JoeViking245

OHhhhh..... you removed the semicolon to uncomment the line(s). Gotch'ya. The file I attached was a library that you are to make reference from in your original script. You can reference it by using the #Include statement. I suppose you could try to use it the way you did. But use just one script file. Uncomment the 2 lines and somewhere in between them, add RunWait, "D:\LaunchBox\Core\LaunchBox.exe"

The call to RestoreDesktop doesn't (shouldn't?) have any semicolons. Removing the semicolon from ToggleEverything changes it from an expression method to a legacy method in which both are different in how they set the array ToggleEverything. So that may have something to do with it. Removing the colon from ToggleEverything := HideDesktop() shouldn't have made a difference in "hiding" everything. But it may make a difference in setting its array (originalWallpaper, origBackground) that are returned from HideDesktop(). If those aren't stored properly (or at all), attempting to run RestoreDesktop (ToggleEverything [1], ToggleEverything [2]) Would be just the same as running RestoreDesktop ("", "") ..then RestoreDesktop won't know what the originalWallpaper was to restore it.

This works on Windows 10. Not sure about Windows 11. Also, not sure about dual monitors. To RESTORE the original wallpaper, you would need to keep the script running until you close LB/BB, or store the originalWallpaper variable to a txt file (or something). ; Store original desktop wallpaper (probably has issues with multiple monitors) RegRead, originalWallpaper, HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop, WallPaper ; Set desktop wallpaper to null (not saved to registry. Changes will revert after rebooting PC) DllCall("SystemParametersInfo", UInt, 0x14, UInt, 0, Str, , UInt, 2) Unless you want a 'special' wallpaper while LB/BB is running, it might be easier to have no wallpaper ("null") and set the background color to black. If your default is something other than black, you'll want to save the origBackground variable as well ; Store original background color RegRead, backgroundRGB, HKCU\Control Panel\Colors, Background StringSplit split, backgroundRGB, " " origBackground := % RGB( split1, split2, split3) ; Set the background Color to black DllCall("SetSysColors", "Int", 1, "Int*", 1, "UInt*", 0) And if you're saving (storing) origBackgound, you'll need this subroutine also. ;this subroutine is a part of desktopBackground RGB(r, g, b) { SetFormat, Integer, Hex Return, (r << 16) | (g << 8) | b } Then to restore things after LB/BB closes (again, uses the variables originalWallpaper and origBackground that were saved from before.) ; Restore original desktop wallpaper (image) DllCall("SystemParametersInfo", UInt, 0x14, UInt, 0, Str, originalWallpaper, UInt, 2) ; Restore the original background color DllCall("SetSysColors", "Int", 1, "Int*", 1, "UInt*", origBackground) If you'd prefer to have all that in a library and just call a function to hide and another to restore, you can call the attached library using #Include. Instructions are in the file. You will still need to have the script running, or save to fore mentioned variables externally to be recalled when restoring. The library I made actually also hides/restores the desktop icons, taskbar, minimizes all windows as well as the wallpaper/background thing above. Basically it gives you a black canvas. So you'll want to comment or delete those portions you don't want out. Have fun. ToggleAllLibrary.ahk.txt (be sure to remove ".txt" if/when you go to use it.)

Easiest way (only way?) is to make a copy of the bezel folder for Golden tee '99 (which will be "gt99" [same name as the games ROM file]) and rename it (the copy) to match the name of the [other] ROM you want to also use it for. If it's Golden Tee Fore! 2006 Complete, the ROM name is "gtfore06". So the copied folder will be renamed to "gtfore06". For stand-alone MAME, the bezel folders are located in the artwork subfolder of your MAME emulator. Example: ../Emulators/MAME/artwork/gt99/

Here's a helpful guide regarding stand-alone emulators and/or RetroArch cores to use, by system.

Thank you! So yours is not really a question about the plugin. I've never imported gdi files nor ROMs that are in individual subfolders. But I know there's an option when you import ROMs where you can select a folder or files. In your case a folder (containing the subfolders).

2 options: Per game - Edit the game To change all at once for several or all games, select the games, at the bottom of the LaunchBox window, click Edit to start the Bulk Edit Wizard.

You're right. You can't. But the "special license" is free.

@maxforwardspeed Try adding ,,Min to the end of your 2 run lines #SingleInstance Force Run, E😕Emulation\LaunchBox\Sinden\Player 1\[the rest of the long path]\Lightgun.exe,,Min Run, E😕Emulation\LaunchBox\Sinden\Player 2\[the rest of the long path]\Lightgun.exe,,Min ~Esc:: Process,Close,Lightgun.exe Run,taskkill /im "Lightgun.exe" /F sleep, 500 ExitApp return Edit: lol it likes changing : \ when their right next to each other. But you get the idea

Was that checkbox even an option for you? Does it actually start it and send it to the taskbar (if checked)? If you don't use the additional app, does your game start full screen and in focus? [With the additional app in place] try disabling the startup screen. Any change? When you have to Alt+Tab to the non-fullscreen game to bring it in focus, can you see what application you're Alt+Tabbing from? (The application that is stealing focus) Is the Alt+Tab thing required in BigBox only? Or do you need to do that when launching the game from LaunchBox as well? Can you show the script you're using to launch the Sinden software? In the emulator Startup Screen settings that you're using for the game(s) you load the Sinden software with, Is Hide All Windows that are not in Exclusive Fullscreen Mode box checked? Try the opposite.

