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Hey everyone, Yeah… it’s been a while. What was supposed to be a few quick weeks of patching turned into a full-blown overhaul of how we handle media, assets, and everything in between. Thanks for sticking with us through the chaos — let’s dive in. Media Migration & Folder Structure When you launch HyperHQ for the first time after updating, it will automatically attempt to migrate your existing media to the new structure. That said, this update is a massive shift in how media is organized and referenced. We strongly recommend starting fresh — delete your existing media and redownload it using the new system. You’ll thank yourself later. All media now lives under a unified data\Media directory, and we’ve standardized folder names across the board — Overrides for example: [system name]/Backgrounds - Game/ [system name]/Backgrounds - System/ [system name]/Boxes - 2.5D/ [system name]/Boxes - 2D/ [system name]/Boxes - 3D/ [system name]/Boxes - Back/ [system name]/Boxes - Texture/ [system name]/Game Media - 2D/ [system name]/Game Media - 3D/ There is an additional _hsm folder in the media directory. This is HyperSpin managed media and will be managed through HQ. Everything is cleaner, easier to browse, and fully compatible with future updates. ThemeBuilder Gets a Major Upgrade ThemeBuilder also got a serious glow-up. You’ll notice: More asset types supported (backgrounds, alternate wheels, overlays, marquees, and more) Media Previews right inside the editor Smarter editing tools — autosave, multi-undo, improved drag-and-drop, and faster imports Better performance with smoother playback, real-time updates, and 4K-ready scaling Building and testing your themes now feels modern, fast, and fun — exactly how it should. New timeline with live scrubbing: 2025-08-16 20-06-26.mp4 Grid system (Thanks @yaron ) 2025-08-13_10-04-26.mp4 Alignment locking: 2025-08-13_09-05-06.mp4 Handle settings: 2025-08-04_15-40-56.mp4 More grids!: 2025-08-04_20-15-16.mp4 Themebuilder now supports video previews! @rondar and @baddeolv vid-previews.mp4 HyperHQ Updates v2.0.76 – July 15, 2025 Added “Import ROMs Only” option to MAME Wizard Faster, lighter download engine Fixed blank screen and import issues v2.0.78 – August 2, 2025 Added support for systems without emulators Integrated latest MAME builds Added loading animations for reauthorization Fixed import logic issues v2.0.81 – August 11, 2025 Huge performance boost for ROM browsing Fixed Windows startup and crash issues Improved inter-process communication v2.0.82 – August 15, 2025 Added drag-and-drop system import Virtual scrolling for smoother large lists Refined ROM details layout Added UAC elevation support v2.0.84–85 – August 21, 2025 Enhanced search + new media audit tools Added EXIF metadata support Fixed Windows shortcut detection Build patch (thanks @thatman84!) v2.0.86 – August 26, 2025 Complete media page makeover with glass-morphism UI Fixed MAME game detection Fixed login and auto-auth issues Faster animations and smoother loading v2.0.89 – September 2, 2025 Added game version tracking AutoHotkey syntax highlighting Enhanced process monitoring UI cleanup and bug fixes v2.0.91 – September 25, 2025 Complete Media Folder Migration! All media now lives under data\Media New folder naming (e.g. “Boxes - 2D”, “Logos - Game”) Automatic migration with progress screen Added custom wheel positioning Faster startup + better progress tracking v2.0.93 – October 6, 2025 Smarter background authentication Safer file ops (copy → verify → delete) Faster refresh and startup Fixed label, icon, and authentication issues v2.0.94–97 – October 7, 2025 Fixed missing media and sound issues Added game music toggles in downloads Fixed plugin reinstall/visibility issues Folder naming fixes (spaces now supported when launching from HQ) HyperSpin Updates v2.0.45 – July 24, 2025 Fixed theme loading issue Refactored media playback logic Fixed wheel images not loading Updated theme player to support new features v2.0.46 – July 30, 2025 Themes now only reload when changed (no unnecessary restarts) Snappier and smoother overall performance v2.0.47 – August 11, 2025 Fixed race conditions when scrolling quickly through the wheel Refactored animation service for smoother wheel behavior Enhanced MAME and emulator detection Added hidden theme layers + improved attract mode Expanded plugin event hooks Optimized memory and animation cleanup v2.0.48 – September 26, 2025 Introduced Dynamic Wheel System (curved, straight, horizontal, vertical) New Display Settings menu + advanced aspect ratio controls Fixed animation and stability issues Visual polish: grayscale filters, Z-index fixes, smoother transitions General performance cleanup v2.0.49 – October 6, 2025 Enhanced CRT and retro display effects Integrated theme background layering Fixed animation, attract mode, and pointer behavior Added metadata support for new media types Core API and performance updates v2.0.50–51 – October 7, 2025 Fixed wheel sound and startup music issues HyperTheme & ThemeBuilder Updates This is where the biggest creative changes happened. ThemeBuilder has become faster, smarter, and more capable than ever — a real evolution for anyone building themes. July–August 2025 Added Pinball FX as a new supported system Smoother flipbook playback (and fixed reversed animations) Added pivot points, rotation, and easing-based animation curves Grid alignment and aspect ratio scaling improvements Live property updates (real-time sprite transform editing) Zoom controls, axis locking, and full SVG rendering at 4K One-click screenshot capture Added new “Background” metadata type Major UI/UX performance boost and cleanup Fall 2025 Enhancements More Asset Types Supported: alternate wheels, marquees, dynamic overlays, background layers HQ Media Previews — now live inside ThemeBuilder and HQ (watermarked 480p streaming for speed and safety) Faster Imports — up to 10× improvement on large sets Import Stats & Audit Tools — instant feedback and collapsible reports Improved Drag-and-Drop Media Management Autosave + Multi-Undo System — safer, smarter editing Lightweight Project Format — faster loads and smaller project files Content & Media Updates Huge thanks to @Circo and the EmuMovies crew for all the work behind the scenes. Here’s just a glimpse of what’s been refreshed: MAME HD Video Snaps – full set redone Xbox 360 – 1,144 new retail videos Atari 5200 – 74 new videos added Thanks again to everyone who’s tested, broken, and rebuilt things alongside us. The cache bugs, the folder debates, the sleepless nights — it all led to this point. The foundation we’ve built now will carry HyperSpin into its next era. You’ve all been patient, hilarious, and brutally honest — exactly what we needed. — fr0stbyt3 & The HyperSpin Team

