[WIP] FoFiX Theme for 4.0.0 - by the community

[weirdpeople]

Heh, I just had a thought. Since we have a glass fretboard, it could "shatter" after a song, kinda like the old guitar hero games had the board explode.

that idea = epic win

[drihscol]

the notes/keys should be 3d.
i can start on them now.
and also i dont like the notes, could we shrink the base, or remove it all together?

[Leapo]

Well, lets see what you can do.

[weirdpeople]

i like the notes you should keep them

[coolguy567]

I'm spotting a pattern here:

1) Community discusses some part of the theme.
2) Leapo ignores most of what the community says and makes an awesome photoshop mockup of that part of the theme.
3) Community really likes Leapo's mockup and ignores everything they discussed in step 1.
4) Repeat with a different part of the theme.

End result: Community Theme == Leapo theme. Not that I'm complaing - Leapo's mockups are beautiful. I especially like what you've done with the hammer-ons: GH does it all wrong (making the hammer-ons stand out doesn't make sense at all); RB is on the right track but it's sometimes too hard to identify them.

I'm still not sold on the star-power meter, as pretty as it is. It's too imprecise. E.g. you can't see where the end of the star-power meter is, so you can't tell how close you are to filling it up. I'd prefer the bulge to go all the way along the SP meter, with a "knick" at the half-way point.

Maybe the purple flames could change colour depending on rock meter status? You already have them change colour according to context - gold on the results screen if you got gold stars - and it would be a nice way to easily get an idea of your rock meter status, especially in co-op modes. On the other hand, other colours (such as the obvious green, yellow and red) might not go as well with the rest of the theme as purple and gold.

One last thing - the way the notes are slightly ahead of the beat lines is strange - the lines should go through the centre of the notes.

[drihscol]

ive got an idea for the hammer ons,
what if the hammer ons where the same size, but shaped kinda like an hourglass, like it has been squeezed.

[coolguy567]

Nah, the way they are now is fine. It's very easy to tell them apart from strummed notes, but they don't make it difficult to spot strummed notes amongst a lot of hammer-ons (like in GH3). Having the coloured bit smaller I find portrays the idea of what a hammer-on is very well - they're like half a note (because you fret them but not strum them), in a sense.

EDIT: I think the multiplier needs to be modified to be quickly readable - in GH2/3 you could read it just by seeing what colour it is, for example - and I also think the giant capital X is ugly and makes it harder to read the number. An actual mathematical times sign (×) is smaller than a capital X.

[Leapo]

I'm spotting a pattern here:

1) Community discusses some part of the theme.
2) Leapo ignores most of what the community says and makes an awesome photoshop mockup of that part of the theme.
3) Community really likes Leapo's mockup and ignores everything they discussed in step 1.
4) Repeat with a different part of the theme.

Hah, sorry about that. To be fair, I haven't posted up the revised menus yet, just some new in-game stuff.

I actually went through the thread and made a point-by-point list so that I could check off the fixes/improvements as I made them. The only real issue I keep running into is with the results screen; even with the drop-down for more stats, there's just not enough room for all the stats everyone has requested. I like the combined-meters some people have come up with, so I've been trying to work those in.

I'm still not sold on the star-power meter, as pretty as it is. It's too imprecise. E.g. you can't see where the end of the star-power meter is, so you can't tell how close you are to filling it up. I'd prefer the bulge to go all the way along the SP meter, with a "knick" at the half-way point.

I'll add some tally marks at the "half way to ready", "all the way ready", and "compleatly full, launchy it already!" points on the meter. That should clear things up.

Maybe the purple flames could change colour depending on rock meter status? You already have them change colour according to context - gold on the results screen if you got gold stars - and it would be a nice way to easily get an idea of your rock meter status, especially in co-op modes. On the other hand, other colours (such as the obvious green, yellow and red) might not go as well with the rest of the theme as purple and gold.

Yeah, the background flame color is getting more and more flexible as the theme evolves. Using it for the rock meter is an interesting idea...but wouldn't going by color alone be a little imprecise though? That's why I used a meter that increases and decreases in size (so you can easily tell exactly what point you're at).

