faeran

April 5

55 minutes ago, MJF said:

I've recently been changing a lot of dashes to the proper colon separator (specifically in the Windows platform section)

And even after they have been approved, the title is still separated with a dash....

Here's a prime example:

Not sure if this is what you are running into, but if a game has a button that links to a steam game, then the title would be locked to the title that appears on the Steam purchase page.

April 3

On 3/31/2024 at 5:29 PM, Retrofrogg said:

I'm having a problem with "scan for added [platform name] roms" with this build. I'm testing it with the NES No-Intro set. It detected about 10 new roms (after around 30 seconds), but then when I click OK to import it seems to get stuck on "Initialising import process...".

Been going for around 20 minutes now. Normally LB is pretty snappy.

Don't know if it's related, but I continued doing some work on the NES platform and then it threw an error:

23 hours ago, stensgaard said:

this also happens for Mame games with the latest beta .. never seen this problem before!

14 hours ago, cheguewara said:

Got the same Problem

Thanks for the report. We'll get this fixed up for the next beta.

2 hours ago, 1quicksi said:

The ability to update platforms is a huge help and I just updated my MAME from .263 to .264 After the update I noticed that I now have a new folder "MAME 0.264" (my default folder was just "MAME"). Upon inspection I noticed a discrepancy in the total file count. Quickly poking around I see I have files in my "MAME/artwork" folder but nothing in the newly created "MAME 0.264/artwork" folder. As this and other folders are typically blank maybe make an option to copy existing data/folders to the new install or have an option to allow you to select the install folder so we can opt to re-use a prior one or name one specifically (maybe both options).

We'll look into this as well.

April 2

1 hour ago, ClapTraps007 said:

Automatic ROM imports keeps screwing with my Wii U and Sega Saturn libraries with nonsense files it seems to think are games. It's a nice feature/idea in theory but it needs work. To add insult to injury deleting said files without disabling Automatic ROM Imports means those deleted files will be re-imported upon the next launch of Launchbox. I'm disabling the feature entirely until the kinks are worked out-- it's currently not fit for purpose.

This would indicate that you may have a configuration mishap going on with those game folders, or the folder's themselves have something different going on than expected.

Either way, can you Edit both platforms go into the Folders tab and let us know what the Game Folder it's monitoring, then can you take a screenshot of those folders and post them?

April 2

Another round of updates has been deployed to the LaunchBox Games Database.

Here's the complete changelog:

We've added advanced filters to the search bar. Now you can filter by Developer, Publisher, Platform, Genre, Game Type, Max Players, Cooperative Mode, ESRB Rating, Overview content, and Title. For example, search for "platform: genesis, gameType: released" to find released games on the Genesis platform
Your My Collection pages now sport a new look that matches our updated styling
You can now easily remove games from your collections
All metadata fields, regardless of whether information exists, are now consistently visible on platform and game details pages
The Changes Status page now includes your changes made to a platform's metadata
We've fixed various text styling issues that occurred on specific browsers
The default value for the release date datepicker has been corrected

April 1

On 3/29/2024 at 2:01 PM, KingKweus said:

Aint sure if its already been brought up but currently there seems to be some games that share the same ID even on completely separate platforms.

Eg. PlayStation 2 - White Clarity: And, the Tears Became You, ID 443231

Windows - Slender Threads: Prologue, ID 443231

Thanks for letting us know. We've confirmed your example, so we'll be doing some digging and identifying all duplicates and make sure they aren't duplicates moving forward.

April 1

On 3/24/2024 at 5:08 AM, mtib said:

Hi all, after a fresh install, I can´t install themes anymore. First I uninstalled Launchbox and then deleted the LB folder. Install it again, applied License and tried to install a theme, no success, it doesn´t matter which one, I receive the following error:

Is it something still saved on my android after I deleted the LB folder?

Can you check to see if you have a Temp folder created, inside of your LaunchBox folder?

If not, what happens if you create one, and then try to download themes again?

