• Registered: 2017-08-14
  • Posts: 3

Hi guys,

Half a decade ago (!) there were rumblings that Redump might support p/clone DATs. The post I found is here:
http://forum.redump.org/topic/12875/dat … tionships/

I am wondering - is this something the community is interested in, and if so, what have the obstacles been in making these DATs a reality?

I ask because I have been working on a tool that helps automatically group games into their parent / clone relationships. If the sheer manual labour involved has been an obstacle in the past, my tools will surely help.

Appreciate your thoughts on this. Cheers.

  • Jackal
  • Moderator (Retired)
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  • Registered: 2006-12-23
  • Posts: 4,132

It's still on the TODO list - http://forum.redump.org/topic/7446/data … o-shedule/
iR0b0t is the only site coder, so no idea if or when this will be implemented.

  • Registered: 2017-08-14
  • Posts: 3

Thanks Jackal. It's a shame to see p/clone far down the list of priorities, but the higher priority items are justified (sub-channel data, clrmame support, etc).

  • iR0b0t
  • iR0b0t
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  • Registered: 2008-02-21
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There is no priority on that list, the comment on priority is only valid for the first list "working on, priority order desc",which is empty just yet.

Right now i am working things down which i think are the fastest to be done with. But i can change it on request.

The p/clone dats is a difficult topic, before i can do anything on it i need to have a good plan on how to realize it. The discussion on that topic link was not resulting in a final plan.

PX-760A (+30), PX-W4824TA (+98), GSA-H42L (+667), GDR-8164B (+102), SH-D162D (+6), SOHD-167T (+12)
  • Registered: 2017-08-14
  • Posts: 3

Hi iR0bot. Thanks for dropping in, and thank you for all the great work you've done for Redump smile

I think it may worth exploring 'why' parent / clone DATs are desirable. Personally, I like the notion of 'game families'. I like the separation of 'unique' software for a platform - it makes exploring software libraries more manageable. I frequently ask myself the question: 'How many unique titles were released for system X'?. Grouping a game's parts (discs, for example) is one element of that, as is the higher-level 'Family' encapsulation.

I would love to know what others think of this. Why do they want p/clone DATs? Do they share my mindset that this kind of grouping is a good tool for helping with in the study of games?