New user here, questions, issue and suggestion

[Waifu4Life]

Hi there,

I've just blown my fuse with GOG Galaxy 2.0, this annoying game launcher allows you to set your custom tiles, but keeps reverting them at random and that latest update was the straw that broke the camel's back. I got a bit of OCD, so you can imagine that this was driving me mad. So I googled and found this nice little launcher here and unlike Galaxy, it also supports Itch.io games, so that's even better.

So

Question 1: Will this launcher start changing my custom tiles or will it leave them alone once I set them?

Question 2: I downloaded the portable version and unzipped it on my game drive. Minus any sort of connection to game platforms that's probably done via registry, is everything inside that folder? If I format Windows and reinstall, will all my Playnite settings remain?

Issue 1: Since I recently formatted my SSD to install Win10 1909, none of my games (GOG, Steam, Itch and others) are installed, their directory are just there on my 6TB HDD and I just told the clients where they are located and games launch without any issues. When I linked my game accounts with Playnite, it managed to find the directly of my Steam and Itch games (guessing their respective clients told it), but not for GOG. In fact, I have to allow Playnite to import "uninstalled" GOG games to even see my library.

Question 3: Besides modifying the profiles of each GOG title to link the EXE or installing every game, is there anyway around this?

Suggestion 1: I know there's currently a bug in Playnite when grouping, so I tried it in built 6.5. In GOG Galaxy 2.0, when grouping, it actually separates the games by the desired grouping with a title, it doesn't glue different grouping together. Would it be possible to have this in Playnite?

Cheers

[darklinkpower]

Q1. No, unless you remove/change them manually they won't change.
Q2. If portable all settings stay inside the Playnite directory, but make sure to keep the database folder inside that directory too.
issue1: Make sure you have your GOG account connected and authenticated in settings and also try repairing your games installations in the client, as seen here https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/w...leshooting

Suggestion 1: I'm not sure what you mean here, if it's separate in grid view it's in the 8.0 version roadmap. Fllow this issue for more info https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/issues/170

[Waifu4Life]

Q1. No, unless you remove/change them manually they won't change.

Q2. If portable all settings stay inside the Playnite directory, but make sure to keep the database folder inside that directory too.

issue1: Make sure you have your GOG account connected and authenticated in settings and also try repairing your games installations in the client, as seen here https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/w...leshooting

Suggestion 1: I'm not sure what you mean here, if it's separate in grid view it's in the 8.0 version roadmap. Fllow this issue for more info https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/issues/170

Q1: Cool

Q2: Cool

Issue 1: Well if I have to repair game by game, might as well make the links manually in Playnite, that way, at least it's a bit more permanent since doing it the other way would just push back the issue until my next formatting. Since none of my games are really installed and that Playnite can import my Steam and Itch games, I would consider the situation with GOG to be either a bug or lack of a feature.

Suggestion 1: I meant more like this, but your way is also the way I was thinking of doing it as a plan B:

[Waifu4Life]

Sorry for the double post, but but would appear that the fix per GOG game is quite easy:

1- Right on a GOG game imported from the "uninstalled library" and choose edit
2- Go to the "Installation" tab and check the "Installed" box
3- Go the "Action tab" and click on "Add Play Action"
4- Check the "Managed by Library plugin" box
5- Hit "Save", you can now play the game

Question du jour, knowing that I have zero programming skills, is it possible to edit a file somewhere in the Playnite directory that would allow me to simply edit some setting with Notepad++ and batch enabling all of them?

[darklinkpower]

You could probably write a powershell or python extension to mark them as installed https://playnite.link/docs/api/Playnite.SDK.html

But I don't understand, why would you want your unninstalled games to show as installed?
Why are you not importing them as unninstalled, which is the correct and supported way? It's not a bug or lack of feature, Playnite expects for you games and clients to be properly set.

[DonkeyOatay]

Batch editing of most fields is coming in Playnite 8. Only Crow would be able to confirm, but hopefully this would include the option you want (to select a whole bunch of games and change the playaction to 'Managed by Library Plugin'.

Darklinkpower is also right when he says that having Category headings when you group within grid view is also coming soon, which I believe is what you want (and something I've been waiting for too). At the moment Grid View sorts by category but as there are no headings it is basically just a long list of games with no clear distinctions.

[Waifu4Life]

You could probably write a powershell or python extension to mark them as installed https://playnite.link/docs/api/Playnite.SDK.html

But I don't understand, why would you want your unninstalled games to show as installed?
Why are you not importing them as unninstalled, which is the correct and supported way? It's not a bug or lack of feature, Playnite expects for you games and clients to be properly set.

