• Generates ROM lists from HyperList XML's.
  
• Configure fallback artwork for game icons and fanart.
  
• Background playback of trailer videos after a predefined idle time (requires service.hyper.launcher).
  
• Is a video addon so more view and artwork types are available (clearart, banner, thumbs, poster, media, fanart and trailers)
  
• Search all systems or individual systems.
  
• Set launcher script per system or per game or when starting a ROM.
  
• Sort lists by Name, Genre and Date, Rating and Studio.
  
• Automatically navigate to last browsed system on Kodi restart.(requires service.hyper.launcher)
  
• Attract mode when idle (requires service.hyper.launcher).
  
• Display associated game and system artwork (videos, music, images and PDF manuals) in Kodi (PDF's require additional software).
  
• RetroPlayer support (needs more testing with multi file roms)
  
• Select random item.
  
• Ability to launch game variants when selecting parent ROM.
  
• Option to display a 'All Games' main menu item.
  

• For each system, a HyperList XML file is required inside the systems folder. The name of the XML file is what will be displayed in Kodi and will used for system configs, system artwork and system videos.
  
• A system config file in the systems_config folder for each system. File is to be named the same as the corresponding HyperList file with '-config' appended to the end. Eg: a HyperList XML file named "Atari 2600.xml" will be displayed in Kodi as "Atari 2600" and will require a config file named "Atari 2600-config.xml". Example file here.
  
• A launcher script in the launcher_scripts folder, with the name of the launcher script contained within the system config file. To use RetroPlayer create an empty file called 'kodi_retroplayer' and use that as the launcher in the system-config.xml. Windows and Linux examples.
  Arguments that are passed to non RetroPlayer scripts are: %1 = system name , %2 = game name , %3 = full rom path (folder + file name + extension) , %4 = file name only , %5 = file extension.
  

• System artwork goes in the 'systems_artwork/SYSTEM NAME' folder and is automatically used if present. They are named in the same style as the system config file, Eg: Trailer is -trailer, logo is -logo, poster is -poster, icon is -icon, fanart is -fanart. Usable video file types are .flv, .avi and .mp4 and usable artwork types are .png, .jpg and .ico. Additional system artwork (PDF manual's, videos etc)can be placed in the 'systems_artwork/SYSTEM NAME' and can be viewed via the context menu option "View Artwork' (Additional artwork does not need a specific name).
  
• ROM artwork can be placed any where, with the paths defined in the system config file and will be automatically used if present. File name is to be the same as the ROM filename. For fanart and icons, you can configure a fallback artwork path to be used if the first choice is not found. Usable video file types are .flv, .avi and .mp4 and usable artwork types are .png, .jpg and .ico. Additional game artwork (PDF manual's, videos etc) within folder in the artwork base path can be viewed via the context menu option "View Artwork'.
  
• Automatic background playback of trailers when idle, attract mode and returning to the last opened Hyper Launcher folder after launching a ROM requires the service.hyper.launcher addon to be installed. Idle time before either is defined in service.hyper.launcher addon settings, with 0 to disable.
  
• For PDF files there are two options for viewing - Ghostscript and plugin.image.pdfreader. Ghost script is far more compatible and integrated, but needs a external program, can be slower and is not available on all platforms (Android). As a fallback plugin.image.pdfreader can be used and is available via my repo. Enable and configure via the addon's settings.
  

Quote:Made available additional kodi artwork types (banners, clearart, thumb, poster, media).
Changed the way artwork is handled - now will scan a base directory for artwork for a particular ROM and will create a list with available artwork.
Ability to view PDF manuals in Kodi (plugin.image.pdfreader required)
Ability to configure a alternate launcher per ROM
Preliminary RetroPlayer support (needs further testing with multi file roms)
Only one fallback artwork image for icons and fanart now.
Display information about console - release year, manufacturer and a description
System-config.xml file layouts have changed.
Small changes.

Quote:Added focus random item context menu option

Quote:Added attract mode. Set timeout via service addon settings, 0 to disable. (currently doesnt work properly due to a bug in Kodi)

• Folder structure
  In HyperSpin roms and associated files are located in different folders, which each have a flat content. This makes it difficult to keep your files in sync. Whenever you want to delete a game you have to touch each folder. The second disadvantage is that each version of a game (beta, trainer, hack) needs dedicated artwork files, so you end up with several copies of the same artwork file but named differently.
  As the development of Kodi is moving towards proper game integration, I expect the folder structure to be like with movies, i.e. having a folder per game containing all essential files:
  
  Code:

  <GameName>/<Rom>
          /game.nfo
          /fanart.jpg
          /boxfront.jpg
          /boxback.jpg
          /... other associated files
  In RCB this is somehow possible (paths to artwork are configurable in the corresponding .nfo file).
  
  
• No support for multiple roms per game (I mean betas, trainers and hacks, not multi-disk roms)
  In HyperSpin each version means an entry in the games list, which make this list bloated. IMHO another menu level would be better to handle this.
  
  
• No overview of all games across all platforms. One always has to select a platform first.
  This is pretty handy for sorting out games (e.g. I only play GB games that were not released for GBC/GBA).
  

(2016-02-12, 13:54)MaxMustermann Wrote: Thanks for this wonderful addon. Since RCB is not continued any more (at least officially) this seems to be a good successor.
I used HyperSpin for about one year. Then I switched from Windows to Openelec and had to drop HyperSpin.
Things I didn't like with HyperSpin:

• Folder structure
  In HyperSpin roms and associated files are located in different folders, which each have a flat content. This makes it difficult to keep your files in sync. Whenever you want to delete a game you have to touch each folder. The second disadvantage is that each version of a game (beta, trainer, hack) needs dedicated artwork files, so you end up with several copies of the same artwork file but named differently.
  As the development of Kodi is moving towards proper game integration, I expect the folder structure to be like with movies, i.e. having a folder per game containing all essential files:
  
  Code:

  <GameName>/<Rom>
          /game.nfo
          /fanart.jpg
          /boxfront.jpg
          /boxback.jpg
          /... other associated files
  In RCB this is somehow possible (paths to artwork are configurable in the corresponding .nfo file).

Quote:

No support for multiple roms per game (I mean betas, trainers and hacks, not multi-disk roms)
In HyperSpin each version means an entry in the games list, which make this list bloated. IMHO another menu level would be better to handle this.

Quote:

No overview of all games across all platforms. One always has to select a platform first.
This is pretty handy for sorting out games (e.g. I only play GB games that were not released for GBC/GBA).

(2016-02-12, 23:49)bakito Wrote: I have an hyperspin already set up ( with the old hyperlauch) , could I use some of it to set up your add on? Like the xml files,images,videos....would it be faster that way or must I set your ( very very interesting) add on in a separate way?
Thanks a lot will definitely try this add on! Thanks for your work!
Cheers

Quote:Artwork lists now display mp3 and ico files
Add addon option to enable blank search
Artwork now uses filename not game name (fixes mame not displaying artwork)
Fix opening of pdf files
Enable cacheToDisc=True on system and game lists
Add additional sort methods
Always display random items context menu item

Quote:Add support for game variants.
Add threading for game list generation and searches (dont think it makes much difference, might do on low power systems).
Add multi-language support.
Checks for blank xml data.
Do not replace default context menu items.
Fix text encoding... hopefully...

Quote:Fix text encoding for launching pdf's

Quote:Add context menu item to select specific launcher at rom run time.
Add more language strings.
Reduce amount of searching for artwork.
Add option to designate file types to launch.

Quote:Fix fallback artwork having priority

Quote:Skip loop if viewing artwork lists