The Papaw
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The Game Zone (Multiple BB Instances via AHK script)
View File
Allows you to Easily use multiple instances of Bigbox on each PC to improve speeds in navigation by splitting up platforms and running them from a single app. Also allows you to customize each instance to use different themes, platform videos, etc.. Includes a ReadMe in the folder
I wrote this AHK script to make it easy to run multiple instances of Bigbox on the same PC.
The reason I did this was I noticed my main LB/BB rig was getting so big that navigation was starting to slow down, especially in arcade using the newer themes. It was even worse on the older PC's thoughout he house. I got the idea that maybe if I split the platforms up into different copies of LB/BB I might get a smoother experience, especially on older PC's and it worked.
The script can be easily changed and customized to your needs. It's simple to change the images, background, layout, number of instances, etc. with much more than Notepad++. It takes a little work to set things up, but works pretty well after your done.
Just extract it and put the "The Game Zone" folder where you want.
Here is what you need do to Prepare: - this is most of the work
1. Make a copy of your Launchbox folder before doing anything just as a backup in case you have a boo-boo and something gets messed up. That makes it easy to go back. I'd leave it alone until finished.
2. If your game media, including roms, (images, videos, music, manuals) is within your Launchbox folder, you will need to move or make a copy of it all to a centralized location Outside the default Launchbox folder. This excludes your Platform Categories, Platforms, Playlists folders and startup videos. Mine is actually on a shared NAS folder. This keeps you from creating and having multiple copies of your roms and game media in a later step.
3. Next, you need to edit the paths to each of them in the "Folders" section of Launchbox by right clicking on a platform, then Edit > Folders (tab) and navigate each of them to where you put the media OR edit the Platform xml (../Launchbox/Data/Platforms) files with Notepad++ so Launchbox uses the new centralized media locations. Notepad++ is faster and easier, but more chance of errors.
4. After your media is in a centralized location, you can delete it all from your default Launchbox folders.
5. Next, make multiple copies of your edited Launchbox folder and rename them the following (only if you wish to use the script "As Is"):LB-Arcade
LB-Retro
LB-Modernby default the script uses your normal Launchbox instance for the Master system.
6. Lastly, you will need to edit the AHK script to match the different path instances that you have chosen. Mine are as follows and what the script is using by default:
D:\Gaming\Apps\LB-Arcade
D:\Gaming\Apps\LB-Retro
D:\Gaming\Apps\LB-Modern
D:\Gaming\Apps\LaunchBox (master system with all platforms)After everything is all set up and working, you can play with modding to your taste and needs.
TIPS:
I do all my maintenance work in my master instance and use Syncthings to copy the appropriate platform xml files to the appropriate LB instances, that way I do the work once and the other instances are updated automatically. Yep, I'm lazy! There is a shortcut in the folder to drop on the desktop. You might have to fix the icon for it (copy of it in the "The Game Zone" folder), since my paths may be different than yours.I think that's it. This is my first AHK script and was fun learning about AHK. You can do much more with it than I imagined.
Feel free to post questions, comments, suggestions and share what you come up with.
-Enjoy
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Submitter
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Submitted05/25/2022
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9 minutes ago, Retro808 said:
@The Papaw This is better served as a specific post in the 3rd party applications and plug-ins subforum and not in the AHK Scripts help thread.
Please create a new thread there for this. I will remove this one after you do. Thanks.
np, thought a AHK script would go in the AHK thread...deleted it, sorry 'bout that
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Posted copy here for others to play with:
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Here is want I wound up with (still tweaking).
I had no idea you could do so much as easily as you can with AHK. Definitely will be using much more in the future. Thanks again Joe for the support
The Menu:
Showing a confirmation prompt:
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I've got it all working pretty good now, doing artwork and layout. Will post screenshot when I get it done. Thanks for all the tips. I had done got on a roll before trying the program
, will look at it later..
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I'm making progress (one of the few youtube videos that is actually not affiliate crap yet..
) and got one clickable, also found an old program to make AHK GUI's called SmartGUI. I might see what is does. Here's a copy of of it if you're interested in playing with it.
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1 hour ago, JoeViking245 said:
I never tried before in AHK either.
This should get you started. "ahk add image to menu gui"
When you test the guys script with your own .bmp image, you may need to change line #14. (remove the plus ( + ) symbol)
I got some png's working in it, now I am trying to figure out how to make them clickable, something to do with a "A g-label such as gMySubroutine may be listed in the control's options. This would cause the MySubroutine label to be launched automatically whenever the user clicks the picture.". -quoted from autohotkey.com
Just getting things going, and I will probably find different images and maybe change layout, maybe 2 x 2 square instead of single line, maybe get rid of the buttons once I figure out how to make the images clickable????
Here is what I got so far:
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On 5/21/2022 at 11:50 AM, JoeViking245 said:
With a batch or ahk, you'll only need ever one (script) file. VS (once compiled) will be only 1 file. As far as files being an exe, you can convert ahk to exe, and .bat to .com (I think. It's been a while), .cmd or even convert it to a PowerShell file. Speaking of which, PowerShell is another language you can look into. But there's really no need to shoot for a specific executable file type. Create a shortcut to your completed file and you're done.
