We need Themebuilders

[SUBZERO]

We need a few new theme builders, not for consoles but for MAME. As you all know, Matt, THK, Baddeolv and myself have taken on the MAME themes for years now and raising the bar high and because of that most new builders get discouraged, but that is not our intention. We raised the bar so high because we all want our cabs, htpc and above all, HyperSpin to look fantastic. That's why we aim for original arcade art to be used like marquees, cpo's & sideart. Sometimes they need to be redrawn, need clone or brush work and because we are used to that, we take on those themes. There are so much themes that need a revamp with the original art, and the art found for those games are good enough to just cutout with the pen-tool...... Don't forget we are here to help and make you a better theme builder, we sucked at the beginning (speaking for my self) didn't even knew how to use the freaking pen tool!. A few already joined like Thatpurplestuff and Johnodon but we need more builders to get this front-end at his peak!

We have 122,740 members and about a hand full theme builders, but people always want more themes and more of this and more of that and its just not possible with the theme builders we have atm, we all have lives as well. And these guys will get burned out sometimes, mostly they get burnout at the same time and then the flow of new themes will come to a hold as seen the past couple of months.

So if you think you up to it and want to help us out send me a pm

we can help you get the art in HQ to make the theme and help you with everything that you need to know to get themes looking great.

[JoeC3109]

I'd like to learn how to make themes and give back somethin to the Hyperspin community. Unfortunately I have zero experience with PS or any kind of graphic design, but I'm willing to help out if I can

[AshuraX]

I'm trying to learn PS fundamentals to increase my skill. ^^

[relic]

thanks for the guides don i will study them today sometime i really want to help the community maybe start small then work my way up

[jackhammersalm]

wasn't there a tutorial for theme building on here

Relic question how is the hyper wiki going

[Styphelus]

I would join but no widescreen support means that I would rather keep creating my own themes and modifying the existing ones to fit my widescreen TV. It's surprising to me that so many people are so attached to the ancient 4:3 format.

[Agrajag]

I think it's because most of the themes are for the classic arcade games that used 4:3 monitors, and the original intention was for HyperSpin to be running in a cabinet with a 4:3 monitor. Bill probably didn't have these newfangled 16:9 monitors and 55" HDTVs in mind when he created it.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk, probably while at work...

[BillyBobX]

First off, I mean no offense by this post and I love me some Hyperspin and the really high quality of the themes available and have a great appreciation for the efforts that go into them; I've created a few myself.

With that said, I think you (the approvers) set the standard for themes too high. If anyone and everyone could submit themes and the community could vote or something they could be ranked and the cream would rise. Sure there would be tons of shit but there'd be a lot more contributions. The whole approval process, requirements, and warnings are incredibly intimidating and really make me not want to subject myself to the criticism for themes that I feel would be appreciated by the majority of users of Hyperspin.

[craiganderson]

First off, I mean no offense by this post and I love me some Hyperspin and the really high quality of the themes available and have a great appreciation for the efforts that go into them; I've created a few myself.

With that said, I think you (the approvers) set the standard for themes too high. If anyone and everyone could submit themes and the community could vote or something they could be ranked and the cream would rise. Sure there would be tons of shit but there'd be a lot more contributions. The whole approval process, requirements, and warnings are incredibly intimidating and really make me not want to subject myself to the criticism for themes that I feel would be appreciated by the majority of users of Hyperspin.

Or just let people post download links to theme/works etc. If people like em....they will download them. If not ... they wont.

[scooter1974]

High standards = High quality

[dougan78]

You can post them and put them in your ftp folder. That is what the ftp is for no?

[craiganderson]

But not everybody has money to access the ftp. A direct link is a free download for everybody.....even the folks who can't afford to buy access to the ftp.

[dougan78]

Sorry I always forget that. Thanks for reminding me.

[gigapig]

For some creating an entire theme may sound intimidating, it is hard, perhaps an individual is good with design but not with redraws.

As a team it perhaps is more productive to have members focus on their strengths. Collecting art, members who are good with the pen tool can be assigned a piece from the collected art folder and cut out, placing the finished work in another folder. Others could work on wheel art, some could put themes together if they have the eye for design, or some could sit in the corner with a box of crayons

I assume this is how the Hyperspin Project is run, and would be less intimidating and no ones under pressure to create a masterpiece.

