Lahrs

Thank you. This helps immensely.

When it comes to downloading video media from Emumovies, if I select only the best quality video, and only a mid or low-quality video is available, Gameboy for example, does that mean no video is downloaded? If I select all three qualities, are all three downloaded (if available), or only the highest quality available? Can I set the file types I want or do I have to set it each time? When later matching a game to a database, sometimes the cover image will be checked, other times it will not, even though available. It seems to be random if certain available media is checked or not, can I set it to always check or leave media selection blank?

First, I believe I finally have my preferred theme set up in Big Box, but I'm unable to customize the Discover page. Is there a way to spruce that up? Second, speed. It is my fault for downloading and running every super max ultra-HQ videos and images available. As this is currently only running on my 32" 1440p monitor, what video quality options would you recommend before diminishing returns? Are there any other media recommendations to make it snappier? I thought about batch running all the images through Caesium Image compressor, but is it even worth it? I do plan on eventually hooking it up to my big screen 4k TV.

Yes, you will see slowdowns on larger, newer games, but there is a way to mitigate it and is something I have successfully done. The caveat is that I built my NAS and I can't speak for pre-builds. 1GB/s transfer speed is probably fine, but if you are looking to do newer games, I would look into a 2.5GB/s or higher components. Most important though is your NAS cache drive. I have 40TB of slow storage mechanical drives, and a 4TB SSD cache drive. The cache drive will have your often used files, in this case, your ROMS. At this point, it will be near identical to having a 4TB storage (or whatever you use) in your computer. You can move your ROMS to your fast drive as needed. Slower games, SNES, PS1, etc., will do just fine running straight from the slower storage if you prefer.

I apologize I did not see this sooner. Whatever was in the most recent update appears to have fixed the problem. At first, I thought it was a .chd issue, but noticed my Sega CD games (in .chd format) all imported properly. My SNES MSU1 games imported fine as well, as they were in folders. My other games in .sfc files that were not in individual folders were not recognized. That is why I started thinking it was a new "must be in folder" criteria. I had surgery on the 20th and have spent the last two weeks on my Steam Deck recovering. Today was the first time I booted up Launchbox since the 20th. Updated to the current version, and it all appears to be good to go.

Although they are not named through the database, I have my own naming system, before they would always be picked up. Usually, the metadata would still be found, but if not, I would use my file name for the game and the rest of the metadata would be blank. I could then either search for a metadata match or input my own, but the game would still run regardless. Even the games in my .m3u folders have my naming convention and are still being recognized to import. Those are the only files though. For example, 200 PS2 games (my naming convention), four of which are multi-disc. Launchbox will find and want to import those four titles, while not even seeing the other 196. [EDIT] I still have no idea what the problem is, but I decided to move a few into the designated folder rather than having it redirected. That fixed it for now, but that still limits me to a small hard drive. I consider this closed, until later.

I am getting back into Launchbox with the new update. Whenever I try to import any ROMS, it will find games within their own folder, but nothing loose. Oddly, it seems one or two (out of about 2000) games will be seen without being in additional folders. Current structure: System - Game. For games that have multiple discs, System - Game.m3u folder - Game discs & m3u file. Does every game have to be in its own folder to even be recognized by Launchbox? I do not remember that ever being the case before. Currently, Launchbox is pretty much unusable other than a nice interface. Guidance would be greatly appreciated. I don't know if it would or would not help, but I do have my forever license, and it is being recognized. It has also found and imported my installed Steam games without issue.

I'm getting back into Launchbox with the newest update and am trying to scrape my games. The only games it is finding are my m3u files, and I am guessing it is because they are in individual folders. PS1 folder - game.m3u folder - disc.chd and game.m3u file. Everything else is PS1 - game.chd. Is this why it is not picking them up or is there something else going on?

Thank you for the suggestions. My daughter's wedding is on the 6th, and I lost track of this post in the midst of the chaos. I started using Caesium based off your suggestion, and I absolutely love the bulk option. While ffmpeg may have similar, or even better compression/quality, the GUI just makes everything easier. I still have many images to convert, but I finished one system to test, and Big Box for the Xbox system feels much snappier. On the computer, no difference in quality. On the big screen, there is still a decrease, but it is minor. I doubt anyone who sees Big Box in action without being told what to look for will notice anything. I'm also not going to be visually inspecting every image each time I load Big Box. You made me very happy, which is great because this wedding thing is stressing me out of my mind.

