Launch After Not Working

[bitwildcard]

Hi

I cannot get launch after (or before for that matter) to work. I've tried batch files and command lines which work perfectly when run outside of gameex.

I think it may have something to do with the advance config. I use launch after on numerous emulators/games such as visual pinball without any problems.

However in my PC games section I have to wait on processes as some game launchers run additional separate processes.

Whatever the reason, the symptom is the inability to Launch After preventing me from closing AutoHotKey and Virtual Joystick.

Many Thanks

[nullPointer]

Hi bitwildcard

Probably the most valuable piece of information you can provide here would be the Emulator Config for the emulator that’s giving you difficulty. The ‘Export Config’ button can be found in the Setup Wizard between the main columns on the Emulator Selection screen.

Here’s a ‘shoot from the hip’ response though. I don’t know what you’re running for your Launch Before and Launch After commands, but some users (myself included) have had success with the following modification:

Rather than:

Launch Before=”Arbitrary Command”

Try

Launch Before=start “” “Arbitrary command”

So yeah, that’s shooting from the hip. Your emulator config will be the best means of really nailing down the issue.

[bitwildcard]

Hi

I was hopeful that the start command would help as I have used it on previous configurations, however I have now tried all combinations to no avail.

GameEx just does not want to execute any command on Launch After and I suspect it is a combination of the process wait logic and the advanced configuration options.

I have attached my configuration but I don't see anything within it that could explain what is happening. Ultimately the Launch After command as far as I am aware should always execute when the running emulator exits. GameEx is perfectly aware that the game has exited as it regains focus, so clearly the Launch After even would have occurred but the Launch After command was not executed.

The Launch after feature is actually really useful as it allow you to clean up any utility programs such as AutoHotKey and VirtualJoy.

Any further help would be really appreciated but I suspect this is just a bug.

Many thanks

Windows Games.ini

[bitwildcard]

Another strange observation.

When I run another game from my windows games list, the Launch After command executes - e.g. when I run a shortcut of Crazy Taxi and later exit the game, the Launch After command executes as normal. There is no process wait for Crazy Taxi at all!

When I run the Sensible Soccer 2006 shortcut/bat file, after exiting the game the Launch After does not execute. GameEx is configured to wait on a process with Sensible Soccer as this game has a launcher and spawns another process.

Another difference may be that the Crazy Taxi shortcut executes and waits until the game has closed, however the Sensible Soccer shortcut/bat file creates a new process (via the launcher) and exits instantly.

So I am continuously thinking it has something to do with the process wait logic. I think on a normal execute the Launch After command works perfectly. However when a process wait is involved (i.e. another spawned process as is common with game launchers), the Launch After logic fails.

I think this is worth resolving as it is not an uncommon scenario.

Hope the above makes some sense.

Many thanks

[Draco1962]

I think the logic is sound if it is working for everything else. If there is another process spawning after the one you have accounted for, then you need to identify it and probably look at killing that process as part of your Launch After. bat file.

[bitwildcard]

Not sure what is happening, I think the previous observation was a red herring.

The only thing I know for sure is that my visual pinball list starts AutoHotKey and terminates it on exit using the Launch After command. Works perfectly and every time.

However my PC Games list does not work even if I copy and paste the very same command.

As far as I'm aware there isn't any special conditions for the Launch After command and it should always work. Hence if I provide it a command, that command should execute regardless of what I run within the list.

[bitwildcard]

Very strange and inconsistent behaviour.

1) I tried to run my cleanup.bat file from my visual pinball list (via Launch After). Normally I just run the task kill command directly.

2) Did not work!

3) Reverted back to the task kill command (using Launch After) in the Visual Pinball list.

4) Worked perfectly!

5) Used the same task kill command in the Windows/PC Games list (via Launch After)

6) Did not work!

And another strange issue is that the batch file runs perfectly when I add it to the "Also Run" command. But I cannot use this option as I need to run after the game has exited.

I will mess around a bit more but I'm somewhat confused as to why something works in one list and not another. Why a batch file is ok in "Also Run" but not "Launch After".

[Draco1962]

At this point you may want to provide us with your advanced config.ini and a copy of your batch files you are running before and after (if any). While we may not be able to run the exact games you are, someone with good knowledge of the processes may see something that may remedy some of the problems you are experiencing.

[nullPointer]

A copy of your Advanced Emulator Config would definitely be of assistance here. More and more this is sounding like the exact same issue I ran into with a special build of ePSXe/ePSXecutor. All the pieces seem to be the same (there’s a Launch Before and Launch After Command, the necessity for an Advanced Emulator Config, and The Launch After command running when the game is launched).

[RESOLVED] Launch After Command Running Before Emulator Fully Loads

(The first and last posts get at the real heart of this particular issue. The ones in between get a bit off track dealing with a separate issue – the necessity for images to be loaded to a SCSI drive in DaemonTools for the purposes of ePSXe)

I got it working, but the solution was a bit convoluted. Basically I built a ‘Launcher’ batch file that takes in the name of the ROM file as a parameter. I used that batch file as my emulator command in GameEx. Within that batch file I inserted a timeout command, the intent being that it would give the spawned process time to load before exiting the batch script. To GameEx is looks like the emulator command takes a while to exit, and by the time it does exit the ‘watched process’ is running, so the Launch After command doesn’t run. That resolved my issue.

At the time I thought this issue might be isolated to my own unique problem. Now I’m wondering whether the above combination of circumstances triggers a bug in GameEx? I’d be curious to see whether the above solution works in your situation. I’m away from my GameEx machine, but if it helps, I can upload my final emulator config for the special ePSXe build when I get home (which is just about the only thing I didn’t upload to the post I linked above).