Update:

After Dark This theme was a huge pain in the butt, but the end result looks pretty cool. I used the flipbook feature in HyperTheme (HT) to take individual images and create an animation. With traditional game sprites this would be a relatively simple operation, but - since I'm a glutton for punishment - I took in-game snapshots of the opening video sequence as the werewolf was running. This gave me 17 images like this to cut and clean up: I used "remove background" in Photoshop to get started. Then I cleaned up each image and filled in gaps as necessary. I centered each image on the canvas and saved them as transparent png's in numerical order. This gave me this: werewolf frames.mp4 To get a smooth animation loop for the ground layer, I created two horizontal rock surfaces from the screenshots and used tiling to scroll the images in the theme. The foreground image is blurred and scrolls faster for added depth. And the backdrop of the animation is an oversized moon background that moves slowly to the right. And the final result:

ok one more... gradient on this was hell to replicate... not 100 but close

here we go again... same rules as before... only usa and liberties will be taken... also i may do some japanese ones just not a priority and these take time so am aiming for usa ones. all games will be done... including homebrew and unlicense ones like the double dragon one here

Starting a thread to let you know what I am currently working on mostly game themes for the new Beta hs2

slow times

I agree. I think by saying "there is no use because...it would be a lot of work to update xyz"...that you're already deciding for someone else. There are many that don't agree with the direction that HS2 is going and has frankly killed the spirit of what this community was. I have only been paying a bit more attention to HS2 again because I have hit performance roadblocks with Launchbox and there are frankly many annoyances with Launchbox that I just cannot look past and they are ALSO refusing/incapable of fixing or are starting to implement paywalls for things. HS2 is incredibly underdeveloped...and removes the control of individual assets to more of a hivemind type ideology. I'm sure it's great if you're on the control side of the fence, but If i just wish to remain an occasional contributor and build my own system and have it work the way i want it to, this is more of a raping and pillaging of an already established community that was never prepared for such a thing. I'm caught in the middle of both of these enhanced platform and have frankly ended up with a mess, to the point where i can't game or use either platform at all.... I'm deep into converting from HS1 to launchbox and the way it wants to do things and HS2 is under developed and ALSO working in ways that do not facilitate a place for an individual to make their own setup. The direction of this seems to be wanting to just streamline incompleteness. It only seems logical that if there is a group of people that want to take HS2 in a different direction and it's not what a lot of people in the existing community want, then HS1 should be allowed to be reverse engineered so that the community can successfully split from here, because it already isn't what a lot of people want. Many have turned to these communities to satisfy some void that can't be fulfilled in their day-to-day job it seems that the current drivers are just capitalizing on that which violates the very thing that most people are trying to get away from. This was an escape, and now the current drivers have turned it into the same prison that already existed in our day-to-day lives. It starts with the cold hard fact that none of ya'll holding the keys aren't listening when people are telling you 'HEY THIS IS NOT A GOOD DIRECTION, YA MISSED SOME SHIT' A few big ones is not making HS2 100% portable and enforcing a cache file to exist in the app data folder. another one, renaming of artwork assets into a incoherint database entry instead of leaving the file name as-is and focusing on complete packs based on region....launchbox kinda screws the pooch on this as well because they seem to think that NES and famicom are the same thing....they are not. Or Nintendo Game & Watch and Tiger electronics are the same thing...they are not. It's those little nuances that seem to start the destruction of both of these platforms.

And not only was his artwork amazing - he was so fricken fast too! These logos have still been quite impressive though. So don’t discredit yourself. (We could use some of this talent building themes for HS2…)

Update: The test build is getting better but not yet ready for public beta testing. They are patching the bugs that the dev team have been reporting, which take time, but they have been working at a fast pace and are going through the patches daily with New updated versions. However the new features are super awesome and media is being linked in by the truckloads! While still not 100% on every category, you can get stoked for new additions that weren't present in previous versions. I have been working on the teknoparrot Media as well as adding the missing games that are supported by the emulator, into the hyperlist so they are recognized as you add them to your HQ, it's a slow process but I'm making sure that I am adding all the metadata for each game correctly, but that means I have to manually Google each game one by one. I'm also grabbing the correct arcade flyer and background images that I am finding as I search for information in able to turn over to the project leads so they can link and store on the server for syncing support. All the while staying updated on high def wheel logos and creating a theme or two here and there that our resident artwork wizard @rondar is fine tuning and animating for all of us to enjoy. That is all I have for you guys for the day but I will check back again in a few days. -baddie

They’re working through some kinks right now that we found in initial testing.