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kurzih

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Everything posted by kurzih

  1. Anyone interested about digital only Nintendo DS(i) games: most of the DSiWare game entries have now been added to the database, initially there was just a few dozen of them and now there's a few hundred This is what's on the menu (didn't add applications or "samples" of full games) - some still missing from the database, but please feel free to contribute them - I don't think I'll add anything more myself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DSiWare_games_and_applications Recommended emulation with Launchbox: Retroarch/MelonDS Core (needs a special setup & boot from DSi Nand/Firmware and some files in Systems dir). Most games work pretty well, unless requiring the DSi Camera. Note that MelonDS's DSi emulation is a WIP.
  2. This plugin sounds absolutely fantastic! Before Launchbox I was using GameBase for C64 and Amiga (really nice job @Belgarath!) I guess it might work with non-game related GameBases as well, even if the field names might be a bit different, Demo Group instead of publisher etc.? From DemoBase Amiga (V3), DemoBase C64 (V2) and IntroBase 64. I've already manually imported a lot of Demos/Intro for both C64 and Amiga (EmuMovies has Amiga Demoscene video files btw!), but no way I could import all of them with the way I'm building my Launchbox - DemoBase C64 has for example over 40 000 entries ... I have a simple goal for my Launchbox collection: all entries must have metadata & images + are working/running as good as possible. That's why I've been able to contribute so much on the Launchbox Database and playing around with slightly challenging Mame command lines and other querky Emulation setup (was so glad to get PC-9821 CD games to work for example, or Thomson Mx/Tx Cassette games etc.).
  3. This still happens with the final release of 12.7 when the Windows platform games are selected (identified as a Steam or GOG game). Stuck at "Initializing process" - just selected "Clear logos" for missing item, but no go. Not logged in in Steam/Gog or anything in LB options, just trying to download updated media from the LB database. Updating media/metadata on any other platform works normally, my guess is that it's something to do with all the GOG/Steam/Origin/Epic etc. stuff. - that's the only major difference compared to other platforms. Doesn't matter how many games I choose 2 or 200, if even one is Steam/GOG (bringing the prioritize LB/Steam/GOG windows when starting the download media process) it gets stuck after it should start scanning the games: EDIT: Did some extra troubleshooting and I can confirm it's actually Steam games that are getting the update media/metadata process stuck - and it doesn't matter if it's from the "Games Missing Media" view or the Platform Category view. Chose only GOG games, and they went through normally. So even if one Steam game is selected this is what happens (only closing Launchbox is possible): Could it be because it tries to sync my Steam account, but I haven't put those settings in LB's Steam options? If I search for Media/Metadata through the manual Edit process that works just fine:
  4. That's not really the point, is it? In a way emulation is preservation, but that's not the topic here. And this has nothing to do about candy, because not everyone likes the same. Eye of the Beholder - good game, but also has meaning here. My stand on scratches and nostalgia, you can read that here: https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/60984-please-do-not-destroy-original-authentic-box-images-with-photoshop-edits-upload-them-separately/ And, as stated before some images require minimum edit that do not affect their authenticity. If you can't see it's edited then it's the perfect kind of restoration. But I'm perhaps too good at spotting the differences, many people couldn't tell that a lot of SNES images have been filtered with waifu2x or something similar that makes a curly look to the image - like the one you defended in that thread above: I use mostly BigBox when launching games, so every image is bigger there and all details are better seen. The real problem here: To be honest I'm getting sick and tired about the attitude issues that has absolutely no reasoning of the fact that we have image