Third-party Apps and Plugins

Thanks to the new (since v13.5) plugin feature that supports menu nesting, 2 plugins have been combined into 1.
(Bulk) Add Additional Applications - https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/2866-bulk-add-additional-applications/
(Bulk) Remove Additional Applications - https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/2980-bulk-remove-additional-applications/

These combined plugins have both been overhauled both functionally and visually to 'keep up with the times' and have a smaller footprint plus added features.
This plugin Requires LaunchBox v13.5 (or newer)
If you haven't updated to LaunchBox v13.5 (or newer), you really should. But until then, the original versions of the plugins (for now) still work. (see links above)

Installing:
After downloading the file, open the zip file and copy the contents into \LaunchBox\Plugins\
i.e. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\BulkAddRemoveAdditionalApps\BulkAddRemoveAdditionalApps.dll
If you didn't use 7Zip to extract the contents,
Navigate to the plugin folder and right-click the file. Select 'Properties' Click "Unblock" and then click OK. If switching to this plugin from either of its predecessors, be sure to remove the older version(s) from your 'Plugins' folder.

Using:
Select one or more games Right-click on one of the selected games Select Bulk Add/Remove Additional Apps to expand 2 more options Select either: Bulk Add Additional Apps Bulk Remove Additional Apps

Bulk Add Additional Apps
The intent of this is to add the same Additional Application to more than one game, all in one shot.
It can also be used to add an Additional App to a single without having Edit the game.

What's new:
UI completely overhauled for that 'modern look' Removed restriction requiring multiple games be selected aka: You can now add an Additional App directly to a single game without having to Edit the game NEW Feature: Add %romfile% to the Command-Line Parameters to insert the "full\path\to\ROM\file.ext" (including quotes) when saved Option: Remove quotes Option: Remove file extension and folder path Tip: press Ctrl+R to insert %romfile% Bonus Feature: Add %title% to insert the games full Title Add %platform% to insert the games platform Name Tip: press Crtl+T or Ctrl+P to insert these (respectively) Hint: You may want to enclose these in quotes if they consist of more than 1 word %platform% = Atari 2600 "%platform%" = "Atari 2600" Huge Thanks to @Headrush69 for the idea of adding the %romfile% option!!! (%title% and %platform% was also his.)

Bulk Remove Additional Apps
The intent of this plugin is to Remove the same* Additional Application for all games in a given Platform, all at one time.
*Same is determined by the Additional Applications Application Name and Application Path. If they match exactly, they are the ‘same’.

Why use this?
Quite possibly you used Bulk Add Additional Apps and you clicked “OK” before realizing you forgot to add in the Command-Line Parameters, or the Additional App is simply not needed anymore.

Using:
When opening, the plugin will default to the selected games' Platform. You can select a different platform using the dropdown box.
By default, the plugin will 'combine' all Additional Apps that have the exact same Application Name AND Application Path, and only display one of those.
When you remove that "one", all occurrences (having the same Name and App Path) will be removed. Regardless of Command-Line parameters.
To separate these out by Command-Line parameters, check Split By Command-line.
Once you click Remove, there's no going back.

Some icons by Yusuke Kamiyamane

317 downloads

(1 review)

7 comments

Updated August 20, 2023

MouseHideAndLock2

By Nixx

https://github.com/nixxou/MouseHideAndLock2
It's a rewritten version of my plugin MouseHideAndLock, while using the original one, i got some issues & crash that's why i did an other version.
Also, i'm not using startup screen and since disabling mouse requiere startup screen enabled, this plugin is useful for me.

So, in the configuration file, you got something like this :

You can select the configuration for each platform & emulator.

Hide Cursor : Will hide the cursor once the game is launched.
Show Cursor On Move : You need to also have Hide Cursor checked for this to work, with this option enabled, moving your mouse will show up the cursor, it's only hidden when it's not moving.
Lock Cursor : Will lock your cursor on your main monitor, if you press Shift while moving the cursor, you will be able to go to other screen.

43 downloads

(0 reviews)

Updated August 7, 2023

IsoEnablerForRPCS3

By Nixx

It's basic as it get, and there is probably ton of similar tools around but mine is really "fire & forget"
So, you extract the archive somewhere, you execute IsoEnablerForRPCS3.exe to register it and that's it.
There is no launcher, no menu, nothing, if you want to unregister, you click again on IsoEnablerForRPCS3.exe

To use it ? You just use rpcs3.exe as usual, except that now, if you use an iso as an argument, it will just work (mounting the iso thought powershell)
Works only with decrypted iso.
I make mine from jbfolder with makeps3iso. ( https://github.com/bucanero/ps3iso-utils/tree/master )
Also, not included in this release, but i package updates DLC and rap files inside a folder called UPDATES_AND_DLC that i put inside my iso file, dlc package have name that start with "DLC--".
I'm telling this because i plan to add an option to auto install updates & dlc in a future rlz.

Not compatible with BigBoxProfile because it use the same trick to hijack the process, (i will update BBProfile it to include that as a module)

52 downloads

(0 reviews)

Updated July 28, 2023

StreamIsoToPS3

By Nixx

I own a jailbreaked PS3, i mostly use rpcs3 from launchbox, but sometime, i want to launch a game on my real ps3.
With this tool, i can select the game from launchbox and make it run on my ps3.

You need WMan Mod, go to http://yourps3ip/setup.ps3/sman.ps3 and add your PC IP as PS3NETSRV#1
StreamIsoToPS3.exe <IsoFile> <PS3IP>

13 downloads

(0 reviews)

0 comments

Submitted July 25, 2023

BigBoxProfile

By Nixx

BigBoxProfile is an app that allows you to alter how Launchbox/BigBox and each of the emulators works, adding a profile system and tons of features that allow you to alter/customize how emulators work.

What is BigBoxProfile ?

This app is made of two parts that work together but can be used independently.

1- There is a part that alters how Launchbox/BigBox works and add a new command line parameter “--profile=” that will trigger users' configured settings.
It allow you to bind a specific monitor, sound card for a profile or even use a specifics launchbox profile settings (for example make a bigbox profile that only show some of the platform/playlists)

2- The other part allow you to alter how emulators works, change the command line that they receive on the fly and do tons of stuff (change monitor settings, execute ahk code, use fallback path for rom, copy rom from distant path to local drive or ramdisk, extract archive, executes pre/post command lines, including command line as admin, force the game to be run as admin …)

How does it works ?

The app makes extensive use of a hidden feature of windows called the “Image File Execution” injection.
If you edit the registry at “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\” you can register a key with the name of an executable to target and an app that will replace it.
So, in my case, it create this kind of keys :

That way, when you launch an executable called BigBox.exe, instead of launching it, it will call BigboxProfile.exe. My app will do actions and call bigbox (or launchbox) itself.
So, it’s like an exe wrapper, but from an user standpoint, it’s invisible.

As for emulator, it works the same, once a emulator exe is registered inside BigboxProfile the app will register a registry key to hijack it, do some user configured actions and then launch it.

I’ve written modules that you can chain and order the way you want.
Technically each module have 3 functions, ExecuteBefore, ExecuteAfter and AlterCommandLine
If you chain Module1, Module2, Module3, it will do something like that when you launch the emulator :
Execute ExecuteBefore for module 1, 2, 3.
Pass the command line to module1 and alter it with the AlterCommandLine, then pass it to module2, and then pass it to module3, launch the game with the altered command line.
On game close, execute ExecuteAfter on module 3, 2, 1.

There is a slight subtlety when using launchbox auto-generated m3u for multidisc, but i will get to that later.

I- Altering BigBox / Launchbox

Ok, so first you can create BigBoxProfile Profiles

Beware, here i’m talking about profile for BigBoxProfile (my app), it’s not related to Launchbox/BigBox settings (xml files inside the Launchbox/Data folder).
You can actually alter how and witch xml files launchbox will use with a specific BigboxUtils program, but i will get to that point later.

