The distinction between metadata searches and Playlists seems... arbitrary? Is there something I'm missing?

[Mummelpuffin]

Say I want to display a series of games. The obvious method to accomplish this sort of thing is to create a new Playlist that auto-populates games based on their Series field, so long as you've actually entered that metadata. When you add a Playlist you're immediately give the opportunity to add images, OK, that's nice n' all.  

But... why though? Isn't adding an arbitrary "playlist" sort of redundant when the needed information is already there? If you just sort by Series, or anything else for that matter, Launchbox proves that it's capable of tracking and linking information together in a more elegant, data-driven way. Look, it's mashing together and sorting / adding play time and "last played" information from each individual title. Surely there's a way to hack this to do much more? Does LaunchBox really see Playlists as something different than a game's metadata? How much of this stuff is hard-coded rather than just pulled from local database entries? It's all in an SQLite file or XML, right?

 
 

With an "actual playlist" comes the ability to include a logo, banner, screenshots, and a Notes field. But those images are going in their own special Playlists folder, and if you want to include screenshots, you're likely copying images over from other folders, duplicating data that takes up significant space. Why not pull images from the images that already exist for the individual games, then just have one or two Series-specific images? Plus, if LaunchBox is capable of displaying metadata as above, why not also pull some other info from the game fields like Publisher and Developer? Of course there would be multiple entries, but typically few enough for a list to look fine (AgeTech, ASCII, Bandai Namco for instance). Would displaying other information be a function of the current Theme? Surely there's a way to do that, right?

 Then your new arbitrary Playlist isn't seen as a series, just a Playlist. Want to have a category of Playlists for different series of games? That new category, which again shouldn't need to be added given that the Series metadata field exists and is usable, goes in the... Platforms section. Can you really not have a category for things that isn't displayed as though it's a category of game platforms?  Or is some of this stuff just hard-coded?  

This little rant extends to any metadata field, hence the title. Developer, Publisher... whatever. 

This is all sort of petty and nerdy, but then what are LaunchBox users if not petty and nerdy? 

Edited 2 hours ago by Mummelpuffin

[fromlostdays]

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

But... why though? Isn't adding an arbitrary "playlist" sort of redundant when the needed information is already there? If you just sort by Series, or anything else for that matter,

Not all playlists are going to be auto generated(able) based on metadata. Think "Favorites" or "Games I played with my Father". But if you can do it that way, go for it. Its a feature, not a bug. 

 

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

Surely there's a way to hack this to do much more? Does LaunchBox really see Playlists as something different than a game's metadata?

Wut

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

 How much of this stuff is hard-coded rather than just pulled from local database entries? It's all in an SQLite file or XML, right?

 All of the metadata is stored in xmls in the data folder. 

 

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

With an "actual playlist" comes the ability to include a logo, banner, screenshots, and a Notes field. But those images are going in their own special Playlists folder, and if you want to include screenshots, you're likely copying images over from other folders, duplicating data that takes up significant space.

It takes up exactly as much space as you want it to. I created unique logos for my playlists. This is how they are used. And the notes space is a place to add information about that series that isn't in the individual games metadata. I can't see the problem here.

 

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

why not also pull some other info from the game fields like Publisher and Developer?

You can still see all the games metadata per game but you're still under the impression that all entries in a playlist have to be by the same publisher or developer.

 

1 hour ago, Mummelpuffin said:

.. Platforms section. Can you really not have a category for things that isn't displayed as though it's a category of game platforms

I have to be honest I don't fully understand what you're saying, but you're in complete control over where a playlist displays, or any games list in launchbox. Right click a playlist, for instance, go to Edit and then Parents and take it out or addit to the platforms view at your preference. Isn't hard.