RetroFE: A flexible frontend for both Windows and Linux

[emb]

EDIT: Site/forum for the frontend has been created: http://www.retrofe.com Thanks for your feedback! Private beta testing is in progress.

Latest video :

RetroFE on Linux: of

0.1.0.12 beta:


RetroFE Beta Testers Needed:


All videos below are taken of puddle-fe running on a 1.6 GHz Atom (single core) netbook.
 

Puddle-fe: Launching games - showcasing multiple images and motions

Puddle-fe: Showcasing video and image animations (tweening engine)
You can have your scrolling list form any shape you want

Puddle-fe: A quick hyperspin style wheel

Puddle-fe: A maximus arcade style menu

If you were given the chance to have a frontend built just for you, what would it look like?

• How would you envision the navigation flow working? How would the menus function?
• How would your layout look?
• What features do you dislike about existing frontends?
• What features would you like to see in a frontend that does not yet exist?
• How do you prefer to manage your game lists?
• How would you like to see your folders structured?
• What would you like to configure your system?

The reason I am asking is because I have actively been working on a new fronted framework for a few months now (puddle-fe). It runs on both windows and linux. See below for some videos. Keep in mind that the layouts in the videos are for concept purposes only (the xml layouts were created in a couple minutes). These layouts most likely will not be in the end product. The xml layouts support quite a few features (motions, rotations, transparency, scaling, easing, relative and absolute positioning/scaling, etc...)

[Obiwantje]

Don,

Having followed along your hard work on Puddle-FE in the past few nmonths - I can only say WOW.

People should be VERY excited about this.

My wish list:

(1) Linux
(2) 640x480 resolution ability
(3) Scanlines for those wishing to use an LCD screen
(4) Export to DAT files (CLRMAMEpro compatible) of your custom genre game list

[EMDB]

Looks very good so far. My wish list:

- Changeable background images.
- support of HS (game) themes.

[cools]

• How would your layout look?
• What features do you dislike about existing frontends?

1) Not a list. Completely customisable.
2) Inability to parse MAME/MESS/UME metadata.

Attract-Mode does everything I want but alternatives are always good - animating things in Squirrel isn't the most fun task in the world.[/list]

[BadMouth]

The biggest thing for me is having all the arcade games together regardless of what emulator they're running on.
They're all arcade games, why would they be in a bunch of separate lists?

I'd also like to see a front end that allows automation based on the metadata of your choosing.
Da'OldMan's plugins for Mala work for monitor rotation and 4/8 way joystick switching, but it would be cool to do things based on control type, etc.


For my driving cab, I'd like the option for a horizontal gamelist and pics so I could scroll through the games with the steering wheel and select with the pedal.
Good pics of all the driving cabs don't exist, but I'm picturing screenshots and game title/marquee scrolling horizontally with the highlighted one in the center playing video.

[twistedsymphony]

The biggest thing for me is having all the arcade games together regardless of what emulator they're running on.
...

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS!!!!!

My ideal Front end:
1. easy to navigate and graphically rich like HyperSpin
2. doesn't require a PHD in order to setup
3. allows me to EASILY organize the front end however I see fit not just by platform/emulator (which honestly is dumb IMO)

why can't I organize games by Genre regardless of platform?
why can't I organize games by release year or "era" regardless of platform?
why can't I organize games by control type regardless of platform?
why can't I organize games by developer/manufacturer regardless of platform?
why can't I organize games by whatever arbitrary metric I so desire?
.........

I don't know about most people but a big reason I use a front end at all is to make it easy for people OTHER THAN ME to navigate my machine... if I have a friend who want's to play Marvel vs Capcom 2 it makes sense for them to look under "Arcade Games" or under a  "Fighters" category or maybe a "Capcom" category... Instead they have to ask me where it is, I'll have to tell them "It's under NAOMI" and I always get the response "What's a NAOMI?"

Even being able to lump all arcade games into a single category would be an improvement over the emulator separation that most front ends force you in-to.

-------

Honestly it shouldn't be that hard... most if not all of that information is included in the XMLs if you built a master XML on launch you could query it based on whatever parameters we'd want to sort the front end by.

