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

[griffin518]

On 10/28/2018 at 10:02 PM, dark13 said:

What do you mean with "freezing", i've never seen HS freezing, sometimes it can lose focus while exiting a game. Probably the biggest bug of the software is related with flash itself: the audio buffer sucks, sometimes audio buffer is not dumped when a video is removed, (when you launch a game and RL is a bit slow to launch it, if you move the wheel HS loads the next video and you ends up hearing the audio of that video when emulator is launched)  this obviously happens more often on low end rig. I should have solved the problem using

SoundMixer.stopAll();

 

I'm interested in playing around with this in my setup. Where would you insert this code? This is the only "bug" i've experienced in the past... would be great to have a solution to it.

Thanks!

[thatman84]

8 hours ago, Rowr14 said:

Given how far HyperSpin has been stretched from it's original scope with the passing of different technologies, standards and file formats it's kind of miraculous (well probably more a testament to an inventive community) that this front end can even still hang with the half dozen much newer and better supported programs out there.

We seem to get these threads every few months where there is some sort of sad lament about moving on, I guess maybe that is a testament to how sad it can be to let go of something you spent a lot of time with. 

HyperSpin seemed to be the best option for 4:3 when I started with it a few years ago, not sure if that is still the case but it still works great for it's original intended purpose.

 

Dito... i do wonder where other FE's will be at the 10yr mark. Not sure the age of many others tbf

[dark13]

1 hour ago, griffin518 said:

I'm interested in playing around with this in my setup. Where would you insert this code? This is the only "bug" i've experienced in the past... would be great to have a solution to it.

Thanks!

You need to load the video on a .swf and not use HS engine. You can test latest version of aeon nox XIII for now.

Still testing it, it still seems a bit bugged. If you move the wheel after launching a game it removes the new video and stop the audio BUT if the new video is loaded in the exact moment that RL launch the game you can hear the audio. Need to investigate further, the code removes the video and silence the audio when HS goes off-focus and re-add it when HS goes in-focus, so it might be a struggling between z-order in RL script to cause the problem (or just my bad code ? ). The good thing is when you press the key to launch a game the code removes the video and loads an image, so you have a feedback that RL is launching a game. The major problem with the bug is you are not sure if the system got the keypress as there's not a feedback when you launch a game and we all know the first run of RL is a bit slow.

[damageinc86]

On 10/31/2018 at 10:51 AM, thatman84 said:

Dito... i do wonder where other FE's will be at the 10yr mark. Not sure the age of many others tbf

Well, Launchbox is about to the 5 year mark already, and it's doing great.  Slowly starting to incorporate some rocketlauncher features now too. 

[j2chulo]

On 10/23/2018 at 12:46 AM, 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.

Where do I download attract-mode and is there any video or tutorial on how to set it up? Sorry like you I use hyperspin but i ended up putting too much hours trying to configures stuff and setting. It’s good but time consuming. I will like to know how other front end work. Thanks

[j2chulo]

On 10/25/2018 at 5:07 PM, thatman84 said:

Yee of little faith! 

 

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

That’s what’s killing me on sfv nowday. I cannot move my fingers as fast as when I was 20’s. Plus reflection it’s not the same ??? the yougerst are abusing ???

[zorrobandito]

I have to say that I agree with the OP. I moved from being an SME with MAMEWah to being unable to handle the 'simplest' of tasks in Hyperspin.

HS was so damn good looking that I got hold of a pre-configured build on an HDD which worked, more or less, straight out of the box. But changing any advanced emulator settings, once as simple as editing a single command line, is now fraught with danger! This maze of ini and ahk files prevents me from tinkering as I normally would, trying out different emulators and effects, to get the best CRT result. Four years later I'm only now brave enough to try the Gigapig build I downloaded months ago.

I'm currently trialling a new linux build with Attract Mode but moving away from Windows is a big deal for me.

Anyway, definitely not meaning to sound ungrateful because it is clearly a very powerful app - in the hands of an HS power user. And when it works, it is sweet as.

