dsync89

Hey there fellow Launchbox Devs, this is my first attempt to develop a plugin that attempt to read all zip files in a a rom folder recursively and create a new Platform and Games for those. So far I've setup the full .NET 9.0 development environment and confirm LB can load this plugin and I can see it in the Tools menu. What's strange is despite calling `PluginHelper.DataManager.Save()` after `AddNewPlatform` and `AddNewGame` I don't see any XML created. I've checked the Plugin docs but couldn't find anywhere that mention how to save other than this. A snippet of the code. public void OnSelected() { var platformName = "JAKKS Pacific TV Games"; var romFolder = @"c:\temp\mame_curated_romset\jakks-pacific-plug-and-play-tv\"; // Your curated folder IPlatform platform = PluginHelper.DataManager.GetPlatformByName(platformName) ?? PluginHelper.DataManager.AddNewPlatform(platformName); platform.SortTitle = platformName; //platform.Save(); foreach (var file in Directory.GetFiles(romFolder, "*.zip", SearchOption.AllDirectories)) // This makes it recursive { var fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(file); IGame newGame = dataManager.AddNewGame(fileName); // STEP 4: Set game properties newGame.Platform = platform.Name; newGame.ApplicationPath = @"C:\MAME\roms\bubblebobble.zip"; newGame.CommandLine = ""; // optional newGame.EmulatorId = dataManager.GetAllEmulators().FirstOrDefault()?.Id; // optional newGame.Version = "Softlist"; newGame.SortTitle = "Bubble Bobble"; PluginHelper.DataManager.Save(); } MessageBox.Show("Import complete!", "JAKKS Importer", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information); } public bool ShowInLaunchBox => true; public bool ShowInBigBox => false; public System.Drawing.Image IconImage { get { return Resource1.logo; } } public bool AllowInBigBoxWhenLocked => throw new NotImplementedException(); } Edit: Solved. Turned out I just have to refresh the menu! This will be a first step for a plugin to come that will handily import a curated MAME MESS list.

Thanks for the reply! I didn't expect a reply so soon 😄 To clarify, I'm updating ROMs that were originally located in: MAME-0.263/roms/softlist to the newer path: MAME-0.277/roms/softlist I’ve noticed that if the ROM files in MAME-0.277/roms/softlist are identical (i.e., same filenames and checksums) to those already present in MAME-0.263/roms/softlist, then the LaunchBox MAME Softlist Import Tool will not update the ROM paths. Yes, I’m adding the clones as Additional Apps. For example, if a game title like "foo" already exists in Platform A which I imported from 0.263 MAME softlist, and the updated 0.277 MAME softlist set introduces a clone named "foo2", the import tool does not add "foo2" as an Additional App under the existing "foo" entry. It seems that if the base title already exists, newly introduced clones with different filenames aren’t added automatically as Additional Apps. For the two issues above there is no error shown but rather a successful ones. Ah yes I guess I'm one of those niche ones. Too bad ever since MESS being integrated into MAME, there are still using the legacy hash.xml files for those systems. To the best of my knowledge there is no DAT project for those softlist systems. I'm simply being picky so I'm importing those selected softlist platform one by one, and also for me to learn more about these obscure systems. Updating is a pain since I had to manually go through these softlist system and re-run the import tool.

Error Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'source') when I tried to click the Filter icon on any Platform/Playlist that contains the MAME rom path, after updating MAME 0.263 to 0.277. Not sure if this is related to the MAME update as I haven't use the Filter icon for quite some time until recently when I try to filter and generate different playlist for MAME. Value cannot be null. (Parameter 'source') App: LaunchBox Version: 13.21 Theme: Omni Type: System.ArgumentNullException Site: Void ThrowArgumentNullException(System.Linq.ExceptionArgument) Source: System.Linq at System.Linq.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentNullException(ExceptionArgument argument) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Integrations.MAME.MameHighScores.CheckIfSupported(String romFile) at ManagerParamWatcher.FindDataSchema(String romFile, ManagerParamWatcher) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Integrations.MAME.MameHighScores.CheckIfSupported(Game game) at ResolverMockWatcher.FindDataSchema(Game game, ResolverMockWatcher) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.Game.get_HasMameHighScoreSupport() at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.SideBarViewModel.<>c__DisplayClass110_1.CreateCompositeAccount(Object) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.SideBarViewModel.<>c__DisplayClass110_1.PatchTypeAuthentication(Game game) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Threading.<>c__DisplayClass13_1`1.ConcatMetaMock() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) --- End of stack trace from previous location --- at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) Recent Log: 上午 12:54:47 Exception

Glad to report that this plugin still works on the latest Launchbox v13.21. When updating any MAME set, e.g. from MAME 0.263 to 0.277 softlist and re-run the importer tool, I noticed that 1) it won't update the ROM path for any existing rom that still exist in the new romset (issue) 2) any newly added roms that is a clone of an existing rom won't be added too to the Application list. (issue) 3) any new rom (not clone) that is in the new romset will get added (OK) So I ended up having to delete all entries and re-update again. Not sure if there is any plan to update this? Thanks!

Necromancing this thread again because I noticed the same behaviour on certain platform even on latest LB v13.21 which list nearly all files in a folder when I used the `Scan for new roms` for that platform. What's even stranger is manual import using the ROM files wizard only list the zip files! This strange behaviour only exist on certain Platform, as my other Platforms didn't have these problems and only list the .zip files. Would be great if we could have an option to filter the rom files for different platform.

Hi Launchbox, I've encountered an issue where the "Scan for Added ROMs" option fails to detect any newly added ROMs for a platform. However, if I use the "Import ROMs" wizard instead, the new ROMs are found and imported without any problems. I've attached some screenshots to highlight the issues. When I add it manually, it is able to find those newly added roms in that folder. Also made sure that the Games path is pointed to the same path as the newly added folder path when using Import ROM wizard.

@superrob3000 Here's some continous update on using this plugin on 200k+ titles. On a 7 monitor setups that read images/videos from different game/platform media (2 videos, 5 arts), I noticed that some videos/art for platform categories took several seconds before it popup. What is odd is that video/art for platform is usually faster. I'm guessing it is how the lookup is being done hmm. I've excluded any I/O related issues and those arts are on my NVMe PCIe4 Samsung 990 Pro SSD. Once I disabled the plugin, those wheel spinning animation and transition went blazingly fast. Perhaps this is only noticable on huge media system with a lot of artworks that dampens the lookup performance. Since this is closed source project I would not be able to help much, but would like to see if my feedback helps to further improve this plugin performance on a huge database game system.

Amazing work! Thanks!

I've been wondering what is the actual cause that slows down Launchbox/BigBox start up time when the number of playlist increases. I'm still unsure if it is the dynamic playlist (autoplaylist) or static playlist that cause the issue. If it is the former (slowdown as dynamic playlists increases ), it's probably because it always populate the entries in all autoplaylist by looking up the database, then filter it on-the-fly. Implementation wise it could be better and give the user a choice whether to repopulate those dynamic playlist entries every time it boots up, or reuse the cache instead. For huge multisystem (>200k) game titles and didn't have frequent game update, I would rather use the cache instead of having it populate it from the fresh each time it boots up. Even in the case of any game update, I would rather populate those entries in dynamic playlist explicitly instead of having the system do it for me everytime. If it is the latter (slowdown as static playlists increases), I really have no idea why it might slows down, as everything should be statically read from a previous generated database entries. Would probably need LB developer to clarify on this. This issue had caused me to limit my current dynamic playlists to less than 50 for an acceptable startup time. For reference, other front end like PinUp Popper doesn't have this slowdown issue even with 100+ of automatic playlists.

