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

cy33hc

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Find in github for https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases.

INFO: This app requires accessing the game icons from the "ur0:/appmeta" folder therefore compiled with UNSAFE flag. Dev's can verify the code in git.

This is a app/game launcher application.

The main purpose of this app is for users who have hundreds of games on their vita.

The psvita has limitation of 500 bubbles only, anything more is not accessible. I couldn't find an app that served me well to manage my library of (~1600) games so I decided to create my own.

Use in conjunction with the CopyIcons app to get icons not created by psvita. Search in github for https://github.com/cy33hc/copyicons/releases

Features

  1. Add ability to luanch Adrenaline ISO and EBOOT directly within the launcher. No need to create many bubbles.
  2. Games are display in 4 categories (vita/psp/homebrew/favorites). The psp game categories looks for games starting with the gameid PSPEMU. Mainly the bubbles created with Adrenaline Bubble Manager
  3. Game caching. With hundreds of games, scanning the folders and building the list takes a long time. So a cache is built on the first scan and subsequent startup of the app reads from the cache.
  4. Favorites. With hundreds of games, it's takes a quite a while to browse all the games to find your favorite game. Therefore I've implemented a feature to add a game to you favorites for easy access.
  5. Game images loaded on demand. With hundreds of games, we can't possibly load all the game images into memory. So images are loaded on demand only and a few pages of images are cached.
  6. Last but not least, you can access you full library of games/apps. Just an FYI, I could load 1600 games/apps on my vita-tv.
  7. Add the ability to launch Retro games directly via the launcher. Includes N64,
  8. Added new categories for each of the retro cores eg. NES, SNES, GC, GBC, GBA, N64, etc...
  9. Added ability to customize the category where a game or app shows in the launcher.
  10. Add option for parental control to hide dangerous settings.
  11. Add option to change the default retro core used
  12. Add options to specify where to import roms from.
  13. Add option to change icon path location.
Controls
  • up/down/left/right - for browsing your games
  • left analog stick - for browsing your games
  • square - add the selected game to favorites
  • circle - switch game/app category
  • triangle - scan games and rebuild the cache.
  • cross (or Touch on icon) - start the selected game/app
  • L-trigger - previous page
  • R-trigger - next page

## How Tos
1. How to change parental controls.
2. How to customize the category where bubble goes into.
3. How to import roms into the launcher.
4. How to change the retro core used to start a retro game.
5. How to customize icons for the rom that display in the app
6. How to setup Vita-Laucher to launch Adrenaline ISO and EBOOT directly.
Here is require VPK to install to make use of direct Adrenaline booting. https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/download/v1.4/AdrenalineLauncher.vpk
7. How to create custom color styles


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.

Release v2.9.1
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"
Release v2.9
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
Release v2.8.1
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.8.1

  • Fix swap x/o feature broken by the last release
Release v2.8
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.8
  • Add options to display icons in 4x4, 4x3 or 3x4 aspect ratio
  • Fix a gpu crash when switching view mode between Paged Grid and Scroll Grid
  • Fix random crash when selecting a folder

Release v2.7
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.7

  • Display Categories as folders instead of Tabs. This is now the default for Categories.
    • Added new settings called "Category Icon" under "Category Settings". This can be changed to a custom icon.
    • The "O" button is used to navigates back to a previous folder or category
    • Add option called "Show Categories as Tabs" under "Global Settings" to restore old functionally if you prefer.
  • Fix some bugs related to the new "Folders" feature introduced previous release.
Release 2.6
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.6

  • Add ability to create folders in categories
    • option to rename folder
    • option to config a custom icon for each folder
    • while creating folders, you have the option to create the folders in multiple categories
    • option to delete folder. when a folder is deleted, the games under the folder isn't deleted. It is moved back to the main folder
  • Add multi-selection ability for moving games to folders or hide games.
    • Use the "SELECT" button to toggle "multi-select" mode.
    • Multi-Selection mode is automatically cancelled if you switch category or folder
  • removed the option to re-scan all games since it is a little dangerous. You can achieve the same by just deleting the "cache.db" file under the folder ux0:data/SMLA00001.
  • Made the "Actions" tab the first tab in the "Settings and Actions" dialog.
see following video tutorial on how to use the new folders features.

