Some simple requests for an otherwise perfect front-end

[Riffman81]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here on the forums, but some of you may already know me as your friendly neighborhood moderator over at EmuMovies. After spending the last month or so with LB, I have to say, this front-end is very user friendly and a breeze to setup and get going. I'm currently setting up LB on my new gaming PC and it's been a real pleasure in terms of set up. I can actually spend more time playing and less time tweaking and configuring my setup. I hope this is a trend that continues as new features are implemented. I like the fact that I've gone through my first update with LB and nothing got "broken" or had to be reconfigured. I have used HyperSpin with RocketLauncher for years and it always seems something gets lost in the shuffle or broken whenever a new update is released... it's become quite annoying. With that said, I have a few requests I'd like to see in future releases and I hope none of these have already been mentioned. I did spend some time browsing through the forums and I mentioned a few of them to Jason already the last time we spoke. However, I figured I'd post them here as well. As most of you know, EmuMovies hosts a very large library of content and we're adding new content all the time. I noticed LB doesn't have support for system intro videos. I think these would be a great addition, as well as adding folders for flyers/adverts, and cartridges. I'm using most of the artwork I have collected for my HyperSpin setup already but it would be nice to make full use of everything I have in terms of art and having the correct folder in LB to store it. Also, it would be nice to have a way to edit the layout of Big Box. I'm not talking "themes" like HyperSpin (Although having a way to use individual games themes would be nice as well) I'm simply talking about having a way to arrange the way the content that is displayed on the screen already... like if I wanted my video snaps to be displayed in the top left corner, or somewhere else on the screen. Being able to move things around so to speak. No need to get all fancy and go all out like HyperSpin does (and does it very well). The simplistic, clean look of LB is one of the things I like most! My next idea was to have a integrated .pdf (or other file types like .cbr) reader. This would be great for those of us who want to add Nintendo Power or other retro gaming mags to our setups. I realize LB will use the default app you have in windows for viewing these file types already, but having integrated support would be nice and I believe GameEX has something like that. And finally, .zip/.7z support for ROM files would be awesome! I know we can use RocketLauncher as a work around, but the thing LB has going for it is it's user-friendly setup! Bringing in another launcher for someone new to this hobby just complicates things more then it has to be so I think there should be something within LB for users who want to stay away from Rocketlauncher as sometimes it can be a fanatical program to use. I'm not knocking on RocketLauncher by any means, simply saying it's menu system and overflow of options can be a bit overwhelming for users just getting into emulation and want to just play games... not spend weeks with their hand on a mouse and keyboard configuring their front-end. Simple answer here is choice. It's always nice to have options, and RocketLauncher sure does have it's share. Others may want it for bezel support, etc. Retroarch is my go to emulator for most of the 8-Bit, 16-Bit era consoles and it's overlay options are quite nice so I see no point in bringing in RocketLauncher to use in my setup currently. However, I do realize Retroarch can't always do everything. So, that's about it from me. LB is a great frontend and I've really enjoyed using it and setting it up! I want to thank Jason again for getting in touch with me and answering my questions.

[SentaiBrad]

