HDmenu game launcher

[Paradroid901]

Thanks for the update

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Thanks for the update

Np, thanks for bringing up the issue. Good feedback!

[TheNameOfTheGame]

One of the features of HDmenu is the ability to designate any game as a "favorite". This allows quick access to your favorite games without having to scroll through a list of all the titles. So how does the "favorites" feature work?

There are two ways, one is done graphically from within the launcher itself and the other is a manual method.

For the graphical method we'll start with a database with no favorites assigned.

hdmenu2-favoritesstart.png (25.91 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

To see your favorites, press the F5 key. Here after pressing F5 we can see there are no favorites assigned.

hdmenu2-nofavorites.png (25.92 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

To designate a game as a favorite, press the <Space Bar> with the game highlighted. This will toggle the game's favorite status on/off. Here we have designated some games as favorites. You can see that a "*" is now shown before the games' names to indicate they are favorites.

hdmenu2-favoriteselected.png (25.74 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

Now pressing F5 we can filter the list to show only the favorites. Here we see the list has changed to indicate this. When viewing the favorites list, everything works the same as with the full list; games can be launched, the list scrolled, screenshots can be viewed, text files read, save states launched, etc. If at any time you press the ESC key you will will exit the favorites list and return to the main full list.

(for advanced users, keep in mind the "favorites" features also works within Category lists)

hdmenu2-favorites.png (20.46 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

If you want to clear a favorite, press the <Space Bar> and it will no longer be a favorite. Here we have cleared the favorites status for the game "Wolfchild".

hdmenu2-favoriteclear.png (25.71 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

If you want to clear all your favorites at once, press Shift-F5. You will be prompted to make sure you really want to continue.

hdmenu2-favoriteclearall.png (26.26 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

After confirming with the 'y' key, all the favorites in the list will be cleared.

hdmenu2-favoritescleared.png (25.09 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

To retain any changes to the list you might have made, the database can be saved using the F7 key. Responding with 'y' to the prompt will save your new CSV file so that any changes to list will be active the next time the launcher is run.

hdmenu2-favoritesave.png (25.35 KiB) Viewed 3107 times

The manual method to designate a game as a favorite involves editing the CSV file directly. Using a text editor, place a "*" character immediately before the game name and the next time the launcher is run, the game will show up as a favorite. In this snippet from a CSV file, you can see the game "Wolfchild" has been manually designated as a favorite by placing a "*" before the name.

Code: Select all

Wizmo;C:\GAMES\W\WIZMO\RUNME.TOS
Wizz;C:\GAMES\W\WIZZ\RUNME.TOS
*Wolfchild;C:\GAMES\W\WOLFCHIL\RUNME.TOS
Wolfenstein 3D;C:\GAMES\W\WOLF3D\START.TOS
Wolfpack;C:\GAMES\W\WOLFPACK\RUNME.TOS
Wonderboy in Monsterland;C:\GAMES\W\WONDBM\START.TOS
Wonderland;C:\GAMES\W\WONDERL\RUNME.TOS

To summarize, the "favorites" feature is a convenient way to quickly see a list of your most-liked games where they can be quickly launched. I hope you find the feature useful.

[TheNameOfTheGame]

New version of HDmenu is available.

Changes:

- Text viewer can optionally use Medium Rez for clearer text. Set in F2 config menu.
- FONTS directory location can now be specified in HDMENU.CSV.
- MUSIC directory location can now be specified in HDMENU.CSV.
- A default Category to display at start can be specified in HDMENU.CSV.
- HDmenu now recognizes if run from AUTO folder or Desktop.
- When selecting Music or Fonts with Shift-F2/Shift-F3 the list will jump to the current SND/FNT file if one is active.
- Added support for Apollo V4SA computer.

Enjoy!

hdmenu-2.2.0-MAY162024.zip

(69.03 KiB) Downloaded 49 times

[TheNameOfTheGame]

New version of HDmenu is available.

Changes:
- Comment lines in CSV file. Comment lines should start with ';' and are persistent.
- Support for CT60

hdmenu-2.2.1-JUNE232024.zip

(70.38 KiB) Downloaded 46 times

[TheNameOfTheGame]

New version of HDmenu.

Changes:
- can display text files in either 40 or 80 columns in low rez. Set via F2 config menu.

hdmenu-2.2.2-JULY092024.zip

(70.56 KiB) Downloaded 54 times

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Happy New Year to all Atarians!

New version of HDmenu 2.3.0 is available.

Changes since version 2.2.2:

- Timer C masking changed for EmuTOS and AHDI compatibility

- Major rewrite of user interface code to facilitate different language versions. German version now available.
(many thanks to German user Ektus for his help and patient corrections to my very improper German translation)

- Font loading changed. Now custom fonts are applied to only the game list to facilitate German language special characters in the interface.

- F9 now launches random game from current list. (feature request from user) (save state selection moved to Shift-F9)

- Small bug fixes

(English)

hdmenu-2.3.0-DECEMBER312024.zip

(71.18 KiB) Downloaded 39 times

(German)

hdmenu-2.3.0-DEZEMBER312024-DE.zip

(72.8 KiB) Downloaded 15 times

[Higgy]

This is great and I must have missed it when it was first released.

It can't only be me thinking this, but has someone created an image using this great menu launcher?

Or can it be used on top of the existing Atari ST HD images floating around? And what are instructions please to add this menu to those images.

With all these HD games images, it seems better than rather than lots of individuals creating their own HD images with this launcher, that one's already created are shared.

The Atari ST trails behind the Amiga with it's various WHDLoad launchers and there are lots of HD images available. The poor Atari ST seems stuck with the images that boot to GEM and you have to navigate folders.
For the non regular Atari ST user (like me) it's a bit backwards if you just want to browse/play a game. Images with this launcher should be out there to show the Atari ST can do what the Amiga can do with nice WHDLoad.

If you have seen the 'Amigavision' HD images, I expect there is an Atari group willing to do a similar.

Keep up the great work @TheNameOfTheGame

[Darklord]

P.Pera has a huge game image but I think it requires a payment? (although there
was a smaller image (still around 1 gig?) that I think was free to download at one
time.

However, I don't know if it's been used with TheNameOfTheGame's HD Menu
software. That would seem to be an obvious and superb combination though.

[Higgy]

@Darklord from the YouTube clip I saw it did not use the Menu

I've been converting my ACSI2SD image that is normally plugged into my STFM, and generally had a lot of success apart from editing the .CSV which is causing my RSI to flair up

I've been using the Screenshot packs, which is really nice.

@TheNameOfTheGame a few times when I have Reset the STFM via Reset Button it says .CSV is empty? But a Power off/on and it works.
I have been trying on a physical STFM upgraded to TOS 1.04 and 2.5mb.
I have not yet tried it on MiST/MiSTer FPGA to see if the issue follows, or it is more likely my Atari ST!

Also what are the best Free Hard Drive Drivers to use and can I upgrade the ones already on my SD card? It is the 0.9 from Putnik at the moment.

I have not yet looked at how those Game Save States work in practice, just been checking the .CSV works across Hard Drive partitions.

Thanks