Author Topic: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.  (Read 33131 times)

asahendrix

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #90 on: August 01, 2019, 04:01:50 PM »
Update v0.9:

So I looked into your idea of playing ads when snap videos are not available. It's a little tricky because of the way squirrel scripts work, so I decided to give it a go myself. I hope you don't mind!

Check out the code in the static video section and at the end of the snap video section especially - squirrel plays the videos only AFTER it finished loading the script, so we need a function that works with transitions in real-time.

If Lava doesn't find any ads to play, it will default to the "static.mp4" video.

This release also includes the bug fixes from v0.8.1

Download the full Lava v0.9 theme from here:
https://mega.nz/#!wNMzlITZ!KRlqkoevG920JUQhG3Ua0PBfnerFQIMDgbaCzC5lGI4

I do not mind at all! Nice work!! I grinned from ear to ear as soon as I looked at that code =D good choice on the ads too lol

I don't really have any other crucial additions at the moment. I did have an idea for art placement for several different emulators. For example, I've been using this layout for SNES and so the artwork doesn't come out just right so I have to manually change the x/y/h/w to get it just right. In a perfect world, it would be cool to have x/y/h/w change depending on the emulator so that the boxart is always right. And the ads could be the same way - for an N64 emulator, ads around the year 1996 could play, and so on.

However - it might be more practical to just call this, idk, Takoni-NES or Takaron-NES (Takoni+Yaron), and then I can add SNES with the right boxart coordinates (and the ads too!) at a later time. Sort of how Robospin did it. Then we can hit Takaron-N64, 2600, SegaCD, you name it. I'm stuck on any particular names, just throwing out a few examples. :)

Btw, if anyone comes across code on how to have the layout stop the AM ambient music that's playing and then play the layout music instead that would be great. Right now, if I have ambient music playing on AM, it will play at the same time the layout music is playing - which is fine, I can just switch off the ambient music. But once I leave the layout, the music stops. Not a huge deal - I'm just always looking for ways to push things over-the-top.

Thanks a million as always!

asahendrix

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #91 on: August 01, 2019, 10:03:17 PM »
Just FYI, I noticed a minor issue with the ad video. A random ad video will play but it will just repeat the same video for one session. At least it seems this way - the same video played 3 times in a row. Anyone else run into this?

Yaron2019

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #92 on: August 02, 2019, 01:22:50 AM »

I don't really have any other crucial additions at the moment. I did have an idea for art placement for several different emulators. For example, I've been using this layout for SNES and so the artwork doesn't come out just right so I have to manually change the x/y/h/w to get it just right. In a perfect world, it would be cool to have x/y/h/w change depending on the emulator so that the boxart is always right. And the ads could be the same way - for an N64 emulator, ads around the year 1996 could play, and so on.

However - it might be more practical to just call this, idk, Takoni-NES or Takaron-NES (Takoni+Yaron), and then I can add SNES with the right boxart coordinates (and the ads too!) at a later time. Sort of how Robospin did it. Then we can hit Takaron-N64, 2600, SegaCD, you name it. I'm stuck on any particular names, just throwing out a few examples. :)


Thanks a million as always!

From what I understand, this really depends on the boxart itself. Each set of boxes is different. In my setup I have a different theme for each emulator and I manually adjusted the boxart and cartart placement.

As for Robospin, It separates the console/cab image from the background. In Lava's case, an approach like that will allow us to switch the console on the right (currently NES) with other consoles as we navigate between emulators. Same goes for the background - it can switched or remain the same.

Yaron2019

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #93 on: August 02, 2019, 01:35:17 AM »
Just FYI, I noticed a minor issue with the ad video. A random ad video will play but it will just repeat the same video for one session. At least it seems this way - the same video played 3 times in a row. Anyone else run into this?

I already checked this option when writing the code for v0.9...

The only way I am aware of switching between ad videos is to reload the layout every time you play an ad. This will also reload any background music the layout might be playing at that moment.
This means that when you navigate the wheel and a song is playing in the background, when you reach a game with no snap video the layout will reload to play a random ad and the music background will reload as well. It's like a having a large scratch on your music CD  ;)

I might be wrong - I am not a know all Attract mode developer, but these are the limitations this front end has at the moment.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 01:39:06 AM by Yaron2019 »

Yaron2019

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #94 on: August 02, 2019, 04:47:05 AM »
Version 1.0 is here!

