Post by: BenJeremy on December 08, 2002, 11:39:00 PM
It can be run from hard drive or on DVD compilations, and was intended to surpass Complex's MenuX system (and most agree, it does!)
Music, more skinning options, and even a screen saver!
What's new?
Beta 0.9c
* Added the ability to navigate using the thumbsticks
* Fixed the PersistDisplay() issue. Loading screens now display.
* WMV is now a supported format! The videos will loop, and sound is disabled
in this release by default. I'll add parameters to change those (sound does
work) shortly. WMV files can be used ANYWHERE an image file is used.
Thanks go out to Syn3rgy @ the xboxhacker.net forums for knocking down the
remaining barriers on this feature.
* Moving away from ini files. XML will be the new standard (faster loading)
To make things easier, I've included a converter, to modify existing files to
the new format.
* Disable for auto-config - Set Main->AllowAutoConfig to No (or Off/false)
* Main->MoveDelay - Time between pressing down/up and the menu changing selections in Repeat mode.
* Main->RepeatDelay - Time between holding down/up and the program repeating the move.
* Main->LoadSkin parameter to select a specific skin (Based on directory name)
* Main->ExitApp allows you to specify a dashboard other than the 'default' one, such
as "C:\evoxdash.xbe" when using the dashboard sequence. This solves a problem
when using MXM as your default dashboard application.
* Well, a lot of work, but I've sped things up a bit (well, not really sped up, as
much as shuffled things around) and added a nice fade in to a moving sky and MXM logo
just before hitting the title screen.
* Smooth transitions now occur between menu states
* the slight "stutter" from the music when MXM starts up is now fixed.
NOTE: This release includes a Windows-based converter to make the transition from ini file format to xml as painless as possible.
As usual, you can find out about it by checking out the MXMReadMe.txt file, which has been posted to alt.binaries.cd.image.xbox, alt.binaries.xbox, and alt.binaries.games.xbox newsgroups in usenet.
Post by: Hal9000 on December 09, 2002, 02:12:00 PM
If anyone can help please pm me
Thanks
Post by: davidtbaron on December 09, 2002, 02:44:00 PM
[email protected]
[email protected]
Post by: Weavus on December 09, 2002, 03:11:00 PM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 09, 2002, 04:09:00 PM
Also suggestions on what a Windows-based configuration program should do for you. I'm developing a tool to edit MXM.xml and MXM_Entry.xml files.
After I get that roughly out of the way, I'll be jumping back into the highly-configurable skinning options so Weavus can work his magic.
Post by: Weavus on December 09, 2002, 04:13:00 PM
Main->RepeatDelay
What are the defaults for these values? Are they values in milliseconds?
I take it I add them to mxm.xml like so:
<Main>
.
.
<AllowAutoConfig>no</AllowAutoConfig>
.
<MoveDelay>100</MoveDelay>
<RepeatDelay>500</RepeatDelay>
</Main>
Post by: Weavus on December 09, 2002, 04:16:00 PM
Would I just put Weavus (My skin has an xml file called MXM_skin.xml in a dir called Weavus under SkinXMLs) here or the full dir path? I couldnt get either to work in my short time testing.
Post by: Weavus on December 09, 2002, 04:19:00 PM
Up/Down is still way too fast on the pad. Perhaps slowing it down quite a bit and putting a faster up/down on the triggers (ala mame, snesx etc) would be the best way to fix it.
Post by: Weavus on December 09, 2002, 04:22:00 PM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 09, 2002, 04:31:00 PM
| QUOTE (Weavus @ Dec 9 2002, 06:37 PM) |
| Main->MoveDelay Main->RepeatDelay What are the defaults for these values? Are they values in milliseconds? I take it I add them to mxm.xml like so: <Main> . . <AllowAutoConfig>no</AllowAutoConfig> . <MoveDelay>100</MoveDelay> <RepeatDelay>500</RepeatDelay> </Main> |
The defaults are 220milliseconds each.
