Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

sammaxton

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    31

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by sammaxton

    Archive Cache Manager

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton

    Hey, firstly thanks for this awesome plugin.

    I have a tool that I made for adding PC games to Launchbox that are stored as compressed files on a network drive.

    In the new Omega version I am working on I am using your Archive Cache Manager to handle the extraction process which creates a cleaner more integrated look for launching the PC games in Launchbox.

    The problem I am having is that with some games when they are extracted into the cache folder some of the files are being deleted. This does not happen with all games but there are some that are having this issue. I was hoping you could shed some light onto why the cache manager is deleting some of the files.

    For some extra reference to the issue, I had to change the way I was compressing my games to compressing the entire game folder instead of the files within the game folder because when any game was extracted to the cache folder into the game folder created by the cache manager all the root files were being deleted. I was able to fix this by compressing the entire game folder, but as I stated with a few games I am having the issue with all the files being deleted in the game folder.

    Examples of the file structures:

    The original way was D:\Launchbox\Uncompressed Game Cache\(Name Of Game).7z - E6FE44\(Game Files)

    This would result in the game files being deleted.

    The workaround I am using D:\Launchbox\Uncompressed Game Cache\(Name Of Game).7z - E6FE44\(Name Of Game) Folder\(Game Files)

    This works with most games although there are few that I haven't been able to get to run even though it looks like all the files are there, but more concerning are the ones that the game files are still being deleted.

    Any light you might be able to shed on why this is happening would be awesome. I would really like to figure out how to get any PC game working properly with your Cache Manager.

    Thanks!

    Game Installer Creator Alpha for PC games, servers and Launchbox

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton

    5 hours ago, Nixx said:

    I'm not totally getting it, the game archive is just an archive ? There is no logics like saving registry keys, app data files and such ?
    Most of PC games works with just the game folder ?

    Also, for PS3 pkg i do something similar, but i use vhdx container that i can just mount instead of extracting. (but it take more space)

    It still compresses the entire game folder, the change is in the directory structure of the compressed file. The previous version created a compressed file of all the files within the game folder, so if you browsed your .7z file you would see all the files as soon as you open the browse. This version creates a compressed file of the game folder and all of the files within it, so if you browse the .7z file now you will see the game folder and then browse into that to see the files. It has to do with the way that Launchbox extracts compressed files into the Archive Cache Manager cache folder.

    It depends on the game and/or where you get the game from. Most GoG games for example don't need any extra stuff, just the game folder. Most Steam games require a third party tool to make them work outside of Steam. And ect. Most games can be run this way with some needing a crack or other work around, but that is up to you to figure out and beyond the scope of the tool :)

    Game Installer Creator Alpha for PC games, servers and Launchbox

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton

    Version 3.1

    Completed the Sony Playstation 3 Pkg Installer Creator.

    You now have the ability to add up to 9 compressed PS3 Pkg game storage locations.

    The tool compresses your installed Pkg files to storage and creates batch files for extracting and removing the files to and from your emulator folder for use with Launchbox.

    Works for PSN Shop games as well as Updates and DLCs for Disc games.

    Game Installer Creator Alpha for PC games, servers and Launchbox

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    Version 3.0

    I have done a rewrite of the software adding a few new features and also optimizing the code and the process.

    The software now creates your own custom version of the Game Installer Creator.

    You now have the ability to add up to 9 compressed PC game storage locations.

    Added the ability to process Sony Playstation 3 Pkg files into installers for use with Launchbox.

    Added multiple menu layers for different devices.

    • Unusual Gem 1

    Game Installer Creator Alpha for PC games, servers and Launchbox

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton

    Added the new version 2.0 with drag and drop functionality. Total rewrite and optimization of the code. This version is not compatible with previous versions as the location of the batch files and compressed files has changed.

     

     

    If you used the old version of the tool:

    Use the old tool to remove the previous files except for your compressed .7z files and then make new files with this version of the tool. You will need to rename your .7z files to include spaces in the names and move them directly to your compressed storage folder. The .7z files are no longer stored in separate folders and the filenames have been changed to reflect the game name including spaces.

