Goodbye HyperSpin, you were once my favorite FE...

[progets]

but now I find you undeveloped and outdated. I spent months, maybe even a year to get you exactly how I wanted you to perform. You were (and still are) beautiful with your unique (back then) themes per game. I was forced to embrace RL (RocketLauncher) which isn't all bad but not the easiest thing to migrate to but lets be honest, HS  (HyperSpin) has never had anything that was easy to a novice.

I do plan to visit the site from time to time. I do have a lifetime subscription. I do hope that HS comes up with some new mind-blowing build and I''ll come back but for now my cabinet runs with a much more efficient FE and has no issues with input. Let's face it, HS has had input issues for more than 4 years! This is no secret.

Good luck to HS.

[dark13]

HS has input problem if you use joypad input, with xpadder/joy2key it works like a charm.

RocketLauncher is not perfect but it is a good idea to use it even with another frontend. Just as example it can unrar an iso on the fly and load it on daemon tool to spare hard disk space. It's a shame it still does not support new RA cores like sharp x68000...

The really good thing about HS is it's really simple to use once setted up, no annoying submenus and configuration windows to get lost into.

[Aorin]

I remember when using a Dual Shock 3 gamepad, I had problems with it in Hyperspin, but with Dual Shock 4 it works perfectly fine, like a native controller for the frontend, so I figured it was something that scp driver (for DS3) and the Startup Script had some kind of conflict, DS4 uses InputMapper, and I still use the Startup Script, so it's definitely SCP driver.

As for the frontend, it seems that Launchbox is a nice one for those who want a simple frontend, it downloads games info and has tons of different themes, etc., and there's a lot of nice people there too, there's others frontends, I remember the very first one I tried years ago was EmuControlCenter, I think this one doesn't even exist anymore, but was a nice start nevertheless.

Good luck!

@dark13, it's easy to add support for any new core in the Retroarch module, I can probably help getting info for it, if you want it.

[wallmachine]

12 hours ago, progets said:

for now my cabinet runs with a much more efficient FE

what frontend are you using now?
 

27 minutes ago, Aorin said:

@dark13, it's easy to add support for any new core in the Retroarch module, I can probably help getting info for it, if you want it.

I'd be interested in a revamped RetroArch module as the current is out of date. Maybe we should have RL section for ahk's since modules don't really get updated on the RL forums anymore.

[Aorin]

1 hour ago, wallmachine said:

I'd be interested in a revamped RetroArch module as the current is out of date. Maybe we should have RL section for ahk's since modules don't really get updated on the RL forums anymore.

The retroarch module thread in RL forums gets a lot of support from time to time, my current RA module has lots of updates comparing to the outdated official one.

[artman999999]

I'd like to know which FE you're using now, as well. 

[progets]

8 hours ago, artman999999 said:

I'd like to know which FE you're using now, as well. 

I have every worth while FE installed and Attract-Mode is by far the best.

• open source
• runs on most OSes
• light weight and fast
• easy logical setup
• dynamic filtering
• ultimate flexibility for menu structure
• easy changing of themes/layouts
• support for other FE themes
• support for importing other FE databases/romlists
• builtin scraper
• 100% free
• RocketLauncher supported but not required
• plugins and modules that make adding features easy like game search, PDF viewer, etc.
• almost every aspect of the FE can be modified inside the FE while it's running
• stores statistics so you can use them in your dynamic filters or in your themes/layouts (most played games, games played for the longest duration of time, etc.)

#2 RetroFE - very nice but lacks some of the features that Attract-Mode has, supports multiple OSes, great logical setup that supports variables (every FE should have this) , menu structure flexibility, 100% free

#3 HyperSpin - looks pretty but uses dated flash which makes it slow, lack of development, lack of input support, lack of menu flexibility, only runs on Windows, no flexibility of art asset location

#4 LaunchBox/BigBox - not ideal for a cabinet, slow with a large footprint, easy setup if you have no art assets or computer skills but a pain in the ass if you want to use your existing artwork and configure things how you'd like, nonsensical naming convention when using its builtin scraper make its art assets unusable with other FEs without renaming

