[WIP] ThemeXtra

[Davee]

ThemeXtra is a package for 4.01+ and allows the customisation of the PSP, including a flashless theme installer.

Flashless Theme Installer:

You might think this is a simple modified source of CXMB but I can tell you that it has no sources of CXMB (except CTF addon) used in the program.

ThemeXtra works in a unique way to CXMB as it generate Virtual PTF files for each theme and uses that to show in the PTF Menu as opposed to CXMB which patches the extension read. To combat the decompression we spend days reading through assemblies until we found the decompression function used in the PTF Menu. This function is hooked so decompression occurs when we need it (when someone dumps an RLZ compressed image as the preview background or icon xD).

This makes normal PTF files usable aswell as custom themes.

The format that themes should be in is a simple zip file. You zip all your rco's, prx's and fonts into the zip without any folders, add an uncompressed bmp (or compressed RLZ) preview and icon image and a version.txt and then you will be set.

CTF Support:

The CTF file format will be available to use with this prx however it is not recommended. A CTF -> ZIP converter will be available alongside the release of the program.
Support for the CTF file format is achieved using an external prx which exports the functions needed.
tar.gz support is to be included in a later version.

Universal Theme Flasher 2:

ThemeXtra also allows the support of flashing themes to the NAND with the Universal Theme Flasher 2. UTF2 will be included with the ThemeXra release package. The Flasher uses a ReversePatch technique which will allow a safe return to the previous theme.

As for the source, it will be released eventually. I'd rather keep it closed for a while (except the CTF stuff) then release it all when the Package

To sum up all the features of this package so far:
Lightening fast vPTF technology.
Flashless theme switching.
Randomising Daily/weekly/monthly/yearly themes.
CTF, PTF, ZIP support.
Universal Theme Flasher 2
CTF->ZIP Conversion.


Now the reason why I have posted this is because I need your help. I need more suggestions and ideas. The project is done pretty much (except bugs =S) I just need more things to add to it, then release it.

So throw me your ideas. Please =D


Credits (so far)

Davee - Programmer
Bubbletune - Programmer
XanderChaos - Theme Developer
ZiNgA BuRgA - PTF information
Eldiablov - Emergency compiler xD

[Coolj]

Originally Posted by Super Sheep

Davee - Programmer
Bubbletune - Programmer
XanderChaos - Theme Developer
ZiNgA BuRgA - PTF information
Eldiablov - Emergency compiler xD

Sven too?So I guess it will rock!

Good luck and happy coding.

[Moose]

I didn't know Sven was helping you make this, but good work. Good to see it finally making some real progress and in a 'releasable' state.

As for suggestions, I think you have everything I could want nailed.

[eldiablov]

Damn right im in the credits xD

I'll look forward to this Super_sheep I know you've been working hard on it. 0xDEADBEEF

[alfatreae]

I'd love to see the ability to load separate waves on top of the current theme.
So you could have:
Persistent waves (remain even when changing backgrund
Wave list (load waves from a list or from other CTF's/Zip's
Wave speed (select wave speed on the fly)

Icon link support:
Select from a list of xmb icons and redirect them to any pbp along with the possibility to rename the icon label.

Hmm, I think those are all my ideas for now, if possible it would be a wonderfully useful mad idea to have.

Hmm, that's all I can remember for now
-=Double Post Merge =-
Ohh, and Great Job, big thumbs up to the entire team, it's looking to be a new must have for a large, large number of users.

[Granite]

Originally Posted by Super Sheep

Davee - Programmer
Bubbletune - Programmer
XanderChaos - Theme Developer
ZiNgA BuRgA - PTF information
Eldiablov - Emergency compiler xD

with a dev team like that this is bound to pwn

[Davee]

Originally Posted by alfatreae

I'd love to see the ability to load separate waves on top of the current theme.
So you could have:
Persistent waves (remain even when changing backgrund
Wave list (load waves from a list or from other CTF's/Zip's
Wave speed (select wave speed on the fly)

Icon link support:
Select from a list of xmb icons and redirect them to any pbp along with the possibility to rename the icon label.

Hmm, I think those are all my ideas for now, if possible it would be a wonderfully useful mad idea to have.

Hmm, that's all I can remember for now
-=Double Post Merge =-
Ohh, and Great Job, big thumbs up to the entire team, it's looking to be a new must have for a large, large number of users.

I dunno about wave speed, but Mix n' matching themes sounds like a good idea. It won't get into the first release, but i'll definately do it.

Icons, hmm. I can try that. Not really theme related but i'll do it.

Any specific icons? Don't ask for them all. I'm not gonna change the memory stick ones and main system stuff.

[alfatreae]

Glad you liked my input. , can't wait to see this released.

The icons should be theme related, don't know if you ever tried the clickslide skin by XanderChaos, but it had a version with specific modified shortcuts. He also moved a lot of links to a generic category (other applications), a bit weird to use but interesting.

With this in mind I remembered a couple more things:

Ability to set different backgrounds for each category.

Other category changing bound effects (color changing, wave changing,...)

Ability to enable/disable (re-label) displaying specific icons (can new category/sub-category icons be added? or only changed?)

Ability to select sounds (goes in the mix n' matching

Select Boot vid/img, gameboot vid/img

Some of these changes should be persistent from skin to skin

Just throwing around ideas that pop to mind, hope you find some of them useful/fun to make.

[Mr305]

Very Nice! Mixing and matching themes should now be easy

[Davee]

Originally Posted by alfatreae

Glad you liked my input. , can't wait to see this released.

