begallegal1

Hello all, here is a simple Custom CoverFlow Layout (hopefully we can adopt CCFL, or just CFL for this LOL) 

It is another edit of the "Flock" layout, This new V2 has custom views for all positions (see video and screenshots)

Video Clip

V2 Flock_Circle_Edit_begalV2.rar

older versions

V1  Flock_Circle_Edit_begal.rar

enjoy,

begal  

Unless were talking about 2 dif things as for "settings"(if you mean in the xml or something) the background changer on the apps settings page will only read the 1 default background that is built into the skin (Images\Background\Aurora.Background.jpg), and any recurring images added to the "Aurora/Backgrounds" folder of your app, I believe Aurora is built this way from a programming standpoint and any additional files in the packed skin (.xzp) will not show up or removal of the built in image will break the switcher (as my animated themes do) http://gyazo.com/d38ba83850c9349d3cf8a626b9604efb

I am ok with this since some skins don't really need multiple bkgs, like with some animated stuff etc,, they gave us a better alternative to adding bkgs in the app root, as opposed to that old dash that you had to edit the snot out of your XML's to get your bkgs to show up with custom names etc,,example from old dash..

<backgroundlist>
<Background name="Skin Default">
<FILEPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\kinectblue_wallpaper.png</FILEPATH>
<PREVIEWPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\Previews\kinectblue_preview.png</PREVIEWPATH>
</Background>
<Background name="Adstract Blue">
<FILEPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\abstractblue.png</FILEPATH>
<PREVIEWPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\Previews\abstractbluepreview.png</PREVIEWPATH>
</Background>
<Background name="Abstract Cube">
<FILEPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\abstractcube.png</FILEPATH>
<PREVIEWPATH>Images\Backgrounds\Wallpapers\Previews\abstractcubepreview.png</PREVIEWPATH>
</Background>

replied to your PM on this, I honestly have had little time to work on things with skins for aurora, but here is my long winded and probably non-sensible reply to the matter lol,,,i'll C&P it here for others to read if they are interested

sorry for slow reply, PC has been on the fritz for few days, my HDD's are old and dying like me LOL

Due to how the devs have made the added the "user friendly" wallpaper layer (adding pics to folder in app root) and how it's skinned one layer over the default bkg, I am pretty sure you cannot add more to that particular place your describing, in my animated demos ,I ended up intentionally removing the stock background and renaming the ID to "Background2" (my first layer of my bkg animation) so it would not interfere with anything, however so far (very little time so far to toy with skins) I have yet to take the time to see if there is a way to do this without breaking the entire user bkg function when adding things in the default bkg layer

I know that's probably a mess to read, Given no real "common language" to many things or terms in XUI sometimes describing things between people can become difficult, so if any of that is not understandable my apologies, and please let me know I will try to find other ways to describe what I mean

kindest regards,

begal

I did make one skin that used a custom skin "visual" to put my animation where the original bkg was instead of just layering it all in the bkg area, this still seems to break the "user background" function ,, so as I said will toy with it more when time allows, or maybe someone from the dev team can confirm my ramblings here (if anyone understands the mess LOL)

And the hits just keep on coming from the crew here, great work Swizzy and MaesterRowen ,kudos to gavin_darkglider and felida for helping them ensure it was locked and loaded ready to roll out

these guys have even more great stuff for us to play with before I could even make it to town and get a paypal card to drop them a thank you donation,can't ask for more than that, I would also especially like to thank Swizzy for being kind enough to release source

Anybody have that Gray-white background image, that is used at that image ?

It will be great to use it too with this coverflow.

Isnt flock already what he wants?

Thought it was already available

Camera(Z) , Position(L,R), Spacer (L,R) all had to be tweaked to push the scene back and spread it out

wow that exactly what I want. Thanks a lot. Highly appreciated

I would recommend using the stock layout named "flock" as a baseline for what you want to make, It is not perfect, but here is my "flock" edit that is closer to what you want, I have also included a picture of the tool showing the values I used  

Flock_begalEdit by Phoenix_begallegal1.rar

Outstanding!! Nothing more to say aside of thank you to everyone involved!!  Tools like this really bring life back to setting up a console the way the user wants it,  great work!

