Skin: ContourHC --> CF!

[Torque]

Hey All, I have added a new look to the Contour skin. It's called ContourCF for "Carbon Fiber"... it's available in Ferrari Red and Viper Blue:





This isn't a complete rework... just a background change to switch it up a bit.

I need to figure out what Mixman/OldDog are doing with the dymanic background chooser thing so it would be easier for you to change them. But for now, here are the backgrounds. If you want to use red, first rename the current background files located in c:\program files\devnz\gbpvr\skin\contourhc\:

background.jpg --> background_old.jpg
background-c.jpg --> background-c_old.jpg
background-my.jpg --> background-my_old.jpg

To use the red, rename the files like this:

background_red.jpg --> background.jpg
background-c_red.jpg --> background-c.jpg
background-my_red.jpg --> background-my.jpg

You can grab the new ContourCF background pack HERE.

If you don't have the complete ContourHC skin, you can get that in the Wiki at:
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Skin/ContourSeries
(does not include the CF background pack above)

[Old Dog]

Hey Torque,

I would suggest you consider using an optimized combination of MixMan's tools and Appearance Manager. Anything that can be done by the user at runtime should be accomplished using Appearance Manager. All other adjustments should be made using the BaseSkin approach.

Generally, use BaseSkin concepts for

• swapping xml layouts for the Main Menu
  
• selecting task images
  
• selecting panels
  
• selecting fonts and colors by swapping baseskin.xml
  

Use AM for changing

• backgrounds
  
• static graphics (bezels, titlebars, etc.)
  
• dynamic graphics (buttons, selectors, indicators)
  
• enabling/disabling task images and panels
  
• language selection
  

Initially there may be just a few selectables, but as time goes on...

Contact me via PM, I would be happy to contribute.

Best Regards,
David

[Fatman_do]

If you need help with appearance manager, I can lend a hand. I started skinning by making my own version of Contour that worked with AM.

It would not be much work at all to just change backgrounds with Appearance Manager. The only limitation is that it switches two backgrounds (MainBackground.jpg and Background.jpg), and yours uses three.

[Torque]

I'd like to take a stab at it on my own but I don't see any documentation on the Appearance manager and when i installed it (and the CommonGBPVRUtilities library), it doesn't show in the main menu.

[Fatman_do]

You know what. I think the file Commonblahblahblah file on the wiki is obsolete.

Try this one:

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

(I do have a working version of Contour "AM" that only switches backgrounds, I can send it to you for a reference so you can use it as a guide.)

[Torque]

That would be great! Thanks.

[Fatman_do]

It is not the complete skin.

Copy Contour to a directory ContourAM or something like that and drop these files in there.
All you need to do is change the My series plugins to ..\background.jpg


[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

I split it into two parts due to upload issues.

[Old Dog]

I'd like to take a stab at it on my own but I don't see any documentation on the Appearance manager and when i installed it (and the CommonGBPVRUtilities library), it doesn't show in the main menu.

Yea, I'm the pits on documentation. (Any volunteers?)

Fatman has gotten you started with CommonGBPVRUtilities, buttons in the root, and the Appearance directory tree. The tree is a prerequiste for getting the Appearance button to be visible.

Neither MixMan nor Fatman_do use Appearance optimally. I strongly suggest that you use Appearance as it was intended. (With no documentation how would you know?).

Normally I would suggest that you start with either Blue-AM or Plain Jane. If you did, eventually you would replace all of the XML code and all of the graphics with your own. The main thing is that you would be starting with a complete and correct directory tree.

However, Fatman does excellent work so starting with his Contour-AM should be better.

Rather than contribute directly, I would be happy to simply serve as your AM guide (and would enjoy interacting with Fatman as well). At the same time we might create a public tutorial for Appearance Manager (win-win-win!).

I'm sure that you will find working with AM both interesting and rewarding.

Best Regards,
David

P.S. You may wish to add the Appearance Manager Standard Language Pack from the getgo.