Hacking WiiFlow Lite

[kaisersozeh]

Wiiflow has a lot of great features, so many that not all are very well documented. The only thing missing for me would be a way to search the database by keyword.

Its all about easy interface file management - some emulators have hundresd of games - i have masses of music and podcasts, tv boxsets, documenteries, film, internet radio - there's shedloads of everything! - Wiiflow is a bit clunky and ludicrously hard to set up - i think thats where integration with wiixplorer comes in - Firstly path management, no one is going to add that in and wiixplorer can already do it well.
But with a bit of wiixplorer, wiimc+ love, wiiflow can as a pretty front end for finding and playing your stuff.

 

[tswntk]

OFF TOPIC

Its refreshing to find other people who appreciate the potential the way I do- I can't even tell you how many forums/threads/etc couldn't understand what I was trying to do. "Whats the point of getting around without a sensor bar if you need the sensor bar to play games?" Because not everything I intend to do is a game. Also, not every game needs a sensor bar.

...but I digress. And apologize. I'm going waaay off topic now! LOL

ever thought of setting up multiple sensor bars (one for each seat)? I have one original sensor bar on the top of my HDTV and made a short (8cm) USB powered senor bar on my computer monitor so that I can play with Wii/Dolphin where/whenever I wanted. That way you won't have to limit yourself with certain games/homwbrews

 

[dishe]

Wiiflow has a lot of great features, so many that not all are very well documented. The only thing missing for me would be a way to search the database by keyword.[

OFF TOPIC



ever thought of setting up multiple sensor bars (one for each seat)? I have one original sensor bar on the top of my HDTV and made a short (8cm) USB powered senor bar on my computer monitor so that I can play with Wii/Dolphin where/whenever I wanted. That way you won't have to limit yourself with certain games/homwbrews

I did, but after not using one for a while I realized how much I actually dislike the user experience navigating with one. I actually took this setup and applied it to my home Wii as well, because it's just faster and more efficient to get anywhere you wanted to go.

Games that need it, I hear that. The thing is, in a moving car, it's difficult to hold the pointer still with any sort of precision. It's not a good experience and not needed for games that are fun on a road trip (like Mario kart). Maybe some of the party games would be cool, but still challenging in a car. Especially if there are multiple sensor bars for each person to aim at. #confusing

My goal was never to have a "Wii experience in the car", because that's not a reasonable thing to expect. The Wii was designed to be used a certain way and most of their games follow that expectation. I'm making a car entertainment system that happens to be based on Wii hardware.

 

[DaTank45]

I'm just throwing this out there but I really don't know much about this. If the wii recognizes other controller like gamecube, pro controller ect... could a program be written to trick the wii into thinking the wii mote is one of these controllers? Sorry if this is stupid lol. Just trying to help

 

[dishe]

I'm just throwing this out there but I really don't know much about this. If the wii recognizes other controller like gamecube, pro controller ect... could a program be written to trick the wii into thinking the wii mote is one of these controllers? Sorry if this is stupid lol. Just trying to help

That's beyond what is possible in homebrew applications- it could be done via hardware, but again, I ask WHY?! Its not like the whole pointing thing is any good outside of a living room setup, and if in one, just use a sensor bar!

 

[DaTank45]

That's beyond what is possible in homebrew applications- it could be done via hardware, but again, I ask WHY?! Its not like the whole pointing thing is any good outside of a living room setup, and if in one, just use a sensor bar!

So you could use the D pad to navigate the menu just like the other controller does

 

[kaisersozeh]

Are the b images used in the source menu off by default?
I've been using the small flow and I may have changed it without realising, bit even though images named<plugin>b are specified in the source menu ini, the yellow framed b images aren't showing.

 

[fledge68]

Are the b images used in the source menu off by default?
I've been using the small flow and I may have changed it without realising, bit even though images named<plugin>b are specified in the source menu ini, the yellow framed b images aren't showing.

i believe the b images are the image displayed when you hover the pointer over the button. the yellow color border doesn't stand out very much. there also the images used when using source menu in multiselect mode. they are not used in sourceflow.

 

[kaisersozeh]

i believe the b images are the image displayed when you hover the pointer over the button. the yellow color border doesn't stand out very much. there also the images used when using source menu in multiselect mode. they are not used in sourceflow.

I have very different b images, but the menu icon doesnt switch to the b image - is there an ini entry i need to check?

 

[fledge68]

I have very different b images, but the menu icon doesnt switch to the b image - is there an ini entry i need to check?

ooops i remember now the images whose name end in s are the hover images. the b images in Abz's pack i think are just alternative images you can use if you want.

 

[dishe]

So you could use the D pad to navigate the menu just like the other controller does

Right, so I guess what I was trying to say is that the regular menu is just a lousy experience. Even if I could use the arrows or had a joystick available to move it around like a trackball, my point is that I wouldn't want to. Its not a good way to do things, and its very confusing and difficult especially for younger users who may not have their older siblings to help launch a video or game.
Using WiiFlo to make a D-pad friendly UI is so good, in fact, that I decided to use it in my home wii setup as well. It actually takes less time from boot-up to launching the application/game/title/etc versus the stock wii interface. I'd be happy to never see that interface ever again!

