RetrAO Cafe

[SNAK3ATER]

6 hours ago, bostonkris34 said:

Hi, I'm in love with this theme - thank you for creating it!

Quick question, ideally, I'll show my various platforms, and then when I click into it, I'll show genres as default (vs. games list). Is it possible to customize it to do that? For example, when I load it up and select Arcade, I'd love to show Action / Fighting / Shooters on the left vertical wheel. Can that be done? I couldn't figure it out in the Options settings to remember that view.

Thanks again, terrific theme!

I'm glad that you're liking this theme and would love to help you but can you elaborate more please? some illustrations and visual aids would help me understand better but i'll take whatever you can brief me with

I believe each highlighted game has metadata info about it in most of the views including information about its genre (See example below):

If you're referring to a specific view please let me know and i'll see what can be done from there

1 hour ago, jaceroni said:

Fantastic theme, @SNAK3ATER . Thank you so much for sharing it!

Would you happen to have some time to point me in the direction of adding a bezel frame effect/PNG overlay to the video themes? It's a similar overlay that's seen in RocketLauncher's bezels, where the beveled black frame wraps the viewport during gameplay. I've tried adding the bezel frame to the 'wheel1-alpha.png' but it just blends into the video theme. I feel like that's due to the masking that's being done on that layer.

I've attached a mockup of what I'm going for.

Thanks in advance!

Actually in my upcoming update for RetrAO Cafe 1.7 I have included a couple of bezel frame overlays and also different video filters for users to choose from but I like the bezel frame above, can you share with me the png file of the frame so that I can test it from my side? Btw here is a sample of the new features in the upcoming update that includes new bezels, filters, VHS timer and effects, etc:

Keep in mind that these pictures are dated back to 2017 and since then I have added extra features and removed ones that didn't work so the final update is subject to changes as time goes

[jaceroni]

46 minutes ago, SNAK3ATER said:

Actually in my upcoming update for RetrAO Cafe 1.7 I have included a couple of bezel frame overlays and also different video filters for users to choose from but I like the bezel frame above, can you share with me the png file of the frame so that I can test it from my side? Btw here is a sample of the new features in the upcoming update that includes new bezels, filters, VHS timer and effects, etc:

Keep in mind that these pictures are dated back to 2017 and since then I have added extra features and removed ones that didn't work so the final update is subject to changes as time goes

2

 

Oh, this sounds fun! I can't wait to try it out.

Is it possible to overlay the bezel frame in the current theme? If not, I can wait for your next release

I've attached the bezel frame PNG I had in my mockup.

[SNAK3ATER]

57 minutes ago, jaceroni said:

 

Oh, this sounds fun! I can't wait to try it out.

Is it possible to overlay the bezel frame in the current theme? If not, I can wait for your next release

I've attached the bezel frame PNG I had in my mockup.

I tried your bezel and here's how it looks in this theme:

Try the following code in Wheel 1 view under "Fullscreen Background Video, with static effect..." (See attached picture):

<Image Name="CRTBezel" Source="pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Themes/RetrAO Cafe/Images/Etc/CRT-Shader1.png" Stretch="fill" RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode="HighQuality" Panel.ZIndex="5" />

 

Place your bezel frame at RetrAO Cafe--->images--->Etc subfolder and rename your png file to "CRT-Shader1.png"

 

Hope this helps you 

[jaceroni]

47 minutes ago, SNAK3ATER said:

 

Hope this helps you 

Worked like a charm! Thanks so much!

[SNAK3ATER]

Hello everyone it's been a while since I was active on the themes development scene but it was for a good reason; I finally managed to complete RetrAO Cafe 2.0 (Sort of, see my notes below) after more than 10 months of ongoing theme development on this project

 

RetrAO Cafe 2.0 is a major overhaul and upgrade to this theme and it certainly is my most complex and ambitious work to date, it includes more than 70 new user-customizable features and adds more than 6 new views and also tweaks to existing views from RC 1.6

 

Some of the new views could work as a separate theme on its own but I decided to compile them all into one major theme, there will also be RetrAO Cafe Lite version that offers similar experience but will be light on system resources

Here is a video showcasing the new update in action: (please ignore the occasional stutters as they are caused by the recording app )

 

A couple of things to note with regards to the release of the official RetrAO Cafe 2.0:

1- RC 2.0 uses assets from NewRetroArcade for various views as the theme is inspired by the 80's and 90's atmosphere of Arcades from a bygone era.

