About This File
Missing Games Checker (MGC) is a LaunchBox plugin designed to help users identify missing games in their collection based on platform metadata. It provides an easy-to-use interface that lets you view owned and missing games, and export the results.
VERSION 2.0 IS HERE! The SQLite & Quality-of-Life Update!
MGC has been completely rebuilt from the ground up to utilize LaunchBox's modern SQLite database. Gone are the heavy XML parsers and loading bars. V2.0 brings instant load times, a highly optimized 1.3MB footprint, and powerful new collector tools!
Instructions for Using the Missing Games Checker (MGC) v2.0:
Requirements:
- LaunchBox v13.19 or higher. (v13.18 and lower should use MGC v1.2)
- Games in LaunchBox.
- The LBMissingGamesCheckerPlugin.dll file .
Installation and Usage:
1. Install the Plugin:
- Download the latest release of the MGC plugin from this page.
- Make sure LaunchBox is closed.
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Unblock the downloaded zip file (Right-click on the zip -> Select Properties -> Click or Check "Unblock" if available)
- For help on Unblocking files, check out this article.
- Open the zip file and place the `LBMissingGamesCheckerPlugin.dll` file into your LaunchBox\Plugins folder (example R:\LaunchBox\Plugins).
2. Access the Plugin:
- Launch LaunchBox, then access the Tools menu and find Missing Games Checker(v2.0).
3. Using the Plugin:
- Select a platform from the dropdown menu and click Check It!
- MGC will display a list of games owned and a list of games missing from your collection based on the LaunchBox metadata.
- You can export the list of missing games to a CSV file for easy reference.
NEW FEATURES!!
4. Filtering & Options:
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Export Missing Games to LaunchBox: Use the new Export feature for the Missing Games list to safely save a new "[Platform] Wishlists" category in your sidebar. From here you can download metadata and media for games you don't even have yet! Delete the platform direct from LaunchBox or override it with a new Wishlist based on filters!
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Regional Filtering: Use the Region dropdown to strict-filter missing games (e.g., North America only). Toggle the "Include games with unknown regions" checkbox to catch database entries lacking region data.
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Quick Column Filtering: Quickly sort through large columns of data with the Select All/None option in the column filtering options panel.
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Platform Completion Status: See how many games you have/don't have at a glance with colour coded feedback that calculates the percentage of your missing titles.
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Real-time Search: Use the search boxes above the grids to instantly filter the view.
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New Right-Click Menu: Right-click on any missing game and find options to copy the games title/platform data to the clipboard or do an instant search on eBay for that missing game to add to your collection!!
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5. Additional Features from v1.2:
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Filter games by Released status if you only want to check released titles.
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Sort columns by clicking on the column header.
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Filter select columns by clicking on the filter icon in the column header.
- If the filtered column has multiple values (ie. North America, Japan) the row will still show if any of the filters are not applied. All values need to be unchecked in the filter to hide the row.
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*Note: Filtering one column works well. Multiple column filtering may produce incorrect results. Export to CSV if you need to apply better filtering
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*Will enhance in a future release
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Window resizing (Right edge only)
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Click on the highlighted cell data for links to video URLs, Wikipedia links, and the game on the LaunchBox DB (where available).
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Extra Notes:
- The Owned Games list is pulled from YOUR collection. If fields are missing information, make sure your collections metadata is up to date. Check out this LaunchBox Video on how to do that.
- The Missing Games list is pulled from the local LaunchBox.Metadata.db file. If you find information is missing, visit the LaunchBoxDB website to see how you can contribute!
- I've worked HARD to make the plugin as robust and efficient as I can. That being said, some computers may experience delays in processing the metadata at the start, processing any large collections' of games, and filtering/sorting large lists. Please be patient! Once you begin a process, it will complete! But the UI may become unresponsive during processing.
- As mentioned, filtering works well on one column at a time. Filtering one column, then another may have incorrect data shown. You can click the Reset button in the filter panel to reset the list, or just "Check It!" again to refresh the list again.
- NO data is modified in this plugin. Data is compared from the local Database file (which updates automatically by LaunchBox) and your collection data reported from LaunchBox.
Troubleshooting/Updates:
New to v1.2 - DebugLog
Click on the "Bug" to open the debug log. If you have issues, provide the relevant debug log here for review.
If you've confirmed the above and are still having issues, please provide the following:
- Click the "Export to CSV" button for the Missing Games table and save the .CSV file.
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Attach the .CSV file to a post here.
- (Optional) Attach a screenshot of the app with the error message.
I'll review the information and post a fix/suggestion as soon as possible.
Also, if you would like to have MGC perform additional tricks, let me know!! I do appreciate the feedback and will enhance the plugin over time based on your findings/suggestions.
Special Thanks
A huge thanks to the LaunchBox team and their API documentation for making this project possible, as well as Jason's helpful video tutorial.
Check out the source code on GitHub if you're interested.
Cheers! 🍻
Edited by AgentJohnnyP
Updated for v2.0 release.
What's New in Version 2.0.0 See changelog
Released
What's New in Version 2.0:
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Automated "Shadow Platform" Wishlists: This is the big one! You can now export your missing games list directly into LaunchBox. MGC will automatically create an isolated, safely nested "[Platform] Wishlists" category in your sidebar, populated with your missing games. Delete the list from LaunchBox or override it with a new Wishlist based on filtering!
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Native 3D Box Art Scraping: Wishlist platforms automatically inherit the
Scrape Asproperty of the parent console. This means you can right-click your new Wishlist platform and instantly download 3D Box Art, Clear Logos, and metadata for games you don't even own yet! -
"Purist" Regional Filtering: Only collect North American or European releases? Use the new dropdown Region Filter to hide global releases you don't care about. (It also includes a checkbox safety net to include/exclude database entries with missing region metadata so you don't miss anything).
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Right-Click Quick Actions: Right-click any missing game in the grid to instantly launch an eBay search for physical copies or copy the title/platform to your clipboard.
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Lightning Fast SQLite Integration: Total UI overhaul. Instant filtering, completion percentages, and zero UI thread lockups.
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PLUS MORE!!!
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