I have intended to make a donation to the team(s) here for ages but have been slim on funds, I now have a small bit I can spare, it won't be a lot, but I know in these efforts every bit is appreciate and I will be more than happy to donate what I can, I also urge others to do so as well if you appreciate the various software the devs give us to use with our consoles!

edit: wait,, someone else actually likes blur still besides me LOL

edit 2: after some toying with this, I just had to come back and say bravo once again          , this is an amazing plugin/tool combo! I know they are not the same thing, but a certain m$ tool I use for UI editing on my kit is absolute garbage when compared to the performance of this. Hands down coolest thing i've seen in the scene since the custom xam hud!!!!!      

You could make a tutorial video on Youtube and post a step by step process on here if you have time.

you cant access any content except the GOD's because the stock dash cannot find any extracted folders or content,,luckily you have access to XexMenu so you can take the shortest route in reinstalling

1. I would recommend updating to Aurora, trust me on this you will be happy in the long run

2. copy Aurora (or FSD if you insist) http://www.realmodscene.com/index.php?/topic/5222-aurora-05b-by-phoenix/ 

and dashlaunch installer http://www.realmodscene.com/index.php?/topic/4616-dashlaunch-314-17150-kernel-support-added/  to a flash drive.

3. launch Xexmenu from the stock dash, then use it's copy feature to copy the Aurora (or FSD) folder on your choice drive (or launch FSD from there and use it's file browser to copy files if you are more comfortable with that, many ways to do this using these 3 apps)

4. after installing Aurora (or FSD) to your choice drive run the "default.xex" in the dashlaunch installer folder,, this will ensure you have dashlaunch installed, and will allow you to set the default boot path on your system to Aurora (or FSD).

5. for future use I would also recommend learning how to use FTP to transfer files to and from your console,, google "FTP RGH 360" and you will get lots of info on what apps give you access to these features and how you can save loads of time and hassle using it

Updated to Aurora 0.5b

removed animated splash screen for redesign, anim would lockup when scanning large full devices.(did not cause crash just looked bad)

I don't know about other skin makers, but I personally will be porting mine to v.5 in the coming days ,and getting them uploaded asap.

if anyone out there would like any info or help making/updating skins feel free to ask, though I don't have time to spend hours and hours teaching individuals the entire process, I am willing to answer any questions to the best of my ability , and or post some tutorials if the information would be useful to other skin makers as well.  

Excellent work from the dev team as always, many thanks to all involved for your continued dedication!!

the simplest way I know is for FSD skins they will need to be converted to XMA files and then just replace the existing XMA files in the skin that are labeled for each action(scroll,enter, etc). or edit and add the sounds where you want them to play in a given scenes timeline in that scenes XUR file.

I have not even attempted to put sounds into Aurora skins (and In my testing it does not play video backgrounds in the skin either),,given that, and the fact it does not have action "sounds" by default I would have to assume the audio engine code(and xmv video code) is not implemented in the app as it is just excess "fat" that really adds nothing for functionality and of course uses valuable and limited resources that would be better utilized by adding something of actual function.

the only trainer i know is payed only. $15.15 paypal. i am waiting on the trainer to be updated now. lol

 boooooo LOL ,but you know my opinion on that I'll not say anymore before I make more people dislike me, or start something I'm not meaning to, no disrespect to any dev out there regardless of what their specialty is,,, but if trainers cost $15 , things like FSD, Aurora should cost roughly $3500.00 (US), but that kind of defeats the purpose of the entire idea of modded consoles and homebrew in general.

_snip_

_snip_

I have been working on a tool for this game when I have a spare few minutes, (as much as I don't care for the game) The end result will be a massive tool giving you full control of all characters(male/female) and each item in your custom operators suit slots (helmet,pants,shirt,etc) and much much more,, but for now I have made a minimal demo version on a basic form with just the camos enabled.

Credits to ESTE for some of basic methods of how to find these options. 

I am offering my TU7 (and yes I know there is already TU8) Camo tester tool for everyone to toy with, it is built on my TCP_RTE platform and only requires the XBDM plugin to be running on your console (no SDK required)

Instructions:

1. Type in your consoles IP, click connect.

2. when in system link menu click "Give Camo" and the next time you go to the camo menu they will all be unlocked 

Virus total scan https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/b3f7471ba69eba2f8edb334ffb9583da798c880dd86c022f930cc6c026fde0d5/analysis/1425619339/

The camo should save in your profile so you wont need to use the tool again (profile must save by entering/exiting match or other means)

Here's my player to show some suit customs I made.....