#5 EmulationStation - light weight and small foot print but no official support or development, takes a while to launch and shutdown because of the reading and writing of the metadata

#6 GameEx - it works but you'll have to pay to use it, not the best looking or best performing FE, easy configuration

 

I wasn't planning on talking about other FEs here but a couple of people asked. Obviously this is just my opinion. HyperSpin was once the only FE to use in my mind but it was also the most complex and time consuming to setup. A few years have gone by and HyperSpin is still the same while other FEs have progressed and surpassed it. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a FE, car, computer, cell phone, etc. if there is no continued improvement/expansion/streamlining it will become obsolete. How many people here would buy a 5 year old cell phone or computer? HyperSpin is now a 5 year old cell phone.

[Aorin]

5 hours ago, progets said:

I have every worth while FE installed and Attract-Mode is by far the best.

• open source
• runs on most OSes
• light weight and fast
• easy logical setup
• dynamic filtering
• ultimate flexibility for menu structure
• easy changing of themes/layouts
• support for other FE themes
• support for importing other FE databases/romlists
• builtin scraper
• 100% free
• RocketLauncher supported but not required
• plugins and modules that make adding features easy like game search, PDF viewer, etc.
• almost every aspect of the FE can be modified inside the FE while it's running
• stores statistics so you can use them in your dynamic filters or in your themes/layouts (most played games, games played for the longest duration of time, etc.)

#2 RetroFE - very nice but lacks some of the features that Attract-Mode has, supports multiple OSes, great logical setup that supports variables (every FE should have this) , menu structure flexibility, 100% free

#3 HyperSpin - looks pretty but uses dated flash which makes it slow, lack of development, lack of input support, lack of menu flexibility, only runs on Windows, no flexibility of art asset location

#4 LaunchBox/BigBox - not ideal for a cabinet, slow with a large footprint, easy setup if you have no art assets or computer skills but a pain in the ass if you want to use your existing artwork and configure things how you'd like, nonsensical naming convention when using its builtin scraper make its art assets unusable with other FEs without renaming

#5 EmulationStation - light weight and small foot print but no official support or development, takes a while to launch and shutdown because of the reading and writing of the metadata

#6 GameEx - it works but you'll have to pay to use it, not the best looking or best performing FE, easy configuration

 

I wasn't planning on talking about other FEs here but a couple of people asked. Obviously this is just my opinion. HyperSpin was once the only FE to use in my mind but it was also the most complex and time consuming to setup. A few years have gone by and HyperSpin is still the same while other FEs have progressed and surpassed it. It doesn't matter if you're talking about a FE, car, computer, cell phone, etc. if there is no continued improvement/expansion/streamlining it will become obsolete. How many people here would buy a 5 year old cell phone or computer? HyperSpin is now a 5 year old cell phone.

I never read frontend comparisons so far, thanks for all the info.

Quote

I wasn't planning on talking about other FEs here

There's absolutely no frontend taboos I'm aware of, anyone is free not to only talk about anything game/frontend related stuff, but also share their experiences with them. Just like you did above, it also might help other people try other options.

It's nice to know Attract-Mode has so much to offer!

Edit: You should paste your comparison in your OP.

[Kondorito]

Nice post @progets and very interesting point of view for each FE; I mostly agree with you on them.

I would like to add to your last paragraph that from a couple of years ago the emulation/frontend scene has got a major growth and the user base expanded incredibly in a short period of time (compared to how it was developing as a constant since the 90s). You can see nowadays A LOT of arcade cabs and minipc/pies sellers worldwide; even Nintendo/Sega/Sony are trying to get into the market.

This scenario creates a visible gap in the emulation/FE user type; on one hand you have the oldschoolers, that know their emulation stuff since long ago, spent years configuring their front end and gathering and/or creating all the artwork and databases for it; and on the other hand you have the new comers that are getting most of the stuff instantly, and because of the FE market offer, they don't want to be hassled with configurations and learning curves, just want to have it all looking nice and play right now.

