How to install HyperSpin

[ghutch92]

I will try to keep this guide up to date with the latest versions of HyperSpin and RocketLauncher. Also I'm adverse to making videos, because I don't want to make a new video every time something is updated, I find it easier just to edit a pic and text guide then recording a new video and editing links.

All guides will assume you know how to navigate files and folders in windows.

Translations
Español - Admoroux


This is for a new install. I'm assuming you know your way around folders and files in windows

• To download HyperSpin first you need to get the necessary support files from version 1.3.3 http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/files/file/5599-hyperspin-133-full-install/ and then overwrite with the contents from the beta http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/files/file/7500-hyperspin-14/
  I'm gonna use the C drive in the examples. Any drive letter is ok
• Now extract the contents of the download to a HyperSpin folder on the root of your drive. Example: C:\HyperSpin
  The path to your HyperSpin.exe should now be C:\HyperSpin\HyperSpin.exe
• Now you need to get RocketLauncher which is a fork of HyperLaunch, but with more active development. Download it here. http://www.rlauncher.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=1. The archive (zip) password is www.rlauncher.com
• Extract Rocketlauncher into a RocketLauncher folder on the root of your drive (C:\RocketLauncher) and make sure the path to RocketLauncher.exe is C:\RocketLauncher\RocketLauncher.exe and NOT C:\RocketLauncher\RocketLauncher\RocketLauncher.exe
• Get back in your HyperSpin folder. This time we are gonna do some manual ini editing . Open your Settings folder in your HyperSpin folder C:\HyperSpin\Settings. Find the file named Settings.ini, open it in notepad. You should see at the top a line that reads [Main]. Right up under the [Main] line add Hyperlaunch_Path= C:\RocketLauncher\RocketLauncher.exe
• Open your RocketLauncher folder (C:\RocketLauncher), now look for the RocketLauncherUI folder open it and then open RocketLauncherUI.exe. If you are having trouble opening RocketLauncherUI and you get some message about failing to initialize, you will need to download Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 to get RocketLauncherUI to work.
• You will be greeted with a prompt asking you to update. Choose yes. Choose 'Latest' in the dropdown. Click on Check Updates at the bottom of the window. Wait for it to finish and then click Apply Updates. Close the update window. You can update in the future using the update button in the RocketLauncherUI tab (the update button looks like a globe with arrows.) You're thinking wow, so many settings this is too complicated. Well that's your fault for wanting lots of customization .
• RocketLauncherUI will probably restart wait for RocketLauncherUI to restart and then close RocketLauncherUI.
• Open your RocketLauncher folder (C:\RocketLauncher), now look for the Settings folder, open it and then rename Global Emulators (example).ini to Global Emulators.ini (Make sure you can see the extension: Known Extensions Are Set to Show) If there is already a file called Global Emulators.ini replace it with the example one.
• Open your RocketLauncher folder (C:\RocketLauncher), now look for the RocketLauncherUI folder open it and then open RocketLauncherUI.exe
• Look for the big tab on the right with the RocketLauncherUI image and click on it.
• Now look for a smaller tab called "Frontends" beneath the row of big tabs and click on it
• Click the green + under the small tabs and add a new frontend (here you can add different frontends like gamex or kodi).
• In the popup window titled Add Frontend:
  • for the first blank, set the name to HyperSpin
  • for the second blank, Click the Magnifying glass to the right and locate your HyperSpin.exe application. (C:\HyperSpin\Hyperspin.exe which should look like ..\..\HyperSpin.exe if you are following the guide)
  • for the RocketLauncherUI plugin, choose Hyperspin in the dropdown box.
  • for the RocketLauncher plugin, choose Hyperspin in the dropdown box.
  • click on the button that looks like a blue floppy disk to save, if the button is not available just click the red x button to close and save the window.
• Highlight the HyperSpin frontend item in the list you just added and:
  • click on the button that looks like a folder with a thumbtack (bulletin board pin) to set HyperSpin as your default frontend. (default frontend means RocketLauncherUI will always start up with this frontend)
  • click on the button that looks like a robot terminator red eye to set HyperSpin as the active frontend. (active frontend means the frontend that you are currently working on in RocketLauncherUI)
• Look in the left near the top of the RocketLauncherUI main window for the words "Select a System" under it you should see a button that looks like two green arrows making a circle. Click on the circular green arrows button to refresh the systems list to match the active frontend. You can now close RocketLauncherUI or leave it open (you will need to open it later in this guide).
• Now to make full use of RocketLauncher we want to download the media pack. http://www.rlauncher.com/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=2
  Extract the contents of the media pack into your RocketLauncher folder (C:\RocketLauncher).
  