So the last one (zipped archives) has been talked about a lot. It is on the list, however I don't believe it to be priority. My personal opinion is that it is a waste, but I do conceit that others use it and like it. At the very least, I want it in so there is less of a need for RocketLauncher, I don't think that we need to add a second layer on top of everything. LaunchBox isn't inherently designed this way, but of course it can pretty much work with anything... that's the point of the ease of use. I've gone over that before though... so I'm not going to go in to it again. As far as the different types of media, we do grab everything as far as I can tell...? At least in terms of images. Where they are sorted, how they are used might not be so easily discernible but I was confident we got the most pertinent and then some. Of course you guys are evolving a lot, and we can easily miss something. Intro video's is new to me, but that would be an awesome feature for BigBox if the user elected to use it. There might need to be a button to say "download all", or even 1 by 1. Though if that conflicts with the 1GB a day limit (I assume it does) the 1 by 1 option might be best. Get the ones you want the most then work on the rest later. Theme options in BigBox is not a new idea, but the rearranging items is. However, I am unsure how much bloat something like that could cause, so I can see BigBox getting similar treatment like LB already does with some of it's look and spacing options. Of course, I could be wrong, but the idea does very much intrigue me. I never say never, but an integrated PDF or CBZ reader seems... redundant? We could easily advertise links for Foxit and ComicRack, but I am unsure if it would be worth the time to develop? I again could also be wrong in this, but since we do utilize what ever the user already has set-up why integrate it? The only case use I could easily see is BigBox and using it with a Controller... but that could easily get cumbersome then there is switching back and forth with a controller... yea. I am glad you are loving LaunchBox. He does put a lot of time in to this, and now so do I. It is what we love. The forums are great to discuss these things, but the BitBucket tracker is the best way to get features implemented and bugs fixed. At the top click "Send Feedback". That'll take you to the page. You can search for anything or add what ever you don't find. For example Archive and compression support has been requested and Is on BitBucket, so you can vote for it. I don't think Integrated PDF's or BigBox theme's are though. I do appreciate the time you put in to your post. It is amazing the fan's and user's we get. You also clearly know your way around, but if you need to we do have our YouTube channel with Tutorials and some Entertainment type stuff. You can get there by the link in my signature. If you have any more questions, PLEASE keep asking.

[Riffman81]

Thanks for the reply Brad! In terms of images, lets look at the Super Nintendo platform's image file structure as an example. I see the following: Back Banner Clear Logo Fanart Front ScreenShot Steam Banner I was saying that maybe a folder for Cartridge art, adverts, and flyers could be added. That way these items could be displayed within Big Box. I realize I can put cartridges in the banner or fanart folders as a work around, (I don't use fanart anyway) but I was just making a simple suggestion to add these in so they could be viewed in Big Box. I would also add a folder for title screen images as well for variety. I would also clarify these folder names a little better but that's just me being over picky and it probably doesn't help I'm OCD, lol But... My folder structure would look like the following: Adverts Banner Box Back Box Front Cartridge Fanart Flyers In-Game Screenshot Logo Steam Banner Title Screens We also have a large selection of old video adverts for various platforms. I think it would be a neat feature to be able to view these in Big Box per platform. These are old retro game commercials, mostly from the 80's and 90's and we have them for individual games as well, not just systems. As for the YouTube channel, I think I subscribed the day I installed LB, great work with the tutorials and info provided. Looking forward to seeing more content on there in the future. I kind of figured the file compression thing had already been mentioned due to the posts I found with people suggesting RocketLauncher. I will be sure to checkout the BitBucket page.

[DOS76]

I've suggested this in the past also and would still like to see carts and other things added as their own image categories.

[SentaiBrad]

Yea, I think we get some of the extra images but they don't go in their own folder. Being in their own folder would probably make sense. No reason not to get the images other than the 1GB daily limit. We get more tickets and e-mails then you would probably imagine... actually you probably could since you work at EmuMovies, about not getting all of the images or "LaunchBox is broken because of this EmuMovies error". Even if we handled that error better we'd still probably get a ton. Our average user is also probably not going to purchase an EmuMovies account regardless of if we think they should. That could be my only guess as to why they're not all downloaded globally. Same concern I had with the extra video. Thank you for the compliments on the channel. We both greatly appreciate it. We love that our hard work is being enjoyed. There is nothing better... except for maybe giving life.

[CriticalCid]

I highly agree with most of your suggestions. Some of them already have a ticket on BitBucket: BigBox Mode: Force fanart if screenshots as background is enabled Jason responded here that ultimately he wants to revamp the image system. Add support for automatic decompression of ROM zip / 7z / RAR files Add videos for platforms Big Box additional views Maybe not exactly what you want but it was the only thing I could find. But I really love the idea to rearrange the BigBox viewtype. With a possibility to resize the videobox I would even be able to use the HyperSpin Cinematic themes. Wow, this totally needs to happen! For PDF I didn’t find anything.

