| Where can I download XBMC? Due to complications with how XBMC is compiled for Xbox, binaries cannot be hosted via HTTP. A quick Google search, however, should provide you with some answers. As for Linux, you can find full instructions for obtaining and compiling the latest build at the XBMC Wiki. How do I install/run XBMC? XBMC requires a modded Xbox and can be run as either a dashboard or standalone app. For legal reasons, modding guides etc. will not be hosted here. Instead, try the forums and tutorials at Xbox-Scene. |
| Aeon looks great already! Why is it still alpha? Because it's incomplete. So long as there are major features missing, it stays in alpha. Once the last falls into place it goes beta, and if all goes to plan it then moves to SVN. What happens then? If you think Aeon looks good now, wait 'til you see what a bit of polish can do. Every texture, object and layout in the Aeon alpha was put together at breakneck speed, both in terms of code and artwork, hence the rapid development and the fact you're able to use it now rather than wait indefinitely. Post-beta, everything gets improved - glass panels get etched decals (dividers etc.), animations get tweaked, effects like vignetting get added to fullscreen views, colours are improved. This last phase will probably take as long to complete as the entire alpha stage, though you'll get a steady stream of builds to enjoy in the meantime. When will Aeon be finished finished? Never. Hah! Seriously, it'll only move to beta once I'm happy with the feature set, and to a point release when I'm happy that all of those features are as good as they can be. Then come things such as redoing every texture at 1080p resolution and pursuing really advanced, blue sky features. Why aren't you including view type x? There's a very specific lineup of view types for Aeon - more than I'd originally planned but not enough to completely overburden it. What's there adheres to a very strict vision which I won't compromise, no matter what pressure comes via forum posts and PMs. So by all means recommend changes and put forward ideas, but if the view you want doesn't appear you'll have to add it yourself. User mods will be hosted on this site. |
| Are you deserting Xbox in favour of Linux HTPCs? No, but I won't rule out bonus features for Linux users somewhere down the line. The fullscreen Wall views are the only ones potentially troubling Xbox users atm, but I'd be surprised if Team XBMC didn't introduce some swanky OpenGL effects for Linux sometime soon. The one I'm particularly hoping for is alpha blurring (objects beneath glass are blurred, Windows Vista style). Aeon will snap up anything of use so long as it fits, though there'll always be an Xbox-friendly build available. Aeon looks weird on my standard definition set. What gives? Standard definition isn't officially supported by the interface, though XBMC's new font resizing code means that it should work, even if it isn't wholly appropriate. While I accept that not everyone has an HDTV (far from it if you look at consumer studies), Aeon is an HD concept. Any concern for SD functionality would, imo, both delay and damage the result. If someone wants to batter out an SD version at some point, however, then into the aforementioned mod section of the site it can go. Can I make a donation ? No. Give it to your local animal shelter or something. The Aeon code looks complicated. Any tips for modders? I'd call it 'a mess' rather than 'complicated'. Like I said, this early development of Aeon has been pretty rushed, intended more to get all the pieces in place rather than polished or, in the case of code, documented and optimised. Some efforts have been made to comment the trickier XML, but I'm not going to waste time doing that when the code itself is so volatile. Sorry to sound like a stuck record, but beta's the time to look forward to. Can I send you these backdrops I've made? Sure - so long as they're of the required standard. All of the backdrops hosted here are high quality and high-resolution, in many cases modified to suit the Aeon interface and menu. Keep to those criteria and I'll be happy to host them in the mods section. |
