A new Hyperspin?

[Agrajag]

I think for some people the fact that it would avoid the need to use Windows at all would be a good enough reason to use a Linux based front end. Personally, I'll be using Windows and HyperSpin when I build my cab next year, but am glad to have an alternative that would allow me to also make a very low cost vertical screen cab using some old spare PC parts I have at my disposal. No need to use Windows and an overclocked i7 to run Pac-Man and Space Invaders for example!

[phulshof]

Why do you need to have hyperspin on Linux? By doing that you are depriving yourself of a lot of good PC games and as far as I'm aware, some of the emulators are not available on Linux either. Why not just get another hard drive and have windows on it? Seems like a lot of work for nothing.

1. Linux is free; Windows is not (at least legally).

2. Linux can be stripped of all unneeded elements, and as such can run on low hardware requirements, and will boot quicker. Windows is always a resource hog.

3. I can legally create a live distribution using Linux.

4. If I want to play PC games, I'll play them on my PC, using a mouse (like God intended).

Edit: Oh, and 5: I want a F/OSS front-end, so I can add a feature myself if I want it for my cabinet.

[Fursphere]

1. Linux is free; Windows is not (at least legally).

2. Linux can be stripped of all unneeded elements, and as such can run on low hardware requirements, and will boot quicker. Windows is always a resource hog.

3. I can legally create a live distribution using Linux.

4. If I want to play PC games, I'll play them on my PC, using a mouse (like God intended).

Edit: Oh, and 5: I want a F/OSS front-end, so I can add a feature myself if I want it for my cabinet.

And now you can spend a few years arguing over which base distribution to use....

[phulshof]

And now you can spend a few years arguing over which base distribution to use....

With whom?

[Styphelus]

I think for some people the fact that it would avoid the need to use Windows at all would be a good enough reason to use a Linux based front end. Personally, I'll be using Windows and HyperSpin when I build my cab next year, but am glad to have an alternative that would allow me to also make a very low cost vertical screen cab using some old spare PC parts I have at my disposal. No need to use Windows and an overclocked i7 to run Pac-Man and Space Invaders for example!

What? Why would you need an overclocked i7 for that? Heck, I have an i5 (not overclocked) and it even runs all Wii games at 1080 perfectly fine. For mame, even my 6 year old laptop will run it.

[Agrajag]

I was being facetious. People sometimes show off their vastly over-specced, water cooled PCs on this forum but a low powered machine running Linux is more than adequate for a retro cabinet.

[suspendedhatch]

Why would his return matter in this regard? Hyperspin for Linux is still not going to happen, so my main reason for wanting to write this frontend stll stands.

I'm happy that he's back. Hopefully HS 2.0 will see the light of day, but if life intervenes again I can still make this one cross-platform. Who knows; perhaps there's even room to cooperate, and share the workload.

I was commenting purely on the meme directed at baddeolv. I'm all for this front-end! As I said earlier, I'll happily have HyperSpin on one machine and this on another, each to become full fledged cabs when the time comes.

Is there a way to run a windows environment in Linux like their is with Mac? I know there are trade-offs but it would only be needed for certain emulators.

RetroArch, MAME and Mednafen all work on Linux. That's already a very impressive catalog of games.

[baddeolv]

I was commenting purely on the meme directed at baddeolv.

Ya you noticed that too? Guess I left room for more lips. And the funny man can kiss my ass if Billy runs out of room.

[Hyperion]

I'm more excited about this project than a single post by BBB. No ill will to Billy, I don't feel that he owes anyone anything but I gave up waiting for HS 2.0 a long time ago.

HyperCabrio sounds more exciting and it'll be open source to boot.

[RodentVienna]

for os there is aglad - a gnu linux arcade distribution by german user zagadka.

retrofe is in developmemt by our fellow emb, which will be multiplatform, therefore also for linux.

now you can do the math.

therr are two other projrcts worth mentioning. emulationstation and duh forgot the name lol

Gesendet von meinem LG-P880 mit Tapatalk

[Fursphere]

And now you can spend a few years arguing over which base distribution to use....

With whom?

As soon as you try and pick one, you'll see...

Seriously, I wish you guys luck with this. Its just the Linux community is so damn fragmented to begin with....

[phulshof]

retrofe is in developmemt by our fellow emb, which will be multiplatform, therefore also for linux.

now you can do the math.

As mentioned earlier this thread: retrofe looks really interesting, but it's not F/OSS, which means I can neither contribute nor add features to it. As it stands, it also means he's the only developer, so he has to do everything himself, which simply takes time. The developer claims it's to guard the code quality, but those really are two separate issues. He could easily keep himself in charge of accepting or rejecting changes to the code, and guard the quality, while still making it F/OSS. If he would consider making it F/OSS I would love to merge this project with his.

[phulshof]

As soon as you try and pick one, you'll see...

Seriously, I wish you guys luck with this. Its just the Linux community is so damn fragmented to begin with....

Well, if someone wants another base distribution, they can simply take our front-end, install it on their own base, and distribute the results. That's the beauty of F/OSS. If they do a better job than we do, all the better for the users.

[meltingcones]

I'm more excited about this project than a single post by BBB. No ill will to Billy, I don't feel that he owes anyone anything but I gave up waiting for HS 2.0 a long time ago.

