A FAQ or help page to get the eXo PC games series working in Hyperspin?

[QuinnHQ]

Hey guys,

 

 

     I have been searching here and the Rocket Launcher forums, and there doesn't seem to be a noob friendly thread on how to get these games up and running easily in Hyperspin? I think it would be possible? Not sure. Any help would be appreciated. 

[wesfranks]

This is a fun (read: interesting/not easy) one. Or I am stupid, take your pick. I would not even begin to duplicate the steps from the DOSBox module notes, but since you have been fighting the good fight since looks like 2012(?), I will try to highlight some of them that may throw someone else off and I will point out the one that totally whooped me. BTW, I have had this since v1.2, then v1.6 partial update, then v2.0. (5192 Games-now all green). I had it working in MEAGRE, but integrating into RocketLauncher was interesting.

 

Cliff notes (use these for emphasis only- Go by the DOSBox Module notes):

     -Line 13: Enhanced DOSBox- http://ykhwong.x-y.net/

     -Line 16 and 27: set Skip Checks to Rom Only

     -Line 18: Rom Path should point to the folder where you have all the .zip files- mine are a combined set of all 5 eXoDOS sets, but you can do them separately with multiple rompath listing in RocketLauncher.

     -Line 20: After downloading each eXoDOS set, run the "Setup eXoDOS.bat" manually, which will unpack and create the games\!dos folder.

 

          *this is what got me- after the last two steps above, the xml names for this system matched the bat files in each of the "!dos/gamename" folders, but not in the zip files for each game. I thought the skip checks would cause it to burrow down into the <gamename>

          folder to execute the bat file so I set the eXoDOS/Games/!dos/ as my rompath. This is not correct. Gamepath should be set to eXoDos/Games/ even though the names in the zip do not match the xml. (Enter zip mapping for 5192 games). Not as bad as it sounds.

 

     -Blah, Blah, Blah- aka very important steps that you should not miss.

     -Line 28: If your games are compressed an additional ZipMapping ini file is required and should also be placed on the module folder so you can map; the long filenames to the short ones. Should be kept inside %ModulePath%\ZipMapping\%SystemName%.ini.

 

That last step that I am emphasizing (please remember that I skipped over a whole bunch of steps from the DOSBox module that you should not skip) is the step that many at the RocketLauncher site was passing over. At least while I was looking at it a few weeks ago.

 

The module Global Settings Editor has a per rom setting very similar to the PCLauncher module where you set the GamePath and Fade Title for each game. I thought I was in for setting up 5192 individual paths like we used to do. Luckily I resisted that. Instead, go to your "HyperSpin\RocketLauncher\Modules\DOSBox\ZipMapping" folder and remove the (Example) from the name of the "Microsoft MS-DOS (Example).ini" file, so it only has "Microsoft MS-DOS.ini". Each of the long names of the xml are mapped to the short names of the games in the eXoDOS/Games/ folders. The guys at RocketLauncher were kind enough to do the work for me, but I was not smart enough to figure it out until banging my head against the wall several times.

 

I always say "read the module notes", but it is also helpful to open up the module folders, dig around and find what the RocketLauncher people have left you. Thanks guys. I'll try to do better next time.

 

QuinnHQ- Hope it helps. And if anybody else stumbles in here, ignore everything I said. Nothing to see here. These are not the droids you seek. Move along.

[wesfranks]

Oh, and I left it unsaid that the "Microsoft Windows 3.x.ini" needs the (Example) tag removed also and is for the eXo Win3.x pack. Still looking for a database for that one.

 

Also, long wait time for games especially first time while it uncompresses and installs in the background.

 

edit: link for Microsoft Windows 3.x.xml http://pastebin.com/UwnXrK6b by tonesmalone

[JackOfOwls]

Wow, if anything needs a detailed tutorial on how to get something working with HyperSpin/Rocketlauncher, it's eXoDOS!  I downloaded just a few select games from the internet archive's eXoDOS sets and have absolutely no idea how to get this thing running.  Ideally I want to keep the archives zipped and have Rocketlauncher auto-unzip them as needed but that eXoDOS Zipmapping ini has already got me scratching my head until it serves the same purpose as pulling out my hair.  Maybe someday someone will be nice enough to write us a step-by-step guide for this like some of the excellent tutorials I've seen for getting Amiga WHDload romsets working with HS/Rocketlauncher

[wesfranks]

Sorry JackOfOwls, I believe the only thing I could have done better is to reiterate everything that the AHK module says. I gave the short version to emphasize steps that tripped me up and to prevent a longer post that would be even more likely to be ignored. Have you looked at the module?

 

The XML and AHK module (rom naming, instructions, ini files, etc.) are set up for the eXoDOS set specifically 2.0. You can run it with fewer games (after editing down the XML) but you have to have the setup files for the different sets (GamesADV.zip, GamesACT.zip, GamesSIM.zip, GamesRPG.zip, GamesSTR.zip), the setup BAT files, the frontend MEAGRE, and everything included in the "util" folder. This in addition to the games you choose, whether individually or by the set. You likely just got the games you were interested in and missed the setup files. The five Games***.zip files would be the easiest to overlook as they are lumped in with the thousands of games. Everything must work outside of RocketLauncher/HyperSpin first.

