Updated EmulationStation for Windows

mattrixk

@duiz The first post in this thread has a link to the most recent Windows build, but for the lazy:

https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/releases/tag/2.1.5-116-win

Just save the EmulationStation.zip

As an alternative you can download the Full ES Toolkit binary which includes the latest @jdrassa Windows Build, but is also pre-populated with the whole ES Toolkit, which includes 100 (fake) roms, with prescraped gamelists, images and videos. It also comes with a custom theme called BaseVid which supports Video Previews and the Carousel Mod, so you can learn how they work.

DavidinCT

Thanks for this. I am running the WIndows version off emulationstation.org. As I already have it running on the machine I want to use it on, what is different that I have to do to set this one up ?

Do I extract the files on my current machine and it will take from my current config file, or do I need to do something different ?

I have never setup a RetroPie device only installed the Windows version of emulation station (that I love !)

jdrassa

@DavidinCT Download, extract and find out. If your config files are in the default location, It should find them. I normally use the windows build for testing and use a script to override the default config location, so I can guarantee anything.

jdrassa

Updated build now available.
https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/releases/tag/2.2.2.220

duiz

@jdrassa said in Updated EmulationStation for Windows:

Updated build now available.
https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/releases/tag/2.2.2.220

Excellent! What's the changelog for this version basically?

retroisbest

@jdrassa
Thankyou for your hard work on the Windows builds, I currently use your build on my Win 10 machine with no known issues, so thankyou again.

On a side note have you seen the great work @Zigurana has done with the child friendly version of emulationstation? You can now lock it down into kiosk mode, child mode or the most important missing feature for me a favorites mode!

No windows version as of yet though :(

mattrixk

@retroisbest: @Zigurana actually does have a windows build of the Kid's Mod. I don't know if it has the Kiosk and Kid's mode, but it has the ability to add "favourite", "kids" and "hidden" values to the metadata of a game.

retroisbest

@mattrixk said in Updated EmulationStation for Windows:

@retroisbest: @Zigurana actually does have a windows build of the Kid's Mod. I don't know if it has the Kiosk and Kid's mode, but it has the ability to add "favourite", "kids" and "hidden" values to the metadata of a game.

Well found! Serves me right for not reading every post in that topic!
Thankyou very much for pointing it out!

Unoptimal

I don't have a Pi device myself, so RetroPie isn't much use to me itself, but I wanted to register to say thankyou to @jdrassa for providing an updated Windows build of ES.
Thanks.

I'm using it with an edited version of the default theme from Recalbox that I made.
I'm using video view so that I can use the marquee tag to show both the boxart and snaps.
alt text

I've only noticed one minor problem with the version 2.2.2.220 build; Occasionally it will flicker 1 or so frames where I think the theme is being rendered garbled in some way, though I would have to try video capturing it get a better look at what happens.

DavidinCT

Got a question here and a problem.

So I have installed from Emulationstation.org version (Windows version)... I have it running great for the most part(was working on this for months to get it just right). I have all my games in it (8 systems setup including Wii) with images and meta data for everything including a few custom ones. I've got it configured for a wireless Xbox 360 controller for all the emulators. It works great, when in a game, I have it set to hit power and select to exit back to the main menu. All is good. BUT, of course there are bugs along the way. This is why I wanted to try this branch.

So I downloaded the newest version, "unblocked" it in Windows, Extracted it to the root of C: and ran it the EXE. I noticed that it seemed to keep all my settings for the most part, through the systems I have setup, the games are listed with meta data and images that I have setup. Cool so far...

Now the big problem...It didn't ask me to re-configure my controller but, it's all screwed up. The controls move around but, hitting any button does nothing (A does nothing). and if it hit a combo of something it's like select.

Is there a way to FORCE this version ONLY to reset the controller for it, treating it as separate one or is there a way to import my controller settings from the other one (like move a file or something like that). Remember, I cant hit any keys, so I need to reset a file outside of it...

Any idea on this one ?

jdrassa

@davidinct You should still be able to use a keyboard to enter the menu and choose the configure input option. If for some reason that doesn't work, the input config is stored at ~/.emulationstation/es_input.cfg. You should be able to back up that file to preserve it, then delete it. When you restart ES, it should detect your controller as new and let you reconfigure it.

EctoOne

Normally I don't ