AMA With The LaunchBox Team

[AstroBob]

Hi Folks,

The LaunchBox celebration has begun! 🎉 We have a packed agenda full of events, and you can check out the full schedule here.

As part of the week’s celebrations, we’re excited to announce an upcoming AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the LaunchBox team! 🎉 This is your chance to ask us anything you’ve been curious about—whether it’s about the development process, future features, or general gaming questions.

 

Here’s how it’s going to work:

• Between now and August 29th, you can post a question here in this thread
• Questions will be curated, and the most popular ones will be answered live on our closing stream happening on August 30th @ 5:00 PM EDT. There will also be opportunities for ad-hoc questions during all our streams throughout the week.
• For those unable to join the closing stream, a post will be added to this thread with answers to the most common questions.

 

Guidelines:

• Please limit your post to a single question.
• Please keep questions respectful and relevant to LaunchBox, its development, features, or general gaming topics.
• Please avoid troubleshooting-related questions (e.g., "I’m getting this error, can you help me?"). For those, please use the troubleshooting section on this forum or our Discord server
• While questions about feature development are welcome, please keep them constructive and avoid questions like ‘Why hasn’t this feature been implemented yet?’. Instead, consider discussing how a feature could enhance your experience or improve a specific workflow. This will help us maintain a positive and productive conversation.

 

Disclaimer:

Depending on the turnout, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to answer every single question, but we will do our best to follow up on questions that we feel would be valuable to the community.

 

We're excited to celebrate with you, and look forward to hearing your questions ⁉️

Game on! 🎮

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 🔔

Our live stream where we discussed some of these questions in detail is now available on your YouTube channel:

As promised, we're also posting a recap of answers since we weren't able to address every single question on stream. We've also grouped some questions due to similar topics.

 

 

Q: What is your stance on supporting Linux in the future? @SubRetro

We hear you loud and clear, and we understand there is strong interest in Linux support, especially from Steam Deck users and others in the Linux community.

We are actively exploring this possibility, but there are significant challenges due to the app’s foundation in Microsoft .NET and WPF, which were originally designed for Windows environments and aren’t fully compatible with Linux. Supporting Linux isn’t impossible, but it does present a large technical hurdle. It would likely require a substantial rewrite of the app from the ground up, and we have to carefully balance this effort with the need to maintain and improve the existing functionality and experience for our current users.

That said, we’re experimenting with various UI frameworks to ensure we can deliver cross-platform compatibility while preserving the powerful customization and theming options that set LaunchBox apart. We want to make sure that whatever we build for Linux—whether it’s for Steam Deck or other platforms—retains the quality and flexibility users expect, without compromising on features.

In short, Linux support is something we’re working toward, but due to the complexity of the project, we can’t commit to a specific timeline right now. Rest assured, it’s on our radar, and we’re taking steps in the right direction.

 

 

Q: Is there work being done to improve the experience for managing large collections, or do you plan to make a light version or a limited but fast Launchbox? @christhed @Retrogamer4423

We understand that managing large collections in LaunchBox, can sometimes lead to performance issues. At its core, LaunchBox is pushing the limits of its underlying technology, which is why performance can occasionally struggle with massive collections.

To explain it simply: the more games you have, the more data LaunchBox needs to load and handle simultaneously. This includes all the associated metadata, images, and other media files. Think of it like trying to carry a large pile of books—each book adds more weight, and eventually, it becomes harder to move quickly. Similarly, Big Box’s animation engine and its powerful theming capabilities, while providing lots of customization, also add complexity. If you’re using heavily detailed themes or large sets of media, it could impact performance.

It’s also important to note that performance can be subjective. What one user might experience as a performance issue could vary greatly from another based on system specs, user configurations, or expectations. For example, a high refresh rate monitor or a particularly heavy theme may cause one user to notice lag that others might not. This variation means that performance is not always a one-size-fits-all issue and can depend on many individual factors.

The good news is that we’re always working on improving performance, especially for users with large libraries. We’re constantly refining how metadata is loaded and processed, and we’re looking into ways to optimize things like loading times and responsiveness. While a full rewrite might be necessary to fully resolve these limitations, each release brings iterative improvements, and we’re committed to making things as smooth as possible for all users.

As for a lighter version of LaunchBox, it’s not currently on the roadmap, but we are constantly evaluating ways to improve performance.