Hyperspin at its current state is suffering from the above gap, because new comers will prefer easy configurable pre-curated and better looking on the get-go front ends, and old schoolers will either leave their configured HS untouched as they spent years in getting it where its at, or if they want a change/new air, will move to a FE that will not make them require another 5 years or so in getting everything ready all over again.

[progets]

7 hours ago, Kondorito said:

Hyperspin at its current state is suffering from the above gap, because new comers will prefer easy configurable pre-curated and better looking on the get-go front ends, and old schoolers will either leave their configured HS untouched as they spent years in getting it where its at, or if they want a change/new air, will move to a FE that will not make them require another 5 years or so in getting everything ready all over again.

90% of the time spent on HS was really configuring RL. There is no need to spend a ton of time to try another FE since you already have all the games working in RL. Just point the new FE to RL and your HS art assets and you're ready to go.

Here's my RL Frontends.ini

[Settings]
Default_Frontend=Attract-Mode

[RocketLauncherUI]
Path=.\RocketLauncherUI.exe
RLUI_Plugin=Auto
RL_Plugin=Default
[HyperSpin]
Path=..\..\HyperSpin\HyperSpin.exe
RLUI_Plugin=HyperSpin
RL_Plugin=HyperSpin
[Attract-Mode]
Path=..\..\AttractMode\attract.exe
RLUI_Plugin=AttractMode
RL_Plugin=AttractMode
[LaunchBox]
Path=..\..\LaunchBox\LaunchBox.exe
RLUI_Plugin=LaunchBox
RL_Plugin=LaunchBox
[RetroFE]
Path=..\..\RetroFE\core\retrofe.exe
RLUI_Plugin=RetroFE
RL_Plugin=RetroFE
[3D Arcade]
Path=..\..\3D Arcade\fe3darcade.exe
RLUI_Plugin=3D Arcade
RL_Plugin=RocketLauncherUI
[GameEx]
Path=..\..\Games\GameEx\GameEx.exe
RLUI_Plugin=Auto
RL_Plugin=GameEx

 

[Kondorito]

1 minute ago, progets said:

90% of the time spent on HS was really configuring RL. There is no need to spend a ton of time to try another FE since you already have all the games working in RL. Just point the new FE to RL and your HS art assets and you're ready to go.

You are missing the point.
And not all the users have RL on their sets (I for once do not have it).

 

[progets]

54 minutes ago, Kondorito said:

You are missing the point.
And not all the users have RL on their sets (I for once do not have it).

 

I understand but you do have the games/bios/emulators/artwork/etc. organized, configured and working. You don't need to use RL to easily run another FE. After all a FE is exactly that, a frontend, it's not doing any work other than showing you the systems and games.

 

I'm not trying to sell anyone on using another FE. If your happy with what you have then it makes no sense to change it.

[Kondorito]

I know; I have multiple FEs configured and all the artwork is symlinked between them so nothing gets moved/renamed. 

My point was not on a programming/configuring sense, but on a community collective thought point of view and how FEs are currently being seen. 

[artman999999]

Thanks for the info.  While HS isn't the fastest FE out there, I really loved the artwork and slick appearance it gave each game.  That said, when I started my cab I had every intention of using a 1280x1024 20'' monitor.  Fast forward to a few years later, and I ended up using a true 1080P 32''.  My cab ran great, but the pixelated artwork and workarounds I had to go through to get widescreen looking right were a nightmare.  I've been using RetroFE for a while and it's pretty slick if you play around with it.  But I'd RUN back to Hyperspin if widescreen was ever natively supported.

[progets]

54 minutes ago, artman999999 said:

Thanks for the info.  While HS isn't the fastest FE out there, I really loved the artwork and slick appearance it gave each game.  That said, when I started my cab I had every intention of using a 1280x1024 20'' monitor.  Fast forward to a few years later, and I ended up using a true 1080P 32''.  My cab ran great, but the pixelated artwork and workarounds I had to go through to get widescreen looking right were a nightmare.  I've been using RetroFE for a while and it's pretty slick if you play around with it.  But I'd RUN back to Hyperspin if widescreen was ever natively supported.

