RetroHumanoid Cinematics & Refried Theme

[RetroHumanoid]

39 minutes ago, Ghostlines said:

@RetroHumanoid I hope you dont mind but I reworked a couple of existing themes to create new ones for this setup. I figured you made most of the major stuff so I'd work on a couple of nuanced themes. Mostly a SNES (PAL) theme that I saw someone request in this thread. I also did ones for the Nintendo Game Boy Player, GBA Video, and Nintendo iQue. Feel free to add those to your download list if you approve of them!

Also, if you or anyone else would like to create any, I'm still looking for themes to go with the Philips Videopac G7000, Philips Videopac+ G7400, Mattel Hyperscan, Capcom CPS Changer, Neo Geo X, Neo Geo Mini, N-Gage, NEC Turbo Express, PC Engine GT, and Sony PlayStation 4 (More of just a placeholder).

I will eventually get around to making them myself but with my work schedule right now, it makes it pretty difficult to find time.

Hope you guys find these useful!

Unified Refried - Nintendo Game Boy Player.zip

Unified_Refried_-_Nintendo_GBA_Video.zip

Unified Refried - Nintendo iQue.zip

Unified Refried - Super Nintendo (PAL).zip

I am glad to see someone working on additions to the theme...every bit counts towards covering every system and the help is much appreciated.

With that said,I would love to add these to the official list,and I would credit you in the description of course,but,there are a few things that I would change before then...

Nintendo Game Boy Player

*The Wario picture is the same one I used for Nintendo Game Boy...and each system needs a unique picture...even if it's wario but in a different stance.

*The "_Default - No Art" border needs to have the logo for the system as well,as that is the border that is used when box/cart art is displayed.

*Delete the Alts folder,or match the alts to the system

*A system picture with the actual Game Boy Player is preferred,but,not necessary

*All character art in the theme uses a drop shadow to give it more depth

Nintendo iQue

*Same as above with the drop shadow,the "_Default - No Art",as well as the Alts folder

*there are a couple loose pixel fragments in the video window where the preview displays

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (PAL)

*Same as above with the drop shadow,the "_Default - No Art",as well as the Alts folder

Nintendo GBA Video

*Same as above with the drop shadow as well as the Alts folder

*I do try to not have the character art run into the logo art,as well as not run off screen...for the themes anyways...so I would shrink the dog slightly (cool picture though)

 

Overall

*Each theme would need a Default border to go with the Unified Refried default theme as well..it has the border,with the logo on the top,and the system in the bottom left corner

*I would need any Logo and character art assets to make matching Platform videos,because people WILL ask for them...unless you wanted to do that yourself as well..either way is fine.

 

Please take this all as constructive criticism, and by all means none of these changes need to be made. If you choose to just go with them in the present state,and upload them separately,I can still link to your downloads through the theme comments section if you wanted me to.

Thanks for the work you have done!

[bundangdon]

@RetroHumanoid Hey, I really appreciate all of your hard work on this great theme and I hope that you don't mind that I've put together a variation which combines this theme, mixed together with the artwork from one of the bedroom themes as you can see in the photo below. However, my only issue is how to change the size and location of the artwork (video, box) to make it fit in and next to the television. I've tried to modify the code without any success. Can you point me in the direction to where these artwork locations and sizes can be changed? Thank you again!

Update: Okay, I figured out the video part and that's now taken care of However I'm still having trouble with the box artwork (location, size)

Edited November 24, 2018 by bundangdon

[Styphelus]

Holly Molly! What the...Dude...you have basically covered every theme and every system. They should just down the themes section of this site now. Nothing come close to this. I have no words other than well done! ?

 

[RetroHumanoid]

Next logical step right?....might take a while for every system though...

 

 

[Ghostlines]

22 hours ago, RetroHumanoid said:

I am glad to see someone working on additions to the theme...every bit counts towards covering every system and the help is much appreciated.

With that said,I would love to add these to the official list,and I would credit you in the description of course,but,there are a few things that I would change before then...

Nintendo Game Boy Player

*The Wario picture is the same one I used for Nintendo Game Boy...and each system needs a unique picture...even if it's wario but in a different stance.