[Riffman81]

Thanks for providing the links, I voted on all of these. Yeah I agree, being able to use the HyperSpin Cinematic themes would be sweet! James Baker has done an amazing job creating that project and seems to be cranking new themes out almost daily. Certainly a project I've been watching for awhile and those themes look simply beautiful on my display. As for the PDF feature, I suppose one could just setup a program like CDisplay or something similar through adding a new emulator. With the correct command lines, you'd be able to launch it through the frontend. Not really a big deal so I probably wont submit a feature request ticket for it as Brad said, controlling a program like that outside of LB might be a hassle and isn't really worth it. I think I had to use a 3rd party app in order to control it with HyperSpin if I remember correctly. The idea of maybe having a miscellaneous or "other" image folder inside the image directory would be cool for things like viewing art or opening PDF files that may not have a specific category, but is somehow related to the selected platform or game/title. The no compression support for ROM files was almost a deal breaker for me using LB to be honest, as I have a very large collection and when you have multiple Disc based platforms to work with, and have disc image files that have multiple files inside, things tend to get a little messy. It's nice having all of those in a compressed format and helps keep your ROM sets clean and orderly all while saving quite a bit of space to add other content in the future. However, after getting to know LB and having several platforms setup in a matter of minutes really was a game changer for me in terms of minimal setup time. I was looking for something simple, but yet provided a nice looking menu system when browsing my game collection... something not too "busy". LB nailes this aspect beautifully.

[CriticalCid]

Maybe someone should create another ticket for the rearranging of BigBox elements because it's certainly a completely different approach than just new added default viewtypes. For everybody who doesn’t know the HyperSpin Cinematic themes: Normally HyperSpin themes are created in flash format and limited in what you can do with them. But the cinematic themes from James Baker are basically just normal videos and are a completely new level what can be done with themes in case of special effects, playing more than one gameplay video at a time, etc. With the option to resize the video screen they will work completely fine in BigBox without any integration for flash theme support or something like that. But obviously we need support for system videos at first. Here you can check James’ themes out: Website: https://sites.google.com/site/hyperspincinematic/home YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxNgRrtLSth94xOHNUHqUfw

[Riffman81]

Created the request and it can be found via the link below. Arranging of Big Box Elements

[duhmez]

Riffman81 said And finally, .zip/.7z support for ROM files would be awesome!

I have a hot tip for this. You don't need zip suport at all. Windows has built in file compression. Right click your roms folder>advanced>compress. This will compress them in a way that apps will not know they are compressed, all seamless. ANy new files put into a compressed folder will also be compressed. You cantell it worked by checking file properties, it will say file size 3MB, size on disk, 2.1MB.

[CADScott]

That is actually a very good idea, will have to experiment with NTFS file compression, I had forgotten about that completely! It will definitely help with ROMs that cannot be compressed due to the emulator not supporting zipped files. The compression that is in windows is no where near as aggressive as 7Zip's compression, so if you can compress the Roms and play directly, like in Retroarch, this is a better option in terms of space saving.

[Riffman81]

duhmez said

Riffman81 said And finally, .zip/.7z support for ROM files would be awesome!

I have a hot tip for this. You don't need zip suport at all. Windows has built in file compression. Right click your roms folder>advanced>compress. This will compress them in a way that apps will not know they are compressed, all seamless. ANy new files put into a compressed folder will also be compressed. You cantell it worked by checking file properties, it will say file size 3MB, size on disk, 2.1MB.

Thanks! Not a bad idea and I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I guess I'm so used to using RocketLauncher and having everything in .zip format.

[SentaiBrad]

I am still inclined to say that there may be some weird quirks with this method until further testing reports.

[duhmez]

Riffman81 said

duhmez said

Riffman81 said And finally, .zip/.7z support for ROM files would be awesome!

I have a hot tip for this. You don't need zip suport at all. Windows has built in file compression. Right click your roms folder>advanced>compress. This will compress them in a way that apps will not know they are compressed, all seamless. ANy new files put into a compressed folder will also be compressed. You cantell it worked by checking file properties, it will say file size 3MB, size on disk, 2.1MB.

Thanks! Not a bad idea and I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I guess I'm so used to using RocketLauncher and having everything in .zip format.

It works like a charm! Also what I have done to save tons of space and time, I have a huge collection of Wii backup isos, and I store them using windows compression so they are convenient to be in native format but I saved hundreds of gigabytes of file size all the same. In other words, it can save a tone of space for ISOS where the emulator needs a proper iso, tg16, sega cd etc, if the emu needs raw iso you can save TONS of space.

