Jump to content
LaunchBox Community Forums

Launchbox for Linux - Preliminary Discussion


Lordmonkus

Recommended Posts

11 hours ago, dillabon said:

I hope you can see the poll is flawed because it looks like jason got too excited about Linux feasibility and went a bit biased (didn't think thoroughly) when writing the poll.

Please allow me to explain.

It should clearly indicate a few things to get a fair poll:

  1. Most people who would want it on Linux are thinking Bigbox. The difference should be clearly indicated in the poll.
  2. Most of people who would want LB on Linux are Pi users and they want Bigbox. The feasibility of Bigbox running well AND optimal system requirements should be clearly mentioned.
  3. People who have already bought LB are all Windows users. Sure, some may want it on Linux, but I highly doubt at the expense of losing your limited resources for feature updates. The poll should stress that by working on Linux, the Windows and overall feature update progression will be directly impacted and heavily slowed down than it already is.
  4. Even with just a single linux developer hired from any crowdfudning, it will definitely take resources from the Windows division. This should also be mentioned.

And here are other problems with this poll:

  1. Most people who voted just want their option open for Linux. People who voted "I want to buy this on Linux" does not equal instant sales when it's up. I have countless amount of friends who wants to buy BB at this current state (Windows), but they still haven't.
  2. Most people who would want it on Linux are always searching for something like Bigbox (on the internet), while happy Windows users are probably just using it. The poll is highly exposed to more pro-Linux port users.

Yeah, so I'd actually go as far to say the poll is completely invalid for reasons above.

I think that's more than a little bit over-zealous. I've already addressed a number of the above items earlier in the thread, so I won't be addressing all the individual points, but the difference between LaunchBox and Big Box was indeed "clearly indicated in the poll." I'm coming to learn that people don't read, not even bold text at the top of the poll. For the future, @dillabon, it would be wiser not to claim that other people don't think clearly, as that immediately disengages them from your post. Lol.

9 hours ago, alfredolvera said:

Hey @Jason Carr , can you elaborate a little more on this issue? I'm very curious because (even though I'm not a developer) from my ignorant point of view you just had to replace the "Now Loading" box in BB with an image from the db? I even filled a request for this https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/3521/request-fan-art-or-screenshots-for-loading#comment-40921691

I don't care that much about the fade in-out when loading. Just replacing the plan "Now Loading" with some background fanart would make wonders for BB's eye-candy.

My 2 cents :)

That's not a bad idea @alfredolvera, but that doesn't do anything to clean up the emulator loading process. Depending on the emulator, lots of artifacts will still show up while the emulator loads, which is part of what Rocket Launcher tries to get rid of.

9 hours ago, Mozza said:

@Jason Carr I compile the script as a separate executable and use it as the emulator in LB. The first LB parameter for the script executable is the emulator. I'm happy to provide the whole script and display.exe for testing, if that helps?

@bbweiners I use this for Dolphin, what happens for you?

Gotcha, that makes sense. I'll give it a shot. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, harryoke said:

@Jason Carr looks like a very positive response from @brolly over at the RL forums. I think we all have a common goal which is to create the greatest emulation experience for the end user that is possible, we don't have ego's and work together for the benefit of our communities.

Im hoping for RL and ourselves to have a very productive relationship. 

Thanks for making the initial contact.

 

I'm really excited to read the response! Unfortunately the Rocket Launcher website is down for me currently so I can't even see it lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Styphelus said:

Why not just use Rocketlauncher? Seems like it would be redundant to implement features already available to everyone. Rocketlauncher integrates nicely with Launchbox plus there's a whole team and years of dedication and testing put into it already.

I would rather see development focus more on perfecting Bigbox and making it look even better or see work go into the Games DB and the artwork there (cleanup bxes, better scans, clear logos and so on)

 

I must admit that I would love to use RocketLuncher. I have it installed. But everytime I open it up and look at it, I think "what the fuck do I do now?" and then close it lol. It's look so complicated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, JamesBond@ge said:

I must admit that I would love to use RocketLuncher. I have it installed. But everytime I open it up and look at it, I think "what the fuck do I do now?" and then close it lol. It's look so complicated.

Based on the feedback that I receive all the time, a whole lot of people are in that exact same boat. Even I was for a while, though I did figure it out after watching some YouTube tutorials.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm taking this quote from brolly over on the RocketLauncher forums:

"I think many users see RocketLauncher as being way more complex than it really is, I mean as long as you have the emulator working already shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to get a system added and running (having a working emulator setup is what many users fail to understand imo)."

