or8ital's HyperSpin Helper Software - 2nd / 3rd Display Controller

[sandman7793]

Nice, to bad tearing the cab apart, Already moved everything to the big screen.

[or8ital]

Nice, to bad tearing the cab apart, Already moved everything to the big screen.

You tore down you arcade cabinet?

[sandman7793]

Well it's there but no tower or controls. Switched to big screen with wireless controllers. Because I have the hacked Wii and the ps3 in the same area. I have a extra living room not being used so it was perfect for it. Plus I'm tired of standing. LOL.

[loppydog]

Hello, I just recently ran across your program. I am running a second monitor that is 1024x600. I am currently using Irfanview to display my images. Irfanview works pretty well, but I have to have a PNG image for every single game that I have. And on top of that, to make any changes, I have to load up Photoshop and edit it an re-export it back to a PNG image then overwrite the old one. I have not looked into Hyperspin helper yet too closely, but it looks like your program might do everything I am looking to do! Here is a pic of my current layout:

and

and

As you can see, I have a lot of info that is the same(background, buttons, joysticks) and a lot of info that changes (controller image, wheel image, system image, and labels). Does this program allow me to make these kind of changes based on an xml file? Also, I have my secondary monitor currently set to where the bottom right corner of the second monitor meets the upper left corner of the main monitor. I find that it is easier this way not to lose track of the mouse so easy. Is this not currently supported? Sorry if most of this has already been covered....Thanks!

[sandman7793]

Hello, I just recently ran across your program. I am running a second monitor that is 1024x600. I am currently using Irfanview to display my images. Irfanview works pretty well, but I have to have a PNG image for every single game that I have. And on top of that, to make any changes, I have to load up Photoshop and edit it an re-export it back to a PNG image then overwrite the old one. I have not looked into Hyperspin helper yet too closely, but it looks like your program might do everything I am looking to do! Here is a pic of my current layout:

and

and

As you can see, I have a lot of info that is the same(background, buttons, joysticks) and a lot of info that changes (controller image, wheel image, system image, and labels). Does this program allow me to make these kind of changes based on an xml file? Also, I have my secondary monitor currently set to where the bottom right corner of the second monitor meets the upper left corner of the main monitor. I find that it is easier this way not to lose track of the mouse so easy. Is this not currently supported? Sorry if most of this has already been covered....Thanks!

loppydog,

This was covered a few post back.. At this time oribital is only supporting some text, me and him talked about it before but he was worried about the screen being to busy..

[loppydog]

I see..thanks!

[or8ital]

Yeah trying to keep it simple on the controls screen. I'm worried that trying to make each control screen look good while allowing it to work generically from an external file opens up the opportunity for it to get cluttered. If I knew a way around that I would look into it but I just think that any long text in a file opens up the opportunity for things to start overlapping. Then once I start accounting for various scenarios it snowballs into a very complex program.

[loppydog]

What I have envisioned is something like this. A person would start with a background either global or one for each system. The background would be PNG and have to match the resolution of the screen. In my case I would have it per system and it would include the buttons/joysticks, some text that never changes, ect. The variables per system would include wheel image (name has to match HS naming) and text. Now at this point lets take NES and Double Dragon as a random example. Each system would have it's own XML and would start out pretty much blank. So by default the text would pretty much match the layout of my image in my previous post, button 1=b and button 2=a. Now lets say I fill in the info in the XML for Double Dragon with a=kick and b=punch. Now the Control Panel would populate with the XML info for that game.

What I think would be a neat thing is if people could get together and create this XML file as a community. In other words, at some point we could have a minted NES XML controls file! Now obviously my example above is pretty simple, but the same principal could apply to all other systems I would think. Also in my example, I am starting with the majority of the image already created as a background. While this would work for me, it would be even better if those items could be variable as well in the future (buttons, joysticks, controller images, ect).

Anyway, I just thought I would throw out some ideas. I haven't had a chance to try out your software yet, but it looks like you are already building a nice foundation for a program that could do these things I mention here. I look forward to try this out very soon....Thanks for all your hard work!