 

 

Q: Is there a plan to take over theme development of the most popular themes and update them regularly? Or are there any plans to update the existing "Default" themes and appearance or provide new (official) themes in the near future? @Kefka2b @bundangdon

The default theme is deliberately simple compared to many community themes, as it’s designed to be an entry point for users and is guaranteed to work with, and showcase, our new features. A good example of this is the Game Discovery Center, which hasn’t yet been widely adopted into many popular community themes.

Realistically, we don’t have the capacity to maintain or take over multiple community themes. However, we are committed to ensuring that popular themes continue to work, even if the original developer steps away.

 

 

Q: Are there any plans to allow LaunchBox to store mapping for each of my different controllers for navigation (A on Xbox controller vs. B on switch controller) @damageinc86

We recognize the challenges posed by different controller layouts, particularly when transitioning between devices like an Xbox controller (where the “A” button is in one position) and a Switch controller (where the “B” button may occupy a similar position). These inconsistencies can make it difficult to navigate LaunchBox or Big Box fluidly, which can indeed impact the overall user experience.

That said, creating a framework to manage multiple controller profiles and remap all of their inputs in a unified way is not something on our short-term plans. The main reason is that there are already external tools that do this very well, such as reWASD and X360CE, that provide robust solutions for controller remapping at a system-wide level. These programs allow users to create consistent controller profiles that are applied not only within LaunchBox or Big Box, but also across all applications and emulators on their system. By setting up these profiles at the controller level, users can ensure that each controller behaves the same way across all programs, making the need for specific in-app navigation mappings less critical.

From our perspective, where we do feel we can make an improvement with controller mappings is within the emulators themselves, i.e configuring a controller mapping in LaunchBox, and having that be automatically applied to the emulator's configuration, negating the need for users to have to configure controllers separately via emulators.

 

 

Q:  Any considerations for expanding Launchbox to systems like Atgames Legends Ultimate? @Dolfan058

Although platforms like this are niche, we’re open to the possibility of supporting them as the user base grows. While it’s not a priority at the moment, we’ll continue to consider expanding to these systems as demand increases.

 

 

Q: Is there any way to make LaunchBox show both hardcore and regular RetroAchievement scores up top? @superdavit

RetroAchievements has introduced a lot of great functionality since we first integrated it into LaunchBox. For instance, they now offer the ability to mark games as “Beaten,” along with game-specific leaderboards and many other exciting features that enhance the overall experience.

Revisiting our RetroAchievements integration is definitely on our radar. We want to take full advantage of these new additions, and displaying both hardcore and softcore scores is certainly something that could be considered as part of this update. While we can’t give specifics on exactly which new features will be added just yet, rest assured that we plan to enhance the integration in the future to make the most of everything RetroAchievements has to offer.

 

 

Q: Are there plans to add other platforms to the database, such as J2ME, BREW, Symbian, etc.? @MrDeKat

When it comes to adding platforms, it’s something we take very seriously. Once a platform is added to the database, it is very difficult to undo it, and so it's there to stay, so we do extensive research to ensure that any system we include is accurate and relevant. Platforms like J2ME, BREW, Symbian, and others you mentioned are certainly on our radar, but we evaluate each on a case-by-case basis. We need to ensure they are distinct, properly documented, and won’t cause any issues in terms of compatibility or redundancy. Our goal is to support as many platforms as possible without compromising the integrity of the database, so while these systems could be added in the future, we carefully weigh each addition to ensure it fits well within the broader ecosystem.

 

 

Q: Will other rating systems like PEGI, CERO, etc., be implemented into the database? @TheNewClassics

Implementing additional rating systems like PEGI, CERO, and even older systems like VRC is something we’ve discussed internally. Right now, the database supports ESRB, which is primarily used in North America, but we recognize the importance of including global rating systems for a more complete experience. That said, adding these systems isn’t as simple as plugging them in — we have to carefully consider how they will be integrated into both the database and the user experience in LaunchBox.

Therefore it’s not currently a top priority. However, if we do implement additional rating systems, we want to make sure it’s done thoughtfully so that users can easily filter and view ratings based on their region or preferences without causing confusion. We love the idea of preserving and showcasing these older rating systems, so it’s something we’ll continue to keep in mind as we evolve the database.

 

 

Q: What has been the most impactful time in the development of Launchbox/BigBox in the past 11 years, and has it brought any insights? @DemmyTree

Over the last few years, LaunchBox has had a huge impact on users’ lives, both from a user’s perspective and as part of the team. Speaking from the team side, we live in a cycle of continuous releases, so the most impactful time for us is often the latest development cycle we’ve just completed (if that makes sense). What we really love is seeing how the features we create resonate with the community. Whether it’s seeing the community embrace a new feature or discovering that users have found creative ways to use it that we hadn’t even imagined, it’s incredibly rewarding to witness.