FYI - AttractMode can natively run your HS game specific themes. Some will work perfectly, some will need modifications to display properly. I have done this myself and there are even youtube videos of people doing this.

BTW - I didn't even mention HS's lack of widescreen support. I guess it's been that long since it has been my go-to FE.

[gigapig]

I've said this many times over the years, but I hope you guys are actually playing games. 

Sounds like you set up one frontend and then jump to the next one. ?

I've spent enough time messing around with emulators, backends and artwork that I could have learnt to be a neurosurgeon instead. 

My cab is set up, I select a game without dwelling to long to admire artwork and I play. Hyperspin does this quickly and simply. 

I've never converted a theme to widescreen, most of the games I play are pixellated, blocky and 4:3 anyway. 

[Aorin]

7 hours ago, gigapig said:

I've said this many times over the years, but I hope you guys are actually playing games. 

I have, and I'm on both sides, since I handcrafted all my themes, made them wide-screen, configured RocketLauncher, emulators, recorded half my videos, the list goes on, and there's this thread so we can talk about games we've been playing, I only added a few.

 

[thatman84]

11 hours ago, gigapig said:

I've said this many times over the years, but I hope you guys are actually playing games. 

 

To be honest I enjoy the history aspect more than playing games. Discovering quirky things like OpenBOR, Vectrex ....saying that I will be playing the shit out of all these games when I have a finalised setup. 

 

[diskmach]

1 hour ago, thatman84 said:

To be honest I enjoy the history aspect more than playing games. Discovering quirky things like OpenBOR, Vectrex ....saying that I will be playing the shit out of all these games when I have a finalised setup. 

 

 

You might be a bit slow at fighters after you passed 80...?

[thatman84]

Yee of little faith! 

 

By 80 there will be a brain emulator so I can play as a kid again!

[diskmach]

11 minutes ago, thatman84 said:

Yee of little faith! 

 

By 80 there will be a brain emulator so I can play as a kid again!

Watch out, or you might waste a couple of years setting up that brain emulator properly...

[gigapig]

1 hour ago, thatman84 said:

Yee of little faith! 

 

By 80 there will be a brain emulator so I can play as a kid again!

Wow, lol. As the brain is the most complicated thing in the universe, the guy who makes the emu will be super talented. 

Edit: That's the human brain not a chicken brain emulator. 

[wallmachine]

[32assassin]

 

this is funny

1.  you don't like Hypespin because its never updated

2.  when its updated,  you complain because its software you have to "embrace" and need to spend time learning how to configure it.

On 10/23/2018 at 11:41 PM, progets said:

FYI - AttractMode can natively run your HS game specific themes. Some will work perfectly, some will need modifications to display properly. I have done this myself and there are even youtube videos of people doing this.

BTW - I didn't even mention HS's lack of widescreen support. I guess it's been that long since it has been my go-to FE.

 

Unless theirs been major updates to the Hyperspin plugin I'm not aware of.

let me be the one to expand on this , Attract Mode supports Hyperspin themes,  it does not support many of the animations you add in Hypertheme.,   I had to modify over 400 MAME themes in order to get them to work in Attract Mode.  so if you think that you can just copy and past all your themes to Attract Mode. Good luck with that.  

And if you think you can make themes (or layouts as they are called in Attract Mode)  good luck with that.  Unlike Hypertheme their is no official layout making program for Attract Mode.

Half the people have a hard time installing programs,  you really expect them to know how to write code in order to make Attract Mode layouts.

When I made my layouts I had no choice but to take an existing layout and swap out all the artwork.  None of my layouts have any animations.

 

 

 

[ghostlost]

Aproveitando o tópico, vi que falaram dos módulos ultrapassados, gostaria de saber se tem alguma alma caridosa que poderia criar um módulo para o emulador NOX de Android, pois o módulo do BlueStacks é super ultrapassado e aceita uma versão super ruim do emulador e a versão mais atual do BlueStacks também não é boa!
O melhor emulador de Android é o NOX, se alguém criar o módulo eu me comprometo a fazer um Pack bem bacana e disponibilizar para todos lá no meu canal do Youtube!