type tags for all kinds of images. If you want to "arrange", "clean", "monochromatic paint", "rewrite the texts in your own font", "re-size into uniform mold", "copy paste age rating/logos/quality seals" on any image, that's totally fine! But then you should upload it separately as an edited image using the reconstruction tag. There is room for every type. It's just unbelievable when some selfish or ignorant behavior results in a perfectly good scan being overwritten instead of leaving the choice to the Launchbox user to choose what image they want to download! I don't think anyone has the right to dictate that his reconstructed work should be the only image everyone should be able to download. I personally have already told my stand that I prefer authentic, mostly untouched images rather than let someone do some work on them that in my eyes stick out like hell - but I also I'm not one to delete or overwrite reconstruction or fan-made images that have the proper tag attached to them - I appreciate the effort and It's great that we have choices for all camps: We even have this on the database rules & guidelines if you still haven't noticed: Front and Back Box Art must have the proper regional tag and be added to the proper category. Reconstructed box art can not be used in any other category then the reconstructed section. I'm fully aware that some people have no respect for the rules and just want to drive their own agenda (what on earth is that obsession about "owning" the default image??). But Launchbox is supposed to give everyone the free choice on how they build their collections - choose your own default image type, ie. Box - Front - Recon or others (in image priority settings) - the more image choices, the better. This is more of an attitude issue, than opinion or technicality. Examples? I could fetch hundreds of edits from the database with many faults, like typos in where text has been re-written with someone's own choice of font etc. there are countless of images that have been overwritten with edits that have been misleading moderators because of their "bigger size" and in preview mode looking OK. Not everyone is paying attention to details, but I am, and it bothers me when I see something that isn't they way it was originally, and someone's opinion on how it should look takes priority and overwrites the original image with an edit. Plainly disrespectful to others like me. And those examples above are all valid, those are not color corrected, the colors are simply wrong - almost neon-bright and unnatural. There were worst looking examples for sure I could have taken. Anyway, those Arcade flyers have mostly been replaced with even higher and better quality scans than the old ones (approved by all moderators) - so it was actually a good thing to do. It took me a full week to do that - time that I would have liked to spend on something else if someone would have been kind enough to use the proper image types in the first place. I've been contributing for about three years now and added thousands of missing images and probably 2000-3000 missing commercial games (with full source-checked metadata, not uploading just a 3D Box etc.) to the database and now I'm not happy at all if those hard-to-produce images will be improperly overwritten and lost forever with edits that should be tagged as reconstructions. I don't think I have the energy to carry on that much if it goes to waste at some point. And even less energy to argue about it. So, hopefully developers @Jason Carr @C-Beats will give their opinion about this, because I'm done with this topic.
  5. I have Super Game Boy as its own platform in my local database. What I've done is import first all SGB enhanced GB games using "Scrape as.. Nintendo Game Boy" and then the same with the SGB enhanced GBC games and changing the "Scrape as... Game Boy Color". There's at least Wario Land II which has both version, so that needed importing separately using the add button: Thankfully Emumovies gameplay videos download the Super Game Boy videos versions, I guess there's some nice coding that looks at the Platform name for scraping? EDIT: Bonus, if anyone needs the Extra command-Line Parameter for Retroarch / BSNES. "E:\Emulators\LaunchBox\Emulators\Super Game Boy 2 (Japan).sfc" --subsystem sgb (path can be anywhere pointing the ROM/BIOS of the Super Game Boy).
