leftside robo skin with spin wheel like in hyperspin on right using wheel art.

[verion]

This is great! Best theme hands down.

But I've downloaded your .nut files and:
1. obviously there are graphics files missing (arcade cabinet and background) as it is only a .nut config file
2. marquee and snaps are not skewed but straight rectangles

Can you share a whole folder with all files - so we can have a theme exactly like in your YT video?
Or I'm missing something?

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BTW I'm a graphic designer - so if you want any help with graphics just PM me

[omegaman]

verion-

Sure thing. Here is an improved version of robospin that scales from 1024 up to 1080p without having tweak anything. There is also an option in the .nut to change the background style from the default blue to black. And an option to turn on/off masking to darken the background and make things pop more.  Let me know what you think and how it works for you. The default art wheel set looks the best I think. 

[verion]

Oh man! This is pure awesomeness!

But I've noticed that the arcade cab needs a little touch up.
For now I've cleaned up jagged lines at the edge. See attached image with before and after.
I'm attaching fixed robo.png file as well.

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My main question is - is there a way to make this layout "responsive"?
Right now I'm using it on 16:9 screen and the layout is stretched - since it is clearly for 4:3 screen.
Truth to say - the cab looks stretched but the wheel seems in good ratio. Strange

Can this be coded to behave like this?

cab in fixed ratio aligned to the left   |  resizable background to fit   |   wheel in fixed ratio aligned to the right

[omegaman]

verion-

Hey! Nice job on cleaning up the cab, looks great. Are you using a drawing tablet? I am current using gimp with a mouse, so to get those kind of results would be a tedious process at best. Unless, you have some kind of technique you would like to share:P

Answer to your question. I never tested my layout for 16x9 format because I don't have anything that runs 16x9. Anyway, I know it's popular in europe and for DVDs. So, here is what we would have to do. First, change the robo.png to a 16x9 resolution, say something starting at 1024x576 for example. Then in the nut change fe.layout.width=1024 and fe.layout.height=576; since we are proportioning everything on the new background size. Because the snap, marquee, and text were positioned based on 4x3 they probably need to be re-positioned a little. Really, you should only need to adjust the x and y coordinates of those items. And, if the wheel proportions look good then that is a plus because its the hardest thing to scale up which is why I do my layouts the way I do. Anyway, after that you should be able to scale up to other 16x9 resolutions. On 4x3 displays this method scales beautifuly from 1024 to 1080p.

[omegaman]

verion-
 
The touch up really looks great man. I will includes the corrected roboskin in a new rar package for downloading. Thanks...

[verion]

ok. tried that. It works. See attached picture.
As you've said - artwork position has to be fixed.
I've fixed top marquee for now.

But I was thinking - maybe it can be done in a way that will work in all popular aspects 4:3, 16:10, 16:9
Maybe relatively to height only? X axis positon can be calculated relatively to screen height. As I understand - flx*0.13 means relatively to screen width? like 0.13 of screen width. Maybe it could be 0.06 (or something) of screen height?

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If you want to test layout for different aspects just change GENERAL > WINDOW MODE to "Window"
And resize your window to be 16:9 in proportons

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As for my technique I'm seasoned graphics designer (15+ years under my belt) so I know my ways around. I have no tips for Gimp since I'm using Photoshop. But with PS I use shape tool to draw vector shape as a mask for an image.

[omegaman]

Verson-

Yeah, it might be possible but it would take a lot more work. The one thing I don't like about 16x9 is too much negative space. Now, for something like a media center it looks fantastic, not so much for the typical arcade though. But, I will see what I can do when I have enough free time. Once you've made the adjustment for your 16x9 layout you should be able to scale up to whatever 16x9 resolutions.

[verion]

Yea, I think you're right - better to make a spin-off just for 16:9
And I could move the cabinet to the right - to fill that empty space
Maybe even add some side art.

I know I'm just an edge case - but I want to have my mame always with me, and that means it has to work on 16:9 widescreen 11" laptop.

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Can you point me to the source of that robotron cab image (with the side not cropped)? I could start working on that image from scratch.
Or maybe any other good image of nice cab that we could use?

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BTW you could use italic font for local title - it will be better match for the cab geometry that is in perspective

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I've found a small bug in .nut

in line 42
there is ->   local mask = fe.add_image( "mask.png", 0, 0, flw, flx );
should be ->   local mask = fe.add_image( "mask.png", 0, 0, flw, flh );

this way it will also stretch vertically and add nice dark vignette corners also at the bottom

[omegaman]

Verion-

Good catch, I deleted the old .nut, so I kind of threw this one together post haste. I actually use an arcade style font for my layouts but I'll give the italics a go. We could always use some more good quality cab artwork. Here is the link for the cabinets.   

 Robotron Model Copyright Andrew Kator & Jennifer Legaz
 http://3dmodels.katorlegaz.com/arcade_machines/248/index.php

[verion]

Thanks for the link. That source image is of better quality - so I’ll start that from scratch and make it already in HD resolution (1080p). It will scale down to 1024x768 just as good as it scales up now.

I’ll work on 4:3 aspect - as it will be more beneficial to you and probably for the others, since 4:3 is the golden standard in emulation. When everything will be ready - I’ll just make my own spin-off and make it 16:9 just for me and maybe a small widescreen minority.

I was thinking about adding special “effects” to overlay - like shadows, glows, rounded corners on screen, etc.
But I don’t know if anyone will notice

It’s a little hard to explain - maybe you can check out some overlay examples on my webpage with graphics for gamers - www.ClanLogoDesign.com

Just scroll to the TWITCH.tv part (or click TWITCH at the top menu) - those are all .png overlays on plain rectangle objects (video, stats, alert boxes). Overlay adds shadows, scanlines, rounded corners, etc. I can make something similar for screen and marquee - but I don’t know if it’s worth the hassle. Let me know what do you think.

[omegaman]

verion-

I checked out the link you provided. WOW!, that looks great man. Any artwork that you could share with the AM community would be awesome. So, I think it's definitely worth the effort. 

[verion]

I'm glad that you like my works.

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OK. So I start working on it next week.

I'll make a cab graphics from scratch and tweak artwork position (if necessary).
I think I'll stay with that robotron cab, because it has a nice retro look - but does't look dated.

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Can you make a change in .nut to make that text box with game info at the bottom optional (via layout options)?
I don't see the point of using from the perspective of someone that is not interested in producer or year - so option to switch it on/off would be nice.

[omegaman]

Verion-

Absolutely, I'll get it done.

[verion]

I've upscaled all graphics to 1080p and started to clean it up.
So far I've retouched front panel to get more generic look and get rid of that mirrored texts.

I've noticed that you've started another thread "updated version".
I think we should continue in that thread.

Maybe you could post most recent layout.nut file here (after you'll made that changes re: text info box) - and then we'll continue in that new thread. ok?

[omegaman]

Verion-

That looks good. Yes, I will post the new .nut in the updated thread. I agree that the year & manufacturer are not really needed especially with the history plugin enabled. So, you want the title centered on the bottom, correct?