I have learned how to use RocketLauncher in the past and it really is a nightmare to learn. I am saying this as someone who has been using computers and learning new software for well over 20 years now. I have learned how to use complex software such as Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, SoftImage and I even learned how to play Eve Online which for anyone who has ever played it has a crazy ass complicated UI and all of those programs / games are not as hard to learn how to use as RocketLauncher. Yes I did learn how to use RL and it still sucks once you do figure it out and get used to it.

I can appreciate the fact that more customization options comes at a price, even Launchbox is more complicated now than it was when I first started using it. It still doesn't change the fact that RL and the UI is laid out is just awful. Now of course the devs of it are used to it and know exactly where everything is and how it all works so it is basically 2nd nature to them at this point but from a new user and an end user in general it is a mess and could use a major UI overhaul to streamline and make more sense out of it.

I am certainly not shitting all over their work, what RL does is amazing, it just needs a major cleanup. People want to pick up a piece of software and have games up and running with as little time and effort as possible. When I first picked up Launchbox I had it running in 5-10 minutes. I think it took me several hours with RocketLauncher and that is with the help of a buddy of mine who uses RL on voice chat walking me though it. He was used to the software and he was getting completely lost in the menus because there are so many tabs within tabs. The problem with the whole tabs with sub tabs and those have more sub tabs is there is no clear indication of where you actually are in the UI, it all becomes a massive blur to the end user.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Lordmonkus I'm not saying I don't (mostly) agree with you, but let's try and keep a positive attitude about it around here. The last thing I want is to anger the Rocket Launcher team over something like that. There's really no point in arguing with them about whether Rocket Launcher is easy to use or not. No matter what we do, that will go nowhere. We're attempting to make everything easier to use; that's the whole point of all of this.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a fully working version of RL. (Garbage UI) every bit of help i have gotten (directly from RL Devs) has advised to just edit the files directly.   It handles the .7z file, shows a loading and transitions, adds a bezel. I am no way attached to it.    

Edited by NJDave71
omitted text
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Jason Carr I am actually being quite positive but I won't polish a turd and call it a diamond.

I believe the RL devs don't really understand what their UI is like to someone who hasn't spent years of making and using it.

The program is amazing at what it does, I give them full credit for it, it just needs a whole new UI redesign to make it more user friendly.

I am just offering friendly opinion / criticism of the UI itself, nothing more and I am doing it here not over on their forums.

Now that this thread is more about RocketLauncher integration rather than a Linux port I would just say I would love if you could "port" RL into Launchbox somehow with a much more user friendly UI, that would be amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh give me break with the "its so easy" crap.

Launchbox is much easier but yet we still have a bajillion tutorials and we spend hours on here every day helping people through the issues they run into setting it all up.

I have used RL and I have learned how to use it, I used it for a month and its trash. The program itself isn't trash, the way everything is laid out is, it's giant confusing wall of mess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then how about you refrain from saying people don't want to do any manual work ? I am pretty certain that I have shown over time here that "putting in manual work" is not something I am afraid of. I Have done many written guides for setting up emulators and other things.

Perhaps you may not have noticed but the vast majority of the users here came to Launchbox just because of how convoluted and difficult to use the RL UI is.

I am also saying that if Jason does integrate RL into Launchbox that he basically overhauls the entire UI to make it less of a mess. I sure as hell don't want to see a simple copy / paste job of RL into LB.

And I will state again just for clarity because I know someone will read my posts as shitting all over RocketLauncher when i'm not. I am only talking about the UI design, not the program as a whole. The UI feels like it's just one tacked on feature after another without any forethought on how it all looks and functions. Over time the devs (and long time users) have a close up view of the program and are used to its quirks and where everything is. But for the first time user it's an absolute nightmare. Even Launchbox is starting to become a victim of this and I am constantly reminding and asking Jason to clean up certain aspects of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me Rocket ? launcher was a nightmare .... and just to clarify... I am not a noob , I've been in the scene for years and worked with various scene groups as a graphic artist.ive used emulators and frontends for decades.

the gui is so confusing, I gave up , even after watching tutorials I was still confused ?‍♀️, maybe it's my old age kicking in but unless someone spoon feeds me and uploads a fully configured version then I'm stumped ?.

Edited by harryoke
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...