8.0-beta-1 Released

[shinra358]

I knew the performance wasn't my hdd lol. Wheels load up so fast now

 

Sound issue is still there though. To replicate, go to a game that has music, press the windows key (music will stop), then maximize another window (bb music will start playing again when not even on top).

[alnyden]

6 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

My suggestion would be to add a separate Retroarch emulator with the relevant associated platforms. It doesn't matter if the games are configured to use the emulator, but the added emulator will allow you to use Netplay. Of course Rocket Launcher won't be used in that situation, but I don't expect that to be a significant issue.

Since Retroarch Netplay requires direct access to Retroarch's command line, I don't think it's possible to get it working with Rocket Launcher.

For those of us using Rocket Launcher, would it be possible to use some combination of the "launch with" command to use Retroarch (on a case-by-case basis) and simultaneously enable netplay?

[ckp]

I tried netplay in the latest Beta. First problem was I had a netplay password set for my RA, so the LB netplay wasn't working because it just uses a blank password I guess and has no option to use a password. So, I had to clear my RA password to get it to work with LB.

Other thing I would mention is that it might be nice if LB kept a history (drop list?) of who you joined to, so it's easier to reconnect to people, especially when they use IPs instead of dns names for their netplay hosting.

My initial thought was that there would be some place I could see active netplay hosts and just choose one. Maybe in the future.

So, all in all it worked and made things easier, but there still existed all the horrors of RA netplay like have the exact everything everywhere and proper network/firewall settings on both sides for things to work. Not at all LB fault.

Edited February 7, 2018 by ckp

[ckp]

With latest Beta my LB loads up twice as fast, from ~9 seconds to ~4-5 seconds. Woot!

[Ize]

@ckp there is the integrated lobby of retroarch which i didn't implement in my plugin... i forgot to tell @Jason Carr about it so it's good that you mention it:

I'm the german flag

It can be reached via the web @ http://newlobby.libretro.com/

or more interesting for @Jason Carr, there is an easy to parse json feed available here: http://newlobby.libretro.com/list/

EDIT: I just tested it via the new option to host in LB and it WORKS! It announces to the masterserver if you hit host

So @Jason Carr "just" has to parse the feed and we have an integrated serverbrowser in bigbox

Edited February 7, 2018 by Izegod

[bundangdon]

15 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

I hate to say it, but I didn't touch anything to fix the game details side bar position saving...yet. The issue is that the position isn't saved if you close the sidebar, exit, and then open it up again on another launch. As far as I know it does save correctly otherwise. I still have this on my plate.

ETA Prime will be doing a tutorial video here soon.

That's odd because now the details pane is saving and remembering its last position, as I've tested this a few times in a few different ways while closing or exiting from LaunchBox. Prior to this beta release, it was not saving at all. I guess you somehow inadvertently fixed this issue. Well done!

Edited February 7, 2018 by bundangdon
no reason

[Omen]

12 hours ago, alnyden said:

For those of us using Rocket Launcher, would it be possible to use some combination of the "launch with" command to use Retroarch (on a case-by-case basis) and simultaneously enable netplay?

If you add Retroarch as an emulator it comes up as a luanch with option for every game, no need for a case-by-case basis. In fact you don't even need to use launch with once you add Retroarch to LB, the Netplay option shows up once RA is added. The only issue I'm having is RA won't load custom configurations when I launch directly through LB.

[Jason Carr]

19 hours ago, alnyden said:

Yep, that was it!  Didn't occur to me since I never use games view in Launchbox.  Any chance you'll implement for list view as well?

I had overlooked it is all, so hopefully soon, yes. Hoping to add it before the 8.0 release.

[Jason Carr]

19 hours ago, Typhon said:

I'd like this feature too, as I never use the 'games view' in regular Launchbox.

@Jason Carr I can confirm that *if* an entry for <GameAlternateName> exists in the Metadata.xml, matches the database ID from 'PlatformName.xml, and the alternate name matches the name used on RetroAchievements website, the game will show achievements. I tested by manually adding new entries.

However, Launchbox fails to download new metadata for 'Alternate Name,' using Tools/Download Meta Data and Media, and choosing the 'Yes, but do not replace any existing fields or media' option.

So the only games that have been fixed were the ones that already had alternate game names, that happened to match the RetroAchievements website.

If you can direct me on how to successfully update alternate game names, I can test further. Keep in mind that some of these games have multiple alternate game names - not sure if you've considered that. I still think adding 'RetroAchievements' as a region specifically for badly named RetroAchievements games is the best option, but it's your call.
 

No Download Metadata and Media process should be required for it to work @Typhon. As long as it's in the current Metadata.xml, it should be found. It uses that file directly when searching the alternate names for the retro achievements. Are you seeing that not work correctly?

The only thing that should be required is that the game will need to have been already matched to a LaunchBox Games Database ID.

[Jason Carr]

15 hours ago, shinra358 said:

I knew the performance wasn't my hdd lol. Wheels load up so fast now

 

Sound issue is still there though. To replicate, go to a game that has music, press the windows key (music will stop), then maximize another window (bb music will start playing again when not even on top).