    Game Installer Creator Alpha for PC games, servers and Launchbox

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton
    Removed Omega version and added revised Alpha version

    This is a tool I created to automate the process of creating compressed 7zip archives of PC Games to use with Launchbox or other front ends or by manually running the game launcher shortcut. The tool will work with any storage that can be mapped as a network drive or shows up in file manager as a letter. Once a simple configuration is complete you enter 2 pieces of information and it creates all the files required to easily add PC Games to your Launchbox setup and moves them to their required locations in your setup.

    The tool requires that you already have the game you want to archive installed and working. The tool will compress and move your game files and once it has finished the process you can uninstall or delete the game. The game files will now be a compressed .7z archive stored in the location you chose for your storage.

    The tool also includes processing for Sony Playstation 3 Pkg files. The tool is used to create batch files for installing updates to disc games and for adding PSN store games to Launchbox. Game Installer Creator creates 2 files in your Launchbox folder at Game Installs\Batch Files\PS3 Pkg Installers. One file is the extractor that extracts the Pkg files to your emulators game folder allowing them to be run in Launchbox. The second file is a remover that deletes the files from your emulators game folder.

    Game Installer Creator Alpha

    Alpha uses the created .bat files to run the extraction and launching of the game and also creates shortcut files for installed games on your desktop.

    Alpha can be used with other launchers besides Launchbox or with no launcher at all by just running the .bat files.

    Game Installer Creator Alpha.7z

    GameInstallerCreatorAlpha.png.716d9978693091c4fec70e80ec1ea2b4.png

    Game Installer Creator Alpha

    Usage Information

    For PC Games

    1. Run the Game Installer Creator Alpha batch file and enter the name of the game, the .exe or .bat to run the game and the location where the game is currently installed and the Creator makes the required files and places them where needed.

    2. Add your game to Launchbox or other front end or you can run the game launcher shortcuts by themselves. You can add your games to Launchbox by going to Tools\Import\Manually Add Game or you can drag and drop the created shortcut file located in your Launchbox folder at Game Installs\Batch Files\Games into Launchbox to import it. If you drag and dropped the file the Launching tab will be prefilled for you, otherwise click on the Launching tab on the left to add your launcher batch file. Browse to your Launchbox folder and navigate to Game Installs\Batch Files\Games and select the shortcut file for your game. Next to add the uninstaller go to Additional Apps and Add a New Application. I usually name the app Uninstall "Name of Game", but you can name this whatever you would like. Browse to your Launchbox folder and navigate to Game Installs\Batch Files\\Uninstallers and select the Delete "Name of Game" shortcut file for your game.

    3. Now you are all set! Double click your game in Launchbox or right click and select Play to run your game. The launcher will check to see if the game folder already exist on your computer and if it does it will run the game, otherwise it will extract the game to your computer and then run the game. If you would like to remove the game from your computer right click on the game in Launchbox and go to additional apps and select Uninstall "Name of Game" or whatever you called the uninstall app.


    For Sony Playstation 3 Pkg Files

    Run the Game Installer Creator Alpha batch file and enter the name of the game and the Playstation ID# for the DLC and Update files or the name of the DLC/Update folder if it is different than the ID of the game and the Creator makes the required files and places them where needed.

    For adding updates to Disc games, install your disc game as you normally would then edit the game and go to Additional Apps and add a new app. Name it however you would like, I use Pkg Extractor and Pkg Remover as the title for the 2 files then navigate to your Launchbox folder then Game Installs\Batch Files\PS3 Pkg Installers and select the Name of the Game.bat file for the extractor file and select Automatically run before Main Application and select Wait for Exit. Do the same process for the Name of Game Remover.bat file except do not select any of the extra check boxes. Now when you run your disc game the first time it will extract the update files to your emulator folder so they will be available in your game.

    For adding PSN Store Pkg Games, install your Pkg game into RPCS3 then navigate to the RPCS3 folder into dev_hdd0\game\NPUB31664 and find the EBOOT.BIN file and drag and drop it into Launchbox to add the game. Then edit the game and go to Additional Apps and add a new app. Name it however you would like, I use Pkg Extractor and Pkg Remover as the title for the 2 files then navigate to your Launchbox folder then Game Installs\Batch Files\PS3 Pkg Installers and select the Name of the Game.bat file for the extractor file and select Automatically run before Main Application and select Wait for Exit. Do the same process for the Name of Game Remover.bat file except do not select any of the extra check boxes. Now the game will extract from your compressed storage to the emulator folder if it doesn't already exist and will start or it will just start if it already exist in your emulator folder.

