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Howard_Casto:
You know it's funny. Back in the day when I used to make these things I was constantly stuggling to add as much stuff as possible. Now that I'm "out of the game" and I've taken a step back I realize it was a colossal waste of time, at least visually. The amount of games (via a gamelist or graphical representation) that can be shown on the screen at once and how smoothly it can be displayed is FAR more important than the type of blending effects and animations it can display on the screen at once.
As you said, the key is getting as much displayed on the screen as possible without it looking like a massive train wreck.
I wrote a custom fe for my pacman cab last year that supports nothing but a snapshot and a title image (sort of like a marquee). Both image elements support animation and the transition from game to game is smooth. I've got more enjoyment out of this barbones fe than I ever did out of rd, lazarus or dk.
Hyperspin is easily the most impressive looking thing out there, but much like 3darcade and some of my eclectic works looking nice doesn't always make for good navigation.
I also think one of HS's major flaws is it's reliance on flash animations, which I talked about ages ago when it first came out. Because they are full screened I would imagine that it would be a major pain in the butt to adapt them to another theme. So yeah, you can do a custom theme, but you have immediately lost all of those great animations that makes hyperspin, hyperspin. Even if you do alter the main theme a little you might not be able to do something as simple as change the color scheme. Why? Because all of those great animations were made with the default colors in mind... you make run into contrast issues.
Dazz:
As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator.
Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet. There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all. They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.
I agree that some themes might overdo the animations. I will sometimes modify a theme and remove the animation based on my personal preference.
Seriously, take a few minutes and download our HyperTheme. Find some artwork, or heck take artwork from your favorite them from another FE. Drop them into our theme creator and see how easy and basic you can create a theme. There are a couple HS theme creation tutorials online as well.
Heck, give me a link to your favorite theme from another fronted and I'll create something very comparable. It would be fairly easy to take a Mala theme and convert it for use in HS.
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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.888922,-96.768292
Howard_Casto:
--- Quote from: Dazz on January 24, 2012, 04:19:59 am ---As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator.
Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet. There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all. They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.
--- End quote ---
I don't think you got what I was talking about.
Let's say I do create a new theme.... well those hundreds of flash animations created for the mame theme aren't going to look right... so I can't use em. If I want fancy animations for each game then I'm going to have to make my own or tweak the exists ones... manually..... thousands of them. If I don't use the flash animations then what I've got is basically every other fe out there. If that is the case then what is the point of using HS?
I don't think that the way HS is setup is bad at all and I do NOT think you should change it... that's what makes it special. My only point was HS is definately not for everyone and I can understand why some choose not to use it.
Dazz:
--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on January 24, 2012, 05:07:08 am ---
--- Quote from: Dazz on January 24, 2012, 04:19:59 am ---As I have stated before; Hyperspin can be as basic or as complex as you want it. The animations are done at the discretion of their theme creator.
Nobody has really taken the time to create a good minimalist type of theme yet. There isn't any reliance on flash animations at all. They are there if you want them, but you don't have to use them. Anything from the transitions between games to the exit screen can be modified. If you want a simple fade transition between games it can be done.
--- End quote ---
I don't think you got what I was talking about.
Let's say I do create a new theme.... well those hundreds of flash animations created for the mame theme aren't going to look right... so I can't use em. If I want fancy animations for each game then I'm going to have to make my own or tweak the exists ones... manually..... thousands of them. If I don't use the flash animations then what I've got is basically every other fe out there. If that is the case then what is the point of using HS?
I don't think that the way HS is setup is bad at all and I do NOT think you should change it... that's what makes it special. My only point was HS is definately not for everyone and I can understand why some choose not to use it.
--- End quote ---
I guess that's what I'm confused about and something I've been trying to get a clear answer for since the very begining. People have asked for less of "an assault on the senses" or "subdued" themes in the past and I'm not quite sure what they mean by that. I'm assuming that they mean no flash animations or special transitions and make it look/act like other FE's.
Also, I guess I'm confused as to what flash animations you are talking about... There are several different kinds of animations that can be used. Some of the themes are completely animated such as our Moon Patrol theme. These themes take talent and experience in flash to create. Of course someone with no flash experience isn't going to create a theme as elaborate as this one.
Some themes might have animated characters that were done in flash. Yes, these animations are normally done for that specific theme. Again, these are more advanced themes and of course editing them would require skill.
Then you have our canned, or built in, animations. These can be seen here. These are the most widely used animations on themes.
These are simple animations that anyone can do just by using our theme creation program, HyperTheme. It really is just a matter of selecting the image and applying the animation style to that layer. The theme editor also allows for the editing of existing themes, so if you don't like one of the canned animations or think another animation would look better it can be changed fairly easy without much experience. If you don't like the throbbing game title, then edit the theme, select the game title, remove or change the animation settings, and then save the theme.
Don't worry... HS isn't going to be changed. It's going to stay special and become even more special with the next update. We just want people to know that themes can be made to be however you want.
I wouldn't mind knowing why someone wouldn't choose not to use it... I can see where people with machines less than 3 years old. We all know that a Pentium 1 w/24mb of memory wouldn't run it. I also see where some people would be turned off with the current Navigation scheme. If it's not for the themes/animations, then what's keeping some from using it?
Seriously, I don't benefit from people using HyperSpin or not in any way. Donations go straight to Bill, the creator of HS, and I've never seen a single penny of it. I just think that it's a quality product with a great community backing it and pride myself on our users excitement.
Howard_Casto:
Well if you take away all the fancy animations and such, what you have is a fe that has a fairly iffy backend, high resource requirements, questionable navigation and a complex setup. A ton of fes have this problem. It is impressive enough visually that if you like the looks of it you'll put up with these minor annoyances, but if you don't care for the default theme, there isn't any point in bothering.
In terms of the asthetic problems with the main theme... that video you just upped about gave me a seizure. ;) It is a beautiful, expertly crafted flash animation. One that unfortunately is too jarring a transition between it and a simple list. Notice how the snapshot... the only thing that is important in that whole screen is barely noticable. Form is great, but you need function as well. The primary things displayed on the screen should always be the games artwork, the gamelist and relevant game info. Animations are cool and enhance things quite a bit, but they should never distract from the actual data.
Also there is a factor of theme cohesion. All the custom flash animations for HS are completely unique and lack any visual cues, transitions or color schemes to tie them all together. When I think "animated theme" I think just that.... the theme itself should be animated. There might be an animated background... the game artwork might move around or be textured on something interesting.... you might even get a very unobtrusive sprite or animation related ot the current game when idle, but the entire theme should remain as a whole unchanged and any game specific elements you do introduce should never overpower, much less completely override the main theme. That doesn't mean you are limited to one theme of course. You can have a different theme for each gamelist which I know HS can do. The thing is that the current flash animations, particularly the custom ones, are so overpowering that it feels like the whole theme gets changed every time you select a different game. That's just a bit much.
So no people aren't saying to ditch the animation and transitions, they are saying to make them tasteful. ;)
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