Menu system for harddisk AUTO folder? ==> RELEASED

[Fletch]

Very cool idea. Thanks for making this.

[Eero Tamminen]

Some usability issues:
- F10 -> go to HDMENU, F10 -> show list, F10 -> reset ST. Same key shouldn't be used both to invoke the menu, and to reset ST
- Hdmenu should tell user if program user tried to start doesn't exist, remove it from list & redraw list (instead of causing ST reset)
- Pressing same key again (e.g. help/F1/F2), should go back to menu

[Xerus]

There are programs like your tool on Amiga (TinyLauncher, X-bEnCh, etc.), it's faster than a desktop to start games.
This is a good news to see such tools on Atari!
Maybe you should give it a name ^^

Bravo Simonsunnyboy.

[simonsunnyboy]

Some usability issues:
- F10 -> go to HDMENU, F10 -> show list, F10 -> reset ST. Same key shouldn't be used both to invoke the menu, and to reset ST<

This is reasonable, I'll probably add an option to change the key.

- Hdmenu should tell user if program user tried to start doesn't exist, remove it from list & redraw list (instead of causing ST reset)

I disagree.
a) The menu should not mess with the database. That is up to the user. The goal is not to create a totally automanaging smartphone app but only a small helper. I can add an option to report files that are not existing so the user will get informed, e.q. not list the program while parsing the database.

b) The reset will stay active. The menu is not meant to run clean programs that exit properly. So if any loader fails for any reason, it is a lot safer to do a proper reset.

- Pressing same key again (e.g. help/F1/F2), should go back to menu

That might be possible. I personally prefer an explicit key that cannot be pressed by accident.

[simonsunnyboy]

There are programs like your tool on Amiga (TinyLauncher, X-bEnCh, etc.), it's faster than a desktop to start games.
This is a good news to see such tools on Atari!
Maybe you should give it a name ^^

Bravo Simonsunnyboy.

I assumed so but could not find anything suitable for our Atari ^^

On the naming, I really prefer something direct and obvious, not too creative. Special names are not as easy to remember. This is meant as a small straight forward tool, not too fancy but up to the point.

[Eero Tamminen]

- Hdmenu should tell user if program user tried to start doesn't exist, remove it from list & redraw list (instead of causing ST reset)

I disagree.
a) The menu should not mess with the database. That is up to the user. The goal is not to create a totally automanaging smartphone app but only a small helper. I can add an option to report files that are not existing so the user will get informed, e.q. not list the program while parsing the database.

I didn't suggest removing it from database, just from the screen (after showing the error)... Alternatively you could dim/disable that item, on screen.

b) The reset will stay active. The menu is not meant to run clean programs that exit properly. So if any loader fails for any reason, it is a lot safer to do a proper reset.

If failure is "program doesn't exist", there's no point in doing a reset, as nothing got run that could have messed things up.

- Pressing same key again (e.g. help/F1/F2), should go back to menu

That might be possible. I personally prefer an explicit key that cannot be pressed by accident.

I agree for things where something actually is done, besides showing some informational text on screen. That's why I suggested using it only for help/F1/F2. (Last one shows config, doesn't change it, so pressing the F2 key twice accidentally instead of intentionally cannot create any problems)

[NGF]

Useful tool simonsunnyboy!
Anyone know of some tool to generate the .CSV file with full path to all .prg files?

EDIT: I found the answer to my problem in dos
dir *.prg /s /b >output.txt

[NGF]

Is it possible to increase the maximum quantity of items in the menu? I only managed to list 204, the rest is cut.

[simonsunnyboy]

200 should be the current size, but I have increased it to 2000 now. The thing will not on on 512K machines anymore. Please report if there are any RAM troubles on games that did load fine sofar. Maybe the loader and RAM free is not yet perfect.

This release also incorporates some usability inputs from Eero Tamminen.

release-2016-05-27.zip

[alienkidmj12]

i really like this menu, its real nice

[dimfil]

Excellent work! Great to have such a tool on the Atari ST!

I don't know for others but on my system (ste/4mb/ultrasatan) there are problems for PP's adapted games that use the mouse, Loom and Bard's Tale for example. The same games work OK when started from GEM as normal but can't use the mouse when started from hdmenu.

Any others experiencing same issues?

[simonsunnyboy]

Those games probably need GEM to be initialized to work.

My menu does not use any custom keyboard routines and only uses TOS system calls to poll the input.

[dimfil]

Those games probably need GEM to be initialized to work.

My menu does not use any custom keyboard routines and only uses TOS system calls to poll the input.

Thank you for your immediate response!
Bard's Tale (for example) works from the Klapauzius files but not from PP's files. So, I would suppose it also has something to do with the way the games are adapted. Unfortunately though, Klapauzius collection does not cover all of these games (one example is Loom)...

[leech]

This is pretty sweet! When I think of game launchers, this is the one I think of; http://winterland.no-ip.org/igame/screenshots.html

Though yours works straight from the AUTO folder, so does indeed work more like the HxC menu. iGame is really nice because it'll scan your WHDLoad folder for games and adds screenshots etc. Kind of similar to Gamebase.

[Sturm]

I use it on The Falcon and it works ! Thank you !
Would there be a way to switch resolution automatically (don't know if it's possible) for some games? Since some converted games need to be run in low res and won't work otherwise.

[simonsunnyboy]

Maybe it is possible, practically I don't have time to investigate or change the menu system.

I boot my Falcon from ST-LOW as any other ST does.

Maybe flipping a small tool into the AUTO before the menu would help, something that sets ST-LOW sort of permanently (until the desktop does its thing)

[leech]

I generally use the assumption that most games / demos require you to hold down control upon boot so that only the hard drive driver is loaded, and that of course forces it into ST Low.

Of course that defeats the purpose of the menu in the auto folder. Damn, wish I could program, would love to help with this project. Something that could be very useful.

[mikro]

Try to persuade Simon to release its source code first. :-) The proposed change is rather trivial, i.e. an one liner.

[simonsunnyboy]

A oneliner maybe but the result will not be ok for others who want the Falcon to go back to their particular resolution.

If I add this feature, it will be a switch in the configuration menu so the user has to actively activate this particular behaviour.

Opensource might be an option too.

[leech]

Didn't have to try too hard? But that'd be cool Simon!

[christos]

Did you ever release the source code for this?

[simonsunnyboy]

No I didn't. The code is quite messy at some points and I always wanted to add nicer graphics. However the graphics men who opted to create something never got back to me.

Maybe I'll reconsider sharing the sources someday.