Homebrew Share and Download custom Wii U Themes

[MikaDubbz]

How do you install one with SDCaffeine? I don't want to risk fucking up Mem.pack and Mem2.pack

Literally just extract the zip to the root of your SD card (if you're on a North American Wii U anyway, if PAL or Jpn, read the included readme). Then launch SDCafiine on your Wii U with the SD card inserted and you're good to go.

 

[godreborn]

@MikaDubbz , sometimes I don't get notifications for some of the threads I'm watching for some reason, so once you release your dark theme, mention my handle so I know it's ready. I'll help you test it, since I play my wii u daily.

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btw, I installed @Laf111 's ftp channel to see if it's more stable on my end than ftpii u everywhere, which was very sporadic. and, fyi, I did not have to put the app on the sd card like some channels (it's not on mine).

 

[MikaDubbz]

Some bad news, I will not be able to release a dark theme before I leave, I've been trying to make one for a couple of hours, but I've quickly hit a brick wall. It seems there is some sort of light source or effect going on, that doesn't allow for truly dark tones show up as it seems they should.

In the images below, I made the background the blackest black it could be, and the floor black with blue highlights, yet the output clearly is not matching what I'm trying to do by instead coming out in greys and beige:

Obviously, this is not what we're looking for with a dark theme, but if I can't even get the backgrounds look close to black, this kind of theme isn't going to work. That isn't to say I'm giving up mind you, I'm not. I do think I should be able to make this look as we would desire, but I just haven't figured it out yet. I'll continue to try some more tonight, but it's doubtful I'll find the key to this before I leave. So if you don't hear from me again tonight, I'd say don't expect to see a proper dark theme made this way until next week (if ever).

 

[XDeltaOne]

Some bad news, I will not be able to release a dark theme before I leave, I've been trying to make one for a couple of hours, but I've quickly hit a brick wall. It seems there is some sort of light source or effect going on, that doesn't allow for truly dark tones show up as it seems they should.

In the images below, I made the background the blackest black it could be, and the floor black with blue highlights, yet the output clearly is not matching what I'm trying to do by instead coming out in greys and beige:

Obviously, this is not what we're looking for with a dark theme, but if I can't even get the backgrounds look close to black, this kind of theme isn't going to work. That isn't to say I'm giving up mind you, I'm not. I do think I should be able to make this look as we would desire, but I just haven't figured it out yet. I'll continue to try some more tonight, but it's doubtful I'll find the key to this before I leave. So if you don't hear from me again tonight, I'd say don't expect to see a proper dark theme made this way until next week (if ever).

Okay thanks for the info i hope that something can develop. By the way, it doesn't look too bad.

 

[godreborn]

if you can't get the dark theme to work, maybe try creating a theme that compliments this dark blue vwii theme. this is the one I'm using (ignore the neek stuff). I think @MikaDubbz said he was also using the dark blue theme. they might work out really well. the original theme looks good, but it's too light imo, and the purples might be replaced with blues of some kind. btw, I tested going into the vwii via the wii tile, then back again (no issues). I haven't encountered a single issue since using this, with anything:

 

[MikaDubbz]

Alright, some great news, finally cracked what I needed to do to get dark themes working. I had to remove a single file from the environmental effects part of the men2.pack file, and it really just came down to trial and error. Took awhile, but found what I needed, did some more cleaning up by removing some glare and screen flare effects that just don't work well with a dark motif, and this is where I'm currently at, it's not a final theme yet, just a WIP for the purple variation of the dark theme, there are still plenty of changes I need to make for this one, and I intend to have a few dark theme color variations in addition to purple. Anyway, this is what we're looking at so far:

I'm gonna head to bed here tonight, and continue to work on this tomorrow hopefully. I should definitely have something to actually share for downloading at some point in the next few days. So check back for any updates.

