RadKade Project

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lamuelwms

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i was talking with djvj tonight and he created this thread regarding our new front end video gaming system. simply put; this front end is only for people who want a front end that looks more like an arcade machine. it has been designed from the ground up to be simple and easy to set up an use. the entire front end takes up about 55 megs of RAM and will run on the slowest of hardware (tested on an old atom processor for verification.) once again this front end is not designed to wow users with hundreds of animations or splendid rendering effects; the entire front end has been built to look like something that was genuinely made for an old arcade. with that being said i will release a preview video that i recorded here on this thread. here is what the front end does:

you pick a game / play it! simple as that, capable of retrieving game information via the web, favorite list, parental controls etc. all of the setup is done directly from within the front end itself; no outside programs needed.

 
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lamuelwms

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it is still undergoing the final beta stages checking for memory leaks and so forth; i would think that it will be ready in about a weeks time. thanks for the compliment, the idea we were shooting for here is retro all the way (even the cheesy intro video)
 
Boltzmann

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Pretty good video, very nice-looking frontend. You seem to have successfully emulated a very arcade-y look. It wouldn't fit with my modern-themed XBMC/Steam/Hyperspin-powered HTPC; but if I ever come around to building my arcade cabinet RadKade + Hyperlaunch would be seriously considered as my frontend of choice. Keep up the good work. When the first release comes, I'll probably give it a try.
 
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lamuelwms

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Boltzmann said:
Pretty good video, very nice-looking frontend. You seem to have successfully emulated a very arcade-y look. It wouldn't fit with my modern-themed XBMC/Steam/Hyperspin-powered HTPC; but if I ever come around to building my arcade cabinet RadKade + Hyperlaunch would be seriously considered as my frontend of choice. Keep up the good work. When the first release comes, I'll probably give it a try.
Click to expand...

thanks for the response. however when i compare it to the arcades from the mid-eighties i still cant help but feel that its missing something. i cant put my finger on what it is but i am going to try adaptive text today and see if that makes it pop anymore than it does currently. and thanks for the compliments and consideration.
 
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Fromlostdays

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Might launch from hyperspin and use for arcade classic systems. Any skip/search functions? Does the rom list work off xml or does it just read the rom folder somehow?
 
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lamuelwms

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Fromlostdays said:
Might launch from hyperspin and use for arcade classic systems. Any skip/search functions? Does the rom list work off xml or does it just read the rom folder somehow?
Click to expand...

mhm, it has skip, search, browse by letter, genre filtering, mfg. filtering & rating filtering. it does work off of an xml driven database. once i get the schema sorted and finalized ill post a sample of the database. so far it looks like so:

Code: 
<menu>
<entry name="Duck Hunt (USA)" description="Duck Hunt (USA)">
<rating>PG13</rating>
<year>1900</year>
<mfg>Nintendo</mfg>
<clone>noclone</clone>
<filesize>111133333</filesize>
</entry>
</menu>

keep in mind the above is still pretty rough; so dont bank on it making it all the way to release. ill post a progress video today showing off the features of the front end. the goal is to keep the entire front end under 1 Megabyte in filesize (as that is what i have been asked to do.) thanks for your interest
 
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bondy

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I like it! I have had issues with Hyperspin and my setup - it feels like there's a memory leak or something. So this looks like it could be a winner. Looking forward to giving it a go.
 
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lamuelwms

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here is a brief rundown of what i did today:

j7DvEiz.png


q8SwD2J.png


i added a webserver to the project so you can browse on your tablet, alternate pc and select / launch a game from anywhere (did this so when the kids wanna play a game and im at work i can start it up for them.) also u can kill a game in progress/reset and view statistics. mainly did this like i said becuz a few of my kiddos dont know how to start games, and if im at work i can start the game for them from the office or wherever i am at.
 
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lamuelwms

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thought id throw in a screenie of the final main menu as well, now has mild theme support such as arrows, console, logo and bgm (when applicable.) best part is, the entire front end is still under 400 kilobytes (media excluded of course)

oNsyoN1.png
 
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bondy

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Nice! Will it support 16X9 resolution? I know it's counter intuitive to the retro feel, but I chose an LCD for my cab
 
rfancella

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lamuelwms said:
mhm, it has skip, search, browse by letter, genre filtering, mfg. filtering & rating filtering. it does work off of an xml driven database. once i get the schema sorted and finalized ill post a sample of the database. so far it looks like so:

Code: 
<menu>
<entry name="Duck Hunt (USA)" description="Duck Hunt (USA)">
<rating>PG13</rating>
<year>1900</year>
<mfg>Nintendo</mfg>
<clone>noclone</clone>
<filesize>111133333</filesize>
</entry>
</menu>


keep in mind the above is still pretty rough; so dont bank on it making it all the way to release. ill post a progress video today showing off the features of the front end. the goal is to keep the entire front end under 1 Megabyte in filesize (as that is what i have been asked to do.) thanks for your interest
Click to expand...


This looks really good. Hopefully it will run on my Micro PC. ;)
Question: Why not use the same format as HyperSpin? Many of the db's are already created and they match the roms and art for what many of us already have?

Thanks,
Ron
 
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bondy

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+1 Ron. Without impacting the simple aesthetic you're going for, it would be handy to use XMLs generated as an option (if it isn't already).

Either way, looking very nice.
 
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lamuelwms

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bondy said:
+1 Ron. Without impacting the simple aesthetic you're going for, it would be handy to use XMLs generated as an option (if it isn't already).

Either way, looking very nice.
Click to expand...

added xpath support, so now u can use any xml database. for hyperspin just set your xml variable to //menu/game and it will read them. same goes for any other xml databases. thanks for the great idea guys
 
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bondy

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It's already sounding like it's going to be way more stable than my current HS setup.
 
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