[Steam/GOG/Epic Device Icons Not Visible]

The Themes folder you referenced is for BigBox Themes.

Your 2nd image appears to be LaunchBox.  LaunchBox platform images that you're attempting to show on the left sidebar go in:

\LaunchBox\Images\Platform Icons\Platforms\

[DeSmuME games load fine directly with windows' CLI, but not with LaunchBox]

43 minutes ago, cue1boy said:

This seems to be broken again. DeSmuME does not load again in LaunchBox

It should, without any command-line parameters, just work.  Make sure you don't have anything in the Associated Platforms command-line parameters also.

If you want to load it full screen, add "--windowed-fullscreen" (without quotes) to the command-line parameters.

 

[BezelLauncher]

3 hours ago, Krakerman said:

Only thing missing is RetroArch and MAME support and this will make this plugin complete!! I know RA and MAME have there own bezels but some of us old school RL users may and do prefer using our RL bezels for those systems.

Much appreciate your work @JoeViking245 as always!

Thanks for the appreciation!  It [still] seems to me like a duplicative effort to add systems that have the built-in feature that does the same thing.  (and probably better than I could)  It'd be like creating a plugin to reset your games' Play Count to zero when LaunchBox can natively do that.  Oh wait. I did that.  Or creating a plugin that shows badges on games that have RetroAchievements when LaunchBox does that too. Oh ya, I also did that.    Anyway, in the works is adding bezel support for games using LaunchBox's DOSBox and ScummVM.  It's a little tricky because of how they're launched, but should be coming soon to a download near you.

[Resident Evil 4 (2023) won't match with correct version on Database]

3 minutes ago, SiriusVI said:

1. Why would my strange workaround work with Steam games if the platform name were to blame?

Good point.  I guess when I was grasping at straws, I grabbed the short one.  

[Resident Evil 4 (2023) won't match with correct version on Database]

1 hour ago, SiriusVI said:

It doesn't work. For some reason it just shows the old version in the drop done menu. But this seems to be a bug. i cantyple literally ANYTHING (like Super Mario Wolrd )in the text bar and will only show the old RE 4 game.

Any idea what's causing this?

When I did my test, the Platform was "Windows". Similar to your last Edit-Game Metadata screenshot.

So another workaround might could be, temporarily change the Platform to 'Windows' (or variant), link the ID, then change it back.

[Resident Evil 4 (2023) won't match with correct version on Database]

Add (2023) to the title, then search

[Mame xml]

32 minutes ago, Jabb3rJaw said:

What I’m finding now is the games that have 2 showing like Burger Time

Burger Time (DECO Cassette) and Burger Time (Data East set 1) are technically 2 separate machines (as classified by MAME).  Both ROMs are parent systems (vs 1 being a clone of the other).

Since neither is a clone and both are working machines, both get imported.  There really isn't a way to filter those out on import beyond adding, yet another checkbox for 'skip DECO Cassettes'.  (Feature requests are available at the top of this page)

The easiest way to get rid of all (33ish) Arcade DECO Cassette games might be to create a playlist filtered on Version Contains "deco cassette" and Platform is Equal To "Arcade."

Save.  Then select that playlist, select all games in the playlist and Delete.

[Movie Scraper (Reboot 2023)]

5 hours ago, uberrr said:

Thanks for this. I wonder if a scraper for book/magazine/comic books exists...🤔 Edit: Any way to also scrape Box - Back and Box - Spine? Feels super weird without them

You're welcome.

I've never looked to see if someone made a plugin to scrape book/magazine/comic books.  That would need to be scraped from different sites than for movies.

 

Box - Back and Box - Spine:  If TMDB or FanArt.TV has those available, that's something that could be looked into adding.  If you see that either of them has those, let me know.  

[Movie Scraper (Reboot 2023)]

7 hours ago, grichl91 said:

LogFile 2023-12-15 22-55-34.txt The odd thing is, I've checked the log and it says they were downloaded but don't see them. I'll open the video and hit edit to check for media and nothing is there. Tried refreshing launchbox etc, thanks for the support.

After downloading, the images will typically appear after clicking a different 'game' (movie) then clicking back on the one you just downloaded for.  A poor man's alternative to automagically refreshing the images on the fly.  Alternately, with 'that movie' selected, press F5.

Since the log says images were downloaded (and even some were skipped because they 'already existed'), look inside your Images folder.

/LaunchBox/Images/[name_of_your_movie_platform]/Box - Front/[name_of_movie].png

[Movie Scraper (Reboot 2023)]

19 minutes ago, grichl91 said:

I'm not very techy but, i've got everything set up. When i go to use it, it's only importing movie dexcription etc. No media or covers. Any fix for that?

In the plugins folder, there's a subfolder called \Logs\.  Sometimes the most recent log file (when the error occurred) may shed some light.  Can you share that file?  (drag and drop the file rather than copy and paste)

[Is "Close Active Window" Safe?]

8 hours ago, JD78 said:

Is it just an alt+f4 bind essentially?

Exactly (essentially).  It doesn't a Force Close, so it's safe. 

