Force a Mis-identified Game to Rescrape and Associate with Correct Game

[neostryder]

I read some forum posts on this already, but did not find a solution.  I think it would be a pretty simple fix to let end users correct what game is associated with each import in the event that the wrong game is shown by default.  For example, when I imported my Steam library, three different games were identified as 1 Moment of Time: Silentville (see attached), but only the middle one was correctly identified.  The other two are completely separate games, as shown by the application paths.  If I could right click on a game, either in audit or just in my LB library, then have an option to select game, I could then be presented either with a search box or a URL entry where I could tell the system which game that is, this would solve a big problem for me, and I suspect many others.  Is this possible?  Is there already such functionality that I have not yet found?

Thanks!

-Aaron

[faeran]

23 hours ago, neostryder said:

I read some forum posts on this already, but did not find a solution.  I think it would be a pretty simple fix to let end users correct what game is associated with each import in the event that the wrong game is shown by default.  For example, when I imported my Steam library, three different games were identified as 1 Moment of Time: Silentville (see attached), but only the middle one was correctly identified.  The other two are completely separate games, as shown by the application paths.  If I could right click on a game, either in audit or just in my LB library, then have an option to select game, I could then be presented either with a search box or a URL entry where I could tell the system which game that is, this would solve a big problem for me, and I suspect many others.  Is this possible?  Is there already such functionality that I have not yet found?

Thanks!

-Aaron

Right click and Edit a game.

In this screen, check the X next to the LaunchBox DB ID# (if it appears):

Then, type in a different title and press the Search for Metadata button that now appears in the same spot.

If you cannot find a match, it's possible the game doesn't appear in our database. You could either manually type in metadata info yourself into the fields, or see if the game needs to be added into our database. If it does need to be added to the database, you could give it a try and add it yourself if you are feeling adventurous.

[neostryder]

Oh, that's wonderful!  Thank you for explaining that!  One challenge remains, though, would it be possible to get the Steam (or other platform) identifiers (found in the Application Path field in the audit window) added to the Edit Metadata window?  Taking it a step further, when importing, is it possible that this ID could be used to improve identification of the games so we don't get false matches in the first place?  Also, do you have a scraper that can find a Steam ID and parse it for all (or most) of the needed fields to automatically create a new database entry in your system?  Just a few thoughts.  Thank you again for your help!  I got my false dupes corrected now.

[neostryder]

I'm getting the impression that the fuzzy search to match names gets pretty erratic with short names, ambiguous/common words, and perhaps numbers and punctuation.  I had trouble with the following being mismatched, among many other similar titles:

• I and Me (Steam)
• A-Men (Steam)
• Ato (Steam)
• Race (Steam)
• Alone? (Steam)
• Alone (Steam)

I have also added some entries for some that were missing.

Thanks!

[neostryder]

I found another tidbit.  When I unlink their LaunchBox DB IDs from these problem records and type the correct names in, I am finding that they often begin showing the correct box art.  Somehow, though they are matching to the wrong database records for metadata, the names are still getting them to pick up the right images.  I would be happy to talk with someone, if the developers are interested in exploring this topic further with me.

[Kenshiro3]

I did all this... it still returns the wrong/misidentified game as the only option... even after manually  clearing all info and manually entering all the correct info. The database only returns the wrong game... even when spelled verbatim with the DB entry.

[JoeViking245]

5 hours ago, Kenshiro3 said:

I did all this... it still returns the wrong/misidentified game as the only option... even after manually  clearing all info and manually entering all the correct info. The database only returns the wrong game... even when spelled verbatim with the DB entry.

Which game for which platform is it you're trying to find?  
Which game for which platform is the only option it's giving you?
Can you share a screenshot of the game's Details page you're having troubles with?

[Kenshiro3]

3 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

Which game for which platform is it you're trying to find?  
Which game for which platform is the only option it's giving you?
Can you share a screenshot of the game's Details page you're h,aving troubles with?

The game I'm trying to import from Steam is the  old Pinball game Balls of Steel. The platform is windows. The only option it gives me if I unlink the DB entry and search "Balls of Steel" is is "Blip Blop: Balls of Steel", even if I clear all other data.

Same deal with Duke Nukem II when importing it from Steam as an MS-DOS or Windows. It comes up "Duke Nukem II: The Rigel Engine Port"... and if I unlink that and try another search with Duke Nukem II or Duke Nukem 2 the only options I get are "Duke Nukem II: The Rigel Engine Port" or "Duke Nukem II: Co-Op Mod"

 This seems to be an issue with importing delisted Steam games.

Had to get around it by manually Importing the Batch Files... then manually editing the Metadata adding "Imported from Steam" to the Status Box, "Steam" to the Source in metadata  and replacing the Batch file in Launching's application Path with the appropriate 'steam://rungameid/(Insert gameid number here)' for the game I wanted.

Sadly Can't screenshot it... not without causing launchbox to completely overwriting & undoing my work around. I tried. Games got recognized as a duplicate import if I try to import them from Steam after manually adding them. So they don't show as an option, unless I tick "force import of Duplicate Games". What's more Launchbox overwrites the metadata of the manually imported games with the misidentified data If I force import duplicate games from steam duplicate, by ticking the "force import duplicate games" option... and I wind up with duplicate misidentified games... one the overrwitten entry for the game I manually added... and the other the automatically imported entry.

[JoeViking245]

45 minutes ago, Kenshiro3 said:

The game I'm trying to import from Steam is the  old Pinball game Balls of Steel. The platform is windows.

If you have LaunchBox import it for you from Steam, it should just work.

If you're manually adding the exe or a batch file, that's a little different.  If you are adding them manually, can try... when in your Windows platform, press Ctrl+N to add a new game.  Type in the title "Balls of Steel" and press enter.  You should get something like this: