Read Game Media 2.0 is a major update/refactor of Read Game ID. It's almost a complete rewrite, hence the new major version number AND new name. The fundamental purpose is still the same - read embedded game ID and metadata from game ROM files and discs, but now outputs allmetadata by default instead of just the game id (use -q for just game ID). Highlights include:
Native File Reading/Extraction
Most "helper" tools have been eliminated. Data is no generally read and extracted directly from the file. For PS3 discs, for example, PARAM.SFO is now found, read, and parsed natively vs. using 7z to extract the file and sfo to parse the contents. This simplifies external dependencies and, depending on platform, can greatly improved speed. PS4, for example, no longer first requiring extracting a multi-GB app.pkg before then extracting PARAM.SFO - now the SFO file is found and read directly from the PKG file within the ISO.
Some helpers are still required - for example, nstool is required to read most metadata for Switch ROMs. In these cases, metadata that can be obtained without the tool will be extracted first; if the tool is available additional metadata will be extracted and reported, otherwise it will gracefully fall back and only print the available subset.
Support for MANY New Formats
See the changelog below for the complete list, but I added support for 35+ new platforms and formats with this release. It now covers the same set of platforms as Verify Game.
Native Compression Support
Where possible, it now directly reads metadata from compressed files rather than first decompressing the entire file. Specifically, the script can read metadata directly from CSO (PS2/PSP), NSZ (Switch), RVZ (GameCube and Wii), and WUX (Wii U) files, making extraction as fast as their uncompressed equivalents.
CHD and CDEmu Support
CHD support was also added. Unlike the above compressed formats, CHD does not preserve key metadata in an uncompressed location, so as an alternative CHDs can be mounted as a virtual device via CDEemu and directly extracted from the virtual device. By default, CHDs will first be decompressed via chdman, but passing -c will instruct it to add the CHD as a virtual device in CDEmu instead. This can save significant time on large CHD collections, but there are some caveats:
- This requires a very recent version of CDEmu - libmirage 3.3.2 and cdemu-daemon 3.3.1
- There's a startup cost to spinning a bunch of virtual devices up and down - depending on the speed of your computer and number/size of CHDs, it can be faster to decompress instead. This has been optimized as much as possible, but generally the more CHDs you're reading the more benefit you'l see from this.
- Dreamcast and TurboGrafx-CD (PC Engine CD) games cannot be read via cdemu due to need for exact track layout; omit the -c to decompress these formats with chdman instead
Transparent Decompression Support
In addition to the compressed formats listed above, transparent decompression for all common compression and archive formats have also been added. E.g., if you compress your ROMs with 7z or zstd, they will be transparently decompressed to a temporary file, then read and deleted.
Major Script Refactor
This is not a user-facing change, but the logic used to read files, detect the format, process and output metadata has all been complete refactored and rewritten. The result is a much more logically consistent approach that should produce more consistent results with fewer edge cases as well as being easier to maintain and extend going forward.
Here's the full changelog:
- COMPLETE SCRIPT REWRITE - structure, logic, data handling all new; the following notes just detail new features
- Add support for the following new platforms:
- 3DO, Dreamcast, Neo Geo CD, PC-FX, PS5, TG/PCE-CD, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox ISOs
- 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, WonderSwan, Intellivision, TG16/PCE, SGX, NES+FDS, SNES, N64, GB, GBC, GBA, DS, 3DS, Switch (XCI/NSP), SMS, GEN, GG, NGP+NGPC, VB, and Vita (PSV) ROMs
- 3DS/Wii U TMD, Xbox XBE, X360 STFS, and Wii WAD files
- Add native read of CSO, NSZ, RVZ, and WUX images - no need for full decompression;
- Note: non-standard CSO images may not be compatible; use -C to disable this feature
- Add generic Unkown / PC fallback for ISOs - print useful PVD info
- Add direct CHD reading via cdemu (-c) - no need to first decompress;
- Note: Dreamcast and TG/PCE CHD images cannot be supported by -c
- Add support for reading from physical devices (e.g., /dev/cdrom)