LaunchBox 2019 New Feature Poll

[Jason Carr]

19 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

So on the idea of, "Big Box Theme-Specific Settings (Save and Restore Settings for Each Theme)", I'm kind of curious as to what this would entail. I was there for the live stream, but I kind of forgot the concept behind this. What aspect(s) would be saved/restored? One feature that I thought of that I wanted (but forgot to suggest) was the idea of having the ability to save what themes are being used for what platforms. Sometimes I want to switch themes, but I've put a lot of work in choosing the theme I like the most for each platform, and I don't want to lose that. I'd love to be able to save/load different setups to make it easier to change themes without losing the way I have it now.

 

Is that essentially what that option means? Or are there other settings that it's referring to?

The backup and restore settings option is probably more what you're going for with the above. That way, you could just back up your settings, and then play around however you want, and restore them later. The theme-specific stuff means that if you change your main theme, Big Box will remember views and other settings for the previous themes that you've used, so you can switch between them and have the same experience as you had before.

[PurpleTentacle]

1 minute ago, Jason Carr said:

The backup and restore settings option is probably more what you're going for with the above. That way, you could just back up your settings, and then play around however you want, and restore them later. The theme-specific stuff means that if you change your main theme, Big Box will remember views and other settings for the previous themes that you've used, so you can switch between them and have the same experience as you had before.

Ah, ok, I was thinking that the Backup/Restore settings was closer to just automating the process of making a total backup of LaunchBox (similar to manually copying LaunchBox to another drive or such). Both of those features sound great to me. 

[Alucard205]

If the icons for the types of controls icons does in fact end up high on poll, it would be possible to have seprate icons for holding the wii-mote controler veritically (like wii sports), or horizontally (like Donkey Kong Country Returens)?

[mcfilmmakers]

9 hours ago, viking said:

Damn, I missed the live !!
I know it's too late, but just in case, here are my requests :

BIGBOX STARTUP VIDEO :

• Have the choice between: waiting for the video finish to launch BigBox (or) to cut the video as soon as BigBox is loaded.

This is already possible. When the startup video is playing have you never pressed enter? Doing so will cut the video as soon as Bigbox is loaded. You never have to wait for the video to finish.

 

[nny]

I apologize if this has already been brought up but:

"Xbox Controller and PS4 Controller Home Button Support"

How would this affect Steam Link?

[ErAzOr]

I'd like to see a better extraction routine like in rocketlauncher or similar to the Archive Cache Manager plugin.

I hate it when launchbox is extracting a rom at each launch. Instead it should be stored in a cache path. A option to automatically delete old roms (say older than x days) makes sense in this case.

 

 

[PanteraZombie]

So excited to see my controller home button integration suggestion is doing so well in the polls, I've been waiting for this one for a while. Also, the game icon system sounds like a really awesome addition. Really hoping we will be able to add custom classifications and icon art along with default provided ones, that will be fun.

[suspendedhatch]

I wont have time to read through this thread for a couple days, so I apologize if this has been discussed already, but my dream for LB would be the ability to have one set of game media files for HyperSpin, RetroArch, and LaunchBox.

[mcfilmmakers]

2 hours ago, nny said:

I apologize if this has already been brought up but:

"Xbox Controller and PS4 Controller Home Button Support"

How would this affect Steam Link?

Speaking of Steam Link, I'm SHOCKED this isn't on the poll. Steam Link support is the only thing i'm missing to make my experience whole. 

[Lordmonkus]

28 minutes ago, mcfilmmakers said:

Speaking of Steam Link, I'm SHOCKED this isn't on the poll. Steam Link support is the only thing i'm missing to make my experience whole. 

 

[levellord]

On 7/12/2019 at 6:02 PM, keltoigael said:

Lets start the Linux chants now that Android may be an option now. LINUX! LINUX! LINUX! LINUX!

I second this. Switched to Linux about 8 months ago and definitely not looking back. Only app I am missing is Launchbox. I am willing to buy two more licenses if Linux version is ever released. Cheers and happy gaming!