  6. Just wanted to let you know, while I'm uploading missing flyers (mostly Japanese ones), I'm trying from time to time to re-upload some scanned flyers in the Arcade section if I see issues. I'm trying to put back some very good quality scans in the Arcade sections that have been, in my opinion, put in a worse state than what they were originally. Mostly there has been over-killing with painting so that the background color is monochromatic (single hue) and making the colors "pinkish" and very strong/unnatural were some red turns into more pink than it should be for example - most of these kind of edits have been uploaded in PNG format. But less talk more images: On the left the clearly edited one, and on the right the original scan (both from the same source) Issues: overbrightness, too heavy on the colors, upper background is missing the dots that are supposed to be there and doing that paint-job has caused the text to partially vanish. In detail, click the images to open them in full size: Same here, while trying to "clean" the grey texture the text takes a hit: And here's an example for Donkey Kong, where the green gradient (going from slightly darker/lighter) has been wiped out completely and the black edges are blocky instead of smooth: This is also a request to the developers to please add more image types so we can have fan-made edits/reconstructions for those who hate to have any scratches and prefer extra-clean looking/uniform images and for us who prefer to keep high quality scanned images as much as untouched/authentic as possible with only minimum changes that are mostly unseen (like cropping if the scanned image has background not belonging to the image/centering etc.). I've discussed about my opinion earlier here. By the way, the person who made those uploads in the Amiga section changed his behavior to a more respectful approach keeping it to the rules - thank you!: EDIT: Found an excellent example of that over-bright/over-colorized issue: Here the logo just doesn't stand out like it does on the original scan. The skin is way too red/not natural and so is the basketball. I'm afraid there are hundreds of Arcade scans that have been overwritten with these kind of edits... if anyone would like to help re-uploading the original scans, you can find most of them here: https://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=archive&db=videodb
  7. And related to that (room for everyone) for some reason some people overwrite even totally different image types just because they seem to want "their" work as the default image and "everyone wants what they have spent hours editing since they look perfect" is the usual defense for that. Like those many big-sized NES/SNES "AI enhanced" (ie. waifu2x) reconstructions or monochromatic paint-jobs, overwriting good quality authentic scans to be gone forever - I'm not OK with that behavior (I'm totally OK with people making them, but not how they upload them), which is also against database rules if you use the incorrect image tag and worst: removing the option from the Launchbox user to choose from different images like Box - Front / Reconstructed / Fan -Art etc.. I've had to partially stop updating media/metadata on front covers altogether just to protect what I have in my local database.
  8. First of all, Happy New Year! I've recently seen multiple claims that are debatable in the Commodore C64 section - and since this one is about Masters of the Universe, I couldn't keep silent about it 😎: Yes, the pixel size is bigger and smaller in file size on the image that is replacing the previous. But that's where the "good news" ends. If you open both pictures in full-size (either opening them in their own tab and pressing the + button to get them full-sized or downloading them separately and looking them at actual pixel size): It's clear that the "smaller" one is much sharper and has more details and more vibrant colours. The other one has just been made bigger from it's original resolution and losing quality in the process - I don't know if someone is making those bigger in purpose for them to have them replace the other ones (a bit egoistical if that would be the case): (you can click this image I've put together with the same resolution, should open in full-size automatically) I'm not the author of either of these, but I do like the database to have high quality images instead of just bigger sized images. I think the smaller one is more realistic and uses a very nice plastic cassette tape template, perhaps using a bit too much of the light reflection effect, but it's the most authentic in my taste. But do open both images in full-size to see my point about image quality. And one other note: Please do not rely on just one source of information when changing the metadata in the database. Too many times have I seen mistakes from Moby Games been transferred in this database just because it's the only source used. In many cases the developer of different ports is missing or wrong. as I've said before it's best to use in parallel websites that are platform specific (ie. https://segaretro.org/, http://hol.abime.net/, https://www.lemonamiga.com/, http://www.atarimania.com/, https://cpcrulez.fr/ etc.).
  9. Hasn't that superscript rule/issue been obsolete for quite a long time? Just tested the soon-to-be-changed 1080° Avalanche and had absolutely no issues scraping and getting the metadata & media from the Launchbox database.
  10. @Agent47 is right and those are mostly models that have games playable on almost any version. Wishing and contributing are two different things, you should make a ticket using the help/support - request a feature menu. FM-7, already in the database: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/platforms/games/186 PC-98, already in the database: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/platforms/games/193 PC-88, already in the database: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/platforms/games/192 Atari 8-bit, already in the database: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/platforms/games/102 IBM PC, already in the database as MS-DOS, Windows and Windows 3.x If you want to make a huge list of different models in your platform list, then I'd suggest making a playlist out of the main database entries. But that might make Launchbox/BigBox slower than intended. Note! There are a lot of platforms that actually are missing. I'd recommend giving your vote for the ticket I've opened if you really want missing platforms (and why not reply and add more that I haven't listed) to be added to the database, thank you: https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/6461/adding-missing-platforms-to-the-games As I've said before I would be willing to contribute content to those missing platforms I've listed - not just hoping to get them added. (like I've done for quite a lot of platforms, especially Japanese ones, with over a few thousand missing games added, 243644 submitted changes in total)
  11. I'm afraid this is quite an old bug in the database system: I've simply just resubmitted deletion requests. Sometimes works quite fast or takes multiple tries.