[nitrogen_widget]

My ideal front end doesn't need to be too snazzy honestly.
I'd like an option to dial down the eye candy for older hardware on Linux.

biggest issue I see is a lot of front ends need more PC power to run than the emulators.

The ability to configure all the mame options from the front end.
Scanlines, bezel art, scaling, ect instead of editing the mame config file.

and a screen saver option to play random MAME game recordings when the machine goes for a bit without use.

[sudopinion]

Please, please please add %ROMNAME% & %ROMPATH% as variables the config file can use.
Dynamic library population is a really cool feature that Mediabrowser has. 
XBMC & Mediabrowser use  .nfo and .xml respectively.   These files hold information like year, publisher, developer and description.  The ability to use these files would GREATLY enhance navigation.

[BadMouth]

graphically rich like HyperSpin

Preferrably in a way that doesn't make me feel like a baby having a stuffed toy shaken at it.

[BadMouth]

•How would you envision the navigation flow working? How would the menus function?

Navigation would be tree style (in navigation, not in appearance) -
1. Select from a menu of Arcade, Console, or PC games. (I don't want to scroll through 30 consoles to get to the PC games)
2. selecting arcade would take you to a list of gamelists of my own creation.  Mainly genres, but also favorites, etc.
   selecting console would bring up a horizontal line of consoles accross the bottom in chronological order of release.
   The highlighted console would appear larger.  I'm fine without a preview vid, but I'm sure others would like it.
   Once a console is selected, it would switch to a vertical gamelist of the games. 

•How would your layout look?

Simple, but not plain looking.  I don't want a different layout for every game.  I don't want things being shaken in my face.
An animated background or subtle animations would be cool.  Sublte animations being moving shadows, highlights or very small objects.
Nothing that distracts from the preview vid.

•What features do you dislike about existing frontends?

I can't stand the ones that look like media center software. 
I don't like that everyone just sticks with the default HS layout which looks exactly like Ultracade.
Guess those aren't really features.  As far as features are concerned, I dunno.

•What features would you like to see in a frontend that does not yet exist?

Arcade games all in one list instead of being separated by emulator.
I've worked around this in Mala and am aware there are workarounds for HS,
but it would be wonderful if a front end were designed with this in mind from the start.

I'd like to be able to use any font I wish, but have visual effects applied to it.

•How do you prefer to manage your game lists?

While I'm using them in the front end.  Right click options would be nice.
Special keys to add games to other lists, etc. would be useful,
but I'd rather use the mouse and put it away when guests are using the machine.

•How would you like to see your folders structured?

Everything related to an emulator should be in that emulator's folder.
I don't want to have twenty different emulator folders, then twenty corresponding snapshot folders in a separate art folder.

•What would you like to configure your system?

Not sure I understand the question, but I prefer to get an emulator working the way I want then point the front-end at it.


 

[Howard_Casto]

As a veteran of this, some advice.  Forget about the gui atm... that is completely unimportant.  Work on the backend.  Filtering, list generation, full configurability for emulators that launch in an unusual way, ect.  That's the important stuff.  You'll notice that a lot of comments thus far reflect this. 

One of hyperspin's biggest issues, like a lot of the flashier fe's is that to do any fancy list generation, you often have to rely on a convoluted third party program or opening up a god awful xml file and having to edit the rom's entry manually. 

I'm not knocking hyperspin at all, but it's always "more flash more animations" when you can't even do basic stuff like list merging and filtering easily. 

[BadMouth]

As a veteran of this, some advice.  Forget about the gui atm... that is completely unimportant.  Work on the backend.  Filtering, list generation, full configurability for emulators that launch in an unusual way, ect.  That's the important stuff.  You'll notice that a lot of comments thus far reflect this. 

One of hyperspin's biggest issues, like a lot of the flashier fe's is that to do any fancy list generation, you often have to rely on a convoluted third party program or opening up a god awful xml file and having to edit the rom's entry manually. 

I'm not knocking hyperspin at all, but it's always "more flash more animations" when you can't even do basic stuff like list merging and filtering easily.

