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MobyGamer / total-dos-launcher

A system for easily loading and running thousands of DOS programs on vintage hardware
MIT License
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TDL.INI: Allow proglocations exceeding 80 chars #42

Closed theMK2k closed 2 years ago

theMK2k commented 6 years ago

In order to utilize TDL for launching executables within subdirectories, the current DOS limitations which cap the proglocations string at 80 characters quickly become an issue.

id Anthology - Vintage for example would need 149 characters: "..;..\CAT3D;..\CATACOMB;..\DAVE;..\HOVER;..\KDREAMS;..\KEEN123;..\KEEN4;..\KEEN5;..\KEEN6;..\ROVER1;..\ROVER2;..\SHADOW;..\SLORDAX;..\SPEAR;..\WOLF3D"

Would there be any chance to increase the cap? Maybe by having:

proglocations=..;..\CAT3D;..\CATACOMB;..\DAVE;..\HOVER;..\KDREAMS;..\KEEN123;..\KEEN4
proglocations1=..\KEEN5;..\KEEN6;..\ROVER1;..\ROVER2;..\SHADOW;..\SLORDAX;..\SPEAR;..\WOLF3D

or even

proglocation=..
proglocation=..\CAT3D
proglocation=..\CATACOMB
proglocation=..\DAVE
proglocation=..\HOVER
proglocation=..\KDREAMS
proglocation=..\KEEN123
proglocation=..\KEEN4
proglocation=..\KEEN5
proglocation=..\KEEN6
proglocation=..\ROVER1
proglocation=..\ROVER2
proglocation=..\SHADOW
proglocation=..\SLORDAX
proglocation=..\SPEAR
proglocation=..\WOLF3D
theMK2k commented 6 years ago

You can, however, label this issue as minor or even wontfix, as I found a workaround by generating unique batch files in a single proglocation.

MobyGamer commented 6 years ago

The limitation is definitely a DOS limitation as I'm using DOS PATH constructs. But the real reason I'm leaning towards closing this as wontfix is because the point of TDL is to eliminate the micromanagement and manual setup of loading games. In other words, I'm confused by the need to put each game in it's own subdir when TDL creates them for you.

theMK2k commented 6 years ago

Regarding the id Anthology - Vintage CD. When you install its games with the default options, you end up with the directory structure seen above.

Using TDL in that way also brings another risk: you could for example end up with multiple START.BAT files which you have to differentiate. So in the end, I tackle these issues outside TDL as documented here: https://documentation.metropolis-launcher.net/create_total_dos_launcher_menu.htm (scroll down to Behind the Scenes).

MobyGamer commented 2 years ago

Since this request is opposite of the way TDL was intended to be used, I'm closing the issue (glad you found a workaround).