So BigBoxUtils is shipped with a “default” profile, you can add as many as you want. For example, you can add a profile called “tv” when you plan to use your BigBox on your TV

Once a profile is made, you can call launchbox/bigbox to use this profile when you add –profile=<profilename> to the command line. Like BigBox.exe –profile=tv

This use case is actually what made me code this app. I use bigbox on a computer that’s plugged to both my PC monitor in my room, and to my TV on the living room. I play mostly on my PC monitor, but i wanted to also be able to launch BigBox on my tv from a simple shortcut.

The basic options for a BigBox Profile are here :

Monitor Priority
Set the monitor on witch BigBox (and eventually Launchbox if click on the checkbox) will launch.

It change the monitor option in BigBoxSettings.xml before Bigbox start. (And for launchbox, it will try to move the window)

By default it use as default “main”, and myself, i only use that.
Main means “Main Display”, it’s a primary monitor, the one with that checkbox enabled :

So, with the option set a Main, you are sure that you will not encounter weird Bigbox bug when the monitor change, it will always use the primary one, and if you change the primary Bigbox will launch on it, that’s really handy.

But you can also specify an other display if you want.

I actually wanted to show the real monitor name alongside DISPLAYX, but i ran into technical limitations.

Use Monitor Disposition :

So, here is the game changer, here you can register and set monitor layout.
It actually use code from this excellent software : https://sourceforge.net/projects/monitorswitcher/
But it’s slightly altered to also manage DPI change/restoration.

So, if i go back to my exemple with my TV profile, i will register a monitor layout where my TV is set as main monitor and since my monitor priority is set as main, when i launch bigbox.exe –profile=tv, it set my TV as main display, launch bigbox on it, and once bigbox is close it will restore my usual monitor layout.

As a side note, on the last version of the app, in the bottom of the main form, i added a quick combo list : Quick Monitor Disposition Switch. You can use that to manually switch between saved monitor layouts.
Set Primary SoundCard :

It’s straightforward, once set, it will change the main playback device.

Like with my tv profile, i will force the sound to use the TV HDMI.

Use Specific Launchbox Data profile :

It’s an hidden and experimental feature, please backup your data LaunchBox\Data before !!!
So, with this features you can use a copy of some or all xml files of the Launchbox/Data folder for a BigBoxProfile.
Restriction : It use hardlinks, so that only works if Launchbox/BigBox is used on a NTFS drive, not gonna work if launchbox is used from a network drive.

Like, let says that for some reason, you want a custom InputBindings.xml for your tv profile.

You create a folder called “Profile_tv” and put a copy of InputBindings.xml inside and that’s it.
Now when you launch bigbox, if you use –profile=tv, it will replace the InputBindings.xml with that one.
Now, to go on a more practical use case, if you create a folder inside Profile_tv called Platforms and you put only a copy of Nintendo 64.xml from your original Platforms folder, if you launch with –profile=tv, you will see that’s now it only show the N64 platform.
Same goes with the Playlists folder.

As a side note, if your end goal is to do something like kid profile with a subset of platform and playlist, instead of copy the original files, you should hardlink them (mklink /H linkName target) so in the future, if you change something in the Plateform/Playlist, the change will apply to your kid profile too.

II - Emulator Hijacking

So, if you didn’t do it yet, to understand how it works, you should read the explanation at the start of my documents.
So, basically, you can add modules and order them, when you launch the app, it will do the action of all module, one by one, altering the command line if needed and pass it to the next module until it launch the emulator.

A simple (and totally useless) exemple :

With this configuration, i chain 4 modules, a Prefix, a Replace and two Suffix.
You can play with the Exemple Command IN Textbox to get an idea of how the command line would be impacted.

Once saved, if i use a cmd prompt and execute :
CalculatorApp.exe "C:\MyRomDir\MyRom.bin"

It will go to the first Prefix module and add a -f before, so the second module Replace will receive as input :
CalculatorApp.exe -f "C:\MyRomDir\MyRom.bin"
This module will replace .bin with .rom so the next module will receive :
CalculatorApp.exe -f "C:\MyRomDir\MyRom.rom"
It will add -extraarg so the last module receive :
CalculatorApp.exe -f "C:\MyRomDir\MyRom.bin" -extraarg.
And since the filter condition match and the command line contains -extraarg, it will add -otherarg.

So, bigboxProfile will execute :
CalculatorApp.exe -f C:\MyRomDir\MyRom.rom -extraarg -otherarg

If you want some more real exemple, that whati’m currently using for retroarch and tecknoparrot :

Quick Module list review :

Prefix : Add some argument before the rest of the command line
Suffix : The same, but after the rest of the command line
Replace : Replace something in the command line, support regex
ChangeExe : change the target Exe
FixRetroarchMonitor : Will force Retroarch to use main monitor
FixMameMonitor : Will force Mame to use the main monitor
UseFileContent : Let say you run emulator.exe “D:/ps3/metalgearsolid.txt” and inside this text file you have D:/ps3/metagear/eboot.bin, it will execute emulator.exe “D:/ps3/metagear/eboot.bin”
ChangeRomPath : You can do stuff like, if the file is not on your hard disk anymore, use another path (your NAS for exemple)
CopyFile : You can run something like emulator.exe “\\nas\mygame.bin” and it will copy the file locally before launching. Support Ramdisk and show a progress bar. Great for games stored on cloud like Google Drive.
ChangeDisposition : Use a specific monitor layout
FakeFullScreen : Turn a windowed windows into a fake full screen, removing borders and maximize.
RunAsAdminTask : Execute the emulator.exe as admin.
ExecutePrePostCmdAsAdmin : Execute extra command as admin before and after the emulator launch (like for example, start and stop DS4Windows)
ExecuteAHK : Make your own custom module in AHK
RomExtractor : Show a GUI to choose and extract a game inside an archive that contains multiple versions of the same rom.

About Launchbox Auto-Generated M3U :
There is a special case when BigBoxProfile receive a m3u generated by launchbox (like for Multi-Disc games)

In the command that will be received by nearly all modules, the m3u file will be replaced by the first file in the m3u. Module then will not be allowed to alter the file path in the command line (but they can still alter the rest of the command line, just not the file argument.

Why this design choice ? Because often, you will do stuff like filter on specific rom path, so that way, even when you use a launchbox auto-generated m3u, if you have a trigger on let say D:/roms/n64, that will still trigger it.

Also, there is two modules that will behave differently, CopyFile and ChangeRomPath.
They will run for each element in the m3u.

Modules Deep Dive :
Prefix :

Add some argument before the rest of the command line
You can use a filter to only do that if the cmd line contain something

Suffix : The same thing but as Suffix

Replace :

The thing to not here is that Replace support Regex, the format is similar than those used for Notepad++

ChangeExe :

Nothing to say here, it change the exe, i should add a filter condition when i have some free time

UseFileContents :

Let say you run emulator.exe “D:/ps3/metalgearsolid.txt” and inside this text file you have D:/ps3/metagear/eboot.bin, it will execute emulator.exe “D:/ps3/metagear/eboot.bin”
You can use relative path inside the file too, and use one of the two option in the radiobox

ChangeRomPath

Ok, so this one is a little more tricky. It will trigger when you launch a file as argument to your emulator that match path to replace.

You have two side : Hight Priority Path and Low Priority Path.

