DK JR Inspired MALA Layout ...I need Feedback......

[mike boss]

One of many I did, I thought I would share.
The Donkey Kong Jr moves from left to right, the bird falls from top to bottom.
The font is included and is very "cartoonish."

Long and short of it I found it was just easier to use the white background for transparency sake.
Any ideas,comments,suggestions are all welcome.



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[mike boss]

Went back to the drawing board and revised this a lil.
I'm much happier with this result.
The file with fonts is available for download.
EDIT - Like the 1st layout this also features the dropping bird & moving Donkey Kong Jr text.



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[mike boss]

Opinion question,

for the bottom right image I have two versions of this layout saved.
One with DK + Jr on his back, or the DK JR image from the sideart for the key.
Which makes the better image ?

[loadman]

I like the key  

I felt a bit silly when I first downloaded it, as I am set up on this test development MaLa rig as Horizontal Layouts. I thought the layout was busted until I changed to vertical orientation.  

Nice one:  

Would limiting the scrolling range be something you would use?  (If I added the code to do it?) ??

Also, Is there any reason you just used snaps and not video?  If scrolling speed was the issue you can set an extra delay on videos so it won't load until you stop scrolling for a while.

A typical use is you have a snap window that is overlayed by the video after a delay

[mike boss]

I gotta tell you I'm having a blast making these layouts.
Took me a while to get something I liked, and a ton of reading, but in the end I am happy.

With respects to video I didn't (don't) use them because I don't have them. Nor do I know where to get them.
I'm sure if I had them I would use them.

With respects to limiting the scroll area, %100 I would use that.
My original idea in my head was only to have the "Donkey Kong Jr" text move slightly.
Just enough to give the layout some life and some interest.
Again to provide a depth to the layout.
Had I been able to just move it slightly up and down, or left and right, or combo of both I myself would have.

So could be something for the next version.

What do you think of the layout ?

[loadman]

With respects to video I didn't (don't) use them because I don't have them. Nor do I know where to get them.
I'm sure if I had them I would use them.

There is only one place worth looking.

EmuMovies
http://emumovies.com/forums/index.php

With respects to limiting the scroll area, %100 I would use that.
My original idea in my head was only to have the "Donkey Kong Jr" text move slightly.
Just enough to give the layout some life and some interest.
Again to provide a depth to the layout.
Had I been able to just move it slightly up and down, or left and right, or combo of both I myself would have.
So could be something for the next version.

I will attempt 

What do you think of the layout ?

Nice... Fresh

[mike boss]

Thanks loadman !
I'm loving the program.
I'm happy with my layout, got the loading part disabled, and configured MAME (in part).
I've got all the artwork elements disabled, and the games now play in the proper orientation.
Now if I can disable the game info, I'm ready to ROCK N ROLL!

Thanks

[mike boss]

I see a few downloads of the layouts, any comments, ideas, suggestions would be welcome.
I have a few I'm working on should anyone be interested.
One is Street Fighter, the other based on 8 bit sprite images.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

More, please - oh and if it's not too much work could you post videos for the layouts so we can see what they look like including animations before downloading them - THANKS. Keep up the good work! 

[ivwshane]

Looks great!

I don't have time right now but I definitely have some plans to utilize this feature.

One question though. If mala doesn't support transparent gifs then how did this one work?

[mike boss]

In MALA itself when you select the "transparent" option it looks @ the pixel in the bottom left.
What I do is add my image to a background color, say orange for example. To minimize the pixelly (real word?)
look I make sure my background is the same color as the color selected.
This way as the images move they dont have the jagged edges. Unless they overlap with something they look flawless.
The newest layout I'm working on will have nothing that intersects, and if I can figure out the timing, the animations themselves
will not touch. (I HOPE)

In this layout the "falling bird" was added to a blue background, the bird itself had no blue in it.
That same blue was used as the background color for the layout.

[mike boss]

Here is my newest WIP. You can see arrows on the layout that illustrate which direction an item will go.
I'd like to create 4 moving animations on this layout.
HOWEVER any area along the path of a moving item will have no art,text,or anything.
I'm trying to avoid the jagged pixel look, so everything will be in the center area.
(That area will not have any move items interfere with it.
Does it look like too much dead space ?

Any feedback,advice,suggestions all welcome.
Thanks



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[mike boss]

Just to show you when you dress it up how it could look.
Still nothing is in the path of the moving images.



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[ivwshane]

Thanks for the info! I forgot about the single pixel reference to ignore that color.

[loadman]

Working on enhancements now