13.1 Beta Thread

[faeran]

Hey everyone,

LaunchBox 13.1 beta 1 is out now with the following:

• New Premium Feature: The 3D Box Model can now be viewed full screen in both LaunchBox and Big Box
• New Premium Feature: CameraPosition binding has been added to the FlowModel control (for theme devs)
• Improvements: The 3D Box Model can now be panned by the middle mouse button in LaunchBox and the cursor keys on a keyboard, or dpad/left analog stick on a controller, in Big Box.
• Improvement: The way LaunchBox and Big Box call LEDBlinky has been improved in order to reduce apparent slowdowns when dealing with large controller boards with lots of buttons/RGB
• Fixed: The default logo rotation on the 3D Box Model
• Fixed: The appearance of some image types for EmuMovies during the Import and Download Metadata & Media Wizards
• Fixed: Images with transparency no longer render a 3D Model in Big Box's ImageView

Beta 2:

• New Premium Feature: Big Box's keyboard automation can now be used without a Hold key (which enables using a single dedicated key for keyboard automation operations)
• New Premium Feature: A new option to automatically use Big Box as the Windows Shell has been added to Options > General in Big Box. This option will allow you to avoid loading Windows features like the Start menu, taskbar, etc. and will use Big Box exclusively as the shell. This feature is not for the faint of heart, but does result in a faster and cleaner startup for arcade cabinets and home theater environments.
• Improvement: Big Box's volume bindings will now work to change the system volume when the Windows shell is changed (such as when launching Big Box directly on Windows startup instead of Explorer.exe)
• Improvement: Added setting to stop 3D models from being used in Game Details
• Improvement: Added setting to stop 3D models from being used in CoverFlow views

Beta 3:

• New Premium Feature: New options to "Hide in Big Box" have been added to platforms, platform categories, and playlists
• New Premium Feature: Jewel Case and Long Jewel Case models have been added to the 3D Models features. Platforms will automatically utilize this model where applicable with regionalized front spines available for certain platforms. It is also available as an option under the platform's 3D Model Settings in LaunchBox.
• Improvement: Support for Amiga WHDLoad filename parsing has been added to the ROM Import wizard
• Improvement: The Navigation Direction binding will now function in the system view, options view, and game details menu view (for Theme Devs)
• Fixed: Categories and playlists that contain no items will no longer appear in Big Box
• Fixed: Changing the Default Additional Application for a GOG game would sometimes launch the wrong app

Beta 6

• New Feature: A new option to automatically start applications alongside LaunchBox or Big Box has been added to LaunchBox's Options > General > Startup Applications.
• Improvement - LaunchBox Plugins can now correctly read StateManager.SelectedPlatform and are notified when a sidebar value changes (for plugin devs)
• Improvement: The jewel case 3D model has been updated to include ribs on the top, bottom, and front spines
• Fixed: Box - Full images were being used incorrectly in some models

Thanks to your willingness to help test out these betas with us.

[Retrofrogg]

Noice! Huge improvement to be able to view the 3D model boxes full screen in Launchbox. Would be amazing to be able to lock the vertical rotation when using the mouse (so we can rotate the box horizonally without it flipping about).

Only issue is I'm getting a white line at the top of the screen when viewing 3D model boxes fullscreen - but this only happens on the 4k monitor and not the 1440p one:

Edited November 28, 2022 by Retrofrogg

[Fugus]

In the current 13.0 release, one thing I noticed in BigBox, using a PS5 controller, I wasn't able to bind the right analog stick to anything.

Was going to bind it to rotating the boxart when I learned that. Went ahead and just bound the L and R buttons to rotate left and right instead.

[C-Beats]

We've made no changes to the LaunchBox grid. If you have selected 3D Box as the Image group then it would make sense to see the 3D Box Image Type being used in the grid

[C-Beats]

2 minutes ago, zugswang said:

Sorry, I am talking about the 3D box to the right (it's not showing the same box)

Previously 3D boxart was not showing correctly so I reverted back to normal boxart.

What has changed as far as 3D boxes are concerned then in this update ?

Thanks

Only change made to the models is the rotation of clear logo's on the left/right spine. You are currently using override settings for that platform, you could try disabling them or altering them to see if it helps at all. I'm not entirely sure what you're seeing as the issue though.

[C-Beats]

The image types used on 3D models hasn't changed, nor will it moving forward. The only change regarding images with transparency is that they aren't rendered on a model in a theme's image view. That view is (typically) the Box image displayed in the details area when a game is active in the games list or in the game details view. This has no bearing on the items in the wheel of the CoverFlow views (or any other view using a FlowModel)

[drw4013]

With the 13.1 beta, Box Front images with transparency still show the black 3D model in the Games list view. Is there a setting I am missing?

 

[C-Beats]

I can't tell from your image because it's cropped so heavily. Where is the model element at? In the wheel or elsewhere in the theme?

[drw4013]

5 minutes ago, C-Beats said:

I can't tell from your image because it's cropped so heavily. Where is the model element at? In the wheel or elsewhere in the theme?