Hight Priority path is when you have an extra copy of your file on a quicker drive. Like you launch emulator.exe D:/rom/plateform/mygame.bin , D:/ is a slow hdd mecanical drive.
If you have set C:/rom/ as Hight priority path and C:/rom/plateform/mygame.bin exist, it will use this one instead and your final command line will be
emulator.exe C:/rom/plateform/mygame.bin

Low Priority Path is triggered when the file passed as argument does not exist
Like if i remove the file D:\rom\mygame.bin and i launch
emulator.exe D:/rom/plateform/mygame.bin
Since, the file does not exist, it will search in my low priority path if Z:\home\mehdi\coffre\sf_POOL_JEUX\Roms\mygame.bin exist, and if yes, it will launch
emulator.exe Z:\home\mehdi\coffre\sf_POOL_JEUX\Roms\mygame.bin

Side note : By default, launchbox does not allow you to launch games where the file is missing, you get :

To solve that issue, you can use this addon here :

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/74181-bypass-rom-path-verification-before-launch/#comment-438354

CopyFile :
You can view a demo here where is use ChangeRomPath to point the file to my cloud drive if the file is missing, and then CopyFile to copy from Gdrive to my local storage before launching the game :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI64EIPFmxk

Note : It does support Ramdisk if you don’t want to keep the file and preserve your ssd.
For that you need to install this app : http://www.ltr-data.se/files/imdiskinst.exe

ChangeDisposition :

Use a specific monitor layout

Note : the button to create new screen disposition do not work, to create disposition, use the option on the main window config.

Btw, here you have an use case i do regularly, when i want to apply a filter for a bunch of games, instead to use a filter with the rom name inside, i use a new argument (here –2k) and then i add this extra argument in launchbox

This changeDisposition feature is really handy with tecknoparrot when you have game that can be very picky with monitor framerate and resolution.

FakeFullScreen

Turn a windowed windows into a fake full screen, removing borders and maximize.

It only support search by executable name, you can use emulator.exe, but you can also set one or search in the command line by regex. (i do that because i have a case of instead using the emulator.exe directly i use an application wrapper that do something like launcher.exe emulator.exe argos. )
Timeout is the time to wait for the application.

RunTaskAsAdmin :

I have a few games on tecknoparrot that actually requiere admins rights to be launch. And since launchbox/bigbox is launched without thoses rights, i have an issue and i don’t want to be bother by UAC prompt.
So, how does it works ? When the condition to launch as admin is fufill, it will register a shreduled task (only asking once with UAC).
In my exemple, instead of triggering by some element in the command line, i check into the file passed in the command line if it contain a specific string.

ExecutePrePostCmdAsAdmin

Execute extra command as admin before and after the emulator launch (like for example, start and stop DS4Windows)

ExecuteAHK

This one is tricky, it’s for power users. It allow you to make custom module in AHK.
Execute Before is the code that will execute before emulator launch,
Execute After will execute on emulator close.
And in Modify command line you can alter an array variable called Args
Modify Command Line Exemple only only apply to the exemple command line, so it’s used only for test.

With this module you can create stuff like append specific config if you are remote playing and do a lot of stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxezepuAkLI

RomExtractor

So, i’m using the Hackset with 8bits/16 bits era consoles. Instead of using roms, i have archives filled with alternative versions of the same game.

So, it’s vital for me to have a way to select and launch a game within the archive. As of today, i was using the awesome plugin ArchiveCacheManager ( https://github.com/fraganator/archive-cache-manager ) but i wanted something more suited for my own need, and be able to chain it at the end of my module list.

Also, since BigBoxUtils is a third party application and not a plugin, that allow me to use it outside launchbox/bigbox and do not fear that a future update would break the plugin.

So, if you used ArchiveCacheManager before, this module is straightforward. Some of the feature of ArchiveCacheManager are missing, it only manage archives (zip, rar, 7z), not iso, chd and don’t have a batch extract feature.

On the other side, it have a few features and supports the metadata files packed with the Hackset. (you should put them either in a metadata subfolder on the Bigbox profile install dir or on the parent directory of your rom files)

So, the config :

If you set a max size of the Cache Dir, oldest files inside will be removed if the total size go over the threshold.

You can set multiple priority profile

SmartExtract is similar than ArchiveCacheManager, if a file contains only files with extensions that match the standalone rom extensions and the metadata extensions, when you select a file to extract, it only extract this one. If SmartExtract is not enabled or the archive contains files with unknow extensions, it will extract the whole archive.

If ImDisk is installed, you can use ramdisk to receive the extracted rom file.
The priority list allow you to automatically select witch file should be extracted by default.

On execute, you will see a windows like that :
The file selected by default will be either the first one that match a priority rule or the last played files. It also feature a short list of games (Your favorites games, up to 5 games that match your priority rules and up to 5 last games played)

It does support gamepad, but only Xinput on controller 1.

If you press F1 and have metadata files, you will see something like that allow you to browse the whole archive and show the metadata files.

If you press F2, you will have a desktop version that go a little deeper.

Note : if you use the muppen core or Project64 V3, it will also manage htc/hts texture for N64.

Yellow star is the file that is the first to match one of your priority list.
Blue star are other files (up to 5) that match your priority list
Red star are files that you set as favorite
If the file name is written in dark red, it’s because you launched them recently.

Right click menu allow some extra stuff :

You can filter roms, set favorite, Copy/paste savestate across roms (only for retroarch) and extract them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3SGPnVr8SU

66 downloads

(0 reviews)

Updated July 14, 2023

(Bulk) Remove Additional Applications

(Bulk) Remove Additional Applications

(July 10, 2023)
This plugin is no longer supported. But [for now] still works.
Please see its successor: Bulk Add/Remove Additional Applications

The intent of this plugin is to Remove the same** Additional Application for all games in a given Platform, all at one time.
**Same is determined by the Additional Applications Application Name and Application Path. If they match exactly, they are the ‘same’.
Why use this? Quite possibly because you used the Bulk Add Additional Applications plugin and you clicked “OK” before realizing you forgot to add in the Command-Line Parameters or it's simply not needed anymore.
Setup:
Download and extract "BulkRemoveAdditionalApps.dll" from the zip file and place it in your Plugins subfolder of LaunchBox.
Right click the dll file, select Properties, and click "Unblock" (if it's there) and click OK.

Using the plugin:
- Click Tools and select "Bulk Remove Additional Apps".
- Click the dropdown box and select a Platform.
- Click Get to show the Additional Apps for that Platform.***
- Check the Remove box(s) for the Additional Apps you wish to delete.
- Click Remove to delete/remove all occurrences of those selected Additional Apps.****
*** The plugin will 'combine' any Additional Apps that have the exact same Name AND App Path, and only display one of those. When you remove that "one", all occurrences (having the same Name and Path) will be removed.
***Example: You used the Bulk Add Additional Applications plugin to add an Additional App to 245 different games. You named it “My Run-Before App” and set the Application Path to “D:\MyApps\RunBefore.exe”. This plugin will only display it in the list once, instead of 245 times. (Because they all “have the exact same Name AND App Path”.)

**** Once you click Remove, the apps you had selected will get removed/deleted forever. There is no undoing this once OK is clicked! (unless of course you have your backup file that was created with the LaunchBox built-in Automatic Backup feature.)

269 downloads

(1 review)

15 comments

Updated July 10, 2023

(Bulk) Add Additional Applications

(Bulk) Add Additional Applications A.K.A. (Bulk) Add Run Before/After Main Application

(July 10, 2023)
This plugin is no longer supported. But [for now] still works.
Please see its successor: Bulk Add/Remove Additional Applications

The intent of this plugin to add the same Additional Application to more than one game, all at one time. More specifically, it is to add an Additional Application you want to run Before and/or After the selected games.
*Works with LaunchBox versions 10.14 and newer.*
Setup:
Download and extract "Bulk Run Before-After.dll" from the zip file and place it in your Plugins subfolder of LaunchBox. Right click the dll file, select Properties, and click "Unblock" (if it's there) and click OK.
Using the plugin:
Select more than one game (or all of them) in your Platform. Right click on one of the selected games and select "Bulk Run Before/After Main Application". Fill in the Application Name, Path to the program, any necessary Command Line Parameters and then check the appropriate box if you want it to run Before or After (or both or none) the Main Application. Click OK You should probably test this on only 2 or 3 games first BEFORE you decide to do your entire Platform. There is no [bulk] undo (See Additional Notes).

