new theme (kinda): retroTape

[audio-i]

I always was a fan of Paulo Kikunaga’s phkTAPE theme, and hated the fact that due to licensing issues, his theme had to be abandoned somewhere in the graveyards. Tried for months to contact him with no luck, so I decided to take his layout and general theme idea, remake all the graphics, make a few changes… and here’s the result for the ipod video.

Major differences:

- New graphics. More metallic look, new power and volume indicators, new cassette (inspired by 1985 Depeche Mode “The Singles 81>85” cassette ), peak meter, etc.

- Left wheel winds while right wheel unwinds, for a more realistic effect.

- Album art thumbnail for visual reference. Text is centered when no AA is present.

- Although still no “stop” button, I made the button order to match real tape decks (stop was to the left of play… too much space for little use)

- One of my favourite changes, menus (backdrop) resemble a recordable cassette inlay card

   

Have fun


[Edit] The theme site shows "Doesn't work with current build", I tried both simulators available (release 3.5 and Feb. 20's) and it works fine, is there another way to know what happens?

[Edit 2] I tried it on the actual device version r25037-100305 (fresh downloaded) and it works fine!  ??

[Yotto]

*LOVE* it!

Question: What makes it decide to put "A" or "B" on the cassette? I noticed that on mine it says "B" but on your screenshot it says "A", and the letter carries over to the "insert" menu screen.

Again, I love this theme. Very well done.

[edit]
I've also tried this on the newest release, 3.5.1, and it works fine on my iPod Video. I wonder how the theme site decides if a theme works on the current build. I assume you're not doing multifont, and those two fonts are your selected font + the default?

I changed the theme slightly for my personal use:

Code: [Select]

selector type: bar (inverse)
I just think it makes it much easier to see what it selected. That tiny pointer is close to invisible to my poor old eyes.

[audio-i]

Thanks for your comments Yotto

Question: What makes it decide to put "A" or "B" on the cassette? I noticed that on mine it says "B" but on your screenshot it says "A", and the letter carries over to the "insert" menu screen

I was going to say that it’s a routine that connects your device (wirelessly) to the internet and retrieves the side the track was put in originally, or to be more accurate, that retrieves the artist’s original intention, but you wouldn’t buy that, would you? 

I've also tried this on the newest release, 3.5.1, and it works fine on my iPod Video. I wonder how the theme site decides if a theme works on the current build. I assume you're not doing multifont, and those two fonts are your selected font + the default?

Right, no multifont (which should work with the current build anyway), and the weird thing is that the theme actually works with current builds, so my *guess* is, it must be something with the theme site parser?

That tiny pointer is close to invisible to my poor old eyes.

I agree, that could be improved. I personally wouldn’t want to “disturb” the inlay card natural feel, I might go for the option of modifying the iconset for this theme, or is there a way to easily change just the pointer without generating the complete iconset?

[Yotto]

Thanks for your comments Yotto

Question: What makes it decide to put "A" or "B" on the cassette? I noticed that on mine it says "B" but on your screenshot it says "A", and the letter carries over to the "insert" menu screen

I was going to say that it’s a routine that connects your device (wirelessly) to the internet and retrieves the side the track was put in originally, or to be more accurate, that retrieves the artist’s original intention, but you wouldn’t buy that, would you? 

Okay you piqued my interest. I dug into the code to check out when/why it would say "B" or "A" and I must say, bravo. I didn't bother figuring out exactly under what circumstances each would appear but my hat is off to you.

[peaceful1]

wow thanks I saw this before in ipod theme list and I wished it for D2
so it happened lol
is this theme  3*3
I'm imagining it in absolute piont mode  with buttons that really work like a real player.
with sound on the button lol
 *I know really far from reality* lol
thanks agian 

[audio-i]

@peaceful1: maybe not so far from reality... well not the button sound

Thanks for your comments Yotto

Question: What makes it decide to put "A" or "B" on the cassette? I noticed that on mine it says "B" but on your screenshot it says "A", and the letter carries over to the "insert" menu screen

I was going to say that it’s a routine that connects your device (wirelessly) to the internet and retrieves the side the track was put in originally, or to be more accurate, that retrieves the artist’s original intention, but you wouldn’t buy that, would you? 

Okay you piqued my interest. I dug into the code to check out when/why it would say "B" or "A" and I must say, bravo. I didn't bother figuring out exactly under what circumstances each would appear but my hat is off to you.

Thanks for not telling how it works  I think it's more fun to try and figure it out just by using it, without looking at the .wps  It's possible, since there's no "random tag" (yet  )

Regarding the "doesn't work with current build" thing on the theme site, I found out that in r25038 this change was introduced

* remove the "custom" option from the statusbar setting. if a sbs file is set then statusbar setting is ignored, no other user visible change there.

I used that instruction. If that's the reason, is there a way to set it to comply both with the current builds and release 3.5.1?

[peaceful1]

well it's very great no problem in first look that I saw (in 3*3 mode) but some  button are useless  because of 3*3
it's looks real and fantastic
the battery meter ,volume,pause mode
it would be nice if the rw/fw would jump just like the pause does
very unieqe 

please make a thread here :
http://iaudiophile.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=73
to  introduce  your great theme to D2 users
you well receive  lots of thanks coments edit &.........
think that is a more suitable  place for reaching the best development measures
 

[Strife89]

This looks FANTASTIC. A port to other targets (say, the iPod Color/Photo) would be pretty nice.

[AlexP]

think that is a more suitable  place for reaching the best development measures

I would say by far the most suitable place for Rockbox stuff is the Rockbox site, but maybe that's just me...

P.S.  The theme is pretty funky too

[peaceful1]

well I don't agree, it's nice 
can u make the buttons work?
absolute point?
and in that case if the font be bigger it well be great.
icons can also be used left side of the shortcuts
and if the timer drops like like old mecanical counters it well be
it's well build

[audio-i]

think that is a more suitable  place for reaching the best development measures

I would say by far the most suitable place for Rockbox stuff is the Rockbox site, but maybe that's just me...

I'd have to agree 

@peaceful1, thanks for your suggestions (a few are not possible though), making a theme touchscreen oriented is something that I'm interested in, and this theme is a good excuse, so I guess I'll eventually give it a try.


I just submitted and updated version that has a bigger pointer (menus) and new charging/charged icons, since the initial led inside the battery level indicator wasn't really very visible.

I haven't been able to figure out why the theme site says it doesn't work with current builds, since actually it works fine both with stable release and current builds on the ipod itself. The simulators are a couple weeks old and at the moment I can't make my own builds so I can't use checkwps, is there any other way to know what happens?

[gevaerts]

The problem is that the wps file refers to a file named Repeat.bmp while the one in the zip is called repeat.bmp.

[audio-i]

The problem is that the wps file refers to a file named Repeat.bmp while the one in the zip is called repeat.bmp.

Thanks a lot!

[peaceful1]

well you guys are right but you won't loose anything if you just introduce it in iaudiophile.net

[audio-i]

This looks FANTASTIC. A port to other targets (say, the iPod Color/Photo) would be pretty nice.

Done, just uploaded the 220x176 port

[Edit] I also uploaded a new ipod video version (small update, new charging/charged icons)