2.19 HOME Menu

2.19.1 CTR Title Banners

On the HOME Menu, the upper screen displays the title banner for the application selected on the lower screen. Use CreativeStudio, bundled with NintendoWare for CTR, to create title banners. When creating a title banner, set the camera parameters as shown in Table 2-6 Camera Parameters for Banners below. See the upcoming CTR Icon Banner Creation Manual for details on creating title banners.

Table 2-6 Camera Parameters for Banners
Parameter Value
Position X: 0, Y: 1, Z: 44.786
Look-at point X: 0, Y: 1, Z: 0
Mode Persp
Fovy 30
Aspect 1.666667
Near 26.5
Far 10000
ULCD range 34.786 (base plane is +10 from origin)
ULCD factor 1.0

For title banners, use BCMDL model data created in CreativeStudio. This is referred to as the "3D model." When a title banner is displayed on the HOME Menu, the 3D model is shown rotating clockwise around the Y axis. Billboarded nodes do not rotate. The base plane (the plane of the Nintendo 3DS screen) is at a Z value of 10.

A 3D model can have a portion that is dependent on the system language settings as well as a portion shared by all languages. When you create a title banner, verify that the title banner operates correctly on the HOME Menu regardless of the system’s language settings.

The title banner is provided to introduce the user to the application selected on the lower screen and to give them an idea of what the application is like. When the user displays icons on two or more levels in the HOME Menu, the HOME Menu cannot display the application title names, so Nintendo requires that you include the application title name in the 3D model.

This restriction is intended to prevent users from not being able to tell what application is selected. Therefore, it is not necessary to display the exact official name of the application. You are allowed to use abbreviations or alternate spellings (such as “II” instead of “2”). Nintendo also recommends that applications that support multiple languages display the title name for each supported language, but this is not a requirement. If using one 3D model for all languages, use the English title name specified in the BSF file. Nintendo also recommends billboarding the title name so that it will not rotate (which allows the user to easily recognize the title name) and positioning the title name so that it is more visible than other elements in the 3D model.

On the HOME Menu, the upper screen title banner changes to match the application selected on the lower screen. Users may thus be discomfited if the title banner parallax changes substantially from one application to the next. Consequently, since we expect that users will often focus their attention on the title name, we recommend setting the Z value for the title name portion of the 3D model within the [0, 9.0] range to match the built-in applications.

Figure 2-16 Recommended Range for Positioning the Title Name

In addition, it is possible for the render priority settings of the 3D models to cause a contradiction between the spatial and visual foreground/background relationships of the objects in a 3D model; that is, when viewed through the screen, an object could appear to be in front or behind another object in a way that contradicts their locations in 3D space. The user may experience discomfort if they stereoscopically view such a contradictory model. To prevent this, be sure there is no contradiction between the spatial and visual foreground/background relationships of the objects in the 3D model.

 

Figure 2-17 Example of a Contradiction Between the Spatial and Visual Foreground/Background Relationships of Objects in a 3D Model

Compliance with this guideline item is not required for patches, because it is not possible to update CTR title banners in a patch.

2.19.1.1 Complying with Displaying CTR Title Banners

Guideline Item

Banners must operate properly no matter what language is selected in System Settings.

Software to Be Tested

All applications.

Exceptions
Patches 
Test Method
  1. On the HOME Menu, place the cursor on the relevant application’s icon.
  2. Applications for regions which allow language selection in System Settings:
    1. Select Other SettingsLanguage, and conduct step 1 for all languages.
Pass/Fail Determination

Passes if all of the following conditions are met in step 1:

  • The title banner is displayed in the upper screen.
  • The application’s title name displays normally.
  • The visual foreground/background relationships of objects in the title banner never contradict their spatial foreground/background relationships. (An object is never visually shown to be in front or behind another object in a way that contradicts their spatial locations.)

2.19.2 CTR Icons

For Nintendo 3DS applications, you must supply two icon images: one large icon of 48x48 pixels and one small icon of 24x24 pixels. These two icons are used to represent your application in various places by the system. Moreover, the assumption is that the two icons are of essentially the same design. As a general rule the smaller icon must be a downscaled version of the larger icon. This could include some additional minor compensation or cropping applied, as well as removing or changing text strings that would otherwise be illegible, as shown in (b) of Figure 2-19 Icon Samples. Possible icon uses include icon display on the HOME Menu, where the larger or smaller version might be shown depending on user actions, as in Figure 2-18 Example of Icon Display. The two icons can thus not be very different without destroying the illusion of smooth zooming. For patches, Nintendo recommends that patch icons show their patch version, but it is acceptable if not all sizes of icon show the version (i.e. the large patch icons show the patch version and the small icons do not).

The following are examples of prohibited small icon images:

Figure 2-18 Example of Icon Display

Figure 2-19 Icon Samples

(a)

Large icon

(b)

Example of an Acceptable Icon
(with size reduction and modifications)

(c)

Example of an Unacceptable Icon
(Using a cropped section)

(d)

Example of an Unacceptable Icon 2
(with different colors/shapes)

2.19.2.1 Registering Small CTR Icons

Guideline Item

 Registered 24x24-pixel icons must simply be downscaled versions of the 48x48-pixel icons.

Software to Be Tested

All applications.