Additional Notes:
Once you click "OK", the Additional Application is added to each game you had selected. There is no Bulk Edit or Bulk Remove**Additional Application(s). (at least by me)
It does require that you give it an Application Name and an Application Path.
It will verify that your Application Path points to an existing file but it will not check if there's an existing Additional Application with the same Name.
**If you clicked OK when you should have clicked Cancel, you can remove them with this plugin: (Bulk) Remove Additional Applications

645 downloads

(2 reviews)

20 comments

Updated July 10, 2023

Copy Metadata (plugin): Apply metadata from someone else's XML file to your own.

Scenario:
"I have a build where I'm manually changing every game genre to a single genre/subgenre value and would love to share it, but without a tool to apply my metadata to their own it's kinda pointless."
Solution:
Copy Metadata plugin.

Purpose:
Import selected metadata from someone else's platform_name.xml file into one of your existing Platforms.
This will scan a LaunchBox platform_name.xml file and compare it your existing platform. For all matching games*, it will update the metadata you chose to have imported.
(*See Finding Matching Games for how games are matched up.)

Metadata fields to import (can select one or more):
Genre Series Developer Publisher Notes ReleaseDate DatabaseID VideoUrl WikipediaURL CustomField (up to 3)
Warning:
This will REPLACE any existing metadata for the fields you've selected. There is no un-do button. The exception is Custom Field(s). This will add new Custom Fields. If an existing Custom Field with the same Name as one be imported is found, you have the option to Overwrite your existing Custom Field Add a new Custom Field (creating 2 with the same Name but different Values)
How to:
Requires LaunchBox 13.3 or newer
Download, unblock the zip file, copy the contents of the zip to ..\LaunchBox\Plugins\ i.e. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\CopyMetadata\CopyMetadata.dll Start LaunchBox Click Tools Select "Copy Metadata" Click Browse to locate and select the xml file you want to import from (optional) Drag & Drop the file onto the TextBlock (directly above the Browse button) Select your platform you want the metadata imported to (The plugin will attempt to 'select' the appropriate one for you) Check the metadata items you want imported To import a Custom Field Click "Include Custom Field(s)" Click the dropdown box and select the one you want imported Check the box next to it to have it imported (optional: you can select up to 2 others to be imported) Click Import
Finding Matching Games:
Every effort is made to properly match games in your existing platform to an external platform_name.xml.
It will first use the games LBDatabaseID # to ensure an exact match. If there are no matching database ID #'s, it will compare the games file_name.ext. If there are still no matches, it will look for a matching game Title.
Concept for this plugin was inspired by @C-Beats who caught me when I was bored and looking for a plugin idea.

125 downloads

(1 review)

Submitted June 15, 2023

Launchbox-RetroPie-Batocera-Miyoo Export

By dingodan

Launchbox is great, but it doesn't run on linux. RetroPie is great, but the scraper is terrible. This script will copy your roms, metadata and images from LaunchBox for use with RetroPie (or Batocera/Miyoo). If desired, it will also reduce the size of the copied images to make them load faster on the Pi. Edit the attached file to choose your platforms, and decide if you want everything, or only your favourites.
If selecting Batocera XML format it will attempt to copy the first box art, marquee, screenshot and video file for each of your titles.
If selecting the Miyoo Onion OS XML format the gamelists will be called miyoogamelist.xml and the boxart will be reduced to 250px and converted to PNG. See their github for more info.
How to Install:
Download and install Python Choose All Users and add it to your Path Open cmd, and type 'pip install Pillow' Download the attached file and edit it accordingly (specify your LaunchBox folder, desired output folder and platforms) Run 'python launchbox_retropie_export.py' Transfer the files to your Pi using WinSCP or similar Copy the gamelists, roms and images to /home/pi/RetroPie/roms Enable the 'Parse Gamelists Only' option in EmulationStation

730 downloads

retropie
linux
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
- retropie
- linux
- export
- emulationstation
- batocera
- miyoo
- onion

(0 reviews)

29 comments

Updated May 24, 2023

Autoplay Attract Mode

By skizzosjt

This was inspired by "Play N Quit" and I wanted to create an improved version that would work for anyone regardless of settings in Big Box
Description: This is an AHK script that will automatically launch and close selected games for an in game playable take on Attract Mode. In between each game being selected, it will randomly scroll through your game wheel. Please note at this time it will only work in a single game wheel (it's not smart enough to know how to go into different platforms/playlists) and though can be easily configured for different emulators, it can only be configured for one at a time. Once the script is running you can easily start playing whatever game is currently being ran by hitting the designated hotkey to stop the script and proceed with your gaming session!

Here are the improvements:
Takes into consideration whether or not Startup/Shutdown screens are enabled Takes into consideration whether or not Game Details View is skipped Can work with any emulator Uses a random number for the game wheel selection to change Can set a max value for this random number Randomizes direction for the game wheel to move Will work with a vertical or horizontal game wheel Removed all the extra non-functional lines
How to use:
In the header section of the script there are detailed comments directing users what a handful of variables are doing and how to set them
GameDetails - Use a value of 1 if you have Game Details View enabled. Use a value of 0 (or anything but 1) if you have Game Details View disabled GameWheelOrientation - Use "V" (must be in quotes) for vertical game wheels (ie up and down) and use "H" for horizontal game wheels (left and right) GameRunTime - Enter the number of minutes each game should run before closing and choosing the next game MaxGames - the maximum random number to be generated. Tip: make this at or smaller than the total qty of games in the platform/playlist. (if you make it same or greater as total qty it is possible for the random number to select the same game twice in a row) EmulatorEXE - Enter the file name with extension of the emulator (must be in quotes) Exit Hotkey - last line in script is a hotkey to terminate the script. Use this at any time the script is running to stop it
Default values:
GameDetails - 0 (disabled) GameWheelOrientation - "V" (vertical) GameRunTime - 3 (minutes for game to run) MaxGames - 150 (max number for wheel to move to select new game) EmulatorEXE - "retroarch.exe" (emulator's executable file name with extension) Exit Hotkey - Joy8 (commonly the "start" button on joypads)
How to use (continued):
Place the script file in a desired location In LaunchBox, edit a game entry In the game's Additional Apps, add the script file as the Additional App Select for the Additional App to start automatically at game launch Now when this game is launched, this script will start the Autoplay Attract Mode Alternative launching method:
Alternatively, you could add a hotkey to the script that would start it If so place this hotkey at the spot designed in the script, specifically it is line 28 For ex: +Home:: The above example starting hotkey would be shift+home keys Recommended to add the script to startup programs in LaunchBox if using the start with hotkey method. Do this instead of adding it to a game as an Additional App This is due to the script will instead launch automatically at start of LaunchBox/Big Box. But it will not execute the main part of the script until the hotkey is pressed This may be a better method for some to start/stop the script depending on your use case
Leave any feedback in this thread! Cheers!

35 downloads

(0 reviews)

Updated May 18, 2023

Launchbox Database Restore

By MadCoder

As I'm sure most of us have experienced more than once, launch box can corrupt itself from time to time, but it's becoming less and less of an issue as versions progress. However, it does happen especially. Considering the amount of data launch box processes it's to be expected. This makes restoring back to previous state one click simple.

58 downloads

(0 reviews)

2 comments

Updated April 28, 2023

Auto Play N' Quit - AHK Script by IzzIsHOr

By izzishor

I've been fiddling around with trying to make BigBox run a game and then switch it with another if no play is detected...

