@ES (@ruantec Entertainment Software) Beta 7 Out Now

[DarkSamus]

BETA 7: Now available. See end of this post for details

I would like to announce the release of a new concept in frontends that a friend of mine (@ruantec) and I have developed
The beta of this project is available now and is compatible with 17 emu’s so far with more to be added as time goes on

The program is called @ES and the way it works is you pick your console and you are presented with a coverflow of your roms similar to what you get on an ipod
You then pick your game and @ES will load the emulator and start the game for you. What this means is you are able to remove the short-cuts off your desktop to all these emu’s from the moment @ES is set-up and ready to go!!

So far the compatible emu’s with @ES are :-

Gameboy/GB Color/GB Advance = visualboy advance
NES = VirtuaNES, nestopia
Genesis/Mega CD/32X/Master system/Gamegear = fusion
SNES = snes9x
Saturn = SSF
Playstation = pSX, ePSXe
Nintendo 64 = pj64
Dreamcast = nullDC
PS2 = PCSX2
GameCube = Dolphin - Please remember compatibility for Gamecube games in this emulator is low
Wii = Dolphin - Please remember compatibility for Wii games in this emulator is low
Arcade = CPS3, FBA (Final Burn Alpha, not Final Burn), Model2, Naomi build of NullDC and MameUI32 or 64.

@ES also hides the process of the emu from the task-bar as @ES forces the emu to run within the screen of @ES. Full-screen support is included, Just press ALT + F to go to fullscreen and ALT + F to return to the @ES screen (Does not work for SSF yet)

Also unlike all other frontends @ES does not rely on an emu to use command lines to be able to be used as it takes the emulators window and renders it with-in @ES’s own screen.

@ES is also a music and video player and we have a huge vision as to what will do with @ES in the future as the team is dedicated to making @ES the best it can possibly be and we are very active in the developing of it!!

I promise you that you will not be disappointed and in fact stunned with what we have come up with and I promise that this is just a small taste of things to come!

Here a couple of youtube vids of @ES in action! They are parts 1 and 2 of the same vid demonstration!
Sorry for the awful picture quality but I videoed it with my cam-phone!
You will notice that the audio falls out of sync in these video's, but that does not happen when using @ES

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@ES PUBLIC BETA NOTES - By shadow1204
---------------------

This is a public beta release and bugs will be present.

The purpose of this release is to show you what @ES can do


--- System Requirements ---

Although @ES uses very little in the way of resouces it it recommened that your pc meets the following requirements.

@ES will run on XP but for the best results please use Vista

If you are able to run PJ64 at 100% speed you will have no probs running @ES
2ghz cpu Should be sufficient to run @ES without any problems
512MB ram
GPU As long as your gpu is able to run even some games you will be fine with @ES

The point in saying this is mostly that to not expect to run @ES on a computer running a P3 400mhz CPU for example.
(It just won't do the job and seriously don't even try)
Going to the task manager I never see @ES use more the 12% of my "AMD athlon64x2 6000+" cpu or more then 40MB of my
ram so it is certainly not a system hog.

Please just use common sense!!


Any bugs that are found should be reported in this thread and they shall be attended to ASAP

Known bugs or features that will be fixed as quickly as possible and don't require reporting include:
----------

1/ Any scroller bugs in the coverflow menu's (will be fixed ASAP) - Now 100% fixed!

2/ You are unable to play a video and listen to music or play a game at the same time!
This is not really a bug but I am mentioning it here anyway
(The only thing possible of this nature is music and games at the same time)

3/ At present there is no way to delete items after you add them to the coverflow menu
The only way to do this at present is to go to the playlist file for the type of item
you are wanting to delete and remove the path to it from the list


Also some things do nothing yet!
Such as the cd/dvd icon, settings and update icons on the main menu!

-----------------------
in a side note we would like to thank all the beta-testers that helped us to test this small app! you guys rock!


VERY IMPORTANT!!

Read the readme file included!

