LaunchBox 13.28 Beta Thread

[titanicisbad]

Since updating to the new version, whenever I try to add games through any platform, I receive the error message "file is not a database" and cannot proceed. The rest of Launchbox works fine and does not appear to have any kind of database issues.

[JoeViking245]

23 minutes ago, titanicisbad said:

Since updating to the new version, whenever I try to add games through any platform, I receive the error message "file is not a database" and cannot proceed. The rest of Launchbox works fine and does not appear to have any kind of database issues.

Try running: Tools < Download < Force Update Games Database Metadata... and see if that resolves it.

[titanicisbad]

2 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

Try running: Tools < Download < Force Update Games Database Metadata... and see if that resolves it.

When I do that, I get the same error, just in a different error window.

[JaredN]

And by the way, since it’s nice to point out what we like—not just what we don’t—I really love how LB/BB handles startup and shutdown now!

Thanks! 👍

Edited June 9 by JaredN

[Omifi]

This is probably a well known thing but FFmpeg crashes both Launchbox and Bigbox randomly for me. This seems to be worse now in bigbox than older versions i can barely scroll the game discovery screen for like 10 seconds until it just crashes

[Retrofrogg]

I find that the current beta often gets stuck on "loading interface" and won't open Launchbox. This happens intermittenly, maybe one out of 4 times. 

[thoraiden]

I'm not sure if this exact thing was addressed already but on Big Box I have some custom private themes running from CTC 3.3.3 and up until the beta 28 update BB was showing my videos and wheels correctly. Now its not and both the wheel images and background videos are blank/showing black screen. Is this a plugin issue that I will have to wait on and of which will be updated in the 28 beta 2 update or should I just play around with things and hope for the best? Thanks

[Rlad]

12 hours ago, thoraiden said:

I'm not sure if this exact thing was addressed already but on Big Box I have some custom private themes running from CTC 3.3.3 and up until the beta 28 update BB was showing my videos and wheels correctly. Now its not and both the wheel images and background videos are blank/showing black screen. Is this a plugin issue that I will have to wait on and of which will be updated in the 28 beta 2 update or should I just play around with things and hope for the best? Thanks

It's being worked on for beta 2

[Fursphere]

Any updates on that memory leak issue?

[faeran]

Hey guys,

Beta 2 is now available. There's quite a lot in this one, so I apologize for the dump below.

 

Release Highlights

The big change in Beta 2 is the new LaunchBox Media Engine. This is a new bundled media playback system that runs as a separate helper app alongside LaunchBox and Big Box. That separation is important: if a video or audio file causes playback trouble, the goal is for LaunchBox and Big Box themselves to remain more stable instead of being taken down with it. In everyday use, this should mean fewer crashes related to video playback, better recovery from problematic media files, and a smoother experience in media-heavy themes and views.

For users, you'll simply see it as a new option under either LaunchBox or Big Box's video playback option. To try it in LaunchBox, go to Tools > Options > General > Video Playback and select Use VLC for video playback (recommended). In Big Box, go to Options > Videos > Video Playback Engine and choose VLC (recommended). LaunchBox and Big Box have separate playback settings, so please check both if you use both. Yes, we just utilized the old VLC strings for this, and it does use a different and new version of VLC within the media engine itself for this beta.

This new engine affects the places where media matters most: video snaps, platform videos, theme videos, startup videos, background music, game music, and media-heavy Big Box views. Please test it while quickly browsing games, switching platforms, launching and exiting games, using startup videos, playing background music, and letting Big Box sit in media-rich views for a while. The goal is that you don't notice anything and things are just normal as far as you can tell. Depending on how this beta goes and the feedback we get, this is a real possible direction that we'd like to head to for the official release.

FFMPEG also went through major overhauls for this round, including both an upgrade for FFMPEG and the WPF wrapper itself. If you have time this would be a good time to compare the media engine with FFMPEG, and WMP and come to a conclusion on how each one feels to you. The only reason we offer multiple video engines is that one size doesn't fit all, each one has its pros and cons, but it would be nice to understand if one is a clear winner for you in your exact setup and why. 