v1.0.2
  • Fixed crash sometimes while switching between pages
  • Add ability to remove a game from favourites category
V1.1
  • Hide categories with no games
  • Add new LIST view. Use triangle button to bring up "Settings" dialog to switch between Grid/List view.
  • Add options to add/remove a single game from cache. Useful when you install/uninstall games. You can update the cache without rescanning all the games.
V1.2
  • No longer scans the ux0:app folder to find games and create a cache. Changed to read the game info directly from the Vita's app database. As a results there's no need to include the options to add/remove/rescan.
  • Polished up the GUI a little
v1.3
  • - Add the ability to launch Retro games directly via the launcher. Includes N64,
  • - Added new categories for each of the retro cores eg. NES, SNES, GC, GBC, GBA, N64, etc...
  • - Added ability to customize the category where a game or app shows in the launcher.
  • - Add option for parental control to hide dangerous settings.
  • - Add option to change the default retro core used
  • - Add options to specify where to import roms from.
  • - Add option to change icon path location.
  • - Syncs homebrew categories from VitaDB website.
v1.4
  • Add ability to launch Adrenaline PSP ISO and EBOOT games directly via the launcher app. This still requires Adrenaline Bubble Booter which is installed by Adrenaline Bubble Manager. You will NEED to install AdrenalineLauncher.vpk. This will install a placeholder Bubble which will be used by Vita-Launcher. Vita-Launcher make some modification to the content in the Bubble with the game info before starting it.
  • Add rom filters in the ux0:data/SMLA00001/config.ini to only look for specific files in the ROMS folder. This allows the scan to skip sav file and unrelated content while scanning for games. Also you can edit the config to specify any other file extensions you want to skip.
  • Add new categories for Atari 2600, 7800, C64 and Wonder Swan.
v1.5
  • Add support for scanning for PSP ISO/CSO and EBOOT found in sub directories. This will find the games in subfolders created by category_lite plugin.
  • Add ability to extract the ICON's from PSP ISO/CSO's
  • Add ability to scan individual games categories.
  • Fixed issue while scanning game folders that contains folders that would crash the app.
  • Improve the startup speed of the app when there are thousands of games.
v1.5.1
  • Fixed bug where PSP/PSX/PSP Mini wasn't saved to favourites
  • Removed syncing of categories with VitaDB, some issues with linking the openssl/libcurl causing the app to randomly crash. Will add this back later after I've figured out the issue.
  • Add support for display of PS Mobile icon. (The icon for PS Mobile apps are in DDS format, so using the pic0.png instead).
  • Changed the Button assignments. LT/RT will now change category instead of changing pages. To change page, scroll to the left/right edge of the grid.
  • Added some padding to the smaller "tabs" to get a more consistent tab size.
  • Placement of PSP/PSX/PS Mini games in the category will be determined based on "CATEGORY" field of the param.sfo file.
v1.6
  • Add ability to give an alternative name to the categories. In the "config.ini" file, there is a new setting called "alt_title" that you can modify.
  • Add ability to choose the pspemu location. In the "ux0:data/SMLA00001/config.ini" file, there is a new setting called "pspemu_location". Default set to "ux0 : pspemu". You can change to "uma0 : pspemu" if you store you ISO/EBOOT on the uma0 device.
  • Add a couple of new Retro categories for TurboGrafx 16, Vectrex, G&W, MAME-2000 and MAME-2003
v1.6.1
  • Add better RetroArch support for PSX games. Will now scan EBOOT in the pspemu/PSP/GAME folder for adrenaline. And also scan an alternative ROMS folder (roms_path in config.ini) for disc format games like "img, bin, ccd, chd" files. Disc format games will default use RetroArch to boot the games. For EBOOT, you will be given a choose to boot with "Adrenaline" or RetroArch. Please update ux0:data/SMLA00001/config.ini to add additional disc extensions if missing under the [PS1] section.
  • Minor improvement to the focus in Grid View. When switching between pages or categories, the focus will not be lost.
