Step 1.

Installing HyperSpin
To install HyperSpin, you will need both v1.3.3 and v1.4 file sets. You have th
e option of using just v1.3.3, however; some bugs that were present in v1.3.3 ha
ve been fixed in v1.4. The following instructions will show you how to set up H
yperSpin in C:\HyperSpin. You can use any drive letter and directory, however;
make sure to take note of this location:
***Note: The HyperSpin install package doesn't actually install on your system.
The files are extracted to a specified directory of your choice***
1.) Download the HyperSpin v1.3.3 package at: http://www.hyperspin...3-full-inst
all/
2.) Download the HyperSpin v1.4 package at: http://www.hyperspin...0-hyperspin-1
4/
3.) Extract the contents of HyperSpin v1.3.3 package to a location on your hard
drive. In this example, we will be extracting the v1.3.3 package to C:\HyperSpi
n
4.) Extract the v1.4 package in the same location you extracted v1.3.3. When pr
ompted to overwrite Hyperspin.exe, select Copy and Replace
2. HyperHQ
HyperHQ is a program that is included with the HyperSpin install. You would use
it to set up and tweak various settings in HyperSpin. Lets go through the some o
f the more important settings. We will only go through the relevant settings to
get you set up and running. If you want an in-depth explanation of HyperHQ, see
this tutorial:
Note: Main Menu Items and Main Menu Wheels can be used interchangeably when refe
rencing them
Setting up the main menu and sub menus
The Main Menu tab actually allows you to customize your main menu (systems) and
sub menus (games). The HyperSpin package comes prebuilt with a main menu, howeve
r; you may want to modify this menu to create your own personalized setup.
1.) Go to your HyperSpin Folder (C:\HyperSpin in our example) and double click o
n HyperHQ.exe. You should see the next window appear
2.) Click on Main Menu Wizard tab
3.) You will be give two options: add a menu item or delete a menu item
a. Adding a main menu system:
i. Click on the green plus
ii. Type in the name of your system and click next
Note: Use the standard naming convention found at set up your menu item....if th
is is incorrectly named, it will cause you headaches later on! Only change the n
ame of this if you know what you are doing!
Ex. If you are setting up NES....the correct naming convention would be Nintendo
Entertainment System
iii. If you main menu item will have a sub wheel (such as a game list) hit yes,
otherwise hit no.
iv. Determine where you want the menu item to appear in the main menu by selecti
ng an existing main menu item. Click on the add before or add after button to ad

d the item
v. Click OK to the pop message that appears
vi. Click Next button and your menu item has been created
Note: If you create a main menu item (such as a system), you will find this list
in a database xml file in: \HyperSpin\Databases\Main Menu\Main Menu.xml. If you
messed up on the menu item name or order, edit the Main Menu.xml file
Note: When using the main menu wizard to create your menu items, the following g
ets created:
-Database folder for that system: \HyperSpin\Database\systemname
-Settings for that system: \HyperSpin\Settings\systemname.ini
-Artwork/video/sound/theme folders for that system: \HyperSpin\Media\systemname
b. Deleting a main menu system (This is self explanatory)
Main Settings:
These are the general HyperSpin settings. These settings are self explanatory, t
herefore; we will go over the changes:
1.) Select Optimizer tab
2.) Apply the following settings:
a. App Quality: Best
b. Check Image Smoothing
c. Check Animated Backgrounds
d. Uncheck Interstitial Backgrounds
e. Check Level 1 - 4 Backgrounds
f. Uncheck Special Backgrounds
g. Uncheck Themes Wait For Special
h. Check Animated Artworks
i. Check Level 1 - 2 Artworks
j. CPU Priority: High
Note: HyperSpin native full screen resolution is always 1280 x 1024. This might
change in the future with new releases of HyperSpin.
Note: HyperSpin main settings can be found at: \HyperSpin\Settings\Settings.ini
Tip: What is LEDBlinky? LEDBlinky is a software that enables you to control LEDs
illumination and speak control names in arcade builds.
Wheel Settings:
The Wheel Settings tab allow you to configure menu wheel settings such as how ga
mes are launched, wheel layout, navigation and theme options, video directory se
t up, wheel sounds, and special artwork (such as animated joysticks, etc). You m
ust have created that menu wheel before you see your entry in the dropdown that
is displayed.
1.) Click on Wheel Settings tab at the top of HyperHQ window
2.) Select the menu wheel in the dropdown that you want to edit
3.) Click on Navigation/Themes tab
4.) Apply the following settings:
a. Uncheck Remove Wheel Info
b. Uncheck Remove Textfield info
c. Check Use XML Indexes

