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LaunchBox Changelog

What's new in LaunchBox 9.11 Beta 1

Aug 16, 2019
  • Fixed: The PrioritizedPathSelector control that is used in a number of Big Box themes has been fixed to ignore characters in titles that are invalid in the file system
  • Fixed: The LEDBlinky implementation was throwing errors if you happen to have invalid characters in game file paths
  • Fixed: When scanning for added ROMs, LaunchBox was not properly using the default emulator on the added games (was using the first emulator found for that platform instead)
  • Fixed: Potential errors when loading up empty platforms in Big Box
  • Fixed: Platforms with mismatched capitalization (Nintendo Entertainment System vs. Nintendo entertainment system) were sometimes causing games to not show up in Big Box

New in LaunchBox 9.10 (Jul 11, 2019)

  • New Feature: You can now specify platform-specific default images for boxes, 3D boxes, carts, and 3D carts. Do this under Tools > Manage Platforms in LaunchBox and add images under the respective categories. Then refresh your game images and any games with missing images will use the default images that you've specified.
  • New Feature: Game-specific custom DOSBox versions can now be used for DOSBox games, instead of always using the version of DOSBox that is built-in to LaunchBox. You can find a new field for custom DOSBox version under the DOSBox tab when editing games, and it is also available in bulk edits.
  • Improvement: New Japanese translation thanks to @k_kutsugi from the forums!
  • Improvement: Added Viking's new Colorful 4K platform videos to the platform video downloader; they are highly recommended, give them a shot and then give Viking some thanks on the forums.
  • Improvement: Added default emulator settings for Cemu, PPSSPP, and Redream
  • Improvement: The Enter key will now launch games in LaunchBox
  • Improvement: You can now bulk edit the Broken field on games
  • Improvement: When editing an emulator and making it the default emulator for a particular platform, LaunchBox will now ask you if you want to change all games in that platform to use that emulator.
  • Improvement: Double-clicking on the video in the game details sidebar in LaunchBox will now open the video fullscreen with VLC
  • Improvement: When auto-play videos is disabled in LaunchBox, the videos in the sidebar will now display a black background with a play icon instead of an empty space
  • Improvement: The Big Box startup sound should now do better at not hitching; some themes may still cause it to hitch, however, and some systems may still struggle
  • Improvement: The Add to Playlist menu on right-click in LaunchBox is now restricted to only manually-populated playlists
  • Improvement: RAM usage has been reduced in situations where the user happens to consistently have lots of images displayed in the game details sidebar (in LaunchBox)
  • Fixed: Various places in LaunchBox and Big Box were occasionally using the operating system's language/translation settings instead of the language specified in the LaunchBox options
  • Fixed: Potential threading issue with music
  • Fixed: LaunchBox was not staying on the list view after a restart for free users (the list view became available for free users when .Next was released)
  • Fixed: The LaunchBox list view was no longer sorting by the Sort Title field when clicking the column headers to sort by a particular column (it just used the Title field from that point)

New in LaunchBox 9.10 Beta 1 (Jun 19, 2019)

  • New Feature: You can now specify platform-specific default images for boxes, 3D boxes, carts, and 3D carts. Do this under Tools > Manage Platforms in LaunchBox and add images under the respective categories. Then refresh your game images and any games with missing images will use the default images that you've specified.
  • Improvement: New Japanese translation thanks to @k_kutsugi

New in LaunchBox 9.7 (Mar 29, 2019)

  • Fixed: Controller navigation issues in a few spots in the new Big Box themes manager

New in LaunchBox 9.6 Beta 1 (Mar 1, 2019)

  • Features that have already been implemented:
  • Trailer video and screenshots
  • Installing and uninstalling themes
  • Repairing themes (delete and re-install)
  • Applying themes as the main theme
  • Support links
  • Details on the developer, aspect ratio, current version, and latest version
  • Description, Credits, and Changes
  • Features that are planned:
  • Like/unlike themes
  • Apply a particular view of a theme to a particular platform
  • View screenshots of every single view available in the theme (Views tab)
  • List of installed themes with updates available
  • List of recently updated themes
  • List of newly available themes
  • Support for Startup Themes

New in LaunchBox 9.5 (Feb 14, 2019)

