Noob Feedback/Questions/Feature Requests

[fuzzlefluff]

So I've come across LaunchBox as a possible replacement for playnite/gog2.0. My main goal is to have a master list of games I own, their playtime and achievements unlocked. So my biggest question is how viable will Launchbox be for that now and in the future?

Things that I think are missing-

More integrations, can I import my PSN, Microsoft Account, Battle.net, Itch.io, Twitch, Origin, Uplay? Playnite or GOG was able to get some information from them all so I'm assuming those are at least possible.

Importing playtime and achievements from steam/gog profiles. GOG2.0 is able to grab my achievements from steam, itself and play station network so I'm assuming the respective APIs allow for that kind of data to be pulled. I fully recognize that Steam and GOG importing was added only a few weeks ago which is why I've given Launchbox an install, but is this a feature I could expect within the next decade for the platforms it's possible? I full expect to have to manually input my Nintendo Switch games as Nintendo doesn't want to share their data they have on my playtime. Exploring the options, I see Launchbox supports retro achievements, but I really don't care about non-developer defined achievements, I just want the lists that exist in steam/xbox/psn to be imported and tracked and a percentage to be calculated. (currently GOG keeps track of the percentage and displays earned achievements but not unearned ones.) Playtime is really insightful to me when I can sort/see it, helps me decide if I've gotten what I want out of a game, I assume the only way to do this right now is to buy premium and setup a custom tag and manually enter values, adding that as a default tag and having it import from the sources that share it would be a must have for me.

Custom Themes- Ok so I know Big Box has custom theme/layout support, but I'm almost never going to run Big Box if I buy it. I tend to not like full screen menu apps. I'm a foobar2000 user, I want a theme/layout support for the base program, if its a premium feature that already exists I'll buy premium now and get setup but from what I can tell themes are limited to big box. I'd also like to ask how themes work/are made, I'm hoping I can code up any menu I want. The default launchbox layout is functional and might be most people's dream but I'm very picky and want MY layout.

Web metadata- So I love the option to download trailer videos and banner images to my hard drive, but when I have 2k games in my library that's going to kill my hard drive space. Now half the solution is already implemented as I can ask it to download only cover images ect, but I'd like to have an option to have it pull the missing images from the web database on demand- particularly trailer videos if they are uploaded to youtube.

 

Things I really like:

Completion boolean! I can mark a game as complete if I feel I'm done with it!

Source tracking- I find separating where I own a game to be very helpful, gog+playnite want to treat my games as a single entity, Launchbox respects my ability to separate them out and track by platform AND launcher/store

Cloud Backup- I can export my data to the cloud and not worry about loosing it if/when I set everything up, import and select cover art, plus I'm assuming it gives me a profile to show off with.

Ability to define platforms.

Cover and cartridge displays are really cool. I look forward to generating images for these if I stick with Launchbox.

 

 

 

 

 

[DeadVoivod]

I would say that LB’s main focus lies on retro gaming and emulation, what you are looking for, might perhaps not be fully realizable in LB. I might be wrong, no expert here, but I never looked into the stuff that you wanna integrate (so far). 

[C-Beats]

I think most of what you are asking for is feasible, and many of the items mentioned ARE on our to do list, but I wouldn't be able to give you a timeline when everything you are referring to would be in the product.

Theming is done entirely using XAML files. If you can code one of them you can pretty heavily customize LaunchBox visually to your liking.

In regard to the PSN/M$ accounts, are those games playable on Windows or you just looking to have something easier to track what you have then manually adding the games into your library? I haven't had a console in quite a long while so am a bit curious what that would do for you.

LaunchBox also does support 3rd party plugin's which could potentially fill some of the holes you are referring to as well.

[fuzzlefluff]

Thanks for the replies guys, went ahead and got a license since I can theme the base program too.

After really diving in and buying a year license shows I feel that Launchbox is ahead of playnite/gog in alot of ways for doing what I want. A visual library/tracker of the games I own, have played, and have completed. It just needs achievements, playtime tracking, and integration with more accounts/libraries, and a way to distinguish between "completed" and "100% completed" imo.

Launching is great for my emulators but I'm not willing to download roms/isos for everything especially if I'm content keeping the physical disc and system. What works perfectly for me is setting up an emulator called "unemulated" which just displays a message to play on original hardware. Add in marking my unemulated games as not installed with badges and its working exactly as I want. I can launch the games I have a rom for, can find out which games I have played/own that I am missing roms for and can track which games I have and have not completed.

 

I'm having great fun with the Series tags and having things arranged by Series, but I can't find a way to change how things are arranged within their categories they are arranged by. It defaults to alphabetical which is great, but sometimes I want to browse the action genre by release date or some other metric. Is there something I'm missing or is this a feature that is on/needs adding to the requested feature list?

 

I don't expect Launchbox to have any of the things I've asked for anytime soon, It's more of a would it ever be done within the decade/is that a direction the program can expand into. As a user with minimal dev experience I definitely think Launchbox has the best chance of becoming the dream program I'm looking for.

[C-Beats]

You can arrange games by several items, in LaunchBox at the top there is a "Arrange By" drop down, click that and you will see a host of options. Can also default playlists to sort a certain way (or just use the default).

You can also add Custom Fields to roms for some of the stuff in your collection you have a desire to differentiate. Things like the 100% complete vs complete