[drewjbx]

19 hours ago, ninja2bceen said:

Thanks for replying. The structure is the following for art, themes, videos, letters and genre art. Imagine doing this for 100+ systems to convert over....

One comment on the themes bit. I’d like to challenge you to understand the theme system as a whole in hyperspin. It’s just a flash reader basically and I think it would be worth your time considering there are literally 1000s of themes already made. Remember hyperspin has been around for more than a decade. It’s ignorant to think they wouldn’t be used and I’m sure if I had to mess with the settings to carry it over, I would literally have to do it 100 plus times since hyperspin has a folder for each system. Imo I think the only reason this hasn’t happened yet is either you are t sure how to make it happen or it is too incompatible with the current architecture that you don’t want to break anything. I’m not sure what problems there are with themes you are referring to though. I’ll be honest, losing the theming in my set up is the single reason why I’ve not jumped. Mind you I’m a full member and I could use launchbox prem features at any time. I want you to succeed, I just can’t make a rational decision to make the cut over without the themes and leveraging the assets I have. Maybe I’m the only one in the room that can say this but launchbox does a real good job to try and replicate all of hyperspins features. There are a few additional features that hyperspin doesn’t have like achievements, ratings and game text. Imo opinion that would be the main additional draw for those that have a working hyperspin. My suggestions are to maintain status quote in order to get the additional features. Hope this helps, I’ll continue to watch on the sidelines until then though ?

Keep doing your thing, good work

hyperspin/media/*system name*/Images

this has Artwork 1-4 folders which almost always Artwork 3 is box art and Artwork 4 is cart art

in the wheel folder it holds game logos

 

hyperspin/media/*system name*/Themes

this is where the themes are. They are zip files and in it are png files and an xml file that’s it.

 

hyperspin/media/*system name*/Images/Letters

houses the letter png files

 

hyperspin/media/*system name*/Images/Genre

has a background folder and wheel folder for png art

 

hyperspin/media/*system name*/Video

stores the video snaps which play during the themes.

Hey just wanted to chime in, I been with Hyperspin for many years now, your points are valid with flash themes, and not to mention the transition animations and sound effects add to the overall effect. Spending endless hours with HyperMarquee and LED BLinky and so on... I decided to dive into LB and I'm loving it so far. No its not as flashy but it is clean and of course is actively being improved. I think I gave up on BadBoyBill with a new Hyperspin but ya never know. I installed LB with my existing Hyperspin setup. So folder structure is intact but yes it does take some to remap all your media folders but really isn't that bad if you are efficient at the keyboard. I use the Unified theme which comes with ALOT of pre-defined artwork for collections (pointer, background,  video border, etc... ) which makes it a lot easier to make your favorites collections. Also you can map your cabinet to different 'views' with a touch of a button.. platform view, platform categories, and playlists is what I have. In HS we all know we have to have multiple HyperSpins running to get a nested and non nested view, also creating playlists is very cumbersome compared to LB. Marquee support does work as well but is being expanded upon for game images overlaying a default image background (hopefully). All that said my cabinet has both HS and LB... I tend to use BigBox more than HS but honestly spend most time tweaking and adding stuff rather than actually playingk. I'm not quite ready to let Hyperspin go but might happen soon, cool thing is you can have both, give it a try!

 

[damageinc86]

15 hours ago, viking said:

Damn, I missed the live !!
I know it's too late, but just in case, here are my requests :

BIGBOX STARTUP VIDEO :

• Have the choice between: waiting for the video finish to launch BigBox (or) to cut the video as soon as BigBox is loaded.
• Add a "Startup Video" folder in themes folder, to be able to have a different video by theme.

FOR THEME CREATOR :

• Add the ability to load XAML into the BigBox Wheel. To not only have a single media, but a layout. 1 file for the Select-Item + 1 file for the Unselect-Item.
  Exemple : CoverBox + GameTitle + Custom BackGround. The possibilities are endless!
• Possibility of mixing major layout family. For example, in the same screen, have on the left the platform list AND the games grid on the right. With a smooth navigation: navigate left, choose your platform, then navigate to the right and choose your game. All this in the same screen.
• Un-link Platform/GameListView and Platform/Game Detail screen ! For custom design.

