Shu's LaunchBox 4K CRT build: a setup wizard that puts every system on its own old TV

[Shu]

Same Atari 2600 frame, what the emulator draws vs the same frame on Duimon's 70s HMV telly at 4K.

I've spent the last few weeks getting my LaunchBox looking right on the big 4K TV, every system on a telly or monitor from its own era, arcade games in proper cabinets, all the artwork filled in... took me days by hand, so I've turned it into a free setup wizard anyone can run.

It's on GitHub: shu2600/shus-launchbox-4k-crt-build

You point it at your own folders and it builds the LaunchBox library for you, works out which folder is which system, grabs Mega Bezel and Duimon's TV packs from their own pages, then shows one of your own games on every TV so you pick the look by clicking a picture rather than guessing preset names. It fills in covers, screenshots, 3D boxes, playlists and icons from free sources (LaunchBox DB, libretro, ArcadeDB), sets up MAME's cabinet art if you've got Lights Out, the realistic set or the Bezel Project, and there's a light mode for laptops and older cards. Fine to run again too, your favourites and play history stay put.

Pick a look using one of your own games on every TV.

Tick your systems, it finds your folders for you.

No games or BIOS included, downloaded or linked, bring your own.

Download the ZIP from GitHub and double-click setup.bat, if you haven't got Python it'll offer to install it.

Update 23 Oct (v1.2): your favourites always go top of the playlists now, cos Mr. Do! deserves better than its rating... there's a new Top 100 list per system (the arcade one's built from the Arcade Museum's lists, more systems coming) and a new step that fills in the art the others missed, it found 610 covers and 283 screenshots on my own library.

Update 22 Oct (v1.1): had the code reviewed and fixed a couple of things, the wizard tells you now if a step fails instead of saying "All done", and if a drive isn't plugged in it won't empty that system in LaunchBox.

I'm an old school web developer and coder, and I love AI... this is me using it to build what I'd have built anyway, just a lot faster.

How it's made: I built this with Anima, my own AI setup. It's a hive mind of AI agents that all share one brain, a memory I've been building for months. Anima writes and tests the code with me and can call a council of other AIs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek and more) to pick holes in it, ChatGPT's review is where the v1.1 fixes came from. I steer it, check what it does and run it all on my own setup first, 15,000+ games across 33 systems, so it gets a proper workout... there's a lot more Anima can do, more on that soon.

None of this works without Duimon, HyperspaceMadness, TheNamec, Mr. RetroLust and everyone in the credits. Still early days, so what breaks on your setup?

Built by Shu and Anima · shuhq.com

Like it? Support me on Patreon · Buy me a coffee

Edited Friday at 01:43 AM by Shu

[launchretrogirl2562]

nice job, I already have all my platforms set up with each their own bezel from duimon, thenamec, Soqueroeu and various other artists on libreto.
But it seems your tool does most (or all) of the work for users. So, well done for making it☺️

[Shu]

Thanks @launchretrogirl2562, that's exactly the idea: the work's done once and everyone gets it.

Got A Steam Deck? The Deck version now has its own thread: Shu's Steam Deck CRT Build.

Edited Tuesday at 10:19 PM by Shu

[launchretrogirl2562]

cool, i think steamdeck owners will want to try that out.
Very nice to see tools and helpers being build to make it easier for others to configure their platforms. 😊

[Shu]

Cheers, I hope people find it useful. If you've got a big 4K TV, check out the PC version too: Shu's LaunchBox 4K CRT Build.

Bizarrely, your avatar is the home screen on my phone 😄