LaunchBox Reader is another major addition in this beta. It's a brand new separate app, that was built in house, as a new way to open manuals, guides, and other documents from inside LaunchBox. We wanted it to have some of that old-school book/manual feel, so it includes things like 3D page turns and two-page layouts, but it still works like a modern reader with mouse, keyboard, and controller navigation. You can also choose from different layouts, like single page, two page, stacked, paginated, or continuous reading, depending on what feels best for the type of document you’re reading.

You can find the Reader settings in LaunchBox under Tools > Options > General > Reader. From there, you can pick which reader to use by default, adjust fullscreen and resume behavior, change themes and layout options, and customize keyboard and controller hotkeys. It can also remember settings, bookmarks, and where you left off for individual documents, so manuals and guides should be easier to jump back into later.

LaunchBox also has a new image grid in the Default theme, built from the ground up with performance in mind. It uses a more structured layout so large libraries can scroll and load images faster. The new grid also has options for image size, spacing, text, alignment, card backgrounds, aspect ratio, and section height. Configuration options can be opened right from the grid itself, simply right click the grid and choose Configure layout, changing the layout will update in real time. The old boxes view is still available so existing themes keep working, but it won’t get the same performance boost or the new configuration options. Custom theme devs can add the new grid to their own themes if they want to take advantage of the faster version. More information on that will be available over on our strategy guide before launch.

Big Box’s Filter / Sort menu has been overhauled to be much easier to use with a controller. You can now open one menu, choose a sort option, pick a direction, select filters, and apply everything in just a few clicks. The available filters are based on the games you’re currently viewing, so you’ll only see options that make sense for that list.

Sorting is more useful now too, with options like title, release date, date added, last played, play time, and star rating. The Default theme has also been updated with new bindings so it can better show the current sort and filter state. The Jump To menu now follows your sort choice as well. If you sort by title, you’ll get the normal A-Z index jump list. If you sort by release date, you’ll get a release-year jump list instead, so you can jump straight to a specific year.

Startup and game-launch behavior has also been improved with a new game monitor system. LaunchBox can better monitor the actual game or emulator window, allowing startup screens to close when the game appears and shutdown screens to appear when the game exits. This also includes all of our supported storefront launchers, which includes the ability to ignore the storefront's launch windows and understands which game process to actually look for.  LaunchBox and Big Box will also automatically update its game stats more reliably for you without the need to refresh the entire game details pane. All of this will make launching games feel smoother, and more reliable for capturing your play time and game progress.

 

Full Testing Info

• LaunchBox Reader - Open manuals, guides, magazines, PDFs, EPUBs, and image-based documents from LaunchBox and Big Box; try realistic page turns, different reading layouts, night mode, fit/margin settings, bookmarks, reading position resume, and keyboard/controller mappings
• Big Box Filter / Sort - In several Big Box views, open the new Filter / Sort popup with a controller and keyboard, apply filters, sort by different fields such as star rating, change direction, clear filters, and confirm navigation and game selection remain stable
• Big Box theme support for Filter / Sort - Use the default Big Box theme and at least one custom theme, then confirm sort context labels, the Filter / Sort popup, game details, and platform-specific views display correctly and remain themeable
• Game startup and shutdown screen monitoring - Launch games through direct emulators and storefronts such as Steam, Epic, EA, Amazon, GOG, and Ubisoft, then confirm startup screens close when the real game window appears, shutdown screens appear when gameplay ends, and play time/stat updates are accurate when returning
• Big Box startup videos - Test startup videos on desktop hardware and, if available, Windows handheld devices; confirm videos play reliably, hand off smoothly into Big Box, and can be skipped or completed without leaving helper windows or audio behind
• Recommended emulator choices during ROM imports - Import ROMs for platforms with more than one supported installable emulator and confirm LaunchBox offers multiple emulator choices, marks the recommended option, and installs/configures the selected emulator correctly (Sony PlayStation 1 is a good example if the DuckStation plugin has been downloaded)
• Additional Applications, Versions, and Documents - Edit a game with additional apps, alternate versions, links, and documents, confirm LaunchBox organizes them into the correct sections, and confirm Big Box shows separate Game Menu choices for Applications, Versions, and Documents when enabled
• LaunchBox Media Engine - In LaunchBox Options > Video, select VLC as the video playback engine, then test preview videos, fullscreen video playback, LaunchBox video playback, Big Box videos, and Big Box startup videos to confirm playback starts, stops, loops, resizes, and switches between games cleanly without stuck audio or leftover video windows
• LaunchBox Image Grid in the default theme - Browse a large library using the default LaunchBox theme's Image Grid, right-click the Image Grid and use Configure Layout to adjust spacing and layout options, resize the window, scroll quickly, and confirm selection highlighting and image refresh behavior remain stable; custom themes can choose to adopt the new Image Grid, but existing custom themes will continue using the previous implementation
• WebView2 browser migration - Use storefront logins, web views, achievements popups, and older themes that include browser views, then confirm pages load correctly and legacy theme browser views still work

