RedSnake Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 (edited) DarkRoom View File Intro DarkRoom is a theme for BigBox that relies heavily on 1120x1080 fanarts / game illustrations and has been influenced by CoinOps design. It has been designed for a 16:9 ratio, 1920x1080 resolution, and I know for sure that it displays correctly at 2560x1440. This theme covers most home systems (around 10 still to be done) + windows indies + a few candy cabs for arcade specific playlist This theme has : - 1 platform view, which presents a delayed video with random games from the current platform/playlist. That means this theme doesn't need generic platform videos (except for meta category like Arcade, Computers, Consoles, etc ...); also, non auto-populated playlists will not display any video for now. - 2 game views: a wheel view and a text game view Configuration Files In "Launchbox\Themes\DarkRoom\Views\Configurations", there are several xaml files (1 for each supported system). In case one of your system has a different name from the one the theme is using (Example: "Arcade SNK Neo Geo MVS" instead of "SNK Neo Geo MVS"), you can just: - copy the xaml file and rename the copy with the name from your collection (or directly rename the original), but from an evolutive point of view, it would be better to create a xaml file "Arcade SNK Neo Geo MVS.xaml" with that inside (to simplify, the content makes it so that "Arcade SNK Neo Geo" inherits "SNK Neo Geo MVS" system) <ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"> <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Themes/DarkRoom/Views/Configurations/SNK Neo Geo MVS.xaml" /> </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> </ResourceDictionary> - change the name of the platform fanart / clear logos located in "Launchbox\Themes\DarkRoom\Images\<Platforms or Playlists>\<Fanart or Clear Logo>" Performances and cash management Due to the animation handled by the theme, performance issues had to be addressed to somewhat mitigate them (I personnaly don't have any problem now). A cash manager has been added to the theme to handle fanart sliding transition You can configure it (WheelGameView.xaml and PlatformWheel4FiltersView.xaml) by modifying the following lines: <rs:ImageSliderControl.ImageManager> <rsm:GameImageManager CashEnabled="true" Quality="85" ProcessorCount="4" CashLimit="500"/> </rs:ImageSliderControl.ImageManager> - Set CashEnabled to false to disabled it - Set Quality to your liking (under 50 it becomes ugly, and more that 85 will raise RAM usage significantly) - ProcessorCount shouldn't be changed. I let it for testing purpose but will probably suppress it at some point. But if you do, set an even number, less or equal to your physical processor count (AKA without hyperthreading) - Set CashLimit (Mo) to your need. Depending on your fanart filesize, you may need to raise it. For my need I will probably raise it to 1000Mo (that should be around 6000 fanarts given the average size of mine). Also note that cash is cleared every time a new gameview is entered, so you need to set its limit according to the system that has the most games (provided they each have their fanart - for me it is the ZX spectrum). Video Files in Download sections - DarkRoom.zip contains main theme files. - Fanart - Pack 1.zip, that contains "full" pack of fanarts for the following systems: Spoiler - Amstrad GX 4000 - Atari 5200 - Atari 7800 - Atari XEGS - Casio PV1000 - Examu Ex-Board (TTX) - Funtech Super Acan - Konami E-Amusement (TTX) - Namco System ES3 (TTX) - NESiCAxLive (TTX) - Nintendo Sufami Turbo - Nintendo Wii (not full pack) - Sega 32x - Sega Europa -R (TTX) - SNK Neo Geo CD - Sony Playstation 2 (not full pack) - Windows Indie (not full pack) I will add more as time comes ... Special Thanx @Rincewind for his time in helping me fix an issue with the theme. I would not have been able to figure out what was wrong alone. _BB.mp4 Submitter RedSnake Submitted 10/10/2020 Category Big Box Custom Themes Edited October 3, 2021 by RedSnake 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALIE Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Looks great gonna try it first thing tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMOSS Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 This theme is really nice. Happy to see that I am not the only one relying on per game hand-picked 1120x1080 fanarts (I'm working on a CoinOps replica theme myself) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 Yes although that the most time consumming part to have this theme working, as fanarts/illustrations are quite hard to find for some games. I will have to post them as well for systems where I have an "almost" complete collections of them (or at least for the games I have integrated in Launchbox). I wanted to add them as additionnal files in my theme download section but I couldn't find a way to do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 **************************************************** First update available in the download section (DarkRoom.zip) **************************************************** - Added Sega Master System, Colecovision and Mattel Intellivision game views - Fixed some bugs that made BB crash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItchyRobot Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Wow! this theme look amazing. May I suggest platform art for Pinball? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 (edited) Right now 26 platforms are covered with platform artwork complete. I have still 30 more of them on the way (the theme includes them but they miss posters and figures) that I want to finish before starting anything else. That's 56 home console systems (including windows indies and Arcade SNK Neo Geo MVS). I intend to cover at least all the systems that I integrated into LB, which is around 150 including Mame playlists. Pinball FX2 is part of it, so yes I will do it but not now right Edited October 19, 2020 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoemorn Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 really cool work! i was looking for if anyone was doing anything like porting the latest coinops diamonds concept of showing arcade machines with the game demo playing and what you're doing is similar from the consoles pov and came across this thread showing off your Darkroom action! here's a couple of screens that is what i'm referring to on the arcade pov where it shows the demo within a cabinet with the associated marquee and control panel. cant imagine building all that for all the arcade titles lol and dont know how many are actually built for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Thanx. Yeah I know of this Coinops built. Its not really possible to do in BB without doing it almost entirely in code behind + its only relevant for Arcade Definitly not in my scope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadizking25 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 What fanart folder should I put the illustrations in, the one in "image/PlayStation 2/Fanart - Box - Front" or the one in image/platforms/PlayStation2 etc..