AstroBob

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us last week to celebrate 12 years of LaunchBox. 🙌 Whether you tuned in to the streams, joined the community playlist fun on the forums, or grabbed a code during the giveaways — you made it a week to remember. 💜 🏆 The winners of our Grand Giveaway and the Community Playlist competition have been contacted — congrats to all! 📺 Stream Recap: Day 1 – Backlog tips & GameCube emulation secrets (with AstroBob) Day 2 – Building the ultimate backlog with Faeran, looking back on 12 years of LaunchBox, and exploring what’s new in 2025 Day 3 – AMA, playlists, and couch co-op netplay fun with AstroBob & Faeran 📝 On the forums, our Community Playlist Competition was a hit! We loved seeing your “Deserted Island Picks” and the discussions they sparked. Thanks to everyone who contributed their lists (and congrats again to the winners snagging those Steam keys!). Keep an eye on the Big Box Game Discovery Center to see these picks show up there Once again, thanks for being part of the LaunchBox community and for helping us celebrate 12 years. Here’s to many more! 🚀

Hi Folks, Thanks for all your wonderful submissions here. The great variety on display makes me want to actually book a trip to a remote island and take a bunch of these games with me. With our celebration week now at a close, I’ve locked this topic for the time being. Remember, we’ll be putting all of these submissions into a Game Discovery Center playlist for Big Box — I’ll be following up later in the week once that is live. The winner of the competition will also be contacted via direct message on the forum later this week, and I’ll update this topic once the winner has been notified. Thanks again for your participation and for making our 12th Birthday celebration event one to remember!

Hi there, sorry for the issues here. For problems relating to Big Box and freezes or crashes in 13.23, we have put together an FAQ that elaborates on what might be contributing to this, and steps you can take to try and resolve them. I'm attaching it below: It outlines the differences between FFMPEG and WMP, and it's still a work in progress, so it may be best to stick to WMP for now. It also outlines how you can force change the media playback engine outside of LaunchBox if you're unable to do so in the app. Glad things are working again for now, though, and apologies for the issues caused there. We're continuing to try and improve the stability of FFMEG so appreciate you bearing with us on this

Hi there, sorry for the issues here. For problems relating to Big Box and freezes or crashes in 13.23, we have put together an FAQ that elaborates on what might be contributing to this, and steps you can take to try and resolve them. I'm attaching it below: It would be great if you could run through the steps outlined there, so that it resolves your issue. If not, feel free to drop some details on that post so we can evaluate it with the other similar reports to try and get to the bottom of it for you.

Hiya, just to confirm game detail pages should be working again now. Apologies for the issues there, but let us know if you notice anything else.

Hi there, thanks for the report here. For issues relating to 13.23 and Big Box, we've created some troubleshooting steps over on this post. Would you mind giving those steps a whirl and let us know if you're still experiencing issues?

@launchretrogirl2562 Regarding the image uploads, we are investigating the possibility to see if we can push through some of the submissions that happened during this problematic period, but so far it looks like we may not have enough data to go by. Regarding the issue with game detail pages leading to errors, thanks for reporting this but this appears to be a completely different issue. We're investigating a potential issue with Cloudflare. We'll keep you posted here once that is all cleared up, and apologies for the issues here

This is a great idea, it's definately quite the undertaking but something that I agree would make playing across multiple devices much more seamless. I've gone ahead and scope out a request on our feedback site for this. Feel free to vote it up and follow along for any updates: - https://feedback.launchbox.gg/p/cloud-sync-for-metadata-playlists-and-game-settings Let me know if there was anytihng I missed when scoping it out

Hi Folks, Sorry for the problems here, but the issue should be fixed now. Let us know if anyone is still experiencing this. Cheers,

Hi Folks, Sorry for the problems here, but the problem should be fixed now. Let us know if anyone is still experiencing this. Cheers,

Amazing job! Thanks for sharing, definately let us know what it looks like with the rest of the game room

Hi Folks, Sorry for the problems here, but the problem should be fixed now. Let us know if anyone is still experiencing this. Cheers,

