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Edit: (May 16, 2025) beta version 0.0.9 Requires LB 13.19 or newer Rewritten for .NET 9 New look. New feel. Same features Except you no longer have the option to NOT import clones If clones exist in the xml, either import them as Additional Apps or import them separately (default) If updating from a previous version, replace the .dll file and delete your existing settings.xml file. Edit: (February 28, 2024) beta version 0.0.6. Fixed: Reimporting would sometimes change ROM names for existing games. Edit: (August 6, 2023) beta version 0.0.5. Parent game now included with its Additional Apps. Edit: (August 10, 2022) beta version 0.04. Fixed: Import clones as Additional Apps now works. Edit: (August 26, 2021) beta version 0.03. Now strips (regions) and (notes) from game Titles. Added notes [below] for downloading Metadata. Edit: (June 28, 2021) beta version 0.02. Now supported in LaunchBox Version 11.3 and up. This plugin will import “Custom” made MAME xml files. With this plugin, you can import games from a Custom xml file into any Platform (new or existing) and set the Emulator for the imported games to whatever you want, regardless of the Platforms default Emulator (if importing to an existing one). If you import them into a new Platform, the “Scrape As” for the Platform will be set to “Arcade”. The xml file MUST be laid out in a standard MAME Machines format. MAME’s softlist xml files are formatted differently and WILL NOT work with this plugin. (Use the other plugin) This only imports the games into LaunchBox giving them their 'proper' game Name/Title as per MAME. Use LaunchBox's built in Download Metadata and Media Wizard to get you game data, images and videos. You'll also need to setup any required Custom Command Line Parameters for your Emulators (i.e. DEmul - for Naomi needs "-run=naomi -rom= ") History Years ago I imported a personally ‘curated’ set of MAME roms into LB/BB. This left out a lot of games available in MAME Including clones and games (partially or otherwise) unplayable in MAME. Including Sega Model 2/3, and Naomi. I keep this “personally curated set” in my D:\LaunchBox\Games\Arcade folder. I have also keep a Full (non-merged) set updated on my backup drive. Thought being, keep the games available in LaunchBox, “inside” LaunchBox while maintaining my full set elsewhere. As time went on and my Cab and I ‘matured’, I discovered SuperModel and DEmul. Great! But I can’t even create Playlists because these games aren’t ‘pre-existing’ in LB. So now it’s just a matter of getting those roms from the full set into LB/BB. That’s where this plugin comes into play. Using the plugin Download and unblock the zip. Copy the folder inside the zip into your ../LaunchBox/Plugins folder. i.e. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\ImportMAMExml\MAMExmlImporter.dll Start LaunchBox. Select Tools, MAME xml Importer beta 0.03 The process should be fairly intuitive by just going through the Import Wizard. Select the folder where your Custom xml files are located. Select an xml. Choose a Platform (new or existing). Select your Emulator. Filter the clones (Import: All, as additional apps, none). Select the roms’ source folder (if copying them). Select the roms’ destination folder (required to set the launch path for the games). Select Copy & Import or Import Only. Downloading Metadata Right click on the new Platform and select “Edit”. Make sure the Scrape As: is set to “Arcade” and then click “OK”. Click on one of the games, then press CTRL+A to select all games. Now click Tools and select Download Metadata and Media and follow the prompts. Be sure to check the box for: Search for game information and media from the LaunchBox Games Database (recommended). I recommend at this point to not download Media. [just to make sure all goes well with getting the metadata] Click on Select None when prompted (again if you have an EmuMovies account). Click Yes, download and replace all existing metadata and media. Then click Finish. Creating your own Custom xml I imagine there are many different ways to do this and even places to download them. Here’s 2 methods to create your own Custom xml. In MAME itself: You’ll need the “driver.ini” file which you can get from http://www.progettosnaps.net/renameset/. Click on “category.ini (0.22x)” to download. Inside the zip file, copy the “folders” folder into your D:\MAME\ini directory. D:\emulators\MAME\ini\folders\ You may need to add ;ini\folders to your “mame.ini”, “inipath” line. (?) # # CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS # homepath . rompath roms hashpath hash samplepath samples artpath artwork ctrlrpath ctrlr inipath ini;ini/folders Open MAME and click “Category” [on the left pane]. Now select “File <driver.ini>”. Under “Group” select the driver you want to sort by and then “Return to Previous Menu” You’ll now see only the games (56 in this case) for this particular driver. Now click the yellow floppy disk at top [“Export displayed list to a file”] and double click “Export list in XML format (like –listxml, but exclude devices)”. Your “Custom” xml will be saved to D:\emulators\MAME\ui\exported.xml. If you do more than one, they will be named “exported_0000.xml”, “exported_0001.xml” and so on. Tip: If you want to expand you sort filters, instead of “Category” select “Custom Filter” (selecting the File and Group as one of your filters). Using the Arcade Database website: http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/default.php Click “Machines” “Additional Filters” “Driver” tab Under “Source File”, type in the driver you want to filter by. Click Search. You’ll now be seeing just the games for that driver/source file. Now click “Options” and select “Export the results”. Give it a Title. Click “MAME (xml)” and click “Export”. Your file is now downloaded. Tip: Look through the other tabs for more filter options. I don't know if this is practical or even useful for anyone else. Or if there's already an easier way to do it. But it was fun to make AND it works. At least it does on my cab. If you decide to try it and have any thoughts, suggestion or whatever (good, bad or indifferent), ... leave a post letting me know. For LaunchBox version 13.3 through 13.18 ImportMAMExml-beta-06a.zip For LaunchBox version 13.19+ MAMExmlImporter (beta-0.0.9).7z