March 28

Beta 2 is out with the following:

New Feature: PCSX2 emulator can now be automatically downloaded and installed directly within LaunchBox
New Feature: Download, update, and reinstall supported emulators (including RetroArch, Dolphin, and PCSX2) conveniently from within their dedicated Add/Edit Emulator window
Improvement: The Manage Emulator window now displays emulator versions and update availability for supported emulators
Improvement: The advanced search now includes a filter switch for searching your game's notes
Improvement: The default Dolphin command line now automatically includes full screen mode and disables exit confirmation prompts (only when downloaded through our automatic-imports workflow)
Improvement: Microsoft Xbox xbe hard drive files now integrate better with our auto-import feature
Fixed: An issue where emulators downloaded automatically during ROM import even when choosing the manual install option (introduced in beta 1)
Fixed: An issue where the set media limit wasn't enforced during imports or metadata and media downloads

Thanks everyone for the continued help with testing our betas. As mentioned before, a lot of the backend code was re-arranged to get us to this point, so the help with testing is very much appreciated.

March 22

On 3/17/2024 at 3:54 AM, Kefka2b said:

Hi you should take a look at the es de colorful theme it works great there. It would look better with a wheel and the clear logos instead of that huge brand name in the back for platform view.

Thanks, although the new platform view was actually conceptualized by the original creator of Colorful as a sort of Colorful 2.0, so the view you see was not meant to be a port of his original Colorful Big Box theme.

However, with the way Android themes work, you can create an unlimited number of different platform views within a theme, so it's always possible I create more variations based on his other concepts in the future.

March 22

9 hours ago, skizzosjt said:

those links on page 1 have been broken for a long time on this main discussion thread. the links are available on the file page. go to post below for the CTC files

@Light Sock if you do not have an old version of CTC you got a handful of work to do to make it look good. you can find a post from me on the previous page detailing the issue and solution. CTC 3.1.5 is def superior to 2.5.5 so I think it's worth doing it, assuming you want to keep all the animations and opacity fades etc type stuff.

Yes, this is true, you would have to use an older version of the CTC, but they should still work fine with it. At the moment, there's no plans to port it to newer versions of the CTC at the moment, but anyone that wants to is free to do so.

March 22

LaunchBox 13.13 beta thread has been opened, and can be followed here:

March 22

Hi Everyone,

Another beta round has started. Beta 1 has just been released with a number of major changes. The major user facing change of this release is the ability to download Dolphin automatically from LaunchBox from within the auto-import workflow and the older ROM import wizard. A number of systemic framework changes were made in order to facilitate this, so any help in testing our imports would be much appreciated. We also have a handful of other changes, like improvements to the auto-import system, the advanced search, and the fixing a number of bugs.

Beta 1:

New Feature: LaunchBox can now automatically download and install the Dolphin emulator during the import or auto-import workflows
Improvement: The advanced search functionality has been expanded to include the following new filters: Broken, Complete, Favorite, Hide, Installed, PlayMode, Portable, Rating, Region, Series
Improvement: Several file extensions have been added to the ROM import blacklist, improving accuracy and reducing the chance of including unwanted files
Fixed: Import stability improved for scenarios involving merging new and existing games
Fixed: An uncommon issue that could occur during Epic Games imports

Beta 2:

New Feature: PCSX2 emulator can now be automatically downloaded and installed directly within LaunchBox
New Feature: Download, update, and reinstall supported emulators (including RetroArch, Dolphin, and PCSX2) conveniently from within their dedicated Add/Edit Emulator window
Improvement: The Manage Emulator window now displays emulator versions and update availability for supported emulators
Improvement: The advanced search now includes a filter switch for searching your game's notes
Improvement: The default Dolphin command line now automatically includes full screen mode and disables exit confirmation prompts (only when downloaded through our automatic-imports workflow)
Improvement: Microsoft Xbox xbe hard drive files now integrate better with our auto-import feature
Fixed: An issue where emulators downloaded automatically during ROM import even when choosing the manual install option (introduced in beta 1)
Fixed: An issue where the set media limit wasn't enforced during imports or metadata and media downloads

Beta 3:

Improvement: "View 3D Box Model" option is now available in the game context menu
Improvement: Updated the MAME metadata file that's included with LaunchBox
Fixed: Big Box memory leaks have been addressed, allowing it to run smoother and for extended periods
Fixed: Searching for games with colons (':') should now yield expected results
Fixed: Various potential null reference errors that could occur within LaunchBox have been squashed
Fixed: The manual scan for added games no longer gets stuck during the initialization process
Fixed: Updating MAME now correctly installs the new version to the same folder (introduced in 13.12)
Fixed: Fixed an issue that caused an error to sometimes appear when retrieving the version information within the Manage Emulators window
Fixed: Improved stability to prevent the app from crashing when canceling an emulator download

Beta 4:

New Feature: A new "Dependency Files" section is now available for supported emulators within their emulator window allowing you to more easily manage these essential files. Supported emulators include: RetroArch, PCSX2
New Feature: You will now receive a prompt, with potential solutions, when you try to play a game that requires missing dependency files
Fixed: The version badge now displays correctly when combining two GOG games
Fixed: A bug where images could incorrectly be linked to more than one game with similar names
Fixed: The Amazon Games install flag now sets correctly on startup

Thanks to everyone willing to help us test our beta releases.

