Anatomy of HS

Here we will show you the layering of HyperSpin.  There are other layers in HyperSpin for other graphic elements but the ones shown here deal specifically with game related artwork.

Click here to watch this theme in action

The maximum elements that can make up a theme is 8.  Everything has a specific depth in HyperSpin.  The ordering of these elements is shown in the above image.

I chose the Moon Patrol theme above because it makes use of all the artwork layers for example purposes.  This is probably one of the more artwork heavy themes in HyperSpin but most themes dont use all the layers above and usually only use a few layers.

From the top you have:

Artwork 4

Artwork 3

Artwork 2

Video Overlay

Video

Artwork 1

Background

An 8th optional item is a particle effect.  That can be on any of the artwork layers 1-4.  This is an advanced technique that wont be discussed here.  Any artwork can either be a PNG image or SWF image or animation.  If you know how to use Flash then you can take advantage of adding an unlimited number of extra layers to the above layout by using the swf's internal layering system.  So technically you can have more layers than just the ones shown above.

One other thing to note about the theme layering system is that the wheel will always show below all artworks.  The Video layer as shown above is between Artwork 1 and Artwork 2.  You have one extra option of placing the Video below the wheel if needed.  In that case the video also moves below Artwork 1.  This option is not very important but does get used in certain situations depending on the theme creator's needs.