Game Explorer Manager for Windows Vista/7

[FordGT90Concept]

This application allows you to do the things you wish the standard Game Explorer would like be able to rename entries, delete games that are no longer available, make games work that normally do work by clicking on the executable, and fix links to Steam games. It is intended to replace Game UX Cleaner.

Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to run. Client Profile version will NOT work! No installation required (besides .NET if you don't already have it).

Usage Notes:
-Double click on a game to start it. Note: Not all games can be started via the Manager.
-Click once on a game to load the properties of it. Simply click out of the input area to save the change.
-Right-click on a game to Rename, Delete, Browse its configuration directory, or Run it (like above, Run won't work on all).

Version History:
1.1.4 - Fixed Steam not found message showing up even when it is found. Added icon. Changed Rename dialog so it would jump to the new name box instead of the old name box.
1.1.3 - Added File -> Export List of Games... which saves a text file (one per line and a count at the top) of all the games registered in Game Explorer.
1.1.2 - Now shows game information when a game is selected again (apparently broke this feature in 1.1.1). I also combined "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" into "Automatically Repair Links."
1.1.1 - Added a status strip which shows the progress of loading icons.
1.1.0 - Finally, app icons are supported; however, they take a long time to load so they are off by default. You can enable it via File -> Show Icons.
1.0.4 - "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" now always shows how many it fixed (even none) to confirm that it at least checked.
1.0.3 - Added "Browse Explorer" to the right-click menu.
1.0.2 - Added "Repair Links."
1.0.1 - Added "Fix Steam Links" and "Refresh."
1.0.0 - First public release.

Copyright Info:
-Uses ShellLink by Mattias Sjogren (copyright 2002).
-Uses IconLib by CastorTiu (copyright 2008).

 

[LifeOnMars]

Very nice Ford, thanks. I am a bit square when it comes to organising my games and desktop so this is very handy.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Oh, I should note that I am not sure how Game UX handles hidden games/providers. What I do know is that even if they are hidden, they will appear in Game Explorer Manager. Deleting them from Game Explorer Manager will remove them permanently (can't be unhidden).

Edit: I should also note that ConfigInstallType affects how Game UX handles the extra info. It's still a mystery how exactly it works. Play with it a bit if you are inclined.

 

[newtekie1]

This is a very useful piece of software. Thanks!

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1.0.1 is up. I added a very useful "Fix Steam Links" button. The links Steam creates to games in the Steam Start menu are actually URLs. Game Explorer can't handle URLs. What it does is convert the URLs to Shortcuts (LNKs) which Game Explorer can handle. This allows you to quickly add Steam games to Games Explorer and make them work. Note: because they point at Steam, the icons and everything are Steam's.

Refresh is self explainatory.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1.0.2 is up. I added "Repair Links" which fixes a dumbass mistake by Microsoft not including "Start in" path when it creates links. This may fix games that have issues when ran through Game Explorer but not when running the executable directly.


I will add 1.0.3 soon which adds "Browse Explorer" option to right-click (remembered I wanted to that just now). If you go to \PlayTasks\0 from there, you'll find the shortcut to the selected game which you can manually modify.

Note: Not all games have an associated folder to browse. This looks to be only true of the games that come with Windows (e.g. Solitaire, Minesweeper, Purble Palace, etc.), however.

 

[Kreij]

No print function?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

What's there to print? XD

1.0.4 is up (minor change from 1.0.3).

I have to admit, every update I made so far has taken hours longer to accomplish than I expected. Microsoft doesn't make fixing their bugs easy even though it is in theory.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1.1.0 finally has icons (as you can see in the updated screenshot)! However, the application has to search and process the box art, the link, and the executable the link points to to find the best possible icon for rendering (48x48 and 32-bit ARGB). This, unfortunately, adds quite a bit of time because some executables have hundreds of icons. For this reason, I have disabled showing icons by default. To enable it go to File -> Show Icons. If you want to hide them, simply click on Show Icons again.

Looks almost identical to the stock Games Explorer, don't it?


In 1.1.1, I hope to add a dialog box or something that gives you an idea of how long it will take to gather info/icons so you don't get the impression it locked up.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1.1.1 is up. I added a status strip with the name of the game currently being loaded as well as a progress bar showing overall progress. This most likely will only update when "Show Icons" is checked.

This is the last planned update for a while (out of ideas to add ).

