Horizonz: Future Concept Art
#16
Interesting concepts.

For my money though I have to say I prefer the current overall look. The addition of brush metal as well as glass effects, coupled with what in my opinion looks like an unnecessary 'patio roof' effect over the main scroller's sections, seems to be moving away from what made Aeon so appealing: its clean, uncluttered simplicity.

My personal recommendation would be to keep focus on the "less is more" philosophy, and not tinker with textures and design concepts for tinkering's sake.

MediaStream has the cluttered, over-complicated angle sewn up. I'd say differentiate by offering the exact opposite.

Sorry if it sounds a bit harsh... You know I'm a fan Wink
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#17
Doraemonn Wrote:Interesting concepts.

For my money though I have to say I prefer the current overall look. The addition of brush metal as well as glass effects, coupled with what in my opinion looks like an unnecessary 'patio roof' effect over the main scroller's sections, seems to be moving away from what made Aeon so appealing: its clean, uncluttered simplicity.

My personal recommendation would be to keep focus on the "less is more" philosophy, and not tinker with textures and design concepts for tinkering's sake.

MediaStream has the cluttered, over-complicated angle sewn up. I'd say differentiate by offering the exact opposite.

Sorry if it sounds a bit harsh... You know I'm a fan Wink

Well said, not harsh IMO.

I like many of the changes he's made: new metal+glass textures is nice and the general layout of the controls.
... I agree with trying to keep it "relaxing" to the eye... I feel there are many sharp/hard edges which is "distracting", the 'patio roof' is one of those that does this the most. Maybe soften/round the corners/points on the images just a bit and don't "stack" too many like images on on top of the other - Now Playing is an example of where putting some separation of the menu bar from the Now Playing controls would clean it up a bit and be less busy - again too many hard angles all in one place.
I'm not an expert but I play one at work.
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#18
My two cents. I think the future of this mod lies in being all things to all people. As you say, the more "cluttered" look is handled perfectly well by MediaStream while the "minimalist" look will be catered for by Aeon 1.0. So what place Horizonz?

Well, the purpose of a mod like this is to satisfy popular demand. So if you want a banner view, wall view or whatever other view that isn't part of Aeon's vision, xb2iris is your man. Add to that the fact that Horizonz is based on the old Aeon aesthetic, and the old code with its myriad shortcuts and hacks, and it has the potential to be relatively unique. Messy, perhaps, but that's the price you pay. That's assuming it doesn't start feeding off the Aeon 1.0 look, which for courtesy's sake I hope it doesn't.

I do agree about those "Browse your...", "Watch your..." headers over the menu, though. I never fancied them in MediaStream and it looks too much like a me-too addition here.
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#19
I believe, after looking at the new concepts, that its bringing a better more graphical approach to horizonz, which in my opinion is great. To make something unique and shine in its own light, somethings gotta be changed, and the new look is amazin in my opinion!

Firstly, XB2IRIS, has mentioned that everything would be optional, so it wouldn't be cluttered and complicated. It would just be the old Horizonz with a few new options, and I think thats great, coz not everyone shares the philosophy of less is more! I believe he's again trying to cater to the larger audience, by providing a few things from other skins to make this skin the best skin it can be, and even better their optional, so if you like it, u can use it, if not, don't!

To be honest, their hasn't been any skins with amazing graphics yet. Everything has stuck with the simple interface look, which in my opinion, is a shame. He's increasing the slickness, which i believe is great, so let him go with it, coz at the end of the day, ur friends will be more impressed with ur media centre when he sees it!

So, lets wait and see what it looks like, these are mockups, and i'm sure his doing what he always does, take suggestions and ideas into consideration and employ them! Thats a great approach, and with who else in these forums, can we actually be as honest without getting blacklisted and ignored! So, appreciate that fact!
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#20
XBDD Wrote:Hey, great to see you finally posted these! Said you should a long time ago, but yeah, your a stubborn one. They look great man, better on my pc than yours i take it, i remember the pics being darker somewhat! Nonetheless, their a work of genius and I look forward to the day they're actually in Horizonz!

