[Aeon MQ7 [Preview Version]]

On 7/11/2020 at 9:09 PM, Jason Carr said:

What version were you running before upgrading to 11.2?

I update pretty much as soon as its available (stable, no beta) give or take a day or two, so the last update. When I said "it just started happening yesterday after the update" I should have been more clear. I just started NOTICING it that evening after updating because I finally had time to start tinkering with the new features (Tinkering meaning setting up controller buttons for screenshots and testing that out, that's all). It is possible it was happening before the 11.2 update and I just didn't notice. For a couple of weeks I've been playing nothing but Chrono Cross so I wasn't really scrolling around BigBox all that much. It's definitely a somewhat recent development though.

I've seen this behavior before but I think last time switching to VLC fixed it, and I've never seen it only happening on one theme like this.

Edit: Sorry I know that's not a great timeframe to work with for troubleshooting.   

[Aeon MQ7 [Preview Version]]

@CriticalCid

I absolutely love this theme. Been using it for a long time. However, after I downloaded the Launchbox 11.2 update yesterday, I noticed that the videos (particularly one in the game list view) won't close and continue running.

More specifically (just an example, can happen with any game/system), I open bigbox, navigate to N64, navigate to Smash Bros., open the game details, back out, back out again to the Platform list and the Smash Bros. video is still playing, indefinitely. 

I tested 2 or 3 other themes including the Default theme and your own BlueBox and I can't replicate the issue. It *seems* to only happen with Aeon MQ7.

Like I said, I've been using the theme for a while and this just started happening yesterday after the update.

I also tried switching from VLC to WMP in the launchbox legacy video options but to no effect.

 

 

 

 

[Default Game Clear Logo]

65 inch 4k tv basically only controller here. I feel your pain haha.

I can't recommend this enough: if like me you take a gotta have it all approach to retrogaming, I recommend having 2 Launchbox/Bigbox setups. The first is for everything (and with the expectation that not everything is going to look good, be smooth or even work). The second is a much smaller handpicked assortment of systems and games where you can control and really put time into the details and creating a flawless experience. Use the second one for common use and work on both at your leisure.    

[Default Game Clear Logo]

MAME is a popular system. I admit I haven't really checked as I've been handpicking games, but there should be plenty of logos. But lets talk about some other things you can do:

• Select all your Mame games, and Go to Tools/Download Media and Metadata. Tell it not to override existing Metadata. Wait. (New things get added to the LB database all the time, you may be able to pickup some missing artwork this way.
• Hit the web and look for MAME logo packs. Just in case some of the logos exist but aren't in the LB database yet.
• Use something like Flamingtext (website) to pump out logos that are missing. Won't be true game logos but you can control the size etc.
• Use the Audit feature to hide games with missing logos.
• *Recommended: if I have a system with too many missing logos, I'll use a Bigbox theme that supports a text view. I think many/most do, but I am partial to the Switch theme. This view doesn't use logos at all and standardizes (is that a word!?) the game names into a text list that looks even and is sized correctly.
• Find a theme/change view that displays not logos but boxes or something else which you might potentially have more of.

Thats about the sum of your options. If its a particular game that is really good and you just really want the logo and to have it in your collection, user seaview has a thread on this forum where if you provide him with a good picture of the logo, he'll cut it out and make it transparent for you.

Goodluck!

EDIT: When you say logo, we think of clear logo which would have to be game specific. I think what you're really asking is: is there any way to change the TEXT display for games without logos font size etc. I'm actually not sure, but I'd bet you'd have to edit the theme. OR, see recommended on the list above. 

[Default Game Clear Logo]

... in a way there is. 

You obviously can't have a single default logo that would cover all games in the system as the games have different names but you can always find/download/create a logo for each game, name them after the game and put them in images/[system]/clear logos folder. 

[NOT FUN losing focus while playing!!]

This is probably way out of left field but what are you using for controllers? I had a similar issue a while back and I was pulling my hair out. It turned out that having Steam open was hooking into my xbox controller and the Desktop theme had a button combo on it (I don't remember ever messing with it at all) that was pulling me out of games by pulling the emulator out of fullscreen (lovely coincidence). I'm not saying its Steam but if you're using any keybinding software you could check there.

