Retrofrogg

+1 on setting it as free for the first week! What I did last time was run the setup file in the exoDOS pack and install to a new instance of Launchbox, then manually copy across what I think are the relevant files and folders. Is this still the best way to do it?

ExoDOS, you’re a hero! Tempted to wait until the full pack comes out - any (very rough) eta?

Yes, in some ways just MAME is enough, as the arade was ahead of everything with all consoles & computers just representing inferior ports - at least up until the arcade industry started going downhill with the advent of cheaper and more powerful home consoles, probably starting around the Playstation/Playstation 2 era. Certain types of games (e.g. PC games) would be an exception of course as they were not available in arcades. I just made up my own spreadsheet of my systems (imported and planned) - excluding any game "collections" (like you see on many Hyperspin wheels), video related entries (such as Netflix etc), magazines, etc. Currently it is at 393 systems. I don't know if I will ever find the time to complete this

Yeah, it's monolithic collection vs playability I think. I think it's the difference between having friends go through your collection going "oh yeah I remember that console!", "oh wow I'd forgotten about that one!" etc etc versus wading through unknown machine after foreign machine after unknown machine, many of which have similar games which are probably pretty crappy anyway! It's actually making me question whether it's worth building up a collection at all, or instead just enjoying a few systems and getting out in the sun lol. In fact now that I think about it, the story of my life is spending time working on bigger and better collections (games, music etc), at the expense of actually enjoying it!

This thread is making me think more and more about which systems to inlcude. Looking at Romfrosk's list, take the following as an example: I am wondering if it is really worth including so many variations on a theme? Many of the systems in the list (not just the NEC ones - take the range of calculators as another example) are simply slight upgrades or newer versions of other systems. The games themselves are often the same across such systems anyway. If we take this route, then theoretically we could up end with thousands of systems. Great if you're building a computer/platform history database, perhaps not so great if you want a good Launchbox/collection to play games. Keen to hear your thoughts.

I would like to see some more focus within LB/BB on the systems/platforms themselves, rather than just the games. Currently in LB you can get some information about the system by going to "edit", though this obviously isn't very visually appealing. Also, the image types available for a system are very limited. Currently the options are: banner, clear logo, device and fanart. I would like to see more image options such as device box/packaging, adverts, manuals, peripherals, controllers, videos, etc. Similarly in BB - some way to integrate this in a visually appealing way which will enrich the experience; perhaps the user could press "I" on a system to bring up the media/images for that system with the ability to browse through - just like you can do for a game!

Also - you seem to have split MAME into a few different arcade boards but if you're doing that then there are many more arcade boards you could split by.

Aren't the no-intro packs better, in that they are just the games without all the other applications and extras?

Lol - after my last message about some systems maybe not being worth included, you've just removed loads of entries from one of my favourite systems (I had a CPC464 as a kid)! How come you removed so many items from the CPC?

Having a look at the list again. Very interesting to see which systems are on there. I wonder however regarding the balance of inclusivity vs usability. I suppose this depends on the purpose of a collection such as this. For example, I don't know about having Texas Instruments calculators on there - let alone 7 of them! Of course it's great to increase the number of emulated systems and to pad this out a bit - but at what point does it become addition of systems just to increase the numbers? Where does it stop? Do we include the software associated with, for example, home appliances, PDAs or mobile phones (because MAME can emulate all of these)?

That pic is what mine looks like. Can I see your "emulator details" tab for that? EDIT: I changed MAME64.exe to MAMEUI64.exe, and that seems to work!

I have a full MAME ROMs pack (with an apple2GS.zip file in it), but it is in a separate MAME ROMs folder, separate to the Apple IIGS folder. Do I need to copy something across? EDIT: My MAME folder has the same apple2GS.zip file in the "roms" subfolder - so if that is in the right place then it looks like I have it.

What do you mean?

They are .2mg. My MAME is mame64.exe - should that be OK?

So you just imported the Apple IIGS ROMS with MAME set as emulator and with "apple2gs -flop3 " set in the "default command line parameters" under the Apple IIGS "associated platorm" for the emulator? I tried that, but when I try and open a game in LB, the pointer just changes to a sand timer for a few seconds and then back again; MAME/the game doesn't load. Also - "number of ROMs" would be a great column to have in your table. And - what is the "how" platform in your table (at the top)?

Great spreadsheet Romfrosk. May I ask; - what does "ready" and "imported" mean under the system status column? - why do many columns have the "emulator" entry missing? - how did you get the Apple IIGS working with MAME? Thanks!

I could do with some help in getting the Apple IIGS to work with LB. I've tried Kegs, GSPlus, ActiveGS and MAME. Either I can't get the games to load or if I can (with GSPlus) then I can't get them to go fullscreen. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks, I hadn't realised that you could do it in MAME. How do I get Launchbox to run these games via MAME? All my Apple IIGS games are .7z format, which is not in your list. I guess I have to extract all first (to give .2mg files). EDIT: using MAME as the emulator with command line parameter apple2gs -flop3, nothing happens. On double-clicking the game I briefly get the sand timer symbol then back to the arrow. MAME doesn't seem to load.

For Apple II in Windows, AppleWin works well and can do fullscreen with an extra updated version. It doesn't seem to do Apple II GS though.

Which emulator did you use for Apple IIGS, and how did you get it working?

True to the original all the way - either 2D or 3D. I'm not a fan of fan-made boxes etc, though these can be useful if the original box art is not available.

Check out Colpipes's collection, he's got quite a few systems working. I am aiming to have a large set of systems too However I'm trying to focus on the media aspect of things too, making sure all the games have box art, manuals etc.

Changing the emulator like this works, but it does not work for any "additional apps" within the games. So for games that have disk 1 & disk 2 grouped together with a disk as an additional app, it doesn't seem to work. Any advice here?

Hi eXo is the 3.11 release of the first 3 packs out? You had mentioned it but I can't see it on the enjoyable spherical shaped protrusion. Thanks!

I was wondering why folks here have chosen Launchbox over other frontends such as Hyperspin, Emulation Station etc. My main reasons are: 1. Relatively easy setup 2. The right balance between media overload and clean presentation 3. The ability to have sub-wheels (HS does not allow this at present) 4. The ongoing active development of the app and the active community