[SentaiBrad]

My Wii is using wbfs compressed games personally, im not going to double compress them. I'm not a giant fan of compressing the data unless it is a CSO or a special made container like WBFS. I can't imagine that anything else is optimized to stream the data from the rom to the emulator. Small and easy systems are honestly probably no problem, but the space saved is going to be super minimal. Anything of note where size can be saved, if any, is going to potentially have problems playing. I know, for example, that there is a handful of games that can't be put in to a CSO for this exact reason. Though if it is working im glad. Just know that you might run in to some issues with games, and if you do remember that you compressed it and that this could be causing the issues. Uncompressing it may not fix it either.

[duhmez]

SentaiBrad said My Wii is using wbfs compressed games personally, im not going to double compress them. I'm not a giant fan of compressing the data unless it is a CSO or a special made container like WBFS. I can't imagine that anything else is optimized to stream the data from the rom to the emulator. Small and easy systems are honestly probably no problem, but the space saved is going to be super minimal. Anything of note where size can be saved, if any, is going to potentially have problems playing. I know, for example, that there is a handful of games that can't be put in to a CSO for this exact reason. Though if it is working im glad. Just know that you might run in to some issues with games, and if you do remember that you compressed it and that this could be causing the issues. Uncompressing it may not fix it either.

I would agree with you and not comresss them either. I am actually using a WBFS file format on my hard drive, and my backup of isos are all raw (4.5 GB each) so I compressed them using ntfs just for storage and backup, not for live use. I don't emulate my Wii< I play on a real Wii BTW) I bet you compressing PS1 and Saturn and Sega CD would save alot of space this way though, unlike roms which are msall anyway.

[SentaiBrad]

CD and Saturn I would be comfortable compressing, but I would feel like i need to test each one to make sure they launch. PS1 is where I am drawing the line going forward for compression unless someone creates a specifically designed system for compression. I am using WBFS on an external for my real Wii too, and with the exception of a few games all of their junk data has been taken out. A few games require this data, so they're only in the WBFS file container. Same deal with CSO's, a few PSP games aren't compressed in a CSO because they don't function correctly and on my real PSP most CSO games take longer to load. I am dabbling with the CSO utility for PS2 games. It's specially designed for it but I am still skeptical. Compression has it's uses, but it is not good to constantly use. For example, compressing, uncompromising, re-compressing over and over will eventually destroy the data. So data can be damaged during compression or uncompression, even if it happens once.

[duhmez]

SentaiBrad said For example, compressing, uncompromising, re-compressing over and over will eventually destroy the data. So data can be damaged during compression or uncompression, even if it happens once.

This does not happen with NTFS compression. When you open an NTFS compressed file, the compressed data structure is not touched or modified in any way. What windows will do is basically under the hood it decompresses and makes a new raw copy tat is seamless and invisible to the user and it is that data tat is accessed. So if windows would somehow scramble upon accessing the compressed file, it would be fine the next time as the compressed data remains on the hard drive totally unmodified. The actual downsides are obviously slightly lower access times, and it makes the hard drive work harder as it makes the new invisible raw copy.

[Riffman81]

File compression is always lossless, meaning no data is lost when you compress it. You compress it and un-compress it and you have the exact same data. If file compression tools "destroyed" the data over time or multiple compress/un-compress re-writes, then they would ultimately be rendered useless. You won't find any "general compression" tool (like .zip, .rar, .7z, etc.) that is lossy. Lossy compression is only ever used for specific, targeted uses where it's appropriate, like audio (.mp3) or photos (.jpg) or video (.mp4). .rar, .zip, .7z, etc. are just wrappers, whatever is inside may or may not be lossless (photos, .mp3, video files).

[LogicalEgo]

The only feature I am dying for is being able to set a single static background for your game list in each system. It would greatly cut back on media size and not rely using blown up screen shots that make everything look a mess. I love Big Box mode so much but it makes my OCD twitch so bad that I am thinking on removing all screen shots and just going with a blank and boring black background it defaults too.