Sega Genesis General Questions

[TheMadHatter]

So I made this thread to kind of get a little bit of information about how I want to actually set up the front end visuals while I am trying to get all the games manually. 1 by 1/ renaming them accordingly. During this though I have ran into some questions.

 

1. When a game has a name like ('94) after it. For example like NBA Action '94 (USA). It creates a '/' in front of the name on the Front end. So when I view it in HyperSpin the game comes up NBA Action /'94. Anyway to get rid of the actual ' before the year in the name in RocketLauncherUI? or better yet is there anyway to get HyperSpin to stop putting / before the '94?

 

2. Some Wheel names are all black and it makes it hard to see with the grid-like black background of Sega Genesis default background. Do people usually change the background look? If so, how(maybe a screenshot on how it looks)

 

3. Is there any faster way to make sure your Roms/Artwork/Videos match the names in RLUI without manually changing them or does it just depend on the packs you get if they are names properly? And is it against any sort of rule to ask about where people get Full Rom Packs for Certain Consoles?

[Avar]

You can edit in in the database xml itself though I've not seen this issue myself with the latest HyperList releases. Also, you can use Don's HyperSpin Tools to automatically rename all your files in one go to match the xml.

 

As for wheel appearance, I feel the best option is to use Auto Kustom to place them on placards that are to your taste. There are some pre-done ones available for most systems as well but I prefer to do them manually to get the appearance you want. Auto Kustom comes pre-loaded with some nice options for most major systems.

[Black Hazor]

1.) U need to use ' instead of the ' than it works...here is a list of everything

&   =   &
'   =   '
<   =   <
>   =   >
"   =   "
Ä   =  Ä
Ö   =   Ö
Ü   =   Ü
ä   =   ä
ö   =   ö
ü   =   ü
ß   =   ß

2.) The "Backgrounds" of the the wheels are a part of the theme u have for this system (found in Artwork/System Name/Themes - default is default everything else is game specific). U can change them in Hypertheme or just download another from the download section

 

3.) I would suggest trying a Program like HyperTools (in DL Section)...

[TheMadHatter]

You can edit in in the database xml itself though I've not seen this issue myself with the latest HyperList releases. Also, you can use Don's HyperSpin Tools to automatically rename all your files in one go to match the xml.

 

As for wheel appearance, I feel the best option is to use Auto Kustom to place them on placards that are to your taste.

Are there good video tutorials on how to do these things you mention. Just because....

1. Im not sure what Don's HyperSpin Tool is.

2. Not sure how to use a xml file properly.

3. Not sure what Auto Kustom is or what placing them on placecards means lol.(does this just mean u use a generic background for the image like outline the letters in white if its all black or something like that?

[SIMPLYAUSTIN]

This may answer some questions about the programs mate. It's dated, but info still valid 

[SkyHighGam3r]

I have so much to share with you young grasshopper. I too have made a concerted effort to redo every XML, I have also redone the entire themeset (several times now) and have learned a lot about acquiring and making art to fill the 'holes'.

FIRST off, they were spot on. ' will help you with that error. (You will use that and & for the ampersand "&" alot) While I can't speak on Don's Hyperspin tools (I did this all by hand) I can tell you that REGULAR windows notepad is your best friend. A lot of people will say you need Notepad+ or some other nonsense, YOU DO NOT. Unless it has some benefit I'm not aware of, you can easily edit every single XML via notepad with 0 issue. (and if you make an error you can find/fix it easily with RocketLauncher... more on that later if you like lots of info to share)

Regarding themes. You're best 3 friends are HyperTheme, Photoshop, and sometimes even just plain ol' MSPAINT (though you won't need that one much if ever depending on what you are doing) You don't need lots of knowledge in any of them to do this kind of work thankfully.

What I recommend doing is finding a background that you feel fits well with whatever system you are using at the time. You can google things like "Genesis Wallpaper" or "Sega Genesis Art" or, and I did this sort of thing for a while "Blue Black Wallpaper" and look for something you feel fits.