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

12 hours ago, Sbaby said:

but if I wanted to put it inside the startup application options (Bigbox Only) instead, how should I modify the script?

i tried winwait instead of runwait but it doesn't work very well

Grabbed from some old notes for doing something different, but the result is what you want...

; Master application
Process, Wait, BigBox.exe
Sleep, 5000
Process, Wait, BigBox.exe
Process, WaitClose, BigBox.exe

I'm not sure when exactly when the Startup App gets triggered, so for a safety measure we wait 2 times.   The 1st Wait is for BB launched from LB's root folder.  That exe starts BigBox.exe that's in the /Core/ folder then closes itself. 

We give the 1st exe a few seconds to do its thing then Wait for /Core/BigBox.exe to be running.  Lastly, wait for it to exit before restoring things. 

 

You might be able to do away with the 1st two lines of code.  But having them in there won't hurt anything and the cost (programmatically and financially) is free. 😎

[Start on a specific platform in BigBox ?]

14 hours ago, Jabb3rJaw said:

an option to start on whatever platform you want.

Sounds like that'd be an excellent feature request.   (Help & Support - Request a Feature [at the top of this page])

 

I'm not sure making the xml ReadOnly is a good idea but should do-the-trick.  For a while.  One problem, as mentioned is you wouldn't be able to save any changes to BB.  But if you have it setup the way you want, there really is no need.  Another [potential] problem would be when BB gets updated.

 

37 minutes ago, skizzosjt said:

If going the editing XML route I would instead think you would have to automate editing the XML file

I do this on my cab for (A) playing on the cabs monitor or (B) playing on the TV.  I use different Themes for each and have a PowerShell script that will 'edit' BigBoxSettings.xml, changing the Theme accordingly. Then starts BigBox.  (2 scripts actually. One for each screen.)

 

Here's an example that will set the <LastPlatform> to "Arcade" and then start BigBox.  Before using something like this, you will need to have had BB closed with the option Rember the Last Platform set to On.  Otherwise, the script won't be able to find the element <LastPlatform>.

$filePathToTask = "D:\LaunchBox\Data\BigBoxSettings.xml"

$xml = New-Object XML

$xml.Load($filePathToTask)

$element =  $xml.SelectSingleNode("//LastPlatform")

$element.InnerText = "Arcade"

$xml.Save($filePathToTask)

 

& D:\LaunchBox\BigBox.exe

Exit

 

It's not the prettiest startup process (i.e. you see the PowerShell window pop up for a second), but is quite effective.  You could probably do the same thing via an AutoHotkey script or maybe even a batch file, if those are more your flavor.

[Atari800 RetroArch core - how pass Atari machine type from LaunchBox]

Option A

Edit your RetroArch emulator and add a 2nd "Atari 800" Associated Platform, set it to use the other core and do not check the Default Emulator box.  Save. Then to use the other core:

• Right-click a game and select Launch with  - RetroArch and select the other core.

 

 

Option B   (the override option)

Edit the games that you don't want to use the platforms' default core and set a custom command line parameter that'll load the 'other' core.

• Edit a game
• got down to Emulation
• check the box Use Custom Command-line Parameters
• type in the command to load the other core
  • -L "cores/atari800_libretro.dll"
  • (or whatever core you need to load)
• Save

This would need to be done per-game (aka one-by-one).

 

To do this in bulk (change if for several or many games all at once), you can use the Bulk Custom Command-Line Editor plugin.

 

[Start on a specific platform in BigBox ?]

41 minutes ago, Jabb3rJaw said:

This only works if I have remember last platform checked but then I have to make sure I exit on Arcade everytime. Once I uncheck remember last platform it goes back to 3DO

Dang!  I was sure that had worked before. But then again, I've been wrong before too.  And after some testing, I find I am wrong again.  Sorry about that.  I don't actually use BB that often, and when I do, I'm usually playing in the same platform.

One other option (not that the 1st one turned out to be an actual option) is to set the platforms Sort Title to something like "01".  (LaunchBox, Edit platform, Details tab, Sort Title).  Also, turn off Remember Last Platform (in BigBox).  This should put it at the top of the list above 3DO.  It might look funny being there, but it will still say "Arcade" and be the default starting platform.

[Start on a specific platform in BigBox ?]

1 hour ago, Jabb3rJaw said:

Would be nice to be able to make Arcade the default platform to start on. 

Do the above steps not work to do that?

[Loading anything using Retroarch through Launchbox gives black screen only - Previously working (works outside launchbox in Retroarch)]

Pretty sure with most cores, you don't need to have LaunchBox extract the ROMs 1st.  You might try unchecking that option on one or a couple of the Associated Platforms and test that way.  I'm not saying they shouldn't work if LaunchBox extracts them 1st. It's just I've never tried it that way. 

[Start on a specific platform in BigBox ?]

Quote

Is it possible to make Bigbox starting on a specific platform on launch ?

Yes. To start BigBox ON a specific platform:

• In BigBox, navigate to your Arcade platform.
• Exit BigBox
• (re)Start BigBox
  • You should be on Arcade
• Goto System Menu - Options - General
• Turn Off Remember Last Platform

 

Quote

i'd like Bigbox starts in the Arcade Platform.

