kurzih

I'm not totally opposed to the idea, but there is some stepping stones in the way. Which might be problematic for someone's collections, especially when updating metadata. To put it simply, in my opinion: An information field is to be filled with confirmed information. If there is nothing, then the field can be left empty. 1. Potential issue for example if someone puts "Unknown" (as temporary or final information ) in the Developer field. What happens when you want to update your metadata with the recommended settings in the hope that there is new fields/media available that you are still missing:Since the field is already occupied by "Unknown" I would think that launchbox will not be updated by a potential updated field entry if someone has found the actual developer and put it in the database. 2. In general what I would hope is that whenever we do changes and/or additions in the database is that we would not only think about our own local collection, but how it would affect everyone's collection. Putting things back and forth for example will most likely result in duplicate media files (thankfully we have the clean up function to tackle that). And the database exists because it's there to be used by the App - so thinking of how things would look in Launchbox and BigBox is good to think about. 3. We can always do changes that would only affect our own collection in the Launchbox App. For example it's quite fast and easy to Add "Unknown" Developer using the Audit function if you really, really want every field 100% filled with data. EDIT: Even faster, if you use the sort list function "Arrange by" and select "Developer", using Bulk edit takes just a few seconds. 4. I've seen also some fields that might not have been filled the way they are intended to be filled like ESRB rating. In cases like Japanese only consoles/computers the field is probably best left empty since "ERSB - Not Rated" is actually an Age Rating status given by the Publisher if for example it's not rated yet or the online functionality makes it not possible to rate. There seems to be many Japanese adult only games that have a "Not Rated" field activated, when actually the Japanese age rating counterpart does exist for them (most adult only games for example on the X68000, PC-98 games have a round "18" warning sticker on them). Even the instruction on the DB says that the Age rating should reflect what is on the Box:

This command line works on Mame at least for me for all the cartridges. Have you tried without -cass, -cart options: apfimag -skip_gameinfo (-skip_gameinfo is optional, I just like it simple and having extra clicks as little as possible)

Just wanted to make my voice heard: Lately, I've seen a few attempts while moderating that someone is trying to delete Video Game Console / Handheld Console entries from the database that have already been accepted, because they are not "Game" enough. These are not my entries, but somebody did use their time to get them in the Database and they've been there for quite a long time and have been initially accepted. Entries like the Nintendo DS Browser for Nintendo DS or Cooking games, promo discs, cheating software etc. My opinion is that the reason "This is a Games Database, these should not be here" is not a good reason to reduce the amount of entries we have in the Launchbox Database, especially if they have been approved and been there for a long time. Here's a simple guideline suggestion and why I think so: if a software product was made by a gaming company for a gaming console (not talking about computers here) it's place is deserved in the DB and even more if it's part of a ROM collection - it can actually be used in a Emulator or the original TV console/handheld console - it's part of that said console's gaming history. I don't see the harm of them been there. Many would like their full collection ID'd in the DB. I personally would hope that instead of removing (and searching for) entries that are a bit less gaming related, we would use our time adding missing game entries. There are still thousands of game entries that would be very welcomed to the database. EDIT: Just remembered that a few weeks ago I did "Save" someone's entry that was deleted with that "not a game" reasoning and I uploaded it as a new entry with a description and naming that would protect it (so far, so good): https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/134238 (Game Boy Camera's Included games) It was deleted because it was "Not a game". Actually that product is bundled with a game cartridge with games made by Nintendo in it + the software that uses the Camera. This is just an example and one more reason of why I believe these kind of entries should be left in the database.

This is an old(ish) issue/(bug?), that remains the be fixed - there are multiple similar cases: If an accepted deletion still remains in the DB, then it's no use requesting another deletion, since you've done all that you can at that point. I'm afraid it doesn't make a difference trying multiple times to delete it from the DB. I suggest contacting the devs/leaving a bug report. I guess it's here, maybe a forum moderator could correct it if I'm wrong about the process: https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues?status=new&status=open