Hope that helps you guys out,, more to come (someday lol)

TCP_RTE.rar

I know most homebrew enabled console platforms do have some type of text or hex reader/editor available, however I would have to agree with swizzy that you will likely never see this on x360, imo there are many reasons for this

1. very few active devs in the scene with the knowledge to make a project of this type.

2. being that most users have their own preference of file transfer (ftp,usb,SDK,etc) and that most files of this type are tiny in size the transfer / edit / re-transfer time would be equal to or less than the time it would take to boot another xex from the file browser and use the program to edit the file and save it.

3. universal file type functionality (and creating this in a well designed user friendly UI environment) would also be an issue in many ways.

it would be a cool homebrew app,,something I'm sure would find it's place among users in the scene,, but I know im not going to be the guy making it 

Norton commander is a dos program, so it will run natively in the emulator. No porting or lengthy process needed. I would suggest setting up the menus in dosbox on the computer.

Ahh gotcha, until recently playing around with this port of dosbox the last time I had any toying with DOS games was in the late 80's in high school LOL, I'll have to have a poke around and see what I can come up with that may give some more options, thanks for the suggestions on that  

_SNIP_

Yea I hear ya , but due to my limited abilities I'm not quite up to the level of porting things or any other lengthy process, and this was the most native way I could implement something that automated the process after initial setup and allow the user to enjoy their games without having to mess about with files every time.

Thanks to all for your comments  ,, and to all users out there, please feel free to ask if you have questions etc

Since some people seem to like my old dosbox/win95 launcher and myself and some pals are having a retro game night soon, I decided to whip up this little app to make our DOS a bit more fun.

This is an application to aid in using the Xbox360 port of DOSBox

Anybody that has ever used DOSBox on their Jtag/RGH/XDK know that its kind of a pain to copy each .config file every time you want to launch a game (if you want it to auto execute that is) ,, this app solves the issue
 
 
Features:
-Lists all game folders in the "DOS" directory
-On launch, the selected games .config file is copied to app root for proper auto execution.
-App auto selects "regular" or "dev" version based on the kernel running on the x360 (only dif is devkits have mouse support, see readme.nfo)
 
 
Usage:
-Add your game folders to the "DosBox 360 BrowserV0.01\DOSXBox360\DOS" directory, ensure your folder includes an edited .config file for proper auto execution 
*NOTE: Game folders must be 8 characters or less, otherwise you will get errors when loading game!!!

 
Here is a .config example,,edit your games folder name and .exe name 
 

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
@ECHO OFF
MOUNT C GAME:\DOS -freesize 500
C:
cls
 
cd C:\DOOM
cls
DOOM.exe

From now on you can launch the game from the browser without having to copy or edit any more files, or type any boot commands in dosbox! 

Seeing that I cannot include any game content as examples, if you have any issues getting your games .config files setup, or any other issues please feel free to ask
 
enjoy, 
begal 
 
DosBox 360 BrowserV0.01.rar

 
I take no credit for dosbox or the 360 port of it, credits to the authors of them both, I only made this browser to aid in using the program!
Feel free to post this anywhere on the webs you want (yes that's aimed at you Heavy Smoker LOL)

I think I will start saving :-/ Wife is gonna kick my arse.. If you read about a allentown pa man beaten by his wife over an xbox.. That is me :-/

I hear ya there, took me about a year each on average to buy my good consoles, all the while (and still) rotating my old xenons as they go through the break/fix cycle LOL The only suggestion I would have is to take your wife to the game section and look at current gen systems, then the price of an RGH will pale in comparison and maybe that will lessen the blow ,,this is what I did with my bank... ahem.. I mean spouse

nice share begal

Thanks Sensi, good to see you, hope all is well with ya,, enjoy!

Begallegal1, I do not think it is the GPU, since I was getting no issues before, and it was just recently flowed.  I do agree with the getting a slim and RGHing it.  This Xenon is costing more to fix it, then to buy a RGH :-/

 

Here I have to agree with the Dr. about the reflow situation, this would be all the more suspicion to me that this would be the issue after already having reflowed it once.

