Hacking [Release] Vita-Launcher App to launch games and apps

[cy33hc]

Hey,
first of all. Thank you so much for your great launcher application. Been using it for weeks already. Super satisfied with the launcher.
Sadly there seems to be an upper limit of moving applications to another tab.
To my understanding it seems that "moving" titles to another tab adds a new entry in the config after "title_prefix"
The problem seems to be the way of implementation. After I've added a number of applications, (doesn't matter if one at a time, or multiple at once)
The launcher crashes while trying to move the selected applications.
A look into the config reveals the successfully moved applications after the "title_prefix" but the last application is cut off.
Turning "title_prefix:SMLA00001,...,ABCD12345" into "title_prefix:SMLA00001,...,ABCDE123"
Also the whole entry is in one line. Maybe an upper limit is reached, explaining the cut off. Maybe listing the entries in multiple lines solves this... I tried splitting it up into multiple lines. But the launcher only looks in one line.
The second is ignored. Maybe I should have put another title_prefix in the second line. Didn't try that yet. I'm on the go, so can't test now.

My workaround so far is editing the entries to shorten the line.

Example:
title_prefix:...,ABCD12345,ABCD12346,ABCDE12347,...
Into
title_prefix:...,ABCD1234,...

Or

title_prefix:...,GTA300000,GTACTW000,GTAVC0000,...
Into
title_prefix:...,GTA,...

The result of this is that I'm able to move all the applications I want. Downside is that you could get applications mixed up with the same prefixes.

I hope I managed to get a good explanation of what I'm experiencing.

Thank you so much for your work

One more thing:

With the tabs view it hides empty tabs.

I really like the new view with all the tabs as folders/categories. Big fan of it

Sadly it shows all, even empty folders/categories with no way to hide the empty ones.

tldr
Best launcher I have used so far.
Launcher crashes while moving applications to another tab.
folders/categories view doesn't hide empty categories. No option to hide.

Yes. There is a limitation on the number of games that can be moved. Currently, the max length of the title_prefixes is 2000 chars and you can't split the lines. I can increase to 4000 char to fit more as a temporary solution to fitting more games. But long term, I will start save that info into the database instead of ini file.

Alternatively, you can create folders under homebrews and move games into folders. Folders have no limitations on number of games that can be moved.

I didn't implement hiding categories under folders feature. That is something todo.

 

[cy33hc]

Release 2.9
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.9

• Add ability to change the Category order. A new "Order" field is now editable from the "Category" settings dialog.
  • The order of Favorites cannot be changed. It's always the first.
  • Categories with the same "Order" value will be sorted by the name

 

[Zeon001]

Hi would it be possible to add more categories? I been messing around with the config.txt file but i cant seem to be able to create a new category thanks

 

[cy33hc]

Hi would it be possible to add more categories? I been messing around with the config.txt file but i cant seem to be able to create a new category thanks

Categories are hardcode in code. It's not possible to add new Categories. Create "folders" within Category for sub-categories.

 

[Zeon001]

Categories are hardcode in code. It's not possible to add new Categories. Create "folders" within Category for sub-categories.

Thank you i will do that.

 

[cy33hc]

Release 2.9.1
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.9.1

• Add option to choose the startup category. Under Global settings, there is now a new option to choose that.
• Categories that don't have games are hidden in the folders mode also if you disable "Show All Categories"

 

[nowhereman87]

Hello @cy33hc I wanted to thank you for taking into account and implementing my suggestions on different aspects for cover art, now they look a lot better !!!

As I see that you continue to update the app ... if you have another new features or improvements that you want to implement soon, I suggest you to submit Vita Launcher to participate in the new KyuHEN homebrew contest ( https://gbatemp.net/threads/kyuhen-new-hombrew-contest-for-psvita-featuring-cash-prizes.585935/ - https://twitter.com/KyuHENcontest ) which has a great prize pool. I don't think there going to be many entries in the Utilities / Apps category On the other hand it will mean that more users will learn about this excellent launcher. Greetings, take care!

 

[cy33hc]

Hello @cy33hc I wanted to thank you for taking into account and implementing my suggestions on different aspects for cover art, now they look a lot better !!!

View attachment 258223
View attachment 258224

As I see that you continue to update the app ... if you have another new features or improvements that you want to implement soon, I suggest you to submit Vita Launcher to participate in the new KyuHEN homebrew contest ( https://gbatemp.net/threads/kyuhen-new-hombrew-contest-for-psvita-featuring-cash-prizes.585935/ - https://twitter.com/KyuHENcontest ) which has a great prize pool. I don't think there going to be many entries in the Utilities / Apps category On the other hand it will mean that more users will learn about this excellent launcher. Greetings, take care!

Thx for the aheads up. At the moment I don't have any new feature planned so I'll pass on this for now. Second I don't want to include the splash screen. I just depend on your good reviews for spreading the word

 

[Prax]

I uninstalled a game that I had in my Favorites. Now it shows with a broken/missing icon. Is there already a way I can remove that icon since I didn’t remove it from my favorites before deleting the game?

 

[cy33hc]

I uninstalled a game that I had in my Favorites. Now it shows with a broken/missing icon. Is there already a way I can remove that icon since I didn’t remove it from my favorites before deleting the game?

Selecting the square button on the highlight game should have removed it from Favorites.

 

[cy33hc]

Selecting the square button on the highlight game should have removed it from Favorites.

Nevermind. I found a bug that won't allow you remove the game from favorites. I'll have to fix this.

 

[cy33hc]

Release v3.0
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v3.0

• New "System Apps" category added
  • Added support for launching System Apps like Settings, Content Manager etc...
• Added support for playing background music
  • Only OGG files are supported
  • Under Global settings you can add multiple music files. On startup, only 1 random music file is selected and played repeatedly.
  • When you change the music settings, you need to restart for change to take effect
• Changed the background image
• Fixed bug where game couldn't be deleted from favourites if game was uninstalled.