  • Fixed: Startup conflicts with syncing services like Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive on some systems

New in LaunchBox 9.4 Beta 1 (Jan 17, 2019)

  • Improvement: LaunchBox will no longer download images for inapplicable regions during batch imports and media download processes. This will help to save disk space and speed up the download processes. Please be sure your region priority preferences are correct in LaunchBox under Tools > Options > General > Region Priorities, as this will define what types of images are downloaded for games that have no region specified.
  • Improvement: Debug logging has been improved for media downloads and cleaning up media, now reporting the downloaded and deleted files.
  • Improvement: Debug logging can now be turned on or off under Tools > Options > Debugging in LaunchBox. Debug logs were previously available, but had to be manually turned on via the Settings.xml file.

New in LaunchBox 9.3 Beta 1 (Jan 7, 2019)

  • Improvement: Daphne emulators should now have "Hide Console Window" checked by default for better compatibility with the startup screens
  • Fixed: Rare and random null reference error when returning to LaunchBox from games
  • Fixed: Error when using the list view in LaunchBox and attempting to hide the sidebar
  • Fixed: Rare but potential null reference error auto-generating child playlists

New in LaunchBox 9.2 (Dec 21, 2018)

  • New Premium Feature: Game startup and shutdown screens are now available in LaunchBox and Big Box! They are fully themeable and are now on by default for premium users; you can disable them separately in the LaunchBox and Big Box options under Game Startup. Emulator-specific options are also available in the LaunchBox emulator settings under the Game Startup tab, as well as game-specific settings in the Startup tab of the Edit Game window. See the LaunchBoxStartupThemes folder for the theme files.
  • New Premium Feature: The new startup screens will show a progress bar while ROM archives are being extracted (if applicable)
  • New Premium Feature: The new startup screens will allow you to cancel launching the game by pressing Escape or whatever key you've bound to Back in Big Box. The Back controller button should work as well.
  • New Feature: A new "Export/Copy ROM Files from Selected Games to New Folder" option is now available under the Tools menu in LaunchBox. This is helpful, for example, if you wanted to export a particular genre playlist of ROM files to an EverDrive or similar.
  • Improvement: With the new startup screen features (assuming they are enabled) it should now be nearly impossible to start multiple instances of a game or mess up window focus by spamming buttons or keys during game launch
  • Improvement: Auto-generated playlists have been removed from the "Add to Playlist" menu option in LaunchBox in order to prevent the list from getting too unwieldy
  • Improvement: Plugins have been overhauled with better interfaces for startup processes (including the new startup screens) and accessing the new LaunchBox interface. Documentation is available here: http://pluginapi.launchbox-app.com/
  • Improvement: When LaunchBox is repopulating games or populating different games, the games lists will now fade out and disallow selecting a different game. This should both serve as a visual cue that LaunchBox is processing and also help to prevent selection confusion/misselections.
  • Fixed: Various Big Box screen positioning issues with multiple monitors that use different DPI settings

New in LaunchBox 5.3 (Oct 16, 2015)

  • New list view.
  • MAME ROM parsing.
  • Custom emulator scripting.
  • Custom keyboard mappings for Big Box.
  • Huge performance increases.
  • No learning curve.

New in LaunchBox 5.0 (Aug 13, 2015)

  • Big Box Mode home theater/game cabinet view
  • Platform management with metadata and images
  • Game video support
  • Automatic parsing of images, videos, music, and manuals from customizable folders
  • Default platform images thanks to bd000, scree, and the rest of the forums community
  • Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and French translations thanks to cyanjiang, AFaustini, and Wattoo

New in LaunchBox 4.9 (May 15, 2015)

  • released to fix a bug with the Windows game import.

