Issues when platform 'title' different to 'scrape as'

[MrStompy]

Hi all,

I've just started dabbing in this stuff again for the first time in a few years and I'm blown away by how far it's come. I'm coming up with a weird issue though.

I've been finding that if the platform 'Title' is different to the 'Scrape as' it can cause problems. The latest issue is that I've happily coughed up some cash for BigBox and it's mostly working just fine, but when I go in to the SNES platform, it doesn't load the appropriate platform graphics and just has a BigBox logo instead. So I tried changing the platform 'Title' in Launchbox to 'Super Nintendo Entertainment System' and went back in to BigBox, and suddenly - the graphics are loading. But when I try and run a game, it no longer opens them. I've checked the platform folders and they're pointing to the right spot. 

Would massively appreciate any input anyone might have about why the Title is impacting Launchbox/Bigbox ability to link to the right graphics. I've checked the folder paths and they look fine.

[neil9000]

21 minutes ago, MrStompy said:

Would massively appreciate any input anyone might have about why the Title is impacting Launchbox/Bigbox ability to link to the right graphics. I've checked the folder paths and they look fine.

This is not a Launchbox/Bigbox issue its down to the theme you are using. Any themes that have different artwork for systems need to name that artwork in some way to seperate them from other systems (cant have two images in the same folder called "Artwork" for example). The way custom themes work when they have different artwork per platform is artwork is kept in its own system folders, and these folders obviously have to be named, so they are named after the platform they are for, and these names are 99.9% of the time the default name for the systems as that is what 99% of users actually use and to be honest its better to name them how Launchbox names them for consistency. 

So at the end of the day its due to you deviating from the "default" naming for the systems. There are two ways to fix this, number one, the way you already mentioned by renaming the platform, but by doing this you will also need to move the roms to a folder that uses the new name, or just rename the existing folder, or you can edit the platform point it to the original folder for the roms. Or two, rename the system folder and possibly the files within that folder in the theme you are using to actually match the system name you are using.

So in the end this isnt a issue with Launchbox/Bigbox, at the end of the day if you want different artwork per platform you need to name that art, and so the Launchbox default naming is used which is just fine for 99% of users, if you deviate the naming, you have to change folder names to match.

[MrStompy]

20 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

This is not a Launchbox/Bigbox issue its down to the theme you are using. Any themes that have different artwork for systems need to name that artwork in some way to seperate them from other systems (cant have two images in the same folder called "Artwork" for example). The way custom themes work when they have different artwork per platform is artwork is kept in its own system folders, and these folders obviously have to be named, so they are named after the platform they are for, and these names are 99.9% of the time the default name for the systems as that is what 99% of users actually use and to be honest its better to name them how Launchbox names them for consistency. 

So at the end of the day its due to you deviating from the "default" naming for the systems. There are two ways to fix this, number one, the way you already mentioned by renaming the platform, but by doing this you will also need to move the roms to a folder that uses the new name, or just rename the existing folder, or you can edit the platform point it to the original folder for the roms. Or two, rename the system folder and possibly the files within that folder in the theme you are using to actually match the system name you are using.

So in the end this isnt a issue with Launchbox/Bigbox, at the end of the day if you want different artwork per platform you need to name that art, and so the Launchbox default naming is used which is just fine for 99% of users, if you deviate the naming, you have to change folder names to match.

Thanks Neil. I dug around in the folders of the theme and found what you were referring to. Did some renaming - now all looking good. Thanks!

Something that surprises me a little is how the 'Title' actually has an impact on things. I was under the impression that when I selected the actual platform from the dropdown list in the 'Scrape as' field, THAT would be the field that provided the common key/metadata that everything would subsequently feed off.

[neil9000]

The "scrape as" is literally just for scraping the databases to grab media, nothing more as far as i know. It's just there for naming flexibility really, for example i have a "Sega Mega Drive" platform as im in the UK, but i have to scrape that as "Sega Genesis" otherwise i get no metadata or artwork.

[MrStompy]

8 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

The "scrape as" is literally just for scraping the databases to grab media, nothing more as far as i know. It's just there for naming flexibility really, for example i have a "Sega Mega Drive" platform as im in the UK, but i have to scrape that as "Sega Genesis" otherwise i get no metadata or artwork.

Same for me - it's a Sega Megadrive here in Australia too, but I went with 'Genesis' to avoid any potential headaches as 'NES' had already been causing some little issues by that stage. Have you found using the name 'mega drive' has been causing you any minor downstream headaches?

[neil9000]

2 minutes ago, MrStompy said:

. Have you found using the name 'mega drive' has been causing you any minor downstream headaches?

Nope, but i usually dont use themes with per system artwork as i have a few systems that they dont cover usually, like UPlay, Origin, VR Games, Arcade PC etc. When i do use a theme like that i use unified refried as it does cover more systems.