Installing a MSDOS game nightmare...

[Hiddenpalm]

I must have done something really wrong.

I'm trying to get Dune 1992 (CD version) to work.  And I have, but the problem is the game keeps disappearing from LaunchBox/BigBox. The only way to get it back is to do the "Restore Data Backup".

And this is after I kept trying to do "Import Rom Files", "Install MSDOS games", "Import MSDOS games" or whatever else I was trying to do, that must have messed up some things. At one point, over a thousand games disappeared. But I got them back. Important to note, the files never disappeared from the Windows folders, only from LB/BB.

I had another version of Dune (the small one without the voices) installed that came with the collection, I have. I don't know, maybe that caused some kind of weird conflict. Apparently it's missing from the Windows directory as if deleted, which is fine, I like the CD version better because of the audio voices and graphic improvements. But I don't remember deleting the actual file myself, unless maybe from the Audit window, when I noticed a bunch of duplicates in red, maybe from all the times, I kept trying to install it to LB/BB where I deleted a few "duplicates".

Anyhow, somehow the CD version I put in there, has all the of the media from the older one, which is cool. Its the same game. But it keeps disappearing from LB/BB and I only get it back when I do a "Restore Data Backup". And it plays! So I know it works. It does not disappear from Windows, though.

But yeah, can someone please help me make it stay on LB/BB and not disappear as soon as I turn off LB/BB?

This is my favorite MSDOS game of all time. Well I played it back in 1992 when it was on Amiga, and now in 2024 I found out there was a version that has audio voices, and now I have it. So I'm on a mission. Help!

[Hiddenpalm]

Just to add, in case the above is confusing, because this feels like a confusing situation on my end.

Right now, as I type this, Im playing the game. It works.
 

And the Retroarch saves and the in game saves still work too. The problem is once I'm done playing and turn off LaunchBox, and then restart BigBox or LaunchBox, the game disappears again, forcing me to do a LB restore.

[C-Beats]

Reported issues of games disappearing is almost always caused by one of two things:

1) You enabled an auto-hide setting and the game is now being hid (most of the time it's for games missing a certain media type)

2) You have extra files in your \\LaunchBox\Data\Platforms folder that don't belong. Backup files in this folder cause issues and need to be kept somewhere else. You should only have one file per platform in that folder.

[Hiddenpalm]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I had hide "Missing Box Front Image" enabled. Even though when Dune was showing on LB, you could see the box art. But I guess somewhere in that mess last night it wasn't really there? I don't know. But that was the problem. I went and downloaded all the art, and now it doesn't disappear anymore and shows up on BB.



I wish I knew what I did wrong initially, so I don't repeat the same problem. But the important thing is that it works. I'll also double check your second suggestion to make sure everything is in order. Thanks again!

 

[C-Beats]

11 hours ago, Hiddenpalm said:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I had hide "Missing Box Front Image" enabled. Even though when Dune was showing on LB, you could see the box art. But I guess somewhere in that mess last night it wasn't really there? I don't know. But that was the problem. I went and downloaded all the art, and now it doesn't disappear anymore and shows up on BB.



I wish I knew what I did wrong initially, so I don't repeat the same problem. But the important thing is that it works. I'll also double check your second suggestion to make sure everything is in order. Thanks again!

 

Important to note that if you use 3D Box images (not the rotatable model we create) and have one of those and NOT a front image if you're using default image groups then that item would still be hidden. That has caused some confusion like that in the past.

[RavenDarhk]

Glad you figured it out. I use eXoDOS and eXoWin3x for all my DOS and 3.1 games and I have never had any issues and they have all 3 Dune games. It integrates very well with LaunchBox although the download is one of the largest I have seen but worth it if you want Dos games.