Thanks and much appreciated!

Thanks @seaview59! That is so profesionally touched! Not sure if you could remove the rounded and white background to make it transparent? Will add it to my banner pack. Thanks much!

Thanks that was fast and sharp! Will be creating 16:9 banner using these logo for the obscure system I've only able to found some of the following logo from Silver Rings, but it's blurry or having jagged lines. Not sure if anyone have the Clear Logo for these as well? Thanks much! Sega Beena Koei Pasogo Takara e-kara VSmile Motion Commodore VIC-10 Just the VIC-10, not VIC-1010 EACA EG2000 Colour Genie

Requesting logo for Bandai Super Note Club for education platform, thanks!

I suggest turning on LEDBlinky log and check the logs, keeping eye for the Event name. Most probably its typo. For your reference, this is my LED Blinky Debug.log when I select a game in Nintendo Wii Platform. My LEDBlinky Controls Editor

Added video snaps for Bioshock and Bioshock 2 Remastered, 40s and 1 min version. Let me know if you prefer the long version. I felt the cutscene is simply too amazing to ignore, and the bass drop that transition to the game title screen couldn't felt more right! Bioshock Remastered (40s version) BioShock_ Remastered-01-h264.mp4 Boshock Remastered (1 min version) BioShock_ Remastered-01-long-h264.mp4 Bioshock 2 Remastered (40s version) BioShock 2_ Remastered-01-h264.mp4 Bioshock 2 Remastered (1 min version) BioShock 2_ Remastered-01-long-h264.mp4