Exceptions

Implementations corresponding to any of the following: 

  • Small fixes (at the level of changing a few pixels) to eliminate artifacts such as moire (striping) occurring when the image is downscaled.
  • Modifying or removing text made unreadable when the image is downscaled.
  • Patches where the large patch icons include the patch version but the small icons do not include the version.
Test Method

Go to the CXI tab of Master Editor and check the content of the Icons field.

Pass/Fail Determination

Passes if the standard-size CTR icon is displayed unaltered, only smaller.

2.19.3 Title and Publisher Names

The HOME Menu and certain built-in applications display the two-line title name, one-line title name, and publisher name as configured in the application’s BSF file. In the BSF file you can configure an application’s title and publisher name for each of the languages supported by the Nintendo 3DS system, and thereby ensure that the proper title and publisher names are shown on the HOME Menu for the system-configured language. Even if your application doesn't support every system language, the HOME Menu and built-in applications display the title name and publisher name you have configured for the system language set by the user. This means that for all languages other than English, you must either leave the fields blank or fill in appropriate names. Ensure that no fields still contain temporary values such as “Test” entered during development.

Note that if the title name or publisher name are displayed in a language the application does not support, it could give users the misunderstanding that the application supports those languages. If needed, ctr_makebanner fills in other language title names and publisher names with the English title names and publisher names (ENLongName, ENShortName, ENPublisher). Accordingly, Nintendo recommends not specifying any values in the BSF file for languages that you are not required to specify and that your application does not support.

Note:

Simplified Chinese, Hangul, and Traditional Chinese characters can be used for titles for the China, Korea, and Taiwan regions. However, if titles names using these character sets are entered for the English title, they may not be able to display in the StreetPass Mii Plaza of systems from other regions. To handle this we recommend providing a separate English (roman-alphabet) title, although this is not a requirement.

2.19.3.1 Complying with Displaying Title and Publisher Names

Guideline Item

The title name and publisher name must both display properly in the HOME Menu and other built-in applications, regardless of the language selected in System Settings.

Software to Be Tested

All applications.

Test Method

In the Master Editor, click Show next to Title name on the CXI tab and check what is displayed in all the language fields.

Pass/Fail Determination

Passes if an appropriate title name and publisher name are displayed for English, and the fields for all other languages are either blank or also filled in with an appropriate title name and publisher name.

2.19.4 Text Display on Application Shutdown

When a user suspends an application by opening the HOME Menu and then touches the Close button on the lower left of the bottom screen or attempts to launch a different application, the text displayed next changes as shown below depending on the strings set in the application’s BSF file for the SaveData and AutoSave configuration parameters.

Table 2-7 Text Displayed When Closing an Application from the HOME Menu
Case SaveData AutoSave Text When Tapping Close Button Text When Launching a Different Application
1

False

False

Closing software.

Close the suspended software and launch this one?

-

False

True

--

--

2

True

False

Would you like to close this software?
(Any unsaved data will be lost.)

Close the suspended software and launch this one?
(Any unsaved data will be lost.)

3

True

True

Saving data and closing software.

Close the suspended software and launch this one?
(Data will be saved.)


As a basic rule, cases 1, 2, and 3 describe the settings to specify in the following situations.

  1. Specify this case if your application has no save data, or if your application does not fall under case 2 or 3.
    For example, if your application performs auto-saves but does not save anything in particular upon shutdown, specify case 1 if the auto-save function being active up until that point will prevent any critical problems from occurring for the user. Even for some applications that would normally fall under cases 2 or 3, specify case 1 if the text displayed in cases 2 and 3 is judged to not be appropriate for that application to display on shutdown.
  2. If your application has save data and the user performs manual saves, specify this case in situations where the application does not save anything in particular upon shutdown. Also specify this case in situations where the application saves some data upon shutdown, but shuts down without saving data that is important to the user.
  3. If your application has save data and performs auto-saves, specify this case in situations where the application performs a similar auto-save upon shutdown. Also specify this case in situations where the application saves all the data important to the user upon shutdown, even if it does not save absolutely all data.

However, it is prohibited to have specifications such as the following, where the displayed message clearly differs from the actual situation.

  • Applications that display the message for case 2, even though they save all save data upon shutdown.
  • Applications that display the message for case 3, even though they save nothing upon shutdown.
  • Applications that display the message for case 2 or case 3, even though they do not have any save data or extra data.

2.19.4.1 Text Displayed When Closing an Application from the HOME Menu

Guideline Item

Applications must not display text that is clearly different from the application's specifications when the user closes the application from the HOME Menu.

Software to Be Tested

All applications.

Test Method

While the application is running, press the HOME Button to open the HOME Menu, then tap the Close button on the lower screen.

Pass/Fail Determination

If the application saves all save data upon shutdown:

Passes if the application does not display a clearly incorrect message such as the following:

  • "Would you like to close this software? (Any unsaved data will be lost.)"

If the application saves nothing upon shutdown:

Passes if the application does not display a clearly incorrect message such as the following:

  • "Saving data and closing software."

If the application has no save data or extra data:

Passes if the application does not display a clearly incorrect message such as either of the following:

  • "Would you like to close this software? (Any unsaved data will be lost.)"
  • "Saving data and closing software."

 


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