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

[knewlife]

I wish Hyperspin would go open source and the functionality of this app could just be bundled in.

I wish that too my friend hahaha. Google code is a good place to store code it has everything bug tracker. Svn etc

[xzotic]

I'm not sure why you are having path problems but I imagine that will manifest itself throughout the app in a lot of weird ways. There shouldn't be a need to remove letters. I've honestly not been on the new FTP site ever. I only assume the latest version is out there. :-)

Wish I had the time to work on this as it's really enjoyable and I like giving back to the community.

Any chance you can upload your latest version to Dropbox or something? Just in case the FTP doesn't have your latest version. They did do a server change a while ago and who knows maybe they restored an older copy. Either way it would be good to get the last one that worked with RocketLauncher without the path missing letter issue.

If anyone else has a version working with RocketLauncher please make a copy available if you can. Many thanks in advance.

I've got a vitrolight marquee on its way and I want to do a 3rd screen for flyers on the wall. I'll post some pics if I can get it all working. Cheers

[hargabyte]

Can someone please send me a copy of the latest version. I am trying to get FTP access to download it but havent gotten a response all week. I have IM and emailed Badboybill and havent gotten a response. All I want FTP access for is to download this.

Thanks

[hargabyte]

Thanks for the link Jeremy. I dont know why I didnt see this before but that worked and I got the program. Thanks!

[hargabyte]

Can someone give some help on this. I downloaded the version on the FTP and copied it over to my hyperspin folder and set all the setting in the ini file but none of the marquee's are comes up other than the "retro arcade" image. Im using hypersync so all the images are in the default location. All my emulators are setup in hyperlaunch v3. Heres my settings

<helpersettings>

<settings>

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

<setting name="ScreenNumberForControlDisplayInWindows" value="3" /><!-- right click on desktop to change screen resolution and get the number from there -->

<setting name="ScreenNumberForMarqueeDisplayInWindows" value="1" /><!-- 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="true" /><!--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="true" /><!--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>

EDIT: as a test i switched to having the control screen on and the marquee off. it works fine set like that but not when the marquee is set to true

[hargabyte]

ok i read through a bunch of posts and it looks like its due to me running windows 7. its the same issue sandman ran into. I do have a copy of windows 8 i can try. Unless anyone knows how to get it running in windows 7

[xzotic]

ok i read through a bunch of posts and it looks like its due to me running windows 7. its the same issue sandman ran into. I do have a copy of windows 8 i can try. Unless anyone knows how to get it running in windows 7

Check the log and see if the first letter off the path is missing. See my post. I had to create a copy of the marques in a directory with the first letter removed off the directory name i.e.: "Mame" > "ame" Then it finds them and works.

Unfortunately the program is buggy and it doesn't look like it's going to be fixed anytime soon.

[or8ital]

The program works fine on windows 7. The program was pretty much bug free at the time I released it. I suspect since hyperlaunch has since released a new version perhaps they changed something the program relies on. I may try to look at the program again around the holidays.

[connorsdad]

I have it working great on windows 7, try completely removing it and then installing a fresh copy. I know when I was testing certain things I had to do this a time or two.

[xzotic]

I have it working great on windows 7, try completely removing it and then installing a fresh copy. I know when I was testing certain things I had to do this a time or two.

Been there, done that. Same result. So if its working for you great. It does still work with me with the directory first letter removal workaround. Looking at this thread I'm not the only one with this issue so there may be some other factor conflicting with the code that you don't have on your machine.

Hopefully orbital can fix it when he has time.

[hargabyte]

sjust to follow up, I installed windows 8 and everything works fine now.

[Sneetch]

So, I have to start by saying I LOVE HS Helper.

RESOLVED: Reinstall Hyperspin and all apps. HSH works as expected again. Love it.

Original issue for anyone else having similar problems:

Of course **my constant tinkering** has done something to the marquee changes and I am unsure how to fix.

What works:

1) The default marquee ([hyperspinhelper application folder]\images\misc\marquee.png image ) always shows, which is great no matter which HS Wheel is selected. I should be happy enough with that alone as it looks cool (as I have customized it to my system).