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Question: Should I merge the "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" functionality into "Repair Links Automatically" or something similar? Both processes are very quick so there's really no reason to keep them separate.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1.1.2 is up. A description of the changes are in the OP. This is a pretty important update because it's primary feature was broke in 1.1.1 or earlier. I didn't catch it until now.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I finally got around to fixing a bunch of quirks in the program including a message about Steam not being found errornously showing when clicking on "Automatically Repair Links," the Rename dialog now auto highlights the new name input box instead of the old name, and I added a fancy dancy icon derived from Game Explorer's icon.

 

[Zagan]

This application allows you to do the things you wish the standard Game Explorer would like be able to rename entries, delete games that are no longer available, make games work that normally do work by clicking on the executable, and fix links to Steam games. It is intended to replace Game UX Cleaner.

Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to run. Client Profile version will NOT work! No installation required (besides .NET if you don't already have it).

Usage Notes:
-Double click on a game to start it. Note: Not all games can be started via the Manager.
-Click once on a game to load the properties of it. Simply click out of the input area to save the change.
-Right-click on a game to Rename, Delete, Browse its configuration directory, or Run it (like above, Run won't work on all).

Version History:
1.1.4 - Fixed Steam not found message showing up even when it is found. Added icon. Changed Rename dialog so it would jump to the new name box instead of the old name box.
1.1.3 - Added File -> Export List of Games... which saves a text file (one per line and a count at the top) of all the games registered in Game Explorer.
1.1.2 - Now shows game information when a game is selected again (apparently broke this feature in 1.1.1). I also combined "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" into "Automatically Repair Links."
1.1.1 - Added a status strip which shows the progress of loading icons.
1.1.0 - Finally, app icons are supported; however, they take a long time to load so they are off by default. You can enable it via File -> Show Icons.
1.0.4 - "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" now always shows how many it fixed (even none) to confirm that it at least checked.
1.0.3 - Added "Browse Explorer" to the right-click menu.
1.0.2 - Added "Repair Links."
1.0.1 - Added "Fix Steam Links" and "Refresh."
1.0.0 - First public release.

Copyright Info:
-Uses ShellLink by Mattias Sjogren (copyright 2002).
-Uses IconLib by CastorTiu (copyright 2008).

This application allows you to do the things you wish the standard Game Explorer would like be able to rename entries, delete games that are no longer available, make games work that normally do work by clicking on the executable, and fix links to Steam games. It is intended to replace Game UX Cleaner.

Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to run. Client Profile version will NOT work! No installation required (besides .NET if you don't already have it).

Usage Notes:
-Double click on a game to start it. Note: Not all games can be started via the Manager.
-Click once on a game to load the properties of it. Simply click out of the input area to save the change.
-Right-click on a game to Rename, Delete, Browse its configuration directory, or Run it (like above, Run won't work on all).

Version History:
1.1.4 - Fixed Steam not found message showing up even when it is found. Added icon. Changed Rename dialog so it would jump to the new name box instead of the old name box.
1.1.3 - Added File -> Export List of Games... which saves a text file (one per line and a count at the top) of all the games registered in Game Explorer.
1.1.2 - Now shows game information when a game is selected again (apparently broke this feature in 1.1.1). I also combined "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" into "Automatically Repair Links."
1.1.1 - Added a status strip which shows the progress of loading icons.
1.1.0 - Finally, app icons are supported; however, they take a long time to load so they are off by default. You can enable it via File -> Show Icons.
1.0.4 - "Repair Links" and "Fix Steam Links" now always shows how many it fixed (even none) to confirm that it at least checked.
1.0.3 - Added "Browse Explorer" to the right-click menu.
1.0.2 - Added "Repair Links."
1.0.1 - Added "Fix Steam Links" and "Refresh."
1.0.0 - First public release.

Copyright Info:
-Uses ShellLink by Mattias Sjogren (copyright 2002).
-Uses IconLib by CastorTiu (copyright 2008).

OK, so how do I add games with this thing? You forgot to add INSTRUCTIONS and people are searching all over trying to figure out how to use this thing. Yeah, I figured out how to delete games that were not working so that was cool. Now you need an ADD game to make it complete.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

You add them via Games Explorer (drag and drop usually) then refresh/restart Game Explorer Manager.

Adding games to Games Explorer is an overly complicated process which is why I chose not to replicate it.