Rlauncher support and other general mentions

[Creezz67]

25 minutes ago, rik81 said:

Set the name of the wheel before the rom name... If theres spaces... use "" marks.

So if it's Atari Lynx what is the full Command Line ?

[rik81]

"Atari Lynx" %rom.path%

[rik81]

 

Getting this.... I havent been able to launch hyperspin.exe at all.

[Creezz67]

42 minutes ago, rik81 said:

"Atari Lynx" %rom.path%

That's what i used, won't load.

Neither does MAME.

Copied it exactly, loaded my current RL setup into same folder as new HS, changed paths etc and no luck.

[QAZ]

[rik81]

39 minutes ago, Creezz67 said:

That's what i used, won't load.

Neither does MAME.

Copied it exactly, loaded my current RL setup into same folder as new HS, changed paths etc and no luck.

Not sure what to tell you.... I got a load of things working... Ive added about 25 systems and theyre all launching now...

The naming is what im concerned about.

[Yardley]

I agree with so much of what was said here. There a lot of strong feelings about the way things have been implemented and I think it is a good idea to let those feelings show but I also think there's a lot of negativity without looking at any of the positives. It's still early days and hopefully they will listen to all of the concerns spoken about here. They did mention that the ability to add your own media would come later but I'm not sure how that will work with this horrendous hash based naming system that is in place now. Is there a database anywhere? Trying to wrap my head around how this all works currently. 

[rik81]

3 minutes ago, Yardley said:

I agree with so much of what was said here. There a lot of strong feelings about the way things have been implemented and I think it is a good idea to let those feelings show but I also think there's a lot of negativity without looking at any of the positives. It's still early days and hopefully they will listen to all of the concerns spoken about here. They did mention that the ability to add your own media would come later but I'm not sure how that will work with this horrendous hash based naming system that is in place now. Is there a database anywhere? Trying to wrap my head around how this all works currently. 

Databases are encrypted and stored on the C drive. 

Best thing to do... if you want to use your own media... your gonna have to hunt down the exact hash and swap in your own media manually... 

[Yardley]

3 minutes ago, rik81 said:

Databases are encrypted and stored on the C drive. 

Best thing to do... if you want to use your own media... your gonna have to hunt down the exact hash and swap in your own media manually... 

That's terrible. Were any of you on the private meeting that the devs had with the testers? I ask because with this apparent interest in stopping sellers, I was told that there was a seller in that meeting who was asking questions and supposedly the devs were being sympathetic towards him. 

[rik81]

lol wtf.... Sympathetic.... Everything they did here says the opposite... 

They all probably laughed after he left... 

[Tjeerd]

It certainly has a few good things going for it, been testing it now for a few hours and gave up now. I don't mind the beta quirks and short comings, a lot can fixed with time. My main gripe with it is the media management. I get it from a creators perspective, close the loop, hide HS1 and drive everyone to the "cloud". The open and accessible part is a must in my opinion without a cloud dependancy. 

On a more positive note, i like the working of the new frontend and setup of HS Theme editor and what it offers. 

Unless the media management changes, i am not inclined to invest more time into it. 

[Tjeerd]

1 hour ago, Creezz67 said:

That's what i used, won't load.

Neither does MAME.

Copied it exactly, loaded my current RL setup into same folder as new HS, changed paths etc and no luck.

You can setup a single emulator "RocketLauncher" and attach it to multiple systems. No need to the complete rompath, just the rom name is enough.

[Rhakka]

 

I was just as excited as everyone else, and maybe things will improve over time. However, it feels like this is essentially just a Launchbox clone with a wheel management GUI. It seems your main priority is locking things down to prevent people from selling the drive, which I feel is the wrong approach. The focus should be on empowering users who contribute and build the community. One of the reasons Hyperspin succeeded was because of the strong community that helped shape it.

Requiring Emumovie or making it the sole media source was a misstep, in my opinion. As a lifetime member of both platforms, I don’t want to be forced into using it. I want the freedom to use the media I’ve created for my games.

I stopped using Launchbox years ago, and I’m not sure I want to switch to a Launchbox clone(Hyperbox 2.0), even if it has a few more bells and whistles. If anything, Hyperspin Attraction (based on AttractMode+) would have been a better model to follow, not Launchbox. At least HA still uses rlauncher to launch games. AttractMode lets you create smart themes for each game within the frontend, which gives more flexibility. I loaded PlayStation, and the theme looks outdated, with the CD  being an oblong disc instead of a circle. Hyperspin 2.0 should bring something fresh and new to the table.