d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

Check Clones Use Parent Vids

Check Clonees Use Parent Themes
Uncheck Animate Out Default Themes
Uncheck Reload Backgrounds
Check Return to last game (optional)
Start on random game (optional)
Uncheck all wheel filters

5.) Select the Video tab and input the path to the videos for that system you se
lected in the dropdown (its usually \HyperSpin\Media\systemname\Video folder)
At this point you will need to decide if you want to use HyperLaunch 2 / RocketL
auncher (HL3) to help launch your games or launch them straight from HyperSpin
Tip: What is RocketLauncher? RocketLauncher is a beefed up launch solution that
helps standardize controller mappings and clean emulator launching, allows bezel
implementation, displaying of character moves/maps, etc while the game is pause
d, and much more. Definitely check it out!
Tip: What is the difference between HyperLaunch 2, HyperLaunch 3, and RocketLaun
cher? At one point, HyperLaunch was part of HyperSpin. This brought to fruition
HyperLaunch 2 and 3. When HyperSpin and HyperLaunch dev staff went there separat
e ways, HyperLaunch 3 became RocketLauncher. RocketLauncher is now front-end agn
ostic. As far as the capabilities are between the version, it is not known what
HyperLaunch 2 can do that RocketLauncher can't do. When in doubt and until the n
ext HyperSpin launch solution is available, go with RocketLauncher.
3. System Databases and Rom Matching
System databases and rom to database matching is an art in itself. System databa
ses hold all information about each game to include:
the game name (this is important as it links the game name in the db with the ro
m file name)
description of game (shows you slighty more information about the game title tha
n bullet above)
clone information
CRC value
Manufacturer
Year Released
Genre
Rating
Enabled
Without a system database, HyperSpin does not know information about the system
when you select it in the main menu. One thing to note about these database entr
ies is that:
if a game exists in both the US and another country, the US game will take prece
dence and be placed in the official database
the only time where both versions of the game would exist is if the foreign game
has content not available to the US game
if a rom contains more than one game and the games are already in the database,
the games seperate from the multi-rom will exist in the official database
they are in xml format and require the xml header information and tags throughou
t the file
Info: What is an official system database? Every game that ends up in the system
database has been scrutinized by our database admins. What that means is that t

