Add a Better Version Picker for Combined Games
Related Requests:
Group Related Games Across Platforms
Treat Game Versions as First-Class Entries
š Summary
Improve how users browse and launch multiple versions that are already combined under a single game entry.
ā Problem
LaunchBox supports combined games and alternate versions, but choosing a specific version can be hard to discover.
The current workflow relies heavily on hidden or less-visible actions, such as context menus. This makes it easy to miss that a game has multiple playable versions.
š” Proposal
Add a more visible version picker for combined game entries.
This could include:
A clearer multiple-versions indicator
A flyout, dropdown, or carousel showing available versions
Version labels such as region, disc, hack, translation, or update
A quick way to launch a selected version
An option to choose the default version
This request is focused only on improving access to versions that already exist under one game entry.
š§© Use Cases
Quickly launch a specific regional version
Choose between a base ROM, translation, hack, or update
See available versions without right-clicking
Set a preferred default version for normal launching
š¦ Benefits
Easier version discovery
Fewer clicks to launch the desired version
Better visual feedback for combined games
Encourages users to combine versions without losing usability
ā ļø Considerations
This should not require a new version metadata system. It should focus on improving the UI for existing combined games and additional versions.
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Comments5
Gosunkugi
May 22, 2025
Original Post
Better visual and easier selection for multiple versions of a game
Iād love to see something along the lines of a ācarouselā for the game thumbnail, or stacked images behind it like a deck of cards that you can easily use to flip to the next version of a game. I think this would help consolidate the many releases there could be, for instance regions, update, translations, and hacks. Right now combining games and right clicking to switch, as well as the badge indicator I feel is a bit lacking.
Retrofrogg
May 21, 2025
Yeah, this would be a much more functional and aesthetic solution! A kind of stack - perhaps not as orderly as the screenshot below but more random. Maybe you could then click to expand/contract the stack.
Brian Faeran
Apr 4, 2025
Interesting concept. Where would this be located in your eyes?
Gosunkugi
Apr 4, 2025
I was imagining something along the lines of:
Forgive my art skills. Perhaps the carousel could fade out when the mouse is not over it, so it doesnāt interrupt the aesthetics of the box art. Iāve no doubt there are better concepts, but I think even something as relatively simple as this method has great potential to cut down on game clutter.
AstroBob
May 22, 2025
Hi there!
Thanks so much for submitting this request and for taking the time to explain your use case ā that context is always super helpful.
Iāve gone ahead and fleshed out the main idea using the info you provided, and Iām opening it up to the community for further discussion and feedback. Please let me know if this fleshed-out version doesnāt match your original intended request.
Feel free to let me know if you have any extra thoughts, examples, or edge cases you think might be relevant!
Cheers,
The LaunchBox team