Hi Folks, Thanks for the reports here, unfortunately we haven't been able to reproduce this yet so it would be great if y'all can confirm the following: - I'm assuming these reports are all for the latest LaunchBox version (13.23), but anyone not running this version please let me know - Have you installed any 3rd party themes outside of LaunchBox / Big Box (I.e you manaully downloaded it from the forums and moved it into the folder directly, rather than using the apps built in theme viewer). We've seen instances in the past where a user has put the theme in an incorrect location (i.e a LaunchBox theme in the Big Box theme location, or vice versa) - Does Big Box hard crash, or does it present any error? - If anyone is able to supply a screen recording that demonstrates the issue, that would be great Let us know and we'll try to dig in further Cheers,

I'll get us started. My pick would be Sonic Mega Collection Plus on the PS2. Why? It’s basically a time machine on a disc. You get seven classic Sonic games, a host of (questionable) Game Gear games, bunch of extras, and even some weirdly charming Genesis deep cuts like Flicky and Comix Zone. I get the highs of Sonic 2, the weird maze of Blue Sphere, and the sheer “what even is this” chaos of Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. There’s enough variety to match every mood — speedruns, puzzles, nostalgia binges — all wrapped in a glorious retro wrapper. And who could forget the museum? That music alone is enough to justify bringing it along. Plus, let’s be honest — hearing the SEGA jingle echo across a tropical beach? Pure bliss.

Hi Folks, Thanks for the report here. This is likely not specific to the screensaver itself, but the video playback engine changes in 13.23. Incase you haven't seen it already, we have a post with details for anyone running into this issue: For now, if things are stable on WMP we'd suggest sticking with that, as we work to improve stability with FFMPEG Thanks for bearing with us here

For any users experiencing video related issues in Big Box or crashes, please see this troubleshooting guide. Please drop any reports over on that thread (following the instructions of what to try and provide)

This is a great idea! I've gone ahead and scoped it out on our feature board here: 🔗 https://feedback.launchbox.gg/p/context-aware-screensaver-mode-in-big-box Let me know if that covers what you had in mind

Hey folks, We’ve received several reports of Big Box crashing after updating to LaunchBox version 13.23. This update introduced a major change under the hood: a new video playback engine. If you’re seeing crashes or issues with video playback, here’s what’s going on — and how to fix it. UPDATE: We have since released a new beta (13.24 beta-1) that should fix crashing issues when entering Big Box for users that are using a 30-series graphics card (and other cards that have issues with certain types of unstable hardware decoding). To update to the latest beta, in LaunchBox, Tools > Options > General > Updates, check the Beta update option. Then Menu > Help > Check for Updates, and you should get a notification about updating to the beta. For users who were experiencing this issue, please update to this beta before trying the steps below ▶️ What Changed in 13.23? We’ve added support for FFmpeg-based video playback, which now appears as the FFMPEG option in Big Box settings under Options > Video > Video Playback Engine. It comes with new benefits but also introduces potential performance challenges depending on your setup. Here’s a quick summary of the two available playback engines: 📝 For a full breakdown, see our Video Playback Guide. 🪶 Windows Media Player (WMP) Performance: Lightweight and fast, especially good for single monitor setups. Color Accuracy: May display washed-out colors depending on your GPU settings. This can usually be fixed via your graphics control panel. Multi-Monitor Support: Can cause black screens or visual glitches on secondary displays due to hardware overlay limitations. Load Time: Very fast, with videos appearing almost instantly. Audio Stability: Stable even under load. Setup: Built into Windows; may require codec packs like K-Lite, but is fully integrated with LaunchBox. 🔧 FFME (FFmpeg Engine) Performance: Heavier on system resources. May feel laggy when scrolling quickly. Color Accuracy: Excellent out-of-the-box support — accurate colors and wide codec compatibility. Multi-Monitor Support: Very reliable across all monitors — no overlay issues. Load Time: Videos can take a moment to appear after transitions. Audio Stability: On lower-end systems, fast switching can cause brief audio stutters if the UI thread is overloaded. Setup: No configuration required — plug-and-play with built-in codec support. ✅ Recommended Fix: Switch to Windows Media Player If you’re experiencing issues or crashes, we strongly recommend switching your video playback engine to WMP for now. ⚠️ Important: If you previously used VLC, upgrading to 13.23 may have incorrectly set your playback engine to FFMPEG. You’ll need to change this manually. 🧭 How to Change Playback Engine If Big Box is working: Open Big Box Go to Options > Videos Set Video Playback Engine to WMP If Big Box crashes before you can reach the settings: Close both LaunchBox and Big Box Open the file: LaunchBox/Data/BigBoxSettings.xml Search for <VideoPlaybackEngine> If the value is VLC or FFMPEG, change it to: <VideoPlaybackEngine>Windows Media Player</VideoPlaybackEngine> Save and relaunch Big Box 🧪 Still Crashing on WMP? If Big Box still crashes after switching to WMP, try the following: 1. Remove Startup Videos & Background Music These features may still default to FFmpeg under the hood and could be causing the crash. Try removing your Big Box startup video Disable or remove any background music that’s not part of a video file 2. Still No Luck? Help Us Help You! If it continues to crash: If you get a LaunchBox error, copy and paste it in a reply to this post If it hard crashes, go to: Windows Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application Look for 2–3 crash-related entries (errors/info) around the time of the crash Include them in your post Also include: Your graphics card model (and how much VRAM it has) Your CPU and RAM specs We’re actively working on improving FFmpeg stability and will continue refining both playback engines going forward. Thanks for your patience and support. We’ll keep this post updated as new fixes roll out! 💙 — The LaunchBox Team

