[Rufoo]

[UPDATE: 28/03/2016]
Apologies for the continual delays, work still progresses. The delays are due to expanding into the default areas of the skin. I have to learn some new things which are relevant for this sections. Stay tuned.

[profucius]

I'm salivating for the release of this addon! It looks very close to being done! Is there any chance I could personally test the current version, if you have a github link or a repo download? I just want to test it with some games to see how it works. Thanks for your hard work on this man.

[Rufoo]

I'm salivating for the release of this addon! It looks very close to being done! Is there any chance I could personally test the current version, if you have a github link or a repo download? I just want to test it with some games to see how it works. Thanks for your hard work on this man.

Hey mate, welcome to my little project.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement, always lovely to hear. Indeed, it is quite close now to being completed / ready for consumption.

I don't have a GitHub repo from which it is available mostly 'cause I can't be bothered with one. Right now, this can't be offered as another Preview download as while it is nearly complete it still requires final touches in unifying things which is a little bit of a mess since expanding into the traditional areas but I am thinking if it takes much longer I will begin to offer it as a sequential download with more series becoming available in packs or waves as they get done over each subsequent week.

Your patience and that of others is appreciated. It will not be for naught.

[Rufoo]

[UPDATE: 03/04/2016]

The project is now almost done and will certainly be released this month for consumption. An absolute promise. As a final thanks and also because more options are a good thing, another series will be coming in. It only consists of two views but it is solely catered towards Steam and GOG banners. As the market largely shifts from traditional to digital distrubition means there should be views that can make use of their assets. So these were created. It's called the Sauna Series.

[profucius]

This looks fantastic! I truly cannot wait to see how it turns out :-)

Btw, will there be ways to sort Steam games in view? Like by Name, possibly by recently installed? I imagine sorting by "last played" is probably too much to ask or impossible to do.

Also are there multiple views for Steam games? Such as Banner Logo, Wall, Detail, etc?

Either way I'm excited to see the result, but these features would truly make this a killer addon!

[Rufoo]

This looks fantastic! I truly cannot wait to see how it turns out :-)

Btw, will there be ways to sort Steam games in view? Like by Name, possibly by recently installed? I imagine sorting by "last played" is probably too much to ask or impossible to do.

Also are there multiple views for Steam games? Such as Banner Logo, Wall, Detail, etc?

Either way I'm excited to see the result, but these features would truly make this a killer addon!

You can sort all items in a view by Name, Year, Studio, or Genre. There are no options for "recently installed" or "last played" sadly. Advanced Launcher does not apply any data in such a way so therefore it cannot be done as is. I too would love to see "last played" and "most played".

This series of views, Sauna, has one viewtype (the one pictured) and another which is a wall type. I started adding these Steam banner views 'cause it is tricky trying to find posters or sleeves for PC games that are relatively clean and not noisly plastered with "GAME OF THE YEAR" "9.5 IGN!" and assorted crap. Some people may like that but I think it starts to look to cluttered up. Kinda the sucky thing with PC games not really having a universal presentation like console box arts. Steam is pretty much the only PC based answer for that and considering it won't be going anywhere anytime soon it seemed like a smart idea to make these.

[profucius]

Yes agreed Steam banners are beautiful, I think preferred to box art now. Those sort orders will do for the bulk of my game play, I can always launch Steam Big Picture mode if I need to see the other views.

Will these addons be available for any skin, or will it be required to use Cirrus? I personally use themes Mimic and Rapier for my media as they are elegant and provide many customizations. I really hope I can use at least the Sauna series with my themes!

[Rufoo]

Yes agreed Steam banners are beautiful, I think preferred to box art now. Those sort orders will do for the bulk of my game play, I can always launch Steam Big Picture mode if I need to see the other views.

Will these addons be available for any skin, or will it be required to use Cirrus? I personally use themes Mimic and Rapier for my media as they are elegant and provide many customizations. I really hope I can use at least the Sauna series with my themes!

As the name implies, this is a project for Cirrus only. None of the views will work with other skins as they are not made for them. So that will dash your hopes for using any if these in Rapier or Mimic.

That's why many of the views have been adjusted to start appearing in traditional areas too. So users don't feel they have an ace game library but the rest don't match.

[profucius]

Oh, I see. Just curious, I imagine the addon could have been developed to work universally with any skin, why did you choose to lock it into Cirrus?

[profucius]

snip

[Rufoo]

Oh, I see. Just curious, I imagine the addon could have been developed to work universally with any skin, why did you choose to lock it into Cirrus?