  • Will skip corrupted ISO/EBOOT during scanning instead of crashing.
v1.7
  • Add ability to change settings directly in the app now. Don't need to edit the config.ini from VitaShell or PC. Although you still can.
  • Add ability to hide games or apps. For bubbles, you can restore the game by removing the title id from the hidden titles section of settings.
  • Add ability to move Bubble/Adrenaline games/apps between categories. RetroArch roms cannot be moved since they depend on the retro core that's in the category of where the game reside.
  • Known issue: After modifying the category title. The LT/RT can't change categories. Just restart the app to fix it.
v1.7.1
  • Add ability to rename Adrenaline PSP/PS1/PSP Mini and all RetroArch names. Bubbles will not be editable since I don't want to mess around the vita's app.db. Others are editable becuz I have my own cache.db in the ux0:data/SMLA00001 folder.
  • BUG FIX: Favorites is messed up, after the implementation for moving Games between categories. If you have issues with Favorites, delete them all and then add back again.
  • BUG FIX: After selecting to move the game to another category, the game shows up in 2 categories temporary until you restart. After restart it shows properly. This is just to fix the UI glitch after the move.
  • BUG FIX: Fix an issue when scanning for RetroArch roms, if the rom filename is too long, it corrupts the cache.db and crashes the app. This fix will skip any file whose name it too long. Filename limit is 127 chars. For those whose experiencing app crash during retroarch scan. Delete the ux0:data/SMLA00001/cache.db file and restart the app.
Release 1.8
  • Add ability to add single PSP ISO/EBOOT game. Previously to add a new ISO/EBOOT game, you had to rescan the entire category which took time and removed the custom changes you made. Especially after you have renamed the games, the rescan would revert all those changes. Now you can add new games without impacting your custom changes. Adding PSP ISO/EBOOT can only be performed in the PSP/PSX/PSPMini category. After the game is added, you can move to any other category that you like.
  • BUG FIX: The moving of games feature broke Favorites and I had fixed that in previous version 1.7.1. But there was still 1 bug related to this, which I have resolve in this release. In rare case, this bug would cause the initial loading games screen to appear frozen. It's because it was hitting a condition that caused an infinite loop.
Release 1.9
  • Added a new navigation method. Scrolling Grid View. Similar to List View but you have a scrolling grid.
  • BUG FIX: After rename tabs, the LT/RT stopped working. This is fixed.
Release 1.9.1
  • Add option to boot with alternate retro cores if multiple cores are available.
  • Settings screen updated to allow configure alternate retro cores
  • Saves the selected retrocore for each game.
  • Saves the Adrenaline Boot Settings for each game. Implements feature request #5
  • BUG FIX: Fix crash when EBOOT/ISO param.sfo is missing the DISC_ID attribute. Fixes issue #6
  • BUG FIX: In Scrolling Grid View sometimes the thumbnail does not load, especially for Retro titles.
Release 2.0
  • Add support for boot scummvm games
  • Add new category for scummvm games.
Instructions:
1. For now you will need to install my custom build of scummVM untill the ScummVM provides an official release. I tried to use the daily build directly from ScmmmVM buildbot server but it just keeps crashing even on normal startup. Here is the commit from GitHub that this was built from scummvm/scummvm#2616
NOTE: Please don't submit any issues related to this build with ScummVM team or myself. This is provided just for convenience before the ScummVM official release.
2 First you need to add all your games to ScummVM app first so that it can detect the game. If it can't detect the game it won't work.
3. You will have to show all categories for the new category to be displayed. Select the "ScummVM" category and bring up the "Settings and Action" dialog and choose to "Scan games in the ScummVM category". The app will scan the "ux0:data/scummvm/scummvm.ini to find the games to add.
4. For thumbnails to display add an icon0.png in the folder of the scummvm game.
https://github.com/cy33hc/scummvm-bubble-booter/releases/download/v1.0/scummvm.vpk

