Theme BG Not working

[Dal1980]

Hi Guys

I know tha theming is a "suck it n see" approach but I have sucked it and I didn't see

I'm trying to get the background colour to change on the main menu screen on gameEx. I've been using the Theme Editor (2.25) to setup some pages.

Not matter what I do I can't shift the standard blue (Default theme backgound) and I've exhausted all background images in the Theme Editor. I don't know where it pull it from but I have got all the images I can squeeze out filled in.

Please see photo of menu attached (couldn't screen grab as it just came out black).

Here's the contents of my theme folder

AllGamesBak.png
AllGamesBak_Foreground.png
ArrowDown.png
ArrowDownPressed.png
ArrowUp.png
ArrowUpPressed.png
BackButtonDOWN.png
BackButtonOver.png
bak.png
Bak_Foreground.png
blank.wav
ControlPanel.png
daphnebak.png
DaphneBak_Foreground.png
dialog.png
DVDBak.png
EbookBak.png
emubak.png
EmulatorSelectBak.png
EmulatorSelectBak_Foreground.png
errordialog.png
ExitFocus.png
ExitNoFocus.png
exitscreensaver.wav
ExitSelect.png
FavoritesBak.png
focus.wav
GameExIsLoading.png
GameExLogo.png
HelpButtonDown.png
HelpButtonOver.png
HomeFocus.png
HomeNoFocus.png
introsound.wav
jukeboxbak.png
KaraokeBak.png
LastPlayedBak.png
launch.wav
LibBak.png
LibBak_Foreground.png
LOGOS
MameSelectBak.png
MameSelectBak_Foreground.png
MCEButtonDown.png
MCEButtonOVER.png
MediaControl.png
MediaControlStop.png
MostPlayedBak.png
NewsBak.png
output.txt
picturesbak.png
pleasewait.png
pleasewaitbar.png
radiobak.png
SearchBak.png
select.wav
Selected.png
Selected1.png
Selected10.png
Selected11.png
Selected12.png
Selected13.png
Selected14.png
Selected15.png
Selected2.png
Selected3.png
Selected4.png
Selected5.png
Selected6.png
Selected7.png
Selected8.png
Selected9.png
startbak.png
StartBak_Foreground.png
start_scroller.txt
ThemePickerBak.png
TopBarLeft.png
TopBarMiddle.png
Unselected.png
videobak.png
VolGreen.png
VolGrey.png
Window.png
wtf_saveas.bmp
YouTubeBak.png
_scroller.txt

Here's my Theme.ini contents

[General]
Version=4
Width=1024
Height=768
XResolution=1024
YResolution=768
RightJustifyTitleText=False
ArcadeMode=False
AlphaChannel=False
EnablePopUpDescriptions=False
StaticStartPageList=False
DontZoomStartPageLogos=True
DisplayBackgroundImage=True
AniBak=False
AlphaBlendVideos=False
DialogTextWhite=False
OutlineFonts=True
AnimatedSelector=True
ShowButtons=True
ForeGroundTopMost=False
ShowDateTime=True
DisplayTitleText=True
ShowListNumbers=True
CustomEmulatorLayouts=True
CustomModuleLayouts=False
CustomControlPanel=False
DisplayEmulatorMenus=True
RotatePlus90=False
Font=Roboto
MainFontSize=10
FontStyle=0
TitleFont=Roboto Medium
TitleFontSize=16
TitleFontStyle=1
TextColor=-1
OutlineColor=-16777216
LowerCaseTitleFont=False
ShowSelectionText=True
[TEXT]
[Layout]
List=303,166,689,476
Title=30,121,53,31
Date=30,15,33,19
Time=30,51,35,19
SelectLine1=304,657,84,19
SelectLine2=303,121,84,19
Image=30,166,255,230
Image2=42,411,230,230
Description=614,38,378,113
Scroller=42,656,230,30
Weather=5,725,40,40
Menu=41,700,600,19
ListNum=926,657,60,19
[Weather]
WeatherConditionIcon=False
Enabled=False
[]
=0,0,32,32
[TaskBar]
TopBarMiddle=0,0,1024,46
HelpButtonOver=176,0,47,46
HelpButtonDown=176,0,47,46
MCEButtonOver=24,0,80,46
BackButtonOver=118,0,49,46
BackButtonDown=118,0,49,46
MCEButtonDown=24,0,80,46
TopBarLeft=24,0,206,46
Window=996,0,28,46
MediaControl=848,0,148,46
MediaControlStop=848,0,148,46
[buttons]
ArrowDown=926,708,29,32
ArrowDownPressed=926,708,29,32
ArrowUp=960,708,29,32
ArrowUpPressed=960,708,29,32

On a different note, what's the difference between "Layout" and "Start" on the Object Browser (Layout seems to be the one that Start screen uses which is just backwards as far as I can tell)?

Cheers

Dal

[Draco1962]

What graphics editing program are you using to try to manipulate the color of the background image and what image are you working with (i.e., start_bak.png, etc,)?

[RedDog]

Howdy Dal,

It would also probably help if you were to post your gameex.ini file. There are some settings in that file that will affect how your theme works. It can be found in the GameEx\CONFIG folder.

Startbak is normally the file that is used for the start page, but I believe that it not always the case (depending on how you set up your theme and what VIEW you GameEx is currently in).

[Dal1980]

[RedDog]

OK, I did some tinkering and found that some views also use StartImageMenuBak.png as the start image.

Maybe that's the one you need for the icon view you want to use?!?!?!?????

[DazzleHP]

You need to replace these 3 files in your Theme to get a consistent look (in ...\GameEx\THEMES\<yourtheme>\MEDIA):

bak.png

emubak.png

startbak.png

BUT, as RedDog is trying to point out, it all depends on what settings you are working from. FYI, the "Layout" section is for positioning all the Modules (such as the game list, the horizontal menu, the image boxes ie the title/snap box etc). In my experience I would create a background that I like, replace the above files with that background, and THEN use the layout function to position everything to suit my background.

[Dal1980]

Thanks guys! Really helpful, I'll try it out and let you know in the next couple of hours

[Dal1980]

Sorry fell asleep (it was 3:19am!!)

Seems to be working... I had issues with something else the other day and re-installing it helped that so it may have fixed my crazy issue too. Regardless the information here has helped me set the right images now.

Thanks guys

[Dal1980]

[DazzleHP]

Hey Dal,

I will assume you undesrtand how GameEx Themes work by now. You seem pretty clued up.

Baring that in mind, load the Theme Editor, load your theme, go to Edit> Options> Choose Settings Tab.

Check the box (put a tick in it) "Enable Alpha Channel".

Then File> Save your theme and say hello to transparency.

Reboot GameEx.

[Dal1980]

Hey Dal,

I will assume you undesrtand how GameEx Themes work by now. You seem pretty clued up.

Baring that in mind, load the Theme Editor, load your theme, go to Edit> Options> Choose Settings Tab.

Check the box (put a tick in it) "Enable Alpha Channel".

Then File> Save your theme and say hello to transparency.

Reboot GameEx.

Thanks, I missed that option completely