 

[dejarik]

I don't know if i would have the courage to move to another front end..  I spent months building a pretty decent HS setup  a few years ago and forgot one important noob thing

(backing up my external HD) and well it died... so i decided to give launchbox (free version) a go and personally i don't like it at all.. specially the builtin scraper.. i dont know about

Attract-Mode scraper but my experience with Launchbox media scraper made me realised that free scraping for medias is not worth it..  also i personally would never even think of not using rocket launcher, it's actually a a must for me.. emulators like pcsx2, need some different configs to play games decently (unless you set it to software mode) Dolphin wii needs different gamepad profiles unless you have the wiimote and so on and so on..

maybe other frontends support all of it built in that i dont know but i personally would not go for it unless its verry verry good at supporting everything rocketlauncher is capable of doing, i also think HS has decent speed.. i use it very plain, main menu and default.. no game themes or anything fancy.

Thanks for you personal testing infos on other frontends. very instructive.

[adamg]

On 1/16/2019 at 4:58 AM, zorrobandito said:

I have to say that I agree with the OP. I moved from being an SME with MAMEWah to being unable to handle the 'simplest' of tasks in Hyperspin.

HS was so damn good looking that I got hold of a pre-configured build on an HDD which worked, more or less, straight out of the box. But changing any advanced emulator settings, once as simple as editing a single command line, is now fraught with danger! This maze of ini and ahk files prevents me from tinkering as I normally would, trying out different emulators and effects, to get the best CRT result. Four years later I'm only now brave enough to try the Gigapig build I downloaded months ago.

I'm currently trialling a new linux build with Attract Mode but moving away from Windows is a big deal for me.

Anyway, definitely not meaning to sound ungrateful because it is clearly a very powerful app - in the hands of an HS power user. And when it works, it is sweet as.

 

The wording was a little unclear so I am not sure if you want to get away from windows or don't like attract mode because it isn't Windows.  Either way, Attract Mode has a Windows App as well.

[DomusdelCapo]

HS es el mejor frontend para mis necesidades pese a todo, me tome el tiempo de leer íntegramente este hilo muchas de las razones expuestas y experiencias son validas. Lamentablemente no hay una real actualización en años.

 

[zorrobandito]

AdamG, my post wasn't a cry for help, it was more a statement about the complexity of Hyperspin, agreeing with the OP's points about it.

The arcade PC I have has some issues with Win 10 and, as an alternative, I thought I'd explore linux and Attract Mode looked to be a good option. In general, I would prefer to stay with Windows (because it's what I know) but get a front-end that is easier to manage, even if that means sacrificing some of the functionality that HS brings.

I'm exploring a few options at the moment, so the OP's comparison was really useful.

Thanks for responding though ?

[Styphelus]

On 1/16/2019 at 9:26 PM, dejarik said:

I don't know if i would have the courage to move to another front end..  I spent months building a pretty decent HS setup  a few years ago and forgot one important noob thing

(backing up my external HD) and well it died... so i decided to give launchbox (free version) a go and personally i don't like it at all.. specially the builtin scraper.. i dont know about

Attract-Mode scraper but my experience with Launchbox media scraper made me realised that free scraping for medias is not worth it..  also i personally would never even think of not using rocket launcher, it's actually a a must for me.. emulators like pcsx2, need some different configs to play games decently (unless you set it to software mode) Dolphin wii needs different gamepad profiles unless you have the wiimote and so on and so on..

maybe other frontends support all of it built in that i dont know but i personally would not go for it unless its verry verry good at supporting everything rocketlauncher is capable of doing, i also think HS has decent speed.. i use it very plain, main menu and default.. no game themes or anything fancy.

Thanks for you personal testing infos on other frontends. very instructive.

With Launchbox you can import all your rom sets and media straight from Hyperspin. Launchbox picks it all up and recognizes the naming convention so there's no need to use the "scarper". 

Also, it's not really a "scraper". It connects to their database and downloads the media from there or emumovies, just like hyspersync. It's your choice of which of the 2 you want to use. 