[brudibru]

I have just finished watching the stream. First time I heard the voices of Frostbyte and Circo. They seems to be really good guys and really commited to provide a great product.

They tackled right away the most controversial subject, the old themes, but they never really answered.

OK we get that the massive use of flash on the previous versions of HS was a big problem but still, what about all the themes and "unofficial" media created for so many years. They can't seriously think that people who spent thousand of hours settings systems and creating media will agréé to ditch everything and start over. We have no answers in the stream, no hope for a workarounds, we just have to deal with it and on to the new version !!! 

To reply to Gigapig, I think that the frustrations we have all felt at times have always been a great motor to push us to dig deeper, learn new techniques and programs, expériment, ask for and receive help from others, and in the end it was ALWAYS very rewarding, why else would we have spent so much time for the last 17 years working on HS setups.

I havent tried the new version yet and I dont want to discuss about the many bugs which are part of a normal development process but I am worried about some of the design choices, the ones creez and floatin have talked about earlier. If the new HS is as "integrated" as it seems to be, if everything has to be quality controlled and officialized to be usable then it is not HS anymore. It's like, back in the days, when we had to choose between the openness of Windows (and the many bugs) and the closed envirnonment of the Apple systems (and a better user experience). The extreme flexibility, the many clever workarounds made the previous versions difficult to handle but so satisfying. The new version is way too oriented towards the new users or the ones that went for other frontends.

In the end I can choose to stay with the legacy HS and shut up.

I am sure 2.0 will improve tremendously and please a lot of people.

I dont like the schism it might create between users though.

There are still 2 points that I would like to talk about before I finish this ridiculously long post, because they are bothering me quite some.

First I have understood or interpréter from devs on  facebook and elsewhere that it was not too bad to start over from scratch because of the low quality of the media that had been produced for years. I dont feel concerned personnally because I contributed so little and I am fully aware that my work was subpar, but I find that quite distespectful to the many contributors who have worked so much to keep Hyperspin alive. Are we back to the old elitist days ? Hopefully not.

And also about the communication or lackthereof. After years of silence you , the devs, have announced the new version on...Facebook and Reddit !!?? And what about your own website forums where the last few Hyperspin fans were living ? There must be a reason I dont understand...

I wish you would have communicated 2 years ago, when the new project started, you would have exposed you goals, the challenges, the difficulties to update 1.5 and the usually civil forum members would have exchanged and proposed without any drama.

That's not the way you have chosen and, once again, there maybe reasons I dont know about. 

I dont want to talk for anybody but I would love to have Andyman's opinion. I have nothing but respect for the guy and his wor

He  has bravely administered the forums, along with Gigapig, for some months now and has gently supported and answered the new users. He has also very recently improved and created A LOT of MAME game themes. I wonder if he was aware that his work was destined for the trashcan (same goes for the other contributors). Maybe he was and I am just a paranoid idiot.

Sorry for having been so long !

It"s just that I am so passionnate about Hyperspin, since 2007, and I wanted to share my feelings here too. I encouraged other long time users to express their feelings too and discuss in a constructive way 

I finally want to emphasize that I have so much respect for the devs, I think the new Hypertheme and its integration with HS 2.0 is awesome but at the same time there is so much incomprehension.

 

[floatingyeti]

I'm shocked that this was given to existing users to test. How could they not anticipate the first steps we would take when attempting to use it?

Naturally we would want to migrate our existing databases, media, and RL setups.

Yes, the Flash themes had to be abandoned.  I understand why that was necessary. We can all pull together and overcome that.

But it feels like abandoning Flash and the themes was used as the ultimate excuse to scrap everything!

 

[md_max]

HyperSpin 180 degree turn.

We weren't expecting this. We were expecting an improvement of the existing one. But I'm glad that the project is developing...

[brudibru]

It is not really a 180 degrees turn.

You probably remember back in the days when there were creators working on the official media and the simple people posting low level stuff on the forum. After almost all the creators left Hyperspin it was down to the low level stuff on the forum. 

All the stuff we should forget about now. And also it seems we should stop asking stupid questions about it ...

[floatingyeti]

2 minutes ago, brudibru said:

All the stuff we should forget about now. And also it seems we should stop asking stupid questions about it ...

Yes Dazz has spoken and the message is clear.

[shredder]

I will lurk and watch as things improve...there are already some things spoken here that I don't agree with and I don't care enough to post often about every little thing that I find an annoyance about the new platform. This vision doesn't make sense to me as I know that using online based services will inevitably runs into costs and who's going to end up paying for those costs? The users. and who makes decisions for those...the devs...and the squeakiest wheel is going to get the grease. 