  Congrats you have now installed HyperSpin + RocketLauncher!
  You think you're done don't you, but you're wrong. There is still more to go. Gasp.
  We don't have any emulators yet.
   
• Ok then let's try to set one up, how about we do the most popular one. MAME
  Download the binary unless you plan on compiling your own version. (there are some benefits to compiling, hiscores and nonag being the most popular)
• Now let's create a new folder on your root drive called Emulators. C:\Emulators -this is not required but it is recommended
• Now inside this folder create a new folder named after the emulator called MAME. C:\Emulators\MAME
• Now inside your emulator folder install MAME. So the path to your mame.exe or mame64.exe should be C:\Emulators\MAME\mame.exe
  Congrats you have installed an emulator. Now to get it working with RocketLauncher and ultimately HyperSpin.
• Open your RocketLauncher folder (C:\RocketLauncher), now look for the RocketLauncherUI folder open it and then open RocketLauncherUI.exe
  On the left hand side in RocketLauncherUI you will see a list of all our systems and at the top is a system called Global (not actually a system in HyperSpin). Changing settings in Global affects all of your settings in every system. Consider this the default settings.
• Ok now highlight the Global System and click on the big tab Emulators. If you installed correctly (didn't skip steps like step 9) you will be greeted with a long list of emulator names. Scroll down this list until you find MAME. Double click on it. A new window will appear. Fill in the path value by clicking on the magnifying glass to the right of the path entry and find your MAME emulator.
  Close this window if the values for module and rom extensions are already filled.
• Now highlight the MAME system in the systems list. and click on the big tab Emulators.
• Add the path to your MAME roms in the rom paths field by clicking on the green plus button.
  For most mame installations it's in the same folder as mame.exe in a folder called roms. C:\Emulators\MAME\roms
  For other systems, I personally put roms in a folder separate from hyperspin and the emulator folder, something like C:\Games\systemName\gameName.extension
  ROMS are not included with MAME or HyperSpin or RocketLauncher. Do not ask for roms on this forum, it will get you banned. Google is your friend for this.
• Now back in RocketLauncherUI choose your default emulator by clicking on the Magnifying glass. Choose MAME [global] from the list that appears.
  Congrats! you have now setup MAME within RocketLauncher.
• Now to setup MAME for use with HyperSpin. First get the latest MAME xml from HyperList http://hyperlist.hyperspin-fe.com/
• Drop the xml you downloaded into C:\HyperSpin\Databases\MAME\ and rename it to MAME.xml. If it asks you to overwrite, choose yes.
  XML management can be a pain and so can renaming all those roms that you legally copied from your personal collection of actual games that you legally acquired through legal purchases.
• For emulators other than MAME or MESS you will need to make sure that the file names for your roms match the names for the games found in your xml.
• For the best hyperspin xml management and renaming applications use Don's HyperSpin Tools or check out the beta version of HyperTools.zip (thanks, emb).
  I think that's it for a basic installation. It will be hard and time consuming to get artwork and videos until you subscribe to emumovies and receive platinum status here by donating.
• Oh wait I almost forgot, whenever any one says edit your module settings they usually mean open RocketLauncherUI click on your system, click on the big modules tab, highlight the module you are using, and then click on the Edit Global Settings button. A little bit more info can be found here & here.
• If you liked this guide and want to say thank you, hit the like button at the bottom of this post.

Hyperspin and RocketLauncher Compatibility Fix.zip

[ghutch92]

Emulators will not be mentioned because they are already covered in another post.

Programs found to be useful in all HyperSpin setups.

HyperSpin

-- no explanation needed

HyperHQ

-- gui for managing settings for the HyperSpin front end.

HyperLaunch

-- very essential to HyperSpin, it runs all your emulators, handles loading your roms, and other stuff during gameplay.

HyperLaunch HQ

-- gui for managing settings for HyperLaunch. (makes changing settings very easy compared to manual method)

HyperSync (platinum members only)

-- artwork downloader. Updates HyperSpin with available wheel artwork, themes, jump letters, box art, media container art, and preview videos (emumovies subscribers only). Saves months of time in making HyperSpin look nice. Very little user setup needed.

