Finding What Works

Launchpad has a lot of configuration options for each launcher. This is great because you can launch almost anything, but it can also be daunting if you just want your game to launch and you don't care about the details.

Configuration Layers

At its core, Launchpad has a data structure made up of layers. Configuration values are retrieved from the first layer that has a value for it, and the order is roughly like this:

1. Configuration overrides (what you set in Launchpad)
2. Auto-detected values
3. Values from the online API
4. Parent entity values
5. Default values

Additionally, Launchpad has a parent-child relationship where values are inherited from the parent down to its children as defaults (See #3 above). From the top-level parent down, we have:

1. Launcher (The main item you create in Launchpad)
2. Managed Launcher (e.g. Steam, Battle.net, Epic Launcher)
3. Managed Game (the game itself)

This means that options at the Launcher level can affect options at the Managed Launcher or Game level, but not vice versa--hanging a setting in a Managed Game does not affect a setting in its parent entity.

Defaults

All this is to say, Launchpad is designed in a way so that you have to configure as few options as possible, and you can rely on the rest being set automatically from a variety of sources. Choosing the right platform, launcher type, and game type will get you most of the way there, and then you just need to tweak things.

Overriding a default value requires unchecking the "Default" checkbox to the left of that value. You'll notice when doing so that the default value is copied into your configuration as an override that you can modify. If you ever want to go back to the default value, just re-check the "Default" checkbox and you'll see the value revert to the auto-detected default right before your eyes!

This means you can play around with your launcher settings without worrying too much about messing things up. You can at least always get back to a sane set of defaults for your platform/launcher type/game type combination.

API

Launchpad performs an API lookup in the online database using a combination of the game key (the launcher name) and the platform id (e.g. Steam). If it finds a match, it saves the resulting game's ID in the "DataSource Key" field as an override. In the future, the extra lookup is no longer needed, and any changes made to that game in the online database will sync down to your game as well.

If a game is missing from the API, let us know what launch settings work for you and we'll get it added right away! We are also working on a way for you to share your launcher configurations directly from Launchpad in the future.