Know Issue: If you suspend the app and resume, the music playback is corrupted. Install TheFlow "FdFix" plugin to resolve this issue.

@Prax Release v3.0 fixes this issue. You can hit SQUARE button on the game in the favorites to remove it.

 

[Prax]

Release v3.0

@Prax Release v3.0 fixes this issue. You can hit SQUARE button on the game in the favorites to remove it.

Thanks!

 

[nowhereman87]

Hello @cy33hc , it's me again with some proposals to further improve the possibilities and advantages of using Vita Launcher.

As you may have noticed, I mostly use Vita Launcher as a alternative front end and for Retroarch roms, since theirs menus tends to crash all the time. VL allows me to have all my games organized by system by system and with covers, which is very attractive, neat and intuitive, one of the functions that stands out the best is the VL search, since in Retroarch the use of the touch keyboard is not allowed at all on the UI. It is wonderful to put "racing" or "space" and see how a list of all the games that include that word in their title is displayed. Having said that, some possible improvements:

1 Using the Triangle or Circle button to return/exit a menu or dialog box as the PS ecosystem does. Many times I find myself opening an options dialog box that I did not want or I simply want to continue browsing my games and I have to go to the bottom and press "Ok", when the triangle could be used to go back. The same when you enter a folder and want to return to the root category ... it would be much more comfortable to go back with a button, instead of going to the address bar and selecting the previous location from there.

2 Retroarch's front end has somehow an advantage over Vita Launcher ... its playlists. Although your implementation of creating "custom" folders fulfills a similar function, playlists, as VL "Favorites" page, have the advantage of being able to list games from different systems and that they themselves could still remain visible from their own category page, that is, they do not "move" but rather that entry would be more of a shortcut. A good thing is that you can generate thematic or genre playlists combining systems, for example "80's classics", "Bootleg games", "Fighting games" etc etc.

I think you could implement Vita Launcher's own playlist creation and have them displayed in an exclusive category / tab, which could be second after the Favorites category. Being so, in the options menu there should be an option for "add to playlist ..." which would be very handy. If including playlists may cause performance issues, maybe you could limit the number of possible playlists to something like 10, which would be enough. At the same time this could satisfy the need of creating additional custom categories / tabs than others have asked.

3 This also makes me wonder if you can somehow import or "copy" the playlists already created for Retroarch as well, which would practically eliminate their need for use and would motivate many users to use Vita Launcher as a front end and "enhancer / add-on" for Vita Retroarch. Another feature of the playlists is that those can save the option of the core used by default for each game entry.

4 It would be wonderful if the dialog that shows the results of a search allowed the same options as when navigating within categories / folders and when one clicks triangle on a game. By this I mean, allowing multiple selection, moving and hiding games in batches, which would be ideal for filling playlists. I tell you as an example that I made a folder for my Super Mario World hacks, which were all easily found and listed by putting "Mario" or "SMW" in the search box, but for which I had to find scattered browsing my entire SNES category.

Thx for the aheads up. At the moment I don't have any new feature planned so I'll pass on this for now. Second I don't want to include the splash screen. I just depend on your good reviews for spreading the word

From what the organizers explained, it is enough to show the splashscreen as a LiveArea asset ( pic0.png ), which you can put only for the "official entry version" that you want to show in the contest, obviously you can remove it in later versions. If you wanted, I would very much like to see VL participate in the contest because I think that many more people are going to find out about the awesome Vita Launcher.

Finally I ask you, do you have a Twitter account? I usually share these homebrews there, where I have a lot of followers who are fans of PSVita and its scene ( https://twitter.com/matiascel ) I think it would be good to be able to give you the credit you deserve for this app. Greetings, keep safe.

 

[such]

Thank you so much for this launcher, cy33hc!

One thing I noticed is that it doesn't seem to read zipped roms - is there any way around that, or am I just doing something wrong?

 

[cy33hc]

Thank you so much for this launcher, cy33hc!

One thing I noticed is that it doesn't seem to read zipped roms - is there any way around that, or am I just doing something wrong?

which category. I believe most of the category include ".zip" extension when searching from roms. Did you check your rom_path is configured to the correct location and make sure there is no leading or trailing spaces in the path

 

[such]

which category. I believe most of the category include ".zip" extension when searching from roms. Did you check your rom_path is configured to the correct location and make sure there is no leading or trailing spaces in the path

Ah, there you go. No, I have not done that (in hindsight: painfully obvious) step. I just assumed the initial scan would cover everything. Sorry and thanks

 

[Prax]

I'm noticing that Launcher doesn't get all the way through to launching a PSP game or one through RetroArch. It seems to be a break and me at the Adrenaline or RetroArch screen at one of the latest steps. Probably not a bug, but my own set up. Im just not sure what to do.

 

[cy33hc]

I'm noticing that Launcher doesn't get all the way through to launching a PSP game or one through RetroArch. It seems to be a break and me at the Adrenaline or RetroArch screen at one of the latest steps. Probably not a bug, but my own set up. Im just not sure what to do.

There are particular PSP games that work with different driver. Try the inferno or m33driver.

 

[kid sampson]

I'm noticing that Launcher doesn't get all the way through to launching a PSP game or one through RetroArch. It seems to be a break and me at the Adrenaline or RetroArch screen at one of the latest steps. Probably not a bug, but my own set up. Im just not sure what to do.

I also have this issue with RetroArch. My PSP/PSX games launch just fine after installing the additional Adrenaline .vpk provided with the release. Roms just kick me back to the RetroArch menu (with the last used core loaded).