Setting up artwork in Attract Mode step-by-step

[akafox]

Setting up Artwork for Attract Mode is easy. If you understand the concept of setting up roms and the executable then you understand the basic concept of setting up artwork.

1. First take note of where your artwork is on your computer. Examples:
Windows C:\mame\marquees
Linux $HOME/.mame/marquees
MAC OS $HOME/mame/marquees

2. Start Attract Mode
3. Press TAB
4. Go to emulators
5. pick your emulator (example mame)
6. Go to marquees
7. Type the path to your marquees
8. Do steps 6 and 7 for other types of artwork (snap, wheel, ect.)
9. Press esc twice (you should be at the list screen now)

Your artwork should display now!

Note that you can set up two types of artwork on one line by using a semi-colon to separate the two paths. (example
Windows C:\mame\snaps;C:\mame\videos
Linux $HOME/.mame/snaps;$HOME/.mame/videos
MAC $HOME/mame/snaps;$HOME/mame/videos

This would make the video snaps show in the same place the still pictures do...however the videos will "override" the still pictures.
This is good because it will show a still picture even though you do not have a video.

Also note that for the artwork to show, it must be named the same name as the rom/game name! Try to use your artwork in the "basic" layout first. If you have problems then it might be attract mode not liking it. If everything works then change the layout. If you are having trouble with that then contact the creator of the theme and hope that they will fix it. Not all artwork will display in a given layout. It depends on how the layout was written..that is if it was designed to show other artwork or not.

Explanation of types of artwork:
Marquee - The top "strip" of artwork normally found at the top of an arcade cabinet
Snap - A still picture (snapshot) of the game. Sometimes video(snap) this would be a short video showing gameplay
Flyer - An advertising flyer for the game normally given to arcade operators (or others) to promote the new games
Wheel - Artwork made to have a fancy list instead of just plain text
PCB - The picture of the arcade Printed Circuit Board
Control Panel (CP) - A picture of the game's control panel
Icon - An icon for the game (not used with Attract Mode but some other front ends do use them)
Cabinet (arcade) - A picture of the arcade cabinet

Tip: For some console emulators you can find "banners" normally the scan of the top of the game cartage. Those can be used as "marquees"

Places to get artwork:

can be downloaded in packs:
video snaps http://www.progettosnaps.net/videosnaps/
snaps   http://www.progettosnaps.net/snapshots/
marquees   http://www.progettosnaps.net/marquees/
cabinets   http://www.progettosnaps.net/cabinets/
flyers   http://www.progettosnaps.net/flyers/
manuals   http://www.progettosnaps.net/manuals/
Control panels   http://www.progettosnaps.net/cpanel/
PCB   http://www.progettosnaps.net/PCB/

donation based*
all artwork http://www.emumovies.com (they have a program that will scan your roms and download the artwork for the games you have) *only for video snaps
wheel art http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/

other
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=database
http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/
http://www.arcadecrusade.com/gallery/main.php (mostly custom artwork..but worth a look!)

[gepponline]

Hi!
   I already have a lot of artworks every type in a single zip file (flyers.zip, cabinets.zip and so on)
Should i have to unzip them or it's possible to make attract to use the zip files?
thank you!

[akafox]

You will have to unzip them

[epicrean]

I put my snaps in the right folder, named them correctly and startup attract mode.   When go into the game the snap starts to load, stops and then goes gray.

[progets]

I put my snaps in the right folder, named them correctly and startup attract mode.   When go into the game the snap starts to load, stops and then goes gray.

My guess is that you're using a Pi and videos that are too high of a resolution with software decoding. You need to enable hardware (mmal) decoding on your Pi or use lower resolution videos.

[epicrean]

I got the movies from emumovies, where would you suggest getting videos?

[progets]

I got the movies from emumovies, where would you suggest getting videos?

Emumovies has both higher quality and lower quality videos. You can try downloading the lower quality videos. You can also try the videos from http://www.progettosnaps.net/videosnaps/. At the end of the day these are really just work arounds. You would be better off upgrading AttractMode to use hardware decoding which would resolve the problem. It will also provide better performance and be easier than replacing all your videos.

[epicrean]

I have the newest version of attract mode, so I am not 100% sure what you mean there.  In your previous post you suggested  that I enable hardware (mmal) decoding on the pi.    Can you further explain these options?

I am using a raspberry Pi 3
Latest build of retro pie (updated 4 days ago)
Latest build of Attract Mode (updated 4 days ago)

Thanks in advance

[progets]

I have the newest version of attract mode, so I am not 100% sure what you mean there.  In your previous post you suggested  that I enable hardware (mmal) decoding on the pi.    Can you further explain these options?

I am using a raspberry Pi 3
Latest build of retro pie (updated 4 days ago)
Latest build of Attract Mode (updated 4 days ago)

Thanks in advance

Go to Configure-->General-->Video Decoder = mmal. If you don't have this option then you haven't installed ffmpeg to enable hardware decoding.

If you installed AttractMode from the RetroPie experimental menu you need to install ffmpeg as described here https://github.com/mickelson/attract/wiki/Compiling-on-the-Raspberry-Pi-%28Raspbian-Jessie%29 (Method 2). Once you have done that you need to reinstall AttractMode from the RetroPie experimental menu.

If you installed AttractMode from the command line then install ffmpeg as described here https://github.com/mickelson/attract/wiki/Compiling-on-the-Raspberry-Pi-%28Raspbian-Jessie%29 (Method 2) and then follow the steps in the AttractMode build section of the link.

[epicrean]

When you say go to configure, where is this suppose to be?

[progets]

When you say go to configure, where is this suppose to be?

The "Tab" key or any other key/button you have setup for the "Configure" menu. How did you setup up AttractMode without using the "Configure" menu?

[Dynamite_Dan]

I have no trouble changing the wheel and boxart for certain emulators but I can't seem to find a way to edit the art on the main wheel.

For instance I've added an Amstrad emulator to attract mode and I want to edit the console image on the menu wheel.

Any ideas?

[progets]

I have no trouble changing the wheel and boxart for certain emulators but I can't seem to find a way to edit the art on the main wheel.

For instance I've added an Amstrad emulator to attract mode and I want to edit the console image on the menu wheel.

Any ideas?

Artwork for the main wheel (known as the Displays Menu in Attract-Mode) is located in /.attract/menu-art/

[Dynamite_Dan]

I have no trouble changing the wheel and boxart for certain emulators but I can't seem to find a way to edit the art on the main wheel.

For instance I've added an Amstrad emulator to attract mode and I want to edit the console image on the menu wheel.

Any ideas?

Artwork for the main wheel (known as the Displays Menu in Attract-Mode) is located in /.attract/menu-art/

Got it cheers Found out I needed to use WinSCP as well.

[Retrotechy]

Could use a little help.

Followed the guide and got the marquees and the videos going, but the wheel art isn't working for me. I downloaded the art from hyperspin, I had hyperspin setup previously, checked the path to make sure it's set to the right folder, but it just isn't working.

I'm using the latest version of Attract mode, using the default pac-man skin.