It should be fun and rewarding being part of such a great community.

[craiganderson]

On a kinda related note, we (as a group) could probably crank out a complete wheel set in one day if enough people all jumped on board and did 5 each or something like that.

like the msx2 set or something

just a thought

[dougan78]

Divide and conquer

[Polemicist]

The themes that get created by the art guys as we all know are very high end. New guys have come on and started doing themes and they get told to do different things through the process by the approvers and the final product that comes out is amazing. I watched as mattedsmith was going through that process and the changes made over the process produced artwork that looked amazing for example his Birdy Bird theme that he had to redraw. He also learnt a huge amount doing it. He and all the other guys got a lot of help along the way but everyone could see the potential even in the beginning. There have been others I've seen that got told their artwork was not up to scratch and took it personally and never stepped up or even tried to they just kept doing their own stuff. These people could learn a great deal from working with the artwork guys but for some reason refuse. I find that strange. Not wanting to learn how to make great art because what you have is "better than nothing" is just sad. These guys have the raw skills and could do great work but they don't. I wish they would step up and become real graphic artists and learn from the HyperSpin Artists Collective. Anyway enough of my guff.

[craiganderson]

The themes that get created by the art guys as we all know are very high end. New guys have come on and started doing themes and they get told to do different things through the process by the approvers and the final product that comes out is amazing. I watched as mattedsmith was going through that process and the changes made over the process produced artwork that looked amazing for example his Birdy Bird theme that he had to redraw. He also learnt a huge amount doing it. He and all the other guys got a lot of help along the way but everyone could see the potential even in the beginning. There have been others I've seen that got told their artwork was not up to scratch and took it personally and never stepped up or even tried to they just kept doing their own stuff. These people could learn a great deal from working with the artwork guys but for some reason refuse. I find that strange. Not wanting to learn how to make great art because what you have is "better than nothing" is just sad. These guys have the raw skills and could do great work but they don't. I wish they would step up and become real graphic artists and learn from the HyperSpin Artists Collective. Anyway enough of my guff.

I do not think it would be possible that I could politely disagree with your reasoning anymore than I do after reading this.

Elitist

Dictatorial

Judgmental

I'm glad to know that what you "find strange" needs to apply to everybody.

I -for one- find it very very "strange" that SOME PEOPLE ON HERE think it is reasonable to tell people to move logos 3 pixels to the right........but that is just me.....i also find it extremely "sad" that SOME PEOPLE would do that......very sad indeed

I am also glad to know that you get to decide what is "great art".........so everything and every theme can look EXACTLY the same.....sounds awesome!!

What an awesome responsibility you have......wow!

just my opinion

and i know that divergent opinions are very much welcomed on this forum

thank you for taking the time to consider my simple non-"hyperspin collective" opinion

please feel free to disagree

have a wonderful collective day

craig

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every time i hear the very creepy word "collective" i think of the....

_GtfxX0K1_4

no thank you

i prefer to think for myself.....

[Nexyss]

I am paying for an Adobe CC license, and I would like to put it to use and learn how to do something like this. I would have very little interest in working on non-widescreen themes though, as I would never use them if there was a widescreen version available.

I didn't see links to tutorials in this thread, and I would certainly need them to even get started. Can someone link them here?

I wouldn't have a problem with making 2 versions of a theme; one widescreen and one 4:3, but I think only having 4:3 is pretty shortsighted. I was one of the "it has to be a real arcade monitor!" guys for a long time, but one of the biggest advantages to using an HDTV is that the artwork looks amazing.

[Polemicist]

I am paying for an Adobe CC license, and I would like to put it to use and learn how to do something like this. I would have very little interest in working on non-widescreen themes though, as I would never use them if there was a widescreen version available.

I didn't see links to tutorials in this thread, and I would certainly need them to even get started. Can someone link them here?

I wouldn't have a problem with making 2 versions of a theme; one widescreen and one 4:3, but I think only having 4:3 is pretty shortsighted. I was one of the "it has to be a real arcade monitor!" guys for a long time, but one of the biggest advantages to using an HDTV is that the artwork looks amazing.