Keep up the good work @Z3R0B4NG, really agree on you on many points! Thank you Personally I like high-quality authentic artwork that look really nice using BigBox (texts readable etc.), those new authentic 3D Boxes on the SNES look absolutely fantastic! I also think there's room for both authentic and fanmade reconstructions/artwork as long as we choose when uploading the most logical image type for them and avoid replacing authentic artwork to fanart/reconstructions or vice-versa. That would also save moderation time if there's no need to change image types. Physical (like cartridges, discs etc.) objects are always a challenge and it's sometimes really hard to find a good quality original source. I welcome every effort. Lately I've been mostly adding new games (Japanese games too! PC98/PC88/FM Towns etc. etc. :P) and also making minimal edits on those game additions like cropping and removing background from discs and converting them to PNG. I think I'll take a break now phew.. Don't mind someone else taking over though! One of Launchbox's best features is that there can be something for everyone. For example some like images that fit one size and others like their images with scratches and bruises as long as they're as authentic as possible.

It's sometimes marked on the filename if it needs an OS to boot depending on what collection the files are from. I use the boot OS alternative on all files by default, but if there are some that don't work that way I then use the "Custom Command Line Parameter" in the Launchbox Emulation tab for them. But most have been working with booting the OS first. For exiting I use the focus button on MAME (Scroll Lock by default) to get "back" the full keyboard control to the host computer instead of the emulated one Then I can normally just press ESC to quit. Or you can also then access the MAME menu (TAB) to switch discs (File Manager). To get the keyboard focus back to the emulated computer just press the Scroll Lock key again.

For Apple IIGS did you try the following without "use file name only without extension" ticked? apple2gs -skip_gameinfo -flop3 And for games needing the OS to boot: apple2gs -skip_gameinfo -flop3 "PATH TO System 6.0.1 DISK IMAGE" -flop4 More on that here: and here:

There are plenty of options when downloading box art from Launchbox, like Fan-Art / Reconstructed. You can choose what you like best and if there's not the type you're looking for, then you can either submit or request one (in the forum's media sections there are a lot of wizards doing magical stuff with game media artwork). By the way, there still are physical (launch) releases for PC/Windows, even if very limited. Not long ago for example, Terminator Resistance: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/images/122696.

In the end this is a matter of taste. But those XBRZ/XBR filters make the games look really apart - almost like a beautiful remaster (which I didn't reject by the way). I'm sure some would choose the XBRZ version and others the type which I suggested. Personally I'm really fine with just using Fullscreen and Bilinear if available and using some scanlines if needed to get that groovy nostalgia from the 80's-90's. Some filters work well with some platforms and others don't. It's really cool to try out with Retroarch's shaders* for example to find what suits you best or WinUAE etc. to just try to get the view as close as you had decades ago with your original machine. And the Mini consoles are a good example of how 8bit/16bit games have been put to look in 720p HDMI output. Though some (more than the TV mode) filters could have been added Just please understand that there are many views on the matter and all of them are no more wrong or right than the others. Even nowadays some cool Indy games like to have their graphics pixelized á la 8-bit/16bit era. And they works fine on 4k etc. *EDIT: also not forgetting about the fantastic work of @Mr. RetroLust

Hi! Just a quick comment from my part. As I said before in a different discussion, I'm really for uploading new screenshots, especially when there are missing ones. I don't mind if they are upscaled - I personally prefer hi-res images anyway, especially for Box Art (I have been painfully trying to find good ones for new games I've added for example to PC-98/PC-88 etc. and Japanese games for different consoles and also replacing ones that are really low-res). I would just HOPE that screenshots are uploaded without any shaders/filters/special effects. Because they will look quite different from what they used to be. I just uploaded an example after I saw one case (didn't reject it though, just wanted to give an alternative to the uploader): The one that was recently uploaded by someone for the Game Boy Advance Game "Boboboubo Boubobo: Majide!!? Shinken Shoubu": The version I have suggested, I manually upscaled the PNG file to the same size as the upper one (PNG's are great since they are losseless): Sure, my version looks pixelized, but so it should - GBA didn't smooth the graphics like that. But please keep uploading those missing screenshots, this is just my opinion!!

This works for me on most CD based games with the FM Towns Marty console: fmtmarty -skip_gameinfo -cdrm Then you also need to check that CHD/disk/bios path(s) are present and correct in your settings (ie. mame.ini) and you have all the files needed.