[or8ital]

That's exactly how the program works in terms of the XML files. And I agree it needs the community help. There is already a pretty thorough one for MAME but the other systems need help. I just chose not to put the text next to buttons and rather just list the buttons and their actions. If you match a led on the button to what it shows on the screen then it makes for a very quick reference.

[loppydog]

There is already a pretty thorough one for MAME

Yeah I am familiar with that one. I used that in conjunction with CPWizard to create my MAME CP images. I like CPWizard and I think it has some great ideas, but I think a program like yours, that is specifically designed for HS is a much better solution. One thing I would like to see some day is a nice GUI CP layout screen like what CPWizard uses.

but he was worried about the screen being to busy..

My "Castle Crashers" CP is about as busy as my images get. For my screen size some might argue that I have too much packed in there, but in person is looks pretty nice and is easy enough to read.

Also, just in case anyone is wondering why my images look the way they do, here is a pic of my actual CP:

[or8ital]

For your layout it's not bad but once people start wanting 10 button options (with images for each type layout) across 4 players, etc then it gets out of control.

[loppydog]

OK, I finally got a chance to try out your program. I thought I would share my thoughts. My first impressions were very good. It was easy to setup, and worked pretty much out of the box. I have never messed with LEDBlinky, but I wanted to try out the "change image on wheel change" feature. That was pretty easy to setup following the instructions, and for the most part it worked as described.

So the only thing I am trying to accomplish with this program for now is just to simply display my CP images on my secondary monitor. The first thing I tried was to setup my monitor as the "control screen", but I soon realized with this setup I couldn't find a way to just display an image. Also, it doesn't look like you can make those change images by changing the wheel. So I just simply set it up a marquee instead....that seems to be more like what I am trying to do. So now things are working like they should.

I did run into a few issues though. One issue is critical, the others are just minor.

The first small issue I found was that, like others have stated before, sometimes the images are inconsistent. In other words, sometimes when you land on a game in the wheel, the image never updates. I know this may not be a problem on your end, but I just thought I would mention it.

The second small issue is that after exiting a game if you leave the wheel alone, it will revert back to the default image rather than the one it is currently on.

Now for the big issue. My secondary display very often does not display my image. It appears to be related to the resolution. If I run a game that matches my resolution, everything works great. But If I run a game of a different resolution, I just get a black screen! Then after exiting the game, everything recovers.

I have a feeling I may not have explained everything perfectly, so I just took a quick video. The first example shows Pinball FX loading as it should with no problems. But notice the default image showing back up shortly after exiting? Then I cycle through a couple games showing the images cycling just fine. Then I load up a game "neighbors from hell", which I am pretty sure does not match my desktop resolution. Notice how my secondary screen is just black? Then after exiting It goes back to normal. Then you can see again that the default image comes back when it shouldn't.

So anyway, I am really liking the program so far, but as it is currently I am still having to load my images via Irfanview. If you have anything I could try to make it work the way I am trying for, please let me know. And thanks again for all the hard work....I really appreciate it!

[or8ital]

Make sure hyperspin is not set to full screen (uncheck the check box for that). That fixes most issues related to resolutions. Im working on a work issue and will read your post in more detail later.

[loppydog]

No problem. I did try both HS full screen and windowed. It didn't seem to make a difference.

[gooch]

Make sure hyperspin is not set to full screen (uncheck the check box for that). That fixes most issues related to resolutions. Im working on a work issue and will read your post in more detail later.

I just chose windowed with my full screen resolution size and it seems to have fixed my Fusion Sega Genesis problem. Thanks for that tip.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2

[robmoore208]

Seems Marquees are not working for me, anyone have an insight to this? Here is the settings..

just for marquees..

im stuck. ugh

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<helpersettings>

<settings>

<setting name="HyperspinFolder" value="f:\Hyperspin" /><!--correct as necessary-->

<setting name="ShowBezelForHyperspinScreen" value="true" /><!-- true or false, disable fullscreen in hyperspin to use (for widescreen monitors only, works best with 1920x1080)-->