Making two versions is always fine. Keeps everyone happy. I'm stuck in the same position and have a love of the old 4:3 game play but all my big screens are widescreen. One of the biggest disadvantages of a HDTV is stuff that doesn't look good on a small screen looks worse on a huge TV.

You will get lots of help here. This community is amazing.

Oh and thanks for elaborating Craig. Was a great read.

[scooter1974]

I do not think it would be possible that I could politely disagree with your reasoning anymore than I do after reading this.

Elitist

Dictatorial

Judgmental

I'm glad to know that what you "find strange" needs to apply to everybody.

I -for one- find it very very "strange" that SOME PEOPLE ON HERE think it is reasonable to tell people to move logos 3 pixels to the right........but that is just me.....i also find it extremely "sad" that SOME PEOPLE would do that......very sad indeed

I am also glad to know that you get to decide what is "great art".........so everything and every theme can look EXACTLY the same.....sounds awesome!!

What an awesome responsibility you have......wow!

just my opinion

and i know that divergent opinions are very much welcomed on this forum

thank you for taking the time to consider my simple non-"hyperspin collective" opinion

please feel free to disagree

have a wonderful collective day

craig

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every time i hear the very creepy word "collective" i think of the....

_GtfxX0K1_4

no thank you

i prefer to think for myself.....

I work as a graphic artist/web developer and for the past 8 years, moving something 3 pixels to the right, changing a colour, use a different font, and my all time favourite "can we go back to what you had originally, before we made all these changes" has been part of my daily routine, but you deal with it, make the changes and get on with your day. If you decide to make something, and release it to the public for everyone to use, yes they are going to ask you to make changes if they don't like something and what you think is "great art" may not be great to someone else. Its the nature of the beast, you adapt and you move on.

[craiganderson]

I work as a graphic artist/web developer and for the past 8 years, moving something 3 pixels to the right, changing a colour, use a different font, and my all time favourite "can we go back to what you had originally, before we made all these changes" has been part of my daily routine, but you deal with it, make the changes and get on with your day. If you decide to make something, and release it to the public for everyone to use, yes they are going to ask you to make changes if they don't like something and what you think is "great art" may not be great to someone else. Its the nature of the beast, you adapt and you move on.

thanks

but you are probably being paid by clients to make those changes .. ... i would assume

big difference

[Polemicist]

and my all time favourite "can we go back to what you had originally, before we made all these changes"

I laughed so hard I woke my wife up when I read that line. That is so true.

[SUBZERO]

I do not think it would be possible that I could politely disagree with your reasoning anymore than I do after reading this.

Elitist

Dictatorial

Judgmental

I'm glad to know that what you "find strange" needs to apply to everybody.

I -for one- find it very very "strange" that SOME PEOPLE ON HERE think it is reasonable to tell people to move logos 3 pixels to the right........but that is just me.....i also find it extremely "sad" that SOME PEOPLE would do that......very sad indeed

Well, for one where do you think the Theme Announcement section is for? to get people to reply to your theme if it needs changes here and there or that it is good enough to upload. That 3 pixels to the left right or down or up, makes alignment better with the overall art and that you find it SAD or STRANGE to ask people to do that is that we don't have to do that later on as we need to approve the theme in the download section, again that is where the section Theme Announcement is for so it saves us time. And after redrawing themes,wheels,approving,updating hypersync,managing the forum,managing the download section, i think its reasonable to ask when the theme is still a WIP. this is not our full time job we don't get paid to do this, this is just our hobby as all of you guys. We are all different in making themes some take days to redraw one, some take hours to cut and make one. What it is all about is that this front-end looks better then any other front-end, that look on the faces of your friends when they come over and you show them Hyperspin. We set a standard for themes a few years back and we did that for a reason. We don't ask or say things to people to get them discouraged or anything. we are helping and getting them better at it. we just have standards here and that's why this front-end looks as good as it does.

[SUBZERO]

I think you (the approvers) set the standard for themes too high.

The only thing that would not get a theme approved is how the art is cut out in most cases. that's why using pen-tool is a must. a huge amount of themes or cutouts are done by using magic wand and that just looks horrible. the biggest problem with that is the poor artsource that is used, we are not asking to redraw a whole theme or spend days on themes like ourselfs. we are just want to keep the front-end clean and HQ. if we would approve everything this front-end would look like a mess or like atomic-fe.