Retrotastic

faeran · March 1, 2019

17 hours ago, Belgarath said:

The only thing I didn't like about the new version is the missing marquee so if you can add it back to v2.0 that would be absolutely wonderful, thank you.

Here's a special download of Retrotastic 2.0 with the horizontal marquee in every view.

Retrotastic - 2.0 with Marquee.zip

Belgarath · March 1, 2019

Thank you @faeran just installed it and it's working a treat, very much appreciated!

faeran · March 1, 2019

6 hours ago, alnyden said:

Would it be possible to have a view with box art but no cartridge/disk below it?

Also, playlist question. I have one playlist (playlist A) that, when viewed in the text view, it changes the background to the platform of the selected game. Which is great! On another platform (Platform B) this doesn't work. I wonder if the difference is playlist A doesn't have a background made for it (so it uses the generic background) but the other does. At any rate, my question is, is there a way to have a playlist of different platform games switch to the background of that platform's game? Hope this makes sense.

Thanks!

R

It is definitely possible to have a view with just the box art. This would have to be more of a manual edit though, since I've already used up all the vertical game wheel views a theme is allowed. I'll give you 2 examples.

If you want to remove the disc from Vertical Wheel 2:

Edit Views\Wheel2GamesView.xaml and remove the following code

Spoiler


                <!-- Disc -->
                <Grid x:Name="CartImage" Style="{StaticResource GameCartProperties}">
                    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="80*" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="220*" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="30*" />
                    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <RowDefinition Height="1*" />
                        <RowDefinition Height="35*" />
                    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                    <aop:GameImage x:Name="DiscImage" Style="{StaticResource DiscKey}">
                        <aop:GameImage.RenderTransform>
                            <TransformGroup>
                                <ScaleTransform/>
                                <SkewTransform/>
                                <RotateTransform/>
                                <TranslateTransform />
                            </TransformGroup>
                        </aop:GameImage.RenderTransform>
                    </aop:GameImage>
                </Grid>
                <!-- Disc End -->

Then edit Style\RetrotasticDiscAnimations.xaml and remove the following code

Spoiler


        <!-- Game Disc Animation -->
        <Int32AnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(Panel.ZIndex)" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage">
            <SplineInt32KeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="197" />
            <SplineInt32KeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:16" Value="199" />
        </Int32AnimationUsingKeyFrames>
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[0].(ScaleTransform.ScaleY)" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage" AccelerationRatio="0.1">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="0"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:2.5" Value="0"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:3" Value="1"/>
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[3].(TranslateTransform.Y)" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage" AccelerationRatio="0.1" DecelerationRatio="0.2">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="0"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:3" Value="0"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:5" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY2}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[3].(TranslateTransform.Y)" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage" RepeatBehavior="Forever" BeginTime="00:00:20">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY2}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:1.8" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY3}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:16.8" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY3}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
             <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:18.6" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY2}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:33.6" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource GameCartY2}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>

        <!-- Rotate Disc -->
        <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="DiscImage" Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[2].(RotateTransform.Angle)" From="0" To="0" BeginTime="00:00:0" Duration="00:00:0.1" />
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[2].(RotateTransform.Angle)" Storyboard.TargetName="DiscImage" BeginTime="0:0:5.0"  RepeatBehavior="Forever" AccelerationRatio="0.2">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="0" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:15" Value="10800" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:33.6" Value="10800" />
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>


        <!-- Game Cart Fade Out -->
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0.2" Value="0" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0.9" Value="0" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:1.4" Value="1" />
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>

