WIP - Arcade Wall (Scrapped, sort of)

[Mark Norville]

Hi everyone,

A massive thank you to Jedione for hooking me up with his version of Arcade Wall, even though he was calling it a different name. I am no longer working on my version, but using his instead as it is excellent and does everything that I wanted it to do and more.

Well as I have wasted most of the morning, I thought that I would give you a demo of a skin that I started yesterday

Demo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnM4hfXxi68 Basic skin demo

Demo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yqkxvtIVCs Game search function

It has not gone the way that I wanted it to, I was trying to copy Nevato to start with, but then I saw ioflat menu and I tried working on that, but I could not get multiple logos or snaps to show up. I was only getting one, while he was displaying four or more.

However, it is currently in this state. I jumped ship from CoinOps to AM and I did love the wall theme and I miss it.

DESIGN, LAYOUTS, THOUGHTS, IDEAS

1) It will not have a navigation system, E.G it will not have a wheel. You move from left to right and it will show a new cabinet in the middle. I honestly hate the HyperSpin look. A wheel is also pretty useless when you have hundreds if not thousands of MAME roms. If you are scrolling through the wheel, it does not get you there any faster. The search function is a much better option, I done a video of how that looks in the skin, so you can see why I don't want to include a wheel, but my main reason is that I hate wheels.
2) I did want it to really show 1941 (go left) 1942 (current selection) 1943 (go right) however, my skinning skills are not that good at the moment, but hopefully I can work that out.
3) I have done a basic background of two of my favourite machines and really machines that started me off on my Arcade journey, pacman and space invaders.
3a) As you can see and hear I have the video for Pacman, I still have to sort out space invaders, but I was not supposed to be doing this today. I will mute the audio on Pacman so that the main focus is on the middle screen.

There is no ETA at the moment, I am supposed to be busy this week, but when I start working on a problem, I like to sort that problem out.
4) The skin is for 4K displays at the moment, but that might change in the future.

Any thoughts, advice, tips and tricks would be gratefully appreciated. I welcome all feedback, both good and bad, so if you think it is rubbish, please tell me.

Regards

Mark

[Mark Norville]

14th Jan 2022 - 1) A new idea and design has come about via accident. It is still the same kind of theme, but slightly different.
                        2) Arcade Wall is going to be modular, which means that it will potentially come in more than one file download. I am currently working on Samy Atomiswave.
                        3) At the moment it will only be for 4K displays (3840 x 2160) unless I learn very quickly about auto resizing, as I have already started graphical work at 4K.
15th Jan 2022 - 1) Ok just a small update, I was playing around with my resolution settings tonight, as I was trying out PinUp Popper Pinball, or whatever it is called, that wants the display at 100%, where normally I have mine set at 150%, however my system is saying to use 300%. I can make this for 1920 x 1080 and not 4K after all.

DEMOS

24th Jan 2022 - Main Menu System - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWYA3dQPnU NEW
I learnt how to do menu's and sub menus, so this is the finalish design. I have altered some of the graphics, and included Pinball since this video was done. I might add more options such as hacks and whatever else I can think of.

26th Jan 2022 - (WIP) Arcade Section - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKC6CXbhqUA NEW
Basic marquees and videos for now, my main aim is to finally finish this project after over ten odd years messing around with Hyperspin and Coinops. Attract Mode is bringing it home baby.

30th Jan 2022 - (WIP) Tomb Raider Arcade Cabinet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yIt_Lt8vms&feature=youtu.be NEW
I got bored on the Saturday afternoon and decided to try my hand at doing custom arcade cabinets, this is my first attempt, I did have a control panel on there to start with, but it always looked a bit weird, so as it was getting late, I decided to play it safe and went for an xbox controller, as it never came out on arcade systems anyway. I am not a graphic artist, and I suck at artwork, but I prefer cabinets over the retro TV look, so this is what I like.

