RedSnake Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 Hi, 9 hours ago, gaialily said: Hi @RedSnake, I come for some news ^^. As i saw the media for neo geo aes, xbox, etc, i was wondering if the update has an approximate date. Take your time, I'm just impatient, your theme is my favorite 🤩. I was quite busy irl (summer holidays, change of computer, etc ...), so I didn't advance as much as I would have liked, especially in the "art" department, as I spent a lot of time analysing why the theme was really laggy. The main causes have been identified and addressed if possible: - bad code (xaml/plugin) was fixed. To sum up, most of the problem came from animation start triggered everytime a game selection change occured (it was mainly the logo pulse in gameviews ...). => I changed that by using the new navigation event provided a few releases ago - artwork files (fanart background) were too big (a lot of them were more than 1M big, and you can't expect them to be displayed fast enough during fast navigation => I used a jpeg online "shrinker" (Optimizilla) to reduce size of all my artworks, and now they are around 300ko max with no to little quality loss (but I guess it depends on sensibility) - bigbox bindings seems really slow on game views (average is 20ms, and sometimes can spike like crazy to more than 100ms). I don't know what is causing this, although one of my guess is bigbox tries to get all media paths every time a game is selected, which performances depend on the number of games, but also the number of media you have, the kind of hdd you have, etc ... => I change this so that now my xaml bindings are asynchronous, but it still comes with constraints - but at least now it is not blocking the ui. I will probably give more details in next release - I implemented an "intermediate" cash manager, which I think is a good compromise between ram usage and jpeg decoding speed (average is now 5ms versus 20-30ms, and ram size should be around the same as file size ~ 25Mo for 150 game artworks) => I will describe more on this during next update, but this will not work for those who changed "fanart-background" to "banner" source (like yourself - sorry!), because there is no developper api (as far as I know) to retrieve a game banner path Apart from that, I have done 10 more systems, but I need to finish figures for some of them. I also have added 2 more arcade cab (Capcom Impress and Sega Blast City) I think I will make a release at the end of the month, but I also have to reinstall things like photoshop / visual studio. Also there is a regression in my plugin (it happened between .15 and .17 versions) with either parents structure or nested name for playlist have change (my plugin doesn't detect anymore that an autoplaylist like SNES - Regions - Japan is a child of SNES), and I will need to address that as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Wow a lot of work ! I understand. Thanks for all of this. Don't worry about the banner path, I'll put them where they have to be. Personally I don't have so much lag, but I don't have a big library (350 games approximately) . Good luck to you 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) ************************************************************************** Update available in the download section ("DarkRoom.zip") ************************************************************************** Hi all. - added Game Views for Sega Arcade, Capcom Arcade, Magnavox Odyssey 2, Philips VideoPac+, Sega SG-1000, Epoch Super Cassette Vision, SNK Neo Geo AES, Ps3, Xbox 360 and Xbox platforms. - release date display now takes into account cultural info - change game detail regions, genres, play modes and ratings text display with icons. Multiple values are also taken into account and displayed (exept for Mame pletora of sub genres) - now all videos / fanarts take into account user settings => video sound level, fanart slide speed matching wheel speed, game filters (platform random videos will not play video for filtered games anymore) - tried to improve theme performance: ==> fixed bad storyboard animation (mainly pulsing logo in game views) ==> change bindings to asynchronous when relevent (so that UI is no more blocked) ==> implemented a cash system that is a compromise between RAM usage and Jpeg decoding speed - speed went from ~30ms to 5ms, and RAM use roughtly same amount as it takes on hard drive (for me it is 25Mo for 155 games fanart). That should make performance better. In WheelGamesView.xaml and PlatformWheel4FiltersView.xaml, you will find the following lines: <rs:ImageSliderControl.ImageManager> <rsm:GameImageManager CashEnabled="true" Quality="85" ProcessorCount="4" CashLimit="500"/> </rs:ImageSliderControl.ImageManager> - Put CashEnabled to false if you want to disable cash for fanart - Quality can go from 1 to 100, I put it to 85 by default. The higher the value, the more RAM it will use and the slower it will decode the fanart - CashLimit is 500Mo. Ajust it to your needs Edited October 4, 2021 