Review: Nexgen Dashboard 16.02.04 Build Beta 2, Lastest Build Review Options

[neo-dilly]

neXgen Dashboard 16.02.04 Build BETA 2 Review by neo-dilly
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Disclaimer: This review is based on my personal opinion and no one else's. I will not be biased by saying this dash is better than any other dash.

Layout/Skins
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The skin that came with neXgen at the moment is very basic. 3d meshes at the moment capable of basic color overlays. Colors used fit well except some color clashing in the Games, Apps, Emulators, Skins, Minigames menus. The orb needs to be looked at and the soundtrack text needs to be truncated after so many characters so it doesn’t clash with the text, some system info text clumped together so it’s unreadable. The sounds that are used are good, but need to be different as they are the same as the M$ Dash sounds, also the use of sounds in the dash is buggy, sounds are missed in the main menu when scrolling too fast and sounds are not used everywhere in the dash. With the lua scripting engine that is used in neXgen you can do quite a lot with the skins, but not all functions of the lua scripting language have been put in yet.

Configuration
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In this build they have (mostly) moved from nexgen.cfg to nexgen.xml. The new nexgen.xml makes configuring neXgen so much easier. With the IP addresses configurable and passwords changeable it makes FTP easier. Options to enable/disable Xenium support and more. The only snags is that the nexgen.cfg is still being used for certain functions and the configuration error in the neXgen.xml which is provided.

FTP/HTTP Server
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You can now configure the IP to be using with your Xbox and DHCP support has been added which makes FTPing with neXgen easier. The FTP server is still buggy though, 5-6 mb per second average transfer rate. Only things that bring it down is the (confusing to some people) drive names, such as EXTENDED, STORAGE etc and also the memory leak in neXgen which makes the FTP run like rubbish when transferring large files (after a while). The HTTP server is great, its functional, shows quite a bit of data about your xbox, allows you to Open/Close Tray, Shutdown/Reboot your Xbox. The only problem with the HTTP server is that it is a little bit slow (I’m not too bothered about that).

Functionality
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Annoying memory leak which eventually dries up your Xbox’s RAM and causes it to crash. Allows you to configure Xbox A/V settings. Clock configuration doesn’t work yet. Launches xbe’s correctly. The auto xbe listing function works well but there is no alphabetical order. Background music plays great but the randomization of tracks needs to be worked on. Also default settings need to be added if there is a configuration error which locks it up. A good near constant 50 fps throughout the dash (I’m PAL). New info added to the games menu which makes it slower .

Cool stuff to mention
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They have included a cool 3d pong mini-game, which plays well. The great thing is that you can write your own mini-games as it is written in the LUA scripting language.

Conclusion
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Nice dashboard which is early in development. Simple but still buggy. Can be used as your default dashboard, using it as your default dash is NOT RECCOMENDED for newbies.

Overall Score: 5/10


neo-dilly
Team Xboxopensource (this is not biased in anyway shape or form)

[Dunny]

nice review, Im going to take a look at this release as soon as I have the time.

[bucko]

Thanks, added the review to www.mark-buxton.co.uk (my Console Modding site, new domain soon). Ta, w/credit of course .

[LESTAT]

ill state what neo-dilly did

this is my opinion its not yours,,

Nexgen has been 1 and only one thing,, the neXtolast dashboard i will ever use,,
the coding is below everything else out there except the abondoned xboxOS dash.
this dash has never worked for me, simply because it would not run as an application, which is absolutely stupid for ANYONE to do when installing a new dash. Meaning it REQUIRED you to install it in the root of C or E,, stupid stupid stupid.
from what ive seen of personal and forum problems with this dash,, im not sure who;s coding it, but, the person(s) has a vERY vErY long way to go before they will ever get nexgen anywhere other than the recycle bin.
very poor dashboard, poor coding, i mean look, the newest buld wont even boot because of what ? a missing or bad line in the xml i mean seriously,, i said it with the last build ill say it with this one,, who the hell is testing this thing before they half ass release it to the public i mean come on people. fine they caught the problem but for something liek that to even go out the door.,sheesh!

stick with evox, unleashX mxm and Avalaunch. unleashX which came out of thin air was a PERFECT release (there were some who had issues,, but they were so minor it was not a problem to fix it), nexgen which has been around,, well since the beginning,, right ? has not worked or if it did it was nothing but bugs and quickly got deleted.

i dont see this version as any better than the last.

stick with what works, and trust it.

[HoRnEyDvL]

Well this line was missing not sure y tho as the zip i have here which was uploaded 2 xbins has the line in it so not sure we are not forcing you 2 use this dash but there afew selection of people that like to use it.

[Dunny]

I cant get it working.

[SpOoK]

Hi Dunny,

looks like your using an old build there.

The new cfg file should just look like:

[Dunny]

just double checked the version I downloaded (Nexgen 16.02.04 Build)

downloaded it again and its not like that? You may want to checkout the version thats been posted there.

This post has been edited by Dunny: Feb 19 2004, 06:58 PM

[discworld]

WOW!!!
MINI GAMES!!?
Thats an excellent, original feature for a dashboard...wow!

Although its very obviously in its early stages, neXgen is coming along brilliantly.
I've tried all the versions on xbins after I read this, and its dramatically improved over a few versions, and once some nagging faults (like memory leakage) are fixed, we'll have ourselves a dash worthy to contend with unleash x!


GOOD LUCK!!!

[SpOoK]

Dunny,

I'll get the build thats been submitted and check it out and if it's incorrect then i'll package a new 1 and get that put up in it's place ASAP.

Update 19/02/04:

The build posted in "The Usual Places" is not correct. I have re-packaged it and it will be uploaded later. The file name will be "neXgen_16-02-04 Fixed.rar" This update should correct the problem with the Xenium OS reboot.

Sorry for any problems this may have caused people.

Please could all users leave as much feedback as possible and let us know of any problems you encounter.

Thanks also to discworld for the feedback and support we are aware of the mem leak and are getting round to looking at whats causing it.

Thanks again and sorry for any problems this may have caused.

Update 2 -- 20/02/04:
neXgen_16-02-04 Fixed.rar --> uploaded to "The Usual Places". please let us know how you get on with this release.

This post has been edited by SpOoK: Feb 20 2004, 09:05 AM

[legueux]

Hi,

Great Job, this time the Xenium-Os is displayed but with the new XeniumOS v1.1 and the Instant Boot feature there is a little problem.

In fact, if the Instant Boot feature is selected, when you select Xenium-OS in neXgen the Xbox reboot but because of Instant Boot it boot directly on default bios and not to Xenium-OS.

If Instant Boot is off it's ok.

[HoRnEyDvL]

Hehe yeah worked that bug out will have a new release 2 be compatible with new xenium os out soon.

This post has been edited by HoRnEyDvL: Feb 22 2004, 07:42 AM