Anyways, donate people, XB2IRIS only needs a few bucks, then a Volume IV will be here for all to enjoy! Tested it the other day, and their are some neat new features and a lot of the things he's posted as screenshots actually look a hell of a lot better than you'd think when you actually get to see them in person! But yeah, its almost finish, but isn't at all stable. Some of the other stuff that used to work doesn't anymore, so trust me, he's not holding out on you guys but I reckon it'd take a full 3 or so days to finish it, but thats a guess, coz a lot of stuff isn't finish!

I've donated, your turn if you haven't already!

Thanks for keeping the mocks, coz without them, i'd have to do the entire thing over... Anyways, people know they can donate if they want man... Most of the hardcore fans have, and i'm sure a few others will when they can, but lifes not always that simple i take it!

eriksmith200 Wrote:are you planning on separating all settings menus from the movies, weather etc menus?

yeah, thats always been an idea, but maybe i'll stick to the normal setup depending on where things go from here... so, we'll see later in dev... hopefully we can all wait... hehehe

digitalhigh Wrote:Like the brushed metal look...definitely crispy. Could be just a*tad* less pronounced in the OSD menus and stuff. Keep the metal, just make the transparency higher. (Fourth Picture down)

And actually, looking at that same pic again, I think the whole thing would look really sharp if it were just a bit more transparent. I really like the glasslike feel this adds tho.

And I have to agree...the "Play Your" thing above videos, and "adjust the" above settings...it's a bit too much like mediastream. Or maybe it's because it is too busy or something. What if you had that text appear at the top center or top right of the screen? Keep it in there because extra descriptiveness is always good, but don't have all that stuff interacting in one spot?

I like the new "now playing" stuff you did tho...fits very nicely with the rest of the skin.

Have you given any thought to having the weather display with the main bar somehow? Add the option to have it on top or right on the main scroller or something...

as you know, these are still mocks, so transparency can easily be altered, but i'll see how they look when i put them into the skin, so maybe it'll be more transparent, maybe not... the end product is unknown for now, these are nothing but concepts... and as for the info menus, i'm just going to include then as an optional extra... so use them or not... i know there'll be fans of that option... people have requested it... and i like wheres its located, makes the scroller look a little more interesting if u ask me, but who knows, i'll try a few things before i make up mind with a final draught... and that weather idea is cool... see what i can think up... would be different... maybe an added dialog or something... we'll see what happens... but thanks for the comments!
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#21
Doraemonn Wrote:Interesting concepts.

For my money though I have to say I prefer the current overall look. The addition of brush metal as well as glass effects, coupled with what in my opinion looks like an unnecessary 'patio roof' effect over the main scroller's sections, seems to be moving away from what made Aeon so appealing: its clean, uncluttered simplicity.

My personal recommendation would be to keep focus on the "less is more" philosophy, and not tinker with textures and design concepts for tinkering's sake.

MediaStream has the cluttered, over-complicated angle sewn up. I'd say differentiate by offering the exact opposite.

Sorry if it sounds a bit harsh... You know I'm a fan Wink

patio roof effect... dam dude... a love patios... their the best... u can chill take a smoke and have bbq on them... thats great... hehehe...

nyways... firstly, this skin needs to improve graphically if i'm to get it to the next step... and these are mockups, so the real thing may not even look that way... but one thing xbmc is missing is something with a different graphical approach... i'm bored with professional... i want dark and mysterious now... lol... lots of other people have mentioned that interfaces are getting repetitive and boring coz the graphics look simple... i agree, wanted something a bit out of the ordinary... something slick and above all different... like really cool websites u run into every now and then... no one remembers boring prof looking myspace pages for one thing, but interesting different ones serve the memory a lot better and makes the user feel more interesting and cool like i bet this look will for u... hehehe... just my take on it all, but i guess, when it happens... give it a try and then decide... coz so often things look better when ur in control... for instance, those wide icon views are way wicked when u use them, but in screenshots, they look weird... a few people have got unstable copies of horizonz volume iv... and they actually like those wide icons... so, lets wait and see what happens... the original look will definately not stay... but maybe a few ideas will be taken from it... plus, i need to make this skin its own skin if u get what i mean! and for it being over complicated... u don't have to have anything u don't want on the screen... their optional!