Sorry, here's a full screenshot:

 

[C-Beats]

Can you clear your Big Box image cache and let me know if you still see that? If so can you post your image file so I can take a look and see if I can replicate it.

[drw4013]

27 minutes ago, C-Beats said:

Can you clear your Big Box image cache and let me know if you still see that? If so can you post your image file so I can take a look and see if I can replicate it.

No change after refreshing all images under Image Cache.  I've attached the .png image here.

 

[The Mask]

@C-BeatsThe zooming in and out of the box is working great. I still had UV issues until I started moving the box around and now it somehow fixed itself?

 

+We need the ability to be able to move the box vertically or horizontally so that when we zoom in, we can see the top and bottom instead of just the middle.

+We need box transparency settings for the 3D box only and not the lable

+When we go to edit box settings, now, the settings default to a normal box. I would like for the settings to reflect the box we are editing. For example, opening a ps2 box settings would then turn it into a normal game box. What I would like is for the settings of the box to still remain the box that we opened the settings for. That way we wouldnt have to redo the whole box from scratch.

+R3 to default the size, zoom, turn, etc. to default quickly without having to switch pages to do it.

+Ability to edit the default no image launchbox icon

+Horizontal spinning idle animation: user defined time interval in which the box should start horizontally spinning (like on 3DS) when controls to move the box are not pressed for that user defined amount of time. Not based on time idle but based on time not using the box spinning controls. That way when we navigate menus it will still rotate.

+Finally, the ability to choose which layer the box should be on (overwriting grid layering and so forth - user controlled value). That way when we zoom in, no text or graphics will still be on top of the box, for example.

 

Thanks for your hard work! This is a great feature

Edited December 3, 2022 by The Mask

[C-Beats]

On 12/3/2022 at 2:06 PM, The Mask said:

+We need the ability to be able to move the box vertically or horizontally so that when we zoom in, we can see the top and bottom instead of just the middle.

You can pan by pressing the middle mouse button and moving the box around

On 12/3/2022 at 2:06 PM, The Mask said:

+Finally, the ability to choose which layer the box should be on (overwriting grid layering and so forth - user controlled value). That way when we zoom in, no text or graphics will still be on top of the box, for example.

This is determined by the view file and would be easily editable via XAML

[The Mask]

@C-Beats"

On 12/3/2022 at 2:06 PM, The Mask said:

 

You can pan by pressing the middle mouse button and moving the box around"

Whats the controller equivalent, is it user definable? (not at pc atm)

[C-Beats]

26 minutes ago, The Mask said:

@C-Beats"

You can pan by pressing the middle mouse button and moving the box around"

Whats the controller equivalent, is it user definable? (not at pc atm)

I don't believe we have controller equivalent in LaunchBox. Big Box full screen model preview you can pan using the navigation bindings, but I don't think we have anything hard coded to do that in LaunchBox.

[The Mask]

@C-Beats

Possible to add these folders of media to be added to the themes folder but downloaded media still goes to the main lb media folders? I use to use a plugin that did this already but its now broken. Reason is that i would like to separate theme media that i create by hand from what can be downloaded. This media from the theme folder would be read first and if it doesn't exist, then it reads from the main lb/bb area of media. This way, releases can be made with custom media already attached and not overwrite media that ppl already have. This would include pics and vids. If not all, at least for gamevids/background images and platformvids/background images and can be numbered for random selected drawing by bb.

Edited December 8, 2022 by The Mask

[faeran]

Beta 2 is out with the following changes:

• New Premium Feature: Big Box's keyboard automation can now be used without a Hold key (which enables using a single dedicated key for keyboard automation operations)
• New Premium Feature: A new option to automatically use Big Box as the Windows Shell has been added to Options > General in Big Box. This option will allow you to avoid loading Windows features like the Start menu, taskbar, etc. and will use Big Box exclusively as the shell. This feature is not for the faint of heart, but does result in a faster and cleaner startup for arcade cabinets and home theater environments.
• Improvement: Big Box's volume bindings will now work to change the system volume when the Windows shell is changed (such as when launching Big Box directly on Windows startup instead of Explorer.exe)
• Improvement: Added setting to stop 3D models from being used in Game Details
• Improvement: Added setting to stop 3D models from being used in CoverFlow views

[drw4013]

New BigBox Game Detail setting to turn off 3D models in 13.2 works great. Transparency for 2D box images is working again.

One small issue when unchecking this setting and reverting to 2D images:  The "Flip Box" option in Game Details does nothing, even for games that have a "Box - Back" image.

Edited December 13, 2022 by drw4013

[exodus_cl]

really happy to see volume control fix/support when using BigBox as a shell, this has been the biggest issue on my arcade so far

[The Papaw]

Is anyone having issues with v13.2 and retro-achievements login? If I test connection in LB, it's successful, but when I launch a game it is throwing a invalid username/password error telling me to try again.

I have reset to api key and does the same thing. Am using bezels and for some reason print screens aren't working correctly

Edited December 15, 2022 by The Papaw