release4.3.0

Major Feature: Multi-Folder Support

• Multiple System Folders: The core logic has been refactored to allow each system to scan for games across multiple folders instead of just one.

UI & UX Enhancements

• Improved Button Styles: Game and system buttons now feature refined 3D styles with hover and press animations for a more dynamic user experience.

Stability Improvements

• Improved Mounting Logic: The on-the-fly mounting for ZIP and XISO files no longer uses fixed delays. It now uses a more robust polling mechanism that actively checks for successful mounts, improving reliability and reducing unnecessary waiting.

Tooling

• New Tool Integration: A new RomValidator tool has been added. This tool can compare user game files with No-Intro dat files.

Other Enhancements

• Emulator Updates: Documentation and help files have been updated with information for new emulators (Gopher64, Hades, VisualBoy Advance M, Retroarch SwanStation).
• Emulator Updates: Emulators from Easy Mode have been updated to the latest versions.
• MAME Database Update: The mame.dat file has been updated to MAME 0.278.
• History Database Update: The history.xml file has been updated to the latest version.

release4.2.0

Core Feature Enhancements: On-the-Fly File Mounting

The most significant change is the introduction of on-the-fly file mounting, which allows users to launch games directly from compressed or disk image files without needing to manually extract them first.
Note: You need to install the Dokan from GitHub for ZIP and XISO file mounting.

• ISO & ZIP Mounting for RPCS3: The launcher can now mount .iso and .zip files for the PlayStation 3 emulator (RPCS3). It uses PowerShell for native ISO mounting and a new SimpleZipDrive.exe tool for ZIP files. After mounting, it automatically finds and launches the required EBOOT.BIN file.
• XISO Mounting for Cxbx-Reloaded: Support has been added to mount Xbox ISO (.xiso) files for the Cxbx-Reloaded emulator. This is handled by a new MountXisoFiles service that uses the xbox-iso-vfs.exe tool to create a virtual drive and launch the default.xbe file.
• XBLA ZIP Mounting: The system can now mount .zip files for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games, searching for a specific nested file structure required to launch them.
• ScummVM ZIP Mounting: The system can now mount .zip files for ScummVM games and automatically launch the game.

Major Refactoring & Dependency Changes

The project's core dependencies and internal logic for handling files have been substantially overhauled to improve robustness and unify functionality.

• Unified Archive Handling: The application has migrated away from using multiple libraries and external executables for file extraction. It now primarily uses Squid-Box.SevenZipSharp and ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib, providing a more integrated and reliable way to handle .zip, .7z, and .rar files. The ExtractCompressedFile service was refactored to use these new libraries.
• Removal of Caching System: The CacheManager has been completely removed. The previous system of caching game lists for each system has been replaced with a more direct, on-demand file scanning approach. This simplifies the application's logic, eliminates the cache directory, and ensures the game list is always up to date.

Update Tools

• BatchConvertToCHD: Improved UI. Added the ability to check the integrity of CHD files and convert CSO files to CHD.
• BatchConvertToCompressedFile: Improved UI. Added the ability to verify the integrity of compressed files.
• BatchConvertIsoToXiso: Improved UI. Added the ability to verify the integrity of XISO files.
• BatchConvertToRvz: Improved UI. Added the ability to test the integrity of the RVZ files.

Bug Fixes and Other Enhancements

• Fixed Threading Issue: The PlayTimeWindow and FavoritesWindow have been refactored to handle file operations and UI updates more safely across different threads, preventing crashes and ensuring a smoother user experience.
• UI Consistency: The system selection screen now limits the maximum size of system thumbnails to 100 px to prevent oversized images from distorting the layout and to ensure a consistent look.

release4.1.0

• Added a Sound Configuration feature allowing customizable notification sounds.
• Implemented a Debug Logger with a dedicated UI window for enhanced logging.
• Major overhaul and standardization of path resolution and handling, including support for placeholders %BASEFOLDER%, %SYSTEMFOLDER% and %EMULATORFOLDER%.
• Refactored Parameter Validation logic for clarity and robustness, particularly concerning paths.
• Improved Error Handling, Logging, and messaging across various components (GameLauncher, Services, Managers), replacing Debug.WriteLine with the new DebugLogger.
• Added Status Bar updates to show current actions (e.g., game launched).
• Introduced 3D button styles for navigation buttons.
• Updated Tray Icon messaging and functionality (including Debug Window access).
• Refactored Edit System Window logic and validation for better user feedback on paths.

release4.0.1

Bug Fix Version

• Parameter Handling Overhaul (ParameterValidator.cs, GameLauncher.cs): Paths within parameters are converted to absolute paths.

• File Path Standardization (GameLauncher.cs, GameButtonFactory.cs, GameListFactory.cs): File paths used for launching games and creating UI elements are consistently resolved to absolute paths relative to the application directory, improving reliability.

• UI Enhancements (MainWindow.xaml): A new custom-styled GridSplitter has been added to the list view in the main window, allowing for better resizing of the game list and preview areas.

