HyperSpin SpecialArt Organiser 1.05 Released

[thatman84]

Thanks Potts,

I always think it's good to have a rollback option. If it is easy enough I would put it in anyway. If not prob just make your own decision on what others say.

Is was just thinking about how to replace them. May search for the Special folder then delete all. Them find a way to paste a clean folder to all system folders(not sure on this but yet!

[potts43]

You can already get rid of all custom special art b by selecting rename all from the controller position in the program But

It would be easy to build in:

1) delete all Special Art from real Hyperspin system and main menu folders

2) revert to original Hyperspin default special art.

3) you would have to revert the settings.inis as the x and y would be wrong for the original art.

Anything else?

[potts43]

Thanks Potts,

I always think it's good to have a rollback option. If it is easy enough I would put it in anyway. If not prob just make your own decision on what others say.

Is was just thinking about how to replace them. May search for the Special folder then delete all. Them find a way to paste a clean folder to all system folders(not sure on this but yet!

Unless you want to revert back this seems a lot of work for nothing as running the program will overwrite the unwanted files. You will soon see how much copy/paste would be required and why I wrote this program.

[thatman84]

Thanks again, sounds like you have it covered. hopefully I will get time tonight to get this sorted. My test setup needs a big cleanup anyway.

[thatman84]

Well had another go and all works well just need to sort my settings file copy and replace. That is the only step I think needs a little more of an idiots guide approach to.

BTW found an easy way to delete and copy the files.

Windows advanced search syntax and a program Metalzoic sugested called n2ncopy

Search in media folder for

Special kind:folder

Select all and delete

(quicker than *Special as it deletes the folder not the 35000 files that were in them!

Then drag an original Special folder into n2ncopy

Search media folder for

images king:folder

Select all and drag to n2ncopy

It will the. Copy the Special folder to all the images folders in Media. (Had to manual copy the main menu special folder over and delet the one it created in Frontend.)

Thanks Potts great program and artwork and idea you have

[potts43]

Well had another go and all works well just need to sort my settings file copy and replace. That is the only step I think needs a little more of an idiots guide approach to.

BTW found an easy way to delete and copy the files.

Windows advanced search syntax and a program Metalzoic sugested called n2ncopy

Search in media folder for

Special kind:folder

Select all and delete

(quicker than *Special as it deletes the folder not the 35000 files that were in them!

Then drag an original Special folder into n2ncopy

Search media folder for

images king:folder

Select all and drag to n2ncopy

It will the. Copy the Special folder to all the images folders in Media. (Had to manual copy the main menu special folder over and delet the one it created in Frontend.)

Thanks Potts great program and artwork and idea you have

Already integrated the delete all special art into v 1.06.....just press a button[emoji12]

I will sort adding the default special art before releasing it.

Much simpler!

[scooter1974]

This is fantastic. Took me about 10 minutes to get everything up and running. Thanks a bunch potts

[potts43]

This is fantastic. Took me about 10 minutes to get everything up and running. Thanks a bunch potts

You are very welcome! Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm about to release v1.06 which will:

1) Be able to delete all HS special art

2) Be able to restore all HS special art defaults (just in case)

3) Be able to restore all original ini files to match the above as the arts x and y would be incorrect.

Cheers

[rrobledo]

I have a request...

 

I would like to see another image or section added to the existing system themes that indicates to the player "This system works best with: <Arcade stick or XBOX controller image>". This could also be done using the Fade screen but some of my systems don't have fade configured nor is it needed. 

 

The timing for the fade in and out of the special art is right on point to allow the theme to show but come back just in time to remind the player what to do. Adding this indicator would make it perfect!

 

Just a request, thanks potts...  

[potts43]

I have a request...

I would like to see another image or section added to the existing system themes that indicates to the player "This system works best with: <Arcade stick or XBOX controller image>". This could also be done using the Fade screen but some of my systems don't have fade configured nor is it needed.

The timing for the fade in and out of the special art is right on point to allow the theme to show but come back just in time to remind the player what to do. Adding this indicator would make it perfect!