Rhetorical question?
AHK of course can do this as well. (a very generic "game menu")
respective folders plus 4 others.
I've gotten busy and just getting back to playing with this. Been tinkering with AHK a bit this morning.
Looking for a way to add an image to each menu now if you can, never tried before
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10 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:
Sounds like what you want is a "LaunchBox Menu" of sorts. You run the program, which brings up a 'menu':
- LaunchBox Arcade
- LaunchBox Classics
- LaunchBox Modern
- Exit
You click one of those LB options. Then when you exit LB, the menu reappears.
The verdict is out regarding TaskKill. It's definitely bad if you add the /F parameter which will Force Kill the program. But I can't really find anything saying that running without /F is as safe as: painstakingly placing your hand on your mouse, sliding it with all-your-might to move the pointer all-the-way up to the upper right corner where the "X" is, and forcing your index finger to push down the left mouse button to "click the X".
I think you'd be best off with a menu type thing. That can be made using a batch file, AHK script or Visual Studio.
Yes Sir, that is exactly what I am gonna be trying to do. I don't see a reason to use the /f switch as it LB appears to be closing well (at least with v12.12, I know these things may change with updates sometimes)
Something I am not sure about is when LB/BB is opened, then closed, then re-opened again, it tends to run a bit slower if the PC isn't re-booted for some reason. Like maybe memory isn't cleared 100% from the previous run or something. Could be a windows thing, I really don't know.
I think I can pull it off with bat or AHK
I was wondering if something in Visual Studio or even something else might work and look better if you create it with a cool icon and make it an exe or something? Rather than having 5-10 script files. But never done anything with VS before. I assume you would use some type of invoke in it??
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6 minutes ago, neil9000 said:
Launchbox writes files after you close it via its x on the window. Task killing it i assume id doing just that, unsafely closing launchbox, meaning it cant write files at close, like newly added or edited games for example.
Thanks @neil9000
Here is what I am up too.
My master Launchbox rig is getting pretty large and most themes are really dragging now on the slower PC's around the house. I am thinking about making multiple instances of LB on them, say one for just Arcade, another for the older platforms and maybe another for the more modern platforms, then creating a batch file or maybe some type of Windows app in virtual studio or something to run first, allowing the user to pick the one they want, then when they exit it, take them back to the app or bat file to change to a different one.
Even thought about just creating one instance of LB to run first with only the different instances of LB and let it run the batch files to kill and re-open the different instance????
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I created a batch file to kill LB, just curious if this is a safe way to do it or will I end up with corrupted files over time.
This is what I am using:
@echo off
taskkill /im LaunchBox.exeIt appears to be working okay with the few tests I've done, including saving the backups.
If there is a safer way, please do share.
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The saving process that occurs after LaunchBox or Big Box closes should be significantly faster is a nice addition. Very helpful when doing maintenance in LB and theming as much as you open and close LB/BB. The PictureViewer was visually updated with added context regarding what type of image you are looking at is a nice touch as well. Nice improvements
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Just now, 3dlollo said:
I am really happy about LB; my .2 cents wishlist:
- Have Launchbox to remember which game was I on when I delete something, instead of scrolling all the way to the top
- Sync up play time and settings across platforms (I have both the full sub to the desktop and android platforms); so I can set up all platforms once, instead of constantly have to change settings when switching platforms (or worst if I have to re-install the OS and I didn't make a backup of the settings folder)
- Steam Deck support
- Streaming capabilities so I can run games on my pc and play them on my TV connected to the same network (the TV is too weak to run most emulators and I don't want to have a dongle computer in the living room)
- Find duplicates of games and not only of media
- Better parsing of the roms (more often than not I end up with the scraper retrieving the ENG data but the JP name and images for my roms)
Some great ideas, but you have to submit them to bitbucket or they are never considered.
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The bezel project is an interesting idea, but as others have shared, I think more information should be provided. Is it going to utilize a single platform bezel for each platform and use that in all the games in that platform or download and use the individual theme bezel for each game. Will you be able to choose between the two?
@Jason Carr said it would only be RA and Mame which is understandable, as that is what the Bezel Project is geared towards.
I think more info should be provided for other things on the ballet as well. Like #4, Cool feature, but BETTER support for NAS stored media really needs to be worked on now! Nothing works other than deleting media. Will that be fixed / improved?
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On 4/22/2022 at 8:49 AM, Fursphere said:
Thanks. Doing the work is quite simple. But it becomes a tax down the road, as every time I update my set its something I have to remember to do. If LB is only going to support MAME in .ZIP format, fine by me. I'll just leave it be.
I think LB should support 7z as well as zip, IMO.
It should also support 7z format on uploads to the forums, like packs and themes! It would save bunches of storage space on the servers for sure.
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Something is happening, not sure for how long or if it is fixed, but things are much better this morning, keep your toes crossed!