I tried looking at Arcade EIP, however... it seemed too complicated to configure for me at 4 a.m. last night, so I got ChatGPT out, and tried to come up with a AHK script that does the following:

Launches a game from a BigBox playlist Waits 3 minutes in-game, to show it's attract mode Brings RetroArch to the foreground Closes RetroArch Beeps Once Brings BigBox to foreground Holds "Down Arrow Key" to scroll trough games LOOPS the script again (game changes every 3 minutes) Script can be closed at any time by pressing the "START" button for me that's Joy8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How I activate the script personally is,
Created a New Playlist with games I'd like to scroll trough (named it Attract mode) Edited the metadata of a game (I chose 1941 because it's top of list) Under Additional Apps I've added the AHK script Set it to Automatically Run Before Main Application Everytime I run 1941 it starts the script and scrolls trough random games until you press "START"

I have been testing it for a full day, it never once failed if you have it set up like me.
IMPORTANT!
It will not work "out of the box" without modifications if you're running anything else than RetroArch as an emulator, and a BigBox Theme that has vertical scrolling, also BigBox must have its default keyboard binds.

31 downloads

(0 reviews)

Submitted April 18, 2023

Rename Media Images/Videos as Rom Name or Game Name Format

By superrob3000

A plugin to allow you to switch between ROM name format and Game name format for your media files.

Installation:
Download RenameMediaToRomNames.dll to your PC. Close LaunchBox/BigBox and copy the dll file to your LaunchBox/Plugins directory. It is highly recommended that you make a backup of your LaunchBox/Images and LaunchBox/Videos folders prior to using this plugin.
Renaming game media for entire platforms:
1. Select "Rename Media To ROM or Game Names" from the Tools dropdown in LaunchBox.
2. Select the platform (or platforms) whose game media you want to rename.
3. Choose which format you want to rename the media to (ROM name format or Game name format).
4. Click Start.

Renaming media for individual games:
1. In LaunchBox, select the game or multiple games whose media you want to rename.
2. Right click and select "Rename Media To ROM or Game Names" from the game menu.
3. Choose which format you want to rename the media to (ROM name format or Game name format).
4. Click Start.

FAQs:
Q. Why would anyone want to use this?
A. I actually don't know, but I wrote it because some people on the forums requested it. So if you find this plugin useful please let us know why in the comments 😄.

456 downloads

(4 reviews)

17 comments

Updated March 23, 2023

LaunchBox ROM Patch Manager

By Fry

LaunchBox ROM Patch Manager
LaunchBox ROM Patch Manager is a plug-in for LaunchBox that intends to streamline the process of applying a patch to a ROM file and importing the patched ROM into your LaunchBox library
Demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFBjIEwC-v4
Installation
Download LaunchBoxRomPatchManager.zip Extract LaunchBoxRomPatchManager.zip to a folder. Inside the LaunchBoxRomPatchManager folder is a folder called LaunchBox. Inside the LaunchBox folder will be two folders: LaunchBoxRomPatchManager and Plugins. Copy these two folders. Go to your LaunchBox installation folder and paste the copied folders Included Patchers - Floating IPS
The plug-in includes Floating IPS by Alcaro to be used as IPS patcher. This patcher should be automatically included when following the installation instructions and can be found in your LaunchBox folder under LaunchBoxRomPatchManager\Patchers. By default, the plugin will be configured to use Floating IPS to patch games for the following platforms:
Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo Game Boy Advance Nintendo Game Boy Color Nintendo 64 Super Nintendo Entertainment System Sega Genesis Sega 32X NEC TurboGrafx-16 Included Patchers - Paradox PPF
The plug-in includes Paradox PPF 3 by Icarus of Paradox to be used as a PPF patcher. This patcher should be automatically included when following the installation instructions and can be found in your LaunchBox folder under LaunchBoxRomPatchManager\Patchers. By default, the plugin will be configured to use Paradox PPF to patch games for the following platforms:
Sony Playstation Sony PSP Managing ROM Patchers
The plug-in includes a menu item called "Manage ROM Patchers" under the LaunchBox Tools menu. The plug-in uses these configurations when applying a patch to a game.
Name - Specify a name for the patcher File path - Specify the path to the patcher Command line - Specify the format of the command line that should be used when applying a patch to a game file. There are two special values that need to be included in the command line field for the plug-in to know how to apply a patch to a game file. {patch} indicates the patch file and {rom} indicates the game's rom file. Platforms - Select the platforms that the patcher can be used with Importing a ROM Hack
The plug-in includes a menu item called "Import ROM Hack" when you right click on a game. To import a rom hack, right click on a game and select "Import ROM Hack". A file dialog will open prompting to select a patch file. Select the file that contains the patch file. The "Import rom hack" screen will be displayed with information about the selected game and selected patch file. Enter values for the imported ROM hack as desired and click OK. The plug-in will make a copy of the source game, extract files as needed, apply the selected patch file to the source ROM file, and import the game into your LaunchBox library.
Source code
https://github.com/AtomFry/LaunchBoxRomPatchManager

277 downloads

(2 reviews)

15 comments

Updated March 19, 2023

XBLA Shortcut Generator

By Press Start Button

Create shortcut from XBLA file. So that would help to import games into Launchbox or launch game directly from shortcut.
Shortcut is base on the root folder name (any underscore will be remove, helps to grab metadata in launchbox) emulator execute path, rom and arguement will be embed into shortcut file. it only create the shortcut from base game (not included title update and DLC. Those file need to copy to xenia's content folder manually.)

95 downloads

xbox
xbla
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
- xbox
- xbla
- xbox360
- rom
- import
- shortcut
- shortcuts

(0 reviews)

Updated March 18, 2023

Vidsnap Scraper

By maikeru1986

DISCLAIMER: Use at your own risk! Please read and understand Youtube's terms of service. I will not be held liable for any mis-use of any product or service.

This plugin makes use of the open source and unlicensed application, youtube-dl yt-dlp (forked from youtube-dl) to download game videos.
It first downloads videos from the link provided in the metadata from LaunchBox, skipping videos longer than a specified duration, and then searching for videos for missing games based on input search terms.
It is intended for Modern Windows games as this was my need initially. It may work on other platforms but is not well tested.

Installation Instructions:
Note: For this plugin to work, you will need to have yt-dlp.exe (included in .zip). Extract the contents of the .zip folder and place it in your LaunchBox plugins folder.

Usage Instructions:
Select a game or multiple games, right-click and select "Download Video Snap."
Adjust the maximum duration if desired.
The "Get Missing videos" checkbox sets whether or not to search for videos of games that don't have URL's in their metadata.
The "Trim videos" checkbox sets whether or not to trim videos after it has been downloaded.
Enter desired search terms for Missing videos.
click "Start" to start the download process.
Games will download asynchronously. resuming downloads is also supported natively.

Known Issues:
probably many that I am unaware of.

Other:
PLEASE NOTE: I AM NOT A DEVELOPER! I know very little about C# and programming in general, thus probably wont be able to address many issues that you may face. That being said I will try and fix things were I can. I've provided the spagetti source code for anyone to modify, improve, etc. (it seems you need to unblock the forms in the "Resources" folder -> RMB->properties->unblock)
As of now, i'm more comfortable with the usability of the plugin, however there are still probably many issues, any comments to provide insight/improvement to the code etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks to @srxz for his source of Youtube Scraper of which this is based.

Thanks:
@srxz @JoeViking245 @C-Beats

maikeru86

2,196 downloads

videos
plugin
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
- videos
- plugin
- scraper
- videosnaps
- youtube

(9 reviews)

36 comments

Updated March 14, 2023

CreateGameList (Create Game List Plugin)

By superrob3000

A PlugIn to quickly dump your entire game list to a text file.

Installation:
1. Copy CreateGamesList.dll to your LaunchBox/Plugins folder.

Usage:
1. From LaunchBox choose Tools->Create game list file
2. Select or clear the checkbox for including playlists in the game list file.
3. Hit Browse to choose the location of the game list file.
4. Hit the "Create Game List" button.

