Wheel and Video Settings
Wheel settings control which entries appear, how artwork moves, what HyperSpin selects when you enter a system, and which video plays on the systems wheel.
Set global values under Settings > HyperSpin > Wheel in HyperHQ. Press M in HyperSpin and open Wheel for quick changes while viewing the frontend.
Linux displays and media
Set display resolution, rotation, and scaling in your Linux desktop first, then select the output in HyperHQ. Check window placement again after reconnecting displays.
Match artwork and video filename case on Linux. Keep external media drives mounted at the saved path. For cabinet login sessions, separate main and marquee outputs require the supported KWin route; the Gamescope fallback exposes one display. See Linux displays.
Where settings apply
HyperHQ stores the global wheel settings. A system or collection uses those values unless you assign an override.
Open a system in HyperHQ, then select Wheel Settings. The following options support per-system values:
- Position, Wheel Style, and Artwork Type as one custom wheel preset
- Return to Last Game
- Start on Random Game
- Hide Games with No Wheels
- Hide Games with No Themes
- Hide Missing Games
- Dynamic System Intro Videos
Select Inherit to follow the global wheel preset or define a Custom preset for the selected system. The other per-system options use On, Off, or Inherit. A system override takes priority over the global setting.
Position
Position places the wheel on the left, center, or right. Wheel Style controls the path and direction.
| Wheel Style | Available positions |
|---|---|
| Curved | Left or Right |
| Straight | Left, Center, or Right |
| Angled | Left or Right |
| Horizontal | Center |
| Coverflow | Center |
| Case Coverflow | Center |
| Flat Coverflow | Center |
| Fan Coverflow | Center |
HyperHQ disables incompatible positions. HyperSpin shows a lock beside Position when the selected style requires Center.
Wheel Style
Wheel Style controls wheel layout and motion.
| Style | Result |
|---|---|
| Curved | Bends a vertical wheel along the selected side. |
| Straight | Uses a straight vertical wheel on the left, center, or right. |
| Angled | Tilts a vertical wheel on the selected side. |
| Horizontal | Moves items left and right through the center. |
| Coverflow | Shows angled box or cart artwork around the selected item. |
| Case Coverflow | Shows a 3D case with front, spine, and back faces. |
| Flat Coverflow | Shows box or cart artwork in a flat horizontal strip. |
| Fan Coverflow | Fans 3D case artwork around the selected item. |
Changing styles preserves the current position and artwork when the combination is supported. HyperHQ selects a compatible value when the new style requires one.
Artwork Type
Artwork Type selects the media shown for each wheel item. HyperHQ uses Wheel Logo for the classic logo option. The HyperSpin menu uses Clear Logos for the same artwork.
| Artwork Type | Result |
|---|---|
| Wheel Logo or Clear Logos | Uses transparent game or system logos. |
| Artwork Card | Places artwork in wide rectangular cards. |
| Pill Artwork Card | Places artwork in rounded pill-shaped cards. |
| Box Art | Uses portrait box artwork. |
| Cart Art | Uses cartridge or disc artwork. |
| Box Spine Case Art | Uses front, spine, and back case artwork. |
Curved, Straight, Angled, and Horizontal support every artwork type except Box Spine Case Art. Coverflow and Flat Coverflow support Box Art or Cart Art. Case Coverflow and Fan Coverflow require Box Spine Case Art and lock the Artwork Type control.
Opening Position, Wheel Style, or Artwork Type from the HyperSpin menu starts a live preview. Select a value to save. Press Back to discard the preview.
Missing media falls back through HyperSpin's media resolution rules. Review media paths and downloads when a selected style shows blank or repeated placeholder items.
Visibility filters
Visibility filters remove entries from the wheel. They do not delete games, ROM files, themes, or artwork.
| Setting | On | Off | Fresh install |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hide Missing ROMs | Removes games whose ROM file is missing. | Lists games even when the ROM path is unavailable. | On |
| Hide No Themes | Removes games without a game theme. | Lists games with or without themes. | Off |
| Hide No Wheels | Removes games without clear-logo artwork. | Lists games with or without clear logos. | Off |
Hide No Wheels checks clear-logo media, even when Artwork Type uses box or cart art. Leave this filter off if you want box art to represent games without logos.
Use loose filters while importing and testing a library. Turn filters on after ROM and media audits finish. HyperSpin refreshes wheel visibility after a filter changes.
Appearance and fade behavior
Grayscale Wheel
When on, HyperSpin renders clear logos in grayscale and restores emphasis around the selected item. When off, logos retain their source colors. The setting affects clear-logo artwork, not box, cart, card, or coverflow media.
Grayscale Wheel starts on for a fresh install.
Wheel Opacity
Wheel Opacity sets the resting opacity after the wheel settles. Wheel movement brings the wheel to full opacity. After the fade delay, HyperSpin fades the wheel back to the selected percentage.