 

 

Q: Do you plan to add Encyclopedic Features, like cataloguing more websites for games, cheat codes, or game characters? @Lucoshi

We’ve definitely discussed the idea of adding more encyclopedic features to the LaunchBox Games Database, including cataloguing websites game characters, and other related media. Right now, we already have a few fields, such as YouTube and Wikipedia URLs, but we agree there’s a lot of potential to expand this further.

Adding features like tracking character appearances across games or cataloguing cheat codes is something we’re very interested in. However, implementing this would require both a robust framework on our end and strong community involvement to populate all that information. We want to make sure the data is useful and easy for the community to contribute to. It’s definitely something we’re exploring, but we’re still working on figuring out the best way to roll out these features in a way that benefits everyone.

We'd love to hear from you what specific aspects of games you'd like to see tracked alongside your game entries in LaunchBox. I know for me personally, the ability to track characters across games (i.e let me see a list of games where Cloud Strife is a playable character) would be really cool.

 

 

Q:  Is there a possibility of adding a systemwide/database-wide configuration snapshotting capability for rapid risk-free testing? @megashub

We don’t have any immediate plans to implement full snapshot-style backup procedures. Given LaunchBox’s portable nature and its existing backup functionality (which primarily focuses on metadata), we believe this provides enough coverage for most use cases.

However, a new feature coming soon will allow you to prevent emulator update checks. By right-clicking in the Manage Emulator window and selecting “Don’t check for updates,” you can control your own emulator versions without having LaunchBox manage updates for you. This can be particularly useful if you prefer to maintain emulator versions manually.

 

 

Q: Can we have something similar to the Community Theme Creator for startup themes? @Solly4Life

Although the Community Theme Creator is not managed by the LaunchBox team, we believe this functionality already exists in the Community Theme creator.

 

 

Q:  Would it be possible to have a Launchbox app for both Android and non-Android smart TVs, tablets, and phones that allows playing games via streaming? @numaluma

Currently, there are no plans for a Smart TV app. While the idea is certainly interesting, creating our own streaming solution would be a huge undertaking that's already been wonderfully solved by other companies.

There are multiple solutions that can do this already much better than we could (e.g Parsec, Moonlight), or this could be something that the community could create as a plugin for better integration, but we do not have any plans to tackle this.

 

 

Q:  Are you considering expanding official plugin offerings for more stores and services? What is Launchbox's focus going forward? @kingcricket

We are absolutely considering expanding our storefront offerings.

Although stores like Xbox Game Pass present challenges due to their closed systems, the team is working on making LaunchBox more modular through plugins. You’ve already seen this with emulators, and we envision a future where multiple storefronts could be added as plugins—both officially supported and community-created, allowing users to develop plugins for specific storefronts if needed.

This would make integrating additional storefronts much easier in the future.

 

 

Q:  Is there a way to easily export a PNG of the 3D box model with LaunchBox to use as 3D box art? @Fr33Ki77

There is currently no way to achieve this. While we appreciate Box - 3D is a popular image type, we don't have any plans to implement this kind of functionality in the near future. Sounds like a great plugin idea though.

 

 

Q: Any future MAME integration with updating the MAME version? @SubRetro

At the moment there are no immediate plans to include upgrading the Arcade platform using MAME update sets. However, if you want to fully go from one complete version to another complete version, this is currently possible using the MAME Arcade Full Set Wizard.

 

 

Q: What do you think about an initiative for synchronizing emulator saves, especially with more sync-friendly emulators? @AndrewSpec

This is something we would love to work towards. The upcoming Save Management feature, which lets LaunchBox manage and backup saves for you, is just the start of this initiative. This will start with just RetroArch, but we hope to expand functionality out to cover the most common emulators that save games in different formats (i.e memory cards or multiple files)

The long-term goal is to allow for a seamless experience where users can have multiple LaunchBox instances across devices, and switch devices without losing progress, similar to cloud save features on modern gaming platforms.

 

 

Q:  How much hard drive space does the LaunchBox Games Database take up, and is that why videos aren’t added directly to it? @Dan Patrick

That’s a great question. It’s certainly growing 😉 and never seems to get any smaller. But to clarify, space isn’t really the reason we haven’t added video downloads yet—storage is relatively affordable. The bigger challenge would be the impact on our website’s speed and performance, along with the increased costs of hosting and bandwidth.