You are correct in adding the config items.
| QUOTE |
| Main->LoadSkin parameter to select a specific skin (Based on directory name) Would I just put Weavus (My skin has an xml file called MXM_skin.xml in a dir called Weavus under SkinXMLs) here or the full dir path? I couldnt get either to work in my short time testing. |
All skin directories need to be immediately under MXM. The "SkinXMLs" was just thrown in there so people wouldn't have to run the converter, they could just copy those files over to the skin directories... sorry for the confusion. Next time I'll put that sort of thing in it's own rar files.
| QUOTE |
| There seems to be a bit of a stutter between the new Loading sky/logo and the title screen. Perhaps a nice transition like between title/main would be better. |
Well, I've noticed an occasional "flash" - I'm not sure entirely what's happening there. I had a ton of problems adding the transition effects for the other parts for some reason, too. I ended up having to learn about texture operations pretty quickly
| QUOTE |
| Up/Down is still way too fast on the pad. Perhaps slowing it down quite a bit and putting a faster up/down on the triggers (ala mame, snesx etc) would be the best way to fix it. |
Yes, I'm going to synchronize the d-pad with the same method I use onthe sticks, so the delays will be consistent.
| QUOTE |
| I think we are going to need the ability to turn off the amittedly nice new loading sky/logo as it looks out of place when you are using nested MXM's. I.E. having one as a main menu and sub ones for categories. I like the fact it displays quickly but would rather have the title screen while I wait for a sub MXM to load. |
What I might do, when I get it working, is have the initialization screen (which is what's happening when it's displayed) disabled when it loads with parameters... which is how I might handle using multiple MXM.xml files. I'm still tweaking that particular issue in my head.
The title screen is a bit difficult to throw up, since a lot has to happen before we can even get to that stage (including loading & parsing MXM.xml, looking for skins, loading and parsing the MXM_Skin.xml, and loading the associated image). It's much faster now (a few seconds) and believe it or now, image loading is actually QUICKER when using WMV videos. I'll play around a bit more with it.
I might also make an optional "fade to black and back" transition between states (actually, there's probably a whole slew of transitions I could add now).
Thanks for the report. Your feedback is definitely making this a better application.
Post by: davidtbaron on December 09, 2002, 06:36:00 PM
DELTED. Sorry Bro. But I cant allow you to post your email here for legal reasons.
i dont know how to use the news groups only the xbins ftp
This post has been edited by LumbraX: Dec 10 2002, 02:55 AM
Post by: LumbraX on December 09, 2002, 06:10:00 PM
Post by: Courier5 on December 09, 2002, 07:58:00 PM
Once again, great program...wish I had the programming skills to help.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 09, 2002, 08:06:00 PM
| QUOTE (Courier5 @ Dec 9 2002, 10:22 PM) |
| Benjeremy - How about for the windows configuration app - add a preview type setup (like the evox skinners) That will show what the program will look like when it boots up. Would be a big help in doing custom layouts and save some burn time. Once again, great program...wish I had the programming skills to help. |
Well, the skinning thing is down the list aways.... my first priority is a Windows-based "hand-holder" for configuring game entries and setting up everything to create a DVD or to transfer to the hard drive.
But I have thought about the skinning thing. The skins will soon have a LOT more flexibility. Skinners will have the option of putting up multiple images per game, help, and other elements.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 09, 2002, 09:51:00 PM
Apparently, in the "auto-config" mode, the system will find dashupdate.xbe before it locates default.xbe, as I discovered tonight. I had replaced those files with harmless ones from the menux release...
The only thing you might be able to do is to delete the dashupdate.xbe and update.xbe files. I will test out a few things and get back here within 24 hours.
This problem should only be present in the auto-config mode. Sorry for the inconvenience (hopefully, I'm the only person who's done this
)
Post by: BenJeremy on December 10, 2002, 05:35:00 AM
| QUOTE (Weavus @ Dec 10 2002, 05:23 AM) | ||
Ouch! Nasty bug there. I hope nobody ran into this problem in the field. Makes me glad I didnt try the auto-config much yet. Just waiting for the extra screens and longer description before I release my skin (In 5 exciting colors!). I might do a simpler one before that to try and show people how to use/configure MXM. |
Yeah, I think it's fine if you delete the offending files. I'm going to check it this morning in an HD test (tired of burning DVD coasters).
