hAv1c+ v3 Preview, Release Coming Soon!

monkeyracer · 07-23-2008, 02:01 AM

I present to the forum, hAv1c+ v2.1.

Download here:
hAv1c+ v2.1

I started this skin in 08/07 with the unreleased version 0
Version 0 was a proof of concept; that a fully functional skin can be made that wouldn't kill the CPU to run. I also wanted something that was very visible.

Then I released the official version known as hAv1c. hAv1c evolved into hAv1cplus when transparent background capability came out.

hAv1c evolved into mAv1c to attempt a better visual appeal. hAv1c was put to the side, and development stalled until recently.

I wanted to resurrect the skin and bring it back to its roots. I wanted to keep it simple and lightweight. I wanted to make it more consistent across the different screens. I want it to be easy to use and fully functional.

The audio controls are in the same place on almost every single screen, as well as menu and back. Most skins share the same image, while the rest are slight variations of that same image. The skin first opens with a default black background and white text for the best visibility, but can be changed to any combination possible. GPS is the secondary function, and I wanted to add the GPS speedo from mAv1c and redesign the GPS skin.

I went through almost every single line of code in the skin and tweaked almost everything. Here's what came out:

Download here:
hAv1c+ v2.1

For this skin to work, simply extract the .rar to your skin folder, copy the font files, and enjoy.
This skin utilizes a few plugins, for these features to work, make sure you've registered the .dll's correctly.

Report any bugs on this thread, as well as any suggestions.

Release history:

2.1 - 08/06/08 - Added rrgas plugin support, redesigned sliders, left slider represents volume level, bottom slider represents song (and video) position, and if enabled the right slider represents the laptop battery level, changed mainmenu.skin and menu.skin to include button for rrgas, to access the visu from the menu.skin, press and hold the music button, to access the mixer from the mainmenu.skin, press and hold the apps button, other minor changes.
2.03 - 07/27/08 - Code clean-up, some labels wrong/misplaced, added volume and song position slider. Also, for those using the powermon plugin, added a battery level slider.
2.02 - 07/24/08 - Fixed GPS menu 2 Zoom buttons, added "Drive Home" Function to GPS menu 1.
2.01 - 07/24/08 - Added symbols to menu.skin and mainmenu.skin, to toggle between text and symbols, press and hold the "SETUP" button on the menu.skin. Added a second GPS overlay menu. When you hide and reveal the overlay, the default menu will show. Currently the "DRIVE HOME" command is inactive, pressing this button does nothing.
2.0 - 7/23/08 - hAv1c+ initial release, numerous updates.
1.03 - 11/17/07 - Added iList support
1.02 - 11/10/07 - Added transparent OSK, redesigned text color chooser, reorganized menu from main.skin (all other screens have old menu)
1.01 - 10/29/07 - Added ExecTBL.ini and included No Gestures Area in TextColor.skin
1.0 - 10/29/07 - hAv1cPlus initial release
1.0 - 10/22/07 - hAv1c initial release
0.0 - 08/16/07 - hAv!c concept (unreleased) screenshot posted.

brandensin · 07-23-2008, 02:19 AM

nice work.. thank you MR..

treetop777 · 07-23-2008, 06:31 AM

Nice. Got to give it a try.

Enforcer · 07-23-2008, 07:22 AM

weather symbol seems out of place on the RHS as all the other are text.

monkeyracer · 07-23-2008, 09:23 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Enforcer

weather symbol seems out of place on the RHS as all the other are text.

I agree, it's there right now since the word weather is too long to fit and still look nice. I have a whole set of symbols in my CarPC font, and just like mAv1c, it will be switchable on the fly. I will probably abbreviate it to WTHR in future releases.

Other than that, any other comments?

treetop777 · 07-23-2008, 04:12 PM

Took her out for and ride and she's still very fast and responsive. She started with a black background which can easily be changed cause it reads whatever BGpath is in rr.ini

Still most amazing is the text color change; very helpful to have predefined font colors that can be changed quickly and also when time permits, change to one of maybe 16 million colors to choose from.

It was not obvious what changes were made but then again, in the short ride to work and back, there's not much time to explore.

Did run into a little problem; when i got close to the house i was in GPS and picked-up the wifi from the house so i decided to try the weather button, it pulled the weather but the overlay didn't go away making the screen hard to read. Hitting the back button returns to GPS but the overlay is gone so there's no way to exit GPS.

I can test it out some more in the next couple days..

monkeyracer · 07-23-2008, 05:14 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by treetop777

Took her out for and ride and she's still very fast and responsive. She started with a black background which can easily be changed cause it reads whatever BGpath is in rr.ini

Still most amazing is the text color change; very helpful to have predefined font colors that can be changed quickly and also when time permits, change to one of maybe 16 million colors to choose from.

It was not obvious what changes were made but then again, in the short ride to work and back, there's not much time to explore.