2-   The theme has a new wall game view (Shown on the video above at minute mark 2:05) that is inspired by @skainlurmis New Retro Big Box Theme, this view uses platform banner assets from @skainlurmis to create a view that changes based on the platform system chosen similar to how @eatkinola's Nostalgia theme behaves. The default platform view uses @vice350z .psd file so all credits go to them and you can say that this view is a continuation of their amazing work. The official release may remove this view alltogether as i've yet to get their approvals on using some of their assets on my theme.

3- The horizontal wheel view 2 (Shown on the video above at minute mark 10:18) is inspired by @CriticalCid's CriticalZone and @keltoigael's CityHunter Horizontal wheel views. The view is another variation of their existing setup but with layouts reorganized and RC customization features added to suit this theme. I hope they do not mind that I add another variation while crediting them, otherwise the official release may have to rework or remove this view alltogether if I did not get their approval.

4- The theme uses @eatkinola's AO Themer Plugins for introducing various features such as Dynamic Video Backgrounds (VideoLooper) so huge thanks goes to him for making some of the exciting features possible on this theme.

 

Hope you like the new major update and feedbacks are welcomed!

[kriscraigs]

Once again, this looks awesome!!! Any idea when it might be available to download? Really appreciate your hard work on making Big Box themes better and better for all of us. Quite decent of you

[SNAK3ATER]

33 minutes ago, kriscraigs said:

Once again, this looks awesome!!! Any idea when it might be available to download? Really appreciate your hard work on making Big Box themes better and better for all of us. Quite decent of you

Thanks @kriscraigs and the theme is almost ready, the only thing left is to apply DPI fix to support different resolutions as the theme was built for 4K resolution and finally i'll have to work on documentations as there are more than 70 customization options that people can play with in this theme and also I have to make sure everyone gets credited.

The theme release window shall be between this coming weekend or next week give or take depending if I manage to get all the approvals  for using various assets from the parties involved 

Cheers!

[kriscraigs]

Makes sense! I'm using your awesome theme as-is to run my X-Arcade setup on a 4:3 CRT. I haven't mastered the nuances yet (trying to find a nice playlist view that works for the setup I created) but will happily wait for your next version and then optimize that instead. Thanks again for the hard work!

[CPT_CHAOS]

Any updates on the upcoming release date? Sorry I am just so impatient - cannot wait to try it out!

[daddu3]

Dunno where you've gone, but bit of a problem I'm dealing atm with this theme - no matter what I do, I'm not able to remove the scanlines from the Vertical Wheel View 3:

 

 

 

 

Any idea what might be going on?

[SNAK3ATER]

21 hours ago, daddu3 said:

Dunno where you've gone, but bit of a problem I'm dealing atm with this theme - no matter what I do, I'm not able to remove the scanlines from the Vertical Wheel View 3:

 

 

 

 

Any idea what might be going on?

Hello, I'll try my best to help you but I would require a copy of your AOStyle.xaml file and vertical wheel view 3 file (I believe it should be "Wheel3GamesView.xaml" file that you're referring to) in order to better assist you.

[SNAK3ATER]

Just a heads up guys i'm planning on releasing a major update for this theme and just waiting for final touches before releasing it. 

This upcoming update will be my most complicated work yet as I have been working on RetrAO Cafe 2.0 for more than 6 months and I have added over 70 customization options and more than 5 new views as well as overall theme overhaul on my existing views.

Since this update have been in a long development period some bugs are bound to happen that I might have overlooked. Therefore, i'm also looking for some beta testers for RetrAO Cafe 2.0 as it was built for 4K displays and currently I have no access to other resolutions such as 720p and 1080p displays to test theme compatibility (and possible bugs).

If anyone is interested in beta testing the theme please let me know and also state on which resolution(s) are you using the theme for 

[daddu3]

3 hours ago, SNAK3ATER said:

Hello, I'll try my best to help you but I would require a copy of your AOStyle.xaml file and vertical wheel view 3 file (I believe it should be "Wheel3GamesView.xaml" file that you're referring to) in order to better assist you.

Dropped here. Also glad to see you're alive.