Post by: Weavus on December 10, 2002, 06:09:00 AM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 10, 2002, 07:04:00 AM
| QUOTE (Weavus @ Dec 10 2002, 09:01 AM) |
| Hi, I have an great idea for MXM that needs the co-operation of other xbox scene developers. I was thinking that I'd like to use MXM as a launcher for my favorite Mame Roms and other emulated games. Each emulator comes with its own launcher but they are never configurable and I like to use the facilities of MXM to browse my favorites so I can have screenshots, boxshots etc. What we would need is the authors of other xbox programs to allow them to be launched with parameters to indicate which game to load and skip the inbuilt menu list. Do you have any contact with other developers and could suggest this idea BenJeremy? Of course, you wouldnt want the whole 3000 mame roms in MXM but for your favorite 50 or so it would be great. What do you think? |
Excellent idea... for all homebrew developers.
I will include full "params" support in the 1.0 release. This means I will pass an ASCII string to the application via the LaunchInfo structure, if the entry has one to pass.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 10, 2002, 07:07:00 AM
| QUOTE (Weavus @ Dec 10 2002, 09:09 AM) |
| BTW, did you change the font in the new version? It seems to look better on my skin but I couldnt find any information in the readme about a font change. |
Nope, no real change, except that I removed the 12pt (wasn't using it).
I hope to get to dealing with the font issues soon. The "complex" skins will have a resource element of "font" so you can define your own fonts (.xpr files) and use them for any text-based layout elements. Text-based layout elements will also give you tighter control over the presentation of those fonts, too.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 10, 2002, 07:12:00 AM
Ghost Recon and MechAssault with preview videos playing in the screen shots.Post by: BenJeremy on December 10, 2002, 07:21:00 AM
Starting with a *.bik file, which is a Bink video. These are horribly WASTEFUL video files - I don't understand why developers are using that over WMV/XMV, but whatever...
Get the radtools from www.radgametools.com - they're free.
Pull up the Rad Video Tools and select the BIK file you wish to use.
Convert to AVI - don't do anything else to it, just convert it, preferably using Cinepack as the codec.
While it's in AVI, edit it as you desire (chop it up, add to it) and make sure it has PCM audio attached to it (needed, at the moment). The PCM audio can be something like a silent audio clip, and can be of low quality, since it won't actually be heard.
Now, you must use Windows Media 8 Encoding tools.
At the command prompt:
wm8eutil -input attract.avi -output Mech.wmv -v_mode 2
The above is an example of converting the attract.bik file (from MechAssault), converted to attract.avi to make Mech.wmv
Then drop the resulting file somewhere on your compilation and point your Game Entry "Media" value to it.
The BIK started out as a 22MB file, converted to a 106MB AVI, then down to a 9MB WMV file, unedited.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 11, 2002, 07:22:00 AM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 05:12:00 AM
| QUOTE (6d6a6 @ Dec 12 2002, 03:16 AM) |
| Sup everyone, Thx BenJeremy for this awsome program, it goes nicly with the new evox dashboard. I am just curious u said u wanted the source code for the IGR. Why?? You have the in app reset, and if u have evox loaded it works on the games too, so I don't see why you would need to add this feature to ur menu?? Just curious... Keep up the good work, and love the new system, the older version with txt files froze up a little on me while changing through game titles but the newest release has no problems at all. Thx |
Well, in my test, IGR did not work on MXM-launched games on DVD. I haven't tried HD-based MXM-launched yet.
Post by: Cornholio on December 12, 2002, 05:23:00 AM
| QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 10 2002, 02:21 PM) |
| Starting with a *.bik file, which is a Bink video. These are horribly WASTEFUL video files - I don't understand why developers are using that over WMV/XMV, but whatever... |
Gotta agree with you on that
As for the EvoX IGR, funny, but the only thing I actually tried with that so far was a disc I made, using MXM 0.8 (I think). IGR was working fine. Thinking about it now, I'm not entirely sure why it WOULD work... maybe some investigation is in order
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 06:09:00 AM
| QUOTE (Cornholio @ Dec 12 2002, 08:23 AM) | ||
Gotta agree with you on that As for the EvoX IGR, funny, but the only thing I actually tried with that so far was a disc I made, using MXM 0.8 (I think). IGR was working fine. Thinking about it now, I'm not entirely sure why it WOULD work... maybe some investigation is in order |
Thanks, I look forward to your knowledgable feedback.
