Well, sadly i have to say that the release will delay a bit... Some weeks, some months maybe.
That have a reason.
Until now, i coded all using a "trick" with the attract.cfg that makes the scripts reload every time the user select a entry in the romlist. That makes possible cool functions BUT have the problem that the more the code gets longer, the more the waiting times become bigger. That means, when the user select a system or a game, before he gets the display he wants, it takes about a second of script reloading without show any loading sceen. The user just feels the sensation of LAG, because between he preses a button and the theme reacts, it takes time.
So, what i can do reached that point? Yes... rework ALL.
I can continue doing the cool functions like to have different screens and overlays just with 1 layout, the genres, the XML scanner, the built in overlays... The theme will have all that i has now, this wont take out any function of the theme. But... this need a lot of work doing new coding and debugging the old, impleementing new callbacks and better use of the controller functions that i shown in the last demo.
The result will be "1 display for all". That means, no need to reload code every time the user enters a category or a system. All will work instantly, the only time the user will need to wait a loading time will be when launching the frontend, but since that, all must work with total fluidicity; because the theme only will load ONCE and all will happen in the same display with dinamic functions.
The counter part of that, is that all the code got obsolete in a moment, and i will need to debug ALL, line by line, 8900 code lines, rework almost every single one function and variable. I wont lie, this will take a lot of time. I will work hard to do all the faster i can.
I focused all my efforts on add content and functions, and cause of that, i didnt spend enough time to make a clean and "Elegante" code, so i ended with a TON of raw code, with redundant functions and a huge amount of lines that can be grouped and parsed a lot better. Literally i forced the compiler to the limit at a point that the theme just crash or works extreme slow. In this state, the theme is not "Elegant" is "Shabby". Now i need to do the things on the right way, simplifiying cleaning and optimizing the code. And OFC, to stop use the "trick" that forces the frontend to reload all scripts, and do a better use of the memory used by the aplication and the functionality of AM.
Since the start, i knew i will need to debug code before the release. But I didnt expect to get a point with so many functions like it is now. And now, the work of optimizing that i have in front of me, is terrorifying.
But trust me, it will worth to wait just a little more to have a really good feeling version of the theme.
For everyone that is following this project: im really sorry for this. I received a lot of mails and messages of support, and brothers, you are GREAT, thanks a lot, and forgive me for force you to use a little more of your infinite patience with my project.
