The LaunchBox 2021 Community Poll

[faeran]

Welcome to the LaunchBox 2021 Community Poll! This the poll items was gathered from the community from multiple sources such as BitBucket and here on the community forums. This poll will help us shape the direction of our development over the course of the next while, by helping us prioritize the things you want to see most.

The Poll is Now Closed. Thank you everyone for participating in the poll. Below are the results.

 

POLL RESULTS

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1. RetroArch Integration - Easy Import Wizard with RetroArch Core Manager - (The ability to install RetroArch and download/update/manage your cores from within LaunchBox itself, stopping the need from having to install and manage cores separately. If this is successful, this would then add the foundation for future RetroArch integrations.)
2. Clean Up Media Per Platform - (The ability to clean up media on a per-platform basis, instead of only on your entire collection.)
3. Suggested/Recommended Games - (New sections in game details that would suggest other games for you based on game similarities, LaunchBox community ratings, etc.)
4. MAME Full Set Importer Controller Filters - New options to filter out games based on their control types - (Be able to filter out racing games that require a wheel, games that require too many buttons, etc.)
5. Media Download Improvements - Add a limit to how many images LaunchBox will download per image type - (Gain the ability to set a number that would limit the amount of images you would download, per image type.)
6. Allow adding games/apps to the Big Box platform category and/or platform screen - (Gain the ability to add games or applications (such as Kodi) to your main screen in Big Box.)
7. Previous/Next buttons within the LaunchBox Edit Window - (See a previous and next button within a Game's edit window.)
8. Game Time Tracking - (LaunchBox and Big Box would be able to track the time you have a certain game open. This will not track how long you've been actually playing a particular game, but only track the amount of time you have the emulator or game open after launching it.)
9. Pin-Locked Games Based On the Ratings Field - (Gain the ability to hide or lock out games based on their content ratings, eg. ESRB)
10. Itch.IO Integration - (A new import wizard option to import your Itch.IO games that are within your Itch.IO library. Please note: Not all purchases on itch.IO automatically make it to your itch.IO library.)

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Thank you again everyone for your participation, it really means a lot that you took the time to fill out the poll. Look out over the coming months as we work to implement the top items on the poll.

 

 

 

[Khaar]

I'm a bit disappointed that there is no option to vote for a proper "Year Only Release Date"-function.

[bmn001]

Please accept this write-in entry for "A Native Linux Port"

Edited July 28, 2021 by bmn001
clarification

[Hifihedgehog]

I voted for better performance out of Big Box. Right now, it is hard getting 1080p with Colorful theme (with video backgrounds enabled) running fluidly on low-end integrated graphics like Vega 3 (like on a Ryzen R1505G) or Intel HD/UHD Graphics (with 24 EUs or less). I have to aim for 720p or even 480p in some cases just for fluid operation if I want to have video backgrounds. That is my current situation with performance enhancements from (1) Process Lasso, (2) highest performance levels in the BIOS and Windows power settings, and (3) disabling or demoting prioritization on any less critical system services.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Hifihedgehog

[Archivegamer]

this is more of a Retroachievements issue but would love for it to work on more games, i pretty much only play games with an achievement system, 

[Jason Carr]

Those of you who might be interested in a new version for Android, please see here:

Also, FYI, in the slightly more distant future, this Android version should be able to be ported to native Linux, as well as eventually Windows for use on lower end devices. That's a ways off, but this is our current plan for lower end devices.

[Lordmonkus]

Just a reminder that this thread is not for feature requests. The poll items are based off feature requests submitted to the bitbucket page.

[xevidroid]

I'm a bit sad that my suggestion on bitbucket wasn't here, but I appreciate the development, I love Launchbox and I think it's in a very nice spot right now.

[Your Friendly A.I Overlord]

13 minutes ago, Lordmonkus said:

Just a reminder that this thread is not for feature requests. The poll items are based off feature requests submitted to the bitbucket page.

I don't want to be difficult about what I want to say, but I am really surprised integrated controller mapping isn't on the list. To be fair, I don't have a bitbucket account so I did not request this feature myself. But this has been requested many many times over the years (at least on the forums) and really would add to the overall usability of LaunchBox and BigBox. And to you @Lordmonkus, how many questions or assists did you have about people wanting to add controller mappers as additional apps? I mean, maybe implementing controller mapping isn't easy. But it would simplify things massively for the user. 

[Lordmonkus]

Really ? I make a post reminding people this is not the place to ask for new features and you have to go and post this ? You're lucky I didn't just delete it.

Any more posts not related to this thread will be removed.

This thread is for questions about what IS on the poll, not what IS NOT on the poll.

[JayBomb999]

There are a couple of items which remain undone from the 2019 poll that I was hoping to see on this list (better marquee configuration options, Parsec integration, etc.).  Are those feature requests being discarded completely in favor of these options?  