Post by: PLUTO 3.14 on December 12, 2002, 08:49:00 AM
I am just trying to get started to make multi game DVD compulations with the latest Media X Menu....... Thankx...
Post by: Weavus on December 12, 2002, 09:48:00 AM
| QUOTE (PLUTO 3.14 @ Dec 12 2002, 03:49 PM) |
| Hey BenJeremy is there any complete tutorial for dumbasses for u'r latest Media X Menu ??? If so can I have the link to it.... Thankx.... Or is the only one the MXM Readme.txt ?? |
Some people are making a tutorial. Check the Homebrew forum as all talk of MXM has moved there.
Post by: headstrong on December 12, 2002, 04:39:00 PM
is it the same as MXM.xml or this?
<Item_1>
<Title>ToeJam and Earl III</Title>
<Description>Platforming classic returns!</Description>
<Media>TOEJAM3.png</Media>
<Dir>TOEJAM</Dir>
</Item_1>
I may be able to create a user friendly win app to create these xml files, but I need to understand how MXM uses them.
Thanks
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 04:46:00 PM
| QUOTE (headstrong @ Dec 12 2002, 07:39 PM) |
| what is the contents of the MXM_Entry.xml that should be included in each game folder? is it the same as MXM.xml or this? <Item_1> <Title>ToeJam and Earl III</Title> <Description>Platforming classic returns!</Description> <Media>TOEJAM3.png</Media> <Dir>TOEJAM</Dir> </Item_1> I may be able to create a user friendly win app to create these xml files, but I need to understand how MXM uses them. Thanks |
It should look like this:
<Config>
<Item>
<Title>ToeJam and Earl III</Title>
<Description>Platforming classic returns!</Description>
<Media>TOEJAM3.png</Media>
</Item>
</Config>
Of course, TOEJAM3.png would sit in the game directory in this case, or alternately, you could leave that tag off and rename the file MXM_SS.png in the game directory.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 07:52:00 PM
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Games DVD#1</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Game Collection</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MenuPath></MenuPath>
</Main>
<Item_1>
<Title>Chase Hollywood stunt driver</Title>
<Description>By Bam!</Description>
<Media>chase.png</Media> <--------Put this image in the root directory
<Dir>chase</Dir>
</Item_1>
<Item_2>
<Title>Rocky</Title> <--------You forgot the title here
<Description>By Ubi Soft</Description>
<Media>rocky.jpg</Media> <--------Put this image in the root directory
<Dir>rocky</Dir>
</Item_2>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>on</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
Burned to DVD-RW like this
default.xbe
mxm.xbe
mxm.xml - shown above
\mUSIC - have one music file
\MEDIA - stuff that was in it
\CHASE - GAME1 With MXM_Entry.xml, PNG file is also in the folder
<Config> <---------------------------------- You already have entries in the main file. You don't need this one.
<Item>
<Title>Chase Hollywood stunt driver</Title>
<Description>By Bam!</Description>
<Media>chase.png</Media>
</Item>
</Config>
\ROCKY - GAME2 with MXM_Entry.xml PNG file is also in the folder
<Config>
<Item>
<Title>Rocky</Title>
<Description>By Ubi Soft</Description>
<Media>rocky.jpg</Media>
</Item>
</Config>
The MXM_Entry.xml files work with "Auto-config" - then the screenshots are also relative to the location of the file.
Actually, you should be getting SOMETHING coming up. I'd suspect you'd get "Chase Hollywood stunt driver", "", "Chase Hollywood stunt driver", and "Rocky" in that order.
The missing title might be somehow screwing things up, though (not sure why). You could try removing the <Item_xx> nodes from the MXM.xml file.