MAME (Arcade) - What's New View File See what new Arcade machines (games) were added for a specific MAME release. Import some or all of those games from your updated MAME ROM set, into your LaunchBox collection. The intent of this plugin is to be able to see what new Arcade machines were added in the latest release of MAME. Then, along with your updated ROM set, provide a means of importing just those new machines into your LaunchBox collection without having to reimport the entire set or attempting to Scan for Added ROMs (which doesn't really work with the Arcade platform anyway). Features: See what new Arcade (ONLY) games were added specific MAME release Hyperlink to Arcade Games Database site for selected game Filter games by Status (Good, Imperfect, Preliminary) Import the new games (from your updated MAME ROM set) (Optional) Add an Additional Application direct link to the Arcade Database for the game A huge and special thanks to motoschifo and his Arcade Database (ADB) website! All data used comes direct from the Arcade Database and is what makes this plugin possible. http://adb.arcadeitalia.net Prerequisites: Requires LaunchBox version 13.19 or newer. Nothing else if you only wish to see what new games were added. If you wish to import the new games An updated MAME romset [containing those ROMs] Installing: Copy the contents of the zip file into your /Plugins/ folder e.g. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\MAMEarcadeWhatsNew\MAMEarcadeWhatsNew.dll Using: In LaunchBox, go to Tools and select MAME (Arcade) What's New The plugin will attempt to find your MAME emulator If found, the MAME Revision field will populate with your MAME's version and populate the games for that revision To see new games that were added in a different release Change the number in the MAME Revision field Must be formatted 0.xxx e.g. 0.281 Press Enter Un-check/check the Show Status checkboxes to see only ROMs with those status(es) Click a ROM to see brief details about that game Click the Arcade Database logo to navigate to that game on ADB Existing: as seen below the game details refers to, if the game exists anywhere in your collection. Checks across ALL games in ALL platforms (by ROM filename). Below it will show the platform it is in (if "existing") This is useful if you're checking previous releases for that hidden gem you didn't know you were missing Importing: If you've updated your MAME set, you can import the new ROMs into your collection. All new ROMs shown will be imported. You can multi-select games to add just those games selected. If you wish to import just a single game, close the plugin. Then in LaunchBox, press Ctrl+N to add a new game. Click Add Games Select a platform (Arcade is set by default if exists) (optional) Un-Check Use Platforms Default Emulator Select an emulator to assign to the games being imported from the dropdown list Select the folder containing your ROMs (default is the folder your game files are in for the selected platform) If you keep a curated set separate from your MAME fullset, you can select the folder your fullset is in. Then after importing, have LaunchBox copy the ROMs and reset the game ROM path. **(see more below) If you've already placed your new ROMs in your curated set folder, select that. (Optional) Check the box Add link to ADB as Additional App Click Import Games Importing Notes: Games already existing (based on ROM filename) in the platform (step 2) will not be imported Games whose ROM file doesn't exist (step 4) will not be imported After import, a report will show the # of games added and/or skipped Anything in the games Title that is in (parenthesis) will get moved to the games Version field e.g. "Hacha Mecha Fighter (bootleg with Raiden sounds)" Game Title will be saved as "Hacha Mecha Fighter" Game Version will be set to "(bootleg with Raiden sounds)" (Optional) Add an Additional Application direct link to the Arcade Database for the game This will appear as an "Arcade Database" clickable link in the Game Details section (except for LaunchBox version 13.24). Game data set when importing: Title Platform ROMs application path Date Added/Modified Associated Emulator Version (if available) Getting Metadata and Images: After importing, in LaunchBox select all the newly added games Hint: Click Arrange By and select Date Added. Select the 1st new game. Hold down Shift then click the last, new game. Go to Tools - Download - Update Metadata and Media for selected games When asked "Would you like to update games with existing metadata and/or media?" Select "Yes, but do not replace and existing fields and media" Selecting otherwise will remove the Version data (if exists) Metadata Notes: If importing from the latest MAME revision, when you go to Download/Update metadata, the game(s) may not be found. ** Copying the new imported games ROM files to a different ("curated") folder: To Copy the ROMs and reassign their location (as seen by LaunchBox)... After importing, (in LaunchBox) select the newly added games Copying: Go to Tools - File Management and select Export ROM Files from Selected Games to New Folder Have LaunchBox copy the ROMs to the Folder your curated set is in Reassigning: With those games still selected, go to Tools - File Management and select Change Roms Folder Path for Selected Games Change to the Folder your curated set is in Plugin Updates: If an Update for this plugin has been released on the forums, - The Info/Support icon will flash red. - Click the Info/Support icon, then click the Update Available button. This will open the plugins download page in your default browser. Again, a big thanks to the Arcade Database and all its contributors! As always, all thoughts, views, suggestions, comments and accolades are welcome. Submitter JoeViking245 Submitted 10/30/2025 Category Third-party Apps and Plugins  