<setting name="ShowMarqueeScreen" value="true" /><!-- true or false, must have dedicated monitor-->

<setting name="ShowControlsHelpScreen" value="false" /><!-- true or false, must have dedicated monitor-->

<setting name="ScreenNumberForMainDisplayInWindows" value="1" /><!-- right click on desktop to change screen resolution and get the number from there -->

<setting name="ScreenNumberForControlDisplayInWindows" value="0" /><!-- right click on desktop to change screen resolution and get the number from there -->

<setting name="ScreenNumberForMarqueeDisplayInWindows" value="2" /><!-- right click on desktop to change screen resolution and get the number from there -->

<setting name="ChangeMarqueeOnWheelChange" value="true" /><!-- requires LEDBlinky to be enabled in HyperSpin, see blog for more info -->

<setting name="ShowColorsForButtons" value="false" /><!--false not yet enabled-->

<setting name="UseOnlyTopThirdForMarquee" value="false" /><!--this is for vistrolight monitors only which show windows full resolution but only use the top third-->

<setting name="UseCustomControls" value="false" /><!--true or false, if you want to change what shows per game for the controls screen set to true and add files to the "controls customized" folder as necessary-->

<setting name="ShowControllerImages" value="false" /><!--this setting now ignored. controller images always show-->

<setting name="MapUltraStik" value="false" /><!--true or false, set to true if you want program to use ultramap to map an ultrastik 360, ShowControlsHelpScreen MUST BE SET TO TRUE TO WORK-->

<setting name="PathToUltraMap" value="d:\hyperspin\tools\ultramap\ultramap.exe" /><!--if MapUltraStik is true then put the full path to the ultramap.exe here-->

<setting name="UseCustomMaps" value="false" /><!--true or false, if you want to use your own custom maps set to true and place them in the "ultrastikmaps customized" folder-->

<setting name="DefaultMapHS" value="4-way Joystick.ugc" /><!--specify which map to use for Hyperspin between games-->

<setting name="DefaultMapGames" value="8-way Joystick.ugc" /><!--specify which map to use if the map cannot be located-->

<setting name="LaunchHSonStart" value="true" /><!--true or false, launch hyperspin when hyperspinhelper starts-->

</settings>

<genreimagemappingsettings>

<!--add more as necessary-->

<genre name="Action" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<genre name="Ball & Paddle" image ="All Games.png" />

<genre name="Beat-'Em-Up" image ="Fighter Games.png" />

<genre name="Breakout" image ="Breakout Games.png" />

<genre name="Casino" image ="Casino Games.png" />

<genre name="Compilation" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<genre name="Default" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<!--do not remove Default-->

<genre name="Driving" image ="Driving Games.png" />

<genre name="Fighter" image ="Fighter Games.png" />

<genre name="Flying" image ="Flying Games.png" />

<genre name="Gun" image ="Gun Games.png" />

<genre name="Mahjong" image ="Mahjong Games.png" />

<genre name="Maze" image ="Maze Games.png" />

<genre name="Mini-Games" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<genre name="Miscellaneous" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<genre name="Pinball" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

<genre name="Platform" image ="Platform Games.png" />

<genre name="Puzzle" image ="Puzzle Games.png" />

<genre name="Quiz" image ="Quiz Games.png" />

<genre name="Rhythm" image ="Rhythm Games.png" />

<genre name="Shoot-'Em-Up" image ="Shooter Games.png" />

<genre name="Shooter" image ="Shooter Games.png" />

<genre name="Shooter Games" image ="Shooter Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Baseball" image ="Baseball Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Basketball" image ="Basketball Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Bowling" image ="Bowling Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Boxing" image ="Boxing Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Fishing" image ="Sports Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Football" image ="Football Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Golf" image ="Golf Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Handball" image ="Sports Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Hockey" image ="Hockey Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Horse Racing" image ="Horse Racing Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Pool and Dart" image ="Pool and Dart Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Skateboarding" image ="Skateboarding Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Skiing" image ="Sports Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Soccer" image ="Soccer Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Tennis" image ="Tennis Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Track & Field" image ="Track & Field Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Volleyball" image ="Sports Games.png" />

<genre name="Sports/Wrestling" image ="Wrestling Games.png" />

<genre name="Tabletop" image ="Misc. Games.png" />

</genreimagemappingsettings>

</helpersettings>

I have only two monitors , two is on one.. and im running windows 8.1

I appreciate any feedback on this, im trying to get this all set up before Christmas haha

Sent from my DROID DNA

[sandman7793]

Can you change control screen to 3 to see if that fixes it, even though you have it disabled because Windows don't use screen 0. Just a thought. Also do you have the screens justified and stacked on the resolution settings. In Windows.