I don't believe there's an option to start BigBox IN a specific platform (viewing the games).

[Default View Detail changes]

"Version" is not in the options to be displayed in the Game Details (your 2nd screenshot, "Information").

But you are able to display it along with the text in the Main View.  (You'll also need to have Text on All Games checked.)

View - Show / Hide, Versions

[Scraping images via links]

2 hours ago, SILLYPILLYSTUDIOS said:

does the images automatically save on the desktop?

If done per the method shown in the video, the image only gets saved to the appropriate /LaunchBox/Images/... subfolder.

[Bigbox not opening]

1 hour ago, kobi said:

But now bigbox wont open. If i minimise LB and open BB, LB pops up. No logs, as its not an error and nothing is coming up in the logs.

You can't have both open at the same time.

You can either start BigBox by itself (BigBox.exe) or when in LaunchBox, you can press Ctrl+B.  This will close LaunchBox and open BigBox.  There will be a slight delay between closing and opening while LaunchBox saves all the data.

[MAME bios and software lists]

1 hour ago, Umarel said:

the thing i do not understand is when i choose to include non-working games, there are romset names that are not even present into downloaded rom packages

The MAME full-set import wizard doesn't look at your physical ROMs (except to initially verify that you have a full-set) during import.  The ROMs that get imported are based on your selection(s) (i.e. include non-working) and crossed with the 'known list' of all ROMs for that version of MAME.

The "known list" is generated during the import process directly from [your version of] mame.exe.  

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

5 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

to be exact I made your approach similar to :

; To restore everything
    RestoreDesktop(ToggleEverything[1], ToggleEverything[2])

I had seen that you had put an additional variable after a comma although I never understood why there are two "ToggleEverything". so I simply tried adding another one and it became :

; To restore everything
    RestoreDesktop(ToggleEverything[1], ToggleEverything[2]), RestoreCursors()

I think you got lucky 'simply adding another one'.   But as I illuded towards, a pretty cool happenstance. 

 

Why there are two "ToggleEverything":

We set the variable ToggleEverything to equal the return value of the method HideDesktop().  So looking at what HideDesktop() does, the last thing it does is it returns 2 values.  So now ToggleEverything is holding (equal to) 2 separate values.  Making it an 'Array'.  The 1st value in the array is stored in ToggleEverything[1] and the 2nd value is in ToggleEverything[2].

Now when you look at the method RestoreDesktop, it requires that 2 parameters be sent to it.  "originalWallpaper" and "origBackground)".  So when you execute it under "To Restore Everything", you have to send with it, the 2 parameters.  Note, we place these 2 parameters inside of the methods parenthesis.  

RestoreDesktop ( ToggleEverything[1] , ToggleEverything[2] )       (added spaces and colors for clarity)

 

Now adding a comma after the last (closing) parenthesis of this method we're executing, allows us to string together multiple commands.  (so I had learned, today)

I'm not sure how far you can go with it   command_1, command_2, command_3, command_4 ...   But from a coding readability aspect, probably don't want to go too far.

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

40 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

For crosshair/cursor:
I have tried a few methods, and I have found a method that works although not exactly as you described it, can you confirm that it is correct? It seems to work correctly but I would like to have more certainty from you

That's quite elegant.  I'd never thought to put 2 methods onto one line.  TBH, I didn't know you could [and just separate them with a comma].  Today is a good day as I learned something new.    Thanks for this!

; To hide blah, blah, blah and set custom cursor

ToggleEverything := HideDesktop(), SetSystemCursor(file)

 

;*** VS ***

 

; To hide blah, blah, blah

ToggleEverything := HideDesktop()

 

; Set custom cursor

SetSystemCursor(file)

 

 

59 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

For Screensaver
It works perfectly, thank you

Out of curiosity, what did you do differenly to make it work?

[Auto Hotkey Scripts]

13 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

The crosshair/cursor works fine but I have not understood how I can put it in the context of our file, I would like to avoid pressing the F3 and F4 buttons but simply have it activated when starting the file and deactivated when closing it. I have tried but I am not sure if I am using the brackets correctly

The file = [pathToCursorFile] variable would go near the top of the script with any other variable declarations (and before any hotkey assignments).

The 2 functions ( SetSystemCursor(file) and RestoreCursors() ) would go at the bottom of the script (below any hotkeys and subroutines).

Then inside the method (or function or subroutine) that 'starts the file', add in the single line SetSystemCursor(file) (removing the F3 hotkey assignment).

Likewise, wherever the file gets 'closed', add in RestoreCursors() (removing the F4 hotkey assignment).

 

25 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

This screensaver script only worked the first time, all subsequent times it no longer works for me, not even using it as administrator, do you have any suggestions ?

Sorry. I don't.  I ran the 2 RegWrite lines back-and-forth several times.  In between, checking the registry (HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaveActive) to verify that it changed.  And it had.  (note: when looking at the registry, you'll need to click a different folder, then click back to the 'Desktop' folder to see the change)