MameWah layout Q- transparency stuff

[Brad Lee]

Im checking out mamewah here at work so I havent dug too deeply into the layout designer yet(stupid work keeps interfering, go figure)

I started with a copy of the classic 800x600, just as a starting pointto try out a few things. What I did try to do quickly though was add Artwork#2 to the layout, in roughly the same area as the game list. I tried all the combinations of transparencies for the artwork#2 and the game-list, but it seems everytime that the artwork object was "on top" and I couldnt see the game list through it. I know its there 'cuz the 2 items werent exactly lined up and I could see the beginning letters of the gamelist poking out from behind the left edge of the artwork

Is there a trick to deciding what order things get drawn in? Im trying to visualize this as in photoshop, where each item would be a layer- if the game list layer is on top of the artwork layer, and the gamelist layer has transparency youd be able to see the artwork behind it.(or am i way off heh?)

Like I said Ill be checking all the options and samples out later, this is just kind of a head start question

THanks


edit- had a thought.. Is the object transparency only relative to the background? Are the relative "on top" positions always gonna be the same order as in the display objects/main form list?

[Howard_Casto]

If mamewah supports tranparencies then it's news to me.

[Brad Lee]

Hrmm, its in the layout designer, under Object Properties

Was thinkin it'd be nice to over lay the game name, mfg, and year over the bottom 1/4 or so of the screen shot, but it blocks out things seemingly arbitrarily. Doesnt look liek theres a way to say an item should be above or below another

[Minwah]

That is actually a bug Brad, I have fixed it tho (one of only 2 tiny things I have done since the last release  ).  There is still no way to tell it an order as such, but it assumes that you would always want the games (or options) list on top.

It's only transparent labels HC, not transparencies like you can do  

[Brad Lee]

Ok cool.. see thats weird though, cuz Artwork#2 was definitely on top of Game List
Anyway, as far as ordering, heres the last 3 items out of a .lay file.. I assume these are a static order, and they seem to be in the same order as whats in the Display Objects/Main Form list

Code: [Select]

False
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System
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True
False
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Now I may not have the right break points but it should be close to this.. What if when it wrote the .lay file, it added tags

Code: [Select]

[Game List]
False
 0
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System
True
False
 9.75
 2
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 0
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[Artwork #1]
True
 1
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System
True
False
 9.75
 2
 0
 558
 800
 20
[Artwork #2]
True
 1
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 16777215
System
True
False
 9.75
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 20
I dont know how hard this would be or what youre capable of, but what about a dialog like this, instead of the list with checks thats currently there:

(thats from the column select in outlook express) When saved, it could just write the file in the order of that list, and when it's rendered, it could use the tags- for example in that second bit, GameList would be drawn, then Artwork#1, then #2

Anyway just kickin around thoughts.. I was monkeying around with it and different skins for different emu's last night and I'm likin' it

[Minwah]

Well, I think that would be a bit pointless to be honest, because nobody would ever want a games list behind an object (why would you not want to see the games list?), so I can assume that is always on top.  Also, nobody would ever want overlapping 'Artwork' images because apart from looking a bit naff, it would be terribly flickery when moving through the games.

I think the next release will sort this out OK for what you want - email me if you really want it, it will be a long time until the official release  

[Odonadon]

I could be wrong, but I think what he's trying to do is add a bit of a "fog" or "mist" over the game listing (thanks to an appropriately transparent image).  That'd actaully be really cool.

OD

[Howard_Casto]

I don't wanna butt in... but you'll have to use dk or kymera for that.  You can even make it animated....  One of my first tests of the new engine was to make an "underwater" skin.  

[Minwah]

I could be wrong, but I think what he's trying to do is add a bit of a "fog" or "mist" over the game listing (thanks to an appropriately transparent image).  That'd actaully be really cool.

OD

Oh right, in that case Howard is right, you'd have to use a different FE to do that (Howard created DK almost for this very reason I believe...the way he 'used to do it' is the way I still do   )