New in LaunchBox 4.5 (Mar 11, 2015)

  • Well now, it’s about time, isn’t it!? LaunchBox 4.5 is here with a completely revamped import engine, including the ability to batch import MS-DOS games (and in the background, no less)! The ROM import has been much improved as well, and we’ve added a new Download Metadata and Images wizard for existing games.
  • Also notable for this release is better Retroarch support, automatic file organization on imports, and a few game controller improvements. Here’s the complete change log:
  • New game controller button options for Page Up, Page Down, Flip Box, and Play Music
  • New batch import for DOS games
  • Drag and drop ROM files or DOS games into LaunchBox to import them
  • Batch update metadata with the new Download Metadata and Images Wizard
  • LaunchBox will now automatically organize your game files on imports, if asked
  • DOSBox/ScummVM/Emulators can now be manually launched from the right-click menu
  • The controller’s Z axis (triggers) can now be used to scroll
  • Imports now happen in the background (keep using LaunchBox during the imports!)
  • Numbers sorting has been fixed
  • Retroarch command prompt windows are now hidden
  • Added default emulator settings for Retroarch and PCSX2
  • Changed the “Launch Random Game” feature to be “Select Random Game”
  • Updated the local games database from TheGamesDB.net
  • Left and right arrow keys will now move focus between the sidebar and the games view
  • Fixed search box clear button not rendering correctly when using default Windows styles

New in LaunchBox 4.4 (Jan 27, 2015)

  • Screenshots and fanart are now shown in the sidebar
  • LaunchBox can now accept input from all attached game controllers at once, if enabled
  • Added a scrollbar to the game details sidebar
  • Updated the list of ScummVM games
  • Origin custom links are now supported
  • LaunchBox will automatically minimize itself when launching games and restore itself upon exiting games, if enabled (premium)
  • All game controller buttons can now be customized (premium)
  • Close applications, return to LaunchBox, or adjust the volume from anywhere on your computer with your controller (premium)
  • Gapless box art can now be achieved; the minimum padding requirements have been removed (premium)

New in LaunchBox 4.2 (Dec 29, 2014)

  • Has a new “Manage Emulators” window
  • Automatically populates command-line parameters and other settings for many emulators (and the list will grow)
  • Provides download links for emulators if one is needed for a particular platform
  • Works properly with problem-child emulators like nullDC and Project64 1.6
  • Supports multiple platforms per emulator
  • Supports custom command-line parameters per game, platform, or emulator

New in LaunchBox 4.1 (Dec 17, 2014)

  • LaunchBox 4.1 was just released to fix a couple of bugs that were found shortly after the release of 4.0

New in LaunchBox 4.0 (Dec 16, 2014)

  • New features:
  • Game details in the right sidebar
  • A local metadata database (just in case TheGamesDB.net goes down)
  • A new search box in the toolbar
  • Improved game matching in the import processes
  • Reduced flickering throughout the application
  • In addition, LaunchBox Premium is now available with even more customization options:
  • Color themes
  • Custom saved filters
  • Custom fonts and spacing

New in LaunchBox 3.7 (Nov 10, 2014)

  • TheGamesDB.net has unfortunately been less than stable as of late, so a new way to retrieve metadata and images was crucial. We also plan to add more options for metadata and image searching in the coming months.
  • As usual, this update also significantly improves the stability of the application, and addresses a few key issues that we’ve been receiving reports on. As always, thanks to the community for the helpful feedback in making LaunchBox as easy to use and as stable as possible.

New in LaunchBox 3.6 (Nov 5, 2014)

  • The big update is finally here with version 3.6. With it comes a brand new theming engine with a dark theme, a new sidebar that makes browsing much more convenient, a new options dialog, and various stability fixes and improvements.

New in LaunchBox 3.5 (Aug 25, 2014)

  • LaunchBox 3.5 improves performance with an adjustable RAM cache and fixes a few bugs with the RAM improvements from version 3.4. There’s a new RAM Cache tab in the Options dialog which allows you to specify a specific amount of RAM to set aside for image caching.
  • The RAM Cache is of course optional, and can be turned off to revert back to the same functionality as 3.4. Be sure to upgrade, however, as a number of bugs were fixed that were causing some rare but random crashes.

New in LaunchBox 3.4 (Aug 18, 2014)

  • Drastically reduced RAM usage! LaunchBox no longer eats up large amounts of RAM for large collections, so running it along with your games should no longer be a performance issue.
  • Also included in this release is the ability to add web games to LaunchBox, as well as an option to refresh all images.