Interesting. I don't see this same behavior when I run that exact test (the music works properly and doesn't resume playing). I'm guessing there's some key difference between our machines. If we can identify it, I might be able to figure it out. Remind me what version of Windows you're running?

[Jason Carr]

14 hours ago, alnyden said:

For those of us using Rocket Launcher, would it be possible to use some combination of the "launch with" command to use Retroarch (on a case-by-case basis) and simultaneously enable netplay?

This already works, as the Retroarch Netplay option should show up for the game as long as there's a Retroarch emulator configured with a matching associated platform, regardless of whether or not it's the default on that game.

[Jason Carr]

12 hours ago, ckp said:

I tried netplay in the latest Beta. First problem was I had a netplay password set for my RA, so the LB netplay wasn't working because it just uses a blank password I guess and has no option to use a password. So, I had to clear my RA password to get it to work with LB.

Other thing I would mention is that it might be nice if LB kept a history (drop list?) of who you joined to, so it's easier to reconnect to people, especially when they use IPs instead of dns names for their netplay hosting.

My initial thought was that there would be some place I could see active netplay hosts and just choose one. Maybe in the future.

So, all in all it worked and made things easier, but there still existed all the horrors of RA netplay like have the exact everything everywhere and proper network/firewall settings on both sides for things to work. Not at all LB fault.

Good to know about the Retroarch Netplay password; I wasn't aware of that. We'll probably come back to this and add additional features later on.

[Jason Carr]

11 hours ago, Izegod said:

@ckp there is the integrated lobby of retroarch which i didn't implement in my plugin... i forgot to tell @Jason Carr about it so it's good that you mention it:

I'm the german flag

It can be reached via the web @ http://newlobby.libretro.com/

or more interesting for @Jason Carr, there is an easy to parse json feed available here: http://newlobby.libretro.com/list/

EDIT: I just tested it via the new option to host in LB and it WORKS! It announces to the masterserver if you hit host

So @Jason Carr "just" has to parse the feed and we have an integrated serverbrowser in bigbox

That looks awesome. We probably won't get it integrated before the official 8.0 release, but hopefully for the future.

[shinra358]

1 hour ago, Jason Carr said:

Interesting. I don't see this same behavior when I run that exact test (the music works properly and doesn't resume playing). I'm guessing there's some key difference between our machines. If we can identify it, I might be able to figure it out. Remind me what version of Windows you're running?

Windows 7 64bit ultimate

 

Edited February 7, 2018 by shinra358

[alnyden]

Certain themes in Big Box are taking a long time to load, such as Aeon Nox (with background videos).  It seemed to be fixed in Beta 7, but the issue returned for me in Beta 8.

[NJDave71]

As of beta 8 the slow response ifof bigbox was addressed.  I have tested this theme on 4 machines with no issues.  

[Typhon]

8 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

No Download Metadata and Media process should be required for it to work @Typhon. As long as it's in the current Metadata.xml, it should be found. It uses that file directly when searching the alternate names for the retro achievements. Are you seeing that not work correctly?

The only thing that should be required is that the game will need to have been already matched to a LaunchBox Games Database ID.

The alternate names that I added to the Launchbox database aren't in the Metadata.xml, but they are in the Launchbox database. 'Battletoads Double Dragon' for SNES is an example (DatabaseID 2772). 

The 'Alien 3' example from before already had the alternate name in the Metadata.xml.

How do I get Launchbox to add the alternate names to the Metadata.xml?

Edit: I just noticed that 'Battletoads Double Dragon' doesn't have a region attached to it, is that the reason why the alternate name isn't in the the Metadata.xml?

Edited February 8, 2018 by Typhon

[Aevans0001]

Yes! Love The Alpha Search Feature!

[Jason Carr]

21 hours ago, shinra358 said:

Windows 7 64bit ultimate

 

Okay; I'll have to test it out on Windows 7. Most likely that's the difference.

[Jason Carr]

14 hours ago, Typhon said:

The alternate names that I added to the Launchbox database aren't in the Metadata.xml, but they are in the Launchbox database. 'Battletoads Double Dragon' for SNES is an example (DatabaseID 2772). 

The 'Alien 3' example from before already had the alternate name in the Metadata.xml.

How do I get Launchbox to add the alternate names to the Metadata.xml?

Edit: I just noticed that 'Battletoads Double Dragon' doesn't have a region attached to it, is that the reason why the alternate name isn't in the the Metadata.xml?

Okay, apparently we did have an issue where alternate names without regions were not being sent down to the LaunchBox Metadata.xml file. Not sure how that issue went unidentified for so long, but thanks for catching that. I know you had mentioned something like that earlier as well.

I just fixed it on the server so that alternate names without regions will come down into the Metadata.xml now as well, though you'll need to make sure the metadata updates in order to test it (it's the same thing where it'll only update once a day and it updates whenever you try and search for a game or run an import/download process, etc.).