- Range: 10 to 100 percent
- HyperHQ step: 1 percent
- HyperSpin menu step: 5 percent
- Fresh-install value: 10 percent
Use a low value when the wheel should move behind theme artwork after browsing stops. Use 100 percent to keep the wheel fully visible.
Wheel Fade
Wheel Fade sets the pause between wheel movement ending and the fade to the resting opacity.
- Minimum: 0 seconds
- Step: 0.5 seconds
- Fresh-install value: 2 seconds
- No upper limit
A value of 0 removes the added pause. The fade animation still runs.
Navigation options
Disable Controls Inversion
Horizontal wheel layouts normally remap wheel movement and letter-jump actions to match the new orientation. Turn Disable Controls Inversion on to keep the original actions after the orientation changes.
Leave this setting off when you want directional input to follow the visible wheel. Turn this setting on when cabinet wiring or an established control layout must keep the original actions.
Skip Main Menu
When on, HyperSpin opens the only system or collection directly if the main menu contains exactly one entry. Back from the game wheel stays at this new top level instead of showing a one-item main menu.
The setting has no effect when the main menu contains two or more systems or collections. Reload HyperSpin after changing this value.
Favorites and Recently Played
When on, HyperSpin inserts Favorites and Recently Played at the start of each system wheel. Each entry opens a filtered subwheel for the current system.
When off, those two subwheels stay hidden. Existing favorite flags and play history remain stored. Reload HyperSpin after changing this value.
System entrance options
These settings choose the selected game when you enter a system.
| Return to Last Game | Start on Random Game | Result |
|---|---|---|
| On | Off | Selects the last launched or selected game for the system. |
| Off | On | Selects a random visible game on each entrance. |
| Off | Off | Uses the normal first wheel selection. |
The two options are mutually exclusive. Enabling one disables the other. If old data holds both as on, Start on Random Game takes priority.
Fresh installs use Return to Last Game on and Start on Random Game off.
Per-system Inherit values resolve from the global settings. When both inherited and explicit values create a conflict, HyperHQ turns off the non-selected entrance option before saving.
ROM variant selection
ROM variant selection changes the launch flow only for games with more than one launch choice.
| Mode | Result |
|---|---|
| Off | Launches the primary ROM variant directly. |
| Variant Wheel | Opens a temporary wheel containing the available launch choices. Select one to launch. |
| Variant Menu | Opens a centered list of available launch choices. Select one to launch. |
Games with zero or one alternate launch choice follow the normal launch flow. Off is the fresh-install value.
Theme and system video options
Backgrounds Instead of Themes
When on, HyperSpin shows the selected system or game background and suppresses real themes and video themes. System and game logos, metadata, and other frontend controls remain available.
Use this setting for a simpler presentation or while checking background artwork. Turn the setting off to restore normal theme playback.
Dynamic System Intro Videos
When on, HyperSpin uses dynamic system intro videos built from game video snaps on the systems wheel. A system-level setting overrides the global value.
When off, HyperSpin uses only Video Snaps - System media for system videos. Use this mode when each system has a prepared intro file.
Reload HyperSpin after changing the global or system value so cached wheel media resolves again.
Apply and test changes
In HyperHQ, select Save Changes. Open or reload HyperSpin, then test the main menu and one system wheel.
Changes made from the HyperSpin menu are stored when selected. Layout previews are the exception, use Back to discard a preview.
Check these items after changing wheel settings:
- Move in both directions and test letter jump.
- Enter and leave a system twice.
- Stop on an item and watch the opacity after the fade delay.
- Select a game with multiple ROM variants.
- Confirm missing ROM, theme, and logo filters against a known game.
Common problems
Position or artwork is locked
Horizontal and coverflow styles keep Position at Center. Case Coverflow and Fan Coverflow also require Box Spine Case Art. Select Curved, Straight, or Angled to use a side position. Select a non-case style to change Artwork Type.
A game disappears after changing artwork type
Turn off Hide No Wheels. This filter checks clear logos, regardless of the selected artwork type. Also check Hide No Themes and Hide Missing ROMs.
The wheel looks invisible after movement stops
Raise Wheel Opacity. The fresh-install value is 10 percent, so the resting wheel becomes faint after the fade.
Controls move in an unexpected direction
Review the selected orientation and Disable Controls Inversion. Off follows the visible orientation. On retains the original action mapping.
A system opens on an unexpected game
Review Return to Last Game and Start on Random Game at global and system levels. Start on Random Game takes priority.
System videos do not change after saving
Reload HyperSpin. Dynamic System Intro Videos changes media resolution and invalidates the wheel media cache on the next load.
Backgrounds instead of themes
Turn on Backgrounds Instead of Themes under Settings > HyperSpin > Wheel for a simpler browsing layout. HyperSpin shows the selected background and suppresses full themes and video themes.
- Video Snap Delay sets how long the background appears before each available video snap, from 1 to 300 seconds.
- Video Snap Audio selects Audio On or Muted.
- Video snaps fill the background area.
Test the delay with a game containing a local video snap. These settings control background-mode playback, separately from a video layer authored inside a theme.