 

[XDeltaOne]

Alright, some great news, finally cracked what I needed to do to get dark themes working. I had to remove a single file from the environmental effects part of the men2.pack file, and it really just came down to trial and error. Took awhile, but found what I needed, did some more cleaning up by removing some glare and screen flare effects that just don't work well with a dark motif, and this is where I'm currently at, it's not a final theme yet, just a WIP for the purple variation of the dark theme, there are still plenty of changes I need to make for this one, and I intend to have a few dark theme color variations in addition to purple. Anyway, this is what we're looking at so far:

I'm gonna head to bed here tonight, and continue to work on this tomorrow hopefully. I should definitely have something to actually share for downloading at some point in the next few days. So check back for any updates.

It's pretty nice

 

[Powerful]

MikaDubbz thank you so much for your efforts in making themes and testing all this out for everyone! I have pretty much done everything I can do with the Wii U and this is what I’ve been waiting for a really good looking dark mode for the Wii U. If you could post a tut when you’re all down on how to do it with FTPiiU everywhere for cbhc I would be extremely thankful.

 

[godreborn]

Alright, some great news, finally cracked what I needed to do to get dark themes working. I had to remove a single file from the environmental effects part of the men2.pack file, and it really just came down to trial and error. Took awhile, but found what I needed, did some more cleaning up by removing some glare and screen flare effects that just don't work well with a dark motif, and this is where I'm currently at, it's not a final theme yet, just a WIP for the purple variation of the dark theme, there are still plenty of changes I need to make for this one, and I intend to have a few dark theme color variations in addition to purple. Anyway, this is what we're looking at so far:

I'm gonna head to bed here tonight, and continue to work on this tomorrow hopefully. I should definitely have something to actually share for downloading at some point in the next few days. So check back for any updates.

damn, dude. that looks really nice. it really works with the purple.

MikaDubbz thank you so much for your efforts in making themes and testing all this out for everyone! I have pretty much done everything I can do with the Wii U and this is what I’ve been waiting for a really good looking dark mode for the Wii U. If you could post a tut when you’re all down on how to do it with FTPiiU everywhere for cbhc I would be extremely thankful.

if you mean installing the theme, it goes here (different title id depending on your region, but it will most likely be the first location listed):

make sure to backup the originals in case something goes wrong. ftpii u everywhere works, but it's finicky. it will move and stop several times during the process (check final byte size against the original). when you exit ftpii u everywhere/homebrew launcher, the theme will be present (don't need to reset the system).

 

[MikaDubbz]

MikaDubbz thank you so much for your efforts in making themes and testing all this out for everyone! I have pretty much done everything I can do with the Wii U and this is what I’ve been waiting for a really good looking dark mode for the Wii U. If you could post a tut when you’re all down on how to do it with FTPiiU everywhere for cbhc I would be extremely thankful.

As GodReborn explained, that's all you really have to do to get it on your Wii U permanently. Also, please if you go permanent, backup your original men.pack and men2.pack, and don't even think about doing such a permanent mod if you aren't on CBHC.

damn, dude. that looks really nice. it really works with the purple.

Thanks, honestly purple wasn't the first dark theme I intended to do, as I planned on going blue or red first, but since I started working off my initial theme, there were a lot of purple elements already in there so I kinda just ended up adapting to that as the first dark theme. And speaking of which, I believe I can consider the purple variation done. I was hoping to drop multiple dark themes at once, but these really are time consuming. I am going to do more, but I think today, I will officially drop the purple dark theme as I feel it's ready to be shared.

I want to note a few things first: screenshots don't always do the actual picture justice. In my tinkering, it became clear that my TV outputs color a little differently than how the GamePad did, as such I had to kinda find some happy mediums, because things that look purple on the GamePad sometimes come out a bit pink on the TV, and so if I go with a darker blue/indigo, it'll show up as purple on the TV, but look a bit dark blue on the GamePad. Not a big deal by any means, but I had to really work hard to find colors that looked purply enough on both displays. The screenshots you see are more representative of how they look on the GamePad since I captured them directly with a capture device.