     

    • Thanks 1

    Launch PC games from a network location!

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    After I wrote out my tutorial I got thinking that it would be better to make an automated tool to do this, rather than manually editing each file. So I am creating a batch file that you will only need to fill in a few bits of information and the tool will create all the files and move them to the proper folders, then all you will have to do is add the game to launchbox and point it to the needed files. I am about 85% complete with the automated batch file now and should have it finished tonight or tomorrow. Once it is ready I will upload it here making the whole process a piece of cake.

    Launch PC games from a network location!

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted · Edited by sammaxton 

    Ok so here is a walkthrough on how I setup PC Games on Launchbox using a network server or NAS.

I have included all the files used for my setup at the bottom of the post except for 7zip which can be downloaded from the provided link.

My setup keeps all my games compressed and stored on a network drive and "installs" them to my gaming computers to play them
and then allows me to "uninstall" the game when I want to.

You need to map network drives to where your compressed game files are or will be stored on your network server or NAS.
For example in my case I have 4 – 4TB external hard drives connected to my network server. So I mapped each drive to my gaming PC as F:, G:, H: and I:.
My compressed files are all on I: so that is the only drive we will be dealing with in this tutorial.

Create a folder where you want your games to be installed to and run.

I like to keep my Launchbox portable so I created a folder inside my Launchbox root folder called Game Installs, but you can use any location or name for this folder.

Next you need to make the self extracting installer builder that will be used to extract and run the games on your PC.

	1. Create a folder to put the builder files in. You can name this anything you want. I made a folder called Installer Builder
 
	2. Download the 7zSD.sfx file that allows for extracting .7z files from outside of the .exe self extracting file.
You must use this version of the 7zSD.sfx file for this to work. You can get the file here: 
ghfw-build-extra/7zSD.sfx at master · github/ghfw-build-extra · GitHub 
Click on the Download button near the bottom of the page. After downloading the file put it in the folder you created in Step 1.

	3. In the folder you created in Step 1 create a new file called: config.txt.
For this file you must use a text editor that allows you to save the file with Unicode (UTF-8).
I use OpenOffice which is free and allows opening and saving in the required format, but you can also use something like Notepad+ for this as well.
Copy and Paste the following into that file and save it:

;!@Install@!UTF-8!
Title="GAME NAME"
InstallPath="\Launchbox\Game Installs\GAME NAME"
RunProgram="NAME OF THE .exe THAT RUNS THE GAME"
;!@InstallEnd@!

It is important to copy and paste this rather than type it out yourself because the quotes around the items need to be straight quotes not curly quotes.
I will explain later how to fill this out for each game.

	4. In the same folder create a new file called: create installer.bat. Or anything you want to call it, it doesn't matter as long as it is a .bat file.
Right click on the file and select Edit and copy and paste the following into the file and save it. No special editor is needed for this file, you can just use notepad.

copy /b 7zSD.sfx + config.txt Installer Name.exe

	You should now have a folder with 3 files in it – 7zSD.sfx, config.txt and create installer.bat. 

	5. Congrats, you have completed creating the self extracting installer builder.

Once you have finished everything above this, you will only need to repeat the following process to create and use your installers with Launchbox.
We will use God of War as our example going through this.

	1. Compress your game files with 7Zip. If you do not have 7Zip you can get it here: Download (7-zip.org)
Make sure when you make your compressed file of the game you are selecting everything inside of the games install folder, don't just compress the folder.
So for God of War I would go to where God of War is installed and open the God of War folder.
I would then select all the files and folders and right click on one of them, find 7zip in the context menu and choose Add to God of War.7z.

	2. Rename your newly created .7z file so that it doesn't have any spaces in it, so for this example you would rename God of War.7z to GodofWar.7z and
then copy this file to where ever you are storing your files on the network server or NAS.
You will want to create a folder with the name of the game so in this example I would create a folder called God of War on the network server or NAS where I
am keeping my games and place the .7z file inside of it.