Hi, I have an annoying problem. When I import games from Steam, Epic, EA or similar, some games are not found in the LaunchBox database. But these games are in the database. As soon as I empty the application path, LaunchBox finds the game in the database. Example: Steam: Armor Of Heroes Path steam://rungameid/1368440 LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars steam://rungameid/32510 I have already reinstalled LaunchBox. Unfortunately with the same problem. I have 130 Steam games alone that were not recognized. If possible, I don't want to edit them all again by hand. Does anyone have a solution? Thank you. Edit: I am using the newest version

When try to import WiiU ROMs in Loadiine format, I found that Launchbox list every single files in the game folder. How can I tell Launchbox to import *.rpx files ONLY? I didn't found such settings. Example: importing two games: Mario Kart 8 and Xenoblade Chronicles X This is what happened when I try to import ROMs using `Scan for Added ROMs`, there're only 2 roms, but launchbox listed like 25k files, the window freeze for 5+ seconds if I try to select and delete some of them. I mean, seriously? Launchbox even list *.tga, *.h264, *.svg, *.url, *.xml files. I don't know there were WiiU games in *.url format, amazing, can I play it with my Firefox? I know I can import from files instead but `Scan ROMs` is much better if it has a file type filter: 1. `Scan for Added ROMs`with filter - Simply click, click `Next` 3 times then we arrived the Ready to Import window, since there're only *.rpx files we can click Finish immediately. - Done, we finished importing for newly added ROMs in 4 simple clicks gracefully 2. `Scan for Added ROMs`without filter - Simply click, click `Next` 3 times then ....then window freeze for 10+ seconds, then we arrived the Ready to Import window - Ok we need to delete everything except *.rpx files, which means you need to found those *.rpx files out in 25k+ files, and each action (select/delete) freeze the window for 5+ seconds - After few freezes we finished importing for 2 new ROMs. I can tell you it will be {5 * roms} seconds of freeze before the Ready window showing, {15k * roms} files listed in the Ready window. Good luck filtering manually. 3. Import from files - Choose add files, then navigate to the deep path where you store your roms because Launchbox can't remember what the folder was last time - Type *.rpx in the right top corner and try to figure out which one is the newly added ROM because game name & rpx file name are usually different and unrelated. - Choose what platform the game is, again - Choose what emulator it use, again - Choose dont-move-my-roms option, again - Click `Next` 4 times then wow, finally we arrived the Ready to Import window - Done. But next time you added a ROM, you need to repeat all the steps above, AGAIN. Every SINGLE time. That's extreme tedious and annoying. So I hope there're filters before Launchbox list all unrelated files. Wildcard, regex, autohotkey script or whatever, better than nothing.