On top of that, there are little things I don't quite know in all of this, like the corner selectors around an icon still maintain some blue, as does the loading circle when you see it, despite there still being purple elements in there. Obviously, blue works well with purple, but once I get to more themes, this might look a little strange like if I do a dark theme with yellow highlights. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, check out the final version of the purple theme and download it if you like.

Download Here

 

[godreborn]

As GodReborn explained, that's all you really have to do to get it on your Wii U permanently.



Thanks, honestly purple wasn't the first dark theme I intended to do, as I planned on going blue or red first, but since I started working off my initial theme, there were a lot of purple elements already in there so I kinda just ended up adapting to that as the first dark theme. And speaking of which, I believe I can consider the purple variation done. I was hoping to drop multiple dark themes at once, but these really are time consuming. I am going to do more, but I think today, I will officially drop the purple dark theme as I feel it's ready to be shared.

I want to note a few things first: screenshots don't always do the actual picture justice. In my tinkering, it became clear that my TV outputs color a little differently than how the GamePad did, as such I had to kinda find some happy mediums, because things that look purple on the GamePad sometimes come out a bit pink on the TV, and so if I go with a darker blue/indigo, it'll show up as purple on the TV, but look a bit dark blue on the GamePad. Not a big deal by any means, but I had to really work hard to find colors that looked purply enough on both displays. The screenshots you see are more representative of how they look on the GamePad since I captured them directly with a capture device.

On top of that, there are little things I don't quite know in all of this, like the corner selectors around an icon still maintain some blue, as does the loading circle when you see it, despite there still being purple elements in there. Obviously, blue works well with purple, but once I get to more themes, this might look a little strange like if I do a dark theme with yellow highlights. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, check out the final version of the purple theme and download it if you like.

Download Here

just downloaded it. I'll install it tomorrow morning. thanks.

 

[godreborn]

BTW, what do you call this theme?

 

[MikaDubbz]

BTW, what do you call this theme?

I just called it Dark Theme - Purple. I was thinking of getting a little more creative with the names though, like if I do a yellow variant, I'd probably call it Dark Theme Electric, red would be Dark Theme Nintendo, green might be Dark Theme Lime, light blue could be Dark Theme Wii U, etc. Maybe I could have called this one Dark Theme GCN or something like that.

 

[godreborn]

I decided to install it now. it looks really nice:

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BTW, I used the ftp channel by @Laf111 this time. It went about 7 times the speed of ftpii u everywhere. It still stopped and started over and over again, so it must be normal.

 

[Powerful]

damn, dude. that looks really nice. it really works with the purple.



if you mean installing the theme, it goes here (different title id depending on your region, but it will most likely be the first location listed):

View attachment 273213

make sure to backup the originals in case something goes wrong. ftpii u everywhere works, but it's finicky. it will move and stop several times during the process (check final byte size against the original). when you exit ftpii u everywhere/homebrew launcher, the theme will be present (don't need to reset the system).

Awesome thanks!

 

[MikaDubbz]

So I decided to churn out another one before calling it a night, realizing that if I go after the light blue/cyan theme, it'd probably be the easiest theme to make as I can reuse a lot of the effects already in the official theme as well as maintain a few changes I had already made in the purple theme. This will probably be the quickest of the themes I'll be able to make which is why I figured I'd get this one done real quick, and I'm very pleased with my quick job here.

Screenshots:

Seems like this should have been the theme that all black Wii U's came with while the white Wii U's could keep the original theme lol. Anyway will probably do a Red variation on the dark theme next. But that one definitely wont drop until at least tomorrow. For now, download this link below (or on the first page).

Download Here

 

[XDeltaOne]

Simply terrific, thanks for the effort!

 

[Manuel06p]

Wow, Is incredible. Thanks!!!

 

[Manuel06p]

Hi, I tried to install the purple theme and it's really cool!
I wanted to ask if it was normal that in the user selection window, the curved line is white (I highlighted this in the image).
Excuse me if I made English mistakes, but I am Italian.
Thanks in advance

 

[simbin]

Woah! This is cool. Didn't know vWii themes were possible either. Going to wait for matching Dark Themes.