  12. I think for PC-8001 we already have PC-8801 in the database and it's backwards compatible (one of the main selling points it had at the time). Making a playlist from the PC-88 metadata for PC-8001 should work fine - maybe some packshots & screenshots might need to be changed though. But for PC-6001, which I've requested before - that would be a very nice addition. I have around 80 entries with almost full metadata and covers, screenshots etc. I could contribute as I've said before. For whoever is now in charge of the database and somehow managed to recently add PS5 as a new platform, here's what you need for some default information on PC-6001: Metadata for (Platform) "Details" Title: NEC PC-6001 Release date: 1981 (November) Manufacturer: NEC CPU: PD 780C-1 (Z80 clone) Memory: 16 KB (PC-6001) 64 KB (PC-6001mkII) Graphics: 15 colors max. Sound: Speaker built-in, sound generator (3 voices, 8 octaves) Display: 64 x 48, 128 x192, 160 x 200, 256 x 192, 320 x 200 (15 colors), 640 x 200 (4 colors) Media: Cartridge slot, floppy disk interface And in the tab "Notes": The NEC PC-6000 is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced in November 1981 by NEC Home Electronics. There are several models in this series, such as the PC-6001, the PC-6001 MK2 and the PC-6001 MK2 SR. New Nippon Electric started developing a low-cost home computer, and it became the PC-6001. At the same time, the Electronic Devices Group developed the PC-8801 for home and business, and the Information Processing Group developed the PC-9801 for business market. In 1983, New Nippon Electric changed its name to NEC Home Electronics. NEC Home Electronics discontinued development of the PC-6000 series, the PC-6600 series, and the PC-8000 series. These lines were merged to the PC-8800 series." Tab "Parents": tick Computers And here's the clear logo for the platform series: and I think if you want to have a PC-6601 platform, then using a playlist would be the way to go, since it's basically just a PC-6001 MK2 model with a 3.5" floppy disk drive. Other missing platform entries with very good or even excellent emulation support: Thomson MO5/TO7 (lots of French publishers here like Infogrames, Ubisoft, Coktel Vision, Loriciels, Microids etc. and exclusive titles) BBC Bridge Companion (MAME) Bandai Supervision 8000 (MAME) Casio PV-2000 (MAME) Memorex VIS (MAME) Nichibutsu My Vision (MAME) V.Tech V.Smile (MAME) - very good emulation and a lot of licensed games for kids. Other missing platform entries with good metadata/images available but no/poor emulation support: Bandai-RX78 Apple Bandai Pippin (could work with MAC emulation) Bandai Playdia Bandai Design Master Denshi Mangajuku Leapfrog Leapster Tiger Gizmondo So my point is, if PS5 could be added, when why not these - especially for the emulated ones, since one of Launchbox's main points is launching emulators? We've got enough material for good contributions. Just open the door please.
  13. Yeah, it's actually quite clear in the rules and there's no regional date categories yet (just checked, see screencap below): And noob or no noob there's absolutely no point in contributing if the person has an agenda of their own and wants it to look the way they want it even if it would be against the database rules. Everyone have their own preferences and taste, that's one of the reasons there is a list of rules on the first page so we have proper guidelines and no solo "I think this should be like this" adventures on the database. I'd vote for a more restricted contribution system, where you'd at least have to tick some boxes that you've read and understood the rules and a efficient troll report system. Could be more interesting going back to moderating after seeing so (too) much back and forth cases. But to be honest I'd be more interested to contribute for systems STILL missing on the database that are already very well emulated - surprisingly PS5 was recently added to the database platform list "skipping the line" over some older systems that can be emulated. disappointing... A game's release date must require at least a release year. If the game has documentation for the release day and month then please provide. Older games may not have accurate data on release dates. In case of no year, leave blank until that information can be found. The release date should be the first date the game was released on. Regional Date categories are going to be implemented, which will then require each game to have the proper date for the proper region.