I'd go through the MAME keybindings as well to make sure everything is in order just to be safe. I don't think MAME allows you to bind combos but it might allow you to bind the same button or key for multiple things which might be a problem.

Then again, that you hear the game but can't Alt Tab back to it (if I'm understanding the emulator is blackscreening?) it might be something with MAME itself? Have you tried to see if the same behavior happens with MAME outside of the LB/BB environment?

I personally would definitely uncheck all of the options in that screenshot. That's all cool stuff but when you're testing its all also EXTRA stuff. Rule it out.

If it isn't the emulator, something about your setup is making the emulator lose focus. I wonder if those annoying Windows 10 notifications could do it? Or some other program trying to notify you of something?

More information would help.

Controller or keyboard setup (one or two controllers, what kind, any mappers), MAME emulator version, have you tested in both LB and BB, windows version, how many monitors etc.

Its not normal behavior and I'm just spitballing but I don't think LB/BB ever tries to take control of your screen except maybe with that Hide All Windows thing you have checked and maybe the pause menu. So I personally can't imagine how launchbox itself would be pulling you out of games.

[Add Yuzu game to LaunchBox]

Just getting to this emulator. I have it running. NPS file. Works in Yuzu. My problem is I can't find the Yuzu executable haha. I'm all up in the app data folders... it installed as a .lnk file in windows startup by that doesn't seem to be working when set as the emulator in launchbox. Anyone know where the actual exe is?

I found it. It was in Local not Roaming.

[Acorn Electron auto run games help]

 

On 6/23/2020 at 6:12 PM, Andragorn said:

I did not add anything in LB setup.

For some reason I had "Don't use Quotes" checked. I think I was reading the other thread about Archimedes where that's recommend. Either way, thanks a bunch for the screenshot! Its working perfectly now.

Cheers 

[Acorn Electron auto run games help]

On 4/26/2020 at 5:25 PM, Andragorn said:

I use an emulator called ElectrEm - http://electrem.emuunlim.com/ - (I never fully understood MESS folder structure), and it works fine with Launchbox with no need of command lines. My roms are in *ssd and *uef format.

Hey all. Trying to use ElectrEm for this... but when launched through LB it doens't load the game. The emulator comes up with a Basic prompt. Is there a setting or something in the emulator to get it to launch directly into the game?

Thanks!

[Clear Logo Requests]

Here's one for Microsoft MS- DOS.

Thanks!

 

[Many of my games are no longer working with updates]

So we're talking about MAME games?

You're saying your MAME zips aren't working in any version of the MAME standalone emulator? 

[Associated Platforms Config File?]

I'm wondering: how is information under Associated Platforms stored in Launchbox? Is there an editable text file, like a cfg or something?

I ask because for both MAME and Retroarch, my Associated Platforms are numerous and wild haha. I added as I went along, but I'd definitely like to have the information sorted alphabetically now as the lists are growing. It would be easier to just cut and paste entries if there was an editable text file.

Thank!

 

 

[Command Line to Target a Specific Retroarch Config File?]

We tried it at the same time haha. Yeah, no joy.

Follow Up to Retro808s suggestions:

Neither suggestion is working.

Command Line Results:

So the first thing I noticed is that the option atari800_system = "5200" is not saved in the .cfg file but the .opt file. I tried every variation of the command line using absolute paths, relative paths and tried injecting atari800_system = "5200" into both configs and option files and unless I missed something it doesn't work (maybe anymore, maybe something is changed in RA).

Save Per Directory Results:

I also went ahead and tested how Retroarch is handling the save per directory - it saves a file in config/atari800 named after the rom folder which is named after the game in my case. So if I launch Astro Chase (USA).a52 and save any options per directory I get a .cfg file in there named "Astro Chase.cfg" (which is the name of the folder its in, game name minus region). I tried renaming this .cfg to "Atari 5200" which is the parent directory for all my game folders and no joy.

 

This isn't a super pressing issue, as I know as a last resort I can just do another version of retroarch with a different config, but I would like to explore alternatives further.  