We’re 100% committed to keeping the Games Database open and free for users. There are no ads, no throttling of connections, and no paid access. We absorb the costs of maintaining it because, as passionate gamers ourselves, we believe in the value of an open and free database that everyone can enjoy.

Any decision we make regarding the database is carefully considered. So, if we ever do move forward with supporting videos, rest assured that it will be a well-thought-out decision with plenty of preparation behind it.

 

 

Q:  Can we get "true" analogue control for wheel navigation, similar to what Hyperspin has? @PiperCalls

We understand the desire for true analogue control for wheel navigation, especially for setups using trackballs or other analogue inputs. It’s something we’ve looked into before, and while we’d love to offer smooth analogue support with adjustable sensitivity, it’s a highly complex feature that only a small portion of users would fully benefit from.

In the past, we’ve made attempts to implement this, but getting the precision and 1:1 feel took a significant amount of development time. We did get it partially working at one point, but due to other priorities and the niche demand, we weren’t able to fully commit to it. That said, we definitely recognize the value for users who have specialized setups, and it’s something that remains on our radar. If the demand continues to grow, we may revisit it down the road.

 

 

Q:  Would it be possible for Launchbox to add custom fields to platforms, like generation and region, similar to what is available for games? @Retrofrogg

We’re always looking for ways to improve custom fields, but right now, adding them for platforms isn’t on our roadmap. That said, we're very interested in the workflows people are trying to achieve with custom fields. If there’s a widespread need and an interesting use case that would benefit a majority of users, we can definitely consider it for future updates. 

[bundangdon]

Thanks a lot for the info and update on the upcoming LaunchBox celebration. Very much looking forward to it!

• Between now and August 29th, you can post a question on this topic below

(Based on the quote above) Just wondering, do we post any questions here, in this thread?

[AstroBob]

11 hours ago, bundangdon said:

(Based on the quote above) Just wondering, do we post any questions here, in this thread?

@bundangdon Yes, that's right. You can post questions here in this thread. I've updated the description to clarify that, but thanks for flagging. Happy to hear you're looking forward to the celebration, we are too! 🙌

[Kefka2b]

Thanks everyone at the Launchbox team, the best front end by far and a great community. Really looking forward to the save manager features in 13.16! 

My question is regarding Bigbox themes, is there plans to take over theme development of at least the most popular themes (Colorful 4K and 3 or 4 more for example), and update them regularly, implementing all features available in Launchbox (install/uninstall Steam games for example), and also integrating customisation options for themes directly like in emulation station (colours, button aids styles etc...), feels like Bigbox is a bit left behind and relying on users to develop themes (I'd like to learn CTC but I don't have the time).

I'd love to setup a Bigbox as shell system but it feels like I would be needing to move back and forth to Launchbox frequently.

Edited August 23 by Kefka2b

[christhed]

Here's my question  

 

From my experience Launchbox tends to have performance issues for large collections (managing the collection in Launchbox and animations in Bigbox). Could you explain what's limiting performance like i'm 5 years old ? Is there work being done to improve the experience for degenerates like me who need to have ALL THE GAMES ? Thanks !

[damageinc86]

Are there any plans to consider the Launchbox navigation keybinding and it's mapping features?  I.E., Allowing users to map launchbox navigation control sets to each one of their controllers?  This would allow people to pick up any controller and be able to use the same button (because they mapped it) to perform a navigation action, even if that face button is different (A on xbox controller vs. B on switch controller).  Navigation is one of the first usability issues that people encounter when using a program, and it would be extremely helpful for us to be able to map our navigation actions to each controller individually, regardless of what their face button labels are.

[bundangdon]

On 8/23/2024 at 10:40 AM, AstroBob said:

@bundangdon Yes, that's right. You can post questions here in this thread. I've updated the description to clarify that, but thanks for flagging. Happy to hear you're looking forward to the celebration, we are too! 🙌

@AstroBob, thanks a lot for the quick and detailed reply. Here's my question, below:

My question for the LaunchBox team is regarding the overall visual appearance and interface of both programs, LaunchBox and BigBox. Are there any plans to update the existing "Default" themes and appearance or provide some new (official) themes in the near future? Of course this is a very subjective point of view, but the current appearance is starting to look a bit outdated. Also, I can imagine the suggestion of making/customizing "one's own theme" isn't really appealing to the typical LaunchBox user for a variety of reasons. Having something new and 'fresh' to look at with both LaunchBox and BigBox would inject some new life into these (already) fantastic programs.