Just a request, thanks potts...

The fade is part of rocketlauncher package not hyperspin. At this moment in time I'm not planning on adding fades via specialart as they are separate ideas.

All you need to do is to create a separate png on a system or per rom basis and place it in the correctly named folder structure and it will display as required.

[potts43]

I have looked at v1.05 and rewritten several parts to improve the way it does things based on feedback. One of which does away with using find and replace for editing the ini files. Now it's two mouse clicks and it's done. I'm now working on v1.08 and hope to release it this week.

[potts43]

HyperSpin SpecialArt Organiser 1.08 Released today!

From V 1.05 -> 1.08

Batch Processing ini files no longer uses external program Fnr. All done internally - Now only a few mouse clicks!

Ini can be backed up to folder with date and time so that they can be restored.

Can be restored using this folder or by program set defaults for:
Android Shield
Theme use (The artwork created by Potts43)
HyperSpin Original Defaults

Now able to back up FULL real Hyperspin Special Art setup and restore it with a few mouse clicks. Perfect for trying out or changing themes on the fly.

Now possible to delete all Special Art from Real HyperSpin if required and revert back to the original default Special Art and Inis to match.

and more......

available in download section.

[rrobledo]

 

Substituted the Genre (Special Art 3) with the Controller notification at the bottom right corner.

[potts43]

Substituted the Genre (Special Art 3) with the Controller notification at the bottom right corner.

If you just swap the art over then Hyperspin will change it on a per genre basis not per game or system. Especially when you enter the Genre mode as its part of HS. If you want to do it per system then that artwork needs embedding in the system swf file and leave the genre art alone. Alternatively as I suggested the fade screen is perfect for your idea and far easier to maintain.

Did you try the new 1.08 version?

[rrobledo]

If you just swap the art over then Hyperspin will change it on a per genre basis not per game or system. Especially when you enter the Genre mode as its part of HS. If you want to do it per system then that artwork needs embedding in the system swf file and leave the genre art alone. Alternatively as I suggested the fade screen is perfect for your idea and far easier to maintain.

Did you try the new 1.08 version?

Well honestly right now, this works for my setup as I dont really use Genre at all. The only place I use Genre is really Mame and that is hardly ever due to most of my games saved as favorites. But I would like to leave your theme alone and have the controller notification separate. When you say "If you want to do it per system then that artwork needs embedding in the system swf file", where is this system.swf file?

 

No haven't tried 1.08 yet, downloading it now though! 

 

Also yeah I know the fade screen would work, but my plan is to have both. The controller notification used for the Special Art is just to let the player know what controller they should be using before actually picking a game. The fade screen I would like to have it more detailed identifying what buttons do what, but that is another topic and I will keep from going to far into that. I found some forum posts that got me covered there.

[potts43]

An example location...DRIVE:\HyperSpin\Media\AAE\Images\Special\SpecialA1.swf or SpecialB1.swf

If you had 80 systems configured you would need to do this 80 times!

[rrobledo]

An example location...DRIVE:\HyperSpin\Media\AAE\Images\Special\SpecialA1.swf or SpecialB1.swf

If you had 80 systems configured you would need to do this 80 times!

Oh yea, what I thought you meant was the system.swf was another separate file in another location. So what you're saying is the controller notifier could be added as another SpecialA or Special B artwork. I suspect the naming convention would be SpecialA2, SpecialB6, or SpecialC2? From there I would have to append the image to whichever special art you created? If that is the case, do you know if Flash Pro would let me do this?

[potts43]

It would probably be best as specialB2 rather than A2 as only one special art can display at the same time.

Special art a b and c can simultaneously display but you can't display special art a1 and a2 simultaneously so if you created it as a2 then hyperspin would display a1 for 5 seconds and then a2 for 5 seconds and repeat. As a1 is the frame art it would not be the way to do it. It might work well naming it to b2 but it if you don't use genre art you could try naming a png file all games.png and it would display as special art c. This would be a task as it would be on a system by system basis. However it may also work by having a rom named folder and it may then work on a game basis .

