GameLaunchProxy Version 0.0.3.0 (Steam launch proxy, temporary font loading, and more)

[Nielk1]

@percybuttkins That's... interesting.  It looks like instead of calling the ToString() function of the Exception, it just wrote "ex.ToString()".  That's... unique.  I'll upload another build in about an hour that will still have an error but will hopefully actually say what the error is.  It will be  version 0.0.4.1 .

EDIT: 
Actually, the line after it might give me a clue as it's the Exception message and it did print properly.  Oddly, it doesn't really help explain the issue.

EDIT 2:
https://github.com/Nielk1/GameLaunchProxy/releases/tag/0.0.4.1

This should throw the error with a bit more fanfare in the log.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Nielk1

[percybuttkins]

Heres the new log bud, hope it helps to narrow it down some. Thanks!

GameLaunchProxy.log

[Nielk1]

@percybuttkins

This is interesting on 2 levels.

So, it's dying when it is trying to check if a shortcut is in Steam.  What's interesting about this is what code path it is on.  If it cannot communicate with Steam itself, it will try to read the shortcuts.vdf and scan that for the shortcut.  For some reason, the program is failing to communicate with Steam to ask for the shortcut and is instead using this alternate path.  Additionally, something is wrong with it's reading of the shortcut file, as when it attempts to access the items in the file it is crashing because there are no entries in the file.  Your shortcut file looked fine when I checked it.

[Nielk1]

OK I'm officially at a loss.  I might need to just try to fix some of the other more minor issues and see if it fixes itself.  Also, add even more logging.

[The_Keeper86]

I'm sorry for bumping an old thread From what I understand this will let me use my Steam controller configuration for games launched in Big Box? I use a DS4 controller with the gamepad configuration and it works perfect in Big Box except when launching a game the controller is of course unresponsive. Please let me know thanks

 

*Edit* Figured I'd play around with it anyway I got the platforms list generated and after clicking on add it shows my shortcuts vdf was modified but I don't see anything in my Steam library after starting steam. Any ideas? 

 

*Edit 2* so I found out Proxy adds the systems to a hidden category but still my controller doesn't want to work after launching a game from Launchbox. Am I missing something? I really wish there was a video guide I use Rocketlauncher as my emulator.

Edited April 26, 2017 by The_Keeper86

[Nielk1]

@The_Keeper86 Sorry for the delay in my reply.  I've been working on a new version of this that works off scripts instead of hard coded logic and I ended up delaying it while spending weeks of time working on collecting Steam game data for the GamesDB when I stumbled on the poor situation that is Windows platform game coverage there.  As I have not released my replacement for this program yet, I'll see what I can do to help you here.  I might have to make a patch for the proxy depending on the nature of your issue.  @cammelspit is ironically the most knowledgeable about the proxy even though I wrote it, but in this case I think I know your issue.

If I recall correctly having the proxy run RocketLauncher for some reason blocks the overlay from reaching the game.  Somehow RocketLauncher stands in the way.  When I ran into this issue I had this setup:
LaunchBox -> GameLaunchProxy -> Steam -> SteamProxy Shortcut -> RocketLauncher -> RetroArch.

I got around this issue by doing this instead:
LaunchBox -> RocketLauncher -> GameLaunchProxy -> Steam -> SteamProxy Shortcut -> RetroArch.

In plain English, I went into RocketLauncher and cloned the AHK script for a given platform+emulator.  Inside the script I manually added the GameLaunchProxy wrapper to the command the script would normally run (in my case, a command to start RetroArch with a specific ROM and n64 core).  By doing this I moved RocketLauncher from between steamproxy.exe and RetroArch to between LaunchBox and GameLaunchProxy.

(I also had to remove the signature from the script in RocketLauncher which marks it as unverified.  I believe RocketLauncher must sign their scripts to ensure they are legitimate so users know they can trust the script not to "delete system32" or something.)

Edit: IIRC I also gave Cammel a special version to fix a bug he had and I don't recall if I ever officially released that.  My new tool that is still in development uses a better system, an undocumented feature in Steam called a "Temporary Shortcut" (at least for as long as Steam has that feature), so I might end up back-porting that logic to get you up and running smoothly if needed.

Edited April 30, 2017 by Nielk1

[cammelspit]

The last version I have is the same 0.0.5.0 just like the one available on the GitHub. That one unique build IIRC was the last version of 0.0.4.X and all of those modifications got incorporated into 0.0.5.0. I just never use Rocket Launcher so I just don't know how to combine the two. I mean, I have combined several other app launchers along with Proxy at the same time like a per-game configuration manager for PCSX2 without any issue. Then again, I still have that FS-UAE Launcher problem but that is somewhat of a unique scenario. Proxy, I can help with but RL I just have no idea.

Backporting the temporary logic to proxy? I wonder how well that would work? I still have that test build of the new app somewhere but I honestly never attempted to use it. IF you do this backporting or if the new thing gets a little farther, I will be sure to make a full on a detailed video tutorial on using it. I have walked a few people through some of the older versions before and in reality, it's not that hard. Wish I could be of more help here but I am somewhat at a loss with RL.

[The_Keeper86]

@Nielk1 Hey, it's cool no worries on the delay. I'm just at a loss with how to get it working lol. I know even if you setup Rocketlaunch to launch from Steam even then the overlay doesn't work. I even asked djvj about why the overlay doesn't work and he just acts like its pointless for some reason I just need the overlay to work so I can use Steam controller configurations.

I didn't understand if I had to set Proxy up as an emulator in LB or what. Any help will be appreciated though setting this up or just waiting for your new app. I use RL also for the bezels.

