retired_ttaylor

Yeah yeah, I know there's a designated thread for skin suggestions so close this down if you want, but I thought it'd be worth a try considering that this seems to be pretty much what almost everybody is after, but so far noone on the designated thread has shown any interest in going about developing a CM skin for FM...

Let's be honest - at least 90% of the ppl playing FM are old CM heads, ppl that are used to the CM interface, have actually fallen in love with the CM interface!?! Yeah, FM is a new game and all, the start of a new series blah blah blah. I understand that, but rather than developing a Brentford skin that might satisfy about 1% of your clientele, why not give into popular demand and concentrate on the one skin that would get the thumbs up from pretty much everyone in this forum - a CM skin!

With each patch, I'm getting to respect FM more and more, but I just HATE the GUI!!! Basically, it's the menu layout that gets to me most - how many different menus are there on the screen at any one time?! And most of the menu items are repeated in other menus. And there seems to be more shortcuts than actual structured menu items, which to me is really a bit daft.
One main menu on the left, that's all we need! CM4 got by with that layout and it's not as if there are 20 further features that need menu placements in FM since then - practically the very same menu from CM4 would do the job in FM.

So what I want to know is, is this possible with skin development or would moving menu items be down to the lower level programming? I'm almost certain I've seen other skins move around menu items a bit. As far as I can see, all it takes is just to move the menu button and keep the same link that the original button pointed to? Can't be that hard can it?

Can anyone gimme some answers on this? And can anyone let me know if they are even remotely interested in developing such a skin? Cos it would certainly make a lotta ppl around here very happy if ya did...

retired_ttaylor

While I'm on the subject, another thing that would be nice in a CM skin is a font similar to the CM font, and similar in size to CM also - the font is a bit too small for my liking in FM.

The colouring in FM too is a bit light or something. The contrast is very low or something. Without being too extreme, a better colour selection would be cool.

Those two points should be handy enough to implement, but the menu is the main thing I wanna concentrate on - is it possible to move around menu items so that everything is displayed in ONE single menu on the left-hand side? And if so, SOMEONE PLEASE DO IT!!!!

retired_exoticpanther33

i think you over estimate the target audience for a CM-lookalike skin. yeah, there are a fair few people who'd rather play the game like that, but it's nowhere near "almost everybody".

The default metallic skin (RHS :p) alone is miles better than the old CM layout - let alone some of the great works of skinning that have appeared since - eg effem, stone skin and pretty much all of JAndersson's stuff.

i for one would probably have a quick look at a CM skin, just to see what the creator did with it, but it'd be quickly back to a "proper" FM skin.

just my two cents

retired_ttaylor

When I say 'almost everybody', I'm talkin about everyone apart from the guys requesting club skins. Ppl are obviously gonna be requesting skins relating to every club under the sun, which is many cases is just pointless.
Most other requests outside of yer Brentfords and Partick Thistles are looking for a CM skin

retired_healthy1

As I said in the requests thread:

Th problem is due to the way FM uses menus et al it would be very difficult, if not impossible to make a skin that looked like CM and still be able to access everything.
For example: Get rid of the top menu bar (as there wasnt one in CM) and you cant access half of the screens available.
A skin could be made in the general style of CM but you still wouldnt be able to get rid of the basic layout of FM. you cant replace the items in the tree with the menubar items because what would you do with the items in the tree menu??

retired_healthy1

What I am trying to say is... You can move menu items around but you still need all of the menu's

retired_exoticpanther33

that's probably true. but there is a good reason for this.

apart from requesting a club-specific skin, or a CM skin, what other type of skin is actually "requestable"?

you can't really request a "JAndersson Elegance Skin", a "Stone Skin", or an "Effemm" skin, because no one knows what one of these is, until they are made.

i'm not saying i'm drastically against a CM skin being made (although i wouldn't use it myself)... i'm just playing devils advocate... (mostly cos i'm bored )

retired_bennett2448

Yeah, and nobody has a clue what i'm on about when I ask for 'A really cool-looking, legible, non-club affiliated, easy to use (menu-wise) and funky skin!

I don't know exactly what i'm after, but I will know when I find it!

retired_ttaylor

I don't see why it can't be done - gimme a list of the FM menu items that were not also present in CM4. Like I have already said, there is practically no new functionality in FM - which means there should be very few new menu items - but only some enhanced functionality. If CM could provide the same functionality in one single menu, then why can't it be done in FM?

retired_healthy1

Have you played FM. There may be no new screens but the way you access these screens is different.

Get rid of the tree menu and you can't do anything with your team, you can look at it and pick your team but not much else.

Get rid of the menubar and you cant change the settings save it or exit it