 

The zipmapping is not as confusing as it sounds. The INI is already named matching the XML and the eXoDOS 2.0 set. After you get MEAGRE running, just point RocketLauncher to your zipped games files and take the "Example" tag off of the INI. You should get a clear audit for your games and launching the same as if you were using MEAGRE, with the exception that the loading phase and frontend will be hidden by Fade. It does take an extended time to unzip, install and load a game.

[wesfranks]

Anyone else have eXoDOS set up that would like to take a shot at a video tutorial? Not really my area. I also have it set up already and can't start from zero like this system probably needs for clarity.

[JackOfOwls]

Sorry JackOfOwls, I believe the only thing I could have done better is to reiterate everything that the AHK module says. I gave the short version to emphasize steps that tripped me up and to prevent a longer post that would be even more likely to be ignored. Have you looked at the module?

 

The XML and AHK module (rom naming, instructions, ini files, etc.) are set up for the eXoDOS set specifically 2.0. You can run it with fewer games (after editing down the XML) but you have to have the setup files for the different sets (GamesADV.zip, GamesACT.zip, GamesSIM.zip, GamesRPG.zip, GamesSTR.zip), the setup BAT files, the frontend MEAGRE, and everything included in the "util" folder. This in addition to the games you choose, whether individually or by the set. You likely just got the games you were interested in and missed the setup files. The five Games***.zip files would be the easiest to overlook as they are lumped in with the thousands of games. Everything must work outside of RocketLauncher/HyperSpin first.

 

The zipmapping is not as confusing as it sounds. The INI is already named matching the XML and the eXoDOS 2.0 set. After you get MEAGRE running, just point RocketLauncher to your zipped games files and take the "Example" tag off of the INI. You should get a clear audit for your games and launching the same as if you were using MEAGRE, with the exception that the loading phase and frontend will be hidden by Fade. It does take an extended time to unzip, install and load a game.

 

Hey, no apology needed.  You've definitely given us a good idea on how to get this done.  My problem was that I tried to download only a few of the eXoDOS games when it looks like I need to download the whole set (or genre sets) so I can use the proprietary eXoDOS installers.  An alternative of course is to just do it myself with configuring the individual dos.conf files but the whole point of using eXoDOS is to avoid that.  Right now I'm learning about CRT shaders and how much they improve the visual quality of old  8-16-bit console games but I will eventually get back to eXoDOS and setting up my favorite old DOS game under HS/RL.  Thanks for your help.

[wesfranks]

Hey, I got faith in you. Sounds like your DOS-fu is stronger than mine. I've dabbled for years, but..... Your right about the shaders. If I remember right, that was the point of the "Enhanced DOSBox" version from above and also different sound drivers.

[JackOfOwls]

Hey, I got faith in you. Sounds like your DOS-fu is stronger than mine. I've dabbled for years, but..... Your right about the shaders. If I remember right, that was the point of the "Enhanced DOSBox" version from above and also different sound drivers.

 

Heh, well I did need a little help.  Thanks to your post above I was able to figure out (actually, you figured it out for me) that I don't need to download the entire 350GB internet archive of 5000+ DOS games & CD-Roms and could just extract those 5 genre collection setup files and get a working installed ExoDOS base so I can prepare to integrate it into Hyperspin.  So, only about 5GB as opposed to 350GB.  Seems like a good deal to me   Now I can just download the games I want to download.  Sweeeet.

[wesfranks]

That's great. Don't thank me. It's all djvj, Brolly, and eXo.

 

Just don't forget to use the "Setup eXoDOS.bat" every time you add new games, if you do it piecemeal. It adds them to MEAGRE database and sets up the dosbox.conf for the new games. Then of course your HyperSpin XML. Everything else should just fall in place afterward.

 

Wonder how  the OP is doing with it. He probably saw my "blah, blah, blah," and just ran.

[JackOfOwls]

I found that all I needed to do was download those five genre category files and eXoDOS installed all 5000+ games into MEAGRE's frontend database.  On a related topic, I'm discovering that a lot of files on the internet archive's eXoDOS games are missing when you go to download individual files from within the zip archives (they show as 0 bytes), ie the early Duke Nuke Em side-scrollers.  I'm guessing the uploader is complying with copyright holders' requests to have them removed or possibly it's an issue with the way internet archive extracts files from massive archives for individual downloads.  So it looks like I'll have to manually configure a few games after all.  Oh well.  Still quite a treasure trove

[QuinnHQ]

Wow! Thanks for the help wesfranks. Gives me a bit more direction. I am gathering some sets, and will attempt this soon!

[wesfranks]

Cool. Good to hear back from you. Good luck when you get everything together.