 

[Command Line to Target a Specific Retroarch Config File?]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:02 AM, Retro808 said:

You should not need to do this any more since retroarch allows you to launch configs per folder now. So if all your 8-bit roms are in one folder and 5200 in another you can set the config in RA then choose "save content directory override" option.

Thanks!

There's a problem with this method for me though, I think. I keep every one of my roms in a separate folder... or rather I group versions of the each game into their own folder. I think this messes with retroarch's Save Per Directory option unless I could somehow save set the config to save options one directory up...

I appreciate the heads up though! I'm about to test the command line you recommended.

 

[Command Line to Target a Specific Retroarch Config File?]

Heya,

So I'm wanting to use the Atari800 core in Retroarch for both Atari 5200 and Atari 8-Bit. In order to do that I need each system to launch a different core option - the Atari System option can either be set to 800 or 5200. So, I know I could just create another instance of retroarch and save myself the trouble. I could also make game option files for each game in 5200 (it being the smaller of the list) but I'm wondering if I can do this via custom command line?

If so I could just use this: 

 to set every Atari 5200 game with a custom command line telling it to launch a different Core config.

So, if its possible, does anyone know what the command line would look like?

I remember this used to tell launchbox what core to launch 

-L "cores\[core name]_libretro.dll"

 Is there a variation of this command that I could use to define a different core config, rather than a different core? 

Thanks!

[Retroarch wont load in launchbox]

Also make sure you're importing the cue files, not the Bin/Iso files. 

[Retroarch wont load in launchbox]

On 4/14/2020 at 3:10 AM, jeffza1987 said:

I have managed to fix the problem it was so simple yet stupid of me to do where the manage emulators i stupidly selected the dont use quotes and the others so i unchecked them and they work again thanx for the help though 

Was this your problem @itsturningred?

[Adding CHD's]

You don't have to point Launchbox to both places. You don't import CHDs into launchbox, just the zips. I didn't know MAME could handle what you just described (I thought the CHDs had to be in the rom folder) but if you're right about that, just import the zips and play. Launchbox only sends the game to the emulator (in this case, the zip file to the mame.exe), if the emulator is handling it outside of launchbox, it will work the same if you're launching from within launchbox.

In other words, mame handles CHDs internally. LB doesn't have anything to do with it.

To answer your question though, about how to point it two folders, you could just import one folder and then the other to the same system. (Again, you don't need to do this for Arcade as CHDs are extra info tied to a parent rom/zip/game, they are not actual games themselves. Think of them as something that MAME needs to run certain games better.)

 

 

[Feature request for saving space - Downloading Media]

I'm not completely sure but you may be able to use the Audit feature for this.

Import and download only 3D boxes.

Audit the system.

Sort by 3D boxes (This is the part I'm not sure about, I know you can sort by video etc.)

If it sorts, highlight the games without 3D boxes and bulk update the media to download 2D boxes.

Again, not sure but its worth a try.

 

[Is this a cloud games service?]

3 hours ago, Merglin said:

Is this something that lets me connect to a big database of games/metadata stored in the cloud

For games and emulators you're on your own. 

Launchbox does have an enormous database for media and metadata and the media can be expanded further with an emumovies account subscription. So if you import your own games into launchbox, you will get a lot of metadata and media for them. But no, not exactly what you're asking for. I don't think that will ever exist, but with a little work: 

3 hours ago, Merglin said:

As a game historian and journalist I want easy access to any game I want to play, on any platform, for research purposes

This is quite doable in Launchbox. 

[Who has the largest collection currently standing in Launchbox?]

On 4/6/2020 at 6:56 AM, vahacris said:

I'm working with the same pattern. I could speed up a little Your work. Times ago I made file2folder alternative called files2folder. By using it You will get one folder with all the roms that varies by what is after (.

So basically it will put in one folder called for example: Metroid all below roms:

Metroid (USA)..

Metroid (EUR)..

Metroid (Hack)...

Metroid (Beta)...

I add this program as attachment. feel free to check it and good luck with Your collection.

 

Files2folder.bat 98 B · 1 download

Dude that is awesome! It's too late for me though haha. I already went through the entire process the long way haha. However, I encourage you to upload this to the downloads section of launchbox for people coming after as it will be a huge time saver and perfect for multi disc systems. Does it work for same name different extension as well?