New in LaunchBox 3.3 (Aug 16, 2014)

  • Now with the ability to import and export game packages for sharing or moving games between LaunchBox libraries. Ever wanted to share your old abandonware DOS games with your friends and have them “just work”? Now you can!
  • Also new for this release is support for swapping discs in DOSBox and the option to fade background images. There are many other improvements and fixes as well, so please check out the Changelog inside LaunchBox.

New in LaunchBox 3.2 (Jul 14, 2014)

  • We’ve got some long-requested and much-needed new features in version 3.2, including the ability to edit multiple games at once, and an easy-to-use MS-DOS Game Installation Wizard which helps to install DOS games from CDs, ISOs, or folders with ease (and will even rip .bin/.cue CD image files from your discs so you don’t have to have them in the drive).
  • Other improvements include a feature to launch a random game from your collection, fixes for the various issues with the search for TheGamesDB.net, and massive performance increases. We’ve now tested collections of over 12,000 games with great success.

New in LaunchBox 3.1 (Jun 24, 2014)

  • A new fullscreen pictures viewer that lets you arrow key through all of the images for a game, a new favorite icon on the game details, and some minor fixes for a few small issues with version 3.0.
  • Also included is the ability to automatically run additional applications before or after launching a game (such as to configure controllers, mount drives, etc.).

New in LaunchBox 2.16 (Apr 30, 2014)

  • ScummVM support is here with version 2.16! Also included is a new option to remember filters between sessions and several improvements to TheGamesDB search.
  • The search has been fixed to work on machines with non-US language/number settings, and popular platform names are now converted to the official platform names on TheGamesDB in order to provide more accurate results.

New in LaunchBox 2.15 (Apr 15, 2014)

  • Added a new Sort Title field for custom sorting, modified the Steam and ROM import processes so you can keep your imported games when canceling, and rebuilt the gamepad/joystick input from the ground up using DirectX. This is proving to be much more robust, and is expected to work with any and all controllers. Please let me know if you find a controller that doesn’t work.

New in LaunchBox 2.14 (Apr 7, 2014)

  • Now with support for touchscreen devices such as the Microsoft Surface Pro. I’ve also addressed a number of minor issues, added direct links to the new Tutorial videos, and improved accessibility (keyboard input) for the new star ratings control.

New in LaunchBox 2.13 (Mar 31, 2014)

  • I’ve restructured the GUI backend to better support high-DPI environments (such as retina screens or large-font home theater systems), which makes the app look much better in those situations.
  • As for new features, I’ve added the long-requested batch ROM import, which should allow you to populate your entire collection of ROMs quickly and easily. I’ve also added star ratings for games, and fixed a few minor bugs.

New in LaunchBox 2.12 (Feb 25, 2014)

  • A quick bugfix release to resolve a couple of issues with the last release

New in LaunchBox 2.4 (Oct 23, 2013)

  • New features for this release include additional applications for games that allow you to add any number of custom commands to individual games, letter and number key navigation (quickly jump to a game by pressing the game’s first letter or number), and arranging by TheGamesDB.net ID.
  • Also included are more performance improvements, better sorting, and a fix for the D-Fend Reloaded import not always properly marking a game as a DOSBox game.

New in LaunchBox 1.1 (Sep 18, 2013)

  • New Feature: Now comes with demo versions of the original Need for Speed, WarCraft, Descent, and The Secret of Monkey Island!
  • New Feature: Added this changelog
  • New Feature: The default DOSBox configuration file can be edited by going to Tools, Edit Default DOSBox Configuration...
  • New Feature: Game, Open Game Folder... will open an Explorer window for the game's application path
  • New Feature: New notes field for games
  • New Feature: New status field for games, with sorting and filtering
  • Improvement: Added borders/shadows to games to make them look better, with the option to disable
  • Improvement: Made the graphics performance of the game boxes much faster/smoother
  • Improvement: Added accessible names to controls for better overall accessibility
  • Improvement: Added wait cursors where appropriate
  • Fixed: DOSBox startup path is now the LaunchBox application path
  • Fixed: Default DOSBox configuration file is now maintained in the LaunchBox root application path, as it is not part of the default DOSBox installation
  • Fixed: Ampersand characters (&) were not displaying in game titles and filters
  • Fixed: .COM files can now be chosen when selecting an application file
  • Fixed: DOSBox configuration files will now prompt and successfully overwrite existing files