Git + Tortoise Git

-- used in downloading and updating (getting bug fixes) for hyperlaunch. more explanation

HyperTools: List Filter

-- useful for editing what game is in HyperSpin. It has a cell style view of many filtering options for your games. There are alternatives, but this is my favorite one.

HyperTools: List Splitter

-- useful for generating genre xmls to use for HyperSpin's genre feature.

Programs found to be extremely useful/borderline necessary.

utorrent

-- no explanation because you should know why

Daemon Tools Lite

-- useful for loading cd images for cd based emulators/games, supported by HyperLaunch.

7zip

-- useful for archived (zipped) roms. Helps improve storage space on larger roms. Integrated with HyperLaunch. Useful outside of HyperSpin.

xpadder ($10.00 USD)

-- useful for remapping joystick/gamepad controls to keys. Required if you want to use joysticks for HyperSpin menu controls or HyperLaunch menu controls.

joytokey ($7.00 USD)

-- cheaper alternative to xpadder. The user interface is "harder to learn" than xpadder. Less advanced features, less community support.

FileZilla

-- useful for accessing/dowloading/uploading ftps like the HyperSpin ftp (gold/platinum members only) or Emumovies ftp (emumovies subscribers only).

programs found to be useful

Altova XMLSpy (not free)

-- useful in making, editing, and validating any xml, including isd files and HyperSpin xmls. The tree grid view is why this one comes recommended over others.

HyperSpin Startup Script

-- useful for starting keymappers, minimizing windows, and starting/closing other programs when HyperSpin starts

Authotkey

-- useful scripting language for Windows. Good support on these forums. Good documentation. HyperLaunch is written in AutoHotKey.

HyperTools: List Merger

-- does what it says. Easily merge HyperSpin xmls with this utility.

Teamviewer

-- most popular screen sharing utility on forums. Forum users like using this to help others setting up HyperSpin. Good for setting up/managing your Internet connected HyperSpin Setup from the office

or8ital's HyperSpin Helper - 2nd or 3rd display image viewer

-- useful for turning that 2nd screen and/or 3rd screen into a marquee/instruction/image viewer. Seems easy to use. Only useful if you have another display screen. (requires HyperLaunch)

LEDBlinky

-- useful for managing led lights on your arcade cabinet. Most people use it to light the control buttons in different colors based on the game displayed/played

File/Rom Renaming and Management utilities

It is easier to rename your roms to match the official HyperList names than to rename all the associated artwork and files for that game. These tools help you with this.

HyperTools: Rom Renamer

-- uses crc matching and some fuzzy matching to help rename your roms. Easy to use. Disc image renaming is good but does have some issues.

Bulk Rename Here

-- Generic file renamer. Useful for renaming lots of files at once. Looks advanced and extremely powerful. no crc or fuzzy matching.

HyperSync (not this HyperSync)

-- older utility that I used to manually rename my roms before HyperTools. Simple interface. Displays xml list next to list of files.

clrmamepro

-- rom management and manipulation utility. For Advanced Users. likes using dat files.

RomCenter

-- rom management and manipulation utility. For Intermediate/Advanced Users. (I think it's easier to use than clrmamepro.)

Programs found to be useful for artwork and themes.

HyperTheme

-- useful for developing themes and editing theme settings. Able to preview a theme.

Adobe Creative Suite

-- useful for editing and creating artwork and themes.

Gimp

-- free alternative to photoshop, useful for editing images. Does not do fancy custom theme effects like Adobe Creative Suite.

Disclaimers

I will be adding links for all these programs, when I get some time.

If I missed your favorite utility and you want to add it to this list. Private message (PM) me with a link to the utility, give a short description and explain why you found it useful.

Edited February 12, 2014 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

**Reserved

Edited February 12, 2014 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

HyperLaunch FAQ

How do I get my joystick to work with HyperSpin?

How do I get the HyperSpin Profile working?

1.) Get xpadder $10

2.) Put xpadder in a Utilities folder in your HyperSpin folder (C:\HyperSpin\Utilities\xpadder\xpadder.exe)

3.) Open xpadder, create a controller file left hand corner of xpadder

4.) Create a profile for that controller (right hand corner) with the mappings needed to navigate hyperspin.

5.) Name the newly created hyperspin profile p1. Copy your file named p1 and create three more copies named p2, p3, and p4.

