I'm too tired to write a clever opening for this post. There. Now that that's out of the way, let me introduce Xeiso.
Xeiso is:
- A game console.
- An operating system.
- A bootable LiveCD.
- An intuitive interface.
- Open source.
Time to elaborate: it will be an Ubuntu-based system with a custom interface with the goal of making a fast-booting, open game console. I've been researching solutions for a few months now, and have been testing out various languages and methods, from C++/SDL, to Python/Pygame, and back to C++/OpenGL. But now I think I've finally found a compatible, fast development and fast running framework for the user interface: Python and Pyglet. Hey, if it can run an OpenGL ortho projection on a 1680x1050 screen at 60fps with minimal CPU usage, it's good enough for anything.
I'll stop blabbing for a few minutes while you watch this video:
That's the basic interface. Keep in mind that that demo is relatively old; the current revision is varied quite a bit. But that's the gist of how it runs: everything, from games to controller options, is configured and controlled via this "slider" interface. It's intuitively simple: if an arrow appears on the screen, you can press that arrow on the keyboard to go there. Allows for blind and quick motions. Like it? Cool. Hate it? Great. Suggest an improvement on Launchpad or in the comments.
A lot of the meat is under the screen - there is a rather extensible packaging system that allows for anything to be run from Xeiso. In the latest revision (17) there is a basic Neverball package, though currently Neverball must first be installed. "Hey - if this is to be an APT-based distro/system, why not use dpkg?" Good question. Because in the future I'm hoping to support downloadable content - and remember we're looking for a fast-booting system - "xpackages" are being used. It's basically a tarball and module system, meaning that packages can be dynamically loaded into memory at boot from an external device without much delay.
Some planned features:
- LiveCD:
- Fast booting: "Boot to X in 10 seconds or less." Likely? Not for a while.
- Ability to use the host HDD or an external device as a "memory card" to store game save data, additional XPackages, boot configuration, etc.
- Automated CD build system (near completion)
- Install to system w/ GRUB
- Partial install: Copy most of the files to the host device, and chainload it from the CD to speed up boot
- XPackage:
- Ability for banners, small animations that load on a preview screen (almost done)
- Content distribution system for downloading games (still researching)
- Patched games to support a freeze menu to reset, configure controllers, etc. (designing)
- Controllers:
- Mouse/Keyboard, Wii remote, Joystick
- Key customization
- Multiple players
Working code is available on Launchpad. It's still under heavy development, so if you make a feature branch expect it to be 99% incompatible within a day. I'm not currently looking for any main developers - as I said it is being worked on at a fast pace and things can't easily be coordinated. (I'm having trouble keeping up with my own documentation!)
In the future, though, I'll be looking for:
- Packagers - work with XPackages and patch games.
- Graphic artist - I'm not too creative.
- Someone good with audio. Can't have a game console without sound! Mostly creating/finding tracks/sound effects for the UI.
Again - don't contact me about getting involved with development yet - you will be able to soon.
