New Comic Book Theme!

TMNTturtlguy

@nismo when using riot to compress the images, the dots stay clear but the colors get very muddy and the look is not good. I am thinking I can correct this by going with 720 instead of 1080 images but keeping some of the file sizes at 512. Only the newer systems would be 512. Most older systems with simple color schemes would be under 400kbs. I know you don't like 720 images at 512kbs, but do you see any issues? We will get clearer crisp images and better color this way. I think the 720 will still look ok on larger screens. I will test on my 4K for sure. Thanks for the input.

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy Great!

Here's the link. I got a few images - I started with comic/cartoons related only images, but soon noticed that the majority of them weren't especially colorful, so then went on to some more iconic ZX Spectrum games.

https://mega.nz/#!1ccRACbB!l1PmBrmyy04TKXiZnd-IOexmFjaMyNoJKm8t1Z-RBxo

Let me know if these work - several are original resolution, which means they'll need to be scaled on your end. Also, let me know if you have any preferences in regards to the games or images - i.e. do you want them more comic/cartoon related, more "best games of the system", more "most iconic games" of the system?

I believe you can get a mix from here, but let me know.

Thanks!

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft thanks, i am creating this background now and it will be included in our next release!

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy thanks! As I said, let me know what kind of images or games you'd want represented and I'm happy to find them. :)

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft here is what I came up with, the screen layout for the system is tough as it really uses the full 4:3 ratio and I just cant capture everything on the screen with my widescreen layouts. If you want a different game or an image moved, let me know.
0_1493406484674_zx spectrum.png

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy looks great! I'll let others comment on the game selection, but I think it's a good mix :)

Thank you!

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft If your good we are rolling with it! you get input since you helped provide the images... we have 42 backgrounds completed right now and there are millions of games, so if we start taking game requests we will never get anywhere!

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy thanks. Thinking back to the ones I sent, I wouldn't oppose swapping Mickey Mouse (a fairly unknown game, though comic book related) with Manic Miner, a much more iconic game for the system, if thematically you think it won't hurt. And, of course, if it doesn't take too much time and it's easy to fit.

TMNTturtlguy

MAJOR UPDATE!

Comic Book 16:9 has a major update posted here: Comic Book 16:9 Github

Special thanks to @modmaster for all his help with additional backgrounds as well as @pjft and @Nismo.

(Images at bottom of post!)
This major update includes upgrading all graphics to 720 resolution with crisp comic style backgrounds as well as the addition of the following completed systems as well as many more system logos. Other updates include "Hacks" systems, optimized md_image sizes, and carousel system info text in comic style for those with the most updated ES versions. The optimized theme should also run smoothly for most users at standard VRAM with updated systems (some may have to make adjustments) For a full list of changes see the readme file. Please let me know what you think! Look for another update in the next week or so as we try to complete the remaining system backgrounds.

Completed Systems in Theme:
Systems in Theme:
Aracde
Atari 2600
atari 5200
Atari 7800
atari lynx
daphne
Dreamcast
Famicom
GB
Game Boy Hacks
GBA
Game Boy Advance Hacks
GBC
game gear
Game Gear Hacks
Genesis
master system
mega drive
N64
NDS
neo geo
NES
ngp
ngpc
NES Hacks
pc engine
PSX
PSP
Retropie (menu)
Sega 32X
Sega CD
Sega Genesis Hacks
SG-1000
SNES
SNES Hacks
Super Famicom
Super Grafx
Turbo Grafix 16
Virtual Boy
ZX Spectrum

Additional System Logos with a General Style comic background (theme background, but not game console specific yet)
3DO
amstrac cpc
apple 2
atari st
c64
colecovision
game and watch
intellivision
kodi
macintosh
msx
odyssey2
pc (ms DOS)
turbo graphics CD
vectrex
wonderswan
wonderswan color

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy wow. These look fantastic! I can't wait to try them out - and love the look of the hack backgrounds with the ink splotches:)

illhurtya

This theme is amazing. The only thing I would change would be Turbo Graphics 16 to TurboGrafx16. Great job!

TMNTturtlguy

@illhurtya good catch, I will correct that in my next update.

fatelvis1

@TMNTturtlguy any update to the 4:3 theme?

TMNTturtlguy

@fatelvis1 It will be receiving updates in the future! I appreciate your patience on this. We currently have 42 systems completed and another 15-20 or so to go for the 16:9 version and hope to have that complete in the next week, and then i have to completely redo all of the system background art for the 4:3! It will receive the same treatment, but there is only so much time in the day! Do you have specific systems you need updated first for the 4:3? (p.s. the 4:3 is the one i need the most as well as it is for my arcade cabinet project however the majority of the folks on the forum have more interest in the 16:9)

Zigurana

@TMNTturtlguy
4:3 for the win!

TMNTturtlguy

@Zigurana @fatelvis1 and others interested

Here is the link to the 4:3 version. ComicBook 4:3 Github Link

This has been up for a couple of weeks and works well, it just is lacking updated systems and has not had all of the background images converted to the much nicer looking 720 images. Take a look at the readme for the file, it is up to date with what is in the theme.

pjft

Finally installed it - looks wonderful! :)

A comment: the Master System logo in the system view seems to have a slight border on top and left being rendered.

It's also visible here:

https://github.com/TMNTturtleguy/Comic-Book/blob/master/mastersystem/art/system.png

Other than that, looks stellar, and performs much better than the previous one, where I used to have some white screens! Well done :)

Thank you for a wonderful theme!

EDIT: I ended up getting some glGet error 505 after a while. It's not in any way related to your theme in particular, but it likely means we'll need to look into the texture loading code to see if we can track it down and fix it for good. :) If someone can successfully, consistently, replicate it, send details here or in a separate thread and mention me / @jdrassa / @fieldofcows / @Zigurana.

Cheers! :)

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft thanks for the update. I will add the master system logo to my touch ups for my next release. As for the glget errors. How many systems are you running? Have you adjusted your vram up or down? Before this update I had to adjust my vram or I would get glget errors, but with this update I have been running smooth at 100. @modmaster also tested the build on his pi several times as we developed this so I am Interested to see what others experience.

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy not a problem :)

I wouldn't worry too much about it, as it is certainly a problem with ES, and we should be fixing it anyway. It's just elusive!

I'm running a few systems but not too many - off the top of my head, maybe 20 or so?

Anyways, it happens more frequently after I launch a game and come back, for instance. Some of the backgrounds that were showing prior to that end up having a problem when loading.

My suspicion is that when loading the game and sending ES to the background, the memory manager might, if necessary, release some textures, and then when we reload we just can't find them in memory even though we assume it's there.

It's just an assumption, as I don't know a lot about that particular area of ES nor about memory management on Raspbian, so that's why I'd love to be able to consistently get ES into such a state, so that I could investigate properly and fix it.

Still, as I said, it's not a problem with your theme. This will likely happen to more themes especially as they start becoming more and more complex. :)

Syhles

@TMNTturtlguy
I'll switch to this thread then lol.

I'm not sure what system you are writing the theme on but, I work on Ubuntu and you can open the xml in firefox and it will let your know if there is any syntax errors and where they are located if you're interested. You could post the theme with the new xml here for me and I could troubleshoot.