AstroBob

Hey @Kefka2b, the only way to do this would be to create actual new Platforms for your Light Gun categories, and then change the Game’s metadata to that new platform, but this isn’t a workflow I’d recommend since you’ll lose association with the original platform.
The best approach seems to be to use your current workflow (where you’ve created a new Category with some playlists for LightGun games). 
It’s not ideal, but you could create two auto-playlists underneath each platform: one for lightgun games from that platform (e.g., NES) and one for normal NES games. 
If you can let me know a bit more about your ideal end goal and how you’re looking to set things up I can try and advise further.
Cheers,

Hi @MJF, thanks for flagging this. Our best guess about what happened to that game is that there may have been another game under the old Steam ID, and the developer may have deleted it and set it up as a new game.
Either way, we've updated it, so it should work now. 
Thanks for letting us know.

Hi Jon,
Welcome to the LaunchBox family! 🙌 Emumovies is indeed a great addition to a MAME Big Box setup. 
If you've recently purchased a Windows license, you should have already received a 25% discount code for EmuMovies. Coincidentally, literally, as of yesterday, we have kindly donated some EmuMovies lifetime codes that we've been giving on our streams. I can't confirm how many of those there will be, but if you were ever curious you can catch the schedule here and pop along next time, it could be your lucky day 😊
 

Hi @Peter007, thanks for confirming, that is definitely the culprit then. Because there is no 7z app there, it cannot extract the theme, since that is what we use to unzip the download.
I have a feeling this may have been a side effect of your original install, being inside another install. It might be better at this stage to run a fresh install of LuanchBox to ensure it has all the relevant dependencies. Then you can copy over your Data folder, along with any media folders (images, music, videos, manuals).
Alternatively, you can simply grab the 7-Zip folder from a fresh install of LaunchBox, but it's hard to tell what else might be missing from your current install, so it might be worthwhile to start fresh.
Make sure to take a backup of your build before attempting any of the above, and let me know if you need further guidance. Keep me posted

Hi @djdaveoc22, thanks for the updates there and for elaborating on your use case. Given what you're trying to achieve, I think we can simplify things to give you exactly what you need.
Assuming this build only needs your 10-ish platforms, organised by star rating, here's what I suggest.
1. In LaunchBox, change your view (on the left-hand side under the search bar) from Platform Categories to Playlists. From there, using my previous method, create auto-playlists for each of your platforms, and set the playlist to be organised by star rating—no need to bother with adding them to any categories, and under the Parents tab, just leave everything unchecked.
2. In Big Box, go to Options > Views > Default Startup View and change the option to Playlists
Assuming you don't have any other playlists already, this means now that when you load Big Box, it will simply show you the playlists you created, and going into those will organise the games by star rating.
Let me know if this works for you and how you get on.

Hi @Sinan, hope you're well
The logic for the multiple apps badge to show is as follows:
The game entry must have AT LEAST 2 additional applications present (that are not documents) Additional apps that are documents (i.e PDFs) will not count or show the badge, and will instead show up under the Additional Documents section Games that only have ONE additional app present will not show the badge Therefore, it depends entirely on what additional apps you have present for those games. If it's showing the badge for most of your games, that sounds like there are 2 or more additional apps present for those games. Depending on how you imported your games and where they came from, there may be some additional apps present there that you don't want.
Hopefully, that helps clarify, let me know how you get on or if you have any other questions

Hi @TommyTomorrow jumping in to see if I can help clarify things here: 
These are the requirements we recommend for Android devices running LaunchBox (taken from our Android Download page)
Currently, LaunchBox for Android is recommended for devices running Android 10, which is several versions behind the latest Android updates. While it’s hard to predict future system requirements, a few key points might help your decision:
1. You’re not forced to update to a newer version of LaunchBox if your device no longer meets future requirements. You can continue using your existing version indefinitely.
2. The lifetime license ensures long-term flexibility and value. Even if you eventually upgrade to a new Android device, you won’t have to worry about repurchasing the app.
At the end of the day, it’s entirely personal preference. There’s always the option to upgrade your standard license later at a discounted price, or you can opt for the lifetime license now if you prefer the peace of mind of knowing you’re covered for both your current device and any future upgrades.
Hope that helps, happy to answer any further questions.

