct load menus, to distinguish between games and 
be able to display the proper cartridge label and screenshots without having to 
read the file extension to guess the type (which for zipped file involves 
uncompressing and reading the file just to know what his type is, even when you 
actually don't plan to load it - this strategy caused noticed slowdown in 
previous version rom browser). Using only filename for screenshots also proved 
to be a bad idea since some genesis and sms games share the same name.

Lastly, it's much more practical this way to have different game types 
classified in distinct folders and quickly access them without having to 
navigate through your whole file hierarchy just because you want to load a sms 
rom on genesis but the folder obviously points to your genesis folder, since 
most of the time, that's where you pick roms for genesis...

All in all, it's more practical to use the "console system" option if you want 
to force a specific system instead of auto-detection, and does not force 
de-facto when using load file menus, which kinda defeat the purpose of 
auto-detection, which people are gonna use anyway. Auto detection is also good 
in case of mis-classified rom, you immediately see on which system it is 
supposed to be running, while if you force the system, all you got is a black 
screen and people complaining about rom "not working". So long for the more 
intuitive solution...

Original comment by ekeeke31@gmail.com on 8 Jul 2012 at 4:41

• Changed state: WontFix

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I see, that's an interesting way of doing it and I agree with its usefulness, 
although I'd still move the "Console hardware" option to the ROM browser for a 
faster control of which system do you want to play the game with.

By the way, in case you hadn't noticed, it was me who posted the issue. No idea 
why I was logged into the other account...

--ICEknight

Original comment by superballena on 8 Jul 2012 at 5:29

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Or, rather than moving it, just adding a shortcut to "System options" 
altogether.

Original comment by superballena on 8 Jul 2012 at 5:31