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 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.
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.