2) Marquee updates to game title when launched for all standard wheels (Daphne, SNES, Atari2600, etc) and is awesome

3) A custom wheel which contains my personal 'best of' titles for both Mame and Daphne.

-As noted in #1 above, the default marquee always shows

[hyperspinhelper application folder]\images\misc\marquee.png

-Any daphne title (only 2 listed in custom wheel, Space Ace and Dragons Lair) updates to the proper title marquee hosted in the first place HSH looks

[hyperspin folder]\media\[emulator]\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png

What doesn't work:

A) Any MAME title marquee from the custom wheel. It always keeps the default marquee

The custom wheel games list XML has an added attribute for the system name, the games launch and play great, just the marquee doesnt update unless it is a Daphne title.

<system>Daphne</system> or <system>MAME</system>

Attempted Solutions (FAILED):

1) Duplicate the locations HSH looks for Marquees, and now have copies located:

[hyperspin folder]\media\MAME-custom\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png <This is my custom wheel

[hyperspin folder]\media\MAME\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png

[hyperspin folder]\media\MAME64\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png

[hyperspin folder]\media\Daphne\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png < This works for space ace and dragons lair

2) Duplicate the locations HSH looks for Marquees, just with first letter of emulator removed:

ex. [hyperspin folder]\media\AME-custom\Images\Marquee\[rom name].png <All combinations attempted.

3) Removed/Reinstalled HSH from FTP. Updated settings.xml as appropriate, no change.

4) Since I modified the original 'MAME' folder to the 'MAME-custom' I am unable to delete the wheel from RL nor create a new MAME instance via RL... Not an issue of HSH, yet thought I would point it out.

Secondary issue:

90% of time when exiting any game, the windows focus is given to the Marquee window and not the Hyperspin window. My workaround has been to assign an 'Alt-Tab' macro to one of my arcade buttons which works, but not ideal of course.

The window order is always one of the following:

HSH Marquee, Hyperspin (90% of time, need to 'Alt-Tab' to make Hyperspin the primary to continue)

Hyperspin, HSH Marquee (10% of time, and can immediately select a new game/wheel)

Computer:

I am running Win7 Ultimate with MAME 1.55 64-bit on a Intel quad core, with 16 GB of ram, 2 nvidia video cards, one for the Makavision CRT (GTX260) and another for the Marquee LCD (GTX_something, was ~$65). Yet these issues also existed in my last version 1.43 64-bit.

No clue what else to attempt , other than to ask for some help here. So, anyone have any thoughts??

[talonted68]

Has any1 been able to load hsh on startup? I have tried win7 and win8 with startup folder and task scheduler. For some reason it gives an error on loading but if I run manually it does fine.

[or8ital]

There is bat file syntax to use somewhere on the thread.

[Sneetch]

I have mine in the startup folder and working great on win7. I can repoint the shortcut to the older build I did (see post above) and that one launches too. so no real help, but it is working for me. for awareness here are my shortcut paths, yours will obviously be different, yet trying to be somewhat helpful

target: I:\HS2014\HyperSpinHelper\HyperSpinHelper.exe

start in: I:\HS2014\HyperSpinHelper

maybe try to create another directory copy and point to that one...? or look for or8ital suggestion. nice to see ya Or8ital!!

[xzotic]

Guys you may want to check out HyperMarquee instead (search on these forums). It works brilliantly and is being actively developed and supported. It also works through the hyperspin front end through a neat trick they have done. It supports multiple views, overlays and more and it works great! super fast performance loading multiple marquees, flyers or what ever else you want while in hyperspin and maintaining the images when playing. Has really cool selectable transitions and built in masking features (I added an 'aged mask' to make all my marquees look more authentic). Go check it out!

[knewlife]

The program works fine on windows 7. The program was pretty much bug free at the time I released it. I suspect since hyperlaunch has since released a new version perhaps they changed something the program relies on. I may try to look at the program again around the holidays.

