LaunchBox 2019 New Feature Poll

[Jason Carr]

Just now, Arusuko said:

How difficult would it be to go the RocketLauncher route and have the emulator window captured inside the predefined bezel?

You aren't the only one, it's the only launchbox feature I've wanted for two years so I can finally kick rocketlauncher to the curb.

The Rocket Launcher solution requires running everything in windowed mode (not exclusive fullscreen mode), which is more than a bit of a hack. So far, we've managed to implement both the startup and pause screens with proper support for exclusive fullscreen mode games and emulators, and I took that approach after a lot of research and study. I believe that a lot of the trouble that Rocket Launcher runs into with emulator updates (and a lot of the added complexity) comes from trying to do things the windowed way, and I've decided that we won't be taking that approach. With Retroarch supporting more and more platforms these days, it doesn't make much sense to hack in a Rocket Launcher type solution.

[TheKillingBean]

I don't see in the list the option for "play random game". Or is this already implemented.

[damageinc86]

1 hour ago, Arusuko said:

How difficult would it be to go the RocketLauncher route and have the emulator window captured inside the predefined bezel?

You aren't the only one, it's the only launchbox feature I've wanted for two years so I can finally kick rocketlauncher to the curb.

I know, Bezels (which are working for all my systems perfectly in RL) and the fact that RL can help me edit, save, and launch joy2key profiles on a per-game basis are literally,...i repeat, literally the only two reasons it is still installed.  Once you get used to having a bezel for every system pre-wii, it's hard to envision your setup without it.  Which is why I have to keep RL here.  It keeps the windowed stuff under control almost 100% of the time, so I don't get the apprehension.  And i need the keymapping launch per-game for my ms-dos platformers and shooter (raptor!).  And putting all your eggs in the retroarch basket just alienates everyone who doesn't use it.  Mednafen covers most of my systems aside from dolphin and dreamcast.  I only use retroarch for 4 systems.  So just hoping that everyone will use retroarch for every system and therefore have bezels for everything doesn't really help overall. 

i'm not actually super worried about it, it's just a bummer to not see it even on the radar at all.  But I'm holding out hope that in the years to come, it will finally just become something that is expected for a front-end to do, and isn't viewed as such an issue.  Or maybe becomes easier to implement.  I remember when having the "wheel" was a huge leap forward.  So i'm sure it will get there. 

[bundangdon]

4 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

I can understand that. Android is at least a step in the right direction though. We've been trying, as observed by the poll we put out some time last year. We just didn't really get enough of a positive response.

Just my 2 cents to add to this, for what it's worth, although 2 cents won't buy anything in today's economy With so many (millions) of Android phones and other devices out there, this is an extremely large and relatively (as of yet) untapped market for an emulators/games frontend like LaunchBox. And I think at this point, the pc version is more than mature enough to be put on the back-burner for a short while as the Android version becomes developed. Certainly there are already frontends out there for Android, but nothing which really captures the hearts and imaginations of most gamers and nothing that made me want to say, "wow, what a great app!" while trying it out. Anyways, keep up with the good work as always and looking forward to seeing what future developments arise in the near future

Edited July 16, 2019 by bundangdon

[GoukiKain]

I voted for the new features, however I hoped I'd see something like "Attract mode overhaul".

I think attract mode in Big Box right now is kind of lacking features and options for customization. Jumping from game to game, playlist levels, etc. is completely random. With the level of complexity of Big Box views (nested playlists) more options would be nice, like change level after a certain number of video are played. I'd even say that attract mode in hyperspin, as old as it is, is a bit better because it lets you choose to play videos until the end before jumping over.

Am I the only one in this?

P.S.: didn't mean to be polemic, just giving some suggestions to enhance the experience. As always great work guys! ?

[Johnny T]

Great list. I would love more focus on community high scores and comparing your scores with other players.

I used to love competing against my son-in-law but he's not played for ages (since I hammered his Donkey Kong score!)

Would love to use high score tables to inspire me to try new games and see where I can get to on the table. It would be like playing against a load of mates. :-)

[Shawson]

How about a multithreaded ui so that while importing data you can carry on using launchbox?

[viking]

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 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by viking

[Zeosstud]

Would really like to see support for programming the U360 joystick based on the game type loaded..  I know you can do it with the current run before and run after settings on a per game basis, but a more automated solution would be great.

[SolidHyunkel]

I'd like to see implemented a Visual icon/indicator for games with multiple versions. This very useful to keep you collection tidied up. With all the alternate versions of ROMs, hacks, etc. under the parent game and it is always good to have a visual marker to see which games have alternate versions. Thanks for all the hard work! 

Edited July 16, 2019 by SolidHyunkel

[The_Keeper86]

Would definitely love to see Steam achievements support in views and that Android thing sounds interesting! Was hoping RPCS3 trophy support was in the poll ha ha.

[Jason Carr]

10 hours ago, TheKillingBean said:

I don't see in the list the option for "play random game". Or is this already implemented.

It came up during the live stream and there wasn't much interest, especially considering that we have the wheel spin random option already in Big Box.