Modern games (from the past 10 years or so) do not need to be "installed" in Windows to run. My 500+ games are on a 6TB HDD. When I format my SSD to reinstall Win10 and install the game clients (GOG Galaxy, Steam, Itch), I just tell them where their proper game directory are and that's it, they find their games. Playnite has NO issues for my "not installed in Windows" Steam and Itch games, only my GOG games. The only way it sees my library is by telling it to see my games that are not installed, it acts differently with the GOG plugin than it does with Steam or Itch, hence why I say it's a bug or missing feature.

Also, regarding my previous post with a solution, scratch that, as soon as you close Playnite, it forgets everything. This either a bug or the fact that it's a game that's suppose to be handle by the plugin erases everything from the database. I also tried manually linking the EXE, same thing close the program. Guess I'll have to make them independent of any game clients in order to configure them permanently.

[Crow]

If the issue is that games imported into GOG Galaxy are not detected as installed, then you need to repair those games in Galaxy client for Playnite to pick them up properly. This is a known issue with Galaxy client, nothing I can do about it.

https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/w...leshooting

The reason that install state is being reset is because game state is automatically updated on startup and if you have import of installed games enabled, that state will be reset to what Playnite detects as installed or not.

[Waifu4Life]

If the issue is that games imported into GOG Galaxy are not detected as installed, then you need to repair those games in Galaxy client for Playnite to pick them up properly. This is a known issue with Galaxy client, nothing I can do about it.

https://github.com/JosefNemec/Playnite/w...leshooting

The reason that install state is being reset is because game state is automatically updated on startup and if you have import of installed games enabled, that state will be reset to what Playnite detects as installed or not.

I wouldn't say that it's a Galaxy issue, more of an incompatibility in regards of how Playnite fetches it's data from Galaxy. Those games launch from Galaxy 2.0 just fine once I tell it to scan the GOG game folder. Anyway, I'm sure as hell not going to reinstall or repair 160 games every time I reinstall Windows, so I'll just do the hard labor of manually adding those games one by one. Sure, I won't get achievements for GOG games, but over half of them don't have those anyway and I don't use cloud save features.

Cheers

EDIT: Found a nice little workaround to help me out. Playnite doesn't delete metadata if you deactivate a plugin, so by doing so, I keep my GOG library and now I just need to point to the EXE and check the "Installed" box, saves me a lot of time.

[Crow]

It's definitely issue in Galaxy client, because Galaxy doesn't create necessary registry entries for games after import. Reason I'm saying that it's an issue in Galaxy, is because they don't create these entries only for some games, not all of them. We could potentially get info about installed games from local Galaxy database, but that could cause a lot of other issues (those files being locked for use for example, or not being able to detect GOG games installed outside of Galaxy).

[Waifu4Life]

It's definitely issue in Galaxy client, because Galaxy doesn't create necessary registry entries for games after import. Reason I'm saying that it's an issue in Galaxy, is because they don't create these entries only for some games, not all of them. We could potentially get info about installed games from local Galaxy database, but that could cause a lot of other issues (those files being locked for use for example, or not being able to detect GOG games installed outside of Galaxy).

So you're saying that even if I can launched those "not installed" games from Galaxy, that unlike like Itch's very basic client launcher, that it operates differently when it comes to simply scanning for games in a directory?

[Crow]

Every launcher is implemented in a different way in terms how they install and import games. We just can't automatically import those games as installed if Galaxy sometimes decides not to create registry entries necessary for Playnite (and Windows for that matter) to detect games as installed.

Itch detection of imported games is implemented in a completely different way (as is import from Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.).

[Waifu4Life]

Every launcher is implemented in a different way in terms how they install and import games. We just can't automatically import those games as installed if Galaxy sometimes decides not to create registry entries necessary for Playnite (and Windows for that matter) to detect games as installed.

Itch detection of imported games is implemented in a completely different way (as is import from Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.).

I see. Oh well, better linking those EXE if I want to finish.

Off-topic, if I ever do an update the portable Playnite from menu, will it try run a setup version or replace the files of the old portable version for the newer ones? Any risk of loosing my game settings?

[Crow]

Auto update from portable version will properly update with portable settings in mind, you won't loose anything.

[Waifu4Life]

Auto update from portable version will properly update with portable settings in mind, you won't loose anything.

Cool, cheers mate.