139 downloads

(1 review)

Updated March 13, 2023

Kodi addon for LaunchBox

By CoinTos

Launches LaunchBox in Big Box mode from within Kodi - It will close or minimize Kodi, launch LaunchBox in Big Box mode and when Big Box is exited Kodi will restart or maximize, with the option to run programs pre/post LaunchBox. It works with Windows only.
Features:
BigBox Startup video and splash screen support
LaunchBox and BigBox Updater support
LaunchBox (Free or Premium) and BigBox mode selection
Multiple Monitor detection and handling
Pre/Post scripts
Minimize or close Kodi option
Launcher Helper script version check
Supports Kodi 19, 20 and Kodi Windows Store versions.
Requirements:
Windows PC
LaunchBox (Premium or Free)
Kodi 19, 20 or Windows Store for Windows
Kodi 16, 17, 18, 19 for Windows (Up to version 1.5.9, BigBox only)
Known Issues:
Due to Windows Store's UWA security restrictions, user must set a save directory under the plugin's Advanced Settings to a directory of the user choice where the plugin's ahk helper script and icon file can be saved.
Taskbar will flash on Kodi Windows Store version (UWA) using 1.5.4+. Current workaround is to switch to Kodi non-UWA or to minimize effects, enable hide taskbar in advance options, remove Cortana search bar and change taskbar to black.
Starting with version 1.5.6, due to windows security restriction on SMB shares over IP (eg. \\192.168.1.1\shared-folder\), the addon will produce an error saying it is not supported. Current workaround is to enable SMB fix in Advance settings to replace IP with supplied server name or enable SMBv1 on server and computer to allow NetBIOS name resolutions in Kodi.
Kodi-six package is now required with 1.5.6-1.5.9, addon will fail if after first installation of Kodi-six package dependency, Kodi was not restarted.
Install instructions:
Use 'Install from Zip' in Kodi and browse to the directory the plugin's zip was downloaded to and select it.
Configuration:
This plugin requires the user to set the location of their LaunchBox directory in the addon settings before first use. eg. C:\Users\<username>\LaunchBox\
PLEASE NOTE:
THIS PLUGIN WILL PRODUCE AN ERROR DURING INSTALL IN KODI ON ANY OPERATING SYSTEM THAT CANNOT RUN LAUNCHBOX.
SINCE LAUNCHBOX IS CURRENTLY WINDOWS ONLY THAT IS THE ONLY OPERATING SYSTEM THE PLUGIN CURRENTLY SUPPORTS.
ATTENTION: WILL NOT WORK ON ANDROID (BOX, SMART TV, ETC.), IOS or MAC AND LINUX.

16,544 downloads

bigbox
launcher
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
- bigbox
- launcher
- kodi

(27 reviews)

34 comments

Updated February 20, 2023

Stream Deck Emulation Icon Pack.

By MadK9

This is a small set of Stream Deck icons (23 in all). It covers the most used emulators.
I cant directly share the PSD but heres a link to the creators.
The original author was David Lanham over at https://dlanham.com/ui/flurry/
This remake of the PSD is by Crussong over at https://www.deviantart.com/crussong/art/Flurry-Icon-Template-PSD-343546231

180 downloads

(0 reviews)

Updated February 20, 2023

Archive Cache Manager

By fraganator

A LaunchBox plugin which caches extracted ROM archives, letting you play games faster. Also allows launching individual files from archives, and loading preferred file types from an archive.
New in v2.16
New M3U name option - "Disc 1 Filename" Always use the filename of the first disc of a multi-disc game for the m3u file, regardless of which disc was launched Allows better support for The Bezel Project config files, which use config files based on the ROM name New batch caching option to pause on caching errors (default is to skip and continue) Minor config window tweaks Description
When a compressed ROM (zip, 7z, rar, gz, chd, rvz, etc.) is first extracted, it is stored in the archive cache. The next time it is played, the game is loaded directly from the cache, virtually eliminating wait time.

As the cache size approaches the maximum size, the oldest played games are deleted from the cache, making room for new games.
Features
Skip the extraction wait time for recently played games. Configurable cache size and location. Configurable minimum archive size (don't cache small archives). Option to extract all discs in a multi-disc game, and generate M3U file. Option to copy ROM files to cache without extraction. Option to keep select ROMs cached and ready to play. Select and play individual ROMs from a merged ROM archive. Batch cache feature for extracting or copying multiple games to cache at once. Filename and extension priorities per emulator and platform (cue, bin, iso, etc). Support for additional archive formats (chd, rvz, etc) Support for Xbox iso to xiso conversion Badge to indicate cached games Example Use Cases
Why use Archive Cache Manager? Here's some example use cases.
ROMs located on NAS or external storage, where disk read or transfer time is slow. ROM library maintained as accurately ripped/dumped collections, where specialised compression formats not an option. Extract and play archives from location other than LaunchBox\ThirdParty\7-Zip\Temp, such as platform specific folder (for RetroArch Content Directory settings). Playing ripped PS2 games with PCSX2 where the disc image is bin/cue format, avoiding the "CDVD plugin failed to open" error message. Playing zipped MSU versions of games, where need to launch the rom file instead of the cue file from the archive. The library contains GoodMerged sets, and you want a quick way to play individual ROMs. Installation
Download the latest release from https://forums.launchbox-app.com/files/file/234-archive-cache-manager/ or https://github.com/fraganator/archive-cache-manager/releases Unblock the download if necessary (right-click file -> Properties -> Unblock) Extract this archive to your LaunchBox\Plugins folder, then run LaunchBox / BigBox. Within LaunchBox, ensure the emulator or emulator platform has the "Extract ROM archives before running" option checked. Uninstallation
Quit LaunchBox / BigBox, then navigate to the LaunchBox\Plugins folder and delete ArchiveCacheManager. Delete the archive cache folder (default is LaunchBox\ArchiveCache). Usage
Extracting and Caching
Archive Cache Manager runs transparently to the user. All that is required is the emulator or emulator platform has the "Extract ROM archives before running" option checked. Extraction and cache management is carried out automatically when a game is launched.
Cache and extraction behaviour can be modified in plugin's configuration window.
Multi-Disc Games
To use the multi-disc cache feature, check the "Multi-disc Support" option in the Archive Cache Manager config window. The next time a multi-disc game is launched, all the discs from the game will be extracted to the cache and a corresponding M3U file generated.
If the emulator \ platform supports M3U files (as configured in LaunchBox), the generated M3U file will be used when launching the game. Otherwise a single disc will be launched, and swapping between cached discs can be done manually in the emulator.
Batch Caching Games
Multiple games can be cached at once using the Batch Cache Games window. Select one or more games in LaunchBox, then right-click a game and choose the "Batch Cache Games..." option.
A window will popup displaying the list of games, and begin checking the extracted ROM sizes. Once the checks are complete, click the Cache Games button to begin caching.

Games are cached according to the plugin's emulator and platform settings. A game may be extracted, copied, or no action taken if it doesn't match a caching rule, or it's already cached.
Each game's caching progress will be displayed in the Status column, and a progress bar at the bottom of the game list shows the overall caching progress. If an error occurs during caching, it will be flagged in the Status column and caching will skip to the next game. If the "Pause Caching On Error" is checked, an error message is displayed with the option to continue or stop.
Tip: For games stored on a NAS or an external drive, use Batch Cache Games to cache a selection of them locally. Enable the plugin's Always Bypass LaunchBox Path Check option to allow the cached game to be launched directly, even if the network or external drive is disconnected!
Selecting and Playing Individual ROMs From an Archive
To play an individual ROM from an archive containing multiple ROMs (different regions, hacks, or discs), right-click it and choose "Select ROM In Archive...".
A window will popup with a full listing of the archive contents. Select the desired ROM file, then click Play. That ROM will now launch with the configured emulator.
The next time the game is launched via the normal Play option, the previous ROM selection will be automatically applied. To select another ROM, use the same "Select ROM In Archive..." menu.

The same menu is also available in BigBox, though currently only supports keyboard input.