Does this help?

Out of curiosity, can you right click and select Open file location or select Properties? Where/what does it point to (i.e. is it pointing to the ../LaunchBox/ folder? Or somewhere else?)? What's the date on the executable? Is there any useful information in the Details tab of Properties?

No and yes. The plugin can create Additional Apps, but Additional Apps can only open one program/executable. Just like any command line. But you can create multiple "Start Before Main Application" Additional Apps. Or like you said, you could create 1 AHK script or 1 batch file that will open your 2 required instances and point to them. Limits? What limits? There aren't no stinking limits. lol

These go far beyond the scope of this plugin and my personal knowledgebase. I'm glad I was able to get the Extras to import for you. As for getting the games to run, all I can say is good luck and I hope you find out how. Thank you for taking the time to test the update.

No worries. Thanks for checking. In this case, the issue is not so much the controller. It's the "If(state)" line. Where "state" is, "is something on the controller activated". A button is pushed. A joystick (thumbstick?) is not at 0,0. etc. The script is running "checkForJoy:" every 10 milliseconds. When you press "A", If(state) = True, so it executes whatever is in between the { }. If you hold down "A", If(state) will = True, If(state.wButtons & 4096) will also = True, so it will 'Send k'. [In this case] there's nothing else to do inside the 'hotkey label' "checkForJoy". So nothing more happens. Until 10 milliseconds later when checkForJoy is activated again. Guess what.. If(state) equals True. So it will 'Send k'. Again. It's a vicious, never-ending cycle. Like you, I tried different Sleep timers, tried changing the SetTimer to different values (which turns out to be pretty much the same as changing the sleep timer). Looked at several other little things too. So I got creative.... There is no auto-repeat at all. So if you press and hold "A", you will not (can not) get "kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk". You'll only get "k". But if you press A,B,X,Y super-fast, you'll get "kpde" typed out. Super-fast. Or press "B" 4 time real fast, you'll get "pppp". As fast as you press the button. The script is a bit longer, but seems to work well.

You can't, but you can. The Bulk Edit Wizard doesn't include the Field for "Additional Applications" yet. But for the time being, there is a plugin that will help you to do that.

@signotime Thanks for the files! That helped a lot. I updated the plugin to hopefully accommodate importing AmstradMania (Amstrad CPC) Extras. The Extras I added in are "Original Disk" (2122 items), "Original Tape" (2670), and "Alt Version" (117). I also updated the AHK script to account for the 3 additions. This zip file only contains the plugin file (ImportGameBase.dll) and the AutoHotkey script (GBlaunch.ahk). Unblock the zip file and replace the 2 existing files in your Plugins/ImportGameBase/ folder with these 2 files. (You should still have the Database2XML.exe file in that folder. Making up the 3 required files for the plugin to work) When you have a chance, would you please test this and let me know your results. Thanks. ImportGameBase (v1.1).zip

Absolutely! I think that may be a little more 'technically' involved for many (setting it up that way), but a viable option none-the-less. Maybe not really "technical", but more steps to explain and follow. There is, but that's only on a per game basis. I interpreted the OP as wanting to start the Sinden software at the same time BigBox starts. Using Additional Apps to load Sinden before starting a game, and then unloading (closing) it after exiting a game does make the most sense. This would need to be done on a game-by-game basis.

amstradmania database file must be formatted differently from other GameBase databases. I can't find that database file. When you ran the plugin to import it, the plugin created a file called amstradmania.xml. Can you zip up that file (.7z or .zip works) and attach that file here? (not amstradmania.mdb. The xml file) Can you also attach the latest log file when the import failed. The Log file will be in the same folder as the plugin. "LogFile xxxx.txt" I think you mean the AHK script that's included with the plugin for running the games. If the games won't import, the script can't launch them. We need to get them to successfully import 1st. Thanks for your patience.

Thanks, Glad you like it. Regarding amstradmania, which "extras" specifically aren't importing correctly? Is anything for amstradmania importing at all? I don't use GameBase so don't really know it that well. But I do know a little. If you could provide more detail, that would help a lot. The script you edited, are you talking about the batch files that @foleyjo created?

Any chance you can find those games in the "Windows" platform? To double check, in the left pane click "All". Then in the search field above that, type in the name of 1 of the Steam games you imported and see if it appears.

When you exit LaunchBox, you need to wait a few/several seconds (30 to be ultra-safe? But realistically, it's way less than that) for LaunchBox to finish saving data. Even after its main window closes. Then when you remove your external drive, use the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" feature located on your taskbar. You may need to click the 'up chevron' to see it.