March 21

Beta 2 is out with the following:

Added navigation sounds, which supports startup, move, select, and back actions. Each action can play multiple sound files randomly or sequentially. Custom sound packs are supported, including full compatibility with Big Box sound packs. Place sound packs in the LaunchBox\Sounds folder. Configure options in the Options menu
You can now set a global view for all sections (Root Filter, Secondary Filter, Game views) from the Manage Theme menu (top-right corner). Global views override section-specific views without affecting individual section configurations
Improved controller navigation throughout the app

March 21

On 3/18/2024 at 5:21 AM, viking said:

@faeran do you have any more recent sources to share? thx!!

Sorry for my silence lately.
A lot of work IRL since Christmas + the kids + renovations in my house.
Don't expect any update very soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.

But I haven't given up!
I still have the theme v3 in mind. And once it's developed, I'll go back to creating platform videos.

Thanks for your support and patience! ❤️

On 3/19/2024 at 9:20 PM, Light Sock said:

Np man! I understand that, hope @faeran could chime in in the meantime and update the links

It's quite possible I could be missing something, since it's been a while, but from what I see, the current version is 2.03, and the resource files are also labeled 2.03. Let me know if I'm wrong and I can dig around.

March 20

19 hours ago, Pakkko said:

When I boot up my LaunchBox on Android it tells me that "Your Settings.xml file is corrupted and cannot be loaded. All settings will be reset". I've tried to give up, install, again and nothing always comes out the same.

Also, no matter how hard I try to delete it completely to start from 0 I can't do it, I can't delete the whole program completely and when I reinstall, I have all the platforms configured again as before uninstalling.

Sorry to hear. All data files are stored under the LaunchBox folder on your internal storage (by default). Use any files app to navigate into that folder, enter into your Data folder and delete the Settings.xml file. Next time you load up the app it shouldn't display that error.

March 19

3 hours ago, Rinusch said:

Hi @faeran. I wasn't aware of the bitbucket site until just now, but when checking for this item I couldn't find it. Is this correct?

if you can't find it there, then yes, you can add it. However, we did take a look at the bug I mentioned, and I believe we managed to fix it. Where in the release track it is, I'm not entirely sure right now.

March 18

20 hours ago, DazStelfox79 said:

Hi Faeran

Wondering if you could help me. I have created a new theme called Playtime, My themes are normally hybrid so part CTC & part XAML & I want to create a new Game Discovery Center View that looks like my themes Platform View but i am struggling, I have attached some pics for reference.

All I basically want to do is keep the List banners layout as it is in the Game Discovery Center View & drop them in my platform view replacing the current coverflow. or create a new Game Discovery Center View, I tried to do this a few different ways,

Firstly i renamed the PlatformWheel2FiltersView in my theme to DiscoveryPageView & dropped all the relevant binary's from the default DiscoveryPageView into it & Launchbox crashes.

Secondly I copied & pasted the default DiscoveryPageView from Launchbox folder into my Custom theme (Playtime) views folder as stated above then copied & pasted some code from my PlatformWheel2FiltersView into the DiscoveryPageView in my custom theme for instance just the White border you see in my theme & when i go into Big Box, Select Game Discovery Center & either you can't see the white border i put in there or it just crashes.

Sorry if this sounds confusing as i just want to try & make the absolute fantastic Game Discovery Center View look like my theme.

The first thing you did would be very hard to get right, so I can see that instantly crashing.

The second thing you did is more the way to go, but I would take it in steps. Copy and paste the entire Discovery page view, then load it up and make sure it works. Then make one change and see how it affects the view. Keep going like that, so you know the change that is crashing your theme so you can learn from it.

If you want to get into any code specifics send me a PM.

