[nvana]

Hi,

I would like to ask the developers of XBMC to revert the Confluence skin back to the version 11 quality. The multiple fading images really did the trick I would say.

I'm now using XBMC 12, and while it is still a great media player it lacks the shine and glamour of 11 I would say

Maybe because of inferior hardware like the Raspberries and the like the PC users have to do without the extra images ?

Arno

[`Black]

Those things were removed because Confluence is just a basic default skin which should run ok even on low powered hardware like the Raspberry Pi. There are several other skins out there.

[artrafael]

If you like the general look-and-feel of Confluence, there modified versions that still support the contextual background images. Check the Confluence subforum for threads related to these modified versions (be sure a given version works with Frodo).

[nvana]

If you like the general look-and-feel of Confluence, there modified versions that still support the contextual background images. Check the Confluence subforum for threads related to these modified versions (be sure a given version works with Frodo).

Hi,

Yes I did like the look and feel of Conlfuence, and I think a lot of people with me did like the Confluence Skin. Most of my friends use XBMC with the out of the box skin Confluence because it is quick and looked very nice.

Why not supply 2 versions of Confluence with the basic install of XBMC 13:

Confluence normal
Confluence minimal (just a skin definition pointing 12 times to the same image)

Depending on hardware spec automatically choose normal or minimal ? Currently people with normal spec hardware (probably most people) get the looks for underpowered hardware :-(

And yes, I did try to run XBMC on my Raspberry Pi with OpenELEC (latest) and it doesn't play any of my movies over network fluently.

I've been trying all the available skins in the XBMC 12 plugins repository, but non of them match Confluence.11. I'll stick to XBMC 11 and my Atom / ION based mediaplayer for a while. Pity people with even modest hardware are left alone.

To me it doesn't seem very useful to deteriorate the default skin for under powered players which are not even capable of playing good quality 1080p movies fluently.

[trogggy]

To me it doesn't seem very useful to deteriorate the default skin for under powered players which are not even capable of playing good quality 1080p movies fluently.

Pi is great.
Openelec on Pi is great.
Default Confluence is great.
Modded Confluences (I'm using Toiva's on the pi) similarly great.

Your attitude - not so great.
Nobody's making you run the default skin.

[nvana]

To me it doesn't seem very useful to deteriorate the default skin for under powered players which are not even capable of playing good quality 1080p movies fluently.

Pi is great.
Openelec on Pi is great.
Default Confluence is great.
Modded Confluences (I'm using Toiva's on the pi) similarly great.

Your attitude - not so great.
Nobody's making you run the default skin.

Try playing a 1080p mkv of 8GB+ on the Pi / OpenELEC over 100mb network. Unwatchable.

[Martijn]

Try playing a 1080p mkv of 8GB+ on the Pi / OpenELEC over 100mb network. Unwatchable.

then buy a decent HTPC. you get what you pay for

[trogggy]

Try playing a 1080p mkv of 8GB+ on the Pi / OpenELEC over 100mb network. Unwatchable.

Even if true, so what?
Nobody's making you use a pi.
Nobody's making you use the default skin.
Buy a system you like, use a skin you like.
It's not hard.

[nvana]

Try playing a 1080p mkv of 8GB+ on the Pi / OpenELEC over 100mb network. Unwatchable.

then buy a decent HTPC. you get what you pay for

Hi Martijn,

Yes I did, I've spent 250+ Euro on a HTPC (Atom / ION chipset) and am very happy with it, and don't get me wrong, I do love XBMC (since 9) and have promoted it to all my friends and colleagues, but the move to a minimalistic theme (for people not willing spend more than 45 Euros on a media player) in XBMC 12 is wrong I think.

Its the flashy interface from XBMC 9 till 11 what people liked in it, now we're getting a dull homescreen.

Why have loyal XBMC 12 users spend 2+ hours on trying to re-find re-modify a theme that matches what they already had in XBMC 11 ? I have tried all themes in the repo, but non matched Confluence.11.

Arno

[artrafael]

Takes just few minutes to install one of the Confluence mod skins (including installing the repo) that will give you the look-and-feel of Confluence and the dynamic backgrounds you prefer.

This should shave 1.75 hours or so off the search:
Here's a direct link to the repo of one of these mods: http://repository-xbmcnerds.googlecode.c...-1.1.2.zip
Here's the thread announcing/supporting this skin mod: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=147628

[Trixster]

To me it doesn't seem very useful to deteriorate the default skin for under powered players which are not even capable of playing good quality 1080p movies fluently.

Pi is great.
Openelec on Pi is great.
Default Confluence is great.
Modded Confluences (I'm using Toiva's on the pi) similarly great.

Your attitude - not so great.
Nobody's making you run the default skin.

Try playing a 1080p mkv of 8GB+ on the Pi / OpenELEC over 100mb network. Unwatchable.

Nonsense. I am managing exactly that with Rbej's openelec builds. In fact, many of my films are far bigger then 8gb and they stream fine, even with DTS 5.1 soundtracks. I suggest you do a little more research and try a little harder before writing-off a perfectly serviceable piece of kit.

[Beano]

Yes I did like the look and feel of Conlfuence, and I think a lot of people with me did like the Confluence Skin. Most of my friends use XBMC with the out of the box skin Confluence because it is quick and looked very nice.

Why not supply 2 versions of Confluence with the basic install of XBMC 13:

Confluence normal
Confluence minimal (just a skin definition pointing 12 times to the same image)

Depending on hardware spec automatically choose normal or minimal ? Currently people with normal spec hardware (probably most people) get the looks for underpowered hardware :-(

Could not agree more. Seems silly to me to downgrade the default Confluence skin only to make it run on all devices. Offer two Confluence skins or make an option in Confluence for low-powered devices.

I upgraded my media center (a Mac Mini) to Frodo and was surprised to see the downgrade. I love XBMC (have used it for 10 years!) and respect all the hard work that goes into it, but this is a poor decision

And no... I don't buy the "you can just download another unofficial skin" argument since most users don't do that and unofficial skins can be unreliable in my experience.

[Marx1]

Confluence mod is reliable because it's mod. It have many useful functions which in fact should be in standard skin.
I think that it's possible to make more options in skin to make it faster on low spec devices, yet allowing others to enable bells & whistles.
But frodo already is published, so instead of bashing developers do your homework and instal mod.

[Beano]

Confluence mod is reliable because it's mod.

Err... no.

But frodo already is published, so instead of bashing developers do your homework and instal mod.

Geez... relax, buddy. I'm not bashing the developers.I'm voicing my opinion in a polite and constructive way.

[Marx1]

I asked and unfortunately mods of confluence skin aren't allowed to go into official repository. So while it's impossible to modify actual frodo skin, promoting mod can tell developers that they should go that way for future release.