progets

SentaiBrad said The plugin should specifically allow the Fade in and Pause screens to use RL specific metadata and art. If this is something someone's been dying to have then I could see this being very useful. Setting up RL cold turkey just for these two features? I would say it's not needed. RocketLauncher does do a few things we don't CURRENTLY do, but these two specific examples are the only two things that I think are made possible with the plugin, otherwise the other features work. Fade in and Pause still even works, it just doesn't display all the proper information you'd expect. This is what has been told to me from a few people though, I currently do not run RL in any way. You're always so negative about RocketLauncher. I feel that it's ok for anyone to setup LB/BB with or without it. Anyone that has spent the time to set it up for another frontend would be a fool not to use it. Don't try to down play its features and what it can do that LB/BB can't do, especially if you have never seen it fully setup and configured properly. I personally would consider it the best product in emulation collaboration... and it's completely free! I won't mention all the features or that they provide better support on getting the latest emulators working. LB/BB makes your games look nice but the nuts and bolts are in the backend. If I can't play a game properly it doesn't matter how good it looks.

Isn't that backwards? A feature in the free version that isn't in the paid version. I understand the voting and that there are priorities but it makes no sense to lose a feature when going to a "better" version.

Your setup sounds pretty cool. I don't quite understand why you would look for your answer here. My response assumed you were using the I-PAC for gaming (since you're on a gaming forum). I think you could easily ask the folks at Ultimarc your question. They are very helpful.

trickyrick said Going to buy on of these just need a little info on how they work Let's take one input I assume all inputs work the same Ill hook a switch up to one of the inputs can I program it to type a combination of letters like abc or abcd. Also what happens if I leave the switch closed will it keep re-typing my letters or will it wait until the button is released and pressed again. Reason I'm asking is the button will be pressed or closed for hours at a time. Thanks Rick The I-PAC can be programmed to have each switch send a single keyboard button or gamepad button. It doesn't send combinations of keys/buttons with a single button being pressed. When you program it you can choose whether the button/switch is open or closed by default (for each switch). I'm curious how you plan to use it where a switch will be closed for hours at a time.

I like this idea. It would allow for an alternate/additional "Rocket Launcher" emulator that would launch directly into its "Pause" feature. No offense but the viewing of manuals in LB and BB is not desirable for cabinet and HTPC setups where you don't want to use a keyboard and mouse. Also, if you already have RL setup with the artwork there isn't a need to duplicate it. I have been using symbolic links to map LB/BB to my media but it's not possible for the media in RL since the directory structure is different (RL creates a folder with the rom name and then puts the artwork in there).

SentaiBrad said Combining them is easier than Splitting them if that makes sense... in terms of scraping. If they're split we can't assign alternate naming. "Scrape As" in this situation would be best. It works great in both situations, but it shines more if they are split. Combined on the Database just means PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 reside here, and if you have them split both SHOULD scan the same category. At least that was my explination for a while now. In the end, we are all up for which ever the people want. Combining them was talked about to try and simplify the database, but still allow users to choose how they want to display their games. This conversation also happened well before we had RL support via the plugins. Just know it was never meant to force anyone to how we are doing it, and even if we want to do things differently we still want to go towards what the community wants and not what we want or even what RL does. "RocketLauncher support via the plugins", where? I have LB working with RL but I'm not aware of LB plugin. Has one been created?

I'm using RocketLauncher with HyperSpin and LaunchBox now. It works fine. The plugin will likely only add information that is passed from the LaunchBox database to the RocketLaucher fade screen and pause screens that is missing right now such as the game name, year, manufacture, and rating. Switching over later shouldn't be hard. Depending on how the LaunchBox team implements it you might or might not need to create the RocketLauncher emulator, associated platforms and setting the default emulator for each (if desired).

SentaiBrad said Some people don't want to couple RL with LaunchBox. Granted, you can and people do, but if you don't want the feature difference then it ultimetly wont matter. For anyone that has RocketLauncher setup for a different frontend it only makes sense. Setting up and configuring the emulators are the most time consuming and toughest part for most people. If you already have that done, why not leverage it? I know that DJQuad is using HyperSpin and he likely already has this working. Also, Jason has been very active on the HyperSpin forum lately and has shown interest in incorporating RocketLauncher for people that are using it. RocketLauncher is a great backend and if it's leveraged it would allow for more time to spent on the LaunchBox frontend. Why reinvent the wheel? If you have RocketLauncher setup you can easily move to any frontend. I personally think that your frontend preference is tied to where you are using it. In other words, I use a different frontend on my cabinet vs. my HTPC vs. my PC. Using RocketLauncher on all of them only make sense to me.