Hi @Opus132, thanks for the question.
The way renewal or upgrades normally work, is that if you own a regular license you can renew for another year of updates or upgrade to a lifetime license for a discounted price.
Full details on what these normally cost and the process to do so can be found below
🔗 https://www.launchbox-app.com/renew
With the upcoming Black Friday sale, we will offer discounts on the already discounted cost of a renewal or upgrade. It’s hard to say what discounts will be offered in the future, since some of our sales do not cover all types of licenses, but this upcoming one in particular has discounts across all our offerings (Windows & Android apps + renewals and upgrades).
Hope that helps clarify, let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,

Hi @beeboy , thanks for the great question!
To get started, you’ll want to create some playlists in LaunchBox. Any playlists you create can also be accessed from within Big Box.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to automatically import the collections that you’ve created in Steam. However, depending on the size of your collections, it should be relatively straightforward to recreate them as playlists in LaunchBox.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when working with playlists:
You can create playlists using either the auto-populated method, which uses specific fields to fill out the playlist (e.g., Favorite = True), or manually by selecting games. To add games manually, you can right-click a single game or select multiple games using Ctrl + Click, then right-click and choose “Add to Playlist.” You’ll be prompted to name a new playlist or add the selected games to an existing one. You can choose to omit specific playlists from Big Box. To do this, edit the playlist and check the Hide in Big Box option. Playlists can be accessed through the Playlists section, or you can embed them into your platform categories view for easier navigation. In your case, you may want to embed them under the Windows platform Hope that makes sense, let me know how you get on and if you have any other questions

Hi Folks,
We recently published an FAQ on this topic that provides detailed instructions and highlights any important caveats to keep in mind. Sharing the link here in case anyone stumbles across this old thread.
 

Hi Folks,
We recently published an FAQ on this subject that goes into detail on how to do this and any caveats to take into account. Linking here in case anyone comes across this old thread
 

Hi @radio5 
Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, continuing to host your build on a Google Drive instance will likely continue to yield this type of error. Historically, when LaunchBox directories are hosted in a location where the file system is continuously being modified (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.), it can cause all sorts of problems with file locking or can mess up the permissions that LaunchBox needs to run properly.
While you may have seen success in the past with this setup, we’ve never been able to guarantee that it will work 100% of the time. This is because it largely depends on what Windows is doing with those files, and we have no way of knowing when the syncing service is modifying files that LaunchBox requires.
Although this particular error you’re seeing is related to our new plugin .dll files, there have been issues in the past with other file types, such as image files, database files, etc.
I realize this is frustrating, especially since you’ve used LaunchBox in this way without errors in the past. However, this isn’t a workflow we can fully support, as we have no control over what the syncing service is doing with the files that we need access to.
That said, I completely understand the desire to have LaunchBox backed up to a cloud storage solution. I personally do this with Dropbox as well. My suggestion would be to ensure that Google Drive is not running when you are using LaunchBox. As long as syncing is paused while LaunchBox is in use, it shouldn’t have any issues. The conflicts arise only when both LaunchBox and Google Drive try to access the same file simultaneously.
I realise it may not be the perfect solution, but hopefully, this shines some light on the cause here.
Give me a shout if you have any further questions here.

Yes, however that is only for when you are importing a game. If you have that ticked, it will let you import a game even if it already exists in your library.
What I was referring to, is that there's no function such as (right click > duplicate entry). However you certainly can import a duplicate copy using the import wizard, and simply manually creating a new entry that uses the same LaunchBox DB ID, it will let you do that no problem.

Hey @itsmeblake, what view are you looking at those games on in BigBox? 

