RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login

    Cardboard Mini NES + Nes mini and Famicom mini themes

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    nescasediybuildtheme
    1.3k Posts 210 Posters 2.8m Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • SquilenatorS
      Squilenator @MapleStory
      last edited by

      @MapleStory Sry for sounding demanding, i'm just too anxious ;c

      herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • herb_fargusH
        herb_fargus administrators @Squilenator
        last edited by

        @Squilenator If you're anxious read up on the docs and create what you envision. More gratifying that way than piggybacking off another project. We all do this in our free time and nothing is stopping you from making something great!

        If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

        Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • ruckageR
          ruckage
          last edited by

          Hi,

          It's fine, at least I know people are interested in my themes :). There will be a new version released soon but it will probably be once the githup repo is up and running. I actually have the Git repository pretty much ready, really just need to get the readme how I want it . I wanted to speak to @Rookervik regarding that to see what he suggested, basically I would prefer there not to be copies of it released by others - at least while I'm actively working on it and adding to it, I just need to get the wording right. I know the retropie project relies on sharing but hopefully this doesn't seem unreasonable, most of the work I've made on this is theme is for the benefit of others as I don't use most of the systems myself.

          SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

          If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 6
          • Stuart2773S
            Stuart2773
            last edited by

            hows the update/build going?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S
              SuperSirLink
              last edited by

              Wow impressive case! And really like the themes, well done! Been using Pixel but might have to give yours a spin once you have them ready...

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • ruckageR
                ruckage
                last edited by

                Hi everyone, just thought I'd check in so you didn't think I'd gone AWOL. Sorry for the lack of updates, I've had a busy couple of weeks but will resume theme production soon :).

                SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                fellegF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 7
                • fellegF
                  felleg @ruckage
                  last edited by

                  @ruckage s'all good man :)

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Stuart2773S
                    Stuart2773
                    last edited by Stuart2773

                    anyone else tried this attract mode version?

                    ruckageR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • ruckageR
                      ruckage @Stuart2773
                      last edited by

                      @Stuart2773

                      Not tried it but it does look a very nice version and is very close to the real nes mini. Attract mode itself looks very impressive as it's much more advanced and you can customize pretty much everything. I wouldn't be surprised if attract mode became the default frontend in time.

                      SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                      If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                      Stuart2773S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • dankcushionsD
                        dankcushions Global Moderator
                        last edited by

                        finally got around to installing this on a build i'm sending to my brother - love it! as with most themes i find it looks best with the 'slide' transition.

                        great work :D

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Stuart2773S
                          Stuart2773 @ruckage
                          last edited by

                          @ruckage said in Cardboard Mini NES + Nes mini and Famicom mini themes:

                          @Stuart2773

                          Not tried it but it does look a very nice version and is very close to the real nes mini. Attract mode itself looks very impressive as it's much more advanced and you can customize pretty much everything. I wouldn't be surprised if attract mode became the default frontend in time.

                          I installed the attract mode nes mini theme and it's very nice, but I'm a noob when it comes to attract mode as this is the first time I've really experimented with it and still trying to get familiar with it lol, but you should check it out. 😀

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • ruckageR
                            ruckage
                            last edited by ruckage

                            I'm considering altering the layout of the theme slightly and would appreciate some feedback.

                            The reason for the proposed changes is that at the moment the boxart area only works properly if the gameboxes are all a standard size, for example all portrait boxes for NES, all landcape boxes for SNES etc. The trouble is that some systems have a variety of different shaped boxes and this leads to the artwork being stretched and if a user prefers screenshots to boxes these will also be stretched.

                            What I propose is to mimic the look of the real nes mini game tiles to a degree - moving some of the metadata below the boxart. The boxart will now be confined to a square area above this and will scale to fit this whilst keeping the aspect ratio.

                            The pros for this are:

                            • No more issues with stretched artwork and screenshots will also display perfectly if used.
                            • I will no longer need to define box art sizes per system which is one less thing for me to do while making the theme.

                            The cons are:

                            • The box art will be smaller
                            • In my opinion the metadata area is now not quite as interesting looking.