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This was posted 04-16 by Circo:
"We are implementing new API calls and search functionality for LaunchBox. Currently API calls are built and sample code for the LaunchBox team is being prepared. In a nutshell this is going to move server side search processes to the client side allowing for much faster searches especially in complete library scrapes. Our developer is currently working with Jason over at LaunchBox and we should get this update out soon.
Apologies for the current overloaded server situation. Once we get these changes implemented thing should get back to better than normal."
I sure hope something comes along soon, as that was 4 days ago concerning a issue that has been going on for weeks now. I know everyone wants things working well and devs are trying to come up with something
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4 hours ago, C-Beats said:
We are currently in the process of changing the search criteria used for EmuMovies because running in on EmuMovies server is proving to be too straining on their servers so that logic will all be changing some what. I can tell you that only the rom file name and the games current title are used currently to search though that may change some as we develop the new logic.
Thank you @C-Beats, that is what I was looking for. I wasn't asking cuz of the current Emu issue, but more on how make sure Emu is scraping best I can. I always try to use no-intro roms, but some just can't be helped. Sounds like I might need to be changing some names and titles.
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Okay, let me ask another way. Lets pretend I don't have an EmuMovies account. I got all my roms imported into Launchbox. A rom file is named "Disney's Wreck-It Ralph", LB didn't find it, so I edit the name to "Wreck-It Ralph" in the name field and LB scrapes and finds it using that name, I download media for it, LB adds the Launchbox DB ID#, I accepted it that way, then I edit it again and change the name back to "Disney's Wreck-It Ralph" (which renames the media to match name change.).
Down the road, I decide to purchase a sub for EmuMovies and run the Tools>Download>Update Metadata and Media for Selected Games tool. When LB connects via the api for Emu, what is going to use for it's search criteria? Name of the rom, name of the game (keep in mind I changed it to include the word Disney's), LaunchBox DB ID#.
This is what I am asking?
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7 hours ago, neil9000 said:
The scraper at import is purposely very strict so that you do not get tons of incorrect matches that you have to manually fix. The scraper when you right click a game, edit, and scrape is less strict and will also show results for other systems, and this is because you are actually looking for one specific game rather than importing hundreds or thousands, this is by design and working 100% as intended.
@neil9000 Thx for the reply. From what is appearing to me, when you import games, Launchboxs' code is launching 2 individual scrapes. First, the Launchbox Games DB, then it is initiating a 2nd scrape via the EmuMovies api, and if needed, this info is then put in the temporary queue xml file. Is this the process? Or is it only doing a single scrape on the LB DB, then passing the collected info from that onto the EMU api?
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5 minutes ago, DeadVoivod said:
It will not find the game if you have something else in the name than just the name of the game. It should f.ex. be Super Star Kartz (DreamWorks) as the brackets are omitted.
If your game is called Super Maria it won't scrape as Super Mario.
I think the scraper is quite lame, I use Plex and that scraper is a lot better, it would scrape Super Maria correctly, definitely.
Are you referring to LB scrape or Emu scrape? I understand how LB works, my question is once LB has assigned a ID from the Game DB, then goes on to scrape Emu in the 2nd step, is it using the game title or the ID to scrape for that game?
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How does EmuMovies scrape? If I have a game, does EmuMovies use the LB Games DB ID or does it scrape only using the name of the game?
The reason I ask, is if I have a game like DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, rather than Super Star Kartz will Emu still scrape it or will it need the Super Star Kartz as the game name?
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I am also getting errors in custom BB themes I created with CTC
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Ya know, I am aware that much of this issue is on the Emu side, but LB IS having strange issues related to this as well on my end.
I have been replacing roms (currently working on Nintendo Wii). I will delete 10-15 .wbfs roms, run the Tools>Scan>For Removed Roms Nintendo Wii and let LB do its thing.
Then I will copy their replacements in .rvz format to same folder and run the Tools>Scan>For Added Roms Nintendo Wii and let LB do its thing.
I am checking all boxes for artwork/videos for both LB and Emu. With all the errors I am getting on the Emu side, I will do a 100 or so games. Then I select them all and run Tools>Download>Update metadata and media for Selected games on them. LB appeared to do it's thing (so I thought), So after it appears to finish, I go on with replacing roms. I might find one I might do a single edit on and BOOM, all of a sudden, LB takes off scanning again, like minutes later. This would NOT be an Emu issue.
Just reporting what is happening for me. (v12.10.4)
Horizontal Flip or Cube Transition
in Big Box Custom Themes
Posted · Edited by The Papaw
There is a setting in BB for videos to do a Horizontal Flip or Cube transition when navigating. It only flips one way though. I have seen themes that will flip an object two ways depending on the direction you navigate, even the default theme does it. How would I implement that into a theme I created in CTC that could still be edited in CTC?
I don't see a simple way to accomplish this in CTC, thought maybe I could do a hybrid like @faeran did with Retrofresh with the notes in the horizontalgameview.
All replies appreciated