I figured best place for media question. I understand there is no perfect solution, you compress, you lose something. I have .png files in particular that are 10mb each. That doesn't help with storage or quickness in Launchbox (they look great though in Big Box). Jpg looks horrible when blown up on the big screen, even at best quality. Is there a middle ground, or should I look for a better program for jpg compression? I currently use Irfanview, but I've had that for more than 20 years, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was something better now. [EDIT] The downgrade in jpg picture quality is noticeable on my 83" TV. Everyday use on my 1080 monitor is not much of an issue.

I'm knee deep in systems and games and enjoying the ride, even if it takes time to weed through some duds. So, I’m curious, have there been any surprises you’ve encountered since beginning with retro gaming? I'm thinking consoles you never tried before, but it could be a game too. Personally, since I put in more than a decade working as a store manager, district manager, and even managing an arcade at a water park, I am loving playing virtual pinball games without having to worry about burned out solenoids or anything like that. Now I can actually enjoy the games without thinking of them in terms of revenues and parts. Mostly, I am fan translated imports. We (NA), definitely missed out on great games.

100%. My initial purge got me down to 2100ish I think, somewhere around there. It's going to keep getting smaller as I play and find out what I want to continue playing and which ones didn't hold my interest. I'm horrible about backlogging games, which is why I started printing out checklists of games owned vs. played/completed. This alone has helped my wallet quite a bit. I do believe LB has a similar option built in, which will be very handy. The only extras I want, other than the downloads from LB and EMUMovies, are bezels. Having a widescreen monitor, the bezels not only look good in general, but really help counter the wide screen vs the CRTs nearly every game was released on. I will have to play around with those until I can home in what I like. Until then, I will the Extras zipped somewhere. Unfortunately, I'm running out of HD space, both on my PC and my NAS. That will be my next upgrade, much bigger hard drives.

I'm installing MAME (v.267) with the Launchbox wizard. I've gone through the setup process and put in my filters to pare down the games and am currently in the process of important all the goodies from LB and EMUmovies. Along with the MAME rom set, I also have the optional Extras package. With LB importing the games that fall within my filters, and LB and EMUmovies doing the lifting for the extras, can I delete the Extras download I did? That was a big file. What about the other 39k games that were filtered out? I have a non-merged set, which should prevent conflicts from removing games now, but what about when .268 eventually is released, will not having those extra files be a problem when I update? If so, I can just zip the extra games I'm not using now and store them... somewhere. A more general question, any tips, tricks, or other you can share to improve the MAME experience? This is more of a subjective question of course. I did play Altered Beast on a different installation, and oh boy, it was clearly missing an arcade controller, that would be my tip to myself, buy an arcade controller, or build one. That game was definitely designed to eat quarters, it was absolutely unforgiving. At my highest point, I was in charge of 17 arcades, and one of the first things I did with nearly half the games was turn down the difficulty. Despite pushback from all the higher ups, I saw an increase in revenue when I did that, more people were having fun, fun equals more quarters, or tokens as it were. Never understood the 'destroy the player' mindset.

Right now, I have LB on my main HD, but that may move. I haven't decided on my final setup yet. I have a second 1TB m.2 drive that is basically a glorified junk storage. I'm thinking about turning that into a dedicated LB drive. I can't remember off the top of my head, but all media is normally stored within LB folders, regardless of emulator and ROM storage, correct? Currently, C\LB\Emulators\emulator name. And then the ROMs are in F\game system name\ROMs. All I meant about the ROMs being on another drive is that is already how I have it and I believe whatever solution I come up with as far as where LB and emulators go, the ROM drive can stay where it is without worrying. Basically, it's done. One step down. For your setup, its G\game system folder\game system emulator\rom folder, correct? That is pretty straight forward and keeps each system contained in one spot. I like that. In my original post, when I said my brain is struggling to keep up, I meant that. Brain damage from car accident changed everything, and what was once easy to figure out can be a nightmare now. That is why I keep asking these questions. I'm trying to map it out. Fortunately, Unbroken Software consistently puts up great YouTube videos. The visuals are a huge help. I will get there; it will just take a while. Thank you for your patience and thoroughly answering my questions. You have been a big help as well.