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+----- Thread: [Suggestions] Ace 2 (/showthread.php?tid=177842)
[Suggestions] Ace 2 - MarcosQui - 2013-11-12
Dear users, in January 2014 I will start building the Ace 2.
The first thing that will change is the panel 'continue watching' that will be like as in Aeon MQ 5, first widget in list = continue watching. Thus navigation is optimized and the Main Menu stays cleaner.
Furthermore I'll leave this open space for suggestions. The Ace is good like it is, so I do not intend to make any major changes, but I will improve what is possible.
Thank you for your colaboration.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - sfnetwork - 2013-11-12
With MQ5 now in the mix, I honestly don't see the need for Ace 2... except if you would take a much different direction (which you won't from what described above)
I think MQ5 could easily look like Ace with all the customization possible now and maybe in the future (vertical menu, main menu bar color and style, fonts, etc...)
Before, with only MQ4, since Ace was build on much more powerful platform, I valued Ace, but now, MQ5 does everything that Ace does and more... (and I presume it will do even more in the future).
Maybe I'm missing obvious things that Ace has or can do that MQ5 can't (now or in in the future).
In my opinion and personal preferences, MQ5 killed Ace...
So basically, if I would have to give suggestions for Ace, they would be things that MQ5 does (including fonts and the customization options).
But, IMO, Ace 2 could be an opportunity to take a different path to make two really different skins... because now Ace looks like a customized MQ5 (or the other way around).
BTW, I just LOVE your work MQ, (I actually couldn't use XBMC without your skins).
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - sidewalksuper - 2013-11-14
- I would like the movie widget to be more like Aeon MQ5. In Ace the background doesn't change with the highlighted movie.
- I like that Ace doesn't have errors with 16:10 screens like in MQ5, so I'd definitely try to keep that. Maybe also incorporate 4:3 screens like iPads.
- Better touch screen support for tablets.
- Change the information screen (while playing) so it doesn't take up so much screen. It takes up half the screen right now.
Also it could be different for movies and tv shows. Movies have a large movie poster left, and tv shows have a screenshot from the episode.
It looks like you could do something better there
(I really loved the look in Aeon MQ3, maybe some better version of that.)- Trailers don't have the movie information, when I play trailer from the main menu via the widget or when I press c in the movie menu.
It does have the correct movie info, when I go to the movies menu, choose a movie, press i and then select trailer.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - bry - 2013-11-14
built in support for PlexBMC and perhaps work with Lunatixz for a PseudoTV Live skin that matches the ACE2 theme? By the way these requests also go for MQ5
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - mardup - 2013-11-14
I would like "TV show in progress" functionality of skin widgets on a TV main menu item that is based on a smart play list
Actually, this feature only shows "an episode in progress (not totaly played)" but not "the first not played episode of a TV show in progress", like the widget in standard TV Shows Menu.
thanks
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - costi - 2013-11-15
I'd prefer Ace 2 to be a lighter cousin of Aeon MQ5. So if you want all the bells and whistles, you go for MQ5, while Ace is for those who want good looks while taking as little resources as possible (for Raspberry Pi and other low-end equipment users).
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - LFC..UK - 2013-11-15
(2013-11-15, 09:18)costi Wrote: I'd prefer Ace 2 to be a lighter cousin of Aeon MQ5. So if you want all the bells and whistles, you go for MQ5, while Ace is for those who want good looks while taking as little resources as possible (for Raspberry Pi and other low-end equipment users).
+1, Yes that's how I envisage the way forward for Ace 2.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - sidewalksuper - 2013-11-16
Definitely keep it light!!
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - saitoh183 - 2013-11-16
(2013-11-15, 14:45)LFC..UK Wrote:(2013-11-15, 09:18)costi Wrote: I'd prefer Ace 2 to be a lighter cousin of Aeon MQ5. So if you want all the bells and whistles, you go for MQ5, while Ace is for those who want good looks while taking as little resources as possible (for Raspberry Pi and other low-end equipment users).
+1, Yes that's how I envisage the way forward for Ace 2.
+2 for me!
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - jerms415 - 2013-11-16
First of all, I'd like to say that I love the Ace and Aeon-MQ skins. Right now, I'm using Ace as my full time skin, because it is simpler and easier to use for the family than Aeon-MQ. Overall, I think Aeon-MQ changes a little too frequently, and I'd like to see new versions of Ace have a little more consistency than Aeon-MQ. New features should be tested in Aeon-MQ first, and only the best ones should be eventually added to Ace, but in a way that doesn't change the look or usability too much. Most of the changes I'd like for Ace relate to making it more intuitive and usable, rather than adding new features.
Here's a list of the things I'd like changed/fixed in Ace:
1. Make the menus more intuitive to navigate
One of the main complaints I have about Ace is that sometimes navigating the menus can be counter-intuitive. For example, when I'm on the vertical main menu and I press the left arrow on my remote to access the submenu, I naturally feel like I should press the right arrow in order to go back to the main menu. However, I need to press left twice to get back to the main menu.