? Thx @Jason Carr

Yes for both of those.  I had a really cool theme back in the hyperspin days that had a greyed out clear logo image for every entry, and then a red bordered and full color clear logo for the highlighted game.  It had a nice look to it.

[mcfilmmakers]

20 hours ago, Lordmonkus said:

 

Oh snap!

[mcfilmmakers]

I would have loved to see TRANSITIONS (themeable) when navigating menus in bigbox: when selecting platforms, selecting games, etc.

Edited July 17, 2019 by mcfilmmakers

[viking]

@Jason Carr One last thing on my Christmas list ?

A satellite app to run LaunchBox on the TV, without  need a full pc in the living room!
Example: the computer in the cave > Play on the TV. (on local network)
Yes, I know that there is Steam Link, but for me it's still a trick. I think of my children: I need something very simple. Power on > auto launch BigBox > play!
I dont know how, of course, but it would be super cool! I pay for that!

• A custom distribution for Raspberry Pi ?
• A app for Android TV ?
• A app for iOS (Apple TV) ?
• A app for Windows 10 (Windows Store), with a cheap small chinese PC ?

And what about custom controller (like Wii bar) ??

A lot of questions, but it's one less computer to pay and keep up to date!

?

[Jason Carr]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:55 AM, Alucard205 said:

If the icons for the types of controls icons does in fact end up high on poll, it would be possible to have seprate icons for holding the wii-mote controler veritically (like wii sports), or horizontally (like Donkey Kong Country Returens)?

Yes, that makes sense.

On 7/16/2019 at 2:23 PM, nny said:

I apologize if this has already been brought up but:

"Xbox Controller and PS4 Controller Home Button Support"

How would this affect Steam Link?

Good point, not sure, but they may not be cross compatible. Regardless, when I do add that feature, it'll be off by default.

On 7/16/2019 at 2:48 PM, ErAzOr said:

I'd like to see a better extraction routine like in rocketlauncher or similar to the Archive Cache Manager plugin.

I hate it when launchbox is extracting a rom at each launch. Instead it should be stored in a cache path. A option to automatically delete old roms (say older than x days) makes sense in this case.

Not a bad idea; I just don't think this has come up before. I'll add it to my ideas list.

[Jason Carr]

1 hour ago, viking said:

@Jason Carr One last thing on my Christmas list ?

A satellite app to run LaunchBox on the TV, without  need a full pc in the living room!
Example: the computer in the cave > Play on the TV. (on local network)
Yes, I know that there is Steam Link, but for me it's still a trick. I think of my children: I need something very simple. Power on > auto launch BigBox > play!
I dont know how, of course, but it would be super cool! I pay for that!

• A custom distribution for Raspberry Pi ?
• A app for Android TV ?
• A app for iOS (Apple TV) ?
• A app for Windows 10 (Windows Store), with a cheap small chinese PC ?

And what about custom controller (like Wii bar) ??

A lot of questions, but it's one less computer to pay and keep up to date!

?

Ah, yes; that has come up before a few times. It would be pretty awesome to have game streaming built-in, though I can imagine it would be rather difficult. I'll add this to my ideas list as well.

[sirleirbag]

I really like some of the future improvements, i wasnt available at brainstorm stream...

I want to propose a fix in emulators menu, when i choose a emulator from the list and select the exe file or wathever and then change the name of the emulator... i have to again select the executable file... -.- 

On the Android aproach i want to say that should be awesome to have a good front end for a change in android, but only if it cost a few bucks or if it's included in the premium membership (at least for new members or add a few bucks to add android premium or something like that).

And i didnt see the AUTO PLAY VIDEOS option in launchbox... i have to search in the cfg files or ini (dont remember) to change that option.

[neil9000]

7 minutes ago, sirleirbag said:

And i didnt see the AUTO PLAY VIDEOS option in launchbox... i have to search in the cfg files or ini (dont remember) to change that option.

Autoplay videos is in the "View" dropdown.