can I create a package for distribution to include in the Vision games and also in my retropie
You want to call the included Commodore OS games via retropie? Interesting idea and entirely possible.
When I was developing COS3 I nearly included RetroPie/EmulationStation. I went as far as theming EmulationStation and got a fair way to something that looked passably decent as a Retro-Futuristic blue theme. However, I saw some of the incredible work people had put into custom theming EmulationStation, and thought, it's going to take way too much time to come up with something close to comparable, and this is just starting to hold up the release. I made a decision that it was better to focus on Commodore OS as a desktop experience, rather than become just another EmulationStation/RetroPie front-end experience. But now that the desktop experience has come together for the most part (and yes there's still further tweaking to be done), maybe it is time to reconsider adding an EmulationStation front end.
The plan is to have an optional feature installer in Commodore OS 3.1/4.0, and I might pursue EmulationStation as a feature option, or maybe even a standard option. To some extent, the feature installer should allow you to even choose the games and genres for inclusion.
You may have heard me mention I have produced a Rapid Application Development technology over the last decade or more. It has been my intention to use that to produce a front end for a game launching/store, including community interactions, external links and ROM identifying, sort of like a Plex for ROMs, eventually (potentially) culminating in a simple kind of GameMaker (of course producing cross platform and Amiga/C64 games). This was all intended to be a part of my plans for "Commodore Central", which unfortunately is currently just displaying as a webpage, and I hate that I haven't had the time to progress on that having touted it. Just prior to my Commodore acquisition involvement I was on the verge of releasing this RAD tech commercially as a SASS product, which given my new engagement at Commodore, may never come to be.
When Commodore OS 2 and 3 was created under the auspices of MyRetroComputer's Commodore license, I pretty much felt I had free reign to include whatever I wanted in Commodore OS in regard to my personal IP, but since the Commodore acquisition they obviously have to formally secure IP, so I am in discussions with Commodore's lawyer to lock down what the legal implications of this are. If it gets too hard then unfortunately my extensive and ambitious (and perhaps deslusional
) plans regarding that tech may have to be scrapped. Perhaps the inclusion of EmulationStation is a reasonable compromise or stop gap, maybe even a preferable one.
If you would like to create a feature package for COS that includes EmulationStation please DM me and we can work out the relevant details to automate the package download, setup and inclusion for all users who want it. The launching of all the COS games is as simple as running the command lines in the menu editor app. You would then need to add to the Emulation Station database. I might also add, that a Gamebase database is another option. jGamebase is included under the Emulation menu, and it currently has thousands of demos included. It can also be optionally launched from the Commodore icon on the main dock, if you change it to within the Commodore OS Settings manager.
Currently, Commodore OS development is at a standstill, due to my tasks in regard to the C64 Ultimate's release. I can't wait for you to see the culmination of what the team has been working on.