Maintain Aspect Ratio doesn't appear it can be saved on a per game basis. As you discovered. But as [almost] always, there are options. option 1 You can turn it off globally by editing mame.ini and changing "keepaspect" to "0" (zero). option 2 Though a bit tedious, you can create game-specific ini files that has a single line... "keepaspect 0". Save the file with the same name as the ROM and a ".ini" file extension. Save this in the ini folder under MAME. example: D:\Emulators\MAME\ini\area51.ini This method would need to be done for each game you want to have it Off. If for some reason/somehow there's already an ini file for a specific game, edit it as was done above. There are a few ini file types that can be used for specific configurations. One of them being game-specific as in the previous option. Controls Input ("light gun games") is not one of them. I really don't know anything about lightgun machines (cabinets), but I do believe most (all?) use CRT monitors. Monitor types is one of those 'specific configurations' that are available. If you want all your [other] games to have Keep Aspect "On", leave your mame.ini file alone ("keepaspect 1"). Then to have all games that use a CRT monitor use "Keep Aspect OFF", create an ini file just like the game-specific one above, but save the file as "raster.ini". D:\Emulators\MAME\ini\raster.ini

Added left and right Joy. Also made the left and right Trigger to not be such a 'hair trigger'. #Include Xinput.ahk #Persistent SetKeyDelay, 0, 50 SetTimer, checkForJoy1, 10 checkForJoy1: XInput_Init() state := Xinput_GetState(0) If(state) { If(state.wButtons & 4096) ;A button Send, k If(state.wButtons & 8192) ;B button Send, p If(state.wButtons & 16384) ;X button Send, d If(state.wButtons & 32768) ;Y button Send, e If(state.wButtons & 1) ;D-Pad UP Send, D-Pad Up If(state.wButtons & 2) ;D-Pad Down Send, D-Pad Down If(state.wButtons & 4) ;D-Pad Left Send, D-Pad Left If(state.wButtons & 8) ;D-Pad Right Send, D-Pad Right If(state.wButtons & 16) ;Start Send, Start If(state.wButtons & 32) ;Back Send, Back If(state.wButtons & 256) ;Left Shoulder Send, Left Shoulder If(state.wButtons & 512) ;Right Shoulder Send, Right Shoulder If(state.wButtons & 64) ;Left Thumb Click Send, Left Thumb Click If(state.wButtons & 128) ;Right Thumb Click Send, Right Thumb Click ;If(state.bLeftTrigger) If(state.bLeftTrigger > 100) ;Left Trigger (range 0 - 255) Send, Left Trigger If(state.bRightTrigger > 100) ;Right Trigger Send, Right Trigger ;Left Joy Stick (+/- 9000 is the deadzone) ; Range between -32768 and 32767. ; 0 = Center if(state.sThumbLX < -9000 && state.sThumbLX > -32768) Send Left joy moved Left if(state.sThumbLX > 9000 && state.sThumbLX < 32767) Send Left joy moved Right if(state.sThumbLy > 9000 && state.sThumbLX < 32767) Send Left joy moved Up if(state.sThumbLY < -9000 && state.sThumbLX > -32768) Send Left joy moved Down ;Right Joy Stick if(state.sThumbRX < -9000 && state.sThumbLX > -32768) Send Right joy moved Left if(state.sThumbRX > 9000 && state.sThumbLX < 32767) Send Right joy moved Right if(state.sThumbRy > 9000 && state.sThumbLX < 32767) Send Right joy moved Up if(state.sThumbRY < -9000 && state.sThumbLX > -32768) Send Right joy moved Down Sleep, 200 } Going back to attempting to not have to use the Xinput.ahk, would you please test 'the other way' by adding a $ at the beginning and see if that "still" doesn't work for you? $1Joy1::MsgBox You pressed A This is my last-ditch effort to have AHK's built-in method work for others, and not need to #Include Xinput.ahk (and NOT having to have some special window open. lol). 😊 If by chance it does work, we can give you access to the Guide button as well.

And here is me helping with a little code clean-up. #Include Xinput.ahk #Persistent SetKeyDelay, 0, 50 ;eliminates need for send {key Down} sleep 50 send {key Up} SetTimer, checkForJoy1, 10 checkForJoy1: XInput_Init() state := Xinput_GetState(0) if(state) { a_pressed := state.wButtons & 4096 ; 4096 = A button b_pressed := state.wButtons & 8192 ; 8192 = B button x_pressed := state.wButtons & 16384 ; 16384 = X button y_pressed := state.wButtons & 32768 ; 32768 = Y button if(a_pressed) Send, k if(b_pressed) Send, p if(x_pressed) Send, d if(y_pressed) Send, e Sleep, 100 ;helps reduce fast repeat. Increase or decrease as necessary } Start the script, open Notepad, press buttons.