I'm just an end-user, but the way I imagine going about this is to think of the gamelist entry (the info paired with the game in the gamelist file) as it's own little portable pod.  The most important question would be "What information to I need to keep paired with this game to accomplish all of the above?"
It would need to include the command to launch the game (or at least parts of it), joystick info, monitor orientation info, as well as any other information you might want displayed like year of release or publisher.

[twistedsymphony]

graphically rich like HyperSpin

Preferrably in a way that doesn't make me feel like a baby having a stuffed toy shaken at it.

Yes... Please...

-Wheel Images: great!
-Video clip of game play: very nice
-satisfying "click" sounds when scrolling through the menu: yeah sure
-Game themes with fancy animated artwork: hit or miss but in general pretty good
...
-Flashing "Press Start" text at the bottom: no thank you
-Ever wiggling pastel lollypop joystick: WTF why? my joystick doesn't even look like that
-random pop ups in the middle of the screen: STHAAAAAP! this is an arcade machine for adults not toddlers
-random video game sound effects that are completely unrelated to the game you're looking at... please this an arcade machine not a riced out Honda Civic.

As a veteran of this, some advice.  Forget about the gui atm... that is completely unimportant.  Work on the backend.  Filtering, list generation, full configurability for emulators that launch in an unusual way, ect.  That's the important stuff.  You'll notice that a lot of comments thus far reflect this. 

One of hyperspin's biggest issues, like a lot of the flashier fe's is that to do any fancy list generation, you often have to rely on a convoluted third party program or opening up a god awful xml file and having to edit the rom's entry manually. 

I'm not knocking hyperspin at all, but it's always "more flash more animations" when you can't even do basic stuff like list merging and filtering easily. 

I actually really appreciate the way the latest Hyper spin separated the "launch"/emulator configuration functionality to it's own seperate "HyperLaunch" middle-ware.

I completely agree on the list filtering, THAT, along with XML management I feel should be part of the front-end but having played around with the way HyperLaunch has separated out all the little emulator quirks I feel there's a lot of benefit to having a separate "middleware" app to handle just that.

It seperates the front end look and feel and game selection functionality from the back end emulation and controller configuration functionality.

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not talking about weather the application is separate or not, I always made my stuff external as well.  It's just the hyperspin guy all but ignored that aspect of the fe for the longest time and basically people that weren't as familiar with the fe had to step in and do it.  The author is really best suited for making that stuff, at least initially. 

In regards to what badmouth was saying, I know some people are all gung ho around xml, but for a gamelist as potentially massive as all of mame's games as well as other games, console, emulators and what-not, a xml file is going to be frikkin gigantic.  Disc space isn't an issue at all, but having to parse that stuff and load it into memory certainly is at least if you want to search for stuff and filter things on the fly. 

Delimited text files or a full on database work a lot better.  I always did it like so:

rom|Game Name|parent|driver|year|manufacturer|orientation|controls|... ... ...

I used bars for the delimiter because some game titles often had commas in them and it avoided having to re-format the game names.  You want to put more static stuff at the beginning of the entry and more subjective/transient stuff like controls.dat data or ini's or what have you last. 

And yes you can absolutely do it via xml, but remember, with a delimited text file you have the bare minimum of extra characters for separations and white space.   That means even if you load your entire master list into memory for easy access, it isn't that big.  Like I said, if you want to use some database software, you can make the first entry a table of contents/legend and most dbase stuff will let you auto-load a delimited text file.

I hope some of that is helpful.

[BadMouth]

In regards to what badmouth was saying, I know some people are all gung ho around xml, but for a gamelist as potentially massive as all of mame's games as well as other games, console, emulators and what-not, a xml file is going to be frikkin gigantic.  Disc space isn't an issue at all, but having to parse that stuff and load it into memory certainly is at least if you want to search for stuff and filter things on the fly. 

Delimited text files or a full on database work a lot better.  I always did it like so:

rom|Game Name|parent|driver|year|manufacturer|orientation|controls|... ... ...

