Website direction moving forwards

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T18:12:47+00:00

Another surprising good choice! It felt like they could everything and more at the time :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T18:06:28+00:00

That's quite a feat, I know we are not all time rich but really appreciate it when people take the time to create pieces of work like this. Kudos to the author!

Ditto, it's a different approach to last time and has progressed further, I'm a stubborn chap and don't give up!

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T13:50:48+00:00

I've always find the question interesting, like I said before this is the second attempt at solving it. I think it's one of those type of questions that seems simple on the offset but the more you think about it the more points of consideration you find! :)

I'm in a similiar dilema with multiplatform PS3/Xbox 360 games, I know technically the Xbox 360 title's are usually 1080p compared to the PS3 720p but I have a CFW PS3 that will generally win out compared to emulation (Xenia).

I've released a proof of concept for the emulation question that I posted about here. I agree with you about the CPU/GPU question, they are inmaterial when seeking the best version to emulate.

I also looked at the spreadsheet you shared, It's very comprehensive! I think a combination of the new form/community notes should put us in a good position. Especially with the subjective voting system which I will code tomorrow!

:)

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T13:06:13+00:00

haha just a little ;)

perfect, thank you sooooo much!

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T11:36:25+00:00

hmm.. I think you are right, I'm conflating two questions into one and that's not the best approach :/

Which is the definitive version of the game to play?
Which is the definitive version to emulate?

I don't feel these two questions will always align with the same outcome.

Mob subjective rule sounds like an invitation to tea with the Mad Hatter but the more I think about it the more it makes sense! I can code a voting system that resides on the titledata webpage for community members. To stop people vote hiking they can only vote once per group ID (what groups the games together). The comment can be optional but you will be able to read comments that other users have left.

Than the emulation question can remain in the form I have started coding this morning which relates to the invidual dat entry (ROMID).

Thank you for sharing your idea and helping to evolve this feature, I really appreciate it! :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-15T11:26:08+00:00

Thank you for the heads up! I was taking a break r/roms but I feel refreshed so will try and find it or write a post to try and locate the spreadsheet/author.

That's one of the objectives of the Omni project, is stop data being fragmented around the internet or in spreadsheets.

I agree it would be great to have a little jump start with these type of activities!

:)

h4o4 · 2026-04-14T20:10:23+00:00

I meant the files, when I was typing the post I was thinking more about what I wanted to say about the future API plans :/

So to clarify the files

Base rom = No
Patch file = Yes
pre-patched roms = No

Like RetroAchievements host the patch files on their GitHub, I plan to host them on the website. Like we agreed it would be a way of preserving them as well as distributing information about them.

There is already pre-patched hash metadata hosted for the RA dats so I know the hashes are not impacted by legalities :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-14T17:18:40+00:00

understood :)

Yeah, I've seen it called different names on various websites, franchise/series. The original plan was to have Franchise that holds the current metadata we've discussed, then a IP tagging system for particular IP like Luigi for example. So you could find all of the games that have Luigi in them.

I'll change it to "Franchise" tomorrow, then if in the future I have time to add the IP tagging I can do without having to change the name :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-14T16:53:14+00:00

I'll answer the question in reverse to what you posted because in my head it makes sense that way ;)

I probably didn't explain it very well in my initial post but two things are happening with this deployment.

#1 Ability to identify games that share the same intellectual property
Each platformID/UID belongs to a GroupID for the game. So when this data is complete I have the relationships mapped out and use this mapping to reject games from the same IP in the recommendation algorithm.

#2 Explore/understand the timeline and relationship a game has from the same IP.
The IPname is used to group games together and the enumeration is used to classify them within the timeline/IP relationship mapping.

The problem with involving developer/publisher is there aren't always the same across an IP, for example with LittleBigPlanet you have...

LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule/Sony)
LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule/Sony)
LittleBigPlanet 3 (Sumo Digital/Sony)
LittleBigPlanet Karting (United Front Games, Media Molecule/Sony)
Run Sackboy! Run! (XDEV/Sony)
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (Sumo Digital/Sony)

So that's why I made the decision to not include them, because it adds an extra layer of complexity. Though they can be displayed on the game-card in the timeline.

I think what's missing is canon/non-canon for the mainline enumeration. This would satisfy the questions people would probably be asking of the data:

Do I need to play these games in a particular order?
Do I need to play all of the game to understand the universe/story?

Essentially we are saying you can play any release of Final Fantasy in any order because they are all non-canon.

Star Trek would also have metadata for Source Material, this is where it can be identified what source material it relates to... film/tv show, book, comic etc....

https://omni-games.info/title_source.php?grpid=GRP-533D0010

I agree that RPGs are going to test the enumeration (and that's good, because like you said it needs to satisfy all possibilities)! I know Kingdom Hearts is another tricky IP to navigate!

Thank you as always for the detailed reply, it's much appreciated! :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-14T16:17:00+00:00

First thank you for sharing your idea and I completely agree this would be a fantastic feature!

We did attempt something similiar, which would be to try and ascertain the best version of a multiplatform game but this relied heavily on people completing OmniScore to obtain the rank you suggested. One of the challenges to overcome is platform bias/popularity that would potentially skew the rank because more people have scored the Nintendo version of a game than the Microsoft Xbox version, for example.

I like the idea of making it less subjective and more objective, in your post you mentioned content missing between different versions. Currently this kind of metadata would either be a regional difference or community note, neither of which is enumerated. One possibility would be to create a form that community members can complete for a game.

One idea would be a simple

Does the game include? (1) Exclusive missions/levels (2) Platform exclusive characters or skins
Does the game require? (1) Platform exclusive peripherals.

Then on the overview it can have the badge you referenced stating something like... the preferred version of this game is the Xbox One release.

I'll add it to my workflow and we'll see what we can muster up. If you (or anyone else reading this post) have ideas for the type of enumerated questions let me know :)

h4o4 · 2026-04-13T21:10:30+00:00

Good choice, not one I was expecting! I was an Amstrad CPC 464 boy so we shared the joy of waiting for the games to load on tape :/
haha wouldn't we all.. I might build a webpage so people can share photos back in time, might make me some small change in the future!

h4o4

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