I'll lurk for a while and see how this goes, but this design choice i think is a very big slap in the face for a lot of people who have supported the platform for free over the years. I'm not a major player here, but the individual hours that I've spent trying to learn/configure/ customize/perfect as most all of us have is nothing to really ignore. This new platform is too forward thinking into the territory of being subscription based and If i was going to do that, launchbox already has a hell of a lead on that and I've voiced some concerns on how they could improve too and that just ends up with pushback from others and my voice falling on def ears in favor of the hivemind borg collective mentality, What got me into hyperspin is all the themes and stuff and i could customize it however i want based on those artworks...when it all went sour is when people tried to capitalize on their own work. 

The way this hyperspin eco system is dev'ed now requires the capitalists and artists to stay a float....this makes it not fun anymore for the individual. 

This platform should have prioritized offline builds with a centralized asset repository ...and it's done that, but there's some stuff that oversteps in some areas and falls way short in others. 

I don't really care for the direction this is going and I won't be voicing any more concerns because I also see too many feedbacks for improvement that I also don't agree with. 

If the artwork assets management were too manual intensive...all you needed was a stricter process for artwork submissions, and perhaps some automation combined with AI to extract submissions, analyze artwork assets, repackage and tag them for proper categorization....  The artwork naming conventions are terrible at best, so maybe you should have started there. 

This is clearly a competitive battle with LB to win back artists that have jumped ship to launchbox with devs driving it and bringing capitalists along to fund it...and who get's f*cked the hardest? ...the users....as always in business.  I'm willing to make an initial buy in or a one-time donation, but If this turns into a pay-per-theme or a subscription thing...like i already know that it will. I'm walking away from hyperspin 2+ forever. 

[shredder]

2 hours ago, floatingyeti said:

I'm shocked that this was given to existing users to test. How could they not anticipate the first steps we would take when attempting to use it?

I feel like this occurs when a dev who is insecure gives their work to a user to test, then hovers and explains things to justify their work. It then makes complete sense to the test user and they accept that as truth...but that not reality...most people won't have a dev hovering over them, telling them what to do. 

If I want someone to test my work, I will either....
A. Give them the thing, but say nothing and tell them to use the program...while they use it I take notes on where they get stuck while I observe...even if they ask for help I won't say anything.
B. Give them the program, and walk away and advise them to take notes on every point of contingent. 
Both approaches are flawed in that communication gets lost on what is the true importance of the mass majority of users because we all think and problem solve differently. I prefer the cattle approach to most things. A to B....I don't like extra hoops and hacky workarounds. 

[brudibru]

I am afraid it might be difficult to reconcile the opposite conceptions of what Hyperspin should be.

On one side the devs and the trusted creators who are trying to resurrect the original model of Hyperspin/Platinum accounts/official Hypersync media, but in a much more integrated, modern and controlled environment.

And on the other side, long time or ardent users and unofficial creators who have taken over when the old model started to die and who have learned to enjoy the new, completely opened and uncontrolled, Hyperspin/Rocketlauncher/forums unofficial media model.

On both sides people who are legitimately proud of what they have accomplished. On one side talented  people who are willing to start over to make everything better, on the other people who have spent way too much time, energy and talent to start over.

I really hope solutions will be found to content both sides but I wouldn't bet on it, sadly enough.

 

[zombiekc]

I agree with most if we cant use our owm media there are so many front ends that work much better im gonna just hope this all works out and i understand its in beta and the bugs and the misaligned wheel and fonts ect

[floatingyeti]

We only stayed to enjoy the freedom and customization HyperSpin gave us.

We all at one point would look to other actively developed front-ends with envy.  They had modern features we couldn't enjoy.  But HyperSpin always offered the freedom of design and system customization that we couldn't give up.

It was a choice of aesthetics and personal design over functionality.

We waited and stood our ground, always defending HyperSpin, based on it's creative and artistic merit.

It was what we chose because at the end of the day we could design whatever we envisioned.

[thatman84]

26 minutes ago, floatingyeti said:

It was what we chose because at the end of the day we could design whatever we envisioned.

Give the new HyperTheme a test with a couple of theme PSDs or from scratch.

Looks like you can create whatever you can envision. We have always had to work with what we are given in this forum. Give it a chance and see what happens

[floatingyeti]

41 minutes ago, thatman84 said:

Give the new HyperTheme a test with a couple of theme PSDs or from scratch.

I appreciate that but this isn't about themes at this point.

I fully understand the reality of having to start over with the themes.  I appreciate the new features and capability of HyperTheme. 

Everything else is locked down.