I used bars for the delimiter because some game titles often had commas in them and it avoided having to re-format the game names.  You want to put more static stuff at the beginning of the entry and more subjective/transient stuff like controls.dat data or ini's or what have you last. 

And yes you can absolutely do it via xml, but remember, with a delimited text file you have the bare minimum of extra characters for separations and white space.   That means even if you load your entire master list into memory for easy access, it isn't that big.  Like I said, if you want to use some database software, you can make the first entry a table of contents/legend and most dbase stuff will let you auto-load a delimited text file.

I hope some of that is helpful.

I wasn't really considering the format.  My thinking was to transfer only the needed info to the gamelist file.  That would give the FE a much smaller file to sort through and there's no point in searching for info about games that can't be launched from the screen you're on anyway.  That's how Mala does it.

Even a pruned mame.xml file is a PITA to open and edit due to the size.
I have one that has had all mechanical, fruit machine, adult, non-working, etc. removed.
(games that are playable in other emulators have been added or changed to working status)
I was trying to prune it enough that I could post it.  Even at a tiny fraction of its original size it was still too big to attach to a forum post.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I knew what you meant, maybe I didn't explain what I was getting at well.  If you make a list of the bare minimum then you have to look up the rest of the info from another file, which means that either you have to have something in place that makes it really quick to sort, or you have every single dat/list for every emulator open at once. 

So it's better to just make the list format as efficient as humanly possible and add the entire entry to the list when you build the sorted lists.

We might actually be talking about the same thing... I'm not sure. 

[cools]

You're talking about exactly the method attract-mode uses, just pointing that out in case you weren't aware.

[thomas_surles]

How about a search bar that doesn't require keyboard and searches for a game by keywords.

[Howard_Casto]

Man maybe I need to update Dragon King to work with modern mame builds and re-release it.  A lot of the stuff you guys are asking for I did ages ago. 

[sudopinion]

I think that using file lists to organize roms and hold metadata is really archaic and it hinders the development of a comprehensive backend. 
The fe should index and catalog the contents of a library dynamically.
Each title should exist in its own environment which contains assets that follow a simple directory structure.
This allows users to develop their library using scrapers available via other tools and eliminates the NEED for name-matching artwork and videos.

[BadMouth]

our ideas too far outside of what you wanted to work on?

[emb]

our ideas too far outside of what you wanted to work on?

Surprisingly, no  . The main driver for developing a new fe is to address any list managment/configuration issues that exist with other frontends. I have been silently watching this thread and have been using it as a reference while writing the backend.

I think I have an elegant implementation to address the ideas you all brought up. I will post some details in a few days to get the first iteration of feedback.

[Monkee]

Wow what an awesome project emb!

I agree with all the ideas here but I'd like to insist on the possibility to use HS themes and wheels.
Not to copy this one but so much work has been done by so many great "photoshop-artists" and it would be great to be able to still use them with a better frontend and working UNDER LINUX!
Also please consider adding support for keyboards and pads together so both arcade owners and PC players can use it.

Finally, please make it open source so it can continue it's life even if you stop getting interested in it!

Edit: I forgot but an option like a Pause Menu where you can see all the moves for a fighting game or even the booklet of the game for consoles (where there is sometimes really usefull infos), etc... will be just awesome.

[jmike]

Wow Don this looks great.

Thank you so much for doing this for the community.

 

[Mordwaffe]

Looks Great, I love the idea of a new Linux FE, as someoen who wants to build cabs as a hobby I do not want run out and grab a windows license every time I do build one.

I love Hyper Spin, but it is HUGE once you gather up all the artwork and videos. I love the "slide in"style of animation for the game specific art, and the use of wheel art (though the Wheelieness of is odd to me)

I like how the the screen is set up in hyper-vision for the original xbox, mainly the select menu. For the Art side I would be content with just images, like a custom background with an image if gameplay and an image of the cab sliding into view. for reference:


How would i like things organized? I prefer to do categories rather than group by emulator. As others have stated a shooter game is a shooter regardless of emulator, sometimes in in the mood for a genre an not a specific title.

