eatkinola
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Posts posted by eatkinola
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I've not yet done anything like this. The plugin api lets you add a menu item to the System or Game text menu, but I do not see where it let's you add to the Options menu. Anyway, in the OnSelected method of ISystemMenuItemPlugin, for example, could you have it unhide a panel in the current view? -- the problem is that ISystemMenuItemPlugin is not associated with a particular view, so it would not have a reference to that panel, so that approach might not work.
I wrote a IGameMenuItemPlugin to display the PDF manual within BB. What it does is popup a window. Perhaps you could have your menu item do something similar -- pop up a window that would let the user interact with your control. It'd be nicer if it could integrate in BB more without having to popup a window, but I'm not sure how to do that.
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Oh the agony! It's like telling your kids hey let's go for ice cream after school, and all they think about all day is ice cream...
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2 hours ago, damageinc86 said:
So can we just use the plugin on any theme?
Sure, as long as the theme designer incorporates the plugin into their theme. Once it shapes up a bit more, I'll post the plugin for anyone to download and use however they want. CityHunter is based off CriticalZone, so you would have to talk to @keltoigael and @CriticalCid about incorporating this plugin design element into their theme. It's totally up to them; they may or may not be interested. Every theme has its own design goals.
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1 minute ago, keltoigael said:
To quote Cid, I also do all my edits in Notepad++, I have never been able to setup VS17 correctly for whatever reason but I find its pretty easy to open up NP++, make quick changes, launch bigbox, repeat.
So I'll third that. Even plain old notepad works fine. There's no need to compile a theme, so no compelling reason to use VS for theming. I only use VS if I'm working on a plugin.
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Here are a few shots from the games view. The background changes based on the platform of the selected game. The wheel fades in over the game details when in use. There is a title over the wheel in the various games and platform / category / playlist views to help keep you oriented. The platform / category / playlist view is very similar and displays details such as games completed, average star rating, etc. I'll make corresponding text-based views for the games and platforms; those will have a look similar to the options, mashed up with some views from Minimal-AOX.
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It's coming along nicely I think. Always the occasional work to refine the video engine, but @CriticalCid has been helping test so I think we have most of the bugs worked out. Aside from that, the layout is going well. It's actually a pretty simple theme; going for the quality over quantity approach. Hope it pans out! I'll try and post some screen shots later.
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On 9/12/2017 at 10:33 AM, Strubdog said:
I get the following error. Could you tell me what the cause of this is? thanks
Looks like the image carbon_fiber is not found where the OptionsPage xaml is looking. The error message is telling you this.
In other words, this looks like a bug in the theme.
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3 hours ago, Zombeaver said:
Since the one face is built into the background image, I thought perhaps this was just the only version for this screen that you had available. In case that's true, I went ahead and did my own quick edit of it.
Yes, and while I'm decent with photo editing I'm not that great. Thanks for the background edit. I agree it's much nicer without the face elements (though I was a little fond of the graffiti face). I'll use your bg edit when I make an update.
3 hours ago, Zombeaver said:Secondly, I think both this screen and the one with the TV are begging to have some dust particles composited in. Something like this. If adding it as a separate layer isn't doable (I know absolutely zero about XAML mind you), I'd be happy to do a composite render that I assume could be used in place of the static image.
That's a great idea. I can simply layer the particle video with some transparency. It'll consume some extra cpu cycles but should work fine. It would likely be more resource friendly if overlaid as an animated gif.
PS. I've been planning to come back to this theme and make an update, plus have a few views to add. I've been sidetracked by work on another theme and some plugin controls, including a video engine @CriticalCid has done a phenomenal job helping me debug and refine. Once I finish, I'll pull some of those design elements back into Epoch09.
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Did you put font files in a subfolder within your project called Fonts?
1 minute ago, shinra358 said:What about having the font read from the folder without hiding it in the dll like an image file would be read? Possible?
I don't think that's possible. Tried that first but was unable to get it to work.
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2 minutes ago, shinra358 said:
Am i supposed to have this at the top?: xmlns:aop="clr-namespace:Ao.Bigbox.Plugins;assembly=Ao.Bigbox.Themer"
No, you don't need that at the top. When you created the library, did you mark the fonts as resources within the project? Aside from that, I can take a look at your project file and theme if you want to pm them to me, but I can't do that until next week cause I'm away.
