In Spanish

[AMV27]

When will we scrape the notes, genres, series etc... in Spanish?
Since there are millions of us who speak this language. Thank you.

[Daliant]

Nunca. Los creadores de Launchbox no quieren aceptar que existen otras lenguas con gran influencia mundial que necesitan tener su producto en dicho idioma. Se ha discutido cientos de veces y la respuesta siempre ha sido la misma. Nunca se hará.

Si quieres traducir los textos de las notas puedes seguir este tutorial: https://www.elotrolado.net/hilo_tutorial-para-poner-descripciones-de-launchbox-en-castellano_2484901

O también puedes cambiar de frontend por uno que permite el multilenguaje tanto en sus elementos de menú como en el resto de elementos.

Un saludo.

[AstroBob]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to provide some insight into this issue.

We recognize that the current implementation of the games database is far from perfect. Currently, each LaunchBox instance comes with its own local copy of the database. This design choice was made early on to allow users the flexibility to add and modify metadata offline, particularly for setups like arcade cabinets that might not have internet access.

While this has benefits, the downside is that every additional piece of metadata increases the size of the local database. Adding support for multiple languages would essentially double the database size for each language. That said, this is an issue we need to address. We’re proud of our global community and are committed to making LaunchBox as accessible as possible. However, the current games database structure doesn’t scale well, and reworking it is likely necessary to implement long-term solutions.

During our recent AMA, we mentioned that we’re approaching a point where a full rewrite may be required to resolve these limitations. The games database is a key part of this initiative, and we’re actively exploring ways to future-proof LaunchBox and make it more accessible to our community.

I totally understand this doesn’t solve the immediate issue, but I wanted to be transparent about how we view these challenges and what steps we’re considering to address them.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

[Daliant]

4 hours ago, AstroBob said:

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to provide some insight into this issue.

We recognize that the current implementation of the games database is far from perfect. Currently, each LaunchBox instance comes with its own local copy of the database. This design choice was made early on to allow users the flexibility to add and modify metadata offline, particularly for setups like arcade cabinets that might not have internet access.

While this has benefits, the downside is that every additional piece of metadata increases the size of the local database. Adding support for multiple languages would essentially double the database size for each language. That said, this is an issue we need to address. We’re proud of our global community and are committed to making LaunchBox as accessible as possible. However, the current games database structure doesn’t scale well, and reworking it is likely necessary to implement long-term solutions.

During our recent AMA, we mentioned that we’re approaching a point where a full rewrite may be required to resolve these limitations. The games database is a key part of this initiative, and we’re actively exploring ways to future-proof LaunchBox and make it more accessible to our community.

I totally understand this doesn’t solve the immediate issue, but I wanted to be transparent about how we view these challenges and what steps we’re considering to address them.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.

Hello AstroBot, I personally appreciate your explanation about the current situation of Launchbox and that at least the team recognizes that there is a problem and that future measures are being taken to solve it.

Until today, the Launchbox team has not been clear at all in this regard and the only responses that users of other languages received were like "Launchbox does not consider having other languages in its database" or "Launchbox was made to be displayed only in English".

I think that for a product to become a great, noteworthy product it needs to listen to its community, its customers and at least try to satisfy their needs as long as they are realistic.

We all know that most launchers on the market allow the scrapping of their metadata in other languages, and also allow the complete translation of their content into the user's language. If Launchbox does not allow these options, we cannot expect users to think that we have before us an engineering masterpiece, honestly.

I think that all of us users who read these types of comments from the Launchbox designers are happy to know that the problem has finally been recognized and that a solution will be attempted in the near future.

Now all that remains is for this not to be just empty words and for it to finally materialize with changes in the next versions of Launchbox. Thank you at least for paying attention to your community.

[AstroBob]

Hi @Daliant 

Thank you for your understanding. Hopefully, this helps clarify why we haven’t been able to address this in the past. As mentioned, the fundamental data structure of the Games Database presents some technical challenges that need to be resolved before we can begin exploring potential solutions. While we can’t make any promises about when or how a solution might emerge, we are actively considering our options and how best to move forward.

In short, while we recognize the demand, there are still several hurdles to overcome, and we’re being cautious about setting any expectations, but rest assured we realise this is an issue and want to ensure we're being open and transparent with our community about it

Thanks again for your understanding