How would i like to organize it? I think I would like to leave each emulator configured independently but have the font end that lets me tell it what emulators I have, reads the games and lets me make my own categories and select the games I want from  the know emulators for that category. Also saving those settings to a portable config file (XML or ini ). I think that can be more or less done with other front ends it is just a laborious process.

[bulbousbeard]

I don't really understand why people want Linux support so much. GroovyMAME, the best MAME version for cabinets, works best in Windows. So...why aren't you using Windows? Yeah. Yeah!

[Rodent.Vienna]

my cab is the only windows machine in my household. some people prefer "free and open source" more over "best". first can be part of second. may even equal like "free and opensource" = "best".
if puddle-fe gets reality, i am first to propose to zagadka to include it in AGLAD.

emb, for me this is quite the project of the year would you mind sharing a journey log?

thanks!
Alex

[jimmer]

Dynamic gamelists.

I want to set my gamelists up as queries. And then be shown the games that match AND are in my ROM folder(s).

If there is already a (simple) FE that does this, someone please tell me.

[jimmer]

Has anyone done this:

The frontend is just (and looks like)  a filter on the database. So you have drop down boxes on the left: emulator, genre, numplayers, year,  and the resulting list on the right.

[emb]

my cab is the only windows machine in my household. some people prefer "free and open source" more over "best". first can be part of second. may even equal like "free and opensource" = "best".
if puddle-fe gets reality, i am first to propose to zagadka to include it in AGLAD.

emb, for me this is quite the project of the year would you mind sharing a journey log?

thanks!
Alex

The project has been renamed to RetroFE. www.retrofe.com.

Private beta testing is already in progress. Not much on the forums right now, but there will be soon.

I think people will be surprised when I upload the next preview video.

[ViriiGuy]

Do you need another tester? I am a Windows Server Admin by trade and do software testing for several large game companies.

I also just happen to be in the middle of setting up a new MAME cabinet.

[emb]

I could use a couple beta testers:

[ViriiGuy]

I made an account on your forum, so by all means, sign me up!

[BrianAg95]

One thing I have found tricky is list management.  I'd like to see list mgmt abilities built into the front end..  What do I mean?
(this may exist in some front ends I certainly haven't tried them all)

1: an Admin type mode that uses the front end but allows you to do list management   (you would see master games lists, that a normal "user" wouldn't see)
2: A way to easily either "export" or "save" flagged games (favorites) into a new or existing list(s).     (admin mode ONLY)

So when the front end is in normal mode you would only allow certain lists to show up.  So when my friends are over they wouldn't even see the master lists that I use for testing games.  When I go into admin mode I can scroll through my master games list and test whatever I want, and then if I am happy with how it runs/controls are setup/etc..  then I can exit the game and add it to one of my lists that I want it to show up in.

Basically built in list management.

So in Admin mode I go in, and I scroll through the "master games list" and test Game X, and am happy with how it runs, graphics are working, controls setup the way I want.    I exit the game and am back in the front end.  Then I can select Add to List, and then I can choose what list I want to add it to. 

Now I didn't have to create a new list with romlister or edit some textfile of games or mess with where the rom/game files are on my system etc....

[emb]

I completely agree, hence the creation of Don's HyperTools (List Generator). Funny you mentioned an admin mode for managing lists in the game (as that is a feature high up on my backlog).

Alleviating list management pains was a main focus for RetroFE. Given that, I used an SQL database for caching (which is transparent to the end user). It alleviates a lot of configuration pains for the end user, opens up more doors for expand-ability, and is much faster. The database is populated by scanning for all game files in a folder and then searches for any additional relevant information to load into the database (i.e. mamelist, dat file, history file, etc). RetroFE has smarts to only update the database if the folder where your roms are have changed, or if any of the additional list config data files have changed (by using checksumming).

This was mainly done to address an issue I found with HyperSpin. The XML files did not contain a lot of information in them because of how long it can take to parse an XML file. Caching this data to a database minimizes these impacts as you only reload the file contents when a file change is detected, instead of every time the frontend is started.