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) The illustrations are background images, so they must be placed inside "Launchbox\Images\<your platform>\Fanart - Background" folder. Edited October 21, 2020 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadizking25 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 2 hours ago, RedSnake said: The illustrations are background images, so they must be placed inside "Launchbox\Images\<your platform>\Fanart - Background" folder. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 (edited) ************************************************************************** Update available in the download section ("DarkRoom.zip", "Atari 7800 - Illustrations.zip") ************************************************************************** Hi all. - Added Game Views for Casio PV-1000, Atari XEGS and Sega 32X platforms: - Added Atari 7800 game illustrations in the download section as well. The files must be extracted in "Launchbox\Images\Atari 7800\Fanart - Background" Edited November 5, 2020 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted November 5, 2020 Author Share Posted November 5, 2020 ************************************************************************** Update available in the download section ("DarkRoom.zip", "Sega 32x - Illustrations.zip") ************************************************************************** Hi all, Version 1.0.3 add the following: - Fixed a freeze occuring for Arcade platform category and its playlists, and a font issue. Thanks a lot to @Rincewind for helping me figuring out what was the problem! - Added Sega CD and Sega Pico game views - Added Sega 32X illustrations pack 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMOSS Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 I love this theme. And the illustration packs are great. Thanks for sharing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 ************************************************************************** Update available in the download section ("DarkRoom.zip", "Atari 5200 - Illustrations.zip", "Casio PV-1000 - Illustrations.zip") ************************************************************************** Hi all, Version 1.0.4 adds the following: - Support for "ScrapeAs" platform properties. That means that if you named your system "NES" and scraped it as "Nintendo Entertainment System", it *should* work properly, however you still have to change system Fanart name to match your system name - Added Nintendo Family Computer System, Funtech Super Acan, Fairchild Channel F game views: - Added Atari 5200 and Casio PV-1000 illustrations 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 ************************************************************************** Update available in the download section ("DarkRoom.zip", "Funtech Super Acan - Illustrations.zip", "Nintendo Sufami Turbo - Illustrations.zip", "Atari XEGS - Illustrations.zip") ************************************************************************** Hi all, Version 1.0.5 adds the following: - Added Nintendo Sufami Turbo, Emerson Arcadia 2001, Namco Classics game views: - Added Funtech Super Acan, Atari XEGS and Nintendo Sufami Turbo illustration packs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiesruuun Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Love the theme! Thanks for your hard work. However I cannot get the fan art backgrounds to show on any system, it only shows box art. Running the newest version of LB/BB. All of my system names are standard so it should all match up so it's quite baffling! Would really appreciate any suggestions you could offer. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, zombiesruuun said: Love the theme! Thanks for your hard work. However I cannot get the fan art backgrounds to show on any system, it only shows box art. Running the newest version of LB/BB. All of my system names are standard so it should all match up so it's quite baffling! Would really appreciate any suggestions you could offer. Thanks! Thanx ^^ The LB database doesn't contains that much fan arts (as far as I know) . That the reason why I provided some of them (but not all, as it is quite hard and time consuming to do that alone) with the theme in the download section. They must be placed manually inside "Launchbox\Images\<your platform>\Fanart - Background" folder, and their name for most of them should match your games (but I guess there could be sometimes where names are different). You can also view a system in LB by displaying the backgrounds (and refreshing them all) to check if they are present: If you see your background fan arts here, then the DarkRoom theme should display them correctly as well You can also check if priorities for background is set correctly: Please tell me if it fixes your issue or not. I have already had some users who complains things are not working, and when I try to help, they don't answer back which is quite ... annoying to say the least Edited March 17, 2021 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiesruuun Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Thanks for your quick reply! TL;DR version is... you fixed my problem! As per your advice I checked background priorities and... box art was at the top and after selecting backgrounds under image group in LB, all fanarts showed up for all the systems. I feel silly for making such a schoolboy error but thank you! Interesting that you haven't found many fanart backgrounds on LB. Although the fanarts you provided will obviously be a better size and fit for the theme, I've managed to scrape quite a few from the servers that do look rather good also, so maybe some more have been added recently? Advertisement flyers look great too, hell even standard boxart looks great with this theme, the overlapping features really make the image pop. Have checked around 7 different priorities in all for my setup. For me, it's the best theme on here and I can even live with 'under construction' platforms! But don't let that dissuade you from adding more please!!! Thanks again mate! Some pics below of an advertising flyer and emumovies fanart background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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