As a general rule, I've been using the MXM_SS.* method for loading screenshots, but I've just burned a disk with Ghost Recon, using one of the WMV videos in a subdirectory:
<Config>
<Item>
<Title>Ghost Recon</Title>
<Description>Stealth Soldier</Description>
<Exe>default.xbe</Exe>
<Media>D:\GHOSTRECON\video\attract.wmv</Media>
</Item>
</Config>
Here's the MXM.xml form that disc:
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>DVD #34</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>December 2002</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>60</SaverDelay>
<MenuPath></MenuPath>
</Main>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>on</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
Post by: vo243 on December 12, 2002, 07:59:00 PM
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>DVD Install</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Custom Collection</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MXMPath>D:\</MXMPath>
<LoadSkin>DefaultSkin</LoadSkin>
</Main>
<AllowAutoConfig>No</AllowAutoConfig>
<Item_1>
<Title>SSX Tricky</Title>
<Description>EA</Description>
<Media>ssxtricky.jpg</Media>
<Dir>ssxtricky</Dir>
</Item_1>
<Item_2>
<Title>Ty the Tasmanian Tiger</Title>
<Description>EA</Description>
<Media>ty.jpg</Media>
<Dir>ty</Dir>
</Item_2>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>off</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
I put the graphics (640X480 jpgs) in the root of the DVD (since it's just two of them). Some of the entires I know are unnecessary, but I'm learnin'. My Music folder has 1 song (being lazy here, trying to develop a spot of a template, y'know?). I'm a little confused about the <Global> directive, I set it to off.
Critique away, I'm sure it's something utterly stupid!
do I need both the default.xbe and the mxm.xbe in the root, or is just the default enough?
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 08:11:00 PM
<AllowAutoConfig>No</AllowAutoConfig>
item into the <Main></Main> node of the xml file. That could be what's hanging it.
The XML config files are much like INI files, except you have the "primary" node, <Config></Config> surrounding "section" nodes like <Main></Main> (as in: [Main]) which contain key/value sets like <Theme>1</Theme> (as in: Theme=1)
Can you try it with a DVD-RW or on the hard drive? Even if the games are not present, when using the Item_XX entries, it should still give you a menu.
...and no, you don't need the MXM.xbe file on the DVD-R; just the default.xbe (it's just in there for convenience)
Post by: vo243 on December 12, 2002, 08:33:00 PM
here's the config:
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>CD Trial</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Custom Collection</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MXMPath>E:\test</MXMPath>
<LoadSkin>DefaultSkin</LoadSkin>
<AllowAutoConfig>No</AllowAutoConfig>
</Main>
<Item_1>
<Title>SSX Tricky</Title>
<Description>EA</Description>
<Media>ssxtricky.jpg</Media>
<Dir>ssxtricky</Dir>
</Item_1>
<Item_2>
<Title>Ty the Tasmanian Tiger</Title>
<Description>EA</Description>
<Media>ty.jpg</Media>
<Dir>ty</Dir>
</Item_2>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>off</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
Drive layout is like this:
e:/test/
----------default.xbe
----------MXM.xml
----------ssxtricky.jpg
----------ty.jpg
----------/DefaultSkin
----------/Media
----------/MUSIC
----------/ssxtricky
----------/ty
Ideas?
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 08:54:00 PM
Of course, the only other thing I could think of might be your image files.
Try temporarily removing them (Since the xml works without those files on my system)
Post by: BenJeremy on December 12, 2002, 11:11:00 PM
| QUOTE (headstrong @ Dec 13 2002, 02:03 AM) |
| Well I have tried everything, All I get is the MXM logo comes up and fades into a blue background, then changes colors. but no menu items, copied to HD and get same thing, no itmes on the screen. |
Well, the fade to blue indicates that it's not finding the DefaultSkin.
What are the contents of you DefaultSkin subdirectory?
Post by: vo243 on December 13, 2002, 06:26:00 AM
| QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 13 2002, 03:54 AM) |
| Loaded up just fine here. Of course, the only other thing I could think of might be your image files. Try temporarily removing them (Since the xml works without those files on my system) |
Hmm...I'm befuddled. The image files were not present (the two directories, ty and ssxtricky, are empty).
BTW, the games do start fine via boXplorer on the first DVD-R I made, so I know the images are good.
thanks!
Post by: BenJeremy on December 13, 2002, 10:36:00 AM
| QUOTE (headstrong @ Dec 13 2002, 08:43 AM) |
| yes that's what it was, the defaultskin folder was missing the "n" for some reason.. anyways, I now have the menu but when I select the game it does not load. It's doing the same thing the menuX was doing have two game in the list, one just goes to the please wait screen and sitts there the other loads a short intro then goes back to the evox dashboard these 2 games are the games I could not get to load using menux, bu if I copy them to the HD the load fine.. you think it has to do anything with the defaul.xbe of each game not being in the root like they are in an individual DVD? |
I've made a disk with Chase, and that worked fine. That they load from the HD seems to indicate that they are complete. If you are getting something to load, I'd have to wonder about the media.