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2 hours ago, shinra358 said:
Is the fnt name supposed to be the name of its file or the actual name of the font?
The actual font name, i.e., the name you see when you double click on the font file and the pop-up gives you an option to install it.
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10 minutes ago, shinra358 said:
3 files in the bin folder. ClassLibrary1.dll, .pdb, .xaml. Why aren't they named what I named it and do I have to copy all 3 files?
You can name the library using the project properties dialog. You just need the dll file.
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3 minutes ago, shinra358 said:
Did everything else in the list. But how do you do this (it's vague and doesn't tell you how): '1. In Visual Studio 2017, create a Class Library (.NET Framework).' ?
Create a new project in VS. Make it a Class Library project.
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On 5/11/2017 at 7:55 PM, eatkinola said:
Quick HOWTO on creating font resource libraries. This prevents user from having to install fonts separately. I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but this works for me. Before you bundle a font this way, please make sure you're not violating the font license. I only use fonts that are free to share and use in other projects. Note: you can also bundle image and resources this way if you wanted.
1. In Visual Studio 2017, create a Class Library (.NET Framework).
2. Give it a name like Ao.Bigbox.Epoch09 (whatever you want).
3. Create a subfolder in the project called Fonts (not necessary but keeps it organized). See attached screenshot.
4. Copy your font files into this Fonts folder -- just drag and drop the font files from windows file explorer directly into the Fonts folder in VS.
5. In VS, highlight these font files and make sure they are all tagged as Build Action = Resource. You can multi-select and change multiples at a time.
6. Build your library (DLL) using Release mode (debug works fine too, but just make it Release).
7. Find your DLL in the VS projects folder, e.g., D:\Users\Evan\Documents\Visual Studio 2017\Projects\Ao.Bigbox\Ao.Bigbox.Epoch09\bin\Release
8. Copy this DLL into the Plugins folder of your theme (available in LaunchBox 7.10-beta-5).
9. Reference the font resources like I did in Epoch09. Good to go! No need to have users install fonts separately, just copy your theme to LaunchBox\Themes.
NOTE: Be sure to use the proper font names in your XAML. The font files themselves can be called anything. Click on the font file in windows explorer to see what it's name really is -- this is how you must reference it within XAML. Please do checkout how I do this in Epoch09 views. Also, please note these refs don't seem to work within the Styles file, so you have to place these refs at the top of each view that uses a particular font. If you find a better way, please let me know.
^^ from earlier in this thread. Be sure to check Epoch09 (or other themes that use this approach) for an example of how the fonts are referenced in XAML.
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4 hours ago, LukeArio said:
Sorry, @Jason Carr, but my issue still persists
Can you verify this also happens with the default theme? E.g., choose default theme, quit LaunchBox, then restart and try it out. You'd want to make sure it's not related to a plugin used by a theme, e.g., there is a video bug in my plug-in I'm working on fixing.
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Ran into some problems with the video engine I wrote to support this theme; added support for VLC which should remedy those. Finished the platform cutouts and most of the views. Phew!
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Totally, what neil said. Nice job with the persistence and figuring that out!
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Also, in the meantime maybe try another theme like Fundamental. It's a shot in the dark, but just for kicks.
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I agree with @DOS76 it does sound like a scaling issue, but yours is set at the default. Hmm. What version of Windows are you running?
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Hi welcome to BB and the forums! It'll depend on which theme you're using. Please provide the theme name and a screenshot of the problem so the community can better help you.
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6 minutes ago, zengeek said:
That's a brilliant approach, as sharing it as a plugin to the community will enable them to enhance their own themes, great move!
Thanks! Yeah, I'm interested in seeing what other theme designers do with it.
6 minutes ago, zengeek said:When do you aim to have an initial release out?
Should be within the next month, sooner if I can manage.
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Those views are looking very nice. What if you faded in the entire view, e.g., the grid or other element that is housing the background and all controls? Then, you could avoid having to fade to black and avoid worrying about temporary blocking of input. You should be able to add this fade-in animation without changing your other animations, though you'd have to find something to bind it to as a trigger...
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Any way you could upload a video showing what it looks like? It might help us kick around some ideas.
How To Move Launchbox Cache To SSD (Tutorial)
in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)
Posted
Yeah, I think at this point the whole idea of tiptoeing around your ssd is overblown. I say use'em if you got'em. Just don't keep critical data on an SSD (or hdd) without a proper backup. Anything will crap out eventually.