How do I hide platforms and categories in big box?

[Hamburglin]

How do I hide platforms and categories so I can hide all of my consoles and arcade platforms except three of them when browsing through big box?

[sundogak]

4 hours ago, Hamburglin said:

How do I hide platforms and categories so I can hide all of my consoles and arcade platforms except three of them when browsing through big box?

You cannot hide a platform or category.  If you hide all games within that platform it won't show up in Big Box.  

[Hamburglin]

27 minutes ago, sundogak said:

You cannot hide a platform or category.  If you hide all games within that platform it won't show up in Big Box.  

Thanks but I don't want to hide all the games in the other platforms. I still want them there when I or my friends want to jump into console games. I want to be able to search for them or unhide them when big box is unlocked.

[sundogak]

30 minutes ago, Hamburglin said:

Thanks but I don't want to hide all the games in the other platforms. I still want them there when I or my friends want to jump into console games. I want to be able to search for them or unhide them when big box is unlocked.

Cannot be done currently.  It has been requested in various threads, just not enough votes to get in at this stage.  

[Hamburglin]

56 minutes ago, sundogak said:

Cannot be done currently.  It has been requested in various threads, just not enough votes to get in at this stage.  

Is there a workaround that more advanced users could attempt?

[C-Beats]

16 hours ago, Hamburglin said:

How do I hide platforms and categories so I can hide all of my consoles and arcade platforms except three of them when browsing through big box?

You can remove items from the Platform Category view. To do so go to the category, playlist, or platform you're wanting to remove inside of LaunchBox Platform Category view and then go to the parent's tab and uncheck all boxes.

[Hamburglin]

1 minute ago, C-Beats said:

You can remove items from the Platform Category view. To do so go to the category, playlist, or platform you're wanting to remove inside of LaunchBox Platform Category view and then go to the parent's tab and uncheck all boxes.

Thanks but what I want to do is remove things like NES, dreamcast, ps1. For some reason those are a platform but also a platform category and there's no waybto change it. So when I view by platform categories they are still there.

[C-Beats]

22 minutes ago, Hamburglin said:

Thanks but what I want to do is remove things like NES, dreamcast, ps1. For some reason those are a platform but also a platform category and there's no waybto change it. So when I view by platform categories they are still there.

Big Box by default opens to Platforms view, not Platform Category. You'd need to change your settings to move to that view. You CAN remove platforms from Platform Category in the latest version of Big Box. I'd have to look and see what version number that change made it in on.

[Hamburglin]

Just now, C-Beats said:

Big Box by default opens to Platforms view, not Platform Category. You'd need to change your settings to move to that view. You CAN remove platforms from Platform Category in the latest version of Big Box. I'd have to look and see what version number that change made it in on.

I understand default views. When you set it to platforms categories it shows all systems because they are all platforms and categories for some reason.

I haven't seen an option to remove platforms as platform categories and I'm in the latest beta. There is an option to show custom playlists with platforms though which is not what I need at all.

[C-Beats]

30 minutes ago, Hamburglin said:

I haven't seen an option to remove platforms as platform categories and I'm in the latest beta.

 

58 minutes ago, C-Beats said:

You can remove items from the Platform Category view. To do so go to the category, playlist, or platform you're wanting to remove inside of LaunchBox Platform Category view and then go to the parent's tab and uncheck all boxes.

 

[Hamburglin]

34 minutes ago, C-Beats said:

 

 

I didn't realize I was looking at my platforms via category in launchbox. Thanks. I was so used to it I forgot you could change.

However, my user story remains:

1. Please allow hiding of any category, platform or playlist from big box view.

I still want to see everything grouped the way I like it in launchbox.

It also seems like I have to update each playlists parent one by one. Meaning. Every. Single. Arcade playlist that was auto generated....

Edited December 19, 2022 by Hamburglin

[Hamburglin]

Shoot em ups, shooter games and sports games keep reappearing under root for platform categories no matter how many times I remove them.

[mrondemandtv]

I too would like to hide sections in big box as I have magazines and book I dont really want in big box I think the easiest way is to make a second launchbox just for big box and one that you want to use for regular launchbox was thinking about this myself not sure if that would be a useable workaround would consider trying it myself as I just removed the magazines and books at this point.

[AstroBob]

@mrondemandtv  In LaunchBox, you can hide platforms, categories, or playlists from Big Box by right-clicking on them, selecting Edit, and checking the “Hide In Big Box” option in the bottom left. This hides the platform, category, or playlist, but not the individual games.

For example, if you have a playlist with both games and magazines, hiding the magazine category won’t hide those games. However, if magazines are set as their own platform, this method can effectively hide them in most Big Box views, though they’ll still appear in searches.

To completely hide items, you can mark them as hidden and then uncheck the “Show Hidden Games” option in Big Box. Keep in mind this is a global setting, so all games marked as hidden won't be shown.

Hope that helps gives you some ideas, but depending how you have these setup it should be possible to have them harmoniously live in the same LaunchBox instance. Let me know how you get on.

[Sbaby]

On 8/13/2024 at 9:03 AM, AstroBob said:

@mrondemandtv  In LaunchBox, you can hide platforms, categories, or playlists from Big Box by right-clicking on them, selecting Edit, and checking the “Hide In Big Box” option in the bottom left. This hides the platform, category, or playlist, but not the individual games.

