NEWS: New version of Instant Sheller coming

[Tom Speirs]

Im going to be releasing a new version of Instant Sheller shortly.

Thanks to forum member Inigo Montovia who has provided me with information on how to remove the login cursor.

The other addition will be an option to not chnge the shell application if you dont want to.

I was just going to go ahead and starti testing it and release, but I thought id be nice and go ahead and ask for any other requests (sensible) you guys and girls may have?

Let me know.

[Brian Hoffman]

Im going to be releasing a new version of Instant Sheller shortly.

Thanks to forum member Inigo Montovia who has provided me with information on how to remove the login cursor.

The other addition will be an option to not chnge the shell application if you dont want to.

I was just going to go ahead and starti testing it and release, but I thought id be nice and go ahead and ask for any other requests (sensible) you guys and girls may have?

Let me know.

Perhaps an option to import a logo for your boot screen. I cant remeber if it does this or not..

[bkenobi]

In the current version, you can select a different image file/boot screen to display during boot up.

[Brian Hoffman]

In the current version, you can select a different image file/boot screen to display during boot up.

My bad.. I havent used it in a long time

[Tom Speirs]

Perhaps an option to import a logo for your boot screen. I cant remeber if it does this or not..

Good one.

Maybe HK can help me out with this, but the issue Im going to have there is converting the pallete to 16 colors.

[Tom Speirs]

In the current version, you can select a different image file/boot screen to display during boot up.

It does, but what I was thinking though is if it would convert images that where not 640 x 480 by 16 colours.

[bkenobi]

That would be cool! If you did that, how would you handle images that were the wrong aspect ratio? I would suggest making black bars on the sides or top/bottom and center the image making it the biggest possible size.

[Tom Speirs]

That would be cool! If you did that, how would you handle images that were the wrong aspect ratio? I would suggest making black bars on the sides or top/bottom and center the image making it the biggest possible size.

Yeah probably best to keep aspect. Thats pretty easy, the real hard thing (or maybe its not) is converting the pallete to 16 colors, and at least trying to do a fairly inteligent job of it.

[sofakng]

This is excellent news!

One option that I would like is a stand-alone option to change the boot logo after InstallSheller has been executed. I'm afraid of running the entire program again jus to change the boot screen...

I'm guessing it's safe to re-run the program as many times as needed though? (eg. to keep changing the boot logo or whatever)

[Tom Speirs]

I'm guessing it's safe to re-run the program as many times as needed though? (eg. to keep changing the boot logo or whatever)

No guarantees with an app such as this obviously, but it should be OK.

[Brian Hoffman]

Maybe something like this could be used in the automation of image conversion.

http://www.2tiff.com/help/2tiff/output/JPG.htm

or

http://shiftingpixel.com/2008/03/03/smart-image-resizer/

[Tom Speirs]

Maybe something like this could be used in the automation of image conversion.

http://www.2tiff.com/help/2tiff/output/JPG.htm

or

http://shiftingpixel.com/2008/03/03/smart-image-resizer/

Thanks, but doesnt look look like it. Ideally I just need some .net code to handle the pallets.

[Tom Speirs]

Change of mind. For now Im just going to release what I have. Please do spread the word about the new release when its up in a minute. I think a lot of folks would like to know.

Cheers.

[headkaze]

Yep I added Instant Sheller to the BYOAC wiki a while ago. There is a whole article about hiding Windows and it didn't even mention Instant Sheller! So I've been doing a bit of work on the Wiki to get it up to speed on some of the stuff Tom and this community have been contributing to the arcade scene.

I created my own boot screen using Photoshop to reduce the colors. I think the main issue is if you want to have your own animation bar you have to use a special part of the palette for it to animate. When I reduce the colors in Photoshop I use the diffusion algorithm so there is some shading available for the picture. But like i said the real problem is the animated bar.

[Inigo Montoya]

I am happy to help in what little ways I can. I'll be trying this out soon. My only request is the inclusion of a simple boot screen with a loading bar only if possible. I've been looking around the net for a plain one and can't seem to find one. My machine takes awhile to boot and I often sit there wondering if it has locked up or not. I'm sure there are some tutorials or specialized programs that make boot logo screens with animated bars somewhere.

[iano]

I am happy to help in what little ways I can. I'll be trying this out soon. My only request is the inclusion of a simple boot screen with a loading bar only if possible. I've been looking around the net for a plain one and can't seem to find one. My machine takes awhile to boot and I often sit there wondering if it has locked up or not. I'm sure there are some tutorials or specialized programs that make boot logo screens with animated bars somewhere.

Hi. I use bootskin from stardock http://www.stardock.com/products/bootskin/ in conjuction with Tom's instantsheller. There are a good few bootskins for this program knocking about. There are also 2 GameEX bootskins on Tom's site with animated progress bars.

[headkaze]

Check out BootLogo here where I've already included a simple Mame logo with animation bar.