This feature really works weird when working with Windows Shortcuts. aka lnk files. It's something i have never had issues within using emulation station or Batocera frontends where it is straight forward to use. different issues with auto import using Launchbox13.22 beta 1 First time lnk files showed up as games using auto import feature. and scraping started like it was expected, after issues starts to come All games required an emulator even though i have set the platform to be windows. (workaround was to use bulk update and remove emulator for all games) Adding new games with lnk, suddenly stops to work. (Workaround manual run search for new roms for platform) Renaming a lnk file. does not create a new entry. (Workaround Create a custom script to parse the xml and remove entry where lnk not exist in path. and then manual update rom folder) Removing a lnk file, Entry still exist. and running check for removed roms, does not do anything (Workaround, create custom script to remove entry.) It feels like there is a problem with the way Lauchbox detects changes to a folder. And for the removal it might require a specific feature for auto removing games that does not exist anymore. but i at least expected it to remove entries when running "scan for removed roms"

Have Wi U roms on mapped SMB share and they are not auto importing new roms. This was true with v20 as well as with current v21. Running manual scan works in both versions. Just reporting.

XBLA Shortcut Generator View File Create shortcut from XBLA file. So that would help to import games into Launchbox or launch game directly from shortcut. Shortcut is base on the root folder name (any underscore will be remove, helps to grab metadata in launchbox) emulator execute path, rom and arguement will be embed into shortcut file. it only create the shortcut from base game (not included title update and DLC. Those file need to copy to xenia's content folder manually.) Submitter Press Start Button Submitted 03/18/2023 Category Third-party Apps and Plugins  

Hi guys, I just bought Launchbox yesterday, It was a bit problematic setting it up to work with my retroarch installation (problem was that I had checked to unpack zipped files first, wasn't necessary and gave me lot of crashes). My Problem now: I have snaps video files in a directory for the roms (they have same name as the zipped roms), now I want to associate these files to corresponding Roms now catalogued by Launchbox. When I do a Mass Editing and choose video path, I cannot mass change that, it actually let me choose the directory and single files not just the directory and let it find the file by itself. Any help to solve this would be useful. Thanks.

Okay.... I'm loving this app a lot. Even paid for it. How can I easily delete either from the actual app (like many at once by sending). Or through the file directory and they will be removed from my list in launchbox. I downloaded a Sega Genesis rom mega and I'm fairly new to retro gaming. I didn't realize how large it actually is. But added the WHOLE thing and then had launchbox scan. And holy cow! I need to delete a lot. I tried to go into file manager and delete there (which is not easy, not knowing the actual full title or box image) but when I go back into launchbox... They are still listed. I'm actually doing this stuff for me and my 6 year old boy. I would even be happy to delete all and clear the the whole thing under consoles. But not sure how to get it all out of launchbox.

Why when I import my mames from a directory... It shows me the games I'm adding.... No problem. But when I go to view the games, it says I have exceeded the amount I can list and I go and there are a ton of games listed I don't have. And none of them are even playable. How do I just add the ones I have and not the others?

My old PC died, but I had everything backed up to an external. On the new PC, I immediately went to "FILE MANAGEMENT > RESTORE DATA BACKUP" which is great, as everything is in place, my Playlists are there, etc. However, nothing is connected, which makes sense, since everything is in a new location. What is the best way to go about reconnecting stuff? I can't just dump everything from the backup harddrive to my new C:\ as it's only 500 GB SSD. So it seems I'll have to go system-by-system, which is totally fine. I just want all my hard work organizing this preserved. THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!!!

Getting this error when importing a full MAME set (.249). This is on version 12.16. Launchbox won't even let me import this set at all. Tried multiple times. Debug logs attached. Debug 2022-10-28 09-07-26 PM.log

Hello I received the following error message when trying to import Epic games... This comes after I have entered code from authenticator app. I tried a few times to ensure code was correct, but issue persist. How can I fix this please? Thank you

Hi! I'm completely new to LaunchBox and I'm having some trouble with importing my steam games. I have made sure my profile is public and I've typed my id correctly, I even tested importing from a friends account and it still won't work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In the games database (https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/), the total number of games for each platform must be indicated. I think it's something important that should be seen. Likewise, when you import roms from LaunchBox it should tell you how many games you are importing before hitting the accept button.

I was running into a problem where Amazon games I added through the importer would launch the Amazon games app as well. This was fine until you exit the game and the app would be on top of BigBox. I was able to get around this by editing the application path to the game exe directly. This solved my issue but I was wondering if I missed something when I imported these games or if it was just an api thing. Thanks for any feedback and hope this help solve this issue for another.