  14. Mame works pretty well with X1. Cassette tapes as well: I'm using two instances of Mame (not Retroarch) on Launchbox, one for cassette tapes and the other with the rest without any specific (autoboot) command line.
  15. The only way to get this completely fixed at the moment is to remove that extra space from the game entry on the online database (the images are saved based on the game's name). When the name is correct, then the media files will stick with the game and won't be "disconnected" after a metadata update. Unless the developers come with a easier solution that tackles these "empty space typos" automatically @faeran? Maybe someone has already submitted the fix, but to make sure I've just submitted the removal of that empty space from the game you mentioned: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/108676 the moderation queue is longish at the moment so you might only see the fix within 12-48 hrs.
  16. I don't know if this related but I had some media files "disconnected" from their game entries when the default game name had an extra space after the name on the online database, especially with CPC and some with ZX Spectrum. How it happened: when I "download metadata and media" just for the metadata, without selecting images - it then "lost" the connection of images that had that naming error since the latest versions(?) of Launchbox will automatically remove those empty spaces (I assume) from the end of names in your local database. This is what I've concluded with my troubleshooting. I saw in my images folder cases like "gamename -01.jpg" instead of "gamename-01.jpg" and that resulted in the "images gone" scenario with those games with extra space in the end. The images have to be named the same to be connected to their games, even some extra space will make a difference. A couple weeks ago I did go and submit those fixes in the actual online database (removing that empty space after the default name) and after doing a new metadata update with all images - no more issues . Maybe you have games that still have that empty space after the title name on the database (the extra space can only be seen when editing the game's default name on the online database). Can you give us any specific example of game entries? And also see in your image folder of those missing images that they don't have an empty space between the name and -01.png/jpg etc.? Or maybe your case is totally unrelated.
  17. You can contact @Jason Carr and submit him those screenshots - he can ban the trolls and send them back to their caves. Thanks for keeping the metadata a troll-free zone! 👍 Unfortunately and perhaps because of the weather or what's available to eat, these trolls surface time to time to the world of humans. The Internet is a hunting ground for those pathetic cases I'm afraid. We will never get rid of them, but you can report to Jason directly to stop them trying to mess with the database/and fill the moderation queue. I doubt they understand that their actions can be traced in most cases. I do think some of them think this is "funny" activity, hopefully one day they will mature.
  18. A kind reminder to anyone uploading clear logos in the database that have empty space around them: please always remove all of the empty space around the logos (in photoshop for example just CTRL + mouse select the logo layer with your mouse and then crop). If there is empty space this will result in: - the logo looking much smaller than what it should in Launchbox/BigBox (especially BB) - placing the logo will become quite challenging if you want it on top/bottom/right/left/center if there is empty space in that direction - probably affecting Theme Makers here. Many times, when taking logos from official sources, like publisher's sites, the logos tend to have empty space around them, most likely because they were meant to be placed in their website on a certain spot etc. or have a so called brand "safety zone" so no other elements comes close to their logos.