Could you set MXM on the hard drive and try and launch those games from that?
Post by: BenJeremy on December 13, 2002, 10:41:00 AM
| QUOTE (vo243 @ Dec 13 2002, 09:26 AM) | ||
Hmm...I'm befuddled. The image files were not present (the two directories, ty and ssxtricky, are empty). BTW, the games do start fine via boXplorer on the first DVD-R I made, so I know the images are good. thanks! |
Are you saying it worked 'dry' on your HD as well, or it hung there as well?
I assume it's hanging on startup? Do you get the logo and sky?
Post by: headstrong on December 15, 2002, 09:07:00 PM
| QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 13 2002, 06:36 PM) | ||
I've made a disk with Chase, and that worked fine. That they load from the HD seems to indicate that they are complete. If you are getting something to load, I'd have to wonder about the media. Could you set MXM on the hard drive and try and launch those games from that? |
I put MXM on the harddrive and it loads the games ok. So i guess it is the Media...
What kind of DVD-R , DVD-RW do you use?
what's strange is, if I burn each game individually on a DVD-R they load fine... go figure!
Post by: BenJeremy on December 15, 2002, 09:56:00 PM
I have a batch of TDK DVD-R "fakes" that a friend gave me.... I think 1 out of 10 burned 100% correct. The rest had random issues.
Princo DVD-Rs have worked well, but I have some earlier ones (silvertops) that were a mixed bag.
As for DVD-RW, well, I've had VERY mixed results with my Pioneer 104 burner, and those are mostly burner issues.
Post by: PLUTO 3.14 on December 16, 2002, 06:22:00 AM
Well I still have not use the Media X Menu on my Pionner 104 yet... But will make some game compulations soon......For my backups I've been using Princo DVD-RW's from YesBuy.Net for 4 months with 100% results.... NO problems... (Except for bad ISO extractions... But since their DVD-RW's I have not problems reburning them...)
Specially great since they cost under $ 0.90 pet DVD-RW.... Just make sure u order Princos and not the cheaper No Brands(Bad for XBox)...
Well I am about to test out the Media X Menu this week...
Whish there was a tutorial but it doesn't look to dificult...
Post by: BenJeremy on December 16, 2002, 07:46:00 AM
| QUOTE (PLUTO 3.14 @ Dec 16 2002, 09:22 AM) |
| Well I still have not use the Media X Menu on my Pionner 104 yet... But will make some game compulations soon...... For my backups I've been using Princo DVD-RW's from YesBuy.Net for 4 months with 100% results.... NO problems... (Except for bad ISO extractions... But since their DVD-RW's I have not problems reburning them...) Specially great since they cost under $ 0.90 pet DVD-RW.... Just make sure u order Princos and not the cheaper No Brands(Bad for XBox)... Well I am about to test out the Media X Menu this week... Whish there was a tutorial but it doesn't look to dificult... |
My DVD-RWs came from YesBuy.net and rima.com, and some won't even burn properly so the burner itsefl can read them.
I'm thinking it might be the burner, though. Kind of late to do much about it though.... I had to hardware hack it to downgrade the firmware
So I guess I'll just have to wait until I get a next generation burner.
Post by: PLUTO 3.14 on December 16, 2002, 01:28:00 PM
Hey BenJeremy mine all are whitetops so that might be the difference... Have u used any Princo's with whitetops.. ??? 
Post by: BenJeremy on December 16, 2002, 02:52:00 PM
| QUOTE (PLUTO 3.14 @ Dec 16 2002, 04:28 PM) |
| Hey BenJeremy mine all are whitetops so that might be the difference... Have u used any Princo's with whitetops.. ??? |
Yeah... my later DVD-Rs were all whitetops. The DVD-RWs early on were whitetop, then followed by some with silkscreened 'Princo' labelling.... those seemed to be worse.