The issue is that sometimes the media from Launchbox is not as good as the curated media from Hyperspin and the media from emumovies is sub-par in most cases. Launchbox media is user submitted, so if you have better media you just have to send it to them but it's a bit of a pain. A lot of it actually comes from Hyperspin users who moved over.

The free version is not that great. You really need to pay for Big Box if you want a Hyperspin like experience. A lot of the Hyperspin themes have been converted over as well.

It also has full rocketlauncher support if you want to keep it. Just set every system to use it and you're good to go.

Having said that, I still have my hyperspin setup along with Luanchbox and RetroFE.

[dejarik]

Thanks for the reply Styphelus.. btw love your work you inspired me to make my own menu in my HS build.

i'm sure launch box is pretty good and other front ends also, when ive tested launch box i had lost all my medias artwork in an HD crash.. i had my roms seperated

so that's ill i had to rebuild from, had no more emu movies donator account .. basicly i was trying to start from scratch and decided to test the free version of launchbox..

sure it works but like you mention i would probably had better results with Big Box.

 

that been said i"m probably to used working with HS for so long.. the idea of moving to another frontend is kind of discouraging for me i guess.

 

 

[javi4624]

Bueno

[Dman1]

I love Hyperspin, spent over 10 years messing with it and learning, NO way I would even think about another FE none of them give you the freedom to do whatever you want like Hyperspin does. Being open source and 100% FREE is also a BIG plus! To bash hyperspin is kinda ironic being its what the other BIGBOX trys to EMULATE!

[Aorin]

1 hour ago, agent47 said:

This has to be a troll post, right?

Hey @agent47, are you around?

[Aorin]

6 minutes ago, agent47 said:

At the moment, yeah

Not related to the topic, just wanted to say a big thanks for all contributions you made to all the community, not only here but on RocketLauncher as well.

[dark13]

2 hours ago, agent47 said:

Thanks, it's appreciated. I'm still actively contributing to RL and helping troubleshooting on their forum. I'm also still working on databases (I never really stopped, just stopped sharing them here for multiple reasons) although most of my free time lately has gone to researching missing games, finding, and dumping them for Redump.

As I'm sure most people here are aware, I stopped contributing anything here years ago and just log in every once in a while to see if there's any quality art that pops up or any interesting posts (unfortunately neither of which are very common anymore IMO). Looks like dev/admin activity and communication are still non-existent too which is sad, but not a shock to anyone who has been around here for any period of time.

agent47 as far as you know is there any hope to see released RL modules for latest RA cores (vice, sharp  x68000, daphne, etc)? ?

[Aorin]

On 1/19/2020 at 6:12 PM, agent47 said:

Thanks, it's appreciated. I'm still actively contributing to RL and helping troubleshooting on their forum. I'm also still working on databases (I never really stopped, just stopped sharing them here for multiple reasons) although most of my free time lately has gone to researching missing games, finding, and dumping them for Redump.

As I'm sure most people here are aware, I stopped contributing anything here years ago and just log in every once in a while to see if there's any quality art that pops up or any interesting posts (unfortunately neither of which are very common anymore IMO). Looks like dev/admin activity and communication are still non-existent too which is sad, but not a shock to anyone who has been around here for any period of time.

Sure thing man, the contributions are really great. Yeah, I know it seems the staff isn't working or fixing anything, but they surely do, there was some talking about the issues on the platform and the software itself, I'm hoping all major issues are fixed when possible.

As for new content, I'm not sure if you checked, but I worked on the Japanese and PAL Mega Drive, same for SNES, the idea of a database including only playable or translated titles wasn't OK with me, it's best to have all entries and artwork for any system, translations are released from time to time, etc. Some games had PAL releases added instead of Japanese or even Brazilian ones which run at 60Hz, like Alien Soldier (Japan) or Donald in Maui Mallard (Brazil), and so on.

The database and artwork related to this system can be found here, in case you're interested:

Also, as you may have known, the development databases were mostly lost, possibly due to a hardware problem on the server site (not sure at all), and I'd really appreciate if you could at least PM me with what you have.

