Step 1.

Installing HyperSpin
To install HyperSpin, you will need both v1.3.3 and v1.4 file sets. You have the option of
using just v1.3.3, however; some bugs that were present in v1.3.3 have been fixed in v1.4.
The following instructions will show you how to set up HyperSpin 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-install/
2.) Download the HyperSpin v1.4 package at: http://www.hyperspin...0-hyperspin-14/

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:\HyperSpin
4.) Extract the v1.4 package in the same location you extracted v1.3.3. When
prompted 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 of the more important settings.
We will only go through the relevant settings to get you set up and running. If you want an indepth explanation of HyperHQ, see this tutorial:
Note: Main Menu Items and Main Menu Wheels can be used interchangeably when referencing
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, however; 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 on
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 this is incorrectly
named, it will cause you headaches later on! Only change the name 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 selecting an
existing main menu item. Click on the add before or add after button to add 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 gets 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, therefore; 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 games are
launched, wheel layout, navigation and theme options, video directory set up, wheel sounds,
and special artwork (such as animated joysticks, etc). You must 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. Check Clones Use Parent Vids
e. Check Clonees Use Parent Themes
f. Uncheck Animate Out Default Themes
g. Uncheck Reload Backgrounds
h. Check Return to last game (optional)
i. Start on random game (optional)
j. Uncheck all wheel filters
5.) Select the Video tab and input the path to the videos for that system you selected 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 / RocketLauncher (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 paused, and much more. Definitely
check it out!
Tip: What is the difference between HyperLaunch 2, HyperLaunch 3, and RocketLauncher? At
one point, HyperLaunch was part of HyperSpin. This brought to fruition HyperLaunch 2 and 3.
When HyperSpin and HyperLaunch dev staff went there separate ways, HyperLaunch 3 became
RocketLauncher. RocketLauncher is now front-end agnostic. 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 next 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 databases 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 rom file name)
description of game (shows you slighty more information about the game title than 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 entries is that:
if a game exists in both the US and another country, the US game will take precedence 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 throughout 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 they have to painstakingly go
through each game, give it an official name based on 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 forums, 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 convention.
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 HyperSync. With
HyperSync, you can download the official database and all released artwork 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 the 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 system databases. Trust us its membership well worth it as it will save you months

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 system, 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 the game
names found within your databases. 9 times out of 10, your roms/isos that you have acquired
will not match with the official database entries for that system. 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 them)
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 the 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 with
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 earlier
3.) Navigate to where the tools have been extracted and run Dons HyperSpin ROM rename.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 unzip your
games!)
6.) In next box, point the application to a directory where the roms will be renamed 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 calculating is
checked
If you are working with Nintendo 64 roms, ensure that Nintendo 64: Try byte-swapping 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 modified and is
not pure. Try to find the correct ROM with the correct CRC and rerun steps 3 - 8 again
If you want to save a text file of your missing or found roms, click on the buttons 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 will 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 entry. 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 v1.3 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