[robmoore208]

Can you change control screen to 3 to see if that fixes it, even though you have it disabled because Windows don't use screen 0. Just a thought. Also do you have the screens justified and stacked on the resolution settings. In Windows.

I have screen two on top of screen one, and as far as justified how can that be done on Windows 8.. I will try your other idea as well.. Adding the 3rd doesn't do anything apparently..

Sent from my DROID DNA

[or8ital]

Set ChangeMarqueeOnWheelChange to false and see if that works.

To confirm, you have all the wheel images downloaded?

Screens no longer need to be justified and stacked.

[robmoore208]

Set ChangeMarqueeOnWheelChange to false and see if that works.

To confirm, you have all the wheel images downloaded?

Screens no longer need to be justified and stacked.

Ill see about the setting of the wheel change when I get home in the morning , at work at the moment and I didn't bring my hardrive with me.. As far as wheel images

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElkMYZn0Ad4&feature=youtu.be

That's a video of my project as of this far, I really appreciate the time you are spending on this with me, Thank you

[or8ital]

I also write a file that I believe I named hslog.txt. Can you post the contents of that?

[robmoore208]

I also write a file that I believe I named hslog.txt. Can you post the contents of that?

HyperSpinHelper Started.

HyperspinFolder: f:\Hyperspin

ShowBezelForHyperspinScreen: true

ShowMarqueeScreen: true

ShowControlsHelpScreen: false

ScreenNumberForMainDisplayInWindows: 1

ScreenNumberForControlDisplayInWindows: 3

ScreenNumberForMarqueeDisplayInWindows: 2

ChangeMarqueeOnWheelChange: false

ShowColorsForButtons: true

UseOnlyTopThirdForMarquee: false

UseCustomControls: false

ShowControllerImages: true

MapUltraStik: false

PathToUltraMap: d:\hyperspin\tools\ultramap\ultramap.exe

CurrentDirectory: F:\HyperSpin\HyperHelper

UseCustomMaps: false

DefaultMapHS: 4-way Joystick.ugc

DefaultMapGames: 8-way Joystick.ugc

LaunchHSonStart: true

FullResolutionSetting: true

HSWidth: 1920

HSHeight: 1080

MainWindowWidth: 1920

MainWindowHeight: 1080

[or8ital]

Can you enter into a game and then post the file after that. It should give more info about what it's doing to show the images, etc.

[robmoore208]

I think its the same>?

HyperSpinHelper Started.

HyperspinFolder: f:\Hyperspin

ShowBezelForHyperspinScreen: true

ShowMarqueeScreen: true

ShowControlsHelpScreen: false

ScreenNumberForMainDisplayInWindows: 1

ScreenNumberForControlDisplayInWindows: 3

ScreenNumberForMarqueeDisplayInWindows: 2

ChangeMarqueeOnWheelChange: false

ShowColorsForButtons: true

UseOnlyTopThirdForMarquee: false

UseCustomControls: false

ShowControllerImages: true

MapUltraStik: false

PathToUltraMap: d:\hyperspin\tools\ultramap\ultramap.exe

CurrentDirectory: F:\HyperSpin\HyperHelper

UseCustomMaps: false

DefaultMapHS: 4-way Joystick.ugc

DefaultMapGames: 8-way Joystick.ugc

LaunchHSonStart: true

FullResolutionSetting: true

HSWidth: 1920

HSHeight: 1080

MainWindowWidth: 1920

MainWindowHeight: 1080

[or8ital]

Are you using hyperlaunch to launch the games?