Release 2.1
  • Add ability to download thumbnails for Roms. This feature requires iTLS-enso on firmware 3.60 and 3.65. iTLS-enso is known to cause other issues with PSN, so you can uninstall after downloading thumbnails. https://github.com/SKGleba/iTLS-Enso/releases
  • Note: Accuracy of getting the correct thumbnail is only about 90-95%. It does not replace thumbnails if one already exists.
  • BUG FIX: gpu crash in Scrolling Grid view on some occasions.
Release 2.2
  • Added search function. Use the "start" button to bring up the search dialog.
    • Can add games to favourites within the search dialog
    • Can launch game directly from search dialog
  • BUG FIX: Fixed the thumbnail download URL for Atari 7800 roms
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.2

Release 2.3


Release 2.4
  • Add option to download 2D boxart for thumbnails (This option will download 2D boxart first, if not found then downloads the Titles screenshots). If you have previously downloaded thumbnails already, you'll have to delete them first since the app won't download thumbnail if one exists. All 2D boxarts are scaled down to 140x140px for better loading performance.
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.4

Release v2.5
  • Add option to swap X/O button. This was feature request by user with Japan vita.
  • Allow use of L2/R2 on PS4/PS3 controller to page through games on PSTV.
  • Add ability to uninstall game. Reason for adding this is because if you have lots of games, they don't appear in LiveArea and CMA. So it's impossible to remove. Also Vitashell/PKGJ missing the option to uninstall game and the uninstall game in Onemenu occasionally crash for me.
  • Add dreamcast category (Currently there is no flycast core, but when RetroArch is updated, this will become usable)
https://github.com/cy33hc/vita-launcher/releases/tag/v2.5
 
Last edited by cy33hc,

cy33hc

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link to the project
but sometimes it just crashes for me. does this GPU dump, then Vita closes.

but i can see it really has potential this project.

keep going. :yay:
Mind letting me know what firmware version you have and num of games. Also plugins enabled?

I've been testing on 3.65 only
 
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cy33hc

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Released v1.0.2
  • Fixed crash sometimes while switching between pages
  • Add ability to remove a game from favourites category
Sorry. Still too young in forum to post links. Please visit the github page for download
 

kristianity77

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This looks good. Would it be possible to simplify things further? Like you I have literally hundreds of games on a 512gb micro SD and would love and option to just pick games from a text list that doesn't load icons. That would surely make the process faster and convenient for wading through hundreds of games. Similar to how it used to be on the old nds carts etc
 
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cy33hc

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This looks good. Would it be possible to simplify things further? Like you I have literally hundreds of games on a 512gb micro SD and would love and option to just pick games from a text list that doesn't load icons. That would surely make the process faster and convenient for wading through hundreds of games. Similar to how it used to be on the old nds carts etc
It's just the initial scan take long. After the cache is built, the subsequent startup of the app is very fast. Also you can add games to favorites. Once you have built a favorite list, the app will always show the favorites first on startup. Also game icons aren't preloaded, they only load when you browse to the page.

Are you talking about an alternative view where games are display in a list??
 
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kristianity77

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It's just the initial scan take long. After the cache is built, the subsequent startup of the app is very fast. Also you can add games to favorites. Once you have built a favorite list, the app will always show the favorites first on startup. Also game icons aren't preloaded, they only load when you browse to the page.

Are you talking about an alternative view where games are display in a list??

Yes, just games displayed in a list alphabetically. Would be a great feature to have!
 

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I have found a bug. If you delete a game from your vita, it still shows up in the launcher, minus the game icon, and obviously crashes if you try and boot. How do you make the app rescan games?
 

cy33hc

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I have found a bug. If you delete a game from your vita, it still shows up in the launcher, minus the game icon, and obviously crashes if you try and boot. How do you make the app rescan games?
triangle button give you option to rescan games and update cache
 

cy33hc

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V1.1
  • Hide categories with no games
  • Add new LIST view. Use triangle button to bring up "Settings" dialog to switch between Grid/List view.
  • Add options to add/remove a single game from cache. Useful when you install/uninstall games. You can update the cache without rescanning all the games.
list_view.jpg
 

kristianity77

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V1.1
  • Hide categories with no games
  • Add new LIST view. Use triangle button to bring up "Settings" dialog to switch between Grid/List view.
  • Add options to add/remove a single game from cache. Useful when you install/uninstall games. You can update the cache without rescanning all the games.
list_view.jpg

Now, this is fantastic!
 
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@cy33hc nice app much better than stock bubbles imo but it's not showing PS Mobile games !!

also a suggestion: any chance it can show PSP,PS MINIS,PS1 in separate Categories not mixed together ?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@cy33hc all PS Mobile games start with NP would be great if you add support for them in your launcher app. thanks

example
NPNA00110
NPOA00023
NPPA00138
NPQA00103
 

cy33hc

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@cy33hc nice app much better than stock bubbles imo but it's not showing PS Mobile games !!

also a suggestion: any chance it can show PSP,PS MINIS,PS1 in separate Categories not mixed together ?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@cy33hc all PS Mobile games start with NP would be great if you add support for them in your launcher app. thanks

example
NPNA00110
NPOA00023
NPPA00138
NPQA00103
I'm starting PSP Games via bubbles create with Adrenaline Bubble Manager and there's no info of what kind of Game it is. I can create new categories if the GameID are created with certain prefixes like PSOEMUXXX for PS1 and PSMEMUXXX for mini. As for PSM games, I don't know of any way to start those at the moment.
 
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