HyperCabrio sounds more exciting and it'll be open source to boot.

I completely agree with this post. Your ideas here are great, phulshof. I can't wait!

[Hyperion]

All this talk of making it Linux compatible is great but I personally care more about the Windows version. Are you still going to going to do a Windows version?

[phulshof]

All this talk of making it Linux compatible is great but I personally care more about the Windows version. Are you still going to going to do a Windows version?

Tough question. When I started this thread, I said I had no intention of competing with BBB for the Windows user. On the other hand: HS 2.0 is just as much vaporware as this program at the moment.

The program will at least be written and tested cross platform, with the source code available on GitHub, so anyone can build a Windows executable. If HS 2.0 is still vaporware then, we will definitely distribute a Windows executable ourselves. If not, we'll have to check if people are still interested (Would you still be interested if HS 2.0 was available? From what I read, BBB was already quite far in getting it ready when he took his (long) break.), and decide accordingly. At the very least I can send people a Windows executable if they ask for it.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if BBB considered making his HS 2.0 code F/OSS. It would allow us to merge the projects, and share the code as much as possible. We could try to write F/OSS alternative functions where HS 2.0 uses proprietary libraries, and extend its functionality rather than doing the same work twice. It will take some time, but the same happened with the MAME code bases for the different operating systems. In time we could have one F/OSS code base for all operating systems for HS/Cabrio 3.0 perhaps.

[phulshof]

In the mean time, I've been working on getting a HyperSpin setup running on my computer to get all the required files in the right place to figure out compatibility (no word on the documentation so far). I would like to have people be able to keep their current Media database, and use it with this front-end. I'm running into a bit of a snag when it comes to HyperSync:

I've downloaded the latest XML files from HyperList, but when I go into the media configuration, and click on e.g. Atari 2600, I cannot assign it to the matching system (it's not in the list). As such, it's not in the sync system list either, and when I try to sync all systems it gives me "Database Error" "Could not find proper database for system." "Atari 2600 will not by (typo in the program?) synced due to malformed database.". The result is that the media isn't downloaded. I get the same error for Atari 7800, MSX, and MSX2. MAME, NES, SNES, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and Atari 5200 all work fine.

Does anyone know how I can fix this?

Edit: Nevermind; just found I first had to add it to the menu through HyperHQ before it would show up as systems in HyperSync.

[Circo]

I should probably chime in here a bit, just to clear up a few small points, not that it's really my place but I'll give it a go and hopefully stay within my assigned boundaries.

Will Hyperspin ever be open source at all? - nope it's basically impossible for a whole lotta reasons.

Was BBB on a total break all this time?

Nope, one of the reasons he has been absent is closely related to why I have been too. But that's all I can really say about that.

Will the real Hyperspin ever work on Linux. Nope that's pretty much impossible too. We had a laugh about that tonight.

Should someone make another front end?

Absolutely, the more the merrier, make it your own. It has been ages since anything new and exiting hit, make it your own and good luck!

PS It's been ages since I've added a new FE to the featured front ends section over at emumovies. Would love to add a new one eventually. (I'm non denominational when it comes to FEs)

[phulshof]

Thank you for the insights Circo. I'm not sure why making (part of) HyperSpin F/OSS would be impossible, but I'll take your word for it, and give up on that possibility. Do you know if BBB would object to us releasing a Windows release? As said before: I want to work with this community, so I prefer to ask before doing.?

[Circo]

If your making a "clone" I'm not sure how that will fly exactly or how calling it hyper anything would be well received. I honestly haven't read this whole thread but is this idea stage or do you have pics/video of something in action?

[phulshof]

The idea is to make a new version of Cabrio FE, with a group of programmers including the original programmer. We wish to offer (partial) compatibility with the HyperSpin themes and art, but additional features and themes will be developed as well. I abandoned development on my own frontend to join in this one.

So no, it will not be a clone, and it will be called Cabrio 2. We're just aiming for compatibility so we can work together with this community, and we will forward our users towards membership here and EmuMovies if they wish to make use of your repositories.

[Circo]

I see no issues with that. I remember cabrio and it looked promising. I think I sent the programmer a msg a few years ago if it had video support as I don't use Linux, but never heard back. Look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

[phulshof]

It does, though it requires merging with a recent update in video libraries. I know what you mean though: Steve's not always the quickest when it comes to email reactions. Life getting in the way I presume.? Feel free to drop me emails though; I generally respond within a day.

I guess there's your answer too then Hypherion: if the HS team doesn't mind I see no reason not to release it cross-platform.?

[Anpanman]

The idea is to make a new version of Cabrio FE, with a group of programmers including the original programmer. We wish to offer (partial) compatibility with the HyperSpin themes and art, but additional features and themes will be developed as well. I abandoned development on my own frontend to join in this one.

So no, it will not be a clone, and it will be called Cabrio 2. We're just aiming for compatibility so we can work together with this community, and we will forward our users towards membership here and EmuMovies if they wish to make use of your repositories.

That's awesome. so glad to hear this

[Hyperion]

Cool. Cabrio 2 then. Like Circo, I am not married to HS and would love to have an exciting new alternative FE. The HS way is not the only way!