What is HDmenu? At its core it is a menu system for launching hard drive adapted Atari ST Games or Demos on real Atari hardware. Though it will also run happily on emulators such as Hatari or Steem. Please note the menu runs in Low resolution and supports only Low and Medium resolution games. At this time the menu does not run on Monochrome displays.
But more than that it can display screenshots for each game and also has a built-in text file viewer for reading those game instructions or solution texts. Screenshots supported for Low and Medium resolutions.
It can also directly launch save states created with Ppera's HAGA/HAGE/HAG2 system games. The save states can be viewed and each show a screenshot of where in the game the save state was taken. Useful for remembering where in the game you left off!
Below is a flow graph of the basic operation of the menu system. Control is by keyboard cursors or with a joystick in Port 1.
The menu works on a database system specified through a plain text .CSV file. Pre-made CSV files can be used or each user can create their own.
Further, the user can select whether a game is a "Favorite" and the list can be filtered to show the entire list or only "Favorites".
The menu has a built-in screensaver with configurable trigger times.
Also, a music file can optionally be played in the background while you scroll through the entries. A built-in tune is included but an external file can also be played. Further, multiple music files can be placed in a "MUSIC" folder and selected at whim to play. An optional graphical vu meter can strobe in the top left of the screen displaying the volume levels of each of the 3 music channels.
The menu font can be changed to an external one of the user's choice.
WHERE CAN I GET SOME FONTS??? Here ya go...226 fonts ready to use. See end of post for the file. Just place the FONTS folder in the directory where the CSV file is. Press Shift-F3 to get a selection list. Fonts sourced from https://damieng.com/typography/zx-origins/ courtesy of Damien Guard free for use. Fonts converted to HDmenu format by myself.
The last game played can be remembered so that when restarting, it moves automatically in the list to the recently played game.
Categories can be created and each game can be assigned to a category. The list can be filtered by category to show, for example, only RPG or Dungeon Crawlers. It is up to your imagination for what you create.
A Game Info screen shows the entire database specifications for the game when defined.
A status bar can be enabled to show the total number of games in the list and items from the game's database specifications such as Control Type (mouse, joystick, etc), Memory Required, Number of Players, etc.
The menu is run from the AUTO folder and should be the first program there. At boot, the program allows bypass of the menu with a configurable key. Or, you can set the menu to boot to Desktop and use the bypass key to run the menu. It's really up to you.
The menu has "real-time" searching feature so that as keys are typed at the menu list or screenshot screen, the menu will "jump" to the matching entry. Useful when the menu has hundreds of games
.There are more features of course, the included README.MD file does its best to describe each in detail as well as the CSV database file construction.
WHERE CAN I GET THIS HDMENU??? Why right here of course
. For now, the program doesn't have a homepage so new updates will be posted here and on the other popular Atari forums.WHERE CAN I GET GAMES FOR THIS??? Well, the main sources are Ppera with his GAMEX and HAGA/HAGE/HAG2 adapted games and D-Bug with their ULS system games. Of course there are other sources for hard drive games and also demos can be run from the menu. Note that games/demos using the AES portion of the Atari operating system are not compatible unless converted to Ppera's HAGE system.
Ppera: https://atari.8bitchip.info/fromhd3.php
D-Bug: http://d-bug.mooo.com/
Klaz: http://www.klapauzius.net/ (thanks mikro for the heads-up and the link!)
WTH??? I RAN THE PROGRAM AND IT JUST SAID NO CSV FOUND AND EXITED??? Yes, the program is meant to be totally configurable so no CSV file is included. Follow the README to construct a CSV file or maybe some kind soul here will post a pre-made one!
Many hours went into the production of the menu system and I hope you find enjoyment from it. The code is based on the Atari ST Harddisk Menu from Paradize with kind permission from Simon Sunnyboy and the program has been rewritten/enhanced almost entirely from that start. Also, many thanks to the beta testers who were such a big help - DarkLord, JezC, Jordi aka "crashman", Mikerochip and of course Piotr "Kroll" Mietniowski. Big shout out!
Please feel free to post here or PM me with any feedback, suggestions or bug reports. I am a fellow Atarian and hope you find much usefulness from the program.
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