Like

Chrono Cross.bin

Chrono Cross.cue

 

[Who has the largest collection currently standing in Launchbox?]

You make a compelling point about importing games via folder name instead of game name. I wasn't ever completely comfortable with manually renaming as its about preservation first for me. I'm going to test importing like this to see what launchbox does with the additional apps if the file names are different and if it works like it should, I'm probably going to start all over with this method with No Intro sets.

It never ends.

Thanks again for all the info! 

[Who has the largest collection currently standing in Launchbox?]

7 hours ago, CriticalCid said:

Wow, that’s a really tedious amount of work you’ve been doing there. Here’s an advice to do that significantly faster:

You‘ll need clrmamepro to rebuild your ROM set with a parent-clone .dat file, similiar like what you‘re already been doing with your 1G1R set. But instead of choosing 1G1R you‘ll have to build a 'merged‘ set. That will leave you with one archive per game with all versions of every game inside said archives. The rebuilder will also take your region priorities into account to determine the parent (the name of the archive file) just like it does when you build a 1G1R set.

For the next step you’ll need to have WinRAR installed. It could possibly be done with 7-Zip as well but I can't tell you the exact menu steps for it right now.

When the rebuild is done you’ll just have to select all archives -> right-click -> WinRAR "extract each archive to separate folder". And you basically get your 1G1F structure with almost non manual and time intensive work + all games with different titles across different regions are correctly combined together without you needing to research them by yourself.

The only thing that still needs to be dragged into the folders manually are hacks and fan-translations.

Oh my word. This stings after all the time I put in! haha. But I'm glad there's an easier way! Let me ask, when you build the merged set and prioritize USA, will it automatically rename other regional roms according to the USA name? The other stuff takes about 10 minutes but doing that renaming by hand can take a whole evening unless you're fluent in Japanese which I am not. I did start picking up a few words after all that renaming haha.

And,  it should be noted that the above will only work for sets with no intro dats. Can still use my method to merge multidisk systems into single folders.  

7z does have the ability to extract to a folder named after the compressed file. Just right click, and in the context menu select 7z and then "
extract to [filename]/", in case anyone comes behind us.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Who has the largest collection currently standing in Launchbox?]

On 3/29/2020 at 3:33 PM, JohnnyJedi said:

Wos thats insane, how many terrabytes you using for that??  you should make a tutorial video as well. would b great and btw excellent work there.. 

I've got a full 8 terabytes of just games, which is actually kind of small from what I hear other people have. I think the biggest collection I've heard/read about is 22 terabytes. For disk based systems I use a regular 1g1r set because a full ps1 or ps2 set with all regions and revisions is enormous. When I have enough money (or storage gets cheaper) I fully intend to go full lists on those too, but I have to factor in backing all of this up. For systems like snes, you're only talking about adding maybe a couple gigs or less per set to get it all.

I don't really know how to make videos  and the process is all over the place depending on what kind of set it is. Working with no intro is the easiest. The general workflow is:

1. Create a 1g1r set using Clrmamepro and dats from dat-o-matic.
2. Use program file2folder to place each game in the 1g1r set into its own folder named after the rom
3. Use program Bulk Rename Utility to remove all of the regional tags from the folder names - basically tell it to delete everything after the first ( in the folder names and then replace " (" with "".  This basically leaves you with a folder for each game that is named ideally after the correct title of the game with no extra info. Example:

Folder name: Super Mario World

Rom inside named Super Mario World (USA).sfc

Now leave this set alone and go back to your full set. (Also, the below is how you get all of the disks in disk based systems like Amstrad CPC for instance into the same folder named only after the game and no regional tags, disk numbers or revisions.

1. Use program file2folder to place each game in the full set into its own folder named after the rom
2. Use program Bulk Rename Utility to remove all of the regional tags or disk numbers from the folder names - basically tell it to delete everything after the first ( in the folder names and then replace " (" with "". This time, because there will be multiple games with the same name but different region tags and/or disk numbers and revisions, you wind up with folders named like this:

Super Mario World

Super Mario World_1

Super Mario World_2

etc.