Hi, me again, im still using the software, the only problem i have is that i cant add new images to the controls and genre folder... i mean i add the images but they are not displayed in Hyperspinhelper... i suppose this is because the images are compiled with the program and not loaded from the folders...

[Sneetch]

RESOLVED: Within HyperHQ the MAME wheel, Update the 'execution' radio button to 'Hyperlaunch' instead of 'Normal'

ISSUES OBSERVED:

1. HSH doesnt change the marquee for MAME

2. Whenever exiting mame, HSH is put in the foreground and have to alt tab to get HyperSpin active again

3. It only happens in MAME (in my case)

-Change to another non-mame emulator, no problems observed everything works as expected.

BACKGROUND and HISTORY:

HyperHQ apparently will update the wheel execution selection automatically. Unknown why at this time, but it has happened for a couple of emulators in my setup.

-If using latest version of RocketLaunch/HyperLaunch you likely know you do not need to specify any paths in HyperHQ.

-When HyperHQ automatically changes wheel execution selection to 'Normal', Hyperspin will throw error 'No path to EXE found' (or similar) when attempting to launch the emulator.

- My prior attempts to resolve issue included specifying the launch and rom paths in HyperHQ, which made MAME work, yet broke HSH functionality (as noted in Or8ital's first post, Hyperlaunch is required). This created the issues noted above.

RESOLUTION:

When this happens, Simply launch HyperHQ, change the wheel execution back to Hyperlaunch and try again.

Should resolve the issue in mere seconds instead of months in my case! (oh and remove the paths to rom and exe if you have them specified).

With this awareness, HSHelper is as Or8ital stated working perfectly!

Good news is I am now much more intimate with all things Hyperspin, so the user error, trial/error and constant poking at getting to the root issue has paid off. Makes my cabinet super awesome and is a quick/simple way to have dynamic marquees and game cards (with multiple monitors) update as one selects a new title/system.

[connorsdad]

Any chance of trying to get this injected into the new hs 1.4 beta?

At the moment there is a noticeable delay between the wheel selection and showing up on the 2nd screen. Also now when I boot up hs a second time the hs helper shows the wheel from whichever game I played last before I quit hs.

[Jumpstile]

Any chance of trying to get this injected into the new hs 1.4 beta?

At the moment there is a noticeable delay between the wheel selection and showing up on the 2nd screen. Also now when I boot up hs a second time the hs helper shows the wheel from whichever game I played last before I quit hs.

If you mean incorporate its features into HyperSpin, no chance at all.

 

 - J*

[connorsdad]

"Added - New script file in Scripts folder. HScript.ahk. This script file has function in it that HyperSpin will call at certain times. For example inside the script is a function called "themeStart". When a user lands on a wheel this function will be called each time along with the system name and game name. This opens up more opportunities for 3rd party applications to get involved with events in HyperSpin instead of having to create workarounds using other in place systems."

This should help to improve hyperspin helper

[Matt68061]

I just had to chime in here...and I realize this thread is a bit dated! I have been trying for weeks to find a simple way to display a marquee on my second monitor. I tried to do it directly within Mame but creating all the different lay files was not working most all of the time. Mamehooker is a nice little app but it crashed about half of the time...and would not open within the startup folder along with HS. HyperMarquee looks awesome and is packed with features...unfortunately I dont have a degree in computer programming so I gave up after multiple attempts. That is not a slam on HM...it has fantabulous support...but to just display a single static image it may be overkill. I do need to point out that most of these are most likely operator error

[connorsdad]

I'm still running it in my cab, it's a great piece of coding.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[or8ital]

Glad to see people are still getting value from the program. If anyone wants the source code to carry things forward I would be more than willing to provide it. It's in C#.

[bison3]

This program is definitely awesome! I have everything working great except when scrolling through the games, the marquees don't fill the whole monitor. When I enter the game I have the marquees set up through MAME to display during game play and are displaying perfect. So I know there is a resolution issue or maybe something else wrong with my hyperspin helper setup. Any thoughts?