NEWS: GameEx 9.49 and Theme Competition

[Tom Speirs]

This release, with thanks to Headkaze completes the version 4 theme implementation with support for foreground images that overlay the background and snaps. Im quite exctied to see what new themes people come up with, so in order to offer a little motivation there will be a competition until end of september for the best themes. The top 5, and we may not even get that many, will get a GameEx license and EmuMovies lifetime FTP access. Upload your completed themes to the main site, and then post on the forum under the Theme Competition thread. If you need to make changes to your upload just contact me.

[headkaze]

Just a quick note on the new Theme Editor with foreground image support. To add a foreground image (currently only supported for emulators), then go to "Emu Foreground" in the Object Browser and you can load a foreground image for an emulator. Note that alpha channel and black are used as transparency so if you want to have black in your image then make it about 5% to 10% lighter black so it doesn't get keyed out.

Good luck to everyone in the comp, look forward to seeing what people come up with!

[Brian Hoffman]

Exciting

Ill have to see if I can come up with some stuff

[Circo]

Nice, I am looking forward to see what everyone will come up with.

[BlackMage]

Ok, this new competition really sounds exciting and I am willing to compete but, I had difficulty trying to create my own theme a while ago then decided to give up because trying to create a theme was a hassle. So I am wondering if this new version 4 theme implementation is user friendly?

[Tom Speirs]

Ok, this new competition really sounds exciting and I am willing to compete but, I had difficulty trying to create my own theme a while ago then decided to give up because trying to create a theme was a hassle. So I am wondering if this new version 4 theme implementation is user friendly?

I wouldnt say it is more user friendly and creating themes is a challenge and does require some skill, but it is a hugely nicer experieince, because its practically WYSIWIG now. So what you get in the theme editor is practically identical to what you get displayed in GameEx.

[bkenobi]

Ahhhh, if only I had the talent

[headkaze]

If you have a problem in the Theme Editor just post about it here, it might be something simple. I have tried to make it easier to use in the last couple of releases.

A common problem people have had in the past is not being able to move things around like the buttons. Some objects are locked in place so you don't accidently move them by mistake. You need to select the padlock icon to unlock them. So things like that can usually be explained pretty easily.

[emphatic]

I have a question. I've made a vertical theme (V2 I guess). The thing is with V2 themes, they would be stretched (maximized) to the resolution, so when making a vertical theme, it would look totally different in horisontal mode (stretched out horisontally without aspect ratio maintained) and when in the right mode (in vertical mode) it would be corrected (squeezed together) horisontally by the resolution. Now, If I want to create a new vertical theme for the V4 format, all objects will maintain their ratio, correct? I haven't yet tried the latest version of the Theme Editor (nor have I tried the latest build of GameEx) so I don't know what will happen. Is this (the creation of vertical screen themes) taken into consideration for V4 themes?

Otherwise it would be cool if there was a "vertical theme" mode for the Theme Editor that would let you choose a working resolution (640x480) and put bezels on the sides (put the toolbars of the Theme Editor there?) so you can work on your theme in the correct aspect ratio without having to rotate your monitor.

I'm really exited about this update guys, great work!

Emph

[headkaze]

I have to admit I haven't tried making a vertical theme with it. I think your guess is as good as mine at this point?

[Tom Speirs]

I just tried it, there's no specific support, its basically as before but with better scaling.

Ill see what I can do.

[emphatic]

Great. Will start my skinning very soon.

Emph

[firebrand_X]

Oh, the new possibilities...

Now I just need a fresh idea

[T. Goodchild]

This is a sample of a widescreen theme 1360x768 I had started in the beginning of summer called "Technologic" but never had the time to finish. I want to try to finish it before I go back to school but I may not be able to, and it still has some bugs to work out, namely the windowed mode, hiding certain lines, and for some reason the letter "y" doesn't appear in some titles. I was thinking of just releasing it unfinished along with the appropriate snaps if I can't get it right. I wanted to keep it very minimalist because even though I appreciate all the extra info and features, my friends and siblings aren't exactly very good with emulators so I tried to keep it as base as possible.