malarrya Posted Thursday at 11:53 PM Posted Thursday at 11:53 PM Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition View File Version 2.0.0 of the D&D 5th Edition Platform The relaunch of the D&D 5th Edition Platform has arrived! Quite some time ago (several years in fact) I had created a 5th edition version of the D&D Platform but eventually removed it. It had too many items with no artwork, no real content, or any real collectability. It was all 5th edition related content, just very unruly and not as graphically fleshed out or robust and my D&D Manuals & Modules Platform. Once I finally finished the D&D M&M Platform I was able to refocus my efforts on this 5th Edition with the experience points to produce a much more solid platform; worthy of sitting alongside the original. I create these platforms not only for those to use in their gaming sessions but to illustrate the amazing artwork, preserve the history and mythology of D&D, and as checklists for RPG/D&D collectors. There are so many variations, limited editions, rereleases, etc. that pulling them together in one place makes it much easier to manage and perhaps helps others discover items that were previously unknown. However, that meant leaving out a lot of the old miscellaneous supplementary content and only focusing on actual official retail releases from Wizards of the Coast. I hope you like the new platform. I am sure there will be updates as I discover more items to add, mistakes in the data, and find better quality images. Thanks so much to websites like TSRArchive, RPGGeek, eBay, and Worthpoint which without these amazing sites, none of this would be possible. I must reiterate, however, that NO PDFs or Software are included with this platform. This contemporary image and data compilation is for the preservation, enjoyment, and appreciation of the mythology, artwork, history, development, and universe that is 5th Edition D&D. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS For a new installation, just extract the LaunchBox folder in the archive into the same folder where your LaunchBox installation exists. There should not be any prompts asking to overwrite any core LaunchBox files. Only images and platform data files are included. You may need to clear your image cache in LaunchBox and BigBox to see the latest images. The paths to the Game/PDF files are all now set to Z:\5th Edition\ in the D&D 5th Edition.xml, since I am currently using a network drive that contains my files. You can change this to your path by doing the following: Navigate to your \LaunchBox\Data\Platforms folder and open the Dungeons & Dragons.xml file in TEXT Editor program (such as Notepad++). Find/Replace Z:\5th Edition\ with yourpath\ - You can use a RELATIVE (no specific drive letter) path such as ..\D&D5E\ or an ABSOLUTE path such as C:\DnD5E\ Setting Up the D&D 5th Edition Platform after copying: Using your PC's Explorer/file system: Place your D&D PDFs in a folder that is at the same level as your LaunchBox directory (I use a network drive mapped to z:/D&D). See the image above on how to change that. Use FATMATCH or a similar program to rename your PDFs so they are similar to the image filenames: https://emumovies.com/files/file/227-fatmatch-file-renamer/ I've included a file named D&D 5E File Names.txt in the ZIP archive that contains all the filenames used. This may help you in renaming your files. I've also included a text file with XML code from the platforms XML named D&D 5th Edition Platform XML Snippet.txt. If you know how to edit XML, you can simply paste this in. This code snippet also contains the Platform Description that shows in the right-side display. Be sure to back up your Platforms.xml BEFORE editing. You can also right-click on the D&D 5th Edition menu icon to edit the platform them paste in the description. Selecting Platform Categories should make the D&D Platform automatically appear. If it doesn't, you can do the following: Within the LaunchBox Application Add a new Platform by selecting TOOLS ==> IMPORT ==> ROM Files Select the folder where you've stored your PDFs. In my case it's Z:\5th Edition\ If you use a folder named D&D that's at the same level as your LaunchBox folder, you'll only need to scan in a few files. This is just to get the Platform to show up. If you store your PDFs in a different named folder or at a different level then you'll have to rescan all the files. It's easier just to rename the directory. You can also FIND/REPLACE the ..\D&D\ path in the Dungeons & Dragons XML with your path. For example, if your D&D PDFs folder is c:\Emulators\Dungeons & Dragons 5E, you would need to set the <ApplicationPath>..\D&D5E\ for every game in the XML to <ApplicationPath>..\Emulators\Dungeons & Dragons 5E\ I have done this installation numerous times on different PCs to test. If you need help, please ask. I am not responsible if you mess up your LaunchBox installation Included in this archive is a 5th Edition directory that contains BAT files and LNK (shortcut files) to these BAT files. I created these a simple and seamless way to open multiple PFDs at one time. These are used to open all the books contained within a boxed set; such as the Core Rules Gift Sets or the Planescape book sets. You will likely need to edit the BAT file so the text commands point to your PDF's location. The shortcuts are used to open the BAT files so the multiple PDFs launch without showing any command prompt windows. You may need to edit the book sets images so they point to these shortcut files. I have already done this but your location may be different than what I used. These BAT and LNK files DO NOT contain any PDFs or website links. To get the 5th Edition D&D 3D images to show up do the following: Select the D&D 5th Edition menu item in LaunchBox Navigate to VIEW ==> IMAGE GROUP ==> 3D BOXES To have the PDFs Launch with the PDF reader of your choice: In LaunchBox, select ALL images that pertain to PDFs Right-click on one of the images and select EDIT. The BULK Edit window will pop up. Select EMULATOR from the Field and change the value to Adobe Acrobat. In order to launch your PDFs, you can set up Adobe Acrobat (or some other PDF Reader) as an emulator in LaunchBox. Click on the 3 horizontal lines near the top left then navigate to TOOLS ==> MANAGE ==> EMULATORS Click ADD then add Adobe Acrobat as a new emulator as seen in this image. Add D&D 5th Edition as an associated Platform for the Adobe Acrobat emulator. To have the background image in LaunchBox be the same as the Box-Front image, perform the following steps: Navigate to TOOLS ==> OPTIONS Click on Background Priorities and check the BOX-FRONT checkbox. Set the Default Background to Use Blown Up Art To get all D&D screenshot images to display for previewing, check the BOX-FRONT, BOX-BACK, BOX-3D, and BOX-SPINE checkboxes in SCREENSHOT Priorities. If you want to add a description to the main D&D Platform, do the following in LaunchBox: Open the D&D 5th Edition Platform XML Snippet.txt text file included in the ZIP archive. Right-Click on the Dungeons & Dragons Platform and select EDIT. Click on the Notes tab. Copy then Paste the text from the NOTES section of the D&D 5th Edition Platform XML Snippet.txt into the NOTES text box. Click OK SPECIAL NOTE: When installing the D&D Platform on the FREE version of LaunchBox, the LaunchBox application will automatically remove the custom filters from the D&D 5th Edition XML file. If LaunchBox is later updated to the PAID version, it will no longer show/contain the custom filters. You will need to re-extract the D&D 5th Edition XML from the ZIP archive (\LaunchBox\Data\Platforms) then overwrite the existing XML in the ..\LaunchBox\Data\Platforms directory on your local drive. This must be done while the LaunchBox application is shut down. Submitter malarrya Submitted 05/15/2025 Category Platform Media Quote
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