6.) Place these profiles in the folder directory as directed by here

7.) Open up HLHQ highlight the global system click on General Settings tab then click on the smaller 3rd party tab. Find Xpadder path setting and make sure it points to your xpadder.exe

8.) Make sure you also the setting Keymapper Front End Profile Name set to HyperSpin

9.) Make sure you have setting Keymapper Front End Profile set to xpadder

10.) Now click on the big tab Settings and then click on the smaller tab main settings. Set keymapper Enabled to true. (Do not disable keymapper per system)

11.) Set keymapper to be xpadder.

Alright almost there, just a few more steps,

12.) Someone already wrote a startup script for you to take care of xpadder loading so we will use that. Get it here. Carefully read the first post about the settings Keymapper= and Keymapper_Enabled= also be sure to read the last sentence of the post and the sentence above "how to make it work."

This is most of getting the keymapper to work, I may have missed a few small details along the way, but you're smart and you will be able to figure out the details I may have forgot.

Edited March 22, 2014 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

**Reserved

Edited February 12, 2014 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

1.) Register as a user. Although I think you have to do this anyway to download HyperSpin

2.) Have fun with the HyperSpin community and be respectful.

Asking questions.

HyperNoobie Guide *Pictures Included*

1.) Use the forum search first. Look for a thread related to your topic.

2.) If you found a thread related to your topic read the thread.

3.) If that thread did not answer your question please check the most recent post date in that thread, if it's older than let's say 6 months, start a new thread on the topic. If it's newer than six months reply to the thread using the reply button at the bottom right of the post.

4.) Starting a new thead, first make sure you've already googled your problem and searched the forums here before starting a new thread.

5.) Choose the correct forum section for your topic. (Example: put HyperLaunch questions in the HyperLaunch forum section.)

6.) Make a descriptive title that accurately reflects the topic of your new thread.

Follow The Forum Rules

Under NO circumstances should a member of the HyperSpin & HyperPin forum request where to download or acquire ROMs for any system. This includes asking where to purchase ROMs.

Asking for ROMs is strictly prohibited and will get you banned without warning.

Asking to purchase HyperSpin setups is strictly prohibited!

Private Messaging

Private messaging is just that, it's private. Please do not post problems with another user in public use private messaging to help you and the other user save face. Do not spam someone endlessly with private messages. Treat it like an email system. You can send someone a private message by either clicking on their user name or adding their user name to the recipients field when typing the message.

How to save Sent PM's Click on the Settings link near your username in the top right hand corner of this page. In the left hand pane you should see a section called My Settings and in that category click on General Settings. Here you will find the setting "Save a copy of sent messages in my Sent Items folder by default" under Sent Private Messages.

Edited January 22, 2014 by ghutch92
added rfancella's guide link

[ghutch92]

Faq

*Guides coming soon

Edited October 31, 2013 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

Making and Submitting Themes or Artwork

*Guides coming soon

Edited October 31, 2013 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

***Reserved

Edited February 6, 2014 by ghutch92

[sandman7793]

Get a mod to lock it, where only you can post in it, stickie it also.

In fact delete my post also. Hopefully you dont mind i put this in my sig!

[relic]

ghutch nice job but its hard to read and see so why not post it on here instead http://hyperspin-fe.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

[Polemicist]

ghutch nice job but its hard to read and see so why not post it on here instead http://hyperspin-fe.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Ummm. No. People like me who can't get into the Wiki will be annoyed by that decision.

[relic]

ill talk to sji about it and see whats up and if we can make it better for everyone

[ghutch92]

ill talk to sji about it and see whats up and if we can make it better for everyone

I would love to make tutorials for the wiki but I find it frustrating because you need to be logged in to view the pages. Also the log in does not work for me when trying to log in from multiple computers. It's fine if I only use a single computer. It should be setup like a normal wiki where you can read it if you are not logged in, but to edit it you need to log in.

[ghutch92]

Systems: Nintendo 64

Status: last update 2012

Basic Setup

1.) Download both r106 and r146 here.

2.) Create a new folder in your emulators folder called 1964.

3.) Create an emulator version folder inside that folder. The latest version at the time of this tutorial is r146

4.) Extract or install the contents of r106 to the new folder you created above. Your path to 1964.exe should now be

C:\HyperSpin\Emulators\1964\r146\1964.exe

5.) Extract or Install the contents of r146 to the same folder as you did r106. Overwrite everything. This installation method is because the r146 install is missing some files that r106 has.