I am very happy with the state of Lava and am promoting it to version 1.0 as its first official release!

This release includes:

- There is no more usage for the TV frame texture known as 'tapa_snap.png'. The snap video is now displayed BEFORE the background texture which is great because the TV border now looks clean and natural!

- New clean cut background texture

- tapa_snap.png and images folder are no longer used and where removed

- Rearranged and reformatted most layout options menu to use correct and clear text and options. They are now displayed in logical groups for the user

- Fixed a stability bug in which wheel transition time could be too long or too shot freezing AM (now limited to 1 ms min and 500 ms max)

- Fixed a script error in which theme would try to apply random colors to game info that is disabled in layout options

- Removed "animate" module which created a script error when switching to layout menu

- Removed 'Enable snap static effect' option from the layout options menu as it crashed the theme in certain situations. When snap video is not available, Lava will now try to play ads by default and if there are no ads it will play the 'static.mp4' video

- Favorite star in list mode is better aligned

- Lava now starts the first time in a very clean presentation - only the wheel and system logo are shown, wheel sound is set to 'click' and background music plays. The user can then add or change whatever he wants through the layout options menu

- Various small fixes

Enjoy!!  8)


Download the official Lava v1.0 theme from here:
https://mega.nz/#!AdFF3ApI!OM6g5N3kRDAoolsu08pXk3oTVQwCshsBuA0jcsnEaBY

For good order, if you don't have them already, you can download the random wheel sounds from here and place them at your main Attract folder in a folder named 'sounds':
https://mega.nz/#!gJs0nQ7a!q4nYNGwxIa8Mo1mPJJ5t9HGJF58vkNe13rlNoNfl708
« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 08:41:48 AM by Yaron2019 »

asahendrix

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Re: My WIP of MGalaxy frontends for Raspberry Pi Retropie under Attract Mode
« Reply #95 on: August 02, 2019, 08:37:11 PM »
Just FYI, I noticed a minor issue with the ad video. A random ad video will play but it will just repeat the same video for one session. At least it seems this way - the same video played 3 times in a row. Anyone else run into this?

I already checked this option when writing the code for v0.9...

The only way I am aware of switching between ad videos is to reload the layout every time you play an ad. This will also reload any background music the layout might be playing at that moment.
This means that when you navigate the wheel and a song is playing in the background, when you reach a game with no snap video the layout will reload to play a random ad and the music background will reload as well. It's like a having a large scratch on your music CD  ;)

I might be wrong - I am not a know all Attract mode developer, but these are the limitations this front end has at the moment.

Yaron2019, great observations - thank you for filling me in - it’s sort of liberating to know we’ve hit the ceiling of AM purely based on creativity haha

Thank you for giving us the first stable build! How exciting! And thank you mGalaxy for inspiring us to creating a layout better than yours, for free :)

As I have free time, I will work on versions of this for other systems!

Thank you Yaron2019 and Takoni! You all are the best!

beakerman80

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Re: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.
« Reply #96 on: October 03, 2019, 05:49:27 PM »
Love this theme! Keep up the great work!

Yaron2019

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Re: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.
« Reply #97 on: April 12, 2020, 05:14:10 AM »
Version 1.2 Released!
------------------------
- Lava is now fully compatible with 16:9 and 16:10 screen aspect ratios
- Random sounds function memory leak bug fixed
- Rewritten layout menu for easy access to theme features

Cheers,
takoni, asahendrix & Yaron2019  :)

gerryk

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Re: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.
« Reply #98 on: May 03, 2020, 03:11:41 AM »
Is this still available?

Yaron2019

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Re: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.
« Reply #99 on: May 03, 2020, 10:18:16 AM »

gerryk

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Re: LAVA v1.0 Official Release.
« Reply #100 on: May 05, 2020, 03:37:34 AM »
Got it. Thanks!!