* There is no longer a concept of "layers" - there are only screens and elements.
* Elements are now instantiated with <element ref="...">
* Screens and elements can have explicit blending mode specified with blend="..."
* Default blending mode for screens is "add" and default for other elements is "alpha"
* Other supported modes are "none" and "multiply"
* This removes the options to enable/disable layers individually - use views instead
* Legacy layouts can still be loaded, and support won't be removed for at least a year
The current artwork model is over-stretched. It's based on a Space
Invaders cabinet model, and isn't applicable to a lot of the systems
MAME emulates now. The fact that MAME has to switch to an "alternate"
mode to deal with games like Golly! Ghost! without requiring pre-matted
bitmaps shows that the Space Invaders model wasn't even adequate for
general arcade use. It shows in that for a lot of the systems that
heavily depend on artwork, people just seem to randomly choose layers
for elements until they get something that works. Also, the fact that
MAME will switch to an alternate (Golly! Ghost!) mode depending on the
combination of elements is a trap for people learning to make artwork.
There are cases that the current approach of implying the blending mode
from the layer doesn't work with. Examples include LEDs behind
diffusers (requires additive blending for layout elements), and mutliple
stacked LCD panels (requires RGB multiplication for screens).
For configurability, it's now a lot easier to make multiple views using
groups. For example, if you want to make it possible to hide the
control panel section of your layout, you can put the control panel
elements in a group and create views with and without it.
I will gradually migrate the internal artwork to use the new approach.
I have an XSLT stylesheet that helps with this, but I'm not comfortable
adding it because it isn't a complete solution and it still requires
manul steps.
I wanted to get the re-worked pointer handling done sooner so I could
push them both at the same time, but unfortunately various things have
prevented me from progressing as quickly as I wanted to. Sorry guys,
that stuff's going to have to wait.
* move princ out of prestige.cpp (it should have never been put there) and into a new driver
fix graphic alignment on the salter gym machines, also promote htem both to working (the hang I saw before on cycle doesn't seem to happen now)
made a note in redclash.cpp about possible sets needing rearrangement
note, princ uses a F2MC-16L based CPU, I don't believe we have a core, but there are plenty of docs available should somebody want to write a disassembler at least.
* reparent the RedClash sets, it appears to be a Kaneko game (Cat logo in the corner etc.)
* change guess (nw)