Livin Wrote:Well said, not harsh IMO.

I like many of the changes he's made: new metal+glass textures is nice and the general layout of the controls.
... I agree with trying to keep it "relaxing" to the eye... I feel there are many sharp/hard edges which is "distracting", the 'patio roof' is one of those that does this the most. Maybe soften/round the corners/points on the images just a bit and don't "stack" too many like images on on top of the other - Now Playing is an example of where putting some separation of the menu bar from the Now Playing controls would clean it up a bit and be less busy - again too many hard angles all in one place.

okay, i get yah... my explaination of hard angles... well... i had a choice between professional round edges or the un-used unique approach of hard edged triangles... went for the latter to be different and stick with my concept of changing everything so people can have a different feel in horizonz and aeon... and trust me, this isn't going to be any different from other versions... any skin will be busy if it was setup that way... and this skins going to have tons of options so people can create their own experience, be it busy or easy of the eyes... i'm aiming for all tastes... and i myself like the idea... get what ur saying on the soften front, may blur the textures a bit... see how they look afterwards... c'mon where are all the robotech fans... hehehe... hard edges are cool... like rock music is cool... other skins are pop... this is rock and even to an extent metal! bring on the cool!

djh_ Wrote:My two cents. I think the future of this mod lies in being all things to all people. As you say, the more "cluttered" look is handled perfectly well by MediaStream while the "minimalist" look will be catered for by Aeon 1.0. So what place Horizonz?

Well, the purpose of a mod like this is to satisfy popular demand. So if you want a banner view, wall view or whatever other view that isn't part of Aeon's vision, xb2iris is your man. Add to that the fact that Horizonz is based on the old Aeon aesthetic, and the old code with its myriad shortcuts and hacks, and it has the potential to be relatively unique. Messy, perhaps, but that's the price you pay. That's assuming it doesn't start feeding off the Aeon 1.0 look, which for courtesy's sake I hope it doesn't.

I do agree about those "Browse your...", "Watch your..." headers over the menu, though. I never fancied them in MediaStream and it looks too much like a me-too addition here.

well like u mentioned... this mod lies in everones interests, and thats why i've made everything optional and there'll be even more options when this interface is added... so if u like it cluttered, so can have it that way... if u want it simple... u can have it that way as well... just think its cool providing the user with an interface he can design based on his tastes... so, those menus are also optional... hehehe... nyways, thanks for your two cents dude... much appreciated that ur saying ur say in here... been waiting for it for ages... almost went to japan to come and get it... so thanks... trying to make this bitch unique... i'm not the aeon creator, u are, so i guess i have to make horizonz more my baby than urs at some point... plus, stark is going to clean out the skin wars, so, for all the people left over, i need something new for them to enjoy! hopefully it will get ur stamp of approval when it gets to the point these screenshots show... maybe i can turn u from a dude that has nine inch nails playing on his system to an actual nine inch nails fan like me! hehehe!
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#22
rectifier Wrote:I believe, after looking at the new concepts, that its bringing a better more graphical approach to horizonz, which in my opinion is great. To make something unique and shine in its own light, somethings gotta be changed, and the new look is amazin in my opinion!

Firstly, XB2IRIS, has mentioned that everything would be optional, so it wouldn't be cluttered and complicated. It would just be the old Horizonz with a few new options, and I think thats great, coz not everyone shares the philosophy of less is more! I believe he's again trying to cater to the larger audience, by providing a few things from other skins to make this skin the best skin it can be, and even better their optional, so if you like it, u can use it, if not, don't!

