As you all know, -lilfibz- has got some skillz. He was working on a theme called -Devise- a while back, (some of you may remember), but he never finished it. I love the theme so much, I said I would finish it for him. I felt it deserved to be released, even if it wasn't released in accordance with the original vision of how the theme should look. So at this point, he's done all of the graphics except the subicons. Now, I can't make 32bit icons, so the rest of it is just text. HOWEVER - it still looks very nice. Here is his original mock up:



I wish I could've made a nice replica (since that pic is only a mockup) of the theme, but I don't know the offsets which represent the Y values for the actual xmenu positioning. So this is what I have come up with so far:





The positioning is a bit different, but the movement (paf) is very nice; smooth. I was patient enough to go thru each subicon label and add spacing in front of the lettering (Photo Settings, etc.) to push everything for right alignment, on par with the time/date at the bottom. It looks very nice, everything is lined up 99% perfectly and I'm very happy with how this theme is turning out. I have conferred with -lilfibz- on this and everything I've done to the theme to make sure I wasn't doing anything he didn't like b/c this theme is his idea; I didn't want to ruin it. He seems to like the path -Devise- has taken so far, since I offered to finish it. This should be ready for release by tomorrow. (fast, huh? heh heh).

Credits:
-lilfibz-: original idea, graphics, layout, wallpaper.
ibawanzingee (sn00chi3): positioning, prx work, recolouring and repositioning.

Be looking for -Devise- [Re]VivE on/about tomorrow sometime.

UPDATE as of Monday, Jan. 14th:

I have changed my priorities on this theme since my last post and that's why it's taking longer to finish this theme. I'm going to take my time with -Devise- and get it right! Here's how it's looking up to this point:


(Yes, that's a real screenshot, but I removed the "Reboot" text for visual effect.)

Before, I was after the effect of the focused icon being larger than the unfocused icons with the same alpha channel settings, but I changed that aspect to reflect more closely the idea that -lilfibz- had in mind. It is now my duty to reproduce this entire theme as -lilfibz- would've wanted it to be. Especially now that I was able to move the entire vsh down.

Realistically speaking:

I had to move the entire vsh (xmenu) over farther to the left side of the screen. It would be grand if I could position the vsh just as -lilfibz- photoshopped the mockup, but it can't happen because of the spacing in the icons. As it is, I had to create a larger space in between the icons so they wouldn't overlap the battery. (Far left) And also so you wouldn't be able to see the icon to the left of the battery. That's as close together as I can have the icons without any "overlappage" whatsoever. (Made that word up.)

Yes, as kiwi mentioned at Maxconsole, he's working on the subicons to further the reality of this theme coming to life as it would've been, had -lilfibz- not gotten tired of it altogether. I thank you for that, kiwi. ;) You're doing a great job! (I've seen screenshots.)

Technically speaking:

I finally found the offsets for the Y values of the vsh and how to manipulate them. Thanks very much to Endless Paradigm (and Skyfox) for their input, I was able to move the entire vsh down using the following values:

Offset for main icons: 0x1A42F4 - Changed four values. :)

Simple as that.

The only things left to do are:

1.) Make *additional* subicon icons. (Video settings)

2.) Get the subicons in place with full text.

3.) Find a font which closely resembles the font (if not exact) used in the mockup. (-lilfibz- said it might be "Copperplate Gothic", but as far as I can tell it's not; the subicons in the mockup are in lowercase letters, but Copperplate Gothic only offers capital letters.)

I hope you guys are starting to get exited! :D Wee're really trying hard to bring you this great theme that otherwise might not have happened. (Considering the possibility of me not liking it enough to even be bothered with in the first place.)

That's it for now...

ibawanzingee

Laterz,
ibawanzingee

Good deal, yo. :) I'll most definitely ask for help here when I need it. For now, I'm gonna try getting direct help (which is easier than posting a thousand times in a thread) from h901 himself. He knows a lot about hex editing and I want to try to do some badass tricky stuff, stuff -lilfibz- didn't actually get to. Sorta add my own touch to it, since I'm going thru all this trouble. Why not? heh.

-Devise- is now complete. Here's the final version, be looking for it on/about Jan. 25th.



It came a *tiny* bit differently than it was supposed to, but only b/c of certain restrictions I couldn't help. This is the "what's actually possible" version of the theme. hehe.