A way to verify is to do a search for Gear 5 in BigBox. If it finds it, it indicates that the specific view or playlist you're looking at if filtering out the games, whereas if nothing is showing up, it indicates the game is specifically being hidden from Big Box.
Let me know if a search brings anything back as that will point us in the right direction

Hi Folks, 
I just wanted to let everyone know that this issue has been addressed in our latest beta release. You can find details on it below: 
 
Thanks for bearing with us while we got that fixed, please let us know If anyone is still having this issue on the beta

Hey @Echostorm, 
Thanks for the excellent question. I personally use LaunchBox and Big Box exclusively on handhelds (I use a Legion Go), but the experience is largely similar. Here are some tips I can offer from my experience:
 
Initial Setup
 I definitely recommend hooking the ROG Ally up to an external monitor and keyboard for the initial setup process. Getting LaunchBox installed, importing ROMs, etc., is certainly doable on the handheld, but save yourself the hassle by connecting it to a screen and peripherals to make the process easier. Big Box
That said, once all the setup is done, Big Box is absolutely the best way to experience your LaunchBox library on the go. Simply map the Ally’s built-in controller to controls in Big Box, and you should be good to go (it may even do this automatically for you). You’ll then be able to navigate through your library, launch games, etc. To make things even easier, consider mapping the Big Box pause menu to your controller. This gives you a unified way across all emulators to exit, save/load states, view the manual, etc. On my Legion Go, I have it mapped to clicking in the right stick + down on the D-pad (yes, you can combine multiple button inputs like this). I use the above method to also map different views in Big Box. For example, one of the four directions on the D-pad loads a different Big Box view, which saves you from navigating back through menus. Other useful options to map to the built-in controller in Big Box are search and filter. These allow you to quickly narrow in on specific games (and with search, you can use the Ally’s touch keyboard to quickly type in the game you’re looking for). The Game Discovery center is a great view to use in Big Box and looks excellent on the Ally’s screen. For themes, this comes down to personal preference. I stick with the good old default, but it’s up to you. Just be mindful of the Ally’s TDP. It’s something you don’t have to worry about on a desktop, and while Big Box will perform just fine at lower TDPs, if you use a very complex theme, you may want to consider bumping up the TDP to ensure smooth performance. Finally, consider having Big Box boot automatically when the ROG Ally is turned on, or at least make it an app that can easily be launched from Armory Crate, ROG’s own launcher. With 13.16, Big Box has a trial mode that you can use to test out if you don't already own a premium license. RetroArch
Retroarch should largely work out of the box on the ally if you've installed it through LaunchBox. It will automatically pick up the build in controls. Only thing you might want to do is set certain hotkeys for things like quitting retroarch, screenshots, fast-forward etc Phew, I hope that wasn’t too rambly! In short, LaunchBox & Big Box can absolutely work well on a handheld. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions if you have any!

Hey @RolandofGilead, thanks for reporting this.
Right off the bat, this sounds like LaunchBox is auto-importing some hidden files from your LaunchBox directory, given the fact that they are re-appearing once you delete them. Here's how you can verify that:
- From the options menu, confirm if LaunchBox has Auto ROM imports enabled. You can turn that off if you don't want LaunchBox to auto import your games
- If you want to leave it on, it's likely there are hidden files in your games directory. You'll need to enable hidden files in Windows explorer, and then check if your games folders if there are any temp files there. I can't say for certain but these may have been caused 
Let me know how you get on and if that is indeed the issue

Hey @retroernie,  thanks for sharing your concerns. Like you, I also prefer having searchable documentation and everything in one central place.
The main reason we haven’t done this in the past is due to the rapidly changing nature of emulation. While LaunchBox itself isn’t overly complex, the real power—and complexity—comes from the vast number of workflows that can be configured (emulation, media, metadata, plugins, etc.). Historically, we’ve leaned on YouTube to cover these workflows in-depth, which is why our videos tend to focus on specific themes or topics, showcasing a variety of features within LaunchBox.
However, as you pointed out, these videos can quickly become outdated because of frequent updates to both emulators and LaunchBox itself. While forums and places like Reddit do provide useful information, I agree that it’s far from perfect and requires users to know exactly where and how to search to get the best results.
That said, official documentation is something we’ve discussed internally. If we were to pursue this, it would require a significant rewrite of most of our content to ensure we’re presenting the most up-to-date workflows. Although we don’t have immediate plans for this right now, we are actively reassessing whether it’s a project we can undertake. We’re a small team, and most of our resources are focused on development, but I completely agree that an app that facilitates a level of complexity would benefit greatly from a centralized reference.
I appreciate this doesn't resolve any of your immediate concerns, but I hope this helps clarify our thinking here, and we really appreciate your feedback.