As far as addressing how your wheel art contrasts with your background there are a few ways to approach this.

1.) Pick a background that will not clash with any of it (hard, but doable)
2.) Use photoshop to change the color or brightness etc of the wheel art that is causing issue. (most common solution I'd imagine)
3.) and this is what I did recently, DELETE the wheel art (most people won't do this) and put the box art in it's place.

Regarding matching names... I went a bit extreme, and as I said I did this all WITHOUT tools...

Put your folder of Genesis games into your media folder. Should look like this C:\Hyperspin\Media\Sega Genesis\roms, or something simliar. Basically you want your roms folder in the same base directory as your wheel art, boxes, videos etc.

The reason for this is your new best friend... the search field. But before we go into that, you will also want to open the XML for your system.

SO, on one half of the screen you will have your XML, and the other half, your C:\Hyperspin\Media\Sega Genesis folder.

Now, working your way down the list, rename the game whatever you want in the xml (be sure to do both title and description)
Go over to the folders and use the search box to type in the name of the game. You will see the Box, Cartridge, Video, Title, and Rom all pull up.
Right-Click (or SLOWLY double-click) the top item, rename it how you wish.
(here's the fun part)
Without pushing enter to save your change, hold shift, and press home on your keyboard. This will highlight the new title you created.
Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
Now push TAB, this will move to the next item in line and IMMEDIATLY highlight it's title (minus the extension)
Simply push Ctrl+V to paste, and press TAB to move on.

Rinse, and Repeat my friend.

Now, there are probably a million differant ways to go about it, but that is how I did it because I was VERY picky about the way I named my games. I made sequels have numbers when there were none, I changed all roman numerals to normal, and I did crazy things like renamed Probotector "Contra - Probotector" so that they were right next to each other.

I HIGHLY recommend seeing how lots of people go about it before you dive in head-first, but if you do settle on my method I will let you know that I also, when going through the xml, deleted the genre, crc, year, and all that superflous data. It made the XMLs so so so much easier to manage.

That's the beauty of this though, it's SO customizable, that you can do whatever you wish.

Now above, I also mentioned checking your XML for errors using RocketLauncher, this is simple.

In your system of choice, go to the games tab (pac-man) and push the big play button. This will scan your XML for matches. NOW if there is an error you will see something about how the XML is misformed and it will give you a line number and a second number.

go back to notepad and push Ctrl+G, and you will be given a box to choose what line you would like to jump to. Enter the line RL gave you, and the second number is what character on that line is wrong, missing, etc.

I really hope that helps, I know it's long winded. If you have any questions about my method please ask.

 

[TheMadHatter]

This may answer some questions about the programs mate. It's dated, but info still valid 

This did help me quite a bit with the wheel image backgrounds making it look nice. Still kinda confused on how to auto change your roms/video/artwork to the same name instead of manually changing them though. ima watch the video like 5 more times and see if i can pick up on stuff i might of missed or something.

[Avar]

Are there good video tutorials on how to do these things you mention. Just because....

1. Im not sure what Don's HyperSpin Tool is.

2. Not sure how to use a xml file properly.

3. Not sure what Auto Kustom is or what placing them on placecards means lol.(does this just mean u use a generic background for the image like outline the letters in white if its all black or something like that?

 

You can get AutoKustom and additional background packs for it here. You can also make your own backgrounds in photoshop and add them manually to kustom's resources/backgrounds folder.

 

Here's the link for Don's HyperSpin Tools. It has fairly clear directions on how to use it built in from what I remember and it makes life much easier.

[SkyHighGam3r]

I would advise against using SkyHigh's method of renaming and such. Unless you're going to use some custom name scheme (which I don't recommend) those methods are about 300 times the amount of work and time compared to using some of Don's tools. Not to mention that if you use the standard name scheme most of the art you get from here will already be named to match, so you don't need to rename stuff very often.

 

You can use Don's Filter HyperList you can cherrypick which games you want to include while keeping all of the xml info and standard naming. The list is then generated for you so you don't even need to modify the xml yourself.