March 11

Version 13.12 - Released March 11, 2024

Full Changelog: https://www.launchbox-app.com/about/changelog

New Feature: LaunchBox can now automatically import ROM files that are placed inside of a platform folder located in LaunchBox\Games. To enable it for existing LaunchBox installations, go to Tools > Options > General > Automated Imports
New Feature: LaunchBox will now actively monitor your platform Game folder (found in the Edit Platform window) and import any new ROM files it finds automatically while the program is open and during startup. To enable it for existing LaunchBox installations, go to Tools > Options > General > Automated Imports
New Feature: LaunchBox and Big Box's search has now been upgraded. It will now search by title (and alternate title) by default, with advanced options to search for other types of metadata.
Improvement: A dynamic list for Games with Achievements has been added to the Games Discovery Center
Improvement: The MAME Arcade Full Set Wizard file requirement has been reduced to accommodate HBMAME full sets
Improvement: Support for PICO-8 game files has been added into our import processes
Improvement: Clear Logos and Icons have been added for the following platforms: PICO-8, Microsoft Series X/S, VTech V.Smile
Improvement: RAHasher has been updated to version 1.7
Improvement: The Scan for Added ROMs tool will now import new versions of games you already have in your library
Improvement: Added logic to improve the ability to import SNES MSU-1 ROMs
Improvement: The included version of CefSharp/Chromium has been updated to version 119.4.30.0
Fixed: Issue where Image Types weren't downloaded when removed from all Image Groups and the Media Limit option was enabled.
Fixed: Java error encountered by some users during Epic Games login.

March 8

Just now, AquaJew said:

I'm a phone user who generally force closes all my apps. One of the issues with LaunchBox in this regard is that I'll start a game (and get a nice notification that the game is started), play for a bit, close the app, and then come back in a day or two only to see a popup that I've so far logged 55 hours into a game. Is anyone else experiencing this? Or is there a way to make the counter stop when the app (LaunchBox and/or RetroArch) shuts down?

In order to stop the counter you will need to exit the emulator and return to LaunchBox. Because of how each app on Android is sandboxed, if you simply close the emulator, LaunchBox has no way of telling when you went from playing the game to not playing the game.

The prompt is a way for us to tell users that it's been a very long time since you told the app that you went to go play the game, so we are guessing that you probably stopped playing without returning into LaunchBox.

If you like the play time feature, you'll need to return to LaunchBox after you are done playing the game, and before you shut down or put your device to sleep. You can simply click on the play time notification, which will return you to LaunchBox and stop the counter. Although, returning to the app in any way, will stop the counter from ticking.

March 6

On 3/5/2024 at 5:24 AM, Gtrevize said:

thanks for this very nice update. it is very appreciated.

Is it any way to add a new platform / will this be a new future one day (like Amiga 1200 for example) ?

Thanks.

Pretty sure the Commodore Amiga platform encompasses all models of the Amiga, so you can import your games to that platform.

March 6

On 3/5/2024 at 10:15 AM, JereBear said:

I've done a few Windows PC games.
I believe Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story was one of them at the time.

Thanks, the video helps explain a bit of what's going on, so we should be able to track it down and fix it for a future deploy.

March 5

1 hour ago, JKorso said:

Database is off or it's just in here?

1 hour ago, Retro808 said:

It down and has been for a few hours. Our dev team was notified.

Thanks guys. The database should be back online.

March 4

On 3/1/2024 at 6:04 PM, JereBear said:

- Been submitting a few games just now and the release date field only allows me to enter a year even know the year only box is not checked.
If I check and then uncheck the 'year only' box it fixes itself and allows me to enter the full release date.

Can you be more specific about the games you've tried? I'm guessing this is more game specific than anything.

March 4

I do believe it's because you are using an old version of LaunchBox. You may need to update to a later version to solve this.

March 4

On 3/2/2024 at 3:31 PM, crusadeRGP said:

I've found that LaunchBox needs to be inside a folder on a drive for the install or updater to work. I changed my setup for an entire main drive to be my LaunchBox but by doing this the above error occurs. Is there any way to fix this @Jason Carr?

As you found it is recommended that a LaunchBox install be within at least 1 folder to not run into the issue you are seeing (ala C:\LaunchBox\).

We have it marked on a long list of items to take a look at, but it's fairly low priority due to the easy way to circumvent this problem.

March 4

23 hours ago, lordraven1 said:

On version 13.11 and issue still hasn't resolved, even after forcing new login attempt.

We just tested this internally have haven't seen any issues with logging into Microsoft/Xbox. The problem listed in this post was resolved, but if you are still experiencing a different issue with the login, open up a new thread with more detailed steps of what you are doing and the error you are receiving.

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