by RedSnake 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 4, 2021 Share Posted October 4, 2021 (edited) Thank you very much @RedSnake. A little suggestion : The new platform wheel is less laggy effectively, but I miss the fade transition on the background. I find the background transitions more "cut", idem for the clearlogos, they seem to move more "cut" (maybe the move is just too fast, idk). Edited October 4, 2021 by gaialily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 4, 2021 Author Share Posted October 4, 2021 The only thing I changed about fanart transition speed is that now it matches the speed you set in the settings (wheel speed) I think that before that I set it to 300ms. So I guess (but I may be wrong) that your wheel speed is just set as really fast (in addition, the plugin doesn't do anything to logo wheel speed). Here is a video of what I mean. First part is 300ms, 2 part is 100ms Untitled.mp4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 4, 2021 Share Posted October 4, 2021 (edited) Oh yes it's exactly that. Thank you. And for the fade transition on the background that was in previous version (in addition to the slide), you can't get it anymore with this new system ? Edited October 4, 2021 by gaialily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 4, 2021 Author Share Posted October 4, 2021 (edited) I don't get it. The fade is still there I didn't suppress it. Edit: maybe try using 400ms speed Edited October 4, 2021 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 4, 2021 Share Posted October 4, 2021 My bad, I'm really sorry, it was just set on 100, and too fast for the fade. It works great on 300. Thanks for your help, and good job on this update 👍. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragoonDemon4 Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Hi, Fisrt of all, Great theme, i like that in arcade it changes to vertical arcade in vertical games, now for my petition, when we will see hanhelds (nintendo 3ds, nintendo ds, game boy, game boy advance, game boy color, sega game gear, sony psp) and wii u an switch those are the platforms i see that don't have views other than that im very happy with this theme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 51 minutes ago, DragoonDemon4 said: Hi, Fisrt of all, Great theme, i like that in arcade it changes to vertical arcade in vertical games ... Hi, Thanx, this is only available for arcade games that belong to a "classic" playlist that I have associated with a candy cab though (as well as Centipede, Kangaroo and Dig Dug that have a dedicated cabinet). Next release will contain at least Irem Madonna cab (for Irem Arcade Classics) and SNK Neo Geo Candy cab (for SNK Arcade Classics) 51 minutes ago, DragoonDemon4 said: ... now for my petition, when we will see hanhelds (nintendo 3ds, nintendo ds, game boy, game boy advance, game boy color, sega game gear, sony psp) and wii u an switch those are the platforms i see that don't have views other than that im very happy with this theme I will start handhelds very soon (probably next release or the one after), starting by the ones that have only one screen (dual screen will come later due to "technical" issues that I will solve via a shader most likelly). But I want to finish home consoles first and I still have 12 pending ones + the WiiU that will need a brand new TV screen (cause it doesn't belong to any console generation that I have already done). The Switch I consider it a handheld so it will come when I start them as well. So to sum-up: - Remaining home systems: Spoiler The one that are sure to make it in next release: - APF Imagination machine - NEC Supergrafx - Nintendo 64 DD - Nintendo Satellaview - VTech Creativision The one that are going to wait until I am motivated to do them: - Bandai Supervision 8000 - Bridge Companion - Casio Loopy - Entex Adventure Vision - GCE Vectrex - RCA Studio 2 - WOW ActionMax System that I didn't start at all: - WiiU - Handhelds (none started): Spoiler - Atari Lynx - Bandai WonderSwan - Bandai WonderSwan Color - GamePark GP32 - Hartung Game Master - Nintendo 3ds - Nintendo Game Boy - Nintendo Game Boy Color - Nintendo Game Boy Advance - Nintendo Pokemon Mini - Nintendo Switch - Sega Game Gear - SNK Neo Geo Pocket - SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color - Sony Psp - Tiger Game.com - Watara Supervision - Arcade: as much specific cab that I can do, which will probably depend on my motivation ... and definitly a candy cab for every known classic playlist of Mame - Old Computers : I wont list them here ... but Amiga 500 will probably be first - Pinball FX2. That's all I am going to do and I will see when time comes and it's all finished if I add more Don't expect anything new before January though (I won't make release every 2 weeks anymore as I think it is pointless, unless there is a specific important bug to solve). 