Keeping Games Cached
Games can be marked 'Keep' so they stay cached and ready to play. To keep a game cached, open the plugin configuration window from the Tools->Archive Cache Manager menu. From there a list of games in the cache is shown. Check the Keep box next to the game, then click OK.
Badge
The plugin includes a badge to indicate if a game is currently in the cache. It is available under the Badges->Plugin Badges->Enable Archive Cached menu. There are additional Simple White and Neon style badges, which can be found in the LaunchBox\Plugins\ArchiveCacheManager\Badges folder. Copy your preferred icon to the LaunchBox\Images\Badges folder and rename it Archive Cached.png.

Configuration
Configuration can be accessed from the Tools->Archive Cache Manager menu. An overview of each of the configuration screens and options is below.
Cache Settings
This page shows a summary of the cache storage and currently cached items, and provides options for cache configuration.

Configure Cache
Clicking the Configure Cache... button opens the cache configuration window.

Configure Cache - Cache Path
This is the path of the cache on disk. The path can be absolute or relative, where relative paths are to the LaunchBox root folder.
Default: ArchiveCache
If the cache path is set to an invalid location (LaunchBox root for example), an error message will be displayed when clicking OK.

If the cache path is set to an existing path that already contains files or folders, a warning will be displayed when clicking OK. Click Yes to proceed, or No to go back and change the path.

Configure Cache - Cache Size
This is the maximum cache size on disk in megabytes. The oldest played games will be deleted from the cache when it reaches this size.
Default: 20,000 MB (20 GB)
Configure Cache - Minimum Archive Size
This is the minimum size in megabytes of an uncompressed archive before it will be added to the cache. Archives smaller than this won't be added to the cache.
Default: 100 MB
Keep
A Keep flag can be applied to a cached item. When set, the item will be excluded from cache management and not be removed from the cache. This is useful for less frequently played games which need to load without waiting (very large games, party games, favourites, children's games, etc).
Default: Disabled
Open In Explorer
Clicking the Open In Explorer button will open the configured cache path in Windows Explorer. This button is disabled if the cache path does not exist.
Refresh
Refreshes the cache summary and list of cached items from disk.
Delete
Clicking on the Delete button will remove the selected items from the cache (including items with the Keep setting).
Delete All
Clicking on the Delete All button will delete everything from the cache (including items with the Keep setting).
Extraction Settings
This page provides settings for archive extraction and launch behviour. Each row in the table applies to the specified emulator \ platform pair. If a game is launched which doesn't match an emulator \ platform, the settings in All \ All will be used.

Emulator \ Platform
The specific emulator and platform for the settings to be applied to. Add a new emulator and platform row using the Add... button. Remove an emulator \ platform row using the Delete button.
When a new row is added its settings will be copied from the All \ All entry, except for Priority which will be blank.
Priority
Files from an archive can be prioritized in the case where an emulator requires a certain filename or file type. This setting defines the filename or extension priority for the specified emulator and platform combination.
The priorities are a comma delimited list, where the highest priority is the first entry, the next highest priority is the second entry, and so on. If a match is not found in the archive when a game is loaded, the priority in All \ All is used.
A wildcard (*) can be used to perform partial filename matches. Examples include:
bin, iso - Files ending with bin, then files ending in iso, then all other files. eboot.bin - Files named eboot.bin, then all other files. *(*E*)*[!].*, *(*U*)*[!].*, *[!].* - GoodMerged style, prioritizing European 'good' ROM dumps, then USA 'good' ROM dumps, then other region 'good' ROM dumps, then all other files. Note that the priority is applied to all archives, even if they are not cached.
The fallback All \ All priority is the basis for the contents of the multi-disc M3U file generation. Be careful removing entries such as cue, unless a specific emulator \ platform is used to handle cue and similar file types.
Default:
All \ All | mds, gdi, cue, eboot.bin PCSX2 \ Sony Playstation 2 | bin, iso Action
The action to take when processing a ROM file.
Extract - Extract an archive to the cache. Non-archive files will be passed directly to the emulator. Copy - Copy the game file to the cache. Archive files will copied, but not extracted. Extract or Copy - If the game file is an archive, extract it to the cache. Otherwise copy the game file to the cache. Default: Extract
Launch Path
The path within the cache to launch the game from. Useful for managing common settings in RetroArch which are based on the game's folder.
Default - The archive folder in the cache, which is in the form <Filename> - <MD5 Hash> Title - The game's title set in LaunchBox (e.g. Final Fantasy VII) Platform - The game's platform set in LaunchBox (e.g. Sony Playstation) Emulator - The emulator title set in LaunchBox (e.g. RetroArch) Games will always be extracted \ copied to the <Filename> - <MD5 Hash> location. If the Launch Path is set to something other than Default, the corresponding folder will be created within the cache, and NTFS hardlinks will be created which point to the extracted \ copied files.
Default: Default
Multi-Disc
Check this option to enable multi-disc support. When enabled, the following actions occur when playing a multi-disc game:
All discs from a multi-disc game will be extracted \ copied and added to the archive cache. M3U files will be generated, with the name based on the M3U Name setting. The M3U contents will list the absolute path to one cached file per disc, where the file is chosen based on the emulator \ platform file priority, or the special All \ All priority. If the emulator \ platform supports M3U files, the generated M3U file will be used when launching the game. Default: Enabled
M3U Name
The name of the M3U file created when launching a multi-disc game, and Multi-Disc is enabled. The M3U file name is used by some emulators to create a save file and match settings.
Game ID - The unique ID for a game, generated by LaunchBox. This is the same M3U naming convention used by LaunchBox (e.g. 2828d969-4362-49d5-b080-c2b7cc6f7d59.m3u) Title + Version - The game's title and version combined, with (Disc N) removed from the version (e.g. Final Fantasy VII (Europe).m3u) Disc 1 Filename - Use the filename of the first disc as the name of the M3U, regardless of which disc was launched (e.g. Final Fantasy VII (Europe) (Disc 1).m3u). Allows for The Bezel Project support, while maintaining a consistent name for emulators to manage save files across multiple discs. Default: Game ID
Smart Extract
Check this option to enable smart extraction, which will only extract a single file from an archive if a number of rules are met. See the Smart Extract Settings section for details.
Default: Enabled
chdman
Check this option to extract a chd file to cue+bin files using chdman. The executable chdman.exe must be copied to the folder LaunchBox\Plugins\ArchiveCacheManager\Extractors.
Default Disabled
DolphinTool
Check this option to extract rvz, wia, and gcz files to iso files using DolphinTool. The executable DolphinTool.exe must be copied to the folder LaunchBox\Plugins\ArchiveCacheManager\Extractors.
Default Disabled
extract-xiso
Check this option to extract and convert full iso files to Xbox iso files using extract-xiso. Supports both zipped and stand-alone iso files. The executable extract-xiso.exe must be copied to the folder LaunchBox\Plugins\ArchiveCacheManager\Extractors.
Default Disabled
Smart Extract Settings
When enabled, the Smart Extract option will check if it's possible to extract only a single file from an archive. For merged archives containing multiple ROM versions and hacks, this avoids the need to extract a potentially large number of files to play a single game.

Smart Extract will extract and launch a single file from an archive if the following conditions are met:
All of the file types in an archive are the same, excluding files with Metadata Extensions.
OR
All of the file types in an archive are Stand-alone ROMs, excluding files with Metadata Extensions.
The file to extract will be (in priority order):
The individual file selected through the "Select ROM in Archive..." right-click menu. The first file which matches a configured Priority. The first file in the archive. Stand-alone ROM Extensions
A comma delimited list of file extensions which can run stand-alone (no dependencies on other files).
Default: gb, gbc, gba, agb, nes, fds, smc, sfc, n64, z64, v64, ndd, md, smd, gen, iso, chd, gg, gcm, 32x, bin
Metadata Extensions
A comma delimited list of file extensions which indicate ROM metadata, and aren't required to play a ROM file.
Default: nfo, txt, dat, xml, json
Plugin Settings

Always Bypass LaunchBox Path Check
When enabled, bypasses LaunchBox's check that a game's application path (ROM file) exists before launch. If a game is cached and the source ROM storage is slow or unavailable, the game will still launch immediately.
The bypass check happens automatically if the extract action is Copy, or the file is not zip, 7z, or rar.
Default: Disabled
Check For Updates On Startup
Enable this option to check for plugin updates when LaunchBox starts up. This is a simple version check of the latest release on github, and nothing is automatically downloaded or installed. If a new update is found a message box will appear shortly after LaunchBox is started, with the option to open the download page in a browser.
Default: On first run, a message box will appear asking the user if they'd like to enable the update check.

