[Adding MAME Software into Launchbox]

• Do they load/run when launched directly in MAME?
  • Look [randomly] at the 1st of 30+ possible compatible systems (CBM3008), it also requires a couple Device files (c4040 and c2040_fdc).
• What command line parameters have you tried? 

[LaunchBox 13.27 Beta Thread]

16 hours ago, Retrofrogg said:

Screenshot priorities doesn't seem to be working for platforms? I have banner deselected, but banner images still appear on the image carousel.

Try removing it from Platform Details.

[SuperZNES]

7 hours ago, zugswang said:

My script is used in conjunction with RocketLauncher, so I had no need for escape sequence.

I was just testing it to see if it works.

Did you manage to get any of the 7 enhanced games to load without a light blue screen and sound ?

Rocket what? jk  Never used it myself. 

 

I was having issues in that the game would launch, but sometimes I'd get just a black screen. I'm not sure the light blue screen you're seeing.  I would occasionally get the menu screen over the game, and the controls only worked the game. Not the menu.

Playing around this morning, here's what I've done to get it to work 100% of the time. Including the 7 enhanced games.

• Config - Input - Player 1
  • Added to Button A, LeftCtrl
• Click the down-arrow button left of the Game menu item
• Set Start at Quick Menu: to On
• Quit the emulator

In LaunchBox, set the Running Script to:

WinWaitActive, ahk_exe superzsnes.exe
Sleep, 3000
Send, {LControl}

$Esc::
{
   Send !{F4}
   ExitApp
}

Adjust the sleep timer up as necessary.  Remove the Escape sequence if using that rocket app.

[DB Server down with "500 Server error"]

28 minutes ago, dragon57 said:

As I learned at work long ago, never test as admin! 😁

What's funny (or maybe not so funny), when you first posted I tested it on my end and saw no issues.  Later found that (for some reason) I wasn't logged in on the Games DB site.  Once logged in, the issue became apparent.

[DB Server down with "500 Server error"]

Just now, Randy Morrow said:

Thx it's working again!  I wasn't complaning I was just wondering if they new about it.  I know there probably busy, and was wondering if there was a better place to post so they would see it.

No worries.  Glad to hear all's good!

They were aware. It's just the problem was a little deeper than initially thought.  e.g.  Admin could be logged in, and it Just Worked™. Issue? What issue?

As more comments were left (here, in an appropriate place ), further digging commenced.

[DB Server down with "500 Server error"]

@dragon57 @badflame @MJF @Randy Morrow

Try it now.

[DB Server down with "500 Server error"]

I'm not an admin, but I can say it's being worked on internally as we 'speak'.  

[A real] admin will respond when the issue gets resolved (or update accordingly).

[SuperZNES]

1 hour ago, zugswang said:

Here is the ahk script

This works! Thanks.  Just be careful not to accidentally move the cursor (via mouse or otherwise) to a different spot in the menu during the 5 second pause.  

 

This can be moved into the emulators Running Script so a per-game script is not needed. (also added an escape sequence)

WinWaitActive, ahk_exe superzsnes.exe
Sleep, 5000
Send, {Down}{Enter}

$Esc::
{
    Send !{F4}
    ExitApp
}

The 5 seconds seems long. 2 seconds worked. Sometimes.  So just left it at 5 to keep it safe.

[SuperZNES]

6 hours ago, zugswang said:

Create an ahk script for the games and then just point to it as if they were the roms, bypassing the need to setup/use the emulator option in LB.

Is the AHK script just using a regular Run command for the app and "path/to/ROM" and it works?  If it can work that way, it should also just work via LB.  I wonder what's making it launch differently.

Or did you add some other stuff into your script? (Like MouseMove and a left-click)

 

Regardless, I'd presume they'd add back in the ability to launch the game directly via command line parameters.

[RetroArch command line loading options files?]

5 hours ago, crusadeRGP said:

if I use appendconfig=

The above shows using --appendconfig{space} vs. --appendconfig=.  

[MAME (Arcade) - What's New]

7 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said:

Yes, that fixed it. The file was dated April 8 before I deleted it. Got cached perhaps and didn't update when the data was available? In any case now I know I can delete that file if I run into this again. Thanks!

Glad that worked.  I'll add to my to-do list to check the code about cross-checking that file and updating it as necessary.  (although I thought I did. 😊)

[MAME (Arcade) - What's New]

24 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said:

I'm on 1.01. Here's a screenshot:

Try:

• Exit LaunchBox
• Go to the plugins' folder and the delete the file ADBcategories.json
• Start LaunchBox
• Try the plugin again

[MAME (Arcade) - What's New]

9 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said:

Sorry I mean it doesn't show any new files for .287 yet. It recognizes .287 as the latest version. It shows updated files for .286/.286, etc if I change to that version, so it's working, but nothing for .287. I assume there's some kind of delay before the files for the new version show up

Not sure what's going on then.  Are you on v1.0.1?

It should show when it loads, that MAME is 0.287 and ADB has 0.287 data. Then if you type in 0.287 (be sure to have the zero in front. Otherwise you'll get a message "The release number is not a valid #") and press enter, the 11 games should then populate.  

When you press enter after inputting the release number, the plugin gets data direct from ADB website.  aka, the plugin doesn't store data. If there's a connection issue with ADB, then that'd cause a problem.  But you'd know if there was because there wouldn't be a number next to Latest available from ADB.  Is it showing a number there?  Above that, is it showing a Total Arcade Games number?  Are you getting any error messages?  

