Dirk: modern FMV games emulator for Launchbox

[Karis]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm Karis, the author of several FMV games and Kimmy Script engine that powers several FMV emulators like Hypseus or Singe.
I've got a Launchbox PC arcade and i was frustrated by several things (like the fact that i needed to use a third party program to use the sticks) and i decided to create my very own engine. As it's working very well, i've decided to share it with you.

The idea
Make FMV games easier to play and easier to create. With Dirk, a game launches with just its movie, no command-line options. With the included Wizard, you can build a complete game from a movie without writing a single line of code.

Dirk (the engine)

Plays modern video directly: .mp4 / .mkv (H.264, H.265, VP9), up to 1080p, no conversion needed. Hypseus-style games (.m2v + .ogg) run too.
Settings are made in-game (Dirk Options) and saved per game: fullscreen, volumes, bezels, scanlines…
Subtitles (.srt) and several audio languages, switched live.
Controller setup from inside the game, with the gamepad alone.
Zipped games (.zdirk), several versions of the movie (4:3 / 16:9) chosen at launch.
Runs on Windows, Android (with or without pad) and also Batocera (PC and ARM) and ArkOS (R36S…).

Dirk comes with the new version of Kimmy Script, the Wizard, and a downloader which will allow you to play games in five minutes.
As i said there are no more bat files. So you just need to point to the .zdirk file in launchbox and the game will play. You don't need Joy2Key for your arcade sticks cause Dirk will recognise them and, in case of any problem, you can use the F9 key inside of a game to map everything.

KimmyScript 4.1
Games are now described in a simple, readable game sheet instead of pages of Lua code: levels, scenes, moves, deaths, menus. The pictures attached show the same game as a sheet and as the old Singe files, side by side.
Most of the KimmyScript 4.1 features should make their way to Hypseus too, in time.

The Wizard (create entire games just with a stick)
You open a movie, move through it frame by frame with the stick, and mark the levels, moves and deaths with the buttons. It can even find the levels and deaths by itself (black and silent gaps between them). The result is a ready-to-play game sheet. The video attached shows it in action.

https://mega.nz/file/gS4W0YwB#5loHZU-6qBrxW-kwLaglRVt7gIXNP7xvFG1M4AAqb-E

I’d be really happy to hear your feedback, questions and ideas. Thanks again!

Download page: https://github.com/Karishem/Dirk/releases#release-v1.0.0

 

Edited yesterday at 10:08 PM by Karis

[salofan]

Love it! Daphne/Singe/Hypesus has always been kind of a pain to set up and get working with LB ... love how straightforward and simple this is. Cheers. 

[Karis]

Thank you very much! It was my goal and i'm happy if it please people.

[Karis]

Please note that most Hypseus and singe FMV game are compatible (providing they use a "regular" Kimmy Script). If you rename the .singe in .dirk it will work. For m2v/ogg it will encapsulate them inside a mkv and launch (a bit longer for the first launch then). You can then  remove m2v/ogg.

Edited 4 hours ago by Karis