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dionymnia

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  1. A large majority of clear logos are around the 400px width, based not only on the Launchbox database but also on other sites/resources. While I don't really have a problem with the much larger (700-1000px width) logos, I do wish that regular Launchbox (the application) would resize them when displaying them with a game. I know BigBox does this, but I do most of my "curation" of my game collection in the regular Launchbox. I don't use fanart backgrounds, so instead, when I click on a game, it shows the clear logo centered behind the game titles. The overwhelming bulk of games have clear logos that neatly fit in the small center area of the background, and then there are the random games with 700+ px width that all of a sudden take up the whole background. It's perhaps a minor thing for other people, but for me, having clear logos that vary so much between big and small sizes (without automatically resizing them, or at least giving the option for them to be resized) really disrupts my sense of consistency as I click through different games. I think an adjustment to that, while it would involve the coding of the app itself, would be more sensible than adding a whole different category for reconstructed logos.
  2. As far as I understand it, you could upload those alternate covers as "Fanart Box - Front" - that way they would still be available but not confused with the original release covers!
  3. The problem with this is that these are not reflective of the actual covers. Some Dreamcast games had front covers with a white left border, some had black versions, and of course non-U.S. releases were in other colors (or without a left border at all). I realize that it doesn't make for a visually consistent aesthetic, but that's how they were actually released. Furthermore, from what I've found in my own work on Dreamcast covers, very few (if any) games actually used the style of cover that you're using for that template. The "Sega Dreamcast" text wasn't part of the cover image itself; it's more of a merging of the full cover and the front inlay that would appear under the jewel case. I'd say that I don't really support using a generic template for them, especially when sources like SegaRetro, MobyGames, and others actually do provide physical scans of all the Dreamcast game covers. Otherwise, it doesn't really represent an authentic view of the covers.
  4. Quite true - I'm traveling at the moment, so I hadn't actually viewed them in my Launchbox at home. You're right, though - the front-only 3D view is the best current method, to avoid losing so much of the image space. I'll be adding more directly to the database, as I go along. If things change in the future so that 2-sided 3D box art would be feasible, I'll be holding onto those versions and can provide 'em then!
  5. I've been working on a 3D template for game systems that used CD jewel cases, like Sega Dreamcast and Playstation 1. Here's a few examples: Dreamcast: Playstation (PSX): Is the front/back 3D view for these acceptable? Personally, I prefer that view, as it takes full advantage of the 3D style to show the "full" case. That being said, it wouldn't be radically difficult to modify my template to cut out the back view and only show the front.... If the consensus is that the "3D Box" category should only show the front of the case, would it be feasible to add a separate category for "3D Box - Full" that could be for showing both the front and back of a case? This style/view could be useful for other console boxes/cases as well, especially since most consoles do have separate "Box - Front" and "Box - Back" views.
  6. I hadn't caught that either - I'll be sure to reject with a comment about the generic case. That being said, is there a better source that those could be pulled from? Or, alternatively, is this a situation where there's a good template PSD for making 3d cases? Presumably that's how those ones from GameTDB were generated, but with the generic "USB Loader" 3d case image. I don't know if there's a reliable source for full covers, but sites like vgaboxart.com show a lot of custom boxes (Wii: http://vgboxart.com/browse-covers/Wii), and several folks have posted templates to places like DeviantArt. I don't really do a lot with Wii, but I could imagine that this is just as applicable to any platforms from Dreamcast & Gamecube to current generation consoles. If there isn't a consistent "retail-direct" source for 3d cases, then it stands to reason that either A) standardized templates should be endorsed that can be used to slot in "box fronts" and "spine" content, or B) 3d cases for these platforms should not be accepted at all (since any such images would be Photoshopped/"fanart").
  7. I agree. In fact, I remember accepting the addition of 4X4 World Trophy - it was one of the first moderations I did, and then when I saw the deletion change come through, it made me realize that I needed to be a little more watchful of alternate names for additions like that. I do think that there could be some use in having the internal comments logged in some way, to give an indication of potential problems. I recognize, however, the concern about moderators being swayed by those comments rather than making their own assessments, kind of a "herd" mentality. If we can trust that moderations are being done in good faith and due diligence, then passing the comments wouldn't be as needed. It's quite a pickle!
  8. Do you remember any of the games you rejected and still got added? I try to be pretty conscientious about adding new games (I like the Skip button, since I might not always be sure), but I worry!
  9. On the topic of the new comment system, I'm a big fan. I've only been moderating for a little while, but there's a marked difference now that there's an ability to see someone's rationale for the change they're submitting. Thank you for adding that!
  10. I wish it were me - that's funny!
  11. Can I ask people's opinion about how changes/moderation should apply to arcade games, specifically in regards to hardware versus "platform"? There have been a number of edits that have come through my moderation queue with the platform changed from "Arcade" to "Sega Naomi". I do recognize that Sega Naomi may be the specific hardware/system for those games (thus necessitating different BIOSes and the like), but shouldn't they all still remain in the broader category of "Arcade" for the purposes of the Launchbox Game DB? They don't use different emulators (they're all still run through arcade emulators, like MAME, FBA, etc.). But if the games are being fragmented into different lists within the Launchbox Game DB based on the hardware/system designations of Naomi/CPS/Neo Geo MVS/ etc., then that would mean that when someone imports a MAME romset and selects "Arcade," there are going to be several games that won't scrape properly. The user would have to specifically identify the games that need to re-scrape as Naomi/CPS/NeoGeo/etc. Casual or new users who are just wanting to import the MAME roms and a set of BIOSes aren't automatically going to understand that distinction. However, advanced users who do want that distinction are already still able to separate the different hardware/systems by using the "Scrape as" option (import as "Sega Naomi", scrape as "Arcade"). I think I saw somewhere that there was some planning to implement sub-categorization of platform metadata, so perhaps that will end up resolving the issue in the future (Arcade --> Sub: Naomi/CPS/NeoGeo/etc.). Until then, however, I would imagine that Arcade should be the primary classification for, well, arcade games - regardless of the hardware/system designation. As I said to start, I've been seeing several edits come through changing the platform from "Arcade" to "Sega Naomi". I have been rejecting those changes, with an explanation of my rationale that "Arcade" is the better broad designation. It would seem that other mods don't agree and have accepted the changes, as I see that those games are now listed in the Naomi platform. I feel pretty firm about my reasoning, and I don't agree that those changes should happen, but I wanted to open it up for discussion - if nothing else, to establish consistency in moderation decisions. If I'm really wrong in my rationale or even if I'm just in the minority opinion, then I'd like to know that - I will suck it up and stop rejecting those changes. Ideally, however, I'd like to convince people to see it from my point of view. Either way, could a guideline be established for this? It would be helpful for maintaining consistency in editing and moderating the DB, and ultimately would also ensure that users would know what to expect when importing their games.
  12. This is a great tool for noting whether a certain type of media exists or not. I also like to know whether there are multiple images in a category - that way, I can remove duplicates if necessary. Would you be able to add to the tool a listing that counts how many images there are for the different categories?
  13. I noticed that there wasn't a default set of platform images for SNK Neo Geo MVS, so I thought I'd provide some. I've attached a device image (from Wikipedia, licensed for reuse), along with a clear logo I created and a platform banner based on bd00's arcade template. I hope they can be of use!
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