If you want to remove the cart from Vertical Wheel 3

Edit Views\Wheel3GamesView.xaml and remove the following code

Spoiler


                <!-- Cart -->
                <Grid x:Name="CartImage" Grid.Row="1" Grid.Column="3" Panel.ZIndex="200">
                    <Grid.RenderTransform>
                        <TransformGroup>
                            <ScaleTransform/>
                                <SkewTransform />
                                <RotateTransform/>
                            <TranslateTransform X="0" Y="0"/>
                        </TransformGroup>
                    </Grid.RenderTransform>
                    <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="80*" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="220*" />
                        <ColumnDefinition Width="30*" />
                    </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
                    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
                        <RowDefinition Height="50*" />
                        <RowDefinition Height="35*" />
                    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
                    <Image Source="{Binding Path=ActiveGame.CartFrontImagePath}" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1">
                        <Image.Effect>
                            <DropShadowEffect BlurRadius="25" Opacity="0.5" Direction="75" ShadowDepth="10" />
                        </Image.Effect>
                    </Image>
                </Grid>
                <!-- Cart End -->

Then Edit Styles\RetrotasticAnimationsBasic.xaml and remove the following code

Spoiler


        <!-- Game Cart Animation -->
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="(UIElement.RenderTransform).(TransformGroup.Children)[3].(TranslateTransform.X)" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage" AccelerationRatio="0.4" DecelerationRatio="0.2">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource CartMoveX}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:2" Value="{Binding Source={StaticResource CartMoveX}, Converter={StaticResource DimensionW3840Converter}}"/>
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:3" Value="0"/>
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>


        <!-- Game Cart Fade Out -->
        <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="Opacity" Storyboard.TargetName="CartImage">
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0.2" Value="0" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0.9" Value="0" />
            <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:1.4" Value="1" />
        </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames>

As far as the platform backgrounds. Looks like it's working as intended. The logic basically says this. If there is a background with the name of the playlist you are in, then use that, otherwise use the background for the platform of the active game, and if no platform background exists, fall back to the Retrotastic default background.

So if you want Playlist B to use platform backgrounds, then go into the Retrotastic\Images\Theme\Background folder and rename/delete the image of the playlist you don't want to see, and it should automatically default to displaying platform background images.

Vlaryn · April 1, 2019

I just installed the theme. Very cool. I do have an issue. When I am at my main wheel of systems and Arcade is selected I hear the audio of my video clips but no video. If I select that system I see each games video playing fine. Also is there a way to remove the scan lines from the video playback. I also have a bunch of modern games that never had scan lines.

Thanks

faeran · April 1, 2019

13 hours ago, Vlaryn said:

I just installed the theme. Very cool. I do have an issue. When I am at my main wheel of systems and Arcade is selected I hear the audio of my video clips but no video. If I select that system I see each games video playing fine. Also is there a way to remove the scan lines from the video playback. I also have a bunch of modern games that never had scan lines.

Thanks

Hi @Vlaryn. Your first issue with the video sounds more like a codec issue of some kind. Go into BigBox's Options > Video and change the playback engine to something different, and see if that makes the video appear. VLC has the more compatibility with the most types of files.

The easiest way to universally remove the scanlines throughout the theme is to just delete the scalelines png. In the Retrotastic themes folder, go to the Images\Theme folder and delete or rename the scanlines.png file.

Vlaryn · April 1, 2019

Thanks, I will give those a try later today. Weird part was the video because it played when I go into the arcade wheel.

Also nice Avatar. Blatz from Space Quest if I remember correctly.

faeran · April 1, 2019

22 minutes ago, Vlaryn said:

Thanks, I will give those a try later today. Weird part was the video because it played when I go into the arcade wheel.

Also nice Avatar. Blatz from Space Quest if I remember correctly.

That is a very strange issue. Hopefully changing the engine helps.

Haha, yeah. Created the animated avatar it back in my agamesroom days. I still enjoy looking at it.

Vlaryn · April 1, 2019

@faeran So scanline rename worked. I was already set to vlc and changing to windows media center made videos in game wheel not play. So I think my issue could be related to how my platforms are setup. I have a Mame platform that saves all its images and video snaps to the Arcade folder. So I renamed my Mame platform to Arcade and now I see the Arcade classic frame when I scroll to my arcade section, instead of the default.png frame. I also now see static images instead of no video. Even more strange is when I go into Arcade wheel most of the videos don’t play at all. I am thinking maybe I should go through and redo my arcade games in LB. do you know what fields the theme looks at to determine what videos to play for the platform wheel?

