Nixx Posted January 27 Posted January 27 (edited) ExtendDB : extend LaunchBox far beyond its limits What is it? Normally LaunchBox uses its own metadata database (the 400 MB LaunchBox.Metadata.db). ExtendDB quietly tells LaunchBox to ignore that one and read from a second, much richer database that lives next to it. On my side I host a 2.5 GB database that merges data from several sources into one, so you get more games, more images and better descriptions. It started as a proof of concept because I was a bit annoyed that LaunchBox lets you blow someone's head off with a shotgun but refuses a game just because a character shows boobs. So I thought I would simply swap their database with my own. Then things went south, I kept fixing everything that bugged me about LB, and now the plugin is packed with features. It is still in active development and not every feature is fully finished, but it has gone way past the proof of concept stage and it is starting to be usable on a daily basis. Just keep a backup of your metadata folder before you start, and ideally test on a small platform first. No drama, please 😉 For everyday use there is literally nothing to configure. Once installed, ExtendDB blends straight into LaunchBox. You browse, you download media, you play, exactly like before, except the data behind it is richer. 📥 Media download (fully integrated) Download media the normal LaunchBox way and ExtendDB feeds it from the extended sources. All game descriptions are available in several languages (en, fr, de, es, it, pt) and you can pick which one you want in the overview. It can take a while to pull everything and there is no progress bar yet for images (a console shows up for videos and manuals), so start with a small library and avoid the duplicate handling checkbox for now, it is not ready and can mess things up. ✏️ Metadata and media management Right click a game and open the editor (the label still says "Download Media", I know, it needs a rename). From there you can edit metadata for a single game or in bulk across many selected games. You can also place locks on any field or any media file. Once locked, that value survives a forced metadata update: locked fields are restored to your value after the update, and locked media files cannot be deleted. You can browse your media, change a media category or its number, and there are some advanced mass tools for the brave. The UI deserves some love and it is on the list, just not at the very top yet. 🖥️ BigBox Web (press F11) This one I am genuinely proud of. Hit F11 and you get a BigBox style frontend, even on the free version of LaunchBox, because it is not the real BigBox, it is a full rewrite in HTML. You can also open it from a browser on any device on your network, like a tablet. I built it because I dislike the way BigBox waits a couple of seconds on a selected game before showing the images. I have an NVMe drive and I want things served instantly with no artificial delay. To use a controller, disable controller support in LaunchBox first or the two will fight each other. Poster Mode is P on the keyboard and Select on the controller. 🔒 Parental control A flexible filtering system. You can filter games by their ESRB code (for example AO* for Adults Only) and show or hide whole platforms and playlists depending on the lock status. In LaunchBox and in BigBox Web the locked games are simply hidden. In the real BigBox it works a little differently: it uses the native lock system and filters the games out of the XML, so in child mode BigBox becomes essentially read only and will not save things like last played. 📦 And more A simple ROM extractor to pick a single game out of a multi rom archive, for example the Goodset or the Hackse. BigBox Web lets you choose which rom to extract and even support Hackset metadata files. An internal game database you can open in any browser at http://127.0.0.1:8080/ Some optional and experimental performance tweaks, like a Directory.GetFiles cache (you have no idea how many times LaunchBox rescans your whole folder every time you select a game) and a thumbnail fix that converts png thumbs to jpg when there is no transparency, which makes them much lighter. ✅ Recommended setup Keep your LaunchBox image directory on a regular NTFS drive and avoid running over a network share, because some features rely on NTFS specific functions. Install Everything (https://www.voidtools.com/) so the plugin can scan your media through its API instead of slow disk calls. It works without it, just slower. ⚠️ One honest warning This plugin goes well beyond what a LaunchBox plugin is normally able to do. It does not touch the LaunchBox exe itself, it taps into the way LB reads its public library and reshapes the results. In other words it is a deeply hacky plugin and a fairly complicated one, so while it is still in development, expect a few bugs. Back up your metadata, test small, and enjoy. ExtendDB.zip Edited 8 hours ago by Nixx Quote
Retrofrogg Posted January 27 Posted January 27 This sounds very interesting, but I'm not clear from the description what it is or what it does exactly! Maybe add in an ELI5? Quote
Nixx Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 My original post was quickly done before going to bed, i will rewrite it. Quote
Nixx Posted 21 hours ago Author Posted 21 hours ago Progressing, slowly, not ready for a full fledged beta but in case some of you are curious ExtendDB.zip Quote
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