Here are a few highlights of the list management system:

• If you want to include only a few games from a folder, create an include file and add in the list of games to include.
• If you want to use a policy to include all games in a folder and exclude a few, create an exclude file and put the list of games to exclude.
• RetroFE was designed for list management. The frontend also allows you to import custom information (a mamelist.xml, dat file, history, import a HyperList file, web scraping, etc). Currently only mamelist.xml files are supported for custom fields.
• Work is in progress to filter lists at runtime (i.e. a button to press to switch to admin mode and cherry pick which games to show/hide right in the frontend itself)
• A plugin system will be implemented to allow third party developers to do additional/custom things

See here for more details:
http://www.retrofe.com/documentation/Configuration.html#collections

EDIT: A graphical tool to configure the system is in development.

One thing I have found tricky is list management.  I'd like to see list mgmt abilities built into the front end..  What do I mean?
(this may exist in some front ends I certainly haven't tried them all)

1: an Admin type mode that uses the front end but allows you to do list management   (you would see master games lists, that a normal "user" wouldn't see)
2: A way to easily either "export" or "save" flagged games (favorites) into a new or existing list(s).     (admin mode ONLY)

So when the front end is in normal mode you would only allow certain lists to show up.  So when my friends are over they wouldn't even see the master lists that I use for testing games.  When I go into admin mode I can scroll through my master games list and test whatever I want, and then if I am happy with how it runs/controls are setup/etc..  then I can exit the game and add it to one of my lists that I want it to show up in.

Basically built in list management.

So in Admin mode I go in, and I scroll through the "master games list" and test Game X, and am happy with how it runs, graphics are working, controls setup the way I want.    I exit the game and am back in the front end.  Then I can select Add to List, and then I can choose what list I want to add it to. 

Now I didn't have to create a new list with romlister or edit some textfile of games or mess with where the rom/game files are on my system etc....

[BadMouth]

So...... can gamelists be created and edited while in the front-end using them?
I thought the main thing people (just me?) wanted was to be able to manage gamelists right there while you're in the front end browsing through them and play testing them.

I want to be able to scroll through the MAME all games list testing or setting up games and be able to add it to some other list without having to write it down or exit the front end.  Mala does this, but doesn't allow you to create a new gamelist right then and there.

Additionally I'd like to be able to scroll through the gamelists of other emulators and create gamelists independent of any particular emulator.
(back to wanting all the arcade games in one list regardless of emulator)  I don't want to have to modify or create files outside of the front end.

I was hoping newer FEs would get away from requiring a whole suite of programs.  It would be nice to just have the FE and maybe a separate program to allow you to customize the appearance of the FE.  Better yet would be to just have one program with a command line switch to go into FE mode instead of showing other options.

[emb]

EDIT: I misinterpreted what you said earlier. Stripping some irrelevant information from the post.

My goal is to make the configuration and list management be easy, quick, flexible, and smart.  Lists can be edited in the frontend, but not created in the frontend (once implemented). Creating new collections will however need to be done outside of the frontend.

There might be some additional configuration parameters within the frontend that might be added later in the future (i.e. changing the current layout at runtime, filtering on the fly, etc…). Editing of things like the launcher/emulator paths, file extensions, etc, will be configured outside of the frontend.

[emb]

RetroFE 0.1.0.8 beta is now available for you private beta testers who signed up. Link can be found on the forums in the VIP/Beta Testing section of the forums.

http://www.retrofe.com/forum/index.php?topic=21.0

Let me know if you do not have access after logging in.

[cools]

The video and descriptions herein - pretty much an exact copy of what's already in Attract Mode, albeit more smoothly animated. Nothing wrong with clones of course, healthy competition.

[emb]

The video and descriptions herein - pretty much an exact copy of what's already in Attract Mode, albeit more smoothly animated. Nothing wrong with clones of course, healthy competition.

I have never used attract mode. If you consider it a clone because it supports custom layouts, animations, configuration, and list managment, then yes, most frontends would be clones of each other.