faeran · April 1, 2019

5 minutes ago, Vlaryn said:

@faeran So scanline rename worked. I was already set to vlc and changing to windows media center made videos in game wheel not play. So I think my issue could be related to how my platforms are setup. I have a Mame platform that saves all its images and video snaps to the Arcade folder. So I renamed my Mame platform to Arcade and now I see the Arcade classic frame when I scroll to my arcade section, instead of the default.png frame. I also now see static images instead of no video. Even more strange is when I go into Arcade wheel most of the videos don’t play at all. I am thinking maybe I should go through and redo my arcade games in LB. do you know what fields the theme looks at to determine what videos to play for the platform wheel?

Forgot to ask whether you downloaded the theme from the forums, or whether you downloaded it from the themes manager in BigBox.

The themes manager version is the most recent, and it just uses the default video control, which means it just functions the way the default theme functions.

You also have the option of changing any of the picture backgrounds in the Retrotastic\Images\Theme\Background folder, to match the names of your platforms. The code just searches that folder for an image with the name of your playlists/platforms.

If you have a complete MAME set, I would definitely recommend using the MAME full set importer. If you can view the videos for the games in launchbox, then BigBox should have no issue viewing them as well. The theme itself would have no influence over whether a games video would play or not.

alnyden · April 1, 2019

Do you mind updating the theme on the forums as well as the theme manager? Unfortunately I can’t use the manager since it would delete all the special artwork I have installed. Thanks again for this great theme!

faeran · April 1, 2019

Just now, alnyden said:

Do you mind updating the theme on the forums as well as the theme manager? Unfortunately I can’t use the manager since it would delete all the special artwork I have installed. Thanks again for this great theme!

For sure. the forum is now updated to the newest version 2.01, which contained optimizations in the code.

Vlaryn · April 1, 2019

I downloaded it from the theme manager in bigbox. I will play around with it some more later tonight.

Vlaryn · April 1, 2019

Ok so I think I might have some more insight. Even know in bigbox I have it set to vlc it seems the platforms wheel is still using windows media player. I tried directly playing my video snap in vlc player and it works, then in windows media player and it has sound and no video. So any suggestions on a good codec pack. I believe vlc says it was a h264 mpeg 4 part 10 codec. Or is there another solutions?

faeran · April 2, 2019

K-lite is usually a good option.

Vlaryn · April 2, 2019

So I installed K-lite full and shark007 and still the dump videos will show no video. Only audio. Plays fine in any other video player installed with codec packs but WMP will not play them.

So I decided to look at some of the view xaml files and I think I found it. In the "PlatformWheel1FiltersView.xaml this is a reference in line 45 to WMP. I changed mine to VLC and it works now.

It also looks like it is set that way in PlayfromWheel2 view as well.

<aop:AutopathVideoLooperFramed Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" AllowFallbackRandom="True" PlayerImpl="VLC" PlayerImplLazily="True" PlayerImplPooled="True" />

~Vlaryn

faeran · April 2, 2019

Hmm, thanks for looking into it. I'll take a look at that in the morning. I'll need to make an official update.

faeran · April 2, 2019

I've updated Retrotastic to version 2.02 with coding changes that should make the issue @Vlaryn was having void. I also made other coding tweaks which should help with performance. I also took the time to upgrade to the newest themer plugin.

New version is available on the forum and has been submitted for approval on the BigBox theme manager.

nonstatik · April 14, 2019

On 4/2/2019 at 10:33 AM, faeran said:

I've updated Retrotastic to version 2.02 with coding changes that should make the issue @Vlaryn was having void. I also made other coding tweaks which should help with performance. I also took the time to upgrade to the newest themer plugin.

New version is available on the forum and has been submitted for approval on the BigBox theme manager.

Just a quick thanks for making this theme, it's basically everything I could ever want! I downloaded a few themes from the new Theme Manager but I love this one so much, I didn't even bother checking out the others.

Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to make this theme what it is! Looking forward to the update when it reaches the Theme Manager.

Edited April 14, 2019 by nonstatik