Hello all! I just did a big update to all my MAME files for the first time in a while and I am unsure of how I go about getting "new" games to show up in LaunchBox. There have been a few new games added to MAME since I first imported everything, and I was wondering how to get LaunchBox to show them. Do I just import everything again like it's the first time ever? Also is there a way to make LaunchBox auto-sync so it automatically adds new games it finds in my C:\MAME\ROMS folder? I also for the first time downloaded the Software List set which is for console games like NES, SNES, Sega Master System, etc. These will all be running in MAME but I do not want any of those ROMs to show up in the "Arcade" menu. I would like them to be separated by individual consoles, even though they are all being played through MAME. Is there any way to do that? Finally I am seeing a lot mentioned in regards to a mame.xml file and how it gets updated, and I just downloaded the newest version of groovyMAME and there is no mame.xml file in there. From what I understand, LaunchBox requires an updated MAME.XML in order to import properly. Where do I obtain this normally? Like I said there was no mame.xml in the mame download zip I just got. Thanks so much in advance!

This is extremely frustrating. It does the same thing with Epic, but if I click around for a while I'm able to make it work with Epic, but I've been trying to import Microsoft games for 30 minutes with no luck, just a blank screen. What am I supposed to do here? Can someone help me please?

I was adding some steam games last night and one of them kept giving me the error "Could not import game "": An item with the same key has already been added. " The game was Nights of Azure 2, and I did have the previous game, but I didn't have the game already synced. I'm not sure what is causing it, or what to do to fix it. I found kind of a work around by just adding it manually and directing it to the link in the steam file, but that is not a very clean solution as the steam menu pops up and then the game screen is tiny unlike the others that open full screen, and the screen that pops up asks me if i want to start the game, as in start the booting into the game process, this is very clunky and annoying, but it's the best I could do. I'm hoping that someone can help me fix this problem and get it working correctly, or if i will just keep getting this era every time i sync a new steam game, unless i scroll through and uncheck it. any help would be very much appreciated. ?

Hello! I started setting up LB for the first time this week, and all but two of my systems have imported as expected. After I import Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum the copying of files and scanning for metadata goes as expected, but the platform is never created. I don't see them on my platform list or when I go to Manage Platforms. All the games are in my LaunchBox/Games folder for the respective platforms but there is no evidence of the platform in LB's UI. I have not allowed all of the metadata and images to download completely as I am importing several platforms and don't want to wait that long, could that be what is causing the issue? Like I said, these are the only two platforms I am having issues with, but I have not allowed any platform to fully download metadata and images yet. In my source folder for the ZX Spectrum roms each game has a folder of 5-6 individual flies but when I import to LB all files seem to get mixed up into a single folder. Does this mean that each file for each game is being recognized as it's own game? Do I need to convert each game folder to a single file of some sort before I import? Is there a way to tell LB to recognize each folder as a single game instead of each file? I have several filetypes in my Sinclair ZX Spectrum Games folder in the LB Games folder. .$b .asm .dsk .fdi .jsw .mgt .rom .scl .sna .tap .trd .tzx .z80 .zxs All of my C64 files are .tap. I have already ensured that I have a core loaded in Retroarch as the emulator for both of these platforms. Any help you can offer would be extremely appreciated!

having issues when uploading my PSP ROM's to launchbox where its not differentiating between the files internals and the actual game therefore not uploading the game properly. any help with this?

I've been trying to import my steam games in launchbox but I keep on getting this error message: " Your account could not be accessed " . I've done it many times on other pcs and never got this problem... I've tried it 10 minutes ago on my laptop and it worked fine i imported all my games. The problem occurs only on one of my pcs. I need help please.

When Importing modern games and downloadable content add-ons I'm having a problem in which Launch box is unable to recognize DLC and group it with the games that they belong with, instead it imports DLC as separate games (DLC shows no data or pictures, games do). The files that I have for the X360 XBLA (Xbox 360 Live Arcade) don't have file extensions, so that may make it harder for LaunchBox to import the content properly. I also thought my issue might be caused by having different file names of games and DLC. Is there a proper format for DLC? This is an example of how I have mine labeled now: "3D Ultra Mini Golf 2 [258410A3B] Fairy Tales Map Pack (DLC)". Perhaps the title of the DLC should be in parenthesis or next to game title, is there a guide for this? (more modern console examples) Shouldn't Launch box show what DLC you have with the associated games in the games details? (that seems like a standard feature for modern consoles) Rather than combine each DLC to their game individually in Lunchbox after importing them (unable to do so, greyed out combine button). How do I properly import this DLC so that it is sorted properly? Also adding an option to not import .zip and .7z file format for ALL consoles would be helpful.