On the PC you can use png rather than swf if you are not using flash scripts or animation. That would make your life easier.

Hope this info helps

Have you got all of the art done for this type of idea? You've got me thinking that I could possibly write another addition to the program.....

It could provide the user with a list of installed systems and then copy the desired artwork to the specified folders on a put a tick in a box type system ?

Thoughts?

[rrobledo]

It would probably be best as specialB2 rather than A2 as only one special art can display at the same time.

Special art a b and c can simultaneously display but you can't display special art a1 and a2 simultaneously so if you created it as a2 then hyperspin would display a1 for 5 seconds and then a2 for 5 seconds and repeat. As a1 is the frame art it would not be the way to do it. It might work well naming it to b2 but it if you don't use genre art you could try naming a png file all games.png and it would display as special art c. This would be a task as it would be on a system by system basis. However it may also work by having a rom named folder and it may then work on a game basis .

On the PC you can use png rather than swf if you are not using flash scripts or animation. That would make your life easier.

Hope this info helps

Have you got all of the art done for this type of idea? You've got me thinking that I could possibly write another addition to the program.....

It could provide the user with a list of installed systems and then copy the desired artwork to the specified folders on a put a tick in a box type system ?

Thoughts?

I have got the artwork done for 2 versions of the controller notification. (XBOX pad and the ARCADE pad). Wouldn't be too hard to get more, but I have only made them to match the Theme 4 from your app.

 

That addition would be great if its not too cumbersome or affects the original primary intention of the app. The image added is a simple .png image not sure this would matter or require conversion to .swf format.

[potts43]

I'll give it some thought

[rrobledo]

Thanks potts,

 

Just tried the new version 1.08. Great job from GUI to functionality, good progression.

[rrobledo]

I'll give it some thought

Hey potts, don't think to hard on this one. I just reapproached my idea by adding the controller notifier as another piece of artwork added to each system theme. This actually worked out better cause it identifies the controller to be used before actually selecting the system. However, I think it still would be a good idea to add the ability to overwrite existing special art images for those that want to mix and match from other special artwork available or in my case, add to yours.

 

Thanks

[potts43]

Hey potts, don't think to hard on this one. I just reapproached my idea by adding the controller notifier as another piece of artwork added to each system theme. This actually worked out better cause it identifies the controller to be used before actually selecting the system. However, I think it still would be a good idea to add the ability to overwrite existing special art images for those that want to mix and match from other special artwork available or in my case, add to yours.

 

Thanks

Spent a few hours on this today, not just for your idea but I wanted to see if I could create a list view with a checkbox and be able to action the Systems with a check. I am pleased to say I've been successful.

Basically what I have achieved is this:

Select the HyperSpin Media folder. The program creates a Long list of all of the systems you have installed and creates a checkbox for each system. I added another checkbox which acts as a lock to prevent any action happening by accident. It locks being able to put checks in any boxes. Once you have selected the Systems you want you press Copy files.

The program copies the SpecialCustomart.swf to the System\Images\special\ folder

BUT before doing so it checks if there is already a SpecialB1.swf and if so tries to copy it to SpecialB2.swf and moves on if it does find one until SpecialB8.swf which I guessed would be more than enough.

This means that it won't overwrite any artwork already established. So if someone wanted to add controller icon like yours to animate with my art it would be simple across only the systems required.

The reason..? For arcade systems you normally would use your Cabinet buttons (If you have a cab) and for other stuff use a game pad. So you could select non arcade systems and display an Xbox360 controller with only a few clicks.

This is only the idea and it is yet to be integrated into my system so any thoughts or ideas fire them my way.

Cheers

[potts43]

New version released today. Current version 1.09

 

Found a few bugs and fixed them. Added quite a few features and included a basic use video.

 

Cheers

[Henderson33]

Hi, i copied video step by step cos i was setting up xbox controls too. It works great apart from 1 thing. When i am on the main menu theme the xbox buttons are like the ones from from the system themes. It has extra buttons like favorites and genre, in your video u have only have browse, select and exit. Am i doing something wrong?? Thank you