If it results that there is not a problem with the nand,,If your willing to try something (be careful as this is not exactly proper to do, but has helped me verify the GPU issue on a few xenons and zephyrs)  give a small amount of even pressure to the GPU heatsink with your hand or by placing a properly sized object on top of it that weighs a pound or less (an unopened soda works well for me sometimes LOL),,as I said be careful here, the last thing you want to do is cause a lot of board flex.  See if it boots then,, if it does you have found your issue, if it still does not, this may still be the issue it just will not be as easy to verify and you'll have to keep toying with it or bite that upgrade bullet LOL 

I have been dealing with some of my old beater xenons doing something similar to this for years, sometimes with mine it seems this happens just prior to throwing a red ring error of some sort, kinda like it gets stuck deciding if it should red ring or not,, I have no reasonable answer for this aside of solder joint probs under the chip as I have seen it happen to consoles using stock xclamps as well as the old bolt thru case setup ,, one of which ran for like 12 hours a day for many moons and it would do something similar to what your describing and I would pull the heat sinks, clean and repaste, and usually it would crank back up , purely luck im sure, but on that console I would have to do this every couple months with that amount of use. 

since xell will boot under failing GPU conditions I would have to guess this is where the problem lies for all these consoles,,mine will usually boot xell even if it wont boot the dash.

sorry no real answers there , just letting you know your not alone in the xenon world , I still use mine daily, however they are getting tired and I have just recently been able to get myself a couple nice consoles ,, well worth the money!!  while they are still somewhat available I would recommend getting yourself a good Jasper RGH1 or a slim, one day our beloved xenons will pass away for good sadly

This is a small 10ish page    .rtf document showing pretty much everything from opening/exporting/saving files and basic timeline/keyframe concepts for those that are new to the craft, to an animation example that is simple yet may spark some creativity in even the most experienced out there. I am by no means a pro but I have learned how to find my way around this program a bit over the years, "proper" or not I'm unsure because I don't personally know any pro's LOL,,but If even just one person learns something from this I will be happy to have passed on the knowledge
 
A sample of the first section zoomed out to see a bit more 

Video Clip Of Finished Skin Demo
 
Documents ending statement........
 

Please keep in mind that this is a very raw example to show a proof of concept and is only one tiny bit of what is possible with these animations, there are probably many ways you could even make this same scene work with various layouts, etc, this was just the quickest way I could show a decent example. From here it's up to the community to expand on this with any ideas or concepts they may have! 
 
Feel free to use this or any of my other shared skins to learn from and if you come up with other methods, implementations,etc , please share them as well, in this scene info is hard to come by and most of what your reading here took me many ,many hours of trial and error, research, looking at others work to learn (been at this since FSD1.2) I hope this may save some people that agony and get some great new designers involved, trust me when I tell you this can be an addictive hobby LOL!!  
 
My apologies if I have left anything out or if anything is confusing, I know the format could use some help , an index and all would be nice, but as I stated earlier I am not much of a teacher nor am I much of a writer of tutorials and such so if anyone would care to improve on this document please do, I will gladly share the original pics and other material ...please feel free to ask any questions you may have!

 

 
Kindest regards,
begallegal1
 
 
Please note: the .rtf document does expand to 61mb when extracted from archive, this is due to the large amount of pictures included so if your pc is an old dog like mine it may take a second for it to load in wordpad
 
 
Tutorial Document
Working with XUI - Animated Background Visuals.rar 
 
Skin
Animated Bkg TUT_Skin.rar

- Gallery function with several images -- Unless im misunderstanding what you mean , but aurora has this already.

- random image function -- this would be a nice little check box to have for those that just want a random bkg from their folder

- Gif with animations -- my only thought here is that unless your going to make good hq gifs,, most found on the webs are terrible quality, nothing I would even want on my screen 

 

I've added to your quote above with my personal thoughts on bits of your post

What I personally would not mind seeing is maybe 2 or 3 check boxes on the background/skin tab to "enable/disable" visuals in the skin saved under specific names.

kinda like the old orb/kai anim , or NXE swirls in that old dash LOL