                            Here's a mock-up of how it will most likely look:

                            0_1491950129167_nesmini new layout mockup.png

                            Let me know what you think, I like the theme as it is at the moment but do feel that with so many systems which don't have uniform box sizes that this may be be the best option. On the plus side I would only need to edit a few of the backgrounds and the rest of the changes are within the xml itself so it won't take very long to make the changes.

                            SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                            If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                            Stuart2773S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                            • Stuart2773S
                              Stuart2773 @ruckage
                              last edited by

                              @ruckage

                              I kind of like the new proposed look, I understand what you mean about the metadata box now looking bland, I think I have an idea to fix that issue, leave it with me and I will get back to you within the next day with a possible solution, in the meantime is there any chance you have a mockup screen of the famicom mini with a landscape box art?

                              Thanks

                              Stuart.

                              ruckageR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • S
                                SuperSirLink
                                last edited by

                                I like the idea of the rating and number of players under the box art/screenshot... That is actually something I am doing on a theme I am working on... I feel like it balances better instead of having just a game list in one column, metadata in another, and art by itself...

                                Hope that helps...

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • ruckageR
                                  ruckage @Stuart2773
                                  last edited by ruckage

                                  @Stuart2773 said in Cardboard Mini NES + Nes mini and Famicom mini themes:

                                  @ruckage

                                  I kind of like the new proposed look, I understand what you mean about the metadata box now looking bland, I think I have an idea to fix that issue, leave it with me and I will get back to you within the next day with a possible solution, in the meantime is there any chance you have a mockup screen of the famicom mini with a landscape box art?

                                  Thanks

                                  Stuart.

                                  I don't have a famicom mockup at the moment but a landscape box would look just the same only there would be white borders at the top and bottom instead of on the sides (the preview box is square). For games with more square boxart (gameboy, playstation) it would fill the area more and have less border.

                                  I think the metadata area looks slightly bland now simply because the rating and player icons added a bit of colour and visual interest. I'm still thinking of ideas myself - ideally anything added needs to fit well and have a purpose, if you have any ideas let me know (it's a shame that genre can't be displayed using different icons as that would have looked nice).

                                  SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                  If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • ruckageR
                                    ruckage
                                    last edited by ruckage

                                    Had another idea so I just quickly threw together a few mockups, this time keeping rating/played/players on the right which looks nicer to me and have 'published by' and 'genre' either under the boxart or above the boxart. Going to work on it a bit more but what do you think?

                                    0_1491982558904_nes mini layout alternative.jpg

                                    0_1491982833164_nes mini mockup new layout 2.jpg

                                    SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                    If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                    • dankcushionsD
                                      dankcushions Global Moderator
                                      last edited by

                                      looks good to me!

                                      one thing i would prefer is left-aligned game description text. for large blocks of text i think it looks better than centred. but doesn't really matter :)

                                      ruckageR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • S
                                        SuperSirLink
                                        last edited by

                                        I would swap the developer and genre on the top one, but I like the top one best of the 3 mockups so far...

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • Stuart2773S
                                          Stuart2773
                                          last edited by Stuart2773

                                          i had a few ideas, but i think this one works best :-

                                          0_1492000379038_1491950134851-nesmini-new-layout-mockup.png

                                          0_1492001589148_1491950134851-nesmini-new-layout-mockup.png

                                          changing the field backgrounds from black to grey or blue,
                                          adding the official system info icons from the nes mini,

                                          what do you think?

                                          ruckageR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • ruckageR
                                            ruckage @Stuart2773
                                            last edited by ruckage

                                            @Stuart2773 said in Cardboard Mini NES + Nes mini and Famicom mini themes:

                                            i had a few ideas, but i think this one works best :-

                                            changing the field backgrounds from black to grey or blue,
                                            adding the official system info icons from the nes mini,

                                            what do you think?

                                            Hi,

                                            To be honest I like the black background for those boxes more as I tried grey before when I was creating the theme and felt that the black was more eye catching. Regarding the icons they don't really fit and aren't representative of any info in that area - plus some games have multiple genres so they would overun the icons.

                                            Edit: actually I don't mind the coloured background for those boxes though it would probably need to be changed dependent on the system - I'll think about it some more.

                                            SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                            If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                            Stuart2773S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                            • First post
                                              Last post

                                            Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                                            Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.