 

Known Issues

There is a known issue in this beta related to Big Box startup screen cancellation/abort behavior while using a controller. In some cases, cancelling or interrupting the startup screen while Big Box is launching a game may cause an error or unstable startup overlay behavior. We already have a fix in progress for this and plan to include it in an upcoming beta, but for now please report any cases where the startup screen, shutdown screen, or game-launch overlay behaves unexpectedly.

 

Beta 2 Changelog

• New Feature: Added the new bundled LaunchBox Media Engine, a separate helper app designed to improve video and audio playback stability across LaunchBox and Big Box
• New Feature: Added Media Engine support for video snaps, platform videos, theme videos, startup videos, background music, and game music playback
• New Feature: Added LaunchBox Reader integration for manuals and additional documents, including Reader defaults, saved document settings, fullscreen/resume behavior, keyboard mappings, controller mappings, and external reader options
• New Feature: Added Big Box Reader settings and document reader support from Big Box menus and pause-related document workflows
• New Feature: Overhauled Big Box sorting and filtering, including new sort/filter popup behavior, sort direction support, Jump To improvements, star rating sorting, hybrid view support, and broader view compatibility
• New Feature: Added game startup process/window monitoring to improve when startup screens close and shutdown screens appear
• New Feature: Added background startup ROM auto-import handling
• New Feature: Added a multi-plugin recommended emulator installation flow
• Improvement: Split additional applications into clearer Apps, Versions, and Documents sections
• Improvement: Migrated embedded browser functionality from Chromium/CefSharp to WebView2
• Improvement: Refined media playback handling, audio fading, preview video loading, and startup video behavior
• Improvement: Improved metadata refresh resilience, validation, and diagnostics
• Improvement: Improved fast Image Grid layout controls, selection visuals, and image refresh behavior
• Improvement: Improved Game Details pane navigation responsiveness
• Improvement: Improved 3D model drag and carousel behavior
• Fixed: Big Box Jump To sort bucket issues
• Fixed: Big Box remembered platform/game view switching issues
• Fixed: LaunchBox List View double-click launch and header resizing issues
• Fixed: Legacy theme placeholder path and screenshot folder compatibility issues
• Fixed: Several import error notification and storefront startup monitoring issues
• Fixed: Additional startup/shutdown edge cases and stability issues

 

Thanks again to everyone helping test. We would especially appreciate focused testing on the new Media Engine in as many setups as possible, since it touches a lot of what makes LaunchBox and Big Box feel alive: videos, music, startup screens, themes, and browsing performance. Every report helps us make the final release smoother and more stable. Thanks everyone.

[TheNewClassics]

Really appreciate the update, love all the ideas in here. Unfortunately Big Box has become much slower and less responsive for me, whether it's on VLC or any other video player. I've also had a couple crashes in Big Box to this point. The reader seemed to also crash in Big Box.

 

The error seems to be about a calling thread and a different thread owning it. I'm also noticing I have to hit some buttons twice in Big Box for the input to take.