hey have to painstakingly go through each game, give it an official name based o
n a hybrid TOSEC/HyperSpin naming standard, and research game information such a
manufacturer, year of release, genre, etc. If you see a database admin on the f
orums, give them a thanks for their hard work!
Info: What is TOSEC? TOSEC is a naming convention given to games and stands for
The Old School Emulation Center. The goal of TOSEC was to maintain a database of
software images to include roms and give it a specific naming / catalog convent
ion.
Before we begin, it is highly suggested to get Platinum membership at HyperSpin
and membership at emumovies.com. Why you ask?
Info: Why buy platinum membership at HyperSpin and membership at emumovies.com?
Buying a plat membership at HyperSpin allows you to use a program called HyperSy
nc. With HyperSync, you can download the official database and all released artw
ork for that system in a couple of clicks. By buying an emumovies.com membership
, you essentially can download HQ videos using the HyperSync application. All th
e artwork and videos that you sync are up to date with the latest and greatest.
These items are also properly named to match your game entries within official s
ystem databases. Trust us its membership well worth it as it will save you month
s of time in setting up and beautifying HyperSpin! Best of all, both memberships
are lifetime memberships!
For all non-HyperSync users (non Platinum HyperSpin members):
Download the official system database from: hyperbase.hyperspin-fe.com and save
it to your system database folder at \HyperSpin\Databases\systemname
Download all official databases for systems you want set up and have a main menu
item already created (If you did not have a main menu items for a particular sy
stem, please refer back to this tutorial:
For all HyperSync users (Platinum members):
Use this tutorial to set up HyperSync with your HyperSpin setup. Come back here
after you finish with the section:
Once you received an official database, we have to start matching rom names to t
he game names found within your databases. 9 times out of 10, your roms/isos tha
t you have acquired will not match with the official database entries for that s
ystem. Also, we will need to handle three different formats: roms, image files (
such as bin/cue, iso/cue, etc), and PC game executables (if you are including th
em)
Note: If your roms or image files are in zip or 7zip format, do not extract them
. Meaning do not extract the game themselves. (This is especially important for
arcade roms!)
Renaming Roms:
To easily automate this task, we will need help from a 3rd party suite of tools
called Don's HyperSpin Tools. You may use another rom renamer program found in t
he HyperSpin downloads section, however; for the sake of this tutorial, we will
be using Don's HyperSpn Tools.
WARNING: Make sure you have a backup of your roms in case anything goes wrong wi
th renaming!!!
1.) Download Don's HyperSpin Tools at: http://www.hyperspin...yperspin-tools/
2.) Extract the tools to a folder location of your choice such as your desktop.
In our example, we will extract the tools in the HyperSpin folder you set up ear
lier

3.) Navigate to where the tools have been extracted and run Dons HyperSpin ROM r
ename.exe
4.) In the first box, point to your official system database file you downloaded
earlier (ie \HyperSpin\Databases\systemname)
5.) Next box, point the application to your unnamed roms folder (again do not un
zip your games!)
6.) In next box, point the application to a directory where the roms will be ren
amed to
7.) Ensure that:
Scan compressed files (zip, 7z are supported) is checked
Scan subfolders (recursive scan) is checked
If you are working with NES roms, ensure that NES:Ignore iNes headers when calcu
lating is checked
If you are working with Nintendo 64 roms, ensure that Nintendo 64: Try byte-swap
ping ROM if not matched is checked
8.) Click Scan
9.) Click on Rename button to rename your roms
If you find that some of your roms do not match, that means that rom has been mo
dified and is not pure. Try to find the correct ROM with the correct CRC and rer
un steps 3 - 8 again
If you want to save a text file of your missing or found roms, click on the butt
ons on right side of the window
Renaming image files (such as bin/cue, mds/mdf, iso/cue, or iso)
PC Game Executables
How image renaming works (and depends on the emulator you are using) is that you
either have the game in zipped format or the game had been unzipped into a bin/
cue, mds/mdf, iso/cue, or iso format. Renaming these games will be different as
there isn't a CRC value to match up to the game like there is with rom games.
We will be using another tool called: Depending on format, here is what you wil
l need to do:
Zipped Format (zip and 7zip)
Rename the zipped game to the correct database entry
BIN / CUE Formats
With this format, you would only rename the CUE file to the correct database ent
ry. Do not rename the BIN file
ISO / CUE formats
Rename the CUE file to the correct database entry. Do not rename the BIN file
ISO (with no cues)
Rename the ISO file to the correct database entry
CCD / Sub/
4 (Optional). Installing RocketLauncher
Note: Please pay special attention to what HyperSpin version you are using (ie v
1.3 or lower or 1.4 or higher)
Note: The following steps are taken from the RocketLauncher wiki
5. Emulator Integration (includes RocketLauncher integration)
More info to come

6. Artwork and Video Matching

More info to come
7. Controller Integration (includes RocketLauncher integration)
More to come