[Rodent.Vienna]

I am SO intrigued! Moving over to grab testers build. I hope to find a few hours to test around in the time to come...

thank you!
/A

[emb]

Another beta version should be out within a couple days and I am still looking for a couple more beta testers. Some of the features for this next build include HyperLaunch support, attract mode, animation enhancements, mouse hiding, window scaling, along with a few other new features. Future versions will include things like plugin support, abilty to use HyperList or dat files  for collections, and the ability to group multiple collections together.

Feature status log is here:
http://www.retrofe.com/forum/index.php?topic=4.0

In addition to beta testers, I am also open for anyone interested in submitting a default theme for the frontend (as there currently is not one right now).

[nitrogen_widget]

Another beta version should be out within a couple days and I am still looking for a couple more beta testers. Some of the features for this next build include HyperLaunch support, attract mode, animation enhancements, mouse hiding, window scaling, along with a few other new features. Future versions will include things like plugin support, abilty to use HyperList or dat files  for collections, and the ability to group multiple collections together.

Feature status log is here:
http://www.retrofe.com/forum/index.php?topic=4.0

In addition to beta testers, I am also open for anyone interested in submitting a default theme for the frontend (as there currently is not one right now).

I'm leaving for vacation for a week so I wouldn't be able to do any testing until Early august but I volunteer to test on Linux.
Does it have any specialized depends?
My chosen distro's for a cabinets require me to compile the depends for Attract Mode for instance.

[emb]

Just released private beta 0.1.0.12.  I will be releasing a public beta in the upcoming weeks. This current private beta supports reading HyperSpin HyperLists.

Here is a sneak peek:
 

[emb]

Released another private beta (you know where to get the link).

Hopefully I might be able to start releasing public betas soon.

RetroFE on Linux:

[Howard_Casto]

It looks really good man.  I know that isn't saying much but I don't exactly roll out the compliments so keep that in mind. 

[nitrogen_widget]

What distro of linux are you using?

[emb]

Xubuntu 14.04

[emb]

It looks really good man.  I know that isn't saying much but I don't exactly roll out the compliments so keep that in mind.

Thanks.comments like yours are what help keep me motivated.

[Skinnysloth]

I really like the look of this frontend and will definitely try out the public beta when it rolls out.

[Gatsu]

Same here. I'd love to give it a try.

[emb]

I figured this was worth sharing:

Dreygor (an active beta tester) setup a full system with a slightly custom layout. He said the video little choppy because of the video capture software he was using (he said RetroFE runs very nicely when the video capture software is not running).

RetroFE demo 2:

The most recent release includes nested menu support, HyperList support, the ability to combine multiple collections into one menu, along with a few other cool things.

A configuration GUI is in the works. The next build will be a public beta for everyone.

[Gartimusprime]

I would love to try this. I have built an arcade cabinet and all i need now is a front end, this looks perfect. Mostly because I am running linux and can't find anything to run on it that I like.

[lordnacho]

I'm looking for a coding project to tinker with.  Any thoughts on open sourcing this?

I had started tinkering with a frontend that could open hyperspin themes.  Didn't put a whole lot of time in it, but the concept was mostly working(except for themes that had embedded swfs)

[thatpurplestuff]

I'm looking for a coding project to tinker with.  Any thoughts on open sourcing this?

I had started tinkering with a frontend that could open hyperspin themes.  Didn't put a whole lot of time in it, but the concept was mostly working(except for themes that had embedded swfs)

An alternative FE that supports Hyperspin themes would be absolutely freaking amazing.  I've made a ton of themes for Hyperspin but it kinda feels like I'm wasting my time since work on the FE itself is basically dead.

[Hunk_4TH]

Definitely keeping an eye out on this one! Hopefully it'll support Hyperspin themes unless I missed something 

[headkaze]

An alternative FE that supports Hyperspin themes would be absolutely freaking amazing.

I don't want to hijack this thread in any way but GameEx Evo can render native Hyperspin themes including those with swf's. Watch the .

[emb]

I'm looking for a coding project to tinker with.  Any thoughts on open sourcing this?

I had started tinkering with a frontend that could open hyperspin themes.  Didn't put a whole lot of time in it, but the concept was mostly working(except for themes that had embedded swfs)

RetroFE will not be open source although I will be giving a few people access to the source code. This is mainly for controlling quality (I want to avoid having bunch of subpar forks).  Maybe at a later date it will become open source.
The main reason I plan on keeping the project closed source is because of quality purposes.