01st Feb 2022 - Main Menu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VghlyJyf6qg NEW
I have done custom cabinets with new marquees to replace the green cabinets from before. At the moment I have done a basic one for all menu options, but when I have more time, then I will do custom machines for each menu. Oh and P.S I added a coin door just to add an extra kick.

03rd Feb 2022 - Sega Sports Edition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AH2ql7GDNA NEW
Spent the day working on Sega's sports games, I decided to change the blue cabinets to green for this genre and even Sonic is a matching green. I still have a few more categories to add, but had enough for the day.

[Mark Norville]

Well time for a demo

Dolphin Blue Demo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohs4_dzsBnA (49 seconds)
DemolishFist Demo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEfQOO9Swr0 (new custom graphics and video)

Demo at 1920 x 1080 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cshZKkDBBWc (Very rough and just a quick play from dropping the size down from 4K to 1920 x 1080)

Theme : Arcade Wall
Module : Arcade Wall Atomiswave

Skin resolution : 3840 x 2160 (4K)

I might be able to get this to a 1920 x 1080 resolution if it does not involve too much work doing two different versions. The file sizes for 4K res are quite high as you can imagine.

I am just finishing off graphics and a couple of videos for games that have none.

A few things to finish off skin wise, as there are a couple of things that I want to add, but have to learn how first.

All comments, suggestions, good bad or in between are welcome. You can learn more off negative feedback, than you can positive.

Regards

Mark

[jedione]

your theme is starting to look good, here, i have made my own,  kinda same concept..demo =https://youtu.be/fKSU72SWGt0

[Mark Norville]

You swine lol

I have been trying to do what you have done, but I could not get more than one machine to show.

I bow to thee, I don't suppose you fancy sharing your work so far so I can have a look?

I understand if you don't want to, that is cool, but we could work together if we can agree a common style, and that way we can do a lot of systems all at once.

Damm lol

To be fair I did say on my first post 2) I did want it to really show 1941 (go left) 1942 (current selection) 1943 (go right) however, my skinning skills are not that good at the moment, but hopefully I can work that out.

I am impressed, just really curious now how you done that, maybe I am using the wrong theme. I did try to have them as cabinets, but they would not scale enough, but maybe I was doing it wrong. E.G instead of a wheel logo, it would be a cabinet image.

Regards

Mark

[jedione]

ya,  i just need to clean up a few things  in it,  when i get home tonight,  ill zip it up for ya brother, all this stuff is all free we share...not a problem..

[Mark Norville]

That is excellent thank you, you can take the rest of the day off if you want, I will square it with your boss lol

I will try and give it another try in the mean time.

I know that the carrier snaps = 5 shows 5 images, I did try to put that to three.

Time for a quick try and see if I can work it out before you finish work lol

Regards

Mark

[Mark Norville]

Firstly, a massive thank you to Jedione for hooking me up with his version of Arcade Wall, that he has been working on.

Secondly, sadly this demo is not using the official AM build that you download from the website, it is using a custom stripped down version with new modules. The current AM version cannot handle these modules, and will not work on a normal build.

Thirdly, the graphics are not where I wanted them, E.G I was aiming for 4K resolution, but that would cause issues and slow downs with the video snaps. As it is trying to play three videos at once. I then went to 1920 x 1080 with cabinets at the same resolution, but once more that caused issues with the videos stuttering. The only option was to reduce the graphic size even more, and so far touch wood no issues on videos stuttering. I am using this on a 43 inch 4K TV at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and it still looks very good and acceptable.

Demo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpnNkNvE_oQ

The downsides to skinning in this manner is thus

1) You cannot grab artwork from CoinOps, Launchbox etc and plug and play. You need custom graphics packs, or to make your own.

The benefits of doing it like this

1) Fast scrolling and fast resuming of playback on videos
2) Search makes scrolling not needed. If you know your game name, then pretty much it is instant.

I still have further testing to do, Atomiswave is only about 33 games, so MAME will be my next target where I have around 13,000 roms.

I am looking at doing two versions, one for the unofficial build of AM, and also one for the official build. However, with the official build it will only have one machine instead of three.