Hey @Eyebrows Cat AstrBob from the LB community team here. This specific issue you described was a bug that was addressed in LaunchBox 13.16, of which you can see the full release notes here.
Fixed: Issue where launching a game in LaunchBox by pressing enter on the keyboard could inadvertently open two instances of the game under specific conditions I’m hoping this is the same issue you were referring to, and that updating your LaunchBox version is what fixed this, though if that is not the case please let me know. I appreciate it’s frustrating when things don’t work as expected. As we’re a community-driven platform, the community does their best to try and help people on the forum where they can.

Thanks for your patience, and feel free to keep us posted if the issue persists!

Welcome to the club 😉 LaunchBox curation is a game all in itself!

While a lot of this comes down to personal preference, one thing that might be worth considering is the `hidden` & `broken` checkbox fields. Both of these have view options tied to them in both LaunhBox & Big Box that will let you temporarily hide games marked with these fields.

On the flip side, there is the option to let LaunchBox actually delete the ROM files from disk when you delete a game in your instance. This can be useful if you want to do your curation in LaunchBox, and then also let it tidy up the ROMs for you.

Let us know how you get on, or if you need tips on specific curation workflows we'll do our best to advise

Hey @Isoku, I split your post out here so I can follow up, as I was also curious about this. 
So, unfortunately, it seems like you cannot have BIOS files organized by subfolders. LaunchBox will expect the BIOS files to be in the `system` location, and if you browse to a BIOS outside of this location using the `browse` option, it will simply copy that BIOS back into the `system` folder. 
I imagine this is a limitation with RetroArch, where it expects BIOS files to be in this location. I just ran a test whereby if you have your BIOS in subfolders, RetroArch won't find it correctly.
I can't say if that's the case for ALL BIOS, as each core could be different, but unfortunately that means you're going to have to keep your BIOS in the default `Retroarch > system` folder. I agree, that it's a nice way to organise things at all,  but I do find that the Manage Dependencies option in LaunchBox at least let's me identify which BIOS is related to which system.
Hope that helps to clarify. Let me know if you have any further questions. 

Hey @strigoimare sorry to hear this has been such a pain for you. Let's see if we can try and get this update loop unstuck for you

While I can't say for certain, based on the behaviour you're seeing, it's possible that when you attempted to re-install LaunchBox, the root folder wasn't selected, which would result in the extra LaunchBox directory Joe mentioned (`E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\LaunchBox\`). The reason I say that is because you mentioned after re-installing LaunchBox it wasn't recognising your license information. Can you double-check if that is the case?

Regardless, let's get you onto a 13.14 version that isn't auto-updating and we can see how to tackle the rest from there, can you try the following:
Go into your Updates folder and delete the 13.15 setup file. Run the 13.14 setup file, but make sure the install location path is  E:\Google Drive\Emulation\. Remember that the installer will add LaunchBox\ to your path for you automatically if you uses the "Browse" button to set a path, but if you type the full path out then it won't. Once you're at the end of the setup process LaunchBox will open automatically, you'll then need to go to Tools > Options > General > Updates, and uncheck "Automatically Download Updates In The Background" and "Beta Releases", but leave on the "Check for Updates", which only notifies you of future updates, but doesn't download anything. Finally, close LaunchBox, and check the Updates folder, since LaunchBox may have downloaded the 13.15 installer file in the background again before turning the "Automatically Download Updates In The Background" preference off. If so just delete that again. That should hopefully get you back to a stable 13.14 version. Let us know how you go on and we'll take it from there.

Glad you both managed to find a solution to this. For anyone else reading and curious, if you're using a recent version of LaunchBox and you've added Dolphin as an emulator, it should already come with a flag applied that will launch games in fullscreen. You can check this by going to  Tools > Manage > Emulators, and seeing what is under the Default Command-Line Parameters for Dolphin. The full flag will be 
-C Dolphin.Display.Fullscreen=True For anyone using an older version where this flag isn't already applied, you can simply add it to your command line parameters, and that means any game launched through LaunchBox will load in Dolphin via fullscreen.
While we recommend this approach for ease of use, if you prefer there is an option in Dolphin under Graphics > General > Basic called "Start in Fullscreen". Selecting this will start any game from Dolphin in fullscreen mode and is basically what the flag is controlling when you launch via LaunchBox.

I hope people find this useful 🙌