*The "_Default - No Art" border needs to have the logo for the system as well,as that is the border that is used when box/cart art is displayed.

*Delete the Alts folder,or match the alts to the system

*A system picture with the actual Game Boy Player is preferred,but,not necessary

*All character art in the theme uses a drop shadow to give it more depth

Nintendo iQue

*Same as above with the drop shadow,the "_Default - No Art",as well as the Alts folder

*there are a couple loose pixel fragments in the video window where the preview displays

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (PAL)

*Same as above with the drop shadow,the "_Default - No Art",as well as the Alts folder

Nintendo GBA Video

*Same as above with the drop shadow as well as the Alts folder

*I do try to not have the character art run into the logo art,as well as not run off screen...for the themes anyways...so I would shrink the dog slightly (cool picture though)

 

Overall

*Each theme would need a Default border to go with the Unified Refried default theme as well..it has the border,with the logo on the top,and the system in the bottom left corner

*I would need any Logo and character art assets to make matching Platform videos,because people WILL ask for them...unless you wanted to do that yourself as well..either way is fine.

 

Please take this all as constructive criticism, and by all means none of these changes need to be made. If you choose to just go with them in the present state,and upload them separately,I can still link to your downloads through the theme comments section if you wanted me to.

Thanks for the work you have done!

I appreciate the feedback! I noticed a couple of the things you mentioned while I was converting my themes over to this one (Namely the Wario thing and the drop shadow). I kinda put the cart in front of the horse and went to see how accurately I could replicate your work so these were all made early on. I'll be perfectly honest with you, I'm a novice when it comes to graphic arts and I'm using Gimp so I'm just kinda learning as I go. I was on the fence about sharing them but I figured what the hell? If anything, people could use them as placeholders or someone with more experience will make better ones lol. I'm just happy to be able to help contribute.

With that said, I assume Photoshop and Gimp are mostly interchangeable in terms of settings? For instance, 50% drop shadow will have the same visual effect on both programs? I used a drop shadow on those but I didnt do it enough. What value did you input for the drop shadows? Also, any other advice, tips, or tricks that could help me make these closer to your work? I'll take some time over the next couple days and see if I can rework those some more. I'll reupload them when I finish them. 

[RetroHumanoid]

Done 16 systems so far today..sleep time now...but,here is a sample of a few I got done...

[angelobodetti]

Look great, is your theme working with the bested auto playlists? I thought I saw people, and Jason, posting it needs to be updated?

welcome back by the way!

[RetroHumanoid]

Just now, angelobodetti said:

Look great, is your theme working with the bested auto playlists? I thought I saw people, and Jason, posting it needs to be updated?

welcome back by the way!

Thanks!...It is working on my end..but,until he does an official release with the fix,and not just a beta release,I will not update the files in the download section. The reason being,that the current Big Box,for those that don't use beta releases,would break the theme with the changes implemented already. He should be updating the Official really soon though.

[RetroHumanoid]

3 hours ago, Ghostlines said:

I was on the fence about sharing them but I figured what the hell? If anything, people could use them as placeholders or someone with more experience will make better ones lol. I'm just happy to be able to help contribute.

This is exactly how I got started like 5 years ago!

3 hours ago, Ghostlines said:

With that said, I assume Photoshop and Gimp are mostly interchangeable in terms of settings? For instance, 50% drop shadow will have the same visual effect on both programs? I used a drop shadow on those but I didnt do it enough. What value did you input for the drop shadows? Also, any other advice, tips, or tricks that could help me make these closer to your work? I'll take some time over the next couple days and see if I can rework those some more. I'll reupload them when I finish them. 

I actually use GIMP most of the time as well...2.10.0 to be exact...but I keep older versions as well,to use for different features that they cut out.In 2.10 I just use the default drop shadow settings,also,using the Cartoon and Median Blur filters (In low amounts) can really make a picture look clearer than it originally was. In the color menu,play around with the Brightness-Contrast and Saturation settings as well..they can make the artwork pop when used in moderation.

