Chicuelo Theme

chicuelo

@movisman
Sorry if I dont explained well. This is my idea:

The tests you've made with the resize were amazing, so why don't we use the same png files that are fine and resize the ones that are scaled up?
I mean, all the theme is designed in 1920x1080 so the controllers png are saved for that resolution. the idea is seting a max witdh or height for lower resolutions, so I understand the existing controller files should work fine. What do you think about?

If its messy you could use the controllers and make all the adjustments and if you find some with scale issues I will provide in the size you tell me. It's ok for you?

I will make an update on the repo now, also replacing the mame and Neo geo controllers

movisman

@chicuelo

Hey,

Yeah cool, that does make sense - but just to check, are all controller PNGs the same canvas size now (eg 480x480 or whatever)? Did you edit all of them?

We would require all images to be the same size (in terms of canvas/technical dimensions) in order for the scaling to work nicely. Objects/controllers inside that can be whatever we want of course as long as they stay within the canvas. However all images do need to be the same technical dimensions otherwise the scaling will look odd. This is because we can only scale the XML to all the controllers with that one size parameter, not individual ones. And if we use the original images we will run into the problem where taller controllers will look small but horizontal ones ok, or vice versa depending on how the XML is set. It's hard to explain and my explain probably isn't very good. My few examples above should help if you open these in illustrator, you'll see the white space around each image but all of them are actually 480x480.

If this hasn't been done, I can do this on every image. I know what needs to be done and it won't take too long, but a couple of the existing PNGs on github aren't quite big enough.

You could provide me all controllers in a larger format if you have them (eg. bigger than 480 on one or both axes), then I can work on it, I don't mind. I think we can use 480x480 if you are targeting users who don't render ES in anything higher. I don't know how well ES can scale down images so probably better to try and make them 1:1 if possible.

I can wait for you to update the repository, and then can take a look at it just in case i'm misunderstanding something. Did you find a better Amiga image btw?

Thanks!

movisman

@chicuelo

I might even suggest we scale down slightly to 22.5% for the controller max width (0.225) - because this then allows the character 'feet' to be seen on more of the character images whilst still having a nice size controller.

This equates to a 432 x 432 pixel image on a 1080p resolution when you calculate the percentages for XML.

If I do this, I might be able to just use the existing PNGs as a basis, the only one which I might need a larger version of is the DC controller. However if you have larger versions 'ready to go' you can send them to me and I can make the necessary amendments once you have your repo fully up to date with all the revised controllers (arcade, etc).

Cheers

chicuelo

@movisman
I updated the repo, all the controllers are in the size that works fine in 1920x1080, example: 494x208, 458x277, 326x352, there is no a custom resolution. The idea is that if a image exceeds a limit it will reduce. Do you still want me to scale all the controllers below the 480x480 area?

I have updated Arcade and Neo geo controllers

For amiga, do you think this will be fine a little bit white?

0_1522193086324_atari_st_and_amiga_1200_remixed_in_3d_by_zgodzinski-d7cupvz.jpg

movisman

@chicuelo

Hi,

Ah, I definitely wouldn't use that image for Amiga - that's some sort of weird Atari ST hybrid! :) Sorry!

As for the images, whilst they look fine in 1080p when there is no size parameter set, if we set a maximum size for each axis in the XML (eg 25%), this will "mostly" work ok for horizontal and vertical controllers, but square ones will always appear oversized (Atari 2600, N64 etc). Also any smaller controllers with smaller dimensions than the max size set will get scaled up to 25% and this may not look so great. Having a set "canvas size" for all images will eliminate these issues - the controllers won't really look any different in 1080p, but they will look better in 720p.

Do you want me to make a video tomorrow to demonstrate? Its really difficult to explain and there's definitely a misunderstanding of sorts which is causing confusion somewhere - regarding using a set canvas size I think. I'm not too sure how to break it down. I am off to bed shortly but happy to do so tomorrow?

I can always make the changes if you like based on the existing PNGs - happy to do that also, it won't take me much more than an hour max.

Or I can send you a layered SVG with each controller on a 480x480 canvas and it might help explain better what I think needs to be done.

Thanks!

chicuelo

@movisman
Oh I got now! I will set a bigger size than 480 for the controllers who look small at that maximum size, and the ones who are square or smaller will fit fine inside that limit. What about 512 x 512 px?

chicuelo

@movisman
Here are the updates! I scaled all the controllers into a 548x450 px png so the scaling process make all of them look good.
The math I do was a maximum width size of 28,5% and max height of 41,6% (if 1920 px is 100%, 548 px is 28,5%, and 1080 px = 100% so 450 px are 41,6%)
All the controllers are placed at bottom right as expected:

I also created a correct (hope so!) Amiga keyboard!

I did not updated the repo, its better if I send you the files and you download and work from your side so when we are sure its working fine we could merge all.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzah56pmv3gy4j0/controllers.zip?dl=0

Thanks!

movisman

@chicuelo

Hi,

Yes! This is much more like it :)

I have downloaded the files and they all look like I was expecting (all images within the same canvas size). The only file in the zip which doesn't adhere to the fixed canvas is megadrive (I guess you forgot to edit that one), but as it's the same as Genesis we can simply copy Genesis and rename.

I am at work at the moment so will not be able to test properly on my local machine until later. Once I do so I will show you a video of how it looks in 1080p and 720p.