DJQuad said progets said HyperSpin doesn't use box/flyer art in its front end. If you have a complete RocketLauncher setup these files can be found in D:\RocketLauncher\Media\Artwork\MAME. They are laid out in a different format and won't be easy to use directly with LaunchBox. Many people store the MAME artwork directly in their MAME installs which can easily be mapped to LaunchBox. Yeah the biggest issue is the videos that take up the vast majority of space. I have a complete (or at least I thought complete) RocketLauncher setup, but I don't have an Artwork folder under Media. I really wish they'd build in options to make the migration process easier because the vast majority of new people are from the HyperSpin community who have their media folders completely sync'd. HyperSync or HyperBase only get media for HyperSpin. RocketLaucher media is a separate thing. You would only see the RocketLauncher media in its "Pause" feature. What other things are you having issue with in your migration? You should be able to point to your HyperSpin directories for the media and then setup LaunchBox to use RocketLauncher for all of your emulation. This makes setup a breeze and you also get the controller profile features and "Pause" features that RocketLauncher offers.

DJQuad said So one thing that really confused me when importing ROMs was the suggestion of the "best" emulator for that system. I can't remember the exact system but I think it was Nintendo. It was suggested that I use an emulator like Nestopia, but why? Both MAME and RetroArch run it perfectly fine as far as I know. Another example was that I install VisualBoyAdvance. That is literally one of the worst emulators I have ever tried to configure. I'm not a huge fan of RetroArch and would personally rather not ever deal with their confusing UI, changing cores, incompatibility with the features they brag about, etc ever again. It's not at all clear what should be the ideal setup for LaunchBox should be. I have G:\LaunchBox\Emulators\MAME 0.174, G:\LaunchBox\Emulators\WinVICE-2.4-x86, MAMEUIFX 0.173, MAMEUI 0.173 (that includes MESS 0.172), RetroArch 1.3.4, Atari800 3.1.0, ePSXe1925, kat5200, and so on. Vanilla MAME was also suggested, which includes things like nag screens, no direct input, etc. It's a freaking mess. Even Jason suggested to change the default. It's so confusing. @DJQuad - If you're migrating from HyperSpin why wouldn't you just use your existing RocketLaucher setup? If it works in HyperSpin it will work in LaunchBox.

SentaiBrad said The file re-naming is being investigated, but they are still PNG's technically because they still have their transparent layer. Jason is also doing Image restructuring this week so things are going to change up a bit as well. This front end is making leaps and bounds! The image and naming conventions and paths still need work. They seem to use names that don't match the rom name which is key for many MAME users. People that use RocketLaucher to store these images will be SOL since they use a different folder/naming structure.

DJQuad said Thank you progets, I've spent the last couple hours trying to determine where HyperSync puts everything. I wish there were some sort of variable since the system is the only thing that changes both with HyperSpin and LaunchBox. I think putting the paths in Manage Platforms would be easier than using old school sym links ;) but at least I know the appropriate paths now. Thanks again! Also, MAME doesn't appear to have any box art. HyperSpin\Media\MAME\Images\Artwork3 is empty. Their ArtworkX folder structure makes no sense whatsoever. HyperSpin doesn't use box/flyer art in its front end. If you have a complete RocketLauncher setup these files can be found in D:\RocketLauncher\Media\Artwork\MAME. They are laid out in a different format and won't be easy to use directly with LaunchBox. Many people store the MAME artwork directly in their MAME installs which can easily be mapped to LaunchBox. P.S. You can create a text file of your systems and then use a variable in your script to call each system name. I know that one of the biggest benefits to LaunchBox is its ease of setup and configuration but if you're trying to migrate from another front end or use them both the best/quickest method isn't the easiest.

SentaiBrad said progets said This is a good topic. I'm using symbolic links to point LaunchBox to my HyperSpin media. This can be done from the command line or with a 3rd party tool. Here's an example of my NES mappings. mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Games\Nintendo Entertainment System" "D:\HyperSpin\Roms\Nintendo Entertainment System" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Front" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Artwork3" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Screenshot\Cart" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Artwork4" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Clear Logo" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Wheel" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Videos\Nintendo Entertainment System" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Video" May I ask why? You can tell LaunchBox the pathing when you go to Tools -> Manage Platforms. Edit a Platform and it will show you paths to where it's looking for all the media. A couple of reasons. First, it's much faster to create a script then to manually go through and change each setting... especially if you have a lot of systems/platforms setup. Second, you can easily toggle between your existing media and media that LaunchBox downloads to see what you like best. Third, if you do decide to make LaunchBox your main front end you won't need to go and change all the paths back. Forth, if you're like me and like to try a lot of different front ends it's an easy method that will work with any front end.. even front ends where the paths aren't configurable. If you're using RocketLaucher and all your emulators and games are setup you can easily run additional front ends with very little setup. Once you have a script with all your media paths you can simply do a quick find and replace for the paths that your new front end uses.

This is a good topic. I'm using symbolic links to point LaunchBox to my HyperSpin media. This can be done from the command line or with a 3rd party tool. Here's an example of my NES mappings. mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Games\Nintendo Entertainment System" "D:\HyperSpin\Roms\Nintendo Entertainment System" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Front" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Artwork3" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Screenshot\Cart" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Artwork4" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Images\Nintendo Entertainment System\Clear Logo" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Images\Wheel" mklink -d "D:\LaunchBox\Videos\Nintendo Entertainment System" "D:\HyperSpin\Media\Nintendo Entertainment System\Video"