	3. Go to the installer builder folder you created and open the config.txt file. Remember this file must be opened and saved as Unicode (UTF-8).
We are 	going to edit the following:

Title="GAME NAME" - Here you are just going to enter the title of the game. So in our example this line should look like this Title="God of War"

InstallPath="\Launchbox\Game Installs\GAME NAME" – Here is where we tell the installer where to extract the game to on our computer.
Again as I like my Launchbox to be portable I created a Game Installs folder in my Launchbox root.
So in our example this line should look like this InstallPath="\Launchbox\Game Installs\God of War"
This will extract the game files to a folder called God of War within my Launchbox\Game Installs folder.

RunProgram="NAME OF THE .exe THAT RUNS THE GAME" – This line tells the installer what file to run to start the game after it has finished extracting it.
So in our example God of War launches with a file called GoW.exe so this line would look like this RunProgram="GoW.exe"

Which would give you a final file that looks like this:

;!@Install@!UTF-8!
Title="God of War"
InstallPath="\Launchbox\Game Installs\God of War"
RunProgram="GoW.exe"
;!@InstallEnd@!

	4. Next edit and save the create installer.bat file you made like this:

copy /b 7zSD.sfx + config.txt GodofWar.exe

	Make sure there are no spaces in the name of the .exe file you enter here and it must also exactly match the name of the .7z file you created of your game previously.

	5.Double-Click your create installer.bat file. After a few moments you will see it created a new file called GodofWar.exe.
Copy this file to the game folder where your GodofWar.7z file is on your network server or NAS.

Now we are ready to setup the Launchbox side of things.

So for my setup I created a folder in my Launchbox root called Batch Files. Then within the Batch Files folder I created 3 folders – Game Launchers, Games and Uninstallers.
Then within the Game Launchers folder I created 2 folders called Games and Uninstallers. This is where the batch files that Launchbox will use to run the games will be located.
You can also do this with just the Games and Uninstallers folders created within the Batch Files folder, but I created the additional folders to store the shortcuts I made for each
of the game and uninstallers batch files. So let me explain this so hopefully you will understand why I did it the way I did. You can just run the batch files directly in Launchbox,
but then there will be command prompt windows that open up as it is processing each step. To make the installation cleaner looking while it runs I use shortcuts so they can be run minimized
and thus not showing on the screen and all you will see is the file extracting progress box. You can skip the creating shortcuts part, but it looks messy.

We need to create a .bat file that runs the installer or runs the game depending on if it has already been extracted or not.
So for our example we are going to create God of War.bat. Now edit the file and add the following and save it:

@echo off 
IF EXIST "\Launchbox\Game Installs\NAME OF GAME FOLDER" (
    Start \Launchbox\"Game Installs"\"NAME OF GAME FOLDER"\NAME OF .exe THAT RUNS THE GAME
) ELSE (
    Start I:\"PC Games"\"NAME OF GAME FOLDER ON SERVER"\NAME OF INSTALLER .exe
)

So let me explain what the batch file is doing. First it is checking to see in the God of War folder already exist on my gaming computer where I have Launchbox.
If it finds the God of War folder it will then just launch the game by running the GoW.exe file. If it does not find the God of War folder on my gaming rig where
I have Launchbox then it will go to the network server or NAS and run the GodofWar.exe file which will extract the game to your computer and run it.
So basically it checks to see if you have already extracted the game or not and the either just runs the game or extracts it from the server and runs the game.

In the If Exist line change NAME OF GAME FOLDER to the name of the game folder where it will be installed onto your computer. 
This must match what you entered for the InstallPath in the config.txt file.

IF EXIST "\Launchbox\Game Installs\God of War" (

In the first Start line you are entering the same folder as above with the addition of the file that runs the game.
You will notice that in the path God of War is in quotes. You must put quotes around anything in the path that has spaces in its name for this to work properly.
If there are no spaces in the name then the quotes are not required. The first line we edited does not have this requirement.

Start \Launchbox\"Game Installs"\"God of War"\GoW.exe

And last the second Start line, you are entering the path for where the installer file you created is located on the server.
This line also has the quote requirements like the previous start line.

Start I:\"PC Games"\"God of War"\GodofWar.exe

So for our example the edited file would look like this:

@echo off 
IF EXIST "\Launchbox\Game Installs\God of War" (
    Start \Launchbox\"Game Installs"\"God of War"\GoW.exe
) ELSE (
    Start I:\"PC Games"\"God of War"\GodofWar.exe
)

Of course you will need to change the paths to match your setup.