While the project is closed source, it will have a plugin system with an api people can use.

[phulshof]

I'm looking for a coding project to tinker with.  Any thoughts on open sourcing this?

I had started tinkering with a frontend that could open hyperspin themes.  Didn't put a whole lot of time in it, but the concept was mostly working(except for themes that had embedded swfs)

RetroFE will not be open source although I will be giving a few people access to the source code. This is mainly for controlling quality (I want to avoid having bunch of subpar forks).  Maybe at a later date it will become open source.
The main reason I plan on keeping the project closed source is because of quality purposes.

While the project is closed source, it will have a plugin system with an api people can use.

I really wish you would reconsider making it F/OSS. We're currently working on creating a new version of Cabrio FE (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?38071-A-new-Hyperspin), and I think it would make sense to join efforts here rather than doing the same thing twice. Your goals pretty much match ours, and I think we could benefit from working together on this one.

[emb]

I'm looking for a coding project to tinker with.  Any thoughts on open sourcing this?

I had started tinkering with a frontend that could open hyperspin themes.  Didn't put a whole lot of time in it, but the concept was mostly working(except for themes that had embedded swfs)

RetroFE will not be open source although I will be giving a few people access to the source code. This is mainly for controlling quality (I want to avoid having bunch of subpar forks).  Maybe at a later date it will become open source.
The main reason I plan on keeping the project closed source is because of quality purposes.

While the project is closed source, it will have a plugin system with an api people can use.

I really wish you would reconsider making it F/OSS. We're currently working on creating a new version of Cabrio FE (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?38071-A-new-Hyperspin), and I think it would make sense to join efforts here rather than doing the same thing twice. Your goals pretty much match ours, and I think we could benefit from working together on this one.

PM sent. It will eventually be open source.

[emb]

RetroFE is finally open source (licensed under GPLv3)! The source code portal can now be found here:

https://bitbucket.org/teamretro/retrofe

If you just want to browse the source:
https://bitbucket.org/teamretro/retrofe/src


If you look at the change history you will see all the latest development activities:
https://bitbucket.org/teamretro/retrofe/commits/all

In the next week or so I am hoping to kick off another release. The new release will contain updates to the configuration tool, (much needed( improved menu layout support, performance improvments, an entirely new (and official theme) for RetroFE, and a lot more.

See for details: http://www.retrofe.com/forum/index.php?topic=131.msg407

[yotsuya]

Cool. Any thought as to when a binary release might occur? 

[Le Chuck]

Cool. Any thought as to when a binary release might occur? 

Huge ditto, I followed this thread at the very beginning then lost track of it for several months.  Now that I'm checking it out again I'm floored.  This looks great and I want to try it out and see if its a good fit for some of my builds.  Thanks!

[yotsuya]

Exactly. I'd like a no-frills front end that looks like something.... 8 bit organic, if you will, not pimped out to run in 2084x1900 1080P super-interlaced G-Sync AirForceOne resolution.

[lordnacho]

Thanks for open sourcing. 
Do you have feature and bug lists and will you accept pull requests? 

[emb]

Cool. Any thought as to when a binary release might occur? 

Approximately in 1-2 weeks.

[emb]

Thanks for open sourcing. 
Do you have feature and bug lists and will you accept pull requests?

I will accept pull requests (per code review).

Feature/bug can be found here: bitbucket.org/teamretro/retrofe/issues

[lordnacho]

Good stuff.  Will take a look.  Been looking for a side project to tinker with

[raungst]

This looks really awesome. I've been looking for something to replace my simple Hyperspin Setup. The one thing that keeps me there is ability to filter by genre. Is this anything like this possible or in the plans?

[emb]

This looks really awesome. I've been looking for something to replace my simple Hyperspin Setup. The one thing that keeps me there is ability to filter by genre. Is this anything like this possible or in the plans?

Yes.

[emb]

(Post deleted, wrong thread)