To be honest, their hasn't been any skins with amazing graphics yet. Everything has stuck with the simple interface look, which in my opinion, is a shame. He's increasing the slickness, which i believe is great, so let him go with it, coz at the end of the day, ur friends will be more impressed with ur media centre when he sees it!

So, lets wait and see what it looks like, these are mockups, and i'm sure his doing what he always does, take suggestions and ideas into consideration and employ them! Thats a great approach, and with who else in these forums, can we actually be as honest without getting blacklisted and ignored! So, appreciate that fact!

thanks man... that makes sense and everyone should read it! hehehe
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#23
WoW!!!! Amazing shots man! That going to put the funk back into XBMC! Looks absolutely stunning! Quite a graphical marvel if you ask me! And I've read thought a few of the other comments, don't let them get you down, it doesn't look cluttered or busy or anything remotely close to that, it looks Classy bro. Too many people in here like simple! In other words, boring is the order of the day! Make sense to you?

Try something new y'all! It's called Change!
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#24
xb2iris Wrote:almost went to japan to come and get it...
oh no. will we have to donate for that too ?? Confused
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#25
Johnny_Blaze Wrote:WoW!!!! Amazing shots man! That going to put the funk back into XBMC! Looks absolutely stunning! Quite a graphical marvel if you ask me! And I've read thought a few of the other comments, don't let them get you down, it doesn't look cluttered or busy or anything remotely close to that, it looks Classy bro. Too many people in here like simple! In other words, boring is the order of the day! Make sense to you?

Try something new y'all! It's called Change!

thanks man... long time no hear from... i totally agree!

R111 Wrote:oh no. will we have to donate for that too ?? Confused

hmmm... eish dude... obviously some people feel a little ill done by because of that... wasn't my choice dude!
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#26
Just want to wish all of you a merry xmas! Hope u have a great time y'all! Thanks for all the support in 2008!
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#27
xb2iris Wrote:hmmm... eish dude... obviously some people feel a little ill done by because of that... wasn't my choice dude!
i was making a joke.. Huh
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#28
Hate to be a downer, but personally I'm very tired of apple style brushed metal. I much prefer subtle gradients over overly elaborate textures, so for me these concepts are a bit of a step backwards from the current style which I'm a big fan of.
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#29
sialivi Wrote:Hate to be a downer, but personally I'm very tired of apple style brushed metal. I much prefer subtle gradients over overly elaborate textures, so for me these concepts are a bit of a step backwards from the current style which I'm a big fan of.

I would have at least posted somthing positive as my first post... then maybe made this the 2nd Wink

hopefully you realize that about everything has already been done 100,000x over... all the range of effects: metal, glass, black&white, and many, many more.

the point is to make it the style that the skinner and/or users enjoy, no matter what it is.

If you think you can do better please do... this is exactly how many of the skinners and graphic designers started.

but in all... your post was pretty useless from a feedback perspective.
I'm not an expert but I play one at work.
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#30
Livin Wrote:hopefully you realize that about everything has already been done 100,000x over... all the range of effects: metal, glass, black&white, and many, many more.

In fact I do realize that, that what pretty much the point of what I said: Brushed metal has been done to death, particularly by Apple, so I'm pretty tired of it. Subtle gradients has also been done to death, but still I prefer it since they generally create a cleaner look that doesn't age as quickly.

Livin Wrote:If you think you can do better please do... this is exactly how many of the skinners and graphic designers started.

I don't think I can do better, I'm sorry I didn't realize you have to be a graphic designer to provide feedback Rolleyes

Livin Wrote:but in all... your post was pretty useless from a feedback perspective.

Oh well, I explained what I do like (the current design and subtle gradients) and what I don't like (brushed metal), if that feedback is worthless to him, then I'm sure he will disregard it.

Just because I'm new to the forum doesn't mean I'm going to be a sycophant just for the sake of not stepping one anyones toes, and it's not even your toes so just maybe you should leave it up to xb2iris to determine what feedback is useful and what is not.
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