6.) Now double click on the 1964.exe. You should receive a popup asking where your roms are. Point them to your rom folder. If you've followed this guide they will be in

C:\HyperSpin\Games\Nintendo 64

7.) Open HyperLaunchHQ, Highlight Global in the systems panel and then click on the big tab emulators. Find 1964 in this list and double click on it. Now set your path and fill in the rest of the settings

8.) Now highlight Nintendo 64 in the system panel. Click on the big tab Emulators and then add the path to your Nintendo 64 roms to the rom paths field. You can do this by clicking on the smaller green plus button to the right of the rom paths field.

9.) Now set 1964 as your default emulator by clicking on the magnifying glass to the right of the default emulator field and selecting 1964 [Global] in the popup window.

10.) Don't forget that you can edit module settings by highlighting the module in the modules tab and clicking the edit global module settings button.

Advanced Setup

FAQ

Edited November 1, 2013 by ghutch92

[ghutch92]

Systems: AAE

Status: Inactive? (2008)

Basic Setup

1.) Download the AAE alpha Binary and Update #2 from here.

2.) Create a new folder in your emulators folder called AAE.

3.) Create an emulator version folder inside that folder. The latest version at the time of this tutorial is 12_13_08

4.) Extract or install the contents of the AAE alpha binary download to the new folder you creates in step 3.

C:\HyperSpin\Emulators\1964\12_13_08\aae.exe

5.) Extract or Install the contents of update #2 to the same folder as you did the alpha binary download. Overwrite everything.

6.) Open the aae.ini in notepad. This file is in the same folder as aae.exe. Now remove the # in front of mame_rom_path and set the path to your MAME roms or your AAE roms if you separated them (Example: mame_rom_path = C:\HyperSpin\Games\AAE).

7.) Open HyperLaunchHQ, Highlight Global in the systems panel and then click on the big tab emulators. Find AAE in this list and double click on it. Now set your path to aae.exe and fill in the rest of the settings

8.) Now highlight AAE in the system panel. Click on the big tab Emulators and then add the path to your AAE roms to the rom paths field. You can do this by clicking on the smaller green plus button to the right of the rom paths field.

9.) Now set AAE as your default emulator by clicking on the magnifying glass to the right of the default emulator field and selecting AAE [Global] in the popup window.

10.) Don't forget that you can edit module settings by highlighting the AAE module in the modules tab and clicking the edit global module settings button.

Advanced Setup

FAQ

[relic]

would it be ok if i added these there for you as a favour just for backup as well if its ok with you of coarse i could make a seperate area for your awesome guides

Edited November 1, 2013 by relic

[ghutch92]

would it be ok if i added these there for you as a favour just for backup as well if its ok with you of coarse i could make a seperate area for your awesome guides

I don't mind at all if you add stuff from my guides to the wiki. I won't edit the wiki until the issue of needing to log in to only read the articles is fixed.

Edited November 1, 2013 by ghutch92

[Deadly]

What would be nice is when a console name is created via HyperHQ, the next time HLHQ is launched a popup appears with verbiage like, "HyperlaunchHQ has detected a new console system, would you like to see the setup guide now?" and then it simply links to the appropriate section of the Wiki.

I realize it's probably premature to recommend it, but none the less it's one more way to curb "how do I" questions.

[obeykube]

Hey Ghutch! Thank you so much for the tutorial. In step number 19, when you say to go to the emulators tab and if installed correctly you will see a long list of emulators, I do not see any, only 1, saying, "ExampleEmu 7z,bin Custom_Module_Name_If_Different_Then_Emu_Name" Do you know where I went wrong?

[Polemicist]

Have you went to

C:\HyperSpin\HyperLaunch\Settings

Scroll down to the bottom and see if you have a "Global Emulators.ini" file setup?

If not you will see the one there named example. Make a copy of it and change the name (remove the Example bit) and open that up and take a look.

[ghutch92]

Hey Ghutch! Thank you so much for the tutorial. In step number 19, when you say to go to the emulators tab and if installed correctly you will see a long list of emulators, I do not see any, only 1, saying, "ExampleEmu 7z,bin Custom_Module_Name_If_Different_Then_Emu_Name" Do you know where I went wrong?

Step 16.)

16.) Open your HyperLaunch folder (C:\HyperSpin\HyperLaunch), now look for the Settings folder, open it and then rename Global Emulators (example).ini to Global Emulators.ini

[obeykube]

Unfortunately, I doubled check and I do have the .ini file and I did it correctly.

[obeykube]

My modules are all there, just not my emulators

Edited December 20, 2013 by obeykube

[Polemicist]

So you have double checked it is named correctly? That is the only reason it would be missing. Unless the emulator ini file was blank. Open it up and check.