Print

[TraZer]

QUOTE(PedrosPad @ Dec 30 2005, 12:19 AM)

Just wanted to say "excellent R&D guys".   I got an X360 for Xmas and this the most interesting thead I've read yet.  

Not used AS for years (really!), certainly before XML was integrated.  Consequently, I've got an XML parser I implemented myself entirely in AS which I can contribute if eventually required (on a 5 1/4" floppy in loft   )

Nice to see that you're still keeping an eye on the soft modding scene Pedros!
I remember reading your posts with the same enthusiasm as you explain here, back when UXE still was fresh

[genecyber]

Ok, First off, the Xbox controller input is NOT just like the keyboard, you need to map the commands manually, this swf player does not assume the controller is a keyboard.

I have decrypted the swf HexicDeluxe and it has quite a bit of complex actionscript to wade through and I have not yet located the instructions for accepting input from the controller.

Another note: After decompiling and recompiling the original game swf file and re-exporting the game hangs at the "Press a to Start" screen

I also noticed that it hangs when trying to load files larger than the original game swf file.

So many experiments, I am fairly certain that there are countless hours of fun to be had working with this rushed player.

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE(genecyber @ Dec 30 2005, 11:22 AM)

So many experiments, I am fairly certain that there are countless hours of fun to be had working with this rushed player.

A few (semi random) thoughts regarding the use of the Hexic Flash player…

Just because the HexicDeluxe demo is coded as Flash engine & Flash file, that doesn't necessarily mean that the  full downloadable version is.  These files could be an early proof-of-concept/prototype/demo.  The full version may be a more common compiled XEX.  (Historically Macromedia Authorware & Macromedia Director are commonly used to prototype applications ahead of full development - which can take place using completely different toolsets).

If the full version is still Flash, just because HexicDeluxe’s developers decided to publish  their app as a Flash Player & Flash file, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all XBL Arcade content is also limited to Flash (after all, the binary Flash player XEX would still need to be included in the downloads).  They may have already had Hexic implemented in Flash, so porting a Flash interpreter may have simply been more efficient.   If it was newly developed, developers experienced with Flash ActionScript would be easier to find than X360 developers (and cheaper).  Hire one C++ programmer and 20 AS developers!  (Given the strength of this model, maybe M$ themselves put together the Flash Interpreter as an option for Arcade content developers?)

Isn't there a full HexicDeluxe downloadable from XBL?  It may come with a more complete Flash player   - although its XEX may be media flagged to execute from HDD only!   IIRC tools now exist to allow the extraction of X360 HDD content for examination.  

A few (semi random) thoughts.  

[Daveid]

QUOTE(PedrosPad @ Dec 30 2005, 10:08 AM)

A few (semi random) thoughts regarding the use of the Hexic Flash player…

Just because the HexicDeluxe demo is coded as Flash engine & Flash file, that doesn't necessarily mean that the  full downloadable version is.  These files could be an early proof-of-concept/prototype/demo.  The full version may be a more common compiled XEX.  (Historically Macromedia Authorware & Macromedia Director are commonly used to prototype applications ahead of full development - which can take place using completely different toolsets).

If the full version is still Flash, just because HexicDeluxe’s developers decided to publish  their app as a Flash Player & Flash file, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all XBL Arcade content is also limited to Flash (after all, the binary Flash player XEX would still need to be included in the downloads).  They may have already had Hexic implemented in Flash, so porting a Flash interpreter may have simply been more efficient.   If it was newly developed, developers experienced with Flash ActionScript would be easier to find than X360 developers (and cheaper).  Hire one C++ programmer and 20 AS developers!  (Given the strength of this model, maybe M$ themselves put together the Flash Interpreter as an option for Arcade content developers?)

Isn't there a full HexicDeluxe downloadable from XBL?  It may come with a more complete Flash player   - although its XEX may be media flagged to execute from HDD only!   IIRC tools now exist to allow the extraction of X360 HDD content for examination.  

A few (semi random) thoughts.  

I'm thinking the flash player already resides on the HDD when you get it and is more capable

the point you seem to be making is vaild. However I think what is trying to be attempted is not to run something from the HDD (though obviously that comes later) but to use this disc and a custom flash file to find out more about the 360's security and files, no? So it doesn't matter all that stuff just that this one runs off a disc and we can change some of it

[Alec]

Do these "tools" allow us to add files to the hard drive, as well? I'd like to grab all of the themes off of the kiosk disc and slap 'em into my HDD.

