LaunchBox Beta Testing

[Jason Carr]

2 years!? Holy crap lol. Maybe it's time we started a new thread. ;)

[SentaiBrad]

I told you that a while ago, but I hate saying the same thing 5 or 6 times cause I assume you had heard me before and now I am being an ass for just repeating it... but I am coming to learn that that's not the case. ;)

[DOS76]

(No I really don't care if there is a new thread meant more as a joke)

[DOS76]

I was just watching the 2nd developer session and if you are looking for alternative alphanumeric navigation I like the one that the start menu uses personally

[DOS76]

BigBox crashed again System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at (FiltersViewModel ) at BigBox.ViewModels.FiltersViewModel.b__108_0() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart() Then after restarting it I got this error while trying to switch between views. BigBox didn't crash though just displayed the error message. System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file 'E:\LaunchBox\LaunchBox.xml' because it is being used by another process. at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath) at System.IO.File.InternalCopy(String sourceFileName, String destFileName, Boolean overwrite, Boolean checkHost) at (c__DisplayClass81_0 ) at LaunchBox.Data.DataManager.c__DisplayClass81_0.b__0() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean preserveSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

[shinra358]

Jason: really hope you can get it perfectly. Wait.... I KNOW you can :) I've noticed a few things in bigbox. Firstly, thanks for using the confirm method of switching to things in the menu instead of using left and right on the dpad in Bigbox. Can't wait til you add that to launchbox as well when you get back to it :) First, launchbox seems to take a while when you first click on it to start it up. Secondly, shouldn't [exit] be outside of the password system in Bigbox? Currently, you can't get out of bigbox until you put the password in.

[SentaiBrad]

If you don't put a password then it shouldn't ask for one. I think it was included so that Kids can't exit and mess something up on the host machine.

[shinra358]

"If you don't put a password then it shouldn't ask for one." I know :P "I think it was included so that Kids can't exit and mess something up on the host machine." Ok. That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure. However, if a kid is playing this, said kid had to have already initiated it to start playing it. So kid already had access to the desktop to begin with. Also, it would be cool and tidy-er if in this location, there was one entry called simply 'view' that will take you to all of the view options. Just a little something to clean the menu up a little.

[DOS76]

That's the thing many people have Kodi with BigBox or just BigBox shelled for cabs and HTPC's and they don't want to let anyone access the desktop. They don't want to have a keyboard sitting out but just bring one out only when necessary to update or troubleshoot issues.

[SentaiBrad]

We could probably allow the user to select what is password protected ultimately, but the kid was just an example. Any one reason is valid, but the request was coming specifically from parents with kids and the PC was the parents PC and they we're allowed access, not that the kid knew what he or she was doing.

[DOS76]

Exit and switch to desktop should both be options still but then you would have to enter your password which would then directly exit afterwards instead of unlocking and then needing to scroll down to exit. Other changes could still be done through the unlocking method as is (or I could stop being so lazy and just punch in the 4 digit code.

[shinra358]

"We could probably allow the user to select what is password protected ultimately" Sounds good. Perhaps there should be a passcode entry at start where it will have 2 options. Unlock and Unlock As Guest. Unlock As Guest would require the password to unlock the program by with everything Rated a certain esrb rating hidden while the normal unlock would have everything available. Probably don't need to display 2 options. Probably could just say Enter Passcode to Unlock. And you can define which is adult mode or kid mode by which password is put in. A section that says Hide could be placed and there you would be able to check/uncheck menu items that you don't want to see (like mednaffe). This would be under but Unlock and Unlock As Guest but only the Unlock 'master' password would be able to open either. So when a kid goes to play, they would put in his password his parents gave to log in to the g rated version. And when an adult wants to play, they could go to Switch User to put in their password for 'adult mode'. Shrugs, just a thought. I'm just pondering here. Don't mind me lol.

[DOS76]

They all sound like good ideas

[SagaXIV]

Semi-related to beta question: What is current state of gameauto-extraction? Say I have a 7z that contains a single folder with 3 files... What will most likely happen, more specifically, I plan to use retroarch. Launchbox build is latest Beta. Thanks!

[SentaiBrad]

It depends, if it's a PS1 game with a cue sheet then it will load the cue sheet first as it has been tweaked to prefer that. We might need to tweak it some more to create a list of things to generally load first because otherwise it will generally load the first item in the archive. If it's a big deal before a fix can be implemented (if something is even broken), then depending on the console I would suggest looking up alternate methods of compression that have nothing to do with Archives.

[SagaXIV]

Ok, it is currently for Sega Saturn, and I believe they all have Cue Sheets. I will look further into once it games are imported. BTW, Thanks a lot Brad, always there for morning questions! I really appreciate it!

[SentaiBrad]

SagaXIV said Ok, it is currently for Sega Saturn, and I believe they all have Cue Sheets. I will look further into once it games are imported. BTW, Thanks a lot Brad, always there for morning questions! I really appreciate it!

Yea it should automatically work with cue sheets. Of course, no problem! I was up at 6:30 my time, I couldn't sleep. At least I slept through most of the night.

[Drybonz]

I got a beta update today, but no idea what the changes were. Jason, I would really like to be able to position my game details bar at the bottom of LB (mainly for use with vert screen). This would make the screen real estate so much more ideal for a vertical screen. If you can add this as an option would be appreciated.

[DOS76]

Just had LB give an error report which I closed without thinking but afterwards this is what I was working with.

[Jason Carr]

Thank you all. Just put out a new beta with the Hyperspin-like clear logo wheel view for platforms (as well as the new options for coverflow opacity and image quality, etc.). Going forward I'm going to take a break from the new views for a bit to focus on fixing bugs and downloading updated metadata in LaunchBox. There's still a million things that can be done yet with the views; we may or may not get back to them before the 6.0 release. I'm hoping to accelerate that release a bit just to get these new Big Box features out.