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiesruuun Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the update @RedSnake! It runs much quicker and smoother on my setup now, even with a vast array of media ticked on background priorities including box art! 😜 A request if you don't mind... If one day you could add the fabled Sega CD 32x to your theme I would be absolutely stoked! As only 6 games benefitted from using both addons together it's probably not at the top of your list, but some of us have it set as a separate platform in our collections. Totally respect if it's not worth the work for the few of us that may benefit! But come on - you know you want to make a little Night Trap model or two 😁👍! Looking forward to future updates and appreciate all your hard work. Edited October 17, 2021 by zombiesruuun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Hi @RedSnake, Just to let you know that in vertical arcade cabinet, the video is not displaying the entire screen. Don't know if it's normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) Hi, I am not 100% sure, but given your screenshot: - the gameID is retrieved correctly (should be 23763 - otherwise you wouldn't have a vertical display) - the number of scanlines is roughly 70, which is half of what we should see My guess is that your video has big black borders on right and left. (I checked and I don't have this problem with the same game): Do you have other vertical games with this issue? On the wheel game view as well? Edited October 25, 2021 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) I have 2 other vertical games : dodonpatchi which have the same cabinet, and same problem. And donkey kong, which use the mame cabinet, and don't seem to have this problem. I try on the wheel game view and it's the same. I think you're right, it must be the video resolution. I will adjust the resolution, and I'll let you know if it works. Edited October 25, 2021 by gaialily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) What I meant is try opening these video from the Launchbox folder with media player or vlc and check if they have big black border on left and right (they may not have been cropped) Note: the donkey kong game doesn't have the issue because I didn't do any Vertical Nintendo Arcade cabinet (Mame cabinet only exists in horizontal version), so its normal that it is displayed "normally", because the video height matches the horizontal screen height. For the Dodonpatchi game, its gameId is linked with the vertical Cave cabinet, but it seems constricted by its width Edited October 25, 2021 by RedSnake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaialily Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) OK. I reencode the video with the good resolution and without the black borders on the side, and it works. Previously the video was 480x360 so it's normal it didn't work ><. Thank you again. Edited October 26, 2021 by gaialily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johns12586 Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 This theme is really well done! How do you view subcategories in platform view? I.e. N64 > genres > fighting. Can't seem to figure it out. Was messing with the settings and got it to work once but no luck since. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 8 hours ago, Johns12586 said: This theme is really well done! How do you view subcategories in platform view? I.e. N64 > genres > fighting. Can't seem to figure it out. Was messing with the settings and got it to work once but no luck since. Thanks! Hi, I am not sure I understand the problem. If you have defined sub-categories/playlists for a given system, then you should be able to browse through it in BigBox. System subcategories/playlists can be auto-generated in Launchbox (I personaly have All Games and Favorites sub-playlists, as well as Genres, Regions and Play Modes sub-categories for every system (except arcade where specific playlists have been generated depending on sources - like neogeo.cpp, publisher and developper) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johns12586 Posted November 2, 2021 Share Posted November 2, 2021 Just now, RedSnake said: Hi, I am not sure I understand the problem. If you have defined sub-categories/playlists for a given system, then you should be able to browse through it in BigBox. Thanks for the reply. I have all of the subcategories set for the consoles in LB (fighting, racing, sports, etc.). I cannot seem to toggle the view in big box to access them. Example - I select consoles > N64 and it goes straight to "all games". Is there a hotkey I'm missing? When I go to playlist view BB it shows all console and arcade subcategories combined and its a mess to navigate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnake Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 Not too sure about what is causing that. Did you check that the option to hide auto-generated playlist is toggled off in BigBox? Do you have this issue with other themes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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