Feature Request: Theme and Images Download

[Ivan]

I have a feature request concerning the image type selection window when downloading/updating images for games.

It would be great if when importing roms (“Would you like to download images for your games?” window) or simply when going to the window to see the types of images already downloaded, if there would be a column next to each image type which shows which of the currently installed themes make use of that image type.

For instance, if I have two themes installed and both of them make use of Box - 3D, their names would appear in a column next to that image type. If the Box - Back is only used by one of the themes, only one of the theme names would appear next to it, and if another image type has no installed themes that makes use of it, then it would either be blank or have some phrase like “no installed theme is this image type” (an icon or a shorter phrase would probably be better).

This would make it easier to make sure that the image types being downloaded are actually needed by an installed theme and if not, those unused image types can be unselected without having to worry or manually check the theme’s information or testing to see which images types are used or not.

If users have a large library of games and you use a theme which does not make use all of the image types, this would be a great feature to help to save on HD space.

I hope this is clear, if not let me know and I can provide more information.

Thanks.

[Christian]

Few things to note regarding this request that greatly affects it’s usefulness and the ability to implement:

• We’d need to be able to track both LaunchBox and Big Box theme usage
• Every view has the potential to use a completely different set of images
• Every platform can potentially use a different theme/view combination
• Not every view is themed in a theme and would fall back to default if not
• A theme can be changed to use a different image type than it was originally published to do
• Image group priority settings often will affect what type of image is used and displayed
• Would need some space on the UI that made all the above clear without being confusing to the new user
• Big Box is premium only feature, so free users don’t have a need for a large portion of the above logic

Not trying to say the feature is impossible, but these are some of the things that need to be considered with this request.

[Ivan]

Hi Christian,

That is tricky. I have some ideas on this, I hope it helps.

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• We’d need to be able to track both LaunchBox and Big Box theme usage

  • When the game import window is opened there could be a search for the currently installed LaunchBox and Big Box themes. You do not need to know which ones are currently applied/being used, just which ones are installed. The user will have to think about what themes they will used for which purpose.

• Every view has the potential to use a completely different set of images

  • If you show which themes depend on that image type, it will be up to the user to know and decide which theme is used for what purpose, based on their own setup. But if an image type is not being used by any theme, then that information is useful to the user to make a decision to download/keep the image type.

• Every platform can potentially use a different theme/view combination

  • That’s ok, if the user decides to use a combination of views it is then up to them to track how that combination is used and which image types will be required. Keeping track of these combinations does not have to be a service from Launchbox when showing this image download window.

• Not every view is themed in a theme and would fall back to default if not

  • That’s ok. There could also be information/an icon to represent the default theme in this column. The use would have to know if their theme is currently covering this view or if the default theme will be used.

• A theme can be changed to use a different image type than it was originally published to do

  • This one is tricky. But if the theme is changed by the user than they will know what they changed it to. There could be a warning/note at the end of the Image import window that any changes to the theme/image type isn’t represented in the table above and the user would have to keep track of this and download the required image type accordingly.

• Image group priority settings often will affect what type of image is used and displayed

  • There could be a warning /note about this as well, as it would fall on the user to correctly think about this when deciding which image types to download.

• Would need some space on the UI that made all the above clear without being confusing to the new user

  • Theme icons could help instead of names if the user has a long list of themes. Hovering over a theme icon would present the theme’s name.
  • Text at the end of the window could provide additional information.
  • All of this additional information could also appear if an “Advanced button” on this window were to be pressed. This way if the user is a new user and wants to quickly set things up they would not see all of this additional information.

• Big Box is premium only feature, so free users don’t have a need for a large portion of the above logic

  • When the user clicks the menu option for this window to appear there could be a check to see if the user has a license or not. If they do not have a license, this window/advanced button/options would not appear.

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