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Retro Achievements HUD 6.6

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TrailerVert
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About This File

# AchievementHUD_V6.6.1 Display Plugin

### Core Features

**Live Achievement Tracking**
- Shows all achievements for the current game with unlock status
- Displays achievement icons, descriptions, and point values
- Shows how rare each achievement is (percentage of players who've unlocked it)
- Instant detection when you unlock achievements (<100ms via RetroArch log monitoring)

**Dynamic Achievement Celebrations**
- Full-screen gold celebrations when you unlock achievements
- Text-to-speech announcements (optional, fully configurable)
- LEDBlinky integration for RGB button/joystick animations (optional)
- Audio ducking - game audio drops during announcements so you don't miss anything

**Profile Display**
- Your RetroAchievements profile with avatar, username, and rank
- Total points and "true points" (weighted by difficulty)
- Currently playing status
- Recently played games with completion percentages

**Smart Features**
- Configurable sort modes - sort achievements by popularity, points, or alphabetically
- Auto-scroll - smoothly scrolls through long achievement lists during gameplay
- "Next achievement" suggestion - shows you the most common locked achievement
- Multi-monitor support with DPI awareness
- Home screen when no game is running

---

## Why a Second Monitor?

Checking achievements mid-game means pausing, opening menus, breaking immersion. With a second screen, you always know:
- What you just unlocked
- What achievements are available
- How close you are to completion
- Which achievement to go for next

It's like having the RetroAchievements website open next to you, but live-updated and game-aware.

---

## Technical Highlights

**Instant Detection**
- Monitors RetroArch logs for achievement unlocks in real-time
- No polling delays - detections happen the moment RetroArch records them
- Falls back to API polling for non-RetroArch emulators

**LaunchBox Integration**
- Fully integrated with LaunchBox's game launch/exit lifecycle
- Uses LaunchBox's RetroAchievements configuration (no duplicate setup)
- Pulls game metadata directly from LaunchBox's database
- Supports Clear Logos via LaunchBox's image system (handles MAME ROM name mismatches automatically)

**Customizable Display**
- Choose your target monitor
- Adjust celebration duration
- Configure TTS voice, speed, and volume
- Enable/disable individual features (LEDBlinky, TTS, audio ducking)
- Sort achievements your way
- Auto-scroll for hands-free browsing

---

## Requirements

- LaunchBox (tested with latest versions)
- RetroAchievements account configured in LaunchBox (Tools > Options > RetroAchievements)
- RetroArch for instant achievement detection (optional - API polling works with any emulator)
- .NET 9.0 runtime
- Second monitor recommended (works on single monitor but best experience is dual-screen)

**Optional Integrations:**
- LEDBlinky for RGB lighting effects
- Text-to-Speech (built into Windows)

---

## How It Works

1. **Launch a game** through LaunchBox
2. **Display appears** on your configured second monitor showing:
   - Game's Clear Logo or title
   - Your achievement progress
   - Full achievement list with icons and descriptions
3. **Unlock achievements** - instant celebration on screen
4. **Track your progress** without ever pausing the game
5. **Game exits** - display returns to home screen showing your profile and recent games

---

## Installation

1. Download the plugin
2. Extract to `LaunchBox\Plugins\AchievementHUD\`
3. Restart LaunchBox
4. Configure in Tools > Options > Achievement HUD
5. Set your target monitor and preferences
6. Launch a game and enjoy!

---

## Credits
by: TrailerVert
Built with love for the LaunchBox and RetroAchievements communities. 
Special thanks to the LaunchBox plugin API and RetroAchievements for making this possible.

---

**Current Version:** 6.6.1  
**Status:** Beta
**License:** Free to use

---

Edited by TrailerVert
version number update

What's New in Version 6.6   See changelog

Released

In the v6.6 the plugin was creating a plugin folder named "Trailervert.display.plugin" to store cache and setting. I changed it to "AchievementHUD" in the plugin folder.

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Recommended Comments

rexryan

rexryan 223

Posted

Loving the clear logo for the games..

 

AzgoRAth

AzgoRAth 112

Posted

I've tested this for about an hour now and it's mostly great. There are 2 problems I've found so far though.

 

1 - The plugin seems to be quite unstable. LB/BB has crashed a few times while using it or when exiting LB/BB. I have changed the DPI settings as instructed but still crashes sometimes.

2 - Plugin doesn't work with multiset (yet, hopefully).

 

There was a 3rd problem which is the mouse cursor is hidden if using the plugin with BB but I managed to fix that by enabling "Enable Mouse" and disabling "Hide Mouse Cursor when Not in Use" in BB->Options->Mouse settings.

Awesome work otherwise.

  • Like 1
TrailerVert

TrailerVert 22

Posted

Thanks. I honestly have not used it much with BB so any feedback on that is appreciated. I am not sure I know what Multiset is. You are correct with the mouse settings, Those have to set in BB. I will look to see if I can make it show when moved to that screen, 

 

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AzgoRAth

AzgoRAth 112

Posted (edited)

3 hours ago, TrailerVert said:

Thanks. I honestly have not used it much with BB so any feedback on that is appreciated. I am not sure I know what Multiset is. You are correct with the mouse settings, Those have to set in BB. I will look to see if I can make it show when moved to that screen, 

 

So, multiset is a new feature on RA where you can unlock base sets and subsets at the same time by using only the base rom (or subset-patched rom for Specialty Subsets) instead of playing a different rom per set. Oh another problem I found is the plugin in it's current state can't tell if the unlocked achievements are hardcore or softcore unlocked. So as you can see in the picture, I have unlocked all the achievements in Hardcore except for "THE MAN" which I have unlocked in Softcore.image.thumb.png.cbe98cc921ef9d37d387abdd16f4687b.png

Edited by AzgoRAth
  • Thanks 1
TrailerVert

TrailerVert 22

Posted

AzgoRAth. I am looking into the multiset now. I have not used that feature but it looks really cool. I will see how that might be added.

I believe we will be able to see if it is a softcore or hardcore and add a way to tell which it is. This is great feedback and this is my first plugin. I am not a programmer, I mow grass for a living. LOL

I do love playing Achievements so I would like to make this a cool tool. I got tired of having RA always open. I will post back as soon as get this multiset working in Retroarch. Then we can see about adding it.

 

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