  19. On my part I was quite the gaming mag subscriber back in the 90's ? I actually have a lot of custom-made "platforms" for Magazines. Like Commodore 64 Mags, Commodore Amiga Mags. Nintendo Power, PlayStation Official etc. Most of them have the actual Magazine readable as a "Manual" and if it has a coverdisk/tape/cd demo it's also playable as a "game" and multiple disc entries are added as alternative apps. I've chosen to use "Flyer Front" for Magazine covers, since that's what they physically are (like the flyers on the Arcade section) and if there's a disc (ie. Amiga coverdisk) then simply "disc - front" for that. But sometimes, especially on the C64 side there are covertapes, for those I choose "box-front" instead of cart (cassette) IF it has a sleeve in the plastic casing, simply because it's the equivalent of a full game case. If there's only a cassette image (without the plastic box) then I choose "cart -front". You can then choose what kind of image you want to display first in the image priority settings. To be honest I don't really mind how they are tagged on the database as long as it's consistent and there's no destructive behaviour. If anyone's interested here's what those looks like in BigBox - I've got clear logos, background, "platform" videos on all of them and most screenshots for the demos - it's crazy what you can customize with BigBox/LB: Commodore Mags Amiga magz PS mags Nintendo Power Great fun!
  20. I'm glad I haven't been moderating lately ? I think the keyword here is consistency. Whatever solution you use in the end, it's good to know that Launchbox in most cases will and depending on your region priorities: A) only scrape the images that have the region tag and will ignore the ones that do not, especially if the game has a region ID (in the image type in question, like screenshots) . or B) scrape all images if none of them have a region tag (in the image type in question, like screenshots) . So the problem is that in a game entry there cannot be a mix of some image types with region tags and some without, like screenshots. It has to be one or the other for all images from the image type in question to make this work as it should. So whoever decides to put region tags on Japanese only screenshots for example, should add the tag to all of them or the rest will not scrape. Right now I would say the majority of single region screenshots are without a region tag. There are some exceptions like fan-translated screenshots/logos. In my opinion the most important thing here is that if someone wants to upload/change an image with a region tag they should check what is there already - too many times in the past I've seen for example Spanish logos being uploaded and the submitter hasn't bothered to add region tags to the English logo that was already there without a region tag and that has resulted in everyone getting the Spanish logo even if the game is by default in English/NA. And the secondary thing is, please decide what you want to do on the database so we can avoid one of the things that has made me more or less stopped moderating: going back and forth with the same things and doing it all over again... I agree that the forum is way better for discussion than the database comment field where only a limited amount of moderators can even see them.
  21. Looks like the reason is that someone added the first game as an alternative name to this entry of the "sequel": https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/142264 You are right, they are different games. The first is "I'm learning English" and the second is "I'm improving my English" - for anyone who knows French... I haven't been moderating lately and I can see the queue is about 300+ submissions. So hopefully someone has already submitted the deletion of that false alternative name and you could try to add it again.
  22. Please make your suggestion on bitbucket. Moderators are not having a field day otherwise... It's quite simple, if you think something you thought would have been included in this year's poll, vote for it on bitbucket first. For example this is what I just did: https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/6160/supplements-folder And for this year's poll, to stay on topic, I mainly would hope for even more performance* and the integrated Retroarch core updating sounds really nice, thank you! *this would also include more bug-testing or? 11.12 was the only disappointment/real frustration I've ever had with LB because of the image type-change deletion bug. Otherwise I have been really happy since day 1 with all the work being done on LB/BB
  23. Could be the duplication bug of the database. This happens sometimes when adding new entries. I've had it numerous of time for my entries as well. Looks like at least this has gone through: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/152931 Please check the rejection comments by hovering over the "i" symbol next to the red "rejected" text. You should see moderation comments there, impossible to know otherwise why your entry has been rejected.
  24. Might this solution work for you for games requiring DOS to Boot?
  25. Hi! Slightly off-topic, but controller type related: Any chance of getting this "Missing media files - Back cover" feature added in the near future? It's now more relevant with the new the controller feature, maybe some up-votes might help https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/5870/games-missing-media-option-for-boxes-back Back covers in many cases gives you information/confirmation of: - controller types - player number offline - player number online and other good information for filling missing metadata fields on the database. EDIT: Got some good feedback on bitbucket - the Audit tools has the Back covers in one column, so that does the job well enough to find the missing ones fast and easy. Happy with that!
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