All good. I think you're mistaking this "addon" as an addon in the traditional Kodi sense. It isn't. It is more like a sophisticated mod or expansion to Cirrus. It's built using Cirrus, deeply integrates into Cirrus, and is generally all about Cirrus. So your question, when I read it, is like asking why doesn't the Aeon Nox wall view work in Rapier? Advanced Launcher can be used by any skin as that is an addon. It is up to the skin to provide views for it and that's what this is: a series of views for Cirrus that are tailored toward Advanced Launcher use.

I chose Cirrus 'cause originally I was just a consumer / user. 24 odd months ago I built a small mini-itx machine that was to serve as a super console (i7 / GTX 670) in the lounge that could play "everything". Cirrus offered better AL support out of the box (Poster, Square, Wide) than most other skins plus I liked Cirrus' heavy fanart focus. Sure, the views are way more static compared to glossy things like Nox, Arctic, Rapier, etc... but none of those skins offered what Cirrus offered from an emulation super console perspective. So I kept getting drawn back to Cirrus. Then PSP emulation hit real strides and Cirrus only had posters (which stretched slim PSP boxes) and no other skin had support for something like slim. I combed the forums looking for mods but none existed. So I started modding some Cirrus views to see if I could do it myself... the project grew from there.

I now have expanded the views I'm making to the traditional nodes so that users have a more universal experience in these sections and have the same responsive and animated views as intended for the games area. Maybe it'll be enough for users to consider Cirrus as their choice skin. Either way, Cirrus is my home skin and I intend to help Paradix better it 'cause more variety is a great thing. What I want to offer users is something unique, a skin that is built with gamers first, media second, like a console. Rather than the other way around as everyone else does.

[profucius]

I see I see. Thanks that helps me understand much better now. So SexyCirrus is more like a mod on Cirrus that gives more views in the skin for the Advanced Launcher addon itself.

I haven't played around too much with Cirrus, but after reading your thoughts on its benefits, I'll check it out again. At the very least, I could create a Kodi profile for gaming and switch to it for that purpose.

Curious me again, so does Advanced Launcher already do what your SexyCirrus does? Or is SC blazing the trail doing something nothing else has ever done before?

[Rufoo]

I see I see. Thanks that helps me understand much better now. So SexyCirrus is more like a mod on Cirrus that gives more views in the skin for the Advanced Launcher addon itself.

Pretty much bang on. Advanced Launcher itself comes with no views. The skin must provide them.

I haven't played around too much with Cirrus, but after reading your thoughts on its benefits, I'll check it out again. At the very least, I could create a Kodi profile for gaming and switch to it for that purpose.

You do that.

Curious me again, so does Advanced Launcher already do what your SexyCirrus does? Or is SC blazing the trail doing something nothing else has ever done before?

In terms of views, to the best of my knowledge, nothing does what SexyCirrus does. I started making it because nothing like it existed. Plus I wanted to have an interface that could display games from Pre-HD era (often my favourites) in a dynamic way which no other skin does. If you want to get a better idea of what I am talking about. Try downloading Advanced Launcher, installing it, then using it on one of your skins like Rapier. Chances are you'll have a list view and probably a few box shapes if you're lucky. Most skins don't have views catered to gaming on such a diverse level and certainly none at this level.

There is a lot of tricks and fancy stuff in SexyCirrus to achieve certain things. You gotta remember a lot of this is designed from a user experience because I am trying to build an interface for my library.

Here is a screenshot from the Preview Edition (on Page 4 on this thread) showing the early Versa Series views. Have a look at the screenshot, and spot the difference, that is one of the innovations that SexyCirrus has. Also things like views for Slim boxes (PSP) isn't something I have seen anywhere else but is done here and with the final batch of things, there are even more box shapes being supported. So you'll be hard pressed to find something with this level of dedicated gaming support elsewhere.

[profucius]

That screenshot looks very exciting! I love the multi images per game. I think the biggest thing that all the other game launchers (Steam, Launchbox, etc) get wrong, is that to want to play a game sometimes we need to be inspired. Just seeing a game name, even only a game box art, isn't always enough. Seeing screenshots and more info can really inspire you to want to play that game!

So for that reason, I applaud your hard work on this. I'm waiting with baited breath to try it out (hopefully very soon )

[rdyott]

a simple "addon" to a skin... looks like you've devolved your OWN SKIN mate...

Wish this could be an addon that would add views to ANY skin people use..

I used to like cirrus but ive since moved to madnox. but i hate how they do advanced launcher/RCB.
Maybe once this is released into cirrus ill go back...

i too run a HTPC that is a super all in one game machine ( i7 gtx970 ect ect..) retros/pc games.

But it also has to please the wife for her TV bing watching and movie watching.

The real reason i switched to madnox is their "Kodiflex" view. any chance SexyCirrus has anything similar?






BUT Your views are sooo sexy. mmmm