Wheel3GamesView.xaml

AOStyle.xaml

[SNAK3ATER]

1 hour ago, daddu3 said:

Dropped here. Also glad to see you're alive.

Wheel3GamesView.xaml

AOStyle.xaml

Here you go @daddu3, hope this fixes the scanline issues:

Wheel3GamesView.xaml

[alnyden]

21 hours ago, SNAK3ATER said:

Just a heads up guys i'm planning on releasing a major update for this theme and just waiting for final touches before releasing it. 

This upcoming update will be my most complicated work yet as I have been working on RetrAO Cafe 2.0 for more than 6 months and I have added over 70 customization options and more than 5 new views as well as overall theme overhaul on my existing views.

Since this update have been in a long development period some bugs are bound to happen that I might have overlooked. Therefore, i'm also looking for some beta testers for RetrAO Cafe 2.0 as it was built for 4K displays and currently I have no access to other resolutions such as 720p and 1080p displays to test theme compatibility (and possible bugs).

If anyone is interested in beta testing the theme please let me know and also state on which resolution(s) are you using the theme for 

I'd be happy to beta test the theme in 1080p.

[daddu3]

19 hours ago, SNAK3ATER said:

Here you go @daddu3, hope this fixes the scanline issues:

Wheel3GamesView.xaml

Working swell! Thanks for help!

[SNAK3ATER]

On 8/26/2018 at 7:25 PM, alnyden said:

I'd be happy to beta test the theme in 1080p.

i'll PM you soon the beta with installation instructions 

[kaichou]

On 8/25/2018 at 10:51 AM, SNAK3ATER said:

Just a heads up guys i'm planning on releasing a major update for this theme and just waiting for final touches before releasing it. 

This upcoming update will be my most complicated work yet as I have been working on RetrAO Cafe 2.0 for more than 6 months and I have added over 70 customization options and more than 5 new views as well as overall theme overhaul on my existing views.

Since this update have been in a long development period some bugs are bound to happen that I might have overlooked. Therefore, i'm also looking for some beta testers for RetrAO Cafe 2.0 as it was built for 4K displays and currently I have no access to other resolutions such as 720p and 1080p displays to test theme compatibility (and possible bugs).

If anyone is interested in beta testing the theme please let me know and also state on which resolution(s) are you using the theme for 

RetrAO Cafe is my favorite theme.  Been a little bit since your last post (that I can find).  Any updates on this 2.0 theme?

[Kredian]

Is anyone having parsing errors since the 9.4 update to LaunchBox?  This is the error I am getting.

Just curious if you have found a workaround for this.  I noticed that this theme has not been updated since 2017.  

[SNAK3ATER]

On 1/16/2019 at 4:14 AM, kaichou said:

RetrAO Cafe is my favorite theme.  Been a little bit since your last post (that I can find).  Any updates on this 2.0 theme?

The release of RetrAO Cafe 2.0 got pushed back due to the recent changes in BigBox Engine that were introduced with Launchbox 9.5

I'm currently working with Jason and eatkinola on fixing the 2.0 theme and getting it back to the working state it was before LB 9.5

We will post an update on the progress of RC 2.0 soon hopefully so stay tuned! 

On 2/14/2019 at 7:17 PM, Kredian said:

Is anyone having parsing errors since the 9.4 update to LaunchBox?  This is the error I am getting.

Just curious if you have found a workaround for this.  I noticed that this theme has not been updated since 2017.  

The parsing error above is due to the recent changes with the Styles folder and the Bigbox engine that were introduced with the release of LB 9.5

Moving forward there will be three versions of the RetrAO Cafe theme:

RetrAO Cafe Classic - This will be the 2017 theme build but with the fixes to make it compatible to LB 9.4+ updates. This build will be released first for current users to enjoy until the development of RC 2.0 is complete.

RetrAO Cafe 2.0 - This major overhaul of the theme have been in development for 2 years and includes more than 70 customization options and new features and views, etc. I hope it will be worth the wait.

RetrAO Cafe Lite - This version of the theme is intended to use light resources for weaker systems and special hardwares such as GPD Win and Pi systems. The development of this theme will continue after the release of RetrAO Cafe Classic and RetrAO Cafe 2.0

 

Hope this helps for anyone who's wondering about the status of this theme and I will keep you posted with the development progress of the 3 builds RetrAO Cafe soon