I thought I'd add some more feedback as this looks very nice and I'm sure you've been working hard on it. It is good of you to do so and share the fruits of your labor with the rest of us.
I like the look of the UI. It reminds me of the Boxer approach for DOSBox games where they are all accessible in one Window, separate from your native Mac games. I guess some might prefer more integration with Launchpad and separate icons per game but I've warmed up after using Boxer to the idea of segregating games for DOS and Windows and my Launchpad has quite enough icons as it is - too many games!
I really, really like the implementation of a system whereby work is reused and those less technically inclined can benefit from "wrappers" already tweaked by those with the talent and inclination to do so. That is a very nice and significant touch to this app. Even for someone who knows how to fiddle around with Wine, research AppDB for hints, google for more, etc., etc. it sure is nice to be able to just grab an already working configuration and go play instead of work for it. That was a great idea.
I like the rating system too, like the App Store. I see this as another very cool and useful feature.
Limiting the system to stuff that works and weeding out stuff that does not would be a real blessing as well. I imagine you've already given some thought to this but I'll mention too that it would be really welcome and in my opinion an elegant feature to inform the user on install if the game is already in the database with a working solution ready to go, if it is not in the database and it is up to you to get it running if possible and then upload it or if it is simply known to not work with any current version of Wine. For example, we know anything requiring DirectX 11 does not work. There are plenty of titles in AppDB that are known to be garbage too sadly. So hopefully over time the database could grow to incorporate all this info and offer feedback to users drawing from it.
By the way, who the heck pays for the database, the server it is on, the bandwidth? It seems like that could be a significant expense if this takes off but I have no experience in that area.
Don't mind me rambling. Those were just some thoughts coming to mind as I typed along here.
I'll download this today and play with it soon so I can give more educated feedback if you want it once I've tried using it some. I actually have a first pet project in mind. I'd like to get Fallout 3 GoTY Edition (on Steam) running in Wine so I don't have to reboot for it. I've heard this title should run okay with Wine. I'll have to see if Barrel is ready for it yet. ;-)
I thought I'd add some more feedback as this looks very nice and I'm sure you've been working hard on it. It is good of you to do so and share the fruits of your labor with the rest of us.
I like the look of the UI. It reminds me of the Boxer approach for DOSBox games where they are all accessible in one Window, separate from your native Mac games. I guess some might prefer more integration with Launchpad and separate icons per game but I've warmed up after using Boxer to the idea of segregating games for DOS and Windows and my Launchpad has quite enough icons as it is - too many games!
I really, really like the implementation of a system whereby work is reused and those less technically inclined can benefit from "wrappers" already tweaked by those with the talent and inclination to do so. That is a very nice and significant touch to this app. Even for someone who knows how to fiddle around with Wine, research AppDB for hints, google for more, etc., etc. it sure is nice to be able to just grab an already working configuration and go play instead of work for it. That was a great idea.
I like the rating system too, like the App Store. I see this as another very cool and useful feature.
Limiting the system to stuff that works and weeding out stuff that does not would be a real blessing as well. I imagine you've already given some thought to this but I'll mention too that it would be really welcome and in my opinion an elegant feature to inform the user on install if the game is already in the database with a working solution ready to go, if it is not in the database and it is up to you to get it running if possible and then upload it or if it is simply known to not work with any current version of Wine. For example, we know anything requiring DirectX 11 does not work. There are plenty of titles in AppDB that are known to be garbage too sadly. So hopefully over time the database could grow to incorporate all this info and offer feedback to users drawing from it.
By the way, who the heck pays for the database, the server it is on, the bandwidth? It seems like that could be a significant expense if this takes off but I have no experience in that area.
Don't mind me rambling. Those were just some thoughts coming to mind as I typed along here.
I'll download this today and play with it soon so I can give more educated feedback if you want it once I've tried using it some. I actually have a first pet project in mind. I'd like to get Fallout 3 GoTY Edition (on Steam) running in Wine so I don't have to reboot for it. I've heard this title should run okay with Wine. I'll have to see if Barrel is ready for it yet. ;-)