• Improved Window Closing (DownloadImagePackWindow.xaml.cs, EasyModeWindow.xaml.cs): Added logic to the CloseWindowRoutine in DownloadImagePackWindow and EasyModeWindow to stop any ongoing operations (like downloads) before the window closes, preventing potential errors.

• Configuration Change (SystemManager.cs): The default value for ReceiveANotificationOnEmulatorError in system configurations has been changed from false to true, meaning users will now receive error notifications by default.

release4.0.0

This release brings significant user-interface improvements, new features for game browsing and management, enhanced stability, and various under-the-hood technical refinements.

Improvements

• New System Selection Screen: Displayed a more visual screen when no system is chosen to simplify platform selection.
• Revamped Navigation Panel: Added a panel on the left side of the main window with quick-access buttons for Restart, Global Search, Favorites, Play History, Edit System (Expert Mode), Toggle View Mode, Toggle Aspect Ratio, Zoom In, and Zoom Out.
• Switchable View Modes: Enabled toggling between Grid View (with game-cover images) and List View (showing game details in a table).
• Enhanced Zooming: Allowed zooming in and out of game thumbnails in Grid View via the new buttons or the Ctrl + mouse-wheel shortcut.
• Displayed Game File Sizes: Showed file sizes in List View.
• Overhauled UI Layout: Redesigned the main window and multiple dialogs (Easy Mode, Download Image Pack, Global Search, Favorites, Play History, Edit System).
• Refined Error Handling: Improved error messages and user prompts throughout the application.
• Updated Documentation Links: Improved Help User section and parameters guide links.
• Enhanced Gamepad Logic: Made controller navigation more reliable.
• Standardized Sound Effects: Switched to a consistent notification sound across the app.
• Updated Batch Convert To CHD: Added support for 7z and RAR files, enabled parallel processing, and improved multithreading.
• Added Batch Convert To RVZ: Introduced a tool to convert GameCube and Wii ISO files to RVZ format.
• Updated Emulators: Upgraded to the latest emulator versions.
• Updated MAME Data File: Bumped to version 0.277. mame.dat

Bug Fixes & Internal Changes (for developers/advanced users)

• Fixed various Gamepad Controller issues
• Corrected typos and added null checks
• Addressed default-logic errors in emulator error notifications
• Prevented potential XML vulnerabilities during file loading/saving
• Fixed context-menu parameter-handling bugs
• Refactored and reorganized code for better maintainability and performance
• Replaced Newtonsoft.Json with System.Text.Json for JSON processing
• Improved file-path handling: more robust relative-path resolution and folder-name sanitization
• Enhanced asynchronous operations for smoother UI responsiveness
• Implemented stricter code-quality checks
• Consolidated “Please Wait” dialog logic
• Removed redundant or unused code
• Improved the structure and reusability of context-menu creation logic
• Integrated IHttpClientFactory for HTTP client management

release3.13

• Updated the [Batch Convert To Compressed File] tool to skip files that are already compressed.
• Improved the UI in the [Easy Mode] and [Download Image Pack] windows.
• Added code to enforce a single instance of the application.
• Implemented fuzzy image matching to enhance the user experience. This logic finds a cover image that partially matches the ROM filename. Users can disable this feature if desired.
• Updated emulators to the latest version.
• Updated history.xml (available at arcade-history.com) to the latest version.

pre-release3.13

This is a pre-release version. Consider it as a beta version for testers.
There may be bugs.
I did not properly test the application.

release3.12

• Added an option to turn off emulator error notifications from 'Simple Launcher'. Users can configure this per emulator in the 'Edit System - Expert Mode'.
• Updated the 'Batch Convert to CHD' tool application to accept new input formats, including ZIP files.
• Added the 'Batch Convert to Compressed File' tool.
• Added the 'Batch Verify CHD Files' tool.
• Added the 'Batch Verify Compressed Files' tool.
• Added a 'Support Request' window. Users can send questions to the developers.
• Updated emulators to the latest version.
• Updated the MAME database to the latest version (v0.276).
• Updated history.xml, available at arcade-history.com, to the latest version.

release3.11.1

• Added logic to check file and folder paths in the parameter field. Users will be notified if the check returns invalid.
• Updated the 'LogError' class to use a new, more flexible API.
• Added a bug report feature for all the tools bundled with 'Simple Launcher'.
• Improved the 'BatchConvertToCHD' tool to better handle the deletion of original files after conversion to CHD.

release3.11

• Added Play History Window and all the logic to implement it. Users can now see which games have been played and for how long.
• Implemented the Feeling Luck Button in the Main Window UI. This button will pick a random game for the selected system.
• Updated the MAME database to the latest version (v0.275).
• Changed the logic to load the MAME database into Simple Launcher. Instead of using a large XML file, it will now use a binary DAT file. This improves the database loading time and reduces the database size.
• Updated emulators to the latest version.
• Fixed some bugs.
• Improved the LogError logic to prevent UI freezing.
• Update the logic behind the tray icon to a more modern approach.