[Retro808]

16 minutes ago, Koroth said:

I don't want to be difficult about what I want to say, but I am really surprised integrated controller mapping isn't on the list. To be fair, I don't have a bitbucket account so I did not request this feature myself. But this has been requested many many times over the years (at least on the forums) and really would add to the overall usability of LaunchBox and BigBox. And to you @Lordmonkus, how many questions or assists did you have about people wanting to add controller mappers as additional apps? I mean, maybe implementing controller mapping isn't easy. But it would simplify things massively for the user. 

This is exactly the reason we ask that feature requests be made in our BitBucket site and not spread out randomly over forum posts and discord messgages. Attempting to gather an accurate count of a feature and how many users request it is not easy in a forum. However, on our feature request site it is as we can sort tickets in seconds by votes and search for similar items.

So those hesitant to post a proper feature request have to deal with the risk of a feature they would like to see never gaining real traction as it easily gets lost in forum posts.

NOTE:

Please keep posts in this thread related to asking questions about the items that are on the poll

[Jason Carr]

@Koroth @Daliant

Please remember that we have thousands of requests coming in. Just because you've seen something a handful of times does not mean that it's our most requested feature.

When we come up with poll items, we have to consider community requests, votes, as well as efforts to implement it. If something is requested a ton and easy to implement, of course we're gonna implement it. However, if something is incredibly difficult to implement, we may not tackle it even if it's often requested, or at least not until we feel like we can prioritize the time required to tackle it. For example, I don't feel like integrated controller mappings are really all that high up on the request list, but it's also a very time consuming undertaking. That said, part of the Retroarch integration future features that we can see tackling would be similar to that.

[Retro808]

2 minutes ago, JayBomb999 said:

There are a couple of items which remain undone from the 2019 poll that I was hoping to see on this list (better marquee configuration options, Parsec integration, etc.).  Are those feature requests being discarded completely in favor of these options?  

Those items did not actually make the cut. Only the top 20 from the 2019 poll did.

There were a couple under the top 20 that did get added only because it was an easy implementation with other upgrades.

[Jason Carr]

4 minutes ago, JayBomb999 said:

There are a couple of items which remain undone from the 2019 poll that I was hoping to see on this list (better marquee configuration options, Parsec integration, etc.).  Are those feature requests being discarded completely in favor of these options?  

Keep in mind that we may still tackle those items at some point. The fact that they are not on this poll does not mean we won't implement them. We reduced the new poll down to 10 items, instead of the 40 that was on previous poll, in an effort to ensure that new polls will come up more quickly. There will be plenty of options for the future in this regard.

Additionally, marquee features we have planned regardless of the poll results. Parsec integration, however, unfortunately is not a common request, so that one is a bit unlikely.

[DavrosKaled]

1 hour ago, bmn001 said:

Please accept this write-in entry for "A Native Linux Port"

If this needed to be a Patreon thing. I would sponsor it. I'm a Linux user who bought a lifetime BigBox license. ?

[Jason Carr]

Just now, DavrosKaled said:

If this needed to be a Patreon thing. I would sponsor it. I'm a Linux user who bought a lifetime BigBox license. ?

There aren't enough Linux users to support any kind of a Patreon thing; that's been proven over and over again by a lack of interest.

That said, please see my post above about the Android version. We do have a longer-term plan for a native Linux version, based on the Android version. However, it will be catered to lower-end devices, because the number of folks on Raspberry Pi style devices far outnumbers the number of desktop Linux users.

[Lordmonkus]

Patreon has been asked for before and the reason there is no Patreon is because Jason doesn't want LB development be governed by those with more money to throw at Jason.

[Jason Carr]

Just now, Lordmonkus said:

Patreon has been asked for before and the reason there is no Patreon is because Jason doesn't want LB development be governed by those with more money to throw at Jason.

Yes, that is also true. We've always done our best to cater to the majority, not the vocal minority or (even worse), the richest minority. That is one huge advantage to a paid app over an open source app like Retroarch, where the highest-paying users determine more of the outcome of the product.

Don't get me wrong, we love the crap out Retroarch. Open source is just open source.

[Archmage_R]

Since we can only comment on what is on the list and not suggest better options.

I would like to say that if the "Suggested games/reccomended games" feature is implemented, I will stop using launchbox if it cannot be turned off.
There is nothing I hate more than having shit "suggested" to me, I can find my own groceries/games/magazines/movies/music/books whatever, I don't need to be suggested/shown ads/be told what to watch/play/do next. 

Sorry if I sound angry, but as someone suffering from concentration problems I have a natural hatred for every pop-up/blinking avatar/slider/useless extra bit of text/images that I am currently not interested in.