Sycophant 0.70b (formerly Gp2xcc) Released


mindlord

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It's been a long time coming, I know. Here is the latest incarnation of Sycophant (aka GP2Xcc).

Download here: http://archive.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,7,1819

New to this release:
- Much improved speed
- Variable Icon sizes
- Fully functional File Manager (supporting creation of directories, move, copy, delete, and more)
- fully customizable on-screen keyboard with multilanguage support
- dialogs
- numerous fixes and improvements to the backend
- Much cleaner source code that is more intelligently laid out and easier to fix
[cut]
Known Issues
- startup time is still a bit slow
- the rendering engine is still less than optimal

I'm happy with the progress thusfar, and know there is a long way to go.

Next steps - allows the user to adjust settings of the GP2X and configure Sycophant in interface and save those settings. I'd also like for Sycophant to remember it's state when starting other programs so it returns to the state it was in when the user returns to the menu.

Thanks for taking a look!
Mindlord[/cut]
 
Here's some updated screenies for your viewing pleasure:

sycoscreenie.jpg
 
thanks for the screenshots, this one looks more customizable than gmenu2x :) , and is there a shortcut for TV-out implemented?
 
No TV out is implemented yet, however if you start TV out using GPH's frontend then start Sycophant it will not change back to the LCD. The main reason for this is I have neither the TV out cable or breakout box YET. Once I get my grubby little hands on one sure as rain there will be a menu option for TV out.
 
I just wanna say: keep up the good work mindlord! This looks amazing, much better than gmenu at looks - IN MY OPINION.
(Especially the picture with the logo in the upper left corner.)
 
Thanks cowai. I respect Gmenu greatly for it's sheer functionality. It's a very slick system and I can only hope that Sycophant reaches the same level of usability.

I'd also like to add that I've put up a Sycophant Wiki, and hope to provide a place to document changes, updates and help people learn how to make skins themselves. Not much is there yet, just the main page and logo, but as I make time it will flourish.
 
One thing though.. The fonts are bit boring. A Clear Type font would be fine-looking! :)
As said, keep it up!
 
I appreciate the input, and will add the request for better font rendering into the hopper of things to work on and fix.

I chose a very basic DOS ASCII font for the bulk of the fonts used in the skins because:

A) I like the old school look of DOS ASCII

B) It rendered very clearly and was readable from a short distance. Which was good for development so I didn't have to pick up the GP2X to see the menus clearly.

C) It's easy to calculate how big a line of text will be because it's a fixed width font.

However, this doesn't mean that you have to live with it. You're welcome to substitute any font you wish into the skins. The beauty of the system is that it is very malleable, and it should adjust nicely to any font you throw at it. Additionally, changing the sizes of fonts in the menus is as simple as searching the skin_sycophant.xml file for <size> tags and changing the values a bit. You can even use different fonts for each and every menu and menu behavior if you like, just by changing the <font> tags, and adding the font to the font folder.

It's important to note that:
There is a limitation to the font rendering function of SDL that prevents anti-aliasing when rendering to a transparent surface, The text just doesn't appear at all. Solid rendering is required when drawing text to transparent surfaces, which is why some of the text looks well blended, and other times you can plainly see the edges. All of the menu items themselves are rendered in this way for speed's sake.

I don't believe that SDL supports cleartype fonts, but I could be wrong.
 
I did some looking and found it will be very easy to make the fonts render with anti-aliasing because I've already written a routine to do just that to the icons. Anti-aliased fonts will be included in the next released.
 
The good news is: I fixed the anti-aliasing on the fonts
The better news is: Fixing that fixed another critical bug
The best news: It didn't hurt performance a bit. :)
 
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