Last theme I will be doing for a while....

ShadeMistres · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 45

Removed

Avata · Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 372

I gotta say, I don't usually use themes, but this one is pretty cool. I kind of wish the light blues were darker and therefore less distracting, but that might just be me getting used to the new colors/theme.

Thanks for taking the time to make this!

kobisjeruk · Joined: 04 Jun 2007 Posts: 44

hey ShadeMistres, is there a guide on how to create our own theme? i kinda like what u did and i hav a couple of ideas on theme which i think is cool...care to share your knowledge? maybe u can even do an article or something on it...

dboy1 · Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 149

if some1 cud explain how to use the themse that'd be awesome. thx

ShadeMistres · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 45

*************************************************************
******* INSTALLING MWS THEMES *******
*************************************************************

Alot of you already know how to do this, but I thought I would save myself having to explain to mass people in private messages how to use these themes.

Before anything else, you will have to extract the theme to the "Themes" folder wherever you installed MWS. (More than likely "C:/Program Files/Magic Workstation/Themes"). Then you are ready to use the theme.

First, go to MWS (the deck editor part).

Next, go to TOOLS at the top of the screen.

At the bottom of that menu, go to PREFERENCES...

So far, so good? A pop-up window will appear with a menu on the side. You want to click on the one that says "INTERFACE"

Lastly... On the right-Hand side of the window, near the middle, there's a thing that says "Graphics Theme" with a drop-down menu. Just click on that menu and surf the themes til you find the one you want.

AS A SIDE NOTE : Sometimes changing themes can cause the game to crash out without saving the changes. The only way I have found to beat this is to delete the theme, re-download it and try again. IF THAT DOESN'T WORK, chances are there was some small glitch in MWS and you will have to re-install the whole program. (If that happens, copy the Pics folder to your documents, so you don't have to re-download them, assuming you are using the pictures.)

ShadeMistres · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 45

As far as making themes, it's pretty easy... so, here goes.

Open up MWS (deck-editor) and go to the top menu, where it says "Tools"

Under that menu, you will see a selection that says "MWS Resource Editor," Click on that and you will be given 2 options: [Decompile MWS Resource File] and [Compile MWS Resource File]

Now, before going any further, I would suggest decompiling another theme to use as a base. Otherwise, you will have to find your own Set Icons, Mana Symbols, Card Frames, etc. Heck, just use mine, all you really want to change is the graphics anyway, right?

So, click on "Decompile MWS Resource File" and then "Open File" and browse to find the Theme File. (I usually save them straight to the Themes Folder under MWS (make sure too extract if from the .zip file).

Once you've found it, just select it and click "Open." Yay! you are done decompiling the theme.

From here, it is really easy. You can go into the folder you just created and change out any of the graphics with graphics of your choosing.

****If you want to use picture files of a different format than those listed, you can, BUT MAKE SURE you edit the "Theme.txt" document to relate the changes. (If you open the file, you will see what I mean) The valid formats are .bmp, .jpg, .gif, and .png as far as I know.****

So, use whatever graphics program you want to edit the images and save them. Not too hard at all.

When you are done, change the folder name to whatever you want the theme to be named, BUT MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE THE ".mwTheme.unp" EXTENSION OR IT WILL NOT COMPILE PROPERLY!

After you are done, go to MWS (deck-editor) again, and go back to "Tools -> MWS Resource Editor" and click on [Compile MWS Resource File]

Browse to the folder, and just click on the main folder (with the extension on it) and Pres the [OK] button.

Tada! You have a new theme, now just go to "Tools > Preferences > Interface" and check out how it looks...

Huggybaby2 · Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 34

Hi,

FirePenguinMaster wrote a nice guide some time ago, which you can download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?35hydniekn4

Haro · Joined: 01 Sep 2004 Posts: 241

Can someone upload a screenshot of the new MWS theme? I wanna check it out before I change any settings and etc.

ShadeMistres · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 45

Here's the Screenshot I promised yas...

BigShow · Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Posts: 1306 Location: Igloo town

omg this is really sick GJ ShadeMistres

ShadeMistres · Joined: 05 Jul 2007 Posts: 45

Thanks.

So far I have done 4, and out of all of them, I like this and the forest theme the best (also in the forums here somewhere). But, for now I am out of ideas that would look good n still be practical. On top of that, I have other (work-related) graphics things to do before I can put any real thought into it.

The first couple of themes I did, I was working on between my work stuff and they didn't exactly turn out as good as they could have (i.e. - my Pyromancer theme is a good example of how a theme can look way cool, but in-game it's kinda distracting and my Dungeon theme was wayyyyy darker than it should have been and works for a game or two before your eyes start to strain from looking at it). But, at least I did learn from those mistakes and will probably make new, more eye-pleasing themes. Until then, enjoy... Smile