[Dolfan058]

Any considerations to expanding Launchbox to systems like Atgames Legends Ultimate? Currently the options there are stock or R-Cade / Legends Unchained.

Thanks for all the great work! 

[superdavit]

Question - I'm a bit of an achievement whore, so I love the old-school Retroachievements.  Is there any way to make LB show both hardcore and regular achievement scores up top?  Thanks for everything!!

[MrDeKat]

It's hard to stick with just one topic to ask. One of the things I love about Launchbox is its database. I would like to know if are there plans to add other platforms in the near future? It would be great to have information about systems like J2ME, BREW, Symbian, Gizmondo, Super Vision 8000, Amstrad PCW, dedicated handheld or other systems. And as a fan of the history of consoles and computers, also I would like to know how unknown systems (at least to me) like EACA EG2000 Color Genie, Exidy Sorcerer, Hector HRX, Jupiter ACE, Memotech MTX512, Spectravideo or Tomy Tutor were included. It has helped me to know about new systems. Thanks to all team for their great work!!

[TheNewClassics]

Thanks for doing this LB team. Question from me is will other rating systems like PEGI, CERO, etc. be implemented to the database? Including previous ones, like VRC?

[DemmyTree]

what would you say has been the most impactful time with development of launchbox / bigbox in the 11 years and has it brought any insights?

[Retrogamer4423]

Do you plan to make a light version or a limited but fast launchbox? Because launchbox is really slow compared to competitors like hyperspin batocera and coinops.

Also to find games with missing media I go to view games with missing media in launchbox. I select games with missing bokes and empty boxes are displayed. With Ctrl-a I select all of them and with Ctrl-e I want to download the boxes without images but there is no title for images or videos. I have to go through thousands of missing media manually one by one. This missing image system should be handled in a simpler way

Edited August 26 by Retrogamer4423

[Lucoshi]

Do you plan to add Encyclopedic Features like the possibility of cataloging more websites for the games like their pages on the fan wikis or the official website, cheat codes, or game Characters?

[AstroBob]

I'm going to cheat a bit 😉 adding a question to my own post, but I'm seeing this asked in so many other places, but surprisingly not here yet, so I've added it here.

The question is, what is your stance on supporting Linux in the future?

And I'm already drafting a response to my own question 😉

[megashub]

As you roll out new capabilities like the plugin system, automated emulator installs/configuration, automated game installations, folks like me who have already set everything up manually, sometimes with supportive custom scripting to make our lives easier before may find it scary to try to make big sweeping changes to their LB/BB installations now for fear of breaking things and having to spend a lot of time fixing it.
 

It would be helpful if there was some kind of systemwide/databasewide configuration snapshotting capability so changes could be rolled back cleanly and safely. I know you can back things up and restore them, but something automated and quick, single-click even, would be amazing. It would allow for rapid risk-free testing to help those of us with deeply entrenched configurations depreciate our old crufty scripting in favor of the now-standard native features. Is this a possibility?

[Solly4Life]

Can we have something similar to the community theme creator for startup themes?

[Maddoc1007]

Is Launchbox going to fix all the Assembly not found issues in visual studio, something that has ben happening for a long long long time makeing it impossible to see a visual representation of a theme in visua studio.  See below this is the default theme and its countless errors in VS.

 

[C-Beats]

52 minutes ago, Maddoc1007 said:

Is Launchbox going to fix all the Assembly not found issues in visual studio, something that has ben happening for a long long long time makeing it impossible to see a visual representation of a theme in visua studio.  See below this is the default theme and its countless errors in VS.

Because the app uses a MVVM approach to creating it's XAML (which allows for theming) even I can't use Visual Studio preview when developing UI for the application... It's one of the reasons Y2Guru's Community Theme Creator gained so much popularity. Allows you to more easily preview real time what you're doing. I will say when I create my themes I just use Visual Studio Code. Far more lightweight and since preview isn't a working thing you really only need a semi-competent text editor.

[numaluma]

It would be nice to see a Launchbox app for both, android and non-android smart TVs, tablets and phones, like Sony, TCL, LG and Samsung. The app could link to a device in the same network as the TV, to stream the games, where those could be playable via touchscreen or a Bluetooth controller. In other words, be able to access and play the launchbox collection through streaming in the local network using any device. Maybe this is already possible, I don't know.