Version 13.23 - Released August 21st 2025 Release Summary Full Changelog: https://www.launchbox-app.com/about/changelog Known Issues: Although FFMPEG provides some major advantages over VLC, it has both advantages AND disadvantages over WMP. See our doc here for a full breakdown and comparison For users experiencing crashing in Big Box on Version 13.23, we've put together a short troubleshooting guide to help with this. New Features: Added a new Screensavers feature to Big Box, letting users discover games with fully themeable views and interact directly with the games shown LaunchBox and Big Box now include a brand new FFMPEG-based video playback option, delivering more reliable performance, with the old VLC engine now phased out LaunchBox now opens with a brand new Welcome Wizard that helps users quickly set up their games, preferences, and media so they can jump straight into the fun A new automation rule for Game Progress Tracking now allows games to be marked as paused if they have not been played in a user-defined number of days A new Media Settings section under Tools > Options > Media > Automatic Imports lets users customize which media files are downloaded during automated imports Improvements: Platform detail views in both LaunchBox and Big Box now display numerical counts for games that are beaten, completed, or mastered, based on Game Progress Tracking stats When arranging by Game Progress, sorting now follows your user-defined order for progress values and headers The "Attract Mode Master Volume" option in Big Box is now called "Idle Master Volume" and now controls both Screensaver and Attract Mode audio Platform icons have been visually refreshed for Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and PICO-8 to better represent each system (Thanks to @Dan Patrick) Fixed: Games hidden by the user will no longer appear in the Game Discovery Center RetroAchievements were not loading in Game Details when using a List View, resulting in no achievement data being shown Selecting a game too quickly in Big Box could prevent LEDBlinky from displaying the correct lighting behavior The Beat em Up clear logo now displays correctly under all conditions Resetting play time and play count now also resets these values for all additional apps attached to a game Hybrid views now provide proper audio feedback when navigating with a controller or keyboard Some custom LaunchBox themes were silently failing to poll the selected game, which could prevent item highlighting from working correctly In some custom LaunchBox themes, multiple carousel controls in the Game Details panel were not always updating as expected Legacy Big Box themes using Old Default theme code had a stray completed graphic that would always show, regardless of user data Removed the outdated Change Badge Images option from the Badge menu in LaunchBox, which no longer applied after the media manager overhaul in version 13.21 A specific crash related to the MAME High Score system is now caught with error handling, and logging has been added to help identify the root cause