Also, the "top menu" (the one you can access at the top of the screen when viewing collections to modify viewtype, etc.) can be confusing to navigate. By "top menu", this is the menu I mean:
First of all, the way to access this menu is different depending on what viewtype you are currently using. If I am on the "wide" viewtype then I need to press "left" to access it, and if I am on the "multiplex" viewtype then I need to press "up" to access it. Similar to my complaint about the main menu, whenever I press a key to access some menu, I naturally feel like pressing the opposite key in order to exit the menu. On the "wide" viewtype, this would mean pressing "right" to exit, and on the "multiplex" viewtype, pressing "down" to exit. However, I see why this cannot happen with the way the menu is currently set up. Pressing "down" is used to access items, so using it to exit would require cycling through all the items in the list. Pressing "right" is used to access other submenus so that wont work either. What I would suggest is that for viewtypes where you press "up" to access this menu, the menu pops up from the BOTTOM of the screen rather than the top. This way, accessing the items in the submenu requires you to press "up" again, accessing a new submenu requires you to press "left/right" (as it currently does), and exiting the menu is done by pressing "down". Likewise, on viewtypes where you need to press "left" to access it, it should pop out from the RIGHT SIDE of the screen. Accessing items in the submenu should be done by pressing "left" again, accessing a different submenu should be done by pressing "up/down", and exiting should be done by pressing "right".
Also, exiting the "top menu" should be possible by pressing the "back" button, but it is currently not. The "back" button just behaves as it normally would, as if the menu was not even open (i.e. it goes to the parent folder of the current folder, rather than closing the "top menu").
All of this will make accessing the menus more intuitive and consistent, so that even a grandma could navigate it without getting stuck in some menu, and overall will make it feel more polished and mainstream.
2. Add an icon indicating movie sets
I prefer to have my movies grouped into sets, using the "group movies in sets" option in the XBMC Video settings. Similar to how there is an icon indicating when an item has been marked as "viewed", there should also be an icon indicating when an item is a movie set. This picture shows what I mean:
I suggest that the icon be in the shape of a folder, indicating that it contains a multiple movies.
3. The "panel" viewtype should wrap around
Similar to other vertical lists, the "panel" viewtype should wrap around when trying to navigate past the end of it. If I am at the bottom of the list and press "down", it should bring me back to the top, and if I am at the top and I press "up" it should bring me down to the bottom.
4. Fix a bug with the "panel" viewtype
There is a bug in the "panel" viewtype that can cause the cursor to become hidden. The way you can duplicate this is by following these steps:
- Make sure that your bottom row has fewer than 6 items in it, so that there are blank spaces on the right hand side. And make sure that you have more than 4 rows overall. (Have at least 3 full rows, and one partially full row).
- Scroll up, so that all 3 of the rows that are currently displayed on the screen are full.
- Without scrolling down again, highlight the bottom rightmost item THAT IS CURRENTLY DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN.
- Press "right" to select the scroll bar.
- Press "down" until you reach the bottom.
- Press "left" to leave the scroll bar.
- You should now have a hidden cursor, which is trying to select one of the empty spaces of your partially full row. If you keep pressing "left", you will eventually reach the rightmost item in your partially full row.
When viewing a season of TV episodes with the "wide" or "low list" viewtypes, all the episodes generally came out in the same year, so it is a waste of space to show the year multiple times. It would be more informative to change this to the air date rather than the year. This image shows what I mean:
In general, I think changes to Ace should make it easier to use, more consistent to control, and less buggy, rather than focusing on new features and design changes. Any new features added (such as number 2 on this list) should be small and not disrupt the overall look and feel of the skin.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - tube82 - 2013-11-16
(2013-11-14, 17:39)bry- Wrote: built in support for PlexBMC and perhaps work with Lunatixz for a PseudoTV Live skin that matches the ACE2 theme? By the way these requests also go for MQ5
PlexBMC support would be awesome.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - bandelguy - 2013-11-17
should be in full hd
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - gegecom83 - 2013-11-17
Just MQ5 vertical mode.
Congratulations MarcosQui,
Thank you.
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - Crall - 2013-11-20
I miss only one thing in ACE and that is "next show" in the channel list (i have requested that before). Please add this in Live-TV channel list, it´s so frustrating to always have to go to the EPG to see whats coming next.
This is from Xperience1080:
RE: [Suggestions] Ace 2 - teeedubb - 2013-11-20
First off thanks for your really slick skins!
A feature i would love is the ability to toggle the full screen visualization furniture via remote so the visualization take up the whole screen with no obstructions (I love projectM + boblight
). Or having the full screen visualization furniture treated as on screen info is in other skins - it shows up for X seconds after a song change/start playing/skipping forwards or backwards.If screenshots or further explanation is needed please let me know. Or if there is already a way to do this in your existing skins I'd love to hear about it too
.EDIT: some pictures:
This is the fullscreen visualisation furniture:
And this is what I would like to easily switch to (there is no info displayed at all when full screen vis furniture is disabled in ACE or MQ5)