Thank you for reading and enjoy using @ES

PLEASE READ THE ENCLOSED README FILE BEFORE ASKING FOR SUPPORT
A SET-UP GUIDE IS POSTED HERE http://www.epforums.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=21

@ES Beta 7 is now released

Beta 7 Changes:

*Slider bug is definitely fixed(i thought it was fixed in the last Beta but then i found out it was buggy). - I challenge anyone and everyone to try and make it crash!
*search function(Press CTRL + S to open the layer, type the text to search and if is the correct one just press ESC to close otherwise press ENTER to jump to the next match).
*Search-on-key(Press a key on your keyboard to jump to the next cover starting with the key pressed).
*fixed lots of bugs that caused @ES to crash.
*Console selection menu re-designed(Coverflow).
*Remotejoy support(configure Remotejoy when asked or in the settings file and click the last icon of the main menu).
Note: Remotejoy menu is called by pressing ESC.. in order to close the Remotejoy layer just press ALT + ESC

*Folder scanning function re-written! select single/multiple folder(s) and drop them to the albums layer, each folder will turn into an album if it contains at least a valid file.

*ePSXe is set as Standard emulator in the PSX section
*Daemon-Tools removed(ePSXe doesn´t need daemon-tools anymore but is still required for SSF)
*Naomi support.
*Dolphin Betas support.
*Wii section added and supported.
*List view mode complete but not implemented yet(am still working on it and it needs some changes in order to be added correctly.. even though I´ve added a preview under the "Settings" icon so press this icon after you have some albums added and press ESC to exit.)
*New standard skin "Iphone - Reloaded" made by @ruantec


Known issues:
*ePSXe(still a pain for me ) doesn´t get back to normal after you switch to fullscreen.
*sometimes(rarely) some covers aren´t displayed(wait few secs after you load albums/roms to avoid that bug)


Todo:
*Listview mode implementation.
*Gamepad implementation for use with emulators that use the keyboard only.
*Finger-Tracking(control @ES/games with your hands/fingers using a sensor or just a simple webcam).
*Better Video menu/display.
*Better Audio List/management.
*@ES screen/skin Sizes.

Shortcut list

ALT+P = Play
ALT+N = Next song
ALT+B = Last song
ALT+R = Scroll forward
ALT+L = Scroll back
ALT+X = Select item
ALT+Q = Quit(buggy)
ALT+Up = Up(console menu)
ALT+Down = Down(console menu)
ALT+S = Switch emulators(pSX, ePSXe etc.)
ALT+Y = Back to previous menu
ALT+F = Fullscreen/Back to normal
ALT+1 = Call Consoles menu
ALT+2 = Call Albums menu
ALT+3 = Call Video menu
ALT+ESC = exit emu(or just press ESC as always)
ALT+M = Gamepad mapping(not complete yet and therefore not fully functional)

CTRL + W will bring up the Emulators menu tabs. (This will not work in fullscreen mode yet )
CTRL + E will hide them again

Right mouse-click on any cover to use the slider.

New added skin sound info:
Add a folder called "Sound" and store your audio files in .mp3 format there.. doing that your skin will have custom sounds for almost every menu aswell as background and intro sounds.

TAKE NOTE THAT FULL SCREEN SWITCHING IS NOW DONE WITH ALT + F TO GO INTO FULLSCREEN AND ALSO TO GO BACK TO THE @ES SCREEN
There are also a few other shortcuts that have been changed as well

Get the latest beta here or in the official site

Also be sure to check out our forums while you are there!
Especially if you are learning to program as we have a computer programming teaching thread designed to help people learn C# or C++there
THESE COURSES ARE DESIGNED FOR BEGINNERS AND THE ONLY REQUIREMENT BY THE STUDENT IS A DESIRE TO LEARN! and your teacher is @ruantec so you know your learning from someone that knows what they are doing!

[Banned]

This looks pretty nice

[DarkSamus]

Thanks!!

This is just a taste of the possibilities of this program. We have some big ideas for @ES!!