Hmm, the color could change for special events like solo sections (switch to glowing blue?) and to warn you when you're about to fail (switch to glowing red?). That would remove the need for fretboard overlays to indicate these sections as well.

One last thing - the way the notes are slightly ahead of the beat lines is strange - the lines should go through the centre of the notes.

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. The notes look like they're behind the lines on the neck to me... Do you mean the vertical lines should be shifted over to run through the center of the notes?

I think the multiplier needs to be modified to be quickly readable - in GH2/3 you could read it just by seeing what colour it is, for example - and I also think the giant capital X is ugly and makes it harder to read the number. An actual mathematical times sign (×) is smaller than a capital X.

I'll toy around with different multiplier symbols (X, x, *). As for giving the multiplier its own color...that could work.

I could make the bar wider and split it in half, crowd meter on the left half, multiplier on the right half. Both meters could expand from the middle. Something like this crude ASCII example:
( ==100%== | == 4x == )

Both meters are kinda related, which is why I'm trying to keep them together.

[KaelemGaen]

I just read through the first couple pages the other day on this, and on the first page... I really liked how Fatdog's Rock meter looked. It's snazzy and definately something original. But I do like Leapo's menus, they're nice!

[coolguy567]

Yeah, the background flame color is getting more and more flexible as the theme evolves. Using it for the rock meter is an interesting idea...but wouldn't going by color alone be a little imprecise though? That's why I used a meter that increases and decreases in size (so you can easily tell exactly what point you're at).

Nowhere did I say they're mutually exclusive... Have the normal meter, with the flame colour as an extra effect.

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. The notes look like they're behind the lines on the neck to me... Do you mean the vertical lines should be shifted over to run through the center of the notes?

Right now they look like:
__<>__

I think they should look like
---<>---

So the centre of the note is in line with the beat line (horizontal line), but the notes are on top of the line. Just like GH and RB. I just think that makes more sense from a rhythmic perspective.

[Leapo]

I was trying out something different *shrug*. I was thinking of the notes as more of representations of finger positions on the neck. Think about it, where do you put your fingers when you're actually playing a guitar? Usually just behind the fret, not right on top of it.

Besides, it's not like note position and line position are all that related anyway. Look at the charts for Guitar Hero III, notes all over the place in complete disregard of where the lines are. They seem to only be there to represent tempo and to give you a visual indication of board speed.

[Jama7301]

Yyyup, the placement of the notes falls on the fretter, not the mod itself.

*wracks his brain for a new idea*

*comes up blank*

So we're going with the purple and black color scheme, si?

[weirdpeople]

Yeah, the background flame color is getting more and more flexible as the theme evolves. Using it for the rock meter is an interesting idea...but wouldn't going by color alone be a little imprecise though? That's why I used a meter that increases and decreases in size (so you can easily tell exactly what point you're at).

Nowhere did I say they're mutually exclusive... Have the normal meter, with the flame colour as an extra effect.

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. The notes look like they're behind the lines on the neck to me... Do you mean the vertical lines should be shifted over to run through the center of the notes?

Right now they look like:
__<>__

I think they should look like
---<>---

So the centre of the note is in line with the beat line (horizontal line), but the notes are on top of the line. Just like GH and RB. I just think that makes more sense from a rhythmic perspective.

rockband is in between the lines gh is on the lines
me personally i like the in between the lines better

[death_au]

Fatdog's idea for a rock meter could still work in Leapo's mockup, too. Fatdog's mockups looks metallic, while Leapo's are glassy, but you could always adjust one to look more like the other (eg, Fatdog's rockmeter, but glassy as opposed to metallic). If I had some more time, photoshop skill and a psd of one of Fatdog's mockups I'd show you what I was imagining.

I like the look of leapo's mockups a lot, but I think the fretboard might be too glassy. I've never seen a glass guitar neck before, and I'm sure it wouldn't be practical

[drihscol]

i have an idea,
for the notes, instead of rectangles,
why dont we use triangles.
this would make it look sharper, more psychedelic.
this is crappy but,

thats just the idea.
feel free to change as you see fit.