[Ghostlines]

6 hours ago, RetroHumanoid said:

I actually use GIMP most of the time as well...2.10.0 to be exact...but I keep older versions as well,to use for different features that they cut out.In 2.10 I just use the default drop shadow settings,also,using the Cartoon and Median Blur filters (In low amounts) can really make a picture look clearer than it originally was. In the color menu,play around with the Brightness-Contrast and Saturation settings as well..they can make the artwork pop when used in moderation.

I'm currently using 2.8.18 and my default drop shadow is settings are different. Aight, now I'm motivated. I think I'm going to rebuild those themes from the ground up with this new information.

Also, on a somewhat different note, do you have a png file of the black transparency overlay that you use across the background that highlights the clear logo instead of using the pointer? I'm honestly not a fan of the blurred backgrounds for the collections theme so I was going to make my own. I've replicated it pretty faithfully but you have like a white fade effect on the top and bottom that I havent figured out how to achieve yet. I'll move on to making some of those for the community here soon too but I want to keep it consistent with your work.

Thanks!

[Ghostlines]

Alright, here's the reworked themes to your specifications @RetroHumanoid. I also included a general Unified Refried folder with the default theme art and background as well. The only theme that does not include that is the Game Boy Player theme. Mostly because that's a playlist and the background and default art will reference back to the GB, GBC, and GBA themes. I'll PM you the art assets for the unified vids too. I suck at making videos lol.

Unified Refried - Nintendo e-Reader.zip

Unified Refried - Nintendo Game Boy Player.zip

Unified Refried - Nintendo GBA Video.zip

Unified Refried - Nintendo iQue.zip

Unified Refried - Super Nintendo (PAL).zip

[RetroHumanoid]

Here is a sample sheet with 1 logo from a bunch of the other sets I have completed

 

[yelever]

Great theme.  Having some trouble with the add-ons not showing up.  Followed the instructions to the letter and just get the default.  I've included a screenshot of my themes folder structure just in case.

[neil9000]

2 hours ago, yelever said:

Great theme.  Having some trouble with the add-ons not showing up.  Followed the instructions to the letter and just get the default.  I've included a screenshot of my themes folder structure just in case.

Check that you unzipped them correctly, there should be files and folders inside them, if you have another folder with the same name inside them that is wrong.

[yelever]

49 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

Check that you unzipped them correctly, there should be files and folders inside them, if you have another folder with the same name inside them that is wrong.

Have checked them and all are unzipped correctly.  Would it be a setting in big box that I haven't changed?  I made sure it was set to  "Remember seperate view for each platform".

[Retro808]

57 minutes ago, yelever said:

Have checked them and all are unzipped correctly.  Would it be a setting in big box that I haven't changed?  I made sure it was set to  "Remember seperate view for each platform".

No setting needed. If there are unzipped correctly and placed in the Themes folder they will show in your options to be able to select. Can you share a pic showing inside a folder of one of the add-on themes?

[yelever]

7 minutes ago, Retro808 said:

No setting needed. If there are unzipped correctly and placed in the Themes folder they will show in your options to be able to select. Can you share a pic showing inside a folder of one of the add-on themes?

Here a pic of the Microsoft MSX add-on folder

[RetroHumanoid]

1 hour ago, yelever said:

Have checked them and all are unzipped correctly.  Would it be a setting in big box that I haven't changed?  I made sure it was set to  "Remember seperate view for each platform".

Just checking a few things here...

They are not showing up where exactly?...in the popup list when you press the hotkey to change themes,while in a platform game view?

If you set the hotkey,then while in a game view...atari 2600 for example...you press that hotkey and select "Unified Refried - Atari 2600" from the popup

Is this where the issue is coming in at?

 

 

[neil9000]

1 minute ago, yelever said:

Here a pic of the Microsoft MSX add-on folder

Have you set a key/button to actually switch themes while inside of a platform, and if so you are doing it there right, and not in the main platform wheel?

[yelever]

OK, that was the problem, I didn't have a key mapped to switch themes.  Sorry, very new to launchbox.  This is an awesome theme.  Thank you for the help.