XBMC KAI new features for CVS 14th November 2004

Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 3:39 am

In addition to a number of fixes, here is a list of new Kai features now present in the XBMC CVS on the 14th Nov 2004:

New Features

'Auto-Play' from harddrive

Configure your games directory in the Kai settings screen
e.g. f:\games

Now whenever you're in an arena, clicking the 'Play' button will automatically launch the associated game from your harddrive, provided it is located in a sub-directory of the one you specified in the settings screen. If no matching game can be found, you'll be prompted for the game disc as before.

'Kai Toast' notifications

Whenever one of your buddies signs in, sends you an invite or tries to start a voice chat with you, you'll get a pop-up message to inform you. This works even while watching a movie. By default this feature is enabled, you can disable it in the Kai settings screen.

Network Status dialogs

XBMC will now provide helpful error dialogs; if there is a connection issue with your PC, your XTAG and password is wrong or you've simply lost connectivity, you'll know about it.

'My Avatar'

Your avatar and XTAG nick are now displayed on-screen.

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Notes

Modes

There are 3 modes in XBMC's Kai screen, Friends, Games and Arenas.

* Friends lists your contacts.

* Games lists *only* the games that you own / or have played on your XBOX that are compatible with XLink. If there are any games you think are missing from this list, please contact the XLink moderators who maintain this list.

* Arenas list all XLink supported games, arranged by platform, genre and title.

Voice Chat

XBMC supports SPEEX voice chat over Kai. This means that with a headset (XBOX Live communicator) plugged into your controller, you'll be able to speak to all your buddies (contacts), whether they're using a similarly-equipped XBOX or PC. Headsets are relatively cheap and are supported in a lot of multiplayer games - so add to your enjoyment and invest in one.

For the moment you're limited to talking with your buddies, but in future we hope to bring you voice chat with other players in private arenas.

Invites

If you spot one of your buddies online you can send them an Invite, simply choose a game, and if you like, customise a personal message. They'll get a pop-up notifying them of the invite which they can read and easily accept.