 

When you do need to rename roms or artwork I would recommend Don's Rom Renamer. To use it you select a database, choose your rom or artwork folder, and it will match alot of the roms/art itself. For anything that doesn't match you can just drag and drop to create a match. Once you're done matching everything is renamed and for roms you can choose to compress it to a zip or 7z.

You are 100% correct in that it took me a great deal longer to get through everything.

For me the custom naming scheme was a must, and the work merely an obstacle to that necessity.

However, YES, it will add significant amount of time to your work.

As I said I am not familiar with the tools as they didn't seem to work well with how I was running things lol.

I also haven't compressed anything, but again that's a quirck of the method in which my system is setup. All my roms/isos are on an external HDD that I intend to setup to look like a cartridge I can place inside the system.

As I mentioned though, there are a ton of different ways to do this, I merely offer mine as an example on one (very unconventional) method.

[TheMadHatter]

I actually appreciate both answers because I will prob start off with making things a little more simple on me. But down the road i am one of those kind of perfectionist that i would want certain games to be named a certain way and things like that. So both are very worthy and the information was perfect. but right now im more worried about downloading like EACH ROM individually and having to rename it to match RLUI.

 

So for example because im working on Sega Genesis right now(wanted to start on roms instead of isos to make it a bit easier for me)

 

I currently have like 500 of the games downloaded/renamed manually still have 282 more or something like that. (unless someone has a full rom pack that would greatly reduce the time spent)

 

After i get the roms downloaded i extract the ones that dont show green on the audit. Rename accordingly to RLUI's name. and compress to .7z and reaudit and its there.

 

Then I downloaded video packs/ artwork packs and put them in folders. (Some of course dont match names still)

 

I then run HyperSpin and note which wheel art/videos/box art doesnt show up and go and rename them.

 

Any walkthrough on how to speed this up? lol. If using one of the tools to rename. A type of tutorial or step by step might help best to make sure i dont ruin what i already have by a simple mistake i should of known about lol.

[TheMadHatter]

I actually appreciate both answers because I will prob start off with making things a little more simple on me. But down the road i am one of those kind of perfectionist that i would want certain games to be named a certain way and things like that. So both are very worthy and the information was perfect. but right now im more worried about downloading like EACH ROM individually and having to rename it to match RLUI.

 

So for example because im working on Sega Genesis right now(wanted to start on roms instead of isos to make it a bit easier for me)

 

I currently have like 500 of the games downloaded/renamed manually still have 282 more or something like that. (unless someone has a full rom pack that would greatly reduce the time spent)

 

After i get the roms downloaded i extract the ones that dont show green on the audit. Rename accordingly to RLUI's name. and compress to .7z and reaudit and its there.

 

Then I downloaded video packs/ artwork packs and put them in folders. (Some of course dont match names still)

 

I then run HyperSpin and note which wheel art/videos/box art doesnt show up and go and rename them.

 

Any walkthrough on how to speed this up? lol. If using one of the tools to rename. A type of tutorial or step by step might help best to make sure i dont ruin what i already have by a simple mistake i should of known about lol.

 

also am i doing this wrong? or am i doing it right, but there are more effective ways to get done what im trying to get done?

[JoyStickKilla]

You are making it hard on yourself. Just download a pack that is already named correctly for HS

[Avar]

Best bet is Don's HyperSpin Tools' (linked in my post above) Rom Renamer. HyperSync (Platinum Membership required) is useful in that it renames everything for you as it downloads it but if you want to do it manually, as I do, you can rename media with fatmatch or a similar matching program. Another rom checker/renamer you can use is CLRMAMEPRO with the DAT files available in HyperList.

 

End of the day though, deviating from the official HyperList databases is a bit hellish. All artwork, videos, and wheels are named based on the official xmls so using custom naming increases your overall workload exponentially.

 

Also like JoyStickKilla said, there are pre-existing packs properly named e'rywhere.

[TheMadHatter]

You are making it hard on yourself. Just download a pack that is already named correctly for HS

Thats what im trying to figure out maybe then lol

[Avar]

Check your PMs.