 

[fledge68]

NEW RELEASE - Wiiflow lite v4.4.0 r1136

download - https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiiflow-lite/?source=navbar

changes:
-fixed changing gamecube games directory and path.
-changed selecting nands type. now only use one source button or the channels.ini plugin for nand channels. goto config settings pg3 to change the nand type - real, emu, or both. this setting will stay that way till you change it. if using old source buttons they will both function the same.
-added homebrew plugin ini. so now theres wii, gamecube, channels, and homebrew plugin ini files to put in wiiflow/plugins folder and then you can use the plugin select menu as a source menu. you can also add their magic numbers to source buttons and combine them with plugins.
-added support for quakegx mod plugin by oibaff6 and args support added by wiimpathy.

quakegx mod plugin link - coming soonhttp://dommagemais.free.fr/progs/wii/Plugins/QuakeGX-plugin.zip
new r1136 extra plugins zip - https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiiflow-lite/files/plugins/wfl extra plugins r1136+.zip/download

 

[dishe]

NEW RELEASE - Wiiflow lite v4.4.0 r1136

download - https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiiflow-lite/?source=navbar

changes:
-fixed changing gamecube games directory and path.
-changed selecting nands type. now only use one source button or the channels.ini plugin for nand channels. goto config settings pg3 to change the nand type - real, emu, or both. this setting will stay that way till you change it. if using old source buttons they will both function the same.
-added homebrew plugin ini. so now theres wii, gamecube, channels, and homebrew plugin ini files to put in wiiflow/plugins folder and then you can use the plugin select menu as a source menu. you can also add their magic numbers to source buttons and combine them with plugins.
-added support for quakegx mod plugin by oibaff6 and args support added by wiimpathy.

quakegx mod plugin link - coming soon
new r1136 extra plugins zip - https://sourceforge.net/projects/wiiflow-lite/files/plugins/wfl extra plugins r1136+.zip/download

This is awesome! Thanks!
Particularly excited about the homebrew plugin! Truly great stuff!

Going to go try making a flow separated by category instead of source type, as suggested earlier. Now I have all the parts I need, I think!

Oh wait- one thing I haven't figured out yet: Is there a way to use B to switch to the next source menu option instead of showing the source menu? Like, I'm planning on having a flow for all games (wii, emu, nand, homebrew), and another for utilities and video players (non games). Instead of having B show the source menu, since there are only 2 options I'd like to just toggle between them.

 

[kaisersozeh]

You can specify a folder for homebrew other than root apps. If you put kid stuff there, you can have your maintenance apps on your usb and not removable sd, say, still accessible from the homebrew launcher.
If you point towards the bottom of the screen, options pop allowing you to click on the next icon. This behaviour might be trigger able by a key, via an ini settig.
This is pre source menu. If you rename your source menu folder, experimentally, you might see an array of 5icons corresponding to emulators homebrew nand gamecube and wii - you might be able to select between them without the pointer. Pressing b opens this menu. You can probably instigate this without removing the source menu folder, but you will probably still lose function.

 

[dishe]

You can specify a folder for homebrew other than root apps. If you put kid stuff there, you can have your maintenance apps on your usb and not removable sd, say, still accessible from the homebrew launcher.
If you point towards the bottom of the screen, options pop allowing you to click on the next icon. This behaviour might be trigger able by a key, via an ini settig.
This is pre source menu. If you rename your source menu folder, experimentally, you might see an array of 5icons corresponding to emulators homebrew nand gamecube and wii - you might be able to select between them without the pointer. Pressing b opens this menu. You can probably instigate this without removing the source menu folder, but you will probably still lose function.

Yes, I'm aware you can click that icon with the pointer to move to the next "mode", but like you said, this is different from the source menu and sort of supercedes it and everything I'm trying to do to combine sources. Not sure if there's a button mappable to it either. @fledge68 is thereta way to use a button to advance sources?

 

[kaisersozeh]

Ah, sorry if that came off patronising - It can be annoying being told something you already know. If I could draw your attention to the bit about a five way suite of buttons, it used to be related to the bottom bar bottoms, forgive my confusion. Anyhow - this might still be here if you take out the source menu stuff. Maybe. Perhaps that's something you already knew, better to be wiser though, don't you think?

 

[dishe]

Ah, sorry if that came off patronising - It can be annoying being told something you already know. If I could draw your attention to the bit about a five way suite of buttons, it used to be related to the bottom bar bottoms, forgive my confusion. Anyhow - this might still be here if you take out the source menu stuff. Maybe. Perhaps that's something you already knew, better to be wiser though, don't you think?

its ok, I appreciate the effort. Hopefully someone who knows more can chime in. Thanks.

 

[fledge68]

its ok, I appreciate the effort. Hopefully someone who knows more can chime in. Thanks.

no there is no option to just go to the next source but it sounds interesting for those with a small source menu.

And @kaisersozeh i removed the 5 source buttons that appeared if you didn't have a source_menu.ini. now if you don't have a source_menu.ini pressing b does not do anything. some people don't like the source menu so this was perfect for them.

 

[dishe]

no there is no option to just go to the next source but it sounds interesting for those with a small source menu.

Thanks! Is this something reasonable to ask in an update?

Also, one more Q once I have your attention: has there ever been a plugin for wiiMC? I found some threads where people tried to redirect the Mplayer plugin to the WiiMC dol, but it seems that it didn't work for some yet others claim it worked. Mplayer is OK but I find that it lags on some of the higher bitrate videos where WiiMC handles them fine, so I prefer WiiMC to be my media player. Also, WiiMC can remember where we were up to in a file and resume playback next time. I haven't seen Mplayer able to do that (unless I missed it?).

 

[fledge68]

Thanks! Is this something reasonable to ask in an update?

Also, one more Q once I have your attention: has there ever been a plugin for wiiMC? I found some threads where people tried to redirect the Mplayer plugin to the WiiMC dol, but it seems that it didn't work for some yet others claim it worked. Mplayer is OK but I find that it lags on some of the higher bitrate videos where WiiMC handles them fine, so I prefer WiiMC to be my media player. Also, WiiMC can remember where we were up to in a file and resume playback next time. I haven't seen Mplayer able to do that (unless I missed it?).

reasonable to ask? maybe

wiimc plugin - no. i don't remember why. i know it was talked about but for some reason it was never made into a plugin.