[Aorin]

On 1/19/2020 at 8:42 PM, dark13 said:

agent47 as far as you know is there any hope to see released RL modules for latest RA cores (vice, sharp  x68000, daphne, etc)? ?

@dark13, I've never tried the Sharp X68000 until today. I added it to RL, added a weird database and tried some m3u files, some games run fine, Final Fight, etc, even the gamepad works, is there something you'd want in the module for this system that could make it work better? I mean, since you mentioned a working module or something in your last post.

[Aorin]

2 hours ago, agent47 said:

Nothing will be fixed. There are reported site bugs that are 4-5 years old and still haven't been fixed. The attachments have been broken for just short of a year now I think. Then you have the site and/or HyperSync going down every week or 2 with no advanced notice or explanation afterwards and nothing is fixed which has been going on for years. I meant to reply to you and dark a few days ago but the site was down yet again. It's a bad joke at this point.

As I mentioned above and on the RL forum a few times before I have been updating all of the modules to use RL classes, adding fixes and new features and new modules. I have implemented a some systems into the module already including the ones you mention but I still need to go through the rest of the systems (there's a ton) to ensure they're working as a bunch of the modules you'll find on the forum are broken and poorly coded. Then I need to make sure the RA features and structures haven't changed (configs/overrides/whatever else). It's not going to be quick especially since I don't like RA at and don't use it so I have to spend more time learning everything about how it works that most users are already familiar with. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to it.

Like Aorin mentioned Sharp X68000 should already be in the module although it's set to use the MAME core by default. If you want to use the P68k core you should be able to just set that core in the module options. Not sure if any other core specific settings would need to be added or not. I added Daphne a while ago but from what I remember the core was busted and not even worth using over standalone. Some games would crash and others had no sound. I glanced at the commits and it doesn't seem like any emulation work has been done on the core in over a year, just maintenance and adding compatibility for those "Classic" systems hacked to run RA so I doubt it's any better now. If that's still the case I don't see a point in adding it to the module.

 

Probably the one from HyperList which uses TOSEC names and shouldn't have been added. It's not as bad as some that are just straight dir dumps of TOSEC or systems on there that don't have any actual games in there but it's not good.

Regarding the dev databases I uploaded, those were always meant to be temp dbs to fix the obvious mistakes until I redid them from scratch, which I have since done for many of them. I was actually going to remove them a while back but since attachments are broken they took care of that for me. I have no intention of ever reuploading them or any of my new dbs here.

I too decided to start doing full/complete databases in addition to the ones done to brolly's original standards. Both of which will have MUCH more metadata fields to allow for advanced filtering. I'll probably end up writing an app to filter and export them to various frontend compliant formats eventually. For now it's a solo project for me with no ETA so I'm not sure when I'll share them or where but it definitely won't be here for various reasons.

That's great Agent, I know we're on serious business when you mention you're working on anything. I know the Japanese database I worked on for the Mega Drive and later the PAL one for the SNES didn't receive their respective ratings, like CERO, etc., since I actually never used/cared for ratings. But as far as entries go, you should definitely take a look and give some feedback on it, modify or use if it helps, most, if not all the artwork has been covered for it.

I'm using PX68K, this core works fine, specially for some HDF games, but those dumps with multi disks works great with the M3U file as well, I just couldn't make the gamepad work for one or two games, like After Burner, Super Street Fighter 2 didn't recognize the 6 button option, but as far as emulation goes, it's solid.

I totally understand your complaining and decision about the database or even being part of the once great community there was around here. Be sure that personally, not only you, but all other great contributors will always have a special place in my memories.

Fixes will come, even HS itself will be updated, like you mention no ETA for your work, the same goes behind the scene, it's being worked on when possible, this was what I read in a PM from the staff last month.