Did run into a little problem; when i got close to the house i was in GPS and picked-up the wifi from the house so i decided to try the weather button, it pulled the weather but the overlay didn't go away making the screen hard to read. Hitting the back button returns to GPS but the overlay is gone so there's no way to exit GPS.

I can test it out some more in the next couple days..

I made a bunch of minor changes rather than a few major changes. The biggest change is the consistency across the screens. It works very similar to mAv1c, but if you use hAv1cplus again, and then switch to this, the changes are easier to distinguish.

I don't access the weather from that screen, so I guess I forgot about that link. Until it's fixed in the update, just change the button to this:

"X_OVERLAY||WEATHER"

I'll probably remove that button and one other button so that it shows the underlying gps screen a little better (right now it hides the edge of the ETA and Speed areas.)

I think the font color changer is one of those "use it every now and then" kind of features just like the background, but it's definitely nice with all the different backgrounds out there. The presets were there for exactly that reason; to be able to change them quickly.

I like how simple the skin is. I hate trying out a new skin, and while downloading it takes forever, then it installs like a program, and there's all this config needed, then it doesn't even have a default background in it, and I have to guess my way to the button that gets me there, and to boot it's still all cluttered and hard to use.
That is why I made this skin in the first place.

The main focus is music, so I think there should be audio controls on every single screen. The main screen is what comes up first, so it should have the most important info right away.
For safety reasons, the buttons are in the same place throughout, so the end user doesn't really have to look for the right button. Menu and Exit/Back are in the corners, so they can be pressed using the physical corner of the screen as a guide.

treetop777 · 07-23-2008, 05:43 PM

Does it have the speedo in the main screen? I couldn't find it.

I wouldn't miss that GPS button either; replace it with the shortcut to "go home" or something.

BTW, that thread in your signature is hilarious!

monkeyracer · 07-23-2008, 06:17 PM

To switch between the speedo and the album art, just press anywhere in the album art. Just like mAv1c, when you exit the skin and come back to it, your preference is saved.

I spent maybe 5 minutes on the overlay, I was tired (Original post was posted at 1am my time) and just wanted to get it out. I thought it looked fine on the test computer, but in the car, I found that I need to change it. I'll end up with only 12 buttons rather than 14, so it will take a bit of thought on what buttons stay. Keep in mind that pressing the clock in the lower left corner on the gps screen will show or hide the overlay. I did this so that if I wanted to see the gps in a more true "full screen mode" I could without taking away from the info it provides.

The solar panels thread will go down in history as one of the defining threads on this forum. He now has the custom title "started the best thread ever" and is still going with it.

treetop777 · 07-23-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Keep in mind that pressing the clock in the lower left corner on the gps screen will show or hide the overlay. I did this so that if I wanted to see the gps in a more true "full screen mode" I could without taking away from the info it provides.

LOL the album art is the only thing i didn't press, i pressed all around it LOL

The GPS commands i use the most is "enter dest.", "go home" and "cancel route" in case your taking sugestions.

I thought i had read that the overlay could be hidden, i'm going to have to try it, i didn't think it was possible.

monkeyracer · 07-23-2008, 07:11 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by treetop777

The GPS commands i use the most is "enter dest.", "go home" and "cancel route" in case your taking sugestions.

same here. I just barely got everything in the car, so I'm just now getting to use my skins that I've been developing for more than a year. I hardly ever zoom in or out, I never change between 2d/3d, and never use the heading toggle, so those will probably switch to those commands, but I'll have to find the "hotkeys" to do that. I will look into what some other skins have for that. I might have two menus, with a toggle, maybe. I don't know. I have sunday and monday off, so there will definitely be some work on the skin by then.

monkeyracer · 07-24-2008, 01:23 AM

Updated to version 2.01, view the first post for details. Here's the new symbols:

I added a second gps menu, trying to figure out a hotkey for the "Home" shortcut in IG, but I might have to figure out a script.

treetop777 · 07-24-2008, 06:42 AM

Take a look at Tek1's GPS if you want to keep it simple.

monkeyracer · 07-24-2008, 09:17 AM

Ok, version 2.02 up on first post. Quick update, but now "Drive Home" Works, thanks to the "Home.exe" script from TEK1. I also flipped the zoom buttons in 2.01, but it's fixed now.

Here's a pic of GPS Menu 1:

Notice that there are only 6 buttons per side, and the 7th button that used to cover up the info row is gone.
When you hide the overlay and bring it back up, it will always bring Menu 1 back up, even if you hid menu 2.

monkeyracer · 07-25-2008, 08:49 AM

I found a few small things that I need to fix, but I'm not sure it will warrant a new release yet.

- The Artist - Title tag is "SCROLL" but should be "SCROLL-CENTER"
- The loader screen "RRVER" font is Bank Gothic Lt rather than Md. (I didn't include Lt in the skin file)
- The loader screen tags are also not spaced well

I'm also looking into a volume slider, and a songpos slider. Just have to find a good place to put them. Any other suggestions are welcome.