[crobar]

where are you guys trying to run the AS?
off a button or in the first frame?
if you running it on the first frame you might want to try it in the third or fourth frame i remember it being an issue while running flash in an exe.
might help might not just my 2 cents

[MaTiAz]

QUOTE(genecyber @ Dec 30 2005, 09:29 PM)

OK so I am having some success! I have a clock application semi working, It does not display the seconds on screen but it is acuratly pulling and displaying the system time correctly.

Flashkit.com is a great resource for things such as this.

*Update 1*
Ok This is very interesting, I pushed the dashboard button on the controller while the clock app was running, and left it there for a few minutes, low and behold the clock was still running in the background and updating with each passing minute. **Time to test HTTP Stuff now**

Cool, gotta propably install Flash MX again

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE(yngwie001 @ Dec 30 2005, 11:27 PM)

How far can we go with this disc?    To be able to play backups (eventually) seems alittle far fetched.
surely we are limited with it.

While greater feats would be welcome , I'm beginning to think there may be distance in simply booting and running Flash programs.  Flash is quite capable, and if the X360 Flash player is as fast as Hexic appears to indicate, it opens up a nice living room platform for Flash homebrew games and entertainment.  Develop and test on PC and eventually execute on X360.  Kind'a like Java, "Write once, run anywhere!" - lol  

A fast flash player could make 3D practical, and if the networking and GetURL() method does work and can pull from any host, even online multiplayer games would be possible (using the http querystring to post information, etc.).

Personally, I have crack at a homebrew MSN Messenger-style chat application first (the server-side for this would be very easy).  Out of curiosity (and to save time), what tools/programs are the people having success using to author their AS and generate the SWFs?  (And what versions of tools, in order to generate the right SWF versions for the XBOX?)

A closing thought...IIRC rumours exist that support for MSN Messenger will make it onto the X360 via a future dashboard update (facilitated by the linking of Gamertags to MS Passports, etc.).  The latest MSN Messenger uses Flash for Winks and animated Avatars, so Flash on the X360 would be required for this.

[lilpee]

Once I get home, I am going to try and see if Dofus (http://www.dofus.com) would work...

[genecyber]

OK ANy flash designers, What is needed is button input. The Decompiled actionscript for Hexic is Huge and beyond my understanding, Just doing an _ON Keypress does not work.

The data and time functions in action script do work.

Action script 2.0 does not seem to be suported.

What is really needed is something to get  debug information (Flash errors) to print to the screen.

As far as I can tell the Default executable is loading splash.swf and an audio file,and waits for input, It then loads HexicDelux.swf.

Also audio encoded as mp3 does not work with this flash player.

[ItalianMob]

GC - send me the decomplied FLA - I've been doing flash multimedia scripting for over 8 years nows, and need less to say sold thousands of cd's with flash enabled stuff I've built.  More eyes are always better.

ItalianMob

EDIT - All i have thus far is the theme version of the ISO so I don't have the SWF for hex.

[modthebox.tk]

wow. nice progress. backups are not close to becoming a reality. But to know that we might be getting some homebrew stuff on the X360 soon is just mind bogoling. I thought it would take at least a year. Yet in only a couple of months the modding scene has found a loop hole (or at least something that looks like a loop hole).

[PedrosPad]

QUOTE(modthebox.tk @ Dec 31 2005, 09:04 AM)

But to know that we might be getting some homebrew stuff on the X360 soon is just mind bogoling.

Allard said in one of his interviews that M$ had watched the XBOX1 modding scene, and incorporated many of the reasons people were modding into the X360 (personalised Dash skinning, own music, etc.).  Using Flash to permit the development and use of homebrew code works nicely.  Maybe M$ will sit up and sanction such an approach - in a similar sprit to Sony’s Playstation Net Yaroze solution.

[crobar]

im a flash developer incase anyone needs some scripting done.
just PM me.

[Gloei]

First of all, very good work guys

I believe the default.xex (the one in Hexic's dir) is not just a flash player. As far as I can see it is more a flash player which is custommade for Hexic. It does the following:

- Play Splash.swf for around 5 seconds,
  and look for a file called Oilyn.wma and if it exists, play it.
- Wait endlessly until the player presses the A button.
- Play HexicDeluxe.swf (it slowly crossfades from the last frame of splash.swf)

In Hexic's directory there are 8 .wma music files. I think default.xex has a built in playlist which starts with Oilyn.wma.

Ohw and I think (as far as I understood the AS from the decompiled HexicDeluxe.swf) they change the musicvolume from within AS using getURL("FSCommand:MusicVolume", xxx).

Btw, I've tried to use MP3 audio in my .swf (160kbps mp3, stereo) but I don't hear a thing when I play it on the XBox So I guess they don't support audio from flash files, or they do play it but just no mp3's.