The icons should be theme related, don't know if you ever tried the clickslide skin by XanderChaos, but it had a version with specific modified shortcuts. He also moved a lot of links to a generic category (other applications), a bit weird to use but interesting.

With this in mind I remembered a couple more things:

Ability to set different backgrounds for each category.

Other category changing bound effects (color changing, wave changing,...)

Ability to enable/disable (re-label) displaying specific icons (can new category/sub-category icons be added? or only changed?)

Ability to select sounds (goes in the mix n' matching

Select Boot vid/img, gameboot vid/img

Some of these changes should be persistent from skin to skin

Just throwing around ideas that pop to mind, hope you find some of them useful/fun to make.

Sounds good. I'll try and encorporate them as soon as possible.
I'm not sure about the RCO label editing. I don't know a lot about the RCO format. We shall see though.
Mix n' Match is high on the to do list.
Release in about 2 weeks perhaps.

[Coolj]

Will it be open source or do I have to reverse it to see how things are done?

[XanderChaos]

He said no source with initial release. He'll probably give out the source later.

[Mr_Shizzy]

WOOT !!!!

This sounds awesome !!
I will be eagerly anticipating a release.

[Davee]

Originally Posted by Coolj

Will it be open source or do I have to reverse it to see how things are done?

As XanderChaos said, it won't be open at release, but eventually it will be. You can reverse the initial release if you wish though xD.




I'm not sure about the category changing wallpapers. It could cause a lot of lag and be slightly challenging. I can't blit it to screen so thats out.
I think ill pass this idea.

[Mr305]

Why ZIP?, There's better open-source RAR (already ported to PSP) and 7zip.

More compression = More themes

[thecobra]

wow, sound great, cant wait for a release super sheep

[vodkkaa]

i have a suggestion (don't know if its possible though). A way to flashlessly change the xmb icon names. The names are specified in a file, then they are edited in memory. I think it would be useful for anyone that uses a custom theme and also has homebrew that are launched from certain icons and they want to change the icon name to the name of their homebrew. It is a pain to have to unpack the ctf, decompress the RCO, recompress it, and pack up the ctf again just to change the icon names. And it is even more frustrating if you are like me and like to switch between themes often.

[alfatreae]

Originally Posted by vodkkaa

i have a suggestion (don't know if its possible though). A way to flashlessly change the xmb icon names. The names are specified in a file, then they are edited in memory. I think it would be useful for anyone that uses a custom theme and also has homebrew that are launched from certain icons and they want to change the icon name to the name of their homebrew. It is a pain to have to unpack the ctf, decompress the RCO, recompress it, and pack up the ctf again just to change the icon names. And it is even more frustrating if you are like me and like to switch between themes often.

I already requested that feature on post #5

Icon link support:
Select from a list of xmb icons and redirect them to any pbp along with the possibility to rename the icon label.

And Super Sheep said he's going to tackle it. Not sure about which ones though. I'll leave it in his hands to think about which ones to have available. If he's in doubt I'm sure he'll let us know .

Though I'd love if it was possible to add a new category altogether. Ex apps/homebrew. It could be customized with personalized entries and/or sub-categories. The big downside would be the articulation with skins.

[Davee]

Originally Posted by Mr305

Why ZIP?, There's better open-source RAR (already ported to PSP) and 7zip.

More compression = More themes

Trust me it is on it's way. I'm not sure about 7zip though. Not really had any experience with it.
I ported the MiniZip library to PSP and porting RAR shouldn't be too hard. GZip support is native with PSP so thats my next inplentation.

New categories are not possible. I do not know how to do such things.

Icon labels should be possible. How are you to change them though? I'll implent a config file where you can change them. e.g

Game = "Homebrew";
Music = "Tunes";

etc

I'll work into it though.

[MiKeY188]

lol i was talking about this yesterday and now im really excited for the release xD

[Davee]

There is a little problem with the CTF Flashing so that may be a slight problem for the flasher. You guys don't mind if the flasher doesn't have native CTF support do you?

[spamsnake]

This looks pretty awesome, i use "UTF 1" very often, so this will probably be well used by me.

[Davee]

All eboots are using the VLF Library for their graphics. I'll get some images up later tonight. I'm expecting a release in about 2 weeks.
CTF Flashing is a problem, but it is fixable and icon launching is coming. It will basically detect an eboot in e.g "ms0:/PSP/ICONS/LOCATIONFREE" and launch that when the icon is selected.

Anyway, I'll get some pictures of the ThemeManager and flashing for tonight perhaps.

[Davee]

Pics.





Thanks to coolj for his screenshot plugin

[COLINx86]

Originally Posted by Super Sheep

Pics.





Thanks to coolj for his screenshot plugin

Do the waves actually move, like DC6 and updaters

[Moose]

Originally Posted by Super Sheep

Pics.





Thanks to coolj for his screenshot plugin

Is that done using the VLF module?

[Davee]

Yes and Yes.

[Moose]

Great, looks really nice.

[brethren]

i really like the sound of this, making themes by zipping the files is a great idea...it'll make it really easy for people to mix and match their own themes. my only reservation is the ctf flashing as all the best ctf's are way too big to fit on the nand but as long as you put all the checks in place that should be okay too

can't wait for the release

[Davee]

Originally Posted by brethren

i really like the sound of this, making themes by zipping the files is a great idea...it'll make it really easy for people to mix and match their own themes. my only reservation is the ctf flashing as all the best ctf's are way too big to fit on the nand but as long as you put all the checks in place that should be okay too

can't wait for the release

There aren't a lot of checks as to what can be flashed. There is a slim PSP check which allows everything to be flashed but fat only allows upto 2mb.

Obviously the PSP Theme Integrity checks aswell.