The latest Princo DVD-Rs work great.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 16, 2002, 09:15:00 PM
| QUOTE (headstrong @ Dec 17 2002, 12:12 AM) |
| Hey BenJeremy Thanks for all your help, FYI I ordered some new DVD-R's and hopefully I will be able to succesfuly burn an MXM menu with games.. I created a quick user friendly app to create the main MXM.xml file, I am willing to share it, but I figured MXM is your baby and you should see if this will do more harm than good for other users, unfortunently I did it in VB so it has alot of bagae, but if it becomes useful I cna make it into a real app :-) let me know if your intereset, it's very basic enough for what I need it to do but it's good for new users. C-ya |
That's cool... I had started something similar here, but all help is welcome (one reason this project is open source).
Make sure you get the latest release, 0.9e. It's a bit more 'polished'
Maybe I'll have time to work on mine this week, but as I said, any 3rd party apps are very welcome. I'm sure many will be thankful, and I'd like to see what ideas you came up with for this type of app.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 16, 2002, 10:37:00 PM
| QUOTE (headstrong @ Dec 17 2002, 01:21 AM) |
| oK, So How do I go about sharing this file? it's about 500k |
I PM'd you on that....
Post by: hevnbnd on December 20, 2002, 01:14:00 AM
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Football 2003</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Sports</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>0</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>300</SaverDelay>
</Main>
<Item_1>
<Title>Madden 2002</Title>
<Description>EA Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>Madden2002</Dir>
</Item_1>
<Item_2>
<Title>NFL Blitz 2003</Title>
<Description>Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>NFLBlitz2003</Dir>
</Item_2>
<Item_3>
<Title>MLB Slugfest 2003</Title>
<Description>Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>MLBSlugfest2003</Dir>
</Item_3>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>on</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
It did not work with just this file and not the MXM_Entry.xml file. I am trying it now with this MXM_Entry.xml file in each game directory. Here is a copy of the MXM_Entry.xml file. :
<Config>
<Item>
<Title>NFL Blitz 2003</Title>
<Description>Sports</Description>
</Item>
</Config>
Should it work now? any help would be much appritiated. Thanks BC
Post by: BenJeremy on December 20, 2002, 06:44:00 AM
D:\Madden2002\default.xbe
I'm assuming you extracted the games into subdirectories and see the default.xbe fine.
Entries in the MXM.xml file do not get checked for existance, but they do when auto-config'd.
FWIW, I never got slugfest working... on the HD or DVD way back (before I even started on MXM)
Can you navigate to the game directory with Boxplorer and run the game with that application?
Post by: hevnbnd on December 20, 2002, 12:05:00 PM
<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Football 2003</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Sports</DiscSubtitle>
<Theme>1</Theme>
<TitleDelay>0</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>300</SaverDelay>
<ExitApp>c:\xboxdash.xbe</ExitApp>
</Main>
<Item_1>
<Title>Madden 2002</Title>
<Description>EA Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>Madden2002</Dir>
</Item_1>
<Item_2>
<Title>NFL Blitz 2003</Title>
<Description>Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>NFLBlitz2003</Dir>
</Item_2>
<Item_3>
<Title>MLB Slugfest 2003</Title>
<Description>Sports</Description>
<Media>MXM_SS.png</Media>
<Dir>MLBSlugfest2003</Dir>
</Item_3>
<Music>
<UseMusic>on</UseMusic>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>on</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>
I am not sure how to use the exit app command and my music and the images are not working. I have one song in a directory called MUSIC. Any more ideas
Post by: BenJeremy on December 20, 2002, 01:23:00 PM
| QUOTE (hevnbnd @ Dec 20 2002, 03:05 PM) |
| Hello, Ok all the games work except slugfest. So you have not been able to get it to work. My pictures do not work. I named them MXM_SS.png and put one in each directory with the game Here is the code for MXM.xml <Config> <Main> <DiscTitle>Football 2003</DiscTitle> <DiscSubtitle>Sports</DiscSubtitle> <Theme>1</Theme> <TitleDelay>0</TitleDelay> <SaverDelay>300</SaverDelay> <ExitApp>c:\xboxdash.xbe</ExitApp> </Main> <Item_1> <Title>Madden 2002</Title> <Description>EA Sports</Description> <Media>MXM_SS.png</Media> <Dir>Madden2002</Dir> </Item_1> <Item_2> <Title>NFL Blitz 2003</Title> <Description>Sports</Description> <Media>MXM_SS.png</Media> <Dir>NFLBlitz2003</Dir> </Item_2> <Item_3> <Title>MLB Slugfest 2003</Title> <Description>Sports</Description> <Media>MXM_SS.png</Media> <Dir>MLBSlugfest2003</Dir> </Item_3> <Music> <UseMusic>on</UseMusic> <Directory>MUSIC</Directory> <Global>on</Global> <Random>off</Random> </Music> </Config> I am not sure how to use the exit app command and my music and the images are not working. I have one song in a directory called MUSIC. Any more ideas |
Well, for PNG images, I use CorelPhotoPaint to create those. I've had no problems with 24-bit RGB and 8-bit images.