Edited yesterday at 02:07 AM by TheNewClassics

[faeran]

15 minutes ago, TheNewClassics said:

Really appreciate the update, love all the ideas in here. Unfortunately Big Box has become much slower and less responsive for me, whether it's on VLC or any other video player. I've also had a couple crashes in Big Box to this point. The reader seemed to also crash in Big Box.

 

The error seems to be about a calling thread and a different thread owning it. I'm also noticing I have to hit some buttons twice in Big Box for the input to take.

Sorry to hear. I'm not entirely sure why it would have less performance since the only things we did would have caused performance to slightly improve or stay level. However, if you'd like send me a PM with any logs and we'll look into it. I believe your crash in Big Box is already listed in the known issues list, so that should be solved next beta. The reader, if I had to guess, I think it requires that you have a specific version of .NET runtime installed. Instead of requiring people to have to install it, I'll bundle it in a way that the version of .NET comes with the reader, so users don't have to think about it. That should be out shortly via the manage plugins window, then we'll bundle the new version into beta 3 when that comes out.

[kobaturtle]

Same, Navigating in Launchbox is slower. When selecting a game, it can take up to 5 seconds to udapte right panel.

When switching from a system to another, every few seconds, images do not load instantly  and takes around 5 sec to load. 

FYI, Launchbox running on an SSD drive. It was very responsive until last beta with a 15kish game library

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:28 AM by kobaturtle

[faeran]

1 minute ago, kobaturtle said:

Same, Navigating in general is really slow. Sometime freezing few seconds. When switching from a system to another, every few seconds, images do not load instantly  and takes around 5 sec to load.

FYI, Launchbox running on an SSD drive. It was very responsive until last beta with a 15kish game library

 

 

It's unclear which program you are referring to here. LaunchBox?

[kobaturtle]

5 minutes ago, faeran said:

It's unclear which program you are referring to here. LaunchBox?

post updated. let me know if you need anything (log, etc...) 

[Fursphere]

Beta-2

BigBox Memory Leak is not fixed.   Still gobbles up gigabytes of memory and never gives it back.  (even after closing BigBox - requires a full reboot to clear out)   

I ran the updated VLC media player for a couple of hours without issue.  No crashes or anything.  

[Suhrvivor]

After updating to beta 2, bigbox now crashes on my main computer. never crashed on previous versions. Also, the gamepad inputs are not registered half the time, holding up or down on the gamepad is not smooth, the wheel scrolling pauses constantly.

The new pdf reader is amazing, I love it!

Edited 23 hours ago by Suhrvivor

[erdybirdy53.]

Thanks for the update however everything seems to run more sluggishly in loading thumbnails and also crashing more frequently and becoming unresponsive.

[chickenracer]

I am having the same experience with 13.28-beta-2. Performance has taken a noticiceable hit across the board. Thumbnails load slower, preview videos are sluggish, launching and exiting games takes longer, it feels less responsive overall.

I downgraded back to 13.28-beta-1. Heads up: you'll need to remove the "LaunchBox Reader" plugin first, or LaunchBox won't launch.

[faeran]

Thanks guys for providing reports, however, we'd love more information from each of you. If you are looking to help us improve the beta, we'll need some or all of this in them:

• The program you are referring to that you have tested: LaunchBox or Big Box
• Your hardware specs and OS
• What exactly you were doing in the app and how you were doing it
• Specific testing of the same scenario using all 3 video playback engines in the program you are testing in, and your performance results in whether it made a difference
• Which theme you used during testing while you were testing all 3 video playback engines, bonus points for testing multiple themes with all 3 video playback engine scenarios
• The input you were using during your testing: controller, keyboard, or mouse
• List all community plugins that you have installed
• If you had any crashes we'll need the whole crash report. If you had a hard crash to the desktop, we'll need the event logs (a lot of times it's multiple logs related to the same crash)
• Your LaunchBox and/or Big Box logs

 

We will be trying to clear up as much as we can based on your testing as quickly as we can and get a beta 3 out with those fixes.