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Import from Gamebase?


Jason Carr

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Hi there - I've been a big user of Gamebase for years now. Its the main staple front-end for all of the really old and obscure retro systems. And I know there are tons of people out there with huge Gamebase collections. But the front-end is really looking its age now. I'm just wondering if there is any possibility of exporting all the database entries, game art, screenshots and extras into Launchbox?
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What I'd ultimately like to see is just to *include* the metadata for most systems with LaunchBox, so that it automatically recognizes anything you can throw at it and automatically has the metadata for it locally. We're a ways off from that, but that's the direction I'd ultimately like to take. Of course we can't really include images that way, though.
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Just quickly thinking without much thought (if that makes sense), but here goes... What if a local database could be created for each Console/Computer system, complete with game metadata, manuals, videos, and image files. The database could then be downloaded for each console/computer as a separate download from LaunchBox (using torrent files). A user then could download a complete database for each system the user has as needed. The user could then place the download somewhere within the Launchbox file structure, or through an import option. I'd be willing to assist in any way I could...
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We actually do have a Local Database that ships with LaunchBox currently, but it is based on TheGamesDB which we all know is incomplete. Their license allows us to be able to take and redistribute the information there, which is why we chose to do this. A torrent is a good idea actually. We have been debating on our own database and if we had that running we could distribute images through a torrent. Have the server be a base seeder with other users helping to fill in the gaps. Only problem is that most users wont use this, and not everyone has a complete collection. So then why give someone an extra potentially large file for a small cross section of games? So the optimal method would be a regular https connection, or even FTP connection authored through LaunchBox. We couldn't author a P2P connection through LaunchBox either because that would be a breach of trust. Microsoft did this with Windows 10 updates and a lot of users didn't like it and you had to opt out instead of opt in. They of course also didn't tell you it was there. If we did it, it would be opt in but also still shady to a lot of people. Authoring potentially hundreds of connections to thousands of people can be a big security hole The other thing to note is we do have more scrapers on the way. MobyGames and GiantBomb have A LOT of games. Between everything we'll have once these two are implemented Jason and I are certain that most games will be covered. Anything left uncovered will be very niche or from a lesser known and lesser sought system like a Fairchild F or something.
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FastFeet, I share that passion. I would love for "perfect" metadata and images collections to be available for integration into LaunchBox/Big Box. If we can find a perfect set of data for a particular platform, then I can actually integrate it straight into LaunchBox eventually. Going forward, ideally I'd like to revamp the metadata engine to by default use a collection of the best metadata available for a platform that comes with LaunchBox, and then only use the scrapers as a secondary option. I know the Hyperspin metadata would probably be a good starting point for this, but it is fairly incomplete from what I can tell (it only contains NA region stuff for the most part, from what I can tell). That said, if anyone wants to put together a perfect list of metadata for any particular platform, I can work on getting that data directly integrated into LaunchBox. We could just use Excel or similar.
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