Whats in the folder with the _1 at the end might be a revision or a different region or disk.

1. Search the directory for all folders with _1 in the name in windows and move into a separate temporary folder. Do the same for _2, _3 etc.
2. Now go into each one those temporary folders (containing all the _1 items, and then the temp folder containing all the _2 items etc.) and use Bulk Rename Utility to remove the numeric ending to the folder name. So just replace "_1" with "". Now, all you have to do is drag those folders back into the main full set. Since they are folders and they don't have any kind of region tags, or disk numbers etc. they will be named exactly the same as the ones in the main full set and windows will automatically merge them into one folder. At the end you're left with something like this:   

.../Super Mario World

......Super Mario World (USA).sfc

......Super Mario World (Europe).sfc

......Super Mario World (Japan).sfc

I took it a step further and added fan translations and hacks that I like to the folder by amending their names like this

......Super Mario World (Infinite Lives) (Hack).sfc

......Super Mario World (Japan) (Translated English).sfc

I took it a step even further than that and manually changed all of the Japanese and European games to the USA title (obviously excluding the exclusives). Be warned, if you skip this step, when you start merging these folders you can wind up with a different folder for Castlevania and Akumajo Dracula which are regionals of the same game. You can solve this in two ways.

1. what I did was I manually changed the latter to just be Castlevania (Japan), and then by the end of it it was in a folder called Castlevania and it merged fine with the Castlevania folder that held the USA game.
2. When you have your full set that has been completely merged with all the revisions and regions etc. into one folder each, make sure its on a separate drive from the 1g1r set you made initially. Now drag the entire 1g1r set into the full set, but be very careful not to click anything afterward. Because they are on separate drives when they merge all of the items that merge will remain highlighted. Drag those highlighted items back into the first folder. You basically took the 1g1r set and merged it with anything in the full set folder that had the same name and then pulled it back out. You'll get A LOT of the revisions and regions this way, but you'll miss any game that has different titles in different regions, such as the above game Castlevania. These are mostly Japanese games, but also a surprising amount of European games have slightly different titles.

Anyway, that's the general workflow haha. If you're really interested I can do a step by step but basically all we're doing is using Bulk Rename Utility and File2Folder to let us manipulate what Windows already does with folders with the same name, e.g merge them. I've always kept my games in separate folders because I like to tell the emulator to save savestates and saves in with the rom files. So I always had folders named after the entire rom like Super Mario World (USA). This is basically just a couple tricks to delete all of the tags from those folders and merge them, and as a bonus merge them with a 1g1r set.

At the end I'm left with a 1G1R folder set. As in there is a folder for each USA game and then a folder for each regional exclusive. But within those folders is every possible revision, disk, region, and hack (I hand pick hacks.) Though I'm sure its not perfect (for instance, I was surprised to find that No Intro titles are changed over time) its the most satisfactory set I've personally had. 

So once all that's done, I just tell launchbox to prioritize US and when I import the entire folder, I get one instance of Super Mario World (the US one) and all of the rest including the hack and translation are automatically imported as an additional app.

Like I said, it was a lot of work, but I must have enjoyed doing it because I'm done now with over 200 systems.    

[Looking for game collection advise.]

It's a really difficult question to answer. Everything is subjective. You can look up "what are the best versions of Final Fantasy games" and you'll get a lot of info. But even the best "version" is subjective and you'll have to take games like Mortal Kombat on a case by case basis, google, see if someone has noted the exact differences in versions etc. And then, even in the No Intro sets there can be Revisions and you'd have to take that into account as well. It's kind of a monumental task and in the end you'll have only built a list of games that is subjectively the best to you anyway. I can tell you what I did though when I asked the same questions you're asking. I created two launchbox installs. In one, I import everything. The second, I hand pick  and I also went to the top 25 lists for systems I never really played. So depending on what kind of mood I'm in, I might want to play a specific game on my second install (which is MUCH smaller, and this allowed me to spend more time on the art etc so it looks just how I want it to). Or, I might want to open the big install and just browse around and occasionally find something I like enough to include on the second install. I'm pretty happy with the results. It's kind of a "less googling more playing" approach to these questions.