PSBBN Mixed Sorter

Lists the PSBBN Game Collection in one alphabetical order across consoles instead of one block per console.

The PSBBN Definitive Project groups the collection by media type: every PS2 game first, then every PS1 game. This patch interleaves them, so a series split across consoles reads in order:

before                          after
------                          -----
Open PS2 Loader                 Ace Combat 3       (PS1)
POPSLoader                      Ace Combat 04      (PS2)
BB Navigator                    Ace Combat 5       (PS2)
HOSDMenu                        Ace Combat Zero    (PS2)
Ace Combat 04    (PS2)          Akumajou Dracula X (PS1)
Ace Combat 5     (PS2)          Alone in the Dark  (PS2)
Ace Combat Zero  (PS2)          Ape Escape         (PS1)
...                             Ape Escape 2       (PS2)
Ace Combat 3     (PS1)          Ape Escape 3       (PS2)
Akumajou Dracula X (PS1)        ...
...                             Zone of the Enders (PS2)
wLaunchELF                      Open PS2 Loader
R3Configurator                  POPSLoader
                                BB Navigator
                                HOSDMenu
                                wLaunchELF
                                R3Configurator

Only games are interleaved. Launchers (Open PS2 Loader, POPSLoader, BB Navigator, HOSDMenu) and apps (wLaunchELF, R3Configurator) are grouped at the end of the collection, so it opens straight on a game instead of on system shortcuts.

Install

Run inside the WSL/Linux environment where the toolkit lives:

git clone https://github.com/SalustianCreativeLabs/PSBBNMixedSorter.git
cd PSBBNMixedSorter
./install.sh

Then run the PSBBN menu → 4 (Install Games and Apps) → 2 (Add). The collection is rebuilt with the new order.

If the toolkit is not auto-detected:

./install.sh --toolkit ~/PSBBN-Definitive-Project

Other commands:

./install.sh --status   # is the patch applied?
./install.sh --revert   # restore the pristine Game-Installer.sh

Reapplying after a toolkit update

The PSBBN launcher runs git pull --ff-only on the toolkit every time it starts, which discards the patch. Reapply it after the launcher has updated the toolkit and before installing games:

1. Start the launcher, let it update, then quit at the main menu.
2. ./install.sh
3. Start the launcher again → menu 4 → type 2.

install.sh is idempotent, so running it when already patched is a no-op.

How it works

Display order in the Game Collection is the order of scripts/tmp/selected.list. The console performs no sorting at runtime — info.sys carries no index field (release_date and genre are written empty), and the .NN. in PP.<SERIAL>.NN.<NAME> is a per-serial duplicate counter, not a sort key.

The chain:

ps1.list / ps2.list / smb-pops.list / app.list   each sorted by list-sorter.py
   -> cat                                        titles.list
   -> game-selector.py                           re-buckets by media type (field 4)
   -> selected.list                              order = section order x in-section order
   -> create_game_partitions()  tac              reversed
   -> mkpart, 8 MB each                          physical APA table order
   -> console renders reverse-APA                back to selected.list order

The grouping originates in game-selector.py, which buckets entries into fixed sections (ps2, ps1, smb, launchers, apps). #SECTION_ORDER= in exclude.list can reorder those sections but never merge them.

So the patch inserts one block right after the selector runs: split selected.list by media type, sort only the games with the toolkit's own list-sorter.py, then concatenate back as games → launchers → apps. That reuses upstream's title normalisation, roman numerals and series grouping (overrides, truncate_prefixes) rather than reimplementing a sorter.

Note the direction: the order of selected.list is the on-screen order. tac in create_game_partitions() reverses it when creating partitions, and the console renders the APA table from the highest address down, which cancels the inversion. Entries at the end of selected.list land on the lowest addresses and appear last.

What it deliberately leaves alone:

• the tac in create_game_partitions() — load-bearing for the console's reverse render
• ps1.list / ps2.list — still read afterwards for PS2 VMC creation and POPS handling
• the cat that builds titles.list — inert, since the selector re-buckets regardless of input order

Failing safe

install.sh anchors on the game-selector.py invocation and asserts the fi that follows it. If upstream restructures that code, the patch is not applied: it warns and exits 2. The collection reverts to console grouping — nothing breaks. The patched file is also validated with bash -n before replacing the original, and a .pristine copy is kept for --revert.

Requirements

The toolkit's own dependencies — python3 with natsort (the PSBBN venv provides it), plus awk and bash. No additional packages.

Credits

Built on the PSBBN Definitive Project by CosmicScale. The sorting itself is upstream's list-sorter.py; this repository only changes which list gets sorted. All credit for the toolkit and the sorter belongs there.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later, matching the upstream project this patch derives from. See LICENSE.