9 hours ago, bundangdon said:

Just my 2 cents to add to this, for what it's worth, although 2 cents won't buy anything in today's economy With so many (millions) of Android phones and other devices out there, this is an extremely large and relatively (as of yet) untapped market for an emulators/games frontend like LaunchBox. And I think at this point, the pc version is more than mature enough to be put on the back-burner for a short while as the Android version becomes developed. Certainly there are already frontends out there for Android, but nothing which really captures the hearts and imaginations of most gamers and nothing that made me want to say, "wow, what a great app!" while trying it out. Anyways, keep up with the good work as always and looking forward to seeing what future developments arise in the near future

As long as Android ends up in the top 20, we'll be tackling it, though I will work on it off and on a bit so that the desktop version isn't starved for new features.

9 hours ago, GoukiKain said:

I voted for the new features, however I hoped I'd see something like "Attract mode overhaul".

I think attract mode in Big Box right now is kind of lacking features and options for customization. Jumping from game to game, playlist levels, etc. is completely random. With the level of complexity of Big Box views (nested playlists) more options would be nice, like change level after a certain number of video are played. I'd even say that attract mode in hyperspin, as old as it is, is a bit better because it lets you choose to play videos until the end before jumping over.

Am I the only one in this?

P.S.: didn't mean to be polemic, just giving some suggestions to enhance the experience. As always great work guys! ?

I am surprised, but it didn't come up in my search for items for the poll, or in the live stream. Noted though.

8 hours ago, Johnny T said:

Great list. I would love more focus on community high scores and comparing your scores with other players.

I used to love competing against my son-in-law but he's not played for ages (since I hammered his Donkey Kong score!)

Would love to use high score tables to inspire me to try new games and see where I can get to on the table. It would be like playing against a load of mates. ?

MAME high scores with community sharing is #13 right now, so it's definitely on the docket, at least for now. It's one of the ones I'm most excited about as well.

[Jason Carr]

7 hours ago, Shawson said:

How about a multithreaded ui so that while importing data you can carry on using launchbox?

Not really sure what you mean, as LaunchBox is already multithreaded and you can already carry on using LaunchBox while an import is running. That functionality has been available for a long time.

5 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

Hi @viking, just FYI, the startup videos currently will play the full video, unless you press a key; in that situation it will cut the video off whenever Big Box is ready. So the first item there is already possible, assuming you don't mind pressing a key. It works well this way because you have the option of displaying the whole video or not.

I've noted all of those items. I agree they would all be amazing, though I will admit the bottom two are major changes so they would be a serious challenge.

[Kondorito]

Yeah, the idea of having some sort of lobby where you can see logged LB users, what is currently being played and possibly join, highscores, and a way to break them, sounds too good.

[paladin181]

GOG support please!! Not to mention Origin, Uplay, Bethesda, Battle.net, and Epic...

[Jason Carr]

4 hours ago, Zeosstud said:

Would really like to see support for programming the U360 joystick based on the game type loaded..  I know you can do it with the current run before and run after settings on a per game basis, but a more automated solution would be great.

A controller companion-type solution was discussed in the stream, but didn't get a whole lot of positive responses. I can see it being very useful, but there are also good apps out there for it already.

1 hour ago, SolidHyunkel said:

I'd like to see implemented a Visual icon/indicator for games with multiple versions. This very useful to keep you collection tidied up. With all the alternate versions of ROMs, hacks, etc. under the parent game and it is always good to have a visual marker to see which games have alternate versions. Thanks for all the hard work! 

This is on the poll and doing well at #5, so it looks like this will be coming.

1 hour ago, The_Keeper86 said:

Would definitely love to see Steam achievements support in views and that Android thing sounds interesting! Was hoping RPCS3 trophy support was in the poll ha ha.

Steam achievements aren't doing quite as well as I would have hoped; currently at #21, but that's close to the cutoff.

1 minute ago, Kondorito said:

Yeah, the idea of having some sort of lobby where you can see logged LB users, what is currently being played and possibly join, highscores, and a way to break them, sounds too good.

That sounds a bit more involved than simple game-specific MAME leaderboards, but there are some good ideas there.

[Jason Carr]

1 minute ago, paladin181 said:

GOG support please!! Not to mention Origin, Uplay, Bethesda, Battle.net, and Epic...

We almost put all those on the poll, but there wasn't a whole lot of interest. Unfortunately the GOG one that is on the poll isn't being highly voted, either.

[Kondorito]

2 minutes ago, Jason Carr said:

That sounds a bit more involved than simple game-specific MAME leaderboards, but there are some good ideas there.

Yeah, I know; I was just dreaming out loud. Don't mind me

I am very pleased of the Poll overall outcome. Looks like it's going to be an awesome iteration.

[paladin181]

Just now, Jason Carr said:

We almost put all those on the poll, but there wasn't a whole lot of interest. Unfortunately the GOG one that is on the poll isn't being highly voted, either.

I see that. GOG Galaxy 2.0 is really nice, at least in theory. In practice it's still a broken mess, and given their track record for actually making working software, I was hoping for this or another front end launcher like

Spoiler

playnite

to make a difference. Feel free to take out the spoilered info if it's against the rules to mention other launchers like this one. I love Launchbox (it's why I bought the license) but the community seems to be going a different direction from me.

[PurpleTentacle]

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?