Source Code
This plugin is open source, and can be found on github: https://github.com/fraganator/archive-cache-manager

1,236 downloads

zip
7z
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
- zip
- 7z
- chd
- cache
- nas

(4 reviews)

11 comments

Updated February 10, 2023

LaunchBox Controls

By gbiscoo

About
This will display the controls for the selected game on a secondary monitor (will work on 2+ monitor setups).
It will either read the controls from the required xml file or display the control image from: LaunchBox > Images > [System] > Arcade - Controls Information
It includes an xml control file for MAME and a default configuration for LaunchBox and Windows.
Game controls can be manually added copying the existing format.

Installing
Extract the zip into your LaunchBox plugins folder and ensure that all files remain in the LaunchBoxControls folder
ie. Launchbox\Plugins\LaunchBoxControls\
Edit the settings.xml file as required. The screen number to display the controls on being the most important, currently set to 2. You can get this number from computer Display Settings.

62 downloads

(0 reviews)

0 comments

Submitted January 29, 2023

LaunchBox Multi Monitor and BigBox +3rd monitor plugin

LaunchBox Multi Monitor and BigBox +3rd monitor plugin

This plugin adds support for 2nd (and 3rd) monitors in LaunchBox to display game images while navigating your collections.  If you have LaunchBox version 13.1 or newer, Platform, Platform Category or Playlist images will be displayed when making a selection on the left navigation pane.
With BigBox, you already have use of a 2nd display (marquee monitor) for displaying images. For those who have a pinball-cab (or a fancy desktop setup) with 3 displays, this plugin will allow you display an image on the 3rd monitor while navigating BigBox.

Some details:
-  The image displayed changes based on the Platform, Platform Category, Playlist or game you are viewing for both BigBox and LaunchBox.
-  To view Platform, Platform Category and Playlist images in LaunchBox, LaunchBox version 13.6 is required.  BigBox will work with any version.
-  When a game is launched, the image(s) will be hidden and then reappear after exiting the game. (default)
-  Optionally (new v1.1.0), you can select Keep image(s) visible during gameplay.
        The exception is Steam games that are launched via "steam://rungameid/xxxxxx". Their images will not stay visible nor reappear.
-  You set the default image type (i.e. Box-Front) to use for all games.  Or you can set individual image types to use on a per Platform basis (new v1.1.2).
- To make this work in BigBox, Theme View files need to be modified.  You can modify them yourself (instructions below) or let the plugin do it for you.
- No additional changes to LaunchBox or BigBox need to be made for this work (v1.1.3)

Q&A:
Why would I want to display an image on a 3rd monitor? Because you can. What image would I put on a 3rd monitor? That's entirely up to you. You can choose from pretty much any image type in your collection. Can it display a video on the 3rd (or 2nd-or-3rd in LB) monitor? No. Can it show a pdf file on the extra monitor? No. Can it display 3D models for boxes? No.
Installing:
Download the plugin zip file. Right-click the zip file, select Properties and check Unblock (if present). Click OK.
(With LaunchBox/BigBox not running,) Open the zip file and extract the included folder into your /LaunchBox/Plugins/ folder.
Setting up:
Start LaunchBox.
Click Tools, MultiMonitor Setup

Monitor Configuration:
Select which monitor # you want the images displayed on from the pull-down list. Click Identify Displays to confirm which monitor corresponds with which monitor number. Toggle on or off to see images on the respective monitors. (v1.1.0) If you wish to keep the images up during gameplay, check Keep image(s) visible during gameplay. (v1.1.1) In LaunchBox, if images aren’t displaying correctly on you marquee monitor, check Stretch images to fill screen (LB 2nd only). This only works on LaunchBox 2nd monitor.
Image Selection:
Select the default image type you want displayed based on which View you're in. Default Game Images: BigBox 3rd Monitor and LaunchBox 2nd Monitor use the "Game View (BB 3rd/LB 2nd)" image. LaunchBox 3rd monitor uses the "Game View (LB 3rd monitor)" image. The image selection "*Game Controls" looks for game-specific images in your "/Images/platform_name/Arcade - Controls Information/" folder. In LaunchBox, if LaunchBox 3rd Monitor is turned off and the Game View 2nd monitor image doesn’t exist, it will attempt to use the Game View 3rd monitor image. In BigBox, if the Game View 2nd monitor image doesn’t exist, it will attempt to the Game View 3rd monitor image. Set custom game image per Platform (new v1.1.2) Pretty self-explanatory. Click Save after you're done making changes.
BigBox Theme Setup:
Starting with version 1.1.3, this is no longer required. The plugin will now work with any Theme, modified or not.
If you had previously setup (modified) your BigBox Theme(s) for use with this plugin using the Setup Themes button in the setup menu, click Restore Themes and follow the steps to revert them back to their original state.
If you modified them manually, just replace those Views with your backups.

Other Notes:
LaunchBox:
Platform/Category/Playlist images will only be displayed if using LaunchBox version 13.6 or newer.
BigBox:
Changes to image selections etc. can only be made in LaunchBox through Tools, MultiMonitor Setup.
General:
If after making changes in MultiMonitor Setup (AND clicking Save) images aren't displaying or there's some other plugin issue, try restarting LaunchBox.
Disclaimer:
This has only been tested on a 2-monitor setup. Neither of which were marquee monitors. So..... Good luck!

As always, comments, suggestions and requests are welcomed and encouraged.

294 downloads

launchbox
bigbox
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:

(0 reviews)

67 comments

Updated January 20, 2023

Marquee Intro Video Support

By superrob3000

*** Edit: Note that you can use this plugin to add startup marquee video support if you are using BigBox's native marquee handling. However, I recommend you switch to my new plugIn, ThirdScreen, for startup marquee video support because it also adds support for platform marquee videos and unlimited screens. ***
Plugin that adds Marquee Intro video support. After installing the plugin you can simply place your Marquee intro videos into the LaunchBox/Videos/StartupMarquee folder. One will be chosen randomly at startup. Static images (jpg or png) will work as well.
The marquee video will always automatically end at the same time as the main screen intro video. If the marquee video is shorter than the main screen video, it will loop until the main screen video ends (or until you hit a button to skip the intro).

See demo:

Installation:
Unzip the file and drop the contents into your LaunchBox folder. Place your marquee startup video(s) into LaunchBox/Videos/StartupMarquee.
You of course have to make sure your marquee screen is set up first in your BigBox settings:
Set your marquee screen number in Options->General->Marquee Screen If you want the intro video to stretch fill the entire marquee, then set Options->Marquee Screen->Set Marquee Images to Fill the Screen If you have a cut-off type marquee, then make sure your screen compatibility mode is set correctly in Options->Marquee Screen->Screen Hardware Compatibility Mode. Currently this plugin does not support the squeeze 1/2 or squeeze 1/3 modes, but all of the following screen compatibility modes are supported:
- None
- Monitor Cuts Off Bottom 1/2
- Monitor Cuts Off Top 1/2
- Monitor Cuts Off Bottom 2/3
- Monitor Cuts Off Top 2/3
- Monitor Cuts Off 1/3 Top and Bottom

256 downloads

bigbox
marquee
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
- bigbox
- marquee
- startup
- intro
- video

(3 reviews)