Just tried some OpenBOR games. I don't really like making multiple exe to launch games - want to keep things as simple and as automated as possible. I've done a quick & simple script if anyone's interested, until OpenBOR gets an update that will make this obsolete: WARNING! This script will empty the default OpenBOR\Paks\ Directory each time it is run (and copy the PAK file you run from launchbox so there will always be just one PAK there). So you need to have all of your PAK files somewhere else to be copied from. Think the "OpenBOR\Paks\ " as a temporary directory from now on. Make the script (with any text etc editor): OPENBORSTART.BAT (put it in the same directory where you have the OpenBOR.exe - and make sure you don't have any Paks in the "temporary" Paks Directory - if you do, move them somewhere else to be imported by Launchbox): ################## @echo off del E:\Emulators\LaunchBox\Emulators\OpenBOR\Paks\* /Q copy %1 E:\Emulators\LaunchBox\Emulators\OpenBOR\Paks\ OpenBOR.exe exit ################## (change the path to the ones you use to make the script find the files/directories) Things to do in Launchbox: 1. Make the default emulator for OpenBOR point to the "OPENBORSTART.BAT" script and tick "hide console: (and of course in "Associated Platforms" should have "OpenBOR" and default emulator ticked.) 2. Import the PAK-files as usual to launchbox, they will be identified (including their path) in the script with the "%1" mark. 3. When executing a OpenBOR game from Launchbox the script will first empty the default "temporary" OpenBOR/Paks folder and copy the file you've imported to launchbox and start it automatically, since it is the only one present in the folder. Hope you might find this useful!

This is not a guideline, but rather what I would recommend myself: File Size: There is a limit in size. You can't upload files too big, the system will give you an error when trying to do so or if the file format is wrong. File Quantity: That Limit is probably just common sense. 2-6 Gameplay screenshots sounds like a good number to me - I usually just upload the title screenshot and 1-2 gameplay images, especially if one screenshot can be 5Mb. I don't think many would want to see their HD filled up too quickly I wouldn't add more screenshot images where there are screenshot images already. But you can always try to submit a replacement to existing ones if you have for example a higher quality one, or with the correct aspect ratio expected for the platform. Or replace one that has a watermark (which is against the database rules). Thank you for wanting to contribute! It would be great having more media especially for PC games, looking forward to it

Looks like the same as I wrote about in my "random bug: duplicate entries in certain conditions?" topic a while back. Your links are: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/131705 and https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/131706 Totally same behavior: those are made one after the other. I suspected that on my part I had either timed out the system if that is even possible (I check a lot and get as many pictures I can, remove backgrounds on discs etc. while I'm submitting) or a couple of times had to go back with my browser to the "add new game" page because I clicked another page by accident. I suspect those "tandem entries" are seeing by the system as one entry by a submitting user but are made twice in the system, one with images and texts and one with just texts (or part of the texts). They don't seem to get deleted even if approved, maybe because they are "linked" or seen as "one" with the entry that was approved (in your case 131705 seems to be "married" with 131706). If it would help I could search for similar entries from my cases, they are still there. Like the one in my topic. Well it's a mystery to me, but I've seen this pattern quite a few times. Maybe someone has a better analyze of this case

The answer is in the rules: "The release date should be the first date the game was released on." And since the NES platform in the LB database includes Famicom games as well ("same console", different region), the date is correct. I can only think of having "Alt release date + region" as a new option to change that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_(video_game): Famicom/NES: JP: July 15, 1983 NA: June 1986 EU: October 15, 1986

Here he/she goes again:

Sounds very much like the same person(s) I reported a few weeks back. Jason took care of it, but I guess they seem to find ways back I'm afraid. I'm sure most DB moderators just rejected those, since they are quite obvious - I only saw one case an hour ago and rejected it too. It is annoying and a waste of time in the other hand. The database is a very important part of what makes the Launchbox/BigBox experience so great. And it's been polished everyday.

Did you check the option with Mame using autoboot? That might be a solution/alternative. vg5k -skip_gameinfo -autoboot_command "cload\n" -autoboot_delay 3 -cass

Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories, released in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters III: Tri-Holy God Advent in 2000. (International version in 2003). Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II: Dark duel Stories: released on July 8, 1999 in Japan; it was never released internationally. The first international version looks to me to be the the 3rd game that came in Japan. Reminds me of Final Fantasy numbers etc. Just uploaded the cover/back cover for the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories (aka Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters III in Japan) Edit: also submitted to remove the wrong alt name (Monsters III) from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters II

Looks like two separate games: One from 1998 and the second from 2000. Also the subtitle on the title screenshot for Karamuchou wa Oosawagi! Okawari!. Okawari! = Seconds! (indicating a sequel or "definitive" edition). NP = Nintendo Power, more info on that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Power_(cartridge). Actually Karamuchou wa Oosawagi! Okawari! (カラムー町は大さわぎ！おかわりっ!) looks like it was released via NP only, not as a cartridge, thus the fan art - front box.

