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    Game List Z-index fun

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    themetechniqueselectorz-indexgamelist
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    • Z
      Zigurana @Syhles
      last edited by

      @Syhles
      </waits patiently for @TMNTturtlguy to make a suitable pizza-pie reference...>

      If tetris has thought me anything, it's that errors pile up and that accomplishments dissappear.

      S lilbudL TMNTturtlguyT 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
      • S
        Syhles @Zigurana
        last edited by

        @Zigurana
        As someone who understands ES way better then I do was my explanation on the z-index correct?

        Z 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Z
          Zigurana @Syhles
          last edited by

          @Syhles Sure, I think it makes sense like that.
          Looking at it from a procedural point of view:
          ES will render the elements ranked by their z-index, starting with the lowest value (i.e. 0 for background images), and elements with higher z-values can blot out elements with lower z-indexes when they overlap on the screen.
          See also here.

          If tetris has thought me anything, it's that errors pile up and that accomplishments dissappear.

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

            Wow, didn't expect to wake up to this many replies. I'll be back shortly to answer your questions and show a video of it action.

            SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

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

            FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • FlyingTomahawkF
              FlyingTomahawk @ruckage
              last edited by FlyingTomahawk

              @ruckage

              You never cease to amaze us.
              Looking really forward to that video.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • lilbudL
                lilbud @Zigurana
                last edited by

                @Zigurana I got it
                alt text

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                • TMNTturtlguyT
                  TMNTturtlguy @Zigurana
                  last edited by

                  @Zigurana said in Game List Z-index fun:

                  @Syhles
                  </waits patiently for @TMNTturtlguy to make a suitable pizza-pie reference...>

                  Sorry! I was actually sleeping for a few hours or I would have been on it for sure! Now I am trying to get the kids to daycare! It isn't easy being green. (Wait is the Kermit the frog.....ohhhhh well. I made a funny!)

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

                    Below is a video showing the gamelist working. It also shows it working with a patterned background (slightly more complicated but the same principle).

                    @Syhles is correct, everything is layered. So the setup is you set the gamelist z-index to render at the back, next you have the overlay image rendering on top of that (z index higher than gamelist), and in my example the background renders above everything else (zindex higher than both the game-list and overlay.

                    The actual overlay image in my first examples is a graphic designed to cover exactly a single line in the game-list, however I use the <tile>true</tile> tag to repeat it vertically 9 times.

                    This works well if the background is a single colour but things get slightly more complicated if you have an image or pattern in the background. To make that work your overlay needs to be a duplicate of the backgound but with transparent areas for the game-list to show through.

                    So first you would have your background:

                    0_1496401398500_pattern_back.png

                    Next the gamelist

                    0_1496401839557_gamelist.png

                    And on top of those your overlay (copy of background with alpha transparency.

                    0_1496401496087_pattern1.png

                    I hope that explains it better.

                    The z-index is a really useful addition, so many possibilities. You may have noticed the preview screenshots have scanlines - that is also an overlay.

                    Regarding the border around 'marquee images', they are all edited to have that as I wanted an outline on them for this particular theme.

                    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 4
                    • lilbudL
                      lilbud @TMNTturtlguy
                      last edited by

                      @TMNTturtlguy said in Game List Z-index fun:

                      Kermit the frog

                      0_1496402954142_a8445590-3c87-4e74-9f37-109e25f4ebff-image.png

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

                        @lilbud
                        I'm going to be an old grump now but would you mind not cluttering up the topic with pictures of Kermit the frog.

                        SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

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

                        lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • lilbudL
                          lilbud @ruckage
                          last edited by

                          This post is deleted!
                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S
                            Syhles
                            last edited by

                            @ruckage
                            Yay I was correct it seems.

                            On a more serious note, it would be nice if you made a more in-depth step by step tutorial for this, I followed how to do this, also didn't think of the patterned background working that easily.

                            Thanks for sharing how to do cool things.

                            ruckageR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • HexH
                              Hex
                              last edited by

                              @ruckage Thanks for clearing that up. I am sure it is jusk like Andoid z index. The only difference is android draws shadows below to show z-index thus giving it an awesome feel

                              Sent from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

                              Powersaver Emulation station : https://github.com/hex007/EmulationStation
                              ES dev script : https://github.com/hex007/es-dev/blob/master/es-tests.sh

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

                                @Syhles said in Game List Z-index fun:

                                @ruckage
                                Yay I was correct it seems.

                                On a more serious note, it would be nice if you made a more in-depth step by step tutorial for this, I followed how to do this, also didn't think of the patterned background working that easily.

                                Thanks for sharing how to do cool things.

                                I'll see if I can come up with a tutorial, most of the work needed is image editing, the xml side of things is easy.

                                @Hex said in Game List Z-index fun:

                                @ruckage Thanks for clearing that up. I am sure it is jusk like Andoid z index. The only difference is android draws shadows below to show z-index thus giving it an awesome feel

                                Not sure what you mean about Android z-index and shadows. You could easily add shadows between layers if you wish though in ES.

                                A good way to think of z-index is as an extra axis (like 3D). You position you images using x and y coordinates which left/right, up/down repectively, so z is just in/out.

                                SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

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

                                S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • S
                                  Syhles @ruckage
                                  last edited by Syhles

                                  @ruckage
                                  Thanks hope you share more inventive ways of using the z-index for things.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • HexH
                                    Hex
                                    last edited by

                                    Yes I agree this is great.

                                    Android as in the OS. I am also an Android Dev so I was not sure if it was the same thing or not.

                                    Sent from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

                                    Powersaver Emulation station : https://github.com/hex007/EmulationStation
                                    ES dev script : https://github.com/hex007/es-dev/blob/master/es-tests.sh

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • J
                                      jdrassa
                                      last edited by

                                      @ruckage Amazing job! Although, I can't help but think, wouldn't this be easier if the gamelist could just render an image in place of the selection bar? I might have to look into it.

                                      Get latest build of EmulationStation for Windows here

                                      lilbudL ruckageR 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 5
                                      • lilbudL
                                        lilbud @jdrassa
                                        last edited by

                                        @jdrassa Didn't you find a way for the gamelist selector to be resized? Or was that someone else?

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

                                          @jdrassa said in Game List Z-index fun:

                                          @ruckage Amazing job! Although, I can't help but think, wouldn't this be easier if the gamelist could just render an image in place of the selection bar? I might have to look into it.

                                          It definitely would be easier and would be a great addition as this method has limitations and can be a little tricky to get right. If you decide to add selector bar image support I'd be first in line to test it :).

                                          @lilbud said in Game List Z-index fun:

                                          @jdrassa Didn't you find a way for the gamelist selector to be resized? Or was that someone else?

                                          Hi @lilbud. Yeah, @jdrassa got y-offset and height working for the selector bar and it's great, if that was combined with image support it would be perfect.
                                          https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/10435/long-standing-es-bugs/21

                                          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 1
                                          • W
                                            WXDFever
                                            last edited by

                                            HMM, does anyone know where I can download this theme?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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