Atari 2600/FB2 Desktop themes

[almightytodd]

Hey everyone,

 

I really enjoy using these Atari theme elements that I created for my Windows XP 1280 x 1024 desktop at work. The "Combat" theme is the most complete, with matching wallpaper and animated cursors. I don't have a similar Space Invaders wallpaper image, plus SI wasn't one of the titles included on the FB2, but I really like the SI cursors so I've included them as well. I have 4 .wav files to use for various Windows sounds (warning, error, exclamation, beep, etc.), plus two more for Start Up and Shut Down (I used the musical cues from Crystal Castles).

 

Screen savers can be a touchy subject for work, because they are executable files that can be used to hide viruses and spyware. So what I do, is use the built-in Windows Slide Show screen saver, with the Combat or Space Invaders screen shot images, which simulates the Atari VCS color-cycling routine, which was I believe, the ORIGINAL screen saver!

 

I'm particularly proud of my Wallpaper image

 

I "Photoshopped" (PaintShop Pro, actually) a photo I took of my Heavy Sixer and FB2 on top of a screen image from a Combat "Tanks" game. Since the screen image was in GIF format, the image took on a dithered look that I think is actually an enhancement.

 

The blue background on this Flashback 2 picture matches the background color for the standard Windows XP Blue scheme, so it blends nicely with the desktop.

 

 

Enjoy...

 

Atari2600Themes.zip

2600_ScrSvr_Images.zip

SI_ScrSvr_Images.zip

[tremoloman2006]

Hey everyone,

 

I really enjoy using these Atari theme elements that I created for my Windows XP 1280 x 1024 desktop at work. The "Combat" theme is the most complete, with matching wallpaper and animated cursors. I don't have a similar Space Invaders wallpaper image, plus SI wasn't one of the titles included on the FB2, but I really like the SI cursors so I've included them as well. I have 4 .wav files to use for various Windows sounds (warning, error, exclamation, beep, etc.), plus two more for Start Up and Shut Down (I used the musical cues from Crystal Castles).

 

Screen savers can be a touchy subject for work, because they are executable files that can be used to hide viruses and spyware. So what I do, is use the built-in Windows Slide Show screen saver, with the Combat or Space Invaders screen shot images, which simulates the Atari VCS color-cycling routine, which was I believe, the ORIGINAL screen saver!

 

I'm particularly proud of my Wallpaper image

 

I "Photoshopped" (PaintShop Pro, actually) a photo I took of my Heavy Sixer and FB2 on top of a screen image from a Combat "Tanks" game. Since the screen image was in GIF format, the image took on a dithered look that I think is actually an enhancement.

 

The blue background on this Flashback 2 picture matches the background color for the standard Windows XP Blue scheme, so it blends nicely with the desktop.

 

 

Enjoy...

 

Atari2600Themes.zip

2600_ScrSvr_Images.zip

SI_ScrSvr_Images.zip

 

Nice work and thanks for sharing!

 

I especially like the Combat theme but don't care much for the FB2 on it. Still a great job! I wish there were more of these out on the web.

 

Is it easy to make a theme? I'd love to make some to add to this thread but don't have a clue. I am decent with Photoshop and Sound Forge so my biggest roadblock is how to make the icons and whatnot.

 

Regards,

Trem

[almightytodd]

 

Is it easy to make a theme? I'd love to make some to add to this thread but don't have a clue. I am decent with Photoshop and Sound Forge so my biggest roadblock is how to make the icons and whatnot.

 

Regards,

Trem

 

For me, it's more time consuming than anything else. For the cursors, I use a shareware program called, "RealWorld Cursor Editor". It does a nice job with creating animated cursors. I've added some more theme elements and included them in the attached ZIP:

 

PolPos2Theme.zip

 

I created a Space Invaders background screen to go with the Space Invaders cursors and screen shots:

 

 

Here's how the two themes look on my desktops on my two computers at work:

 

 

I also did a 7800 Pole Position II theme with some nice animated cursors and this background:

 

 

I should probably record some sounds to make this theme complete. I'm thinking it'd be fun to do a Flashback 2 screen that uses the main menu selection screen for the background, but I'd have to take a photo of the television screen. I'm thinking I'll try to pick up an FB2+ when they come out, so maybe I'll wait on that.

 

I'm glad to see these are being downloaded...

[tremoloman2006]

Thanks for the updates... nice job!

 

I'll see if I can make a cool theme... I've been too lazy waiting for someone to do it for me