On my part I only managed to get into Integer basic mode without pressing anything like this: apple2e -skip_gameinfo -autoboot_command "INT\n" -autoboot_delay 12 -flop1 "PATH TO IMAGE DISK dos33mst.dsk" -cass Notes: this partial solution works with the Apple II/e model and I loaded "Apple DOS 3.3 BASICS (1980)" disk to do that. Main issue (same as yours): the cassette does not start itself when writing "LOAD" after the "INT" which is executed fine with autoboot. The game I got to work was the cassette game bomber1.zip. But I needed to manually start the tape and then wrote "LOAD", waited, and then wrote "RUN" to finally get the game running. Hopefully this might give a clue to a solution where everything is automated, but I doubt we might find one since cassette loading times differ and we need that "run" command after the program has been loaded.

Let's submit them, we have all the info and media we need from the Arcade section, right? I'll start doing it with Sega Model 1 as I just rejected a move from Star Wars Arcade => Sega Model 1. Might as well do the new entry myself. Of course if there would be a "copy to platform: X" or other way to keep the original entry where it is, but have it copied to another platform. that would make things a lot faster. Edit: and in the process we might fill some gaps in the metadata and find more images - like the arcade cabinet etc.

Hi @fordgt68 Just wanted to personally thank you for your contribution! C64 was my first computer, really appreciate your effort! It looks you're not far away from getting everything done with C64, compared to what's behind you already. I've actually started to make my own "platform" list for Commodore 64 Demos and I already made a Launchbox "platform" list of a few thousand Commodore Amiga demos & Intros, with screenshots, logos, backgrounds etcs. Too bad we can't use them directly in the Database, but maybe I could share those if someone finds them interesting.

I agree with a lot of suggestion here! For me I would be already happy for just a solution for this case @Jason Carr: Ideally games with identical names in the same platform (but are not the same game) could all be found from the database and all images would not get mixed up <= this is the biggest issue, media getting mixed up (since after downloaded, the images take their name from the default title name in our images folders). And not forgetting about EmuMovies manuals and videos, where it gets even more complicated if there are titles named the same. So far this has been a workaround fixing it within the database: "Proper title name (Publisher)" or if not possible "Proper title name (Year)" + ALT names as "Proper title name" and all variations to make it possible for the search function to find it. So this would name the title with a unique name, but still keeping the proper name it should have according to the database rules. Might be ugly looking, but at least it works for now. Here's a good example of the problem, as long as no one has fixed it yet, until you read this: 1. Choose the Commodore 64 platform and press "Add" and search for: "Battleship" in Launchbox App 2. It should give only one result: Battleship (1/1/1988) ID: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88189 - not the most well known battleship game for C64 I might add. In reality there are this amount of games called Battleship for Commodore 64 in the database, but only one can be found in the app, because they all have the same main name: https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88185 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88186 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88187 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88188 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/88189 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/113365 https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/details/32326 (this is the one I would have wanted to add, from Elite/Epyx etc.) Adding unique names (as the workaround above) to those, like "Battleship (Dynastar)" and as alt name "Battleship", would make the app find that entry when searching for "Battleship", and also download images/media that will not get mixed with the other titles called battleship. If a more technical/program based solution is found with .dats/hashes or something else and we could do without that "Game name (Publisher)" solution, that would be superb! Though I don't really mind having titles named like that as long as they are found in the app and the images are correctly united with their games. Emumovies videos & manuals are another topic since they tend to behave even more problematically with titles named the same. The workaround so far for that is quite manual and on the user's side (making a copy of one video and downloading again for the other title(s) and then renaming the copy back to the one that was replaced/overwritten.. something like that :D). EDIT: updated entry to reflect the latest development: The Main Default name still needs to be unique on the same platform, but the Alternative name cannot be identical anymore/cannot be used as it was since it will not show up if there is multiple identical alternative names.