So once edited this file will be saved in the Batch Files\Games folder you created. You can be done at this point and just point to this file from within Launchbox,
but like I said previously it looks messy, so this is where I create a shortcut to the batch file. Right-Click on the God of War.bat file and select Create Shortcut.
Then Right-Click on the shortcut and go to Properties. Delete everything out of the Starts In: box so it is empty (This makes the shortcut portable) and also change the Run: box to
Minimized (This makes it so you don't see the command prompt windows). Now you can copy the shortcut where ever you would like or leave it right here.
I move the file to the Batch Files\Game Launchers\Games folder just to make things better organized.

Now to create the Uninstaller Batch File.

I name these files Uninstall Game Name.bat so for God of War I would create a file called Uninstall God of War.bat. Once created Right-Click and choose Edit.
Copy and Paste the following into the file:

rmdir "\Launchbox\Game Installs\NAME OF GAME FOLDER" /s /q

This batch file simply removes the directory of the indicated game acting as an uninstaller. Of course the path depends on your setup and then you just enter the install folder
that you used for the game. Again this folder must match what you entered in the config.txt file. So for our example this file would look like this:

rmdir "\Launchbox\Game Installs\God of War" /s /q

This file I put in the Batch Files\Uninstallers folder. Then like the previous batch file Right-Click and create a shortcut. Then Right-Click the shortcut and go to Properties
and delete everything out of the Starts In: box so it is empty (This makes the shortcut portable) 
and also change the Run: box to Minimized (This makes it so you don't see the command prompt windows). Now you can copy the shortcut where ever you would like or leave it right here.
I move the file to the Batch Files\Game Launchers\Uninstallers folder.

Now we can go into Launchbox and add our game.

I go to Tools/Import/Manually Add Game. I then add my game name and do a search of the database.
Sometimes it finds em sometimes it doesn't. When it finds it you can usually do an image search and at least get a Front Cover picture, otherwise you will need to provide them yourself.
Next you go to the Launching section and either select the game.bat file or the shortcut file depending on how you decided to do this. 
I highly recommend going the shortcut route for a nicer presentation.
Then under Additional Apps click add application. For the name I put Uninstall Game Name so for God of War it would be called Uninstall God of War.
Then browse to the Uninstall God of War.bat file or the shortcut file depending on what route you took and click OK to save the app.

Now we are ready to launch our game within Launchbox. Just double click on the game and if you did everything right after a few moments you should see a file extraction progress box.
Once that completes the game will launch. After you have done this the first time, following double clicks will just run the game unless you ran the Uninstaller since the last time playing.
To get to the uninstaller, right click on the game in Launchbox and under Additional Apps you will see Uninstall Game of War or whatever game you are working with.

I know this probably sounds like a lot, but once you have gone through the process once it is fairly simple to add more games in just 6 simple steps.

1. Create .7z file of game and copy to network server or NAS

2. Edit config.txt and create installer.bat and run create installer.bat to get game.exe file and copy to network server or NAS

3. Create and edit game .bat file and then create shortcut

4. Create and edit game uninstall .bat file and then create shortcut

5. Add game to Launchbox

6. Run the game and have fun!

    PC Games Launchbox Tutorial.txt

    config.txt create Installer.bat God of War.bat Delete God of War.bat

    7zSD.sfx

    Launch PC games from a network location!

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    Hey sbaby, at the bottom of the original post there are 2 files you can download that explain the process that this person is using with the VHD setup. I prefer my setup for a few reasons. It is much simpler to do than the VHD setup, there isn't wasted space guessing how big a VHD you need, the game will always run smooth with my setup as long as your computer can handle the game and multiple people can play the same game at the same time without any issues. I would be happy to put together a guide on how I accomplish my process, just give me a few days and I will post it here.

    Launch PC games from a network location!

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    I have my PC Games setup so that I have compressed files of the games on the server. When playing from Launchbox I have batch files setup up to install the game to my gaming pc. The batch files check to see if the game folder is already on my PC and if it is it just runs the game and if it isn't it will extract it from the network drive and run it. Then I added a batch file as an additional app that allows you to delete the game from the PC when you don't want to play it anymore. I prefer this method for guaranteed smooth gameplay by having the files run locally. 

×
×
  • Create New...