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GameMinder

DOS games launcher

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README

GameMinder logo: the name in yellow script across a white grid on DOS blue, above "The games launcher for DOS"

GameMinder

:video_game: A lightweight DOS games launcher to let you easily find and launch your games

https://github.com/MaverickUK/GameMinder/blob/HEAD/docs/gameminder-demo.mp4

GameMinder v0.8.0 in DOSBox-X: the startup screen, help, system status, the memory map, full screen view with how much each game has been played, sorting, a game's notes, type-to-filter, launching a game from a batch file with play stats updated on return, adding a new game with its setup program suggested, choosing a colour theme, and the end screen on exit. Watch as MP4.

Watch demo of GameMinder running on a 386 on YouTube

GameMinder was created after I took a holiday in Summer 2022 with my Toshiba Libretto 100CT and found navigating through DOS and attempting to identify all my names purely through 8 character file and directory names a little tricky. I also had issues remembering which of my games were just demos, weren't setup or ran with issues.

Through these frustrations I decided to scratch this specific itch by creating a lightweight DOS games launcher which could store meta data about each of the games. This allows for games to be grouped by genre, released date or to just check if a particular game has been setup on your system.

The UI is a tribute to PathMinder which is an DOS explorer utility I've fond memories of using whilst growing up. The logo is a nod to the grid and script lettering on the cover of PathMinder's manual, in the colours of GameMinder's Classic theme.

GameMinder also keeps track on when you've played a specific game and for how long. This is used to provide you with statistics and allow sorting of your games by popularity.

A series of videos showing the development are available on YouTube

:rocket: Quick start

  1. Download the latest zip from Releases and copy GAMEMIND.EXE and SETTINGS.TXT to your DOS machine
  2. Copy THEMES.TXT too if you'd like colour themes, then set ScanPath in SETTINGS.TXT to your games directory (or several, separated by ;)
  3. Add a !GM_INFO.TXT file to each game's directory, e.g. name:Commander Keen 1 and exec:keen1.exe
  4. Run GAMEMIND

The quick start guide covers the !GM_INFO.TXT format, controls, play stats and settings.

📑 Changelog

🗺️ Roadmap

:computer: Design

:hammer: Building & testing

GameMinder follows Semantic Versioning.

:clap: Credits

Helpful resources used in the creation of GameMinder

  • ExecWithSwap by TurboPower Software - Allows execution of external program whilst leaving only a small 2K memory stub
  • Vogons for motivation support and testing

Useful resources

GameMinder banner: the name in yellow script across a white grid on DOS blue, beside "The games launcher for DOS"