Unified Megatheme - Extended

[gibbawho]

Unified Megatheme - Extended

This thing has gone in enough of a new direction to warrant its own thread now.. so here it is.

The extended version of the Unified Megatheme. A sort of *new and improved* take on the original idea.

I'm going to repeat what many of you already know from the other thread, just to make sure someone new gets all the info in one place.

So what is all this "Extended" malarkey, anyway?

Simple.. you get one mega theme per system containing:

1. Full 1080+ resolution artwork top to bottom from new PSDs
   
2. Includes regional/revision alternate artwork for logo, video border, background, console pic and controller pic
   
3. Includes plenty alternate character artwork. 4+ characters to choose from in most themes.
   
4. Includes animated and static versions of all backgrounds
   

High definition? I thought Hyperspin was only capable of 1024x768?

Well it turns out that's only sort of true. Hyperspin's canvas is 1024x768, but Hyperspin is built on flash, so that canvas is capable of vector rendering. You can import a high resolution png image into Flash and resize it down to fit on a 1024x768 canvas. The resulting stretch from displaying said canvas full screen at 1920x1080 only returns the image toward its original resolution. As long as it never displays larger than the original image, it will lose no clarity in the stretch.

The end result is all the artwork can be displayed at full 1080p and beyond. Just see for yourself. It works.

Regional/Revision alternate artwork?

Many game consoles, particularly early generation ones, have had several different versions released throughout the world. Sometimes these versions were drastically different looking. Some even had different names and logos. One of my goals with this Extended Mega Theme is to include artwork for our fellow enthusiasts around the globe who may think of the NES as the Famicom or the Turbografx 16 as the PC Engine. It doesn't matter what version of the console you had, the Extended Mega Theme caters to you.

What do I need?

Besides the theme files, you'll want Jpeg Smoothing turned on in HyperHQ. You'll also want a new-ish system for optimal performance.

So where do I get them?

They will be available as I release them in the "/Upload Here/Unified Mega Theme/Extended/" folder on the FTP.

I've released 1 prototype theme for Sega Genesis testing so far.

How much progress so far?

I've finished full resolution PSDs of all the cartridge based gaming consoles.

Below you'll find screenshots of what I've finished in Photoshop to date.

I want to help out with this project!

You can find all the PSDs for these on the FTP as well. I'll soon be posting a tutorial video on how to output my psd's into flash and save them out for the themes. I'll need all the help I can get while building these out. I'm going to focus on the video borders/logos and animated backgrounds for now since I think thats the part i'm most needed for.

Atari 2600:

Atari 5200:

Atari 7800:

Atari Jaguar:

Atari Jaguar CD:

Sega SG-1000:

Sega Master System / Mark III:

Sega Genesis / Megadrive:

Sega 32x / Megadrive 32x

Sega CD / Mega CD

Nintendo Entertainment System / Family Computer

Super Nintendo / Super Famicom

Nintendo 64

Turbografx 16 / PC Engine

Turbografx CD / PC Engine CD

So there you have it. Check back often for updates. I'll be building out all the systems you see above before I start working on any more.

We'll keep the other Mega Theme thread open but all discussion about this Extended project will be kept in this thread.

Thanks for the support and as always, your feedback is appreciated.

All artwork and assets involved in this project are free for anyone to use without my permission. No credit necessary.

[gibbawho]

reserved

[gibbawho]

reserved.

[Pyramid_Head]

Oh wow man I'm totally speechless...

[relic]

aboosultely stunning youve outdone yourself again gibba or should i say legend who

[jaZz_KCS]

This is like christmas!

Choice on what persona should decorate the system.

Choice what system to actually display. (jap,us,etc)

Choice whether to use artwork or not.

Choice whether to have animated bckgrounds or not.

Tremendous work gibbawho, or should I say WinnerWho!

I guess I can stop now making all the different Unified Themes I gathered over time all artwork compatible.

[AshuraX]

Great!!!!! GJ

[jaZz_KCS]

What I like about htese is I find it very important that you not only can see before choosing how the console looked like but also how the controller mapping looked like so you know what to expect.

[PacMan7]

Great job

[KrillCaz]

Amazing work! Just as I thought that the themes couldn't get any better, this post appears. Not only are they improved, but with variety!

[azzbarb]

awesome job! just tried the genesis theme and it looks super clear HD compared to all my old themes, is it just a matter of making the canvas size 1920x1080 instead of 1024x768 when building a theme for it to be displayed at 1080p?

edit; just read the first post a bit more and you explained there

[lovemaker72]

These look amazing! Is there a simple way to have the default theme cycle through these variants on each load?

[Agrajag]

My goodness, you've been busy gibbawho! Excellent stuff.

Is there a simple way to have the default theme cycle through these variants on each load?

I imagine it would need a little program to run on startup that overwrites the default theme with a copy of one of the variants. I couldn't code my way out of a paper bag, but I suspect it would be possible with AHK. Anybody up for the challenge?

[FLYNN`S]

so, these are usable for those that have 4:3 screens?

[kyoken]

Thanks a lot, waiting for dreamcast i want to add ryo hazuki!

[Agrajag]

There are 4:3 themes shown in the original megatheme thread.

[Metalciaf]

you are GOD!

Thank you so much!!!!

[Awakened]

The NES PSD has a simpler looking black Famicom logo instead of what is shown in your previews. Is that a mistake or a newer version? I think I like the red one in the preview better.

Edit: This might just be a limitation of what I'm trying to open the files with (XNView and Paint.NET with a .psd plugin).

[gibbawho]

The NES PSD has a simpler looking black Famicom logo instead of what is shown in your previews. Is that a mistake or a newer version? I think I like the red one in the preview better.

Edit: This might just be a limitation of what I'm trying to open the files with (XNView and Paint.NET with a .psd plugin).

Yeah I think its what you're opening them in. I just double checked in Photoshop. Perhaps your app plugin doesn't render layer effects properly?

[Awakened]

Yeah, I just read that the plugin doesn't support certain features, so that must be it.

[majorspawn]

Hi Guys,

I've tired to open the psd in Hypertheme and it shows a black screen. Am I missing something?

[Styphelus]

You can't open them in hypertheme. For one they are in 1920x1080. Hypertheme requires 1024x768. Second, you would have to flatten the images inside the PSD files and name them properly. What you have to do is import them into flash, reduce the witdth to 75% and the height to 768 and export them. Than import them into hypertheme.

[Awakened]

Could someone upload the logos for Family Computer, PC Engine, and PC Engine Duo, plus the black PC Engine background from the Duo theme and the white PC Engine background from the PC Engine theme in png format? Those all have problems rendering in Paint.NET.

I'm not sure if Styphelus or Unknown50862 plan to make static 4:3 versions of these themes since there are so many variations, but I wouldn't mind waiting for those instead.

[Styphelus]

Not me, sorry! I have a widescreen TV and monitor. Can't see myself spending tons of time creating stuff I will never use. Why don't you get Photoshop? It's so much easier.

[Styphelus]

By the way, I wouldn't wait for me to create themes. I think Gibbawho might be doing some flash magic with his themes like moving backgrounds and stuff like that.