You could try converting them to JPG, and see how that works.
As for music, I always make my music 48000khz, 96kbits/sec WMAs, same as M$ does for it's soundtrack feature.
You seem to be using ExitApp just fine. That's just really needed if you have MXM set as your dashboard app, anyway (it was a request), so it's fine to leave off. That's the app that gets executed whenyou press both thumbsticks down in the menu selection screen.
I wonder if ANYBODY got Slugfest working.... I eventually just gave up on it.
Post by: hevnbnd on December 20, 2002, 01:56:00 PM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 20, 2002, 08:14:00 PM
If AllowAutoConfig = YES, you don't need the entries in the MXM.xml, if the programs are in the immediate subdirectories underneath MXM... but you should make MXM_Entry.xml entries in each directory to define the game info.
If you have a MXM_SS.* (png, jpg,wmv,bmp,gif or tga) in the game directory, you don't need to tell MXM what file to load as the screenshot.
Post by: hevnbnd on December 20, 2002, 09:15:00 PM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 20, 2002, 10:55:00 PM
| QUOTE (hevnbnd @ Dec 21 2002, 12:15 AM) |
| well i got the images to work when i put <Media>Madden2002\MXM_SS.png</Media> in the file instead of <Media>MXM_SS.png</Media> Not sure why putting the directory made it work but oh well. My music however is not working still i used plus and converted two different mp3s to wma files plus only has an option of 96kbps but it records them at 44000khz instead of 48000khz could this be causing my music problems? any other way to get them to the file type. any other ways to get an mp3 to wma. Thanks |
Oh.... the entries are relative to the path of the 'source' config file. If you specify in the MXM.xml file, and the image is in the game directory, you'll have to specify the directory (because it's relative to the MXM directory). If it's in the MXM_Entry.xml file, which is in the game directory, you specify the image file relative to that game directory.
AS for the WMA, I convert using WinAMP2... I use the WMA output plugin - just checking, it was set to 44100khz/96kbits/stereo, so that's cool.
I'll have to check the local directory stuff. There still might be a problem with that (it's very messy in the code right now) and I'll make sure it's adding the tunes to the soundtrack info for the menu.
Post by: BenJeremy on December 20, 2002, 11:31:00 PM
If there's no soundtrack, the music doesn't play, not even the 'local' soundtracks.
Not sure what's happening, but my virgin Xbox I just got today exhibited this behavior.
Try copying a tune to your Xbox's soundtrack using the MS dashboard and see if that jogs things for you.
Post by: hevnbnd on December 21, 2002, 01:02:00 AM
Post by: BenJeremy on December 21, 2002, 09:07:00 AM
| QUOTE (hevnbnd @ Dec 21 2002, 04:02 AM) |
| Ok quick question. My menu loads the mxm with the clouds in the background and goes no further. Does the <DefaultTitleDelay>20</DefaultTitleDelay> have to be the same in both the MXM_Skin.xml and the MXM.xml? |
TitleDelay (Not DefaultTitleDelay) controls the time the title screen is up. The Sky and logo is the 'init screen', used when loading up the skin info and such.
If it's locking up after the sky and logo,you are probably missing the font file.... there should be a \Media\Font16.xpr file under MXM.
If that's there, then you must have a problem with one of the skins. Make sure there's a "DefaultSkin" directory with the contents from the bin rar.