Once again, many thanks to Jedione, as I wouldn't have been able to have done what I wanted to do, without him and his code.

Regards

Mark

MAME TEST 13,000 ROMS

I am just doing some testing using the same set up with the same skin, no additional graphics. A lot of slow downs in playback, especially if you do a search for 1941. I have just tested with the original skin, and still slow downs. It might be a computer memory issue as I have been using photoshop and other programs, but other videos will play fine, it could be a video issue with that file. It could be needing less slots to be loaded, or even more to be loaded. I shall do a thirty second shut down, to clear the memory fully, and give another test.

I had downloaded the MP4 Hi Quality video snaps, and then the mp4 HD from emu movies. I was replacing the HIQ with the HD and was seeing videos freezing up, I have replaced the HD with just HIQ and that seems to have cured playback issues.

Sadly, the higher the quality, the more that it will cause issues.

[Mark Norville]

Time for another demo,

I have sort of learned how to do menus and sub menus so I came up with this yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWYA3dQPnU

I just finished the rest of the graphics today, but nothing is final, they can all be edited at a future date if I can find better graphics or videos, manufacturer, genres, years are hard to find decent graphics for.

I am planning on keeping the same theme going through out, maybe if I can change the colours on the arcade machine, then I might do other colours, but that was the best machine that I could find for what I wanted.

I personally do not like the Hyperspin look with wheels and chaotic ever changing graphics for systems and games. I am also not a fan of all the overview stuff, I just want to be able to play a game and it works.

Once again a massive thanks to Jedione as without his code, then I would have never been able to have done this.

Please note that this does not run on stock AM that you download from the website, this is a custom stripped down branch of AM.

Regards

Mark

[tommiegunz]

Time for another demo,

I have sort of learned how to do menus and sub menus so I came up with this yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWYA3dQPnU

I just finished the rest of the graphics today, but nothing is final, they can all be edited at a future date if I can find better graphics or videos, manufacturer, genres, years are hard to find decent graphics for.

I am planning on keeping the same theme going through out, maybe if I can change the colours on the arcade machine, then I might do other colours, but that was the best machine that I could find for what I wanted.

I personally do not like the Hyperspin look with wheels and chaotic ever changing graphics for systems and games. I am also not a fan of all the overview stuff, I just want to be able to play a game and it works.

Once again a massive thanks to Jedione as without his code, then I would have never been able to have done this.

Please note that this does not run on stock AM that you download from the website, this is a custom stripped down branch of AM.

Regards

Mark

actually this is a theme me and jedione was working on last last pretty ready to ship out just was waiting on the final touches since he's good with coding and i collect all the artwork.files and what not needed for the project i think i deserve some sort of credit or mention seeing it was my idea i wanted to do for the community last year just needed help bringing it to life but i you're doing a great job mark keep it up

[Mark Norville]

Well give yourself a pat on the back then, if Jedione is doing all the coding and you are just collecting artwork, then pretty much Jedione is doing all of the hard work.

However, having an idea or copying someone else's work, such as this is a copycat of CoinOps is not a massive ground for saying well this is all totally our work.

As for the artwork, I have totally scrapped the whole lot of it as it was very poor quality, if you zoomed into the artwork, you could see the jagged edges.

I have included a screen grab of one of the cabinets, the tomb raider artwork is what I done, but the cabinet itself is what someone else done, if you zoom in then you can see far too many jaggy edges.

I have cut out my cabinets from the original GJSmith artwork by hand and less jaggy edges, so if anyone deserves praise, it is GJsmith as you are copying his artwork after all lol

So Jedione done the coding, GJSmith done the artwork, and you had the idea of copying someone else's work.

A massive thank you for your effort.

Regards

Mark

[tommiegunz]

i understand what you're saying and you're right but that wasn't the artwork we was gonna use it was just a sample or place holder for what we was working on we have a couple ideas but i always give credit to all involved no matter what the details are but i haven't finished the cab i'm working on for similar reasons as you to pixelated or jaggy but the vision is there