@Cammelspit A video would probably still help for sure! Maybe Nielk1 can fill you in more on RL? 

Edited April 30, 2017 by The_Keeper86

[cammelspit]

He could fill me in on RL but I wouldn't use it. Seriously, I can't stand RocketLauncher. I know a lot of people would disagree with that but it's my choice.

Have you tried using the proxy without RL? You have to be 100% sure you have a working setup with proxy first and maybe then you should try to complicate it more with RL, just for testing and making sure you have a handle on it.

[The_Keeper86]

I only use RL to use bezels mainly and for the loading screen

 

Nah I haven't tried that yet. I'm not even sure if I even set it up correctly or not. Do I just select add default? I know it adds the shortcuts to Steam after doing that but then what?

[cammelspit]

I made a guide on the Steam Controller community HUB but it is for an old version and is depricated or I would just post a link here. THing is, in LB you actually do not set your emulator like normal. You set "gamelaunchproxy.exe" as the emulator. From there, you will use the command line interface (CLI) to tell proxy where your actual emulator is and how to boot it up. Something like this...

-steam -gameid %gameid% -name "%gamename% (%platformname%)" -fallbackname "%platformname%" -proxy "E:\Emulation\Emulators\MSX\openmsx.exe" -machine Boosted_MSX2+_JP

Just remember, you will have to set your LB data directory in the proxy app itself and hit the "Scrape LaunchBox" button so that Proxy can cache all of the names of all your games and platforms.

[The_Keeper86]

Awesome thanks! Just trying to figure out what the commandline for RL would be. Like I said I mainly want to use this so I can use my Steam controller configurations as the overlay normally doesn't work with RL which is beyond frustrating lol. I'll try playing around with it.

[The_Keeper86]

OK I think I'm getting somewhere. I got it to load a PS2 game via RL but of course no Steam overlay Maybe I'll just wait for his new app.

[cammelspit]

IIRC Nielk1 needed to change some scripts around. You are likely loading proxy before RL but you must load RL before proxy for it to work properly. Beyond that, you are gonna have to know a lot more about RL than one might expect.

[Nielk1]

When I first used this I used Rocket Launcher and I had a video but it is ludicrously out of date.  When this video was made the steamproxy.exe was still part of the core program and the logic was in its infancy.  The actual proxy arguments have since changed, as has several other things, but the general "how" of the RocketLauncher portion might help you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4SPQiihnMs&t=1m48s

RocketLauncher makes this a pain in the butt because of how it works (or rather doesn't) with the Steam overlay.  It's also possible that by using this configuration some RL features like Bezels might not work.  I'm not sure of a way to deal with RL's odd behavior with Steam because I haven't been able to figure out why it exhibits this behavior.  As Cammel is the main user of this tool and he doesn't use RL it hasn't come up much.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by Nielk1

[The_Keeper86]

1 hour ago, Nielk1 said:

When I first used this I used Rocket Launcher and I had a video but it is ludicrously out of date.  When this video was made the steamproxy.exe was still part of the core program and the logic was in its infancy.  The actual proxy arguments have since changed, as has several other things, but the general "how" of the RocketLauncher portion might help you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4SPQiihnMs&t=1m48s

RocketLauncher makes this a pain in the butt because of how it works (or rather doesn't) with the Steam overlay.  It's also possible that by using this configuration some RL features like Bezels might not work.  I'm not sure of a way to deal with RL's odd behavior with Steam because I haven't been able to figure out why it exhibits this behavior.  As Cammel is the main user of this tool and he doesn't use RL it hasn't come up much.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, cammelspit said:

IIRC Nielk1 needed to change some scripts around. You are likely loading proxy before RL but you must load RL before proxy for it to work properly. Beyond that, you are gonna have to know a lot more about RL than one might expect.

Thanks that makes sense.

1 hour ago, Nielk1 said:

When I first used this I used Rocket Launcher and I had a video but it is ludicrously out of date.  When this video was made the steamproxy.exe was still part of the core program and the logic was in its infancy.  The actual proxy arguments have since changed, as has several other things, but the general "how" of the RocketLauncher portion might help you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4SPQiihnMs&t=1m48s

RocketLauncher makes this a pain in the butt because of how it works (or rather doesn't) with the Steam overlay.  It's also possible that by using this configuration some RL features like Bezels might not work.  I'm not sure of a way to deal with RL's odd behavior with Steam because I haven't been able to figure out why it exhibits this behavior.  As Cammel is the main user of this tool and he doesn't use RL it hasn't come up much.

 

 

Cool I didn't know you had a video. So if I edit the ahk as seen in the video there is a possibility that it'll work? If it weren't for RL not working with the Steam overlay I don't think you'd have to be going through all this trouble unless you don't use RL anymore? Lol.

[Nielk1]

Basically, you need RocketLauncher to start the GameLaunchProxy instead of the proxy doing it.

The program wasn't even originally designed for this, it was designed to load fonts into memory without installing them at game startup.  All this Steam stuff was an afterthought.  That's why I've been working on the newer program which is taking a long time.

[The_Keeper86]

I'm not even sure how to do that to be honest lol. I know I'm probably starting to sound like a pain in the butt. Do I still need to edit the module ahk? Maybe I'll just wait for your new app.

 

 

[Nielk1]

Even with the new App you'd need to edit the AHK, though the instructions wouldn't be out of date.

[The_Keeper86]

That's true. I have no problem editing the module ahk. I'm just unsure how to make RL start the GameLaunchProxy.Like what would the commandline look like? What kinda features will the new app have over this one?