Imagine having it so every rom has it own settings for plugins that you can adjust so that @ES will automatically configure your games plugins and settings on boot!

Or so automatically changes to the correct memory card for the game you are playing without you having to do anything but pick the game!!

@ES allows us to take over control of the emulator! For these reasons @ES is not really a front-end!! (We are still trying to come up with a term that suits @ES better)
THE ABOVE ARE PLANS FOR @ES - SHADOW (The second full release(This release is a beta of @ES - Evolution))

IF ANYONE IS EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTIES WITH @ES, LEAVE A POST HERE AND I WILL ENSURE YOUR PROBLEM IS DEALT WITH WITHIN 24 HOURS!!

Also expect SSF support within the next week!

I AM ALSO PREPARING COVER PACKS SO PEOPLE CAN EASILY ADD COVERS TO THERE ROM LISTS!

[Josh]

This looks like a very nice project. What affect does it have in terms of speed because of the fact that it is rendering the emulator within itself?

[Galcian]

That looks sweet!

[DarkSamus]

Originally Posted by Josh

This looks like a very nice project. What affect does it have in terms of speed because of the fact that it is rendering the emulator within itself?

Actually when @ES boots an emu, @ES cpu usage actually drops to 0% (@ES runs no processes at all) and ram usage is about 33-34MB.

The next full release (@ES - shadow) will actually halve the the ram usage again as we have found a more efficient drawing method for the screen (But cause its a major re-write of a chunk of the code this will take some time to include)

I personally see no difference in speed when running pcsx2 (The most power-hungry emu out there) alone or through @ES.

If you go to your task-manager CTRL+ALT+DELETE while you are running an emu you will see exactly what I mean!!

Thanks for the praise guys as its been a great 3 years in the making so far!!

I would appreciate feed-back on what people think of it after trying it in this thread!!
I am more then happy to answer any q's regarding this program and can even do what I can to help set up @ES for the first time!!

[Maca]

Useful and user-friendly. I'll be using it when the size of the screen can be changed. It slowed down my desktop a bit using snes9x under XP but it's an old comp.

[DarkSamus]

any computer that normally won't run pj64 at full speed is not recommended to use with @ES
If yours can run pj64 at 100% speed I would like to hear more about your problem as it should not be happening

Here is the first cover pack for @ES SNES covers (Its not quite all of them but its a great start!)

PS. there will be an updated exe coming very soon that adds full-screen support

[Cyberxion]

I only use a couple of emulators, and one of them isn't yet on the list. I don't really have much of a use for it myself right now. Even so, I think you've got something good here man. Well done, and keep up the great work.

[DarkSamus]

Which emu is it that you speak of??

[Cyberxion]

Nestopia actually. I'm a big retro emulation fan, and this emulator best fits my needs. I don't know that it's the all-around best emulator, but I like it.

[DarkSamus]

I will look into adding it to the list for you!!
One question though is does it run in a window or is it Fully graphic interface?

edit:- Don't worry I just googled it and can see it runs in a window
@ES can run any emu that runs in a window very easily!

[Cyberxion]

Sweet! Thanks for that. Just another reason why this project deserves all the support that it can get.

[@ruantec]

Originally Posted by maca

Useful and user-friendly. I'll be using it when the size of the screen can be changed. It slowed down my desktop a bit using snes9x under XP but it's an old comp.

i´ll add fullscreen support in the next few days which will allow you to play games at fullscreen if wished.

Originally Posted by Cyberxion

Sweet! Thanks for that. Just another reason why this project deserves all the support that it can get.

thanks we appreciate every support

[Maca]

Originally Posted by shadow1204

any computer that normally won't run pj64 at full speed is not recommended to use with @ES
If yours can run pj64 at 100% speed I would like to hear more about your problem as it should not be happening

It's seems fine now. I might of had too many programs running..

Originally Posted by @ruantec

i´ll add fullscreen support in the next few days which will allow you to play games at fullscreen if wished.

I'll look for it @ruantec.

cheers.