Version 1.19 - Released 21st August 2025 Release Summary Full Changelog: https://www.launchbox-app.com/android-about/change-log New Features: You can now easily import and launch games installed in Vita3k. Just use the Import Games tool, choose Sony PlayStation Vita, and point to Vita3k's emulated storage space You can now create and manage playlists entirely on Android. Open any game’s menu and tap Add to Playlist to create a new playlist or add to an existing one. Once created, a new Playlists section will appear in your library A new Show Playlist Filters option on the Options page lets you show or hide playlist filters under your filter sections Improvements: Browsing Filter and Game pages just got faster thanks to major behind-the-scenes optimizations The Settings pages have been refactored for quicker loading and smoother transitions The alphanumeric index has been fully rebuilt using a custom control that dramatically improves load times for any view using it and gives theme developers more flexibility Fixed: Fixed syncing issues with PlayCount and PlayTime, making your game stats sync properly with the LaunchBox Games Database and stay consistent across Android and Windows builds Default text list views (FilterBasicTextList, FilterTextListWithDetails, GameBasicTextList, GameTextListWithDetails, GameTextListWithTwoColumnDetails) have been converted to utilize CollectionView, improving performance and enabling support for the new AlphaNumeric control

Hi Folks, It’s hard to believe, but LaunchBox is turning 12 years old next week! 🎉 We wouldn’t have made it this far without all of you — the amazing community that continues to support, share, and shape the journey with us. From jaw-dropping custom themes to thoughtful feature suggestions, it’s your passion that keeps this project thriving. 💛 Visit our event page below for full details on all the happenings throughout the week: 🔗 https://www.launchbox-app.com/celebrate/ To celebrate, we’re bringing you another community playlist challenge — and this one’s a classic hypothetical: If you could only take one game to a deserted island… what would it be? 🏝️🎮 There’s no right or wrong answer — but what game would you pick? (Remember, you only get to play that one game on this island. Nothing else!) Just let us know your choice. We’re looking for charm, humor, nostalgia, or even brutal honesty. (No judgment if it’s The Sims and you just want to build shacks and woohoo coconuts. 🌴) ℹ️ Here's How It Works: From Monday, August 26th to Sunday, August 31st, we want to hear your pick. Choose a single game, and post below, telling us why it’s your ultimate island companion By posting, you’ll be entered into a draw to win a Steam key for a game of your choice! 🔑✨ Once the event wraps, we'll be including the submissions into a Big Box Game Discovery playlist, so everyone can enjoy all the wonderful picks 🕹️ How Can I Enter? Once the event goes live, post one game in this thread that you’d bring to your deserted island, and explain why. 📝 Please limit your entry to a single post. ❓Does it matter if someone already submitted my game of choice? Not at all! Multiple people can submit the same game — we just want to hear your reason why. The more passion the better! 🔄 How Will Winners Be Selected? We’ll pick a few posts from all unique entries submitted during the event. The winners will be contacted via direct message on the forum. 💬 Can I Post More Than Once? Feel free to chat or comment on other people’s picks, but only your first post with your game submission counts as an entry. Submitting multiple games won’t improve your odds, so keep it to one! We can’t wait to see what games you all pick — whether it’s a 100-hour RPG, a cozy farming sim, or a chaotic party game. Let’s build the ultimate Desert Island Playlist together! 🏝️🕹️ Happy Gaming, The LaunchBox Team

HI Folks, just to let you know this issue has been resolved in LaunchBox 13.23. There is a beta of this out now, and an official release will be coming very soon. Thanks for beraing with us and apologies for the issues caused there

Here ya go: 🔗 https://feedback.launchbox.gg/help/articles/3524268-hybrid-views

No worries, we recently published a short guide to help troubleshoot this. Let us know how you get on: - https://feedback.launchbox.gg/en/help/articles/0083719-double-inputs-when-navigating-big-box-with-a-controller

All progress badges should display on both the games detail page and in certain views Can't guarantee how it make work for other themes that aren't the default, though let us know if you aren't seeing it and we'll see if we can identify why