For example, if you have a playlist with both games and magazines, hiding the magazine category won’t hide those games. However, if magazines are set as their own platform, this method can effectively hide them in most Big Box views, though they’ll still appear in searches.

To completely hide items, you can mark them as hidden and then uncheck the “Show Hidden Games” option in Big Box. Keep in mind this is a global setting, so all games marked as hidden won't be shown.

Hope that helps gives you some ideas, but depending how you have these setup it should be possible to have them harmoniously live in the same LaunchBox instance. Let me know how you get on.

Hi! I'm trying to configure BigBox on my arcade cabinet so that, when it starts up, it only shows the Arcade platform and all its games. The idea is to create a simple and fun experience for my children and their friends, who are used to inserting a token just like in old-fashioned arcades.

I would like the other platforms and categories, such as console systems, to become visible once BigBox is unlocked. This is exactly what I can't seem to achieve.

At the moment, I've removed all the filters and I'm almost there, but I'm missing an option that allows BigBox to start up showing only one platform. Maybe there's already a way to do this and I just don't know about it, or maybe it's possible to achieve this with clever use of playlists or custom themes.

Has anyone tried something similar? I would really appreciate any help or suggestions!

Edited 22 hours ago by Sbaby

[launchretrogirl2562]

9 minutes ago, Sbaby said:

Hi! I'm trying to configure BigBox on my arcade cabinet so that, when it starts up, it only shows the Arcade platform and all its games. The idea is to create a simple and fun experience for my children and their friends, who are used to inserting a token just like in old-fashioned arcades.

I would like the other platforms and categories, such as console systems, to become visible once BigBox is unlocked. This is exactly what I can't seem to achieve.

At the moment, I've removed all the filters and I'm almost there, but I'm missing an option that allows BigBox to start up showing only one platform. Maybe there's already a way to do this and I just don't know about it, or maybe it's possible to achieve this with clever use of playlists or custom themes.

Has anyone tried something similar? I would really appreciate any help or suggestions!

Easy...either configure this in launchbox by right clicking a platform and choosing edit

Then check the box there 'hide in bigbox'

IF you have lots of platforms, it's easier and quicker to just quick edit them in notepad with REPLACE ALL

Open your platforms.xml (in the launchbox\data folder [YOURINSTALLDRIVELETTER]:\Launchbox\Data

Then find and replace the text :

 <HideInBigBox>false</HideInBigBox>

and change that for the entire platforms.xml to

 <HideInBigBox>true</HideInBigBox>

And then change only your arcade to :  <HideInBigBox>false</HideInBigBox>

 

 

[Sbaby]

15 hours ago, launchretrogirl2562 said:

Easy...either configure this in launchbox by right clicking a platform and choosing edit

Then check the box there 'hide in bigbox'

IF you have lots of platforms, it's easier and quicker to just quick edit them in notepad with REPLACE ALL

Open your platforms.xml (in the launchbox\data folder [YOURINSTALLDRIVELETTER]:\Launchbox\Data

Then find and replace the text :

 <HideInBigBox>false</HideInBigBox>

and change that for the entire platforms.xml to

 <HideInBigBox>true</HideInBigBox>

And then change only your arcade to :  <HideInBigBox>false</HideInBigBox>

 

 

Do you seriously think I don’t know how to do something that basic? Obviously I know how to do i.

The issue is something else, and you completely missed it. My request was clear: I want the platform to reappear automatically after unlocking, but that option doesn’t exist in BigBox’s “Security” settings.

The point is that I have already set up total blocking by removing all security filters, and I like that. I also like that when I unlock with the PIN, all filters and categories become visible again and the user can freely navigate between platforms and categories. So, technically, everything is already possible, except for one fundamental thing:

I would like BigBox to start directly in the Arcade games list, so that the user is forced to unlock with the PIN to access the other platforms.

At the moment, this is not possible because:

There is no security option that allows this behaviour, or

There is no way to automatically start BigBox within a specific platform view.

That is, I could display all games, which is possible, but it would defeat my intention to show only arcade games.

I know it can be done later, but I don't see how to do it at startup.

That said, I’m asking because maybe I’ve missed something, and there is a way to do it.

 

IN SHORT : 

I need to be able to view only one platform when BigBox starts up and see only those games from that platform.
I need to be able to unlock BigBox with a PIN and then see the other platforms and games.

Edited 6 hours ago by Sbaby

[launchretrogirl2562]

my apologies, I indeed did not get that from your original request 😁

If your specific feature is up until now still not available then I guess there is always the option to create a separate LB/BB with only your arcade games.
Seeing as LB/BB is portable and you already have everything set up this would be an easy job which wouldn't take more than a couple minutes.

Wouldn't be exactly as you want it to be but we make do with what we have I suppose.

You could also always submit a feature request
https://feedback.launchbox.gg/

or i think through this link : https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/new

 

[C-Beats]

1 hour ago, launchretrogirl2562 said:

or i think through this link : https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/new

Don't do it here, this is being kept alive just so we can go back and look through it if we want, otherwise this website is no longer in use and feedback should be used for reporting any issues or requesting features.

[Sbaby]

Honestly, despite the limited options available, I've managed to find alternative solutions to get everything I want. Now all I need is for the developers to add the option to launch Bigbox directly from the single-platform game list view. Considering that there are already so many other options available, I don't think adding this one would be a bad idea, don't you agree?