 

[MAME (Arcade) - What's New]

6 minutes ago, dukdukgoos said:

How long does it usually take for a new version to be available in the plugin, and where is it updating from? .287 still isn't available and it's almost time for .288 to release

Usually within about 2 seconds.  Or however long it takes your internet to check MAME's Github site for their current version and to check the Arcade Database site for the version it has data for.

Is it showing that the Latest MAME Release is something other than 0.287?  Can you share a screen shot?  

 

example stock photo

[Workaround for LB Stuck on "Refreshing Local Metadata" Loop when Importing/Adding]

There is a fix in place in the latest beta release (13.27-beta-3) that is requesting some end-user "stress testing".

Quote

- Local metadata package refreshes now use SHA-256 verification with retry handling and a shorter refresh path

- Run a metadata refresh from Tools > Download Metadata and Media, from any import workflow that refreshes metadata, or from a metadata search, then confirm it completes successfully and feels faster now that the older extended validation steps have been replaced

 

[LaunchBox 13.27 Beta Thread]

3 minutes ago, inukshuk99 said:

Ok, moved that folder to root, not even in Launchbox, then restarted, see pic of same, some plugins not installed now, but still shows update on many ???

Most likely it's a beta thing (e.g. version numbering) that gets resolved with the official release.  (@faeran?)

5 minutes ago, inukshuk99 said:

As you can see below the Dolphin shows Repair not Update 

Installed ones will (pretty sure) always have the repair option available. 
(Option "B" would be, if there's an issue with a particular integration plugin, tell you to close LB, delete the folder, then restart LB. This way it's "right at your fingertips". ) 

[LaunchBox 13.27 Beta Thread]

17 minutes ago, inukshuk99 said:

Question, I see several Plugins showing UPDATE, I select and then restart Launchbox, go back to Plugins, same...showing update on BigPEmu, Dolphin, GameDB, Mame, RPCS3, ScummVM, Xemu

Also made a BAK folder inside and moved all into that folder to have Launchbox Re-Create, but same, still shows Update ???

I believe the "check marks" would show something different if they weren't up to date.

Also, LaunchBox will look for and find plugins recursively within the /Plugins/ folder structure. That is, it will dig through subfolders looking for plugin files.  Try moving your BAK folder to somewhere outside of the LaunchBox folder structure.

[MAME DATs Viewer]

9 hours ago, lfan said:

Now the plugin downloads the history.xml file, but it crashes LaunchBox. I think it's because of the "a" in the version number (0.287a).

Thanks for letting me know. I had some other behind-the-scenes changes ready and now also changed how it looks at the version in the xml file.

A new version had been uploaded. 

[Extreme slowdown / sluggishness after couple hours in Attract Mode]

To help the developers better help you, what version of LaunchBox/Big Box are you using?

[launchbox and big box set up for exit emulator]

1 hour ago, Dartz said:

is possible set up launchbox/bigbox to exit game/emulator with a button press and going back to the frontend ? i know can use alt f4 but prefer use buttons when using a controller , thanks

You can map your controller buttons to exit the games.  Note, they are separate mappings between LaunchBox and Big Box. (as in, you have to map them in each app separately.)

LaunchBox

• Tools < Options < Game Controllers < Mappings
  • "Exit Game"

Big Box

• System Menu <  Options < Controller Mappings
  • "Close the Active Window"
  • ("Exit" is for exiting Big Box)

[LaunchBox 13.27 Beta Thread]

25 minutes ago, kobaturtle said:

Since new Beta, I lost the ability to type/navigate/find a game name directly from keyboard input in launchbox main menu. Until now, typing letters was easy way to navigate through game titles

Double check you're in the main [middle] panel (e.g. click a game), then start typing. Tested in both Default and Omni themes in beta-2 and is still working here. 

[How do I setup the CHD folders for MAME?]

Update to handling CHD paths using LaunchBox's built-in parameters and negating the need to edit mame.ini.

When your CHD folders are not subfolders of where your [regular] ROMs are located:

Example:

• G:\Roms\MAME\MAME 0.287 ROMs (non-merged)\area51.zip
• G:\Roms\MAME\MAME 0.287 CHDs (merged)\area51\area51.chd

In LaunchBox, edit your MAME emulator. The default command-line parameters should already contain -rompath %romlocation%.  Attach to that, a semi-colon, a double-quote mark, the full path to your CHD folder and another double-quote mark.

That part of the command-line parameters in this example will now look like this:

-rompath %romlocation%;"G:\Roms\MAME\MAME 0.287 CHDs (merged)"

Do not add any spaces before or after the simi-colon nor quotes.  Also, no trailing-slash at the end of your CHD path.

 

All thanks go to @faeran who messaged me this Unusual Gem saying, "Another way to handle this... separate paths with a semi-colon".  (a kind-of Homer Simpson forehead-slap, "doh" moment. Of course this works! )

[Visual Studio Template for Plugin development]

This link's broken.

[LaunchBox 13.27 Beta Thread]

17 minutes ago, AzgoRAth said:

Sorry Joe. The ones that aren't showing are:

[ ... ]

Lol.  Ok point taken.  You have way more platforms than I do.   But the ones not working does better give something for the developers to look at.

[RetroArch and RS3 Reaper Lightgun Controls]

13 minutes ago, Shinlocke said:

I am being told that RetroArch is not really good for Lightgun Emulation, at least for the RS3 Reaper. 
I am going to try to use RetroBat instead for those games and see if that resolves the issue. 

It's more of an emulator setup issue than a frontend issue.

The emulators I use with my Gun4IR are Demul, Flycast, Model2 (emulator.exe) and [standalone] MAME. I don't use TeknoParrot, but do have a couple games using JConfig. Then alongside these, I use DemulShooter (where applicable), LUA scripts for MAME and QMamehook.