I used to make MS-DOS video snaps back in 2015 and submitted to Emumovies, and now I am back to making video snaps, starting with Nintendo Switch since I like the platform and the video snaps submitted, even Official ones are sort of a mixed bags. Most of them are either game trailer or having inconsistent video length. Not to mention the subpar edits that sometimes doesn't reflect the interesting part of the game. E.g. character dialog, meaningless wandering in town. In short, I simply don't like it. I prefer actual game play footage since the trailer could be a hit or miss, some only showing FMV. Not to mention the annoying few seconds ESRB/PEGI rating that announced the start of the trailer that really game browsing experience continuity when using frontend like BigBox. Most videos are 40s in duration, in which most of them consist of 35s of gameplay + 5s of title screen. A few of them are 30s gameplay + 10s of title screen if I couldn't find a suitble cutoff point to fit that 35s gameplay duration. An alternate version of 40s length is included if I find the snap interesting such as having different battle music. I also included a couple of long version video snap that are 1 minute in length if I find the gameplay interesting. But the long version is always accompanied with the regular 40s version. I am OCD when it comes to content creating. I meticulously and manually pick all scenes in hope that those capture the hightlight and essence of the game. Cuts are also combined with music transition so that the transition from one scene to the next are smooth. I even go as far as picking the interesting part of the title song that is attractive, rather than always the start of the theme song. On average, each video edit took me 20-30 minutes. All video snaps are edited using Da Vinci Resolve. Few of the video snaps are recorded by myself if I already have the recordings. For the rest, I manually search and download those game footage from YouTube that contains NO Watermark. I only resorted to video having subtle watermark if I couldn't find otherwise, such as several Atelier titles. Loudness are controlled so that True Peak (TP) is < -1.0dB and LUFS is < -14dB. All file are named according to Launchbox naming format, where any special character is replaced with underscore _. Enjoy this video snap pack, and leave me a comment or reply to this thread if you find my work interesting or need improvement. Pick your favorite snaps so I know the editing preference that you like. If you want, feel free to request any Switch title that you find subpar and I will try to best it out! Enjoy! Download it from Launchbox now! Game List Atelier Lydie & Suelle_ The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX.mp4 Atelier Lulua_ The Scion of Arland.mp4 Atelier Totori_ The Adventurer of Arland DX.mp4 Atelier Rorona_ The Alchemist of Arland DX.mp4 Atelier Meruru_ The Apprentice of Arland DX.mp4 Atelier Ayesha_ The Alchemist of Dusk DX-long.mp4 Atelier Ayesha_ The Alchemist of Dusk DX.mp4 Atelier Escha & Logy_ Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX.mp4 Atelier Escha & Logy_ Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX-long.mp4 Atelier Shallie_ Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX-02.mp4 Atelier Shallie_ Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX.mp4 Astral Chain.mp4 Atelier Ryza_ Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout.mp4 Atelier Ryza 2_ Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy.mp4 Atelier Ryza 2_ Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy-long.mp4 Atelier Ryza 3_ Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key.mp4 Atelier Marie Remake_ The Alchemist of Salburg.mp4 Asterix & Obelix XXL3_ The Crystal Menhir.mp4 Tales of Vesperia_ Definitive Edition.mp4 Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore-02.mp4 Psychic 5 Eternal.mp4 Radiant Tales.mp4 Rune Factory 4 Special.mp4 Shantae and the Pirate_s Curse.mp4 Shantae_ Half-Genie Hero Ultimate Edition.mp4 Super Neptunia RPG.mp4 Tactics Ogre.mp4 SaGa Emerald.mp4 Earth Defense Force.mp4 Etrian Odyssey 3.mp4 Etrian Odyssey II HD.mp4 Akiba_s Trip_ Undead & Undressed - Director_s Cut.mp4 Attack on Titan 2.mp4 Bloodstained_ Ritual of the Night.mp4 DEEMO.mp4 DEEMO -Reborn-.mp4 Kingdom Hearts_ Melody of Memory.mp4 Melon Journey.mp4 New Pokemon Snap.mp4 Moving Out 2.mp4 The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered.mp4 Mon-Yu_ Defeat Monsters And Gain Strong Weapons And Armor. You May Be Defeated, But Don’t Give Up. Become Stronger. I Believe There Will Be A Day When The Heroes Defeat The Devil King.mp4 Superbeat_ XONiC.mp4 SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE.mp4 Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore.mp4 Super Bomberman R 2.mp4 Super Street Racer.mp4 Darkest Dungeon.mp4 Star Ocean_ The Second Story R.mp4 SnowRunner.mp4 Monster Hunter Rise.mp4 Layton_s Mystery Journey_ Katrielle and the Millionaires_ Conspiracy Deluxe Edition.mp4 Langrisser I & II.mp4 Valkyria Chronicles 4-long.mp4 Valkyria Chronicles 4.mp4 Trouble Witches Final! Episode 1_ Daughters of Amalgam.mp4 Tristia Restore.mp4 WarioWare_ Move It!.mp4 Trine 5_ A Clockwork Conspiracy.mp4 Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol.mp4 Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist.mp4 Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist-long.mp4

Yeah exactly, fill means the image is zoom in so that the whole horizontal width of the image fully fill the screen width, but that means some of the outer part will be chopped off.

@superrob3000 Hey there again from another avid fans of your plugin! Currently we have Stretch option for a video/image file, is it possible to add additional Fill option so that it doesn't look arkward when stretching a 16:9 to a 3.28:1 (1280x390) aspect ratio marquee screen which is commonly used for marquee? Thanks again! P/S: Your plugin is one of the main reason I still stick with Launchbox/Bigbox compared to other even faster and less resource intensive frontend such as Retrobat/EmulationStation Other frontend doesn't really have plugin that support indefinite amount of screens

@superrob3000 Awesome feature! Thanks for implementing it in such as short time, confirmed it does work in my setup and I could finally display those video snaps on my arcade topper monitor and have sounds playing 😄 Hope this benefits those that use their primary screen to display coverflow but video snap playback on other monitors!

A game changer indeed! It would be good if we can selectively enable playing the audio for any screen, which is desirable in a setup that uses primary screen to show a theme that only show flashcart but no video preview, but having the video preview playing in secondary screen.