I'm now working on something for the X68000, but this system is a porn machine that happens to have games on it. Tons of doujin games, homebrews, tons of adventure and the likes. As I mentioned the messed database I've found, I'd like to have one that has all official games released for it, with some RPGs that are accessible for everyone. I couldn't find any fan made game worth adding, they're mostly messed up stuff with assets taken from other games from the same platform, nor I could consider the hentai (lots and lots of it) or tons of adventure games. Any direction you could give me would be great, for now I have 175 entries which are only official games and mostly action, shooter, fighters, etc.

[dark13]

2 hours ago, agent47 said:

Nothing will be fixed. There are reported site bugs that are 4-5 years old and still haven't been fixed. The attachments have been broken for just short of a year now I think. Then you have the site and/or HyperSync going down every week or 2 with no advanced notice or explanation afterwards and nothing is fixed which has been going on for years. I meant to reply to you and dark a few days ago but the site was down yet again. It's a bad joke at this point.

 

As I mentioned above and on the RL forum a few times before I have been updating all of the modules to use RL classes, adding fixes and new features and new modules. I have implemented a some systems into the module already including the ones you mention but I still need to go through the rest of the systems (there's a ton) to ensure they're working as a bunch of the modules you'll find on the forum are broken and poorly coded. Then I need to make sure the RA features and structures haven't changed (configs/overrides/whatever else). It's not going to be quick especially since I don't like RA at and don't use it so I have to spend more time learning everything about how it works that most users are already familiar with. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to it.

Like Aorin mentioned Sharp X68000 should already be in the module although it's set to use the MAME core by default. If you want to use the P68k core you should be able to just set that core in the module options. Not sure if any other core specific settings would need to be added or not. I added Daphne a while ago but from what I remember the core was busted and not even worth using over standalone. Some games would crash and others had no sound. I glanced at the commits and it doesn't seem like any emulation work has been done on the core in over a year, just maintenance and adding compatibility for those "Classic" systems hacked to run RA so I doubt it's any better now. If that's still the case I don't see a point in adding it to the module.

 

Probably the one from HyperList which uses TOSEC names and shouldn't have been added. It's not as bad as some that are just straight dir dumps of TOSEC or systems on there that don't have any actual games in there but it's not good.

Regarding the dev databases I uploaded, those were always meant to be temp dbs to fix the obvious mistakes until I redid them from scratch, which I have since done for many of them. I was actually going to remove them a while back but since attachments are broken they took care of that for me. I have no intention of ever reuploading them or any of my new dbs here.

I too decided to start doing full/complete databases in addition to the ones done to brolly's original standards. Both of which will have MUCH more metadata fields to allow for advanced filtering. I'll probably end up writing an app to filter and export them to various frontend compliant formats eventually. For now it's a solo project for me with no ETA so I'm not sure when I'll share them or where but it definitely won't be here for various reasons.

I added those lines to RA modules
   
Commodore 64|LibRetro_VICE|vice_x64_libretro
Sharp X68000|libretro_px68k|px68k_libretro
 
And now it seems I can use RA cores, thanks. X68000 probably needs lots of work, with some games you are forced to use a specific disk in slot B.

Indeed I still have problems with SCUMMVM, RL launch RA with SCUMMVM core but it starts with the GUI where you can select games, .scummvm files works correctly when you launch them from RA itself

[Aorin]

1 hour ago, dark13 said:

I added those lines to RA modules
   
Commodore 64|LibRetro_VICE|vice_x64_libretro
Sharp X68000|libretro_px68k|px68k_libretro
 
And now it seems I can use RA cores, thanks. X68000 probably needs lots of work, with some games you are forced to use a specific disk in slot B.

Indeed I still have problems with SCUMMVM, RL launch RA with SCUMMVM core but it starts with the GUI where you can select games, .scummvm files works correctly when you launch them from RA itself

I had the scummvm games running fine on Retroarch, I'll shot you a PM, I can probably help with it.

Update: Dark13 had a different module, once he tried my edited module, it worked fine.

[Torden]

Ahhh.. The glory days of this forum, how they are missed...

[Yardley]

3 hours ago, Torden said:

Ahhh.. The glory days of this forum, how they are missed...

Very true