Regarding the scaling percentages, when I did tests it's best to only scale on the horizontal axis and leave the vertical as 0 (this way the vertical size will be automatically calculated in accordance with the image's aspect ratio and thus takes care of itself). We also use the size parameter rather than 'maxSize', this then forces the size to be the percentage to what we configure in the XML, and if we pick the correct percentage it means no scaling up or down in 1080p, but it will scale downwards for 720p, etc.

The only thing I might ask, is your dimensions chosen do not calculate to be an exact/rounded percentage for 1080p (548px is 28.541 recurring, 450px is 41.666 recurring). I'm not sure how many decimal places the XML will work to before it rounds up or down. It might cause the tiniest amount of scaling in 1080p, but i'm not sure until I try it. It may not even be noticeable and/or the XML might let me use enough decimal places. I could probably work it out.

To make sure there is definitely zero scaling though, is there any chance you can adjust the overall canvas size to be something like 528x432? (this equates to more precise (non recurring) percentages we can use in the XML for 1080p - so 27.5% and 40% exactly).

Would that be ok and does that make sense? The vertical canvas size doesn't matter too much, as we are not inputting that percentage into the XML (we are only scaling on the horizontal axis, vertical will sort itself out and keep the aspect ratio), so technically you could leave this 'as is'. However if you want to keep the same scaling ratio for your images it would probably be worth adjusting this too.

Personally I would have the canvas at 528x432 if you can, and just scale the necessary images inside down slightly to fit within the boundary. The images will be a little bit smaller but only a very small amount.

Then in the XML we would use 0.275 (27.5% exactly) as the size for horizontal. Vertical takes care of itself.

Would this be ok and does that make sense? So basically exactly as your updates above, but at a canvas size of 528x432.

If you don't want to make further changes, I can try later to see and use these longer percentages in the XML, and see if it causes any weird single pixel scaling as a result of rounding up. I don't know how many decimal points the XML can adhere to. However if it's a quick change I would just go for 528x432 and we then know that will be perfect.

Thanks!

movisman

@chicuelo

PS. The Amiga image is perfect - an A1200 which is a standard and much loved model :)

Cheers!

chicuelo

@movisman

No problem! I will adjust all the images to that canvas, is it necessary to adjust the size of the controllers too or only the canvas?

movisman

@chicuelo

Cool!
Well, because the proposed canvas size is a little bit smaller than before, I guess you will have no choice but to reduce some of the images slightly to suit, otherwise they will go off the edge of the reduced canvas. Know what I mean?

Cheers!

chicuelo

@movisman
Yes I notice but its not too much!, here are the files on that size!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gu0nbb47namydqn/controllers 528x432.zip?dl=0

cosmo0

@chicuelo Yay! the new arcade controllers look great :) thanks !

movisman

@chicuelo

Awesome, thank you so much!

When I get home I will take a look and test on my local install and let you know how it goes!! :)

Cheers

movisman

@chicuelo

Fantastic! These look really great!

1080p:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13r84uApa4eX-N7i7jCq_sK6YXiVpkFiM

720p:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xGvaOxO2e2vwkm9uw2nhtf0LB7ouUxfy

Scaling all working exactly as I hoped. Obviously I don't have all the systems, but I can't see why the others wouldn't display nicely.

If you think there are any which in the end, you think are too large/small, it would just be a case of editing the image inside the SVG you made to the set canvas and re-saving I guess.

The 'only' one which doesn't look as sharp as the others on first glance is the Dreamcast controller, and maybe it could do with being a touch bigger (closer to gamecube/n64). If your source is already at maximum size without scaling up, we don't need to worry about this for now.

Since I made the video I also made a 'very' slight change to the positioning to make the margins between the controller and the edge of the screen exact and consistent with each other :)

How do you want to put the changes live?

Do you want me to upload the controllers to my fork along with the modified theme.xml and raise a pull request? I synced with your latest repo and made the changes to my local version. Or do you prefer another way? Not sure if you need or want to make any further corrections at this time? Otherwise I can just raise a PR and you can merge?

Thanks!

chicuelo

@movisman
It looks awesome!
If you want make a PR with the controllers and the xml update and I merge.
I lately done a mame and Neo geo controllers update, but I think you downloaded that versions, if not I replace them after.
there were minor changes on the darkness of the controller

chicuelo

@movisman
Before make the PR update the repo because I just added wonder swan color!

movisman

@chicuelo

Hi,

Yep, I freshly updated from your master this evening before making the changes.

I have raised a PR now, as follows:

theme.xml
Updates to controller sizes and position

Controllers
Update all controllers to set canvas size for scaling purposes

Readme
Quick update and tidy up, add in new blisters

Hope you don't mind me tidying up the readme a little bit, I didn't change much just some corrections and additions here and there. Apologies there are three commits for it, I realised it needed further edits each time I committed to my fork. I assume you can merge all the commits into a single one anyway for all my changes.

When complete, i'll update my main version from RetroPie Setup and test all is working ok!

Thanks a lot for your work on rescaling and reworking the controllers to my preferred size.

Cheers

movisman

@chicuelo

Ooooh! Ha I raised the PR pretty much at exactly the same time as you wrote this.

Hope this does not cause issue for you. It should still be fine if you merge in my changes as your updates are all new files so no conflicts.

Once you have merged my changes in (including my readme edits), you could then update the readme to add WonderSwan as supported.

movisman

@chicuelo

BTW, I noticed there is a standard (non color) Wonderswan theme.xml and Logo already in place, but no controller or background. I have added this to the 'coming soon' on the readme and updated my PR, or is full support for WonderSwan not planned? At the same time I have added WonderSwan Color to the readme as fully supported now. At the same time I finished reordering all the systems so they are in alphabetical order.

Thanks!