Blacklist Playlist

[Fursphere]

I have an idea for a new feature, but I want to flesh it out before I put in a ticket.   Something to the effect of a "blacklist"

Basically, a way to create a list of games that:

1) Can be added too while in BigBox (I played a game so bad I never want to play it again)

2) Will never be shown in BoxBox (No attract mode, no screen saver, not in any lists, not in platforms, not in other playlists, not in recommended, never under any circumstances)

Use case:

In BigBox - you cannot delete games (and sometimes even after you delete them in launchbox, they come back from the dead - see MAME below).   You can only add them to a playlist.  You can hide the playlist, but that doesn't hide the games.   So you can make a "Broken" or "To be deleted / Trash" playlist to deal with later in LaunchBox, but its just putting the problem off until later.  

Why would someone  want this?  Two reasons that I can see:

1) MAME.   You can go through MAME and remove all the games you DON'T want.  But update your set and re-import (to get the newly added titles) and all that work you did to remove the 'undesirables' is gone.  (this applies to FBNeo as well I guess)

2) Digital Hoarders.  If someone wants to keep every.damn.game under the sun, more power to them.  (I've broken myself of this, but I'm sure a lot of people still just import full sets)

Basically - if you want to exclude something from BigBox and not have the 'garbage float to the top" (this is exactly what the screen saver and/or attract mode does - displays the absolute worst titles in your collection), you can make a Blacklist playlist ("never show this in bigbox under any circumstances" playlist). 

Edited February 13 by Fursphere

[Mozzers101]

This might not be quite the solution you are looking for but I "Hide" all of my games that are below 3.5 stars and make sure that BB doesn't show hidden games - that way the only games I see in BB are the certified "good" games. I think that resolves the issue at point two. Happily be corrected of course.

3.5 stars is my own limit, you can, of course, pick your own line where "bad" games start.

[Fursphere]

I generally just delete (MAME - delete from Launchbox, other platforms delete the actual ROMs).   MAME is just stubborn due to the way its updated monthly.  

When you re-import MAME to update it - do the hidden games get un-hidden?   That's the main problem I'm trying to solve for.  The shit floating back to the top, per say.

[JoeViking245]

1 hour ago, Fursphere said:

When you re-import MAME to update it - do the hidden games get un-hidden?

It shouldn't import games already existing.  Though I'm not sure if it overwrites the existing games or skips matches.  I assume the latter.

One sure way of finding out.  Turn on the Backups feature. Exit LB (to ensure a backup is created). Start LB and re-import your new ROM set.  If it screws things up, restore your backup and go to Plan B.

 

1 hour ago, Fursphere said:

MAME is just stubborn due to the way its updated monthly. 

?  Just because it updates doesn't mean you have to.   My method is to keep my ROM set up to date then read whatsnew.txt to see if there actually are any "new" games.  Then add the 0 to 5 new games.  But also, my "curated" set in LB points to my full set folder. So any ROMs that get updated are a non-issue (as the game's ROM file [Launching section] points to the same filename).

[Fursphere]

10 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

?  Just because it updates doesn't mean you have to.   My method is to keep my ROM set up to date then read whatsnew.txt to see if there actually are any "new" games.  Then add the 0 to 5 new games.  But also, my "curated" set in LB points to my full set folder. So any ROMs that get updated are a non-issue (as the game's ROM file [Launching section] points to the same filename).

MAME has changed file names a few times over the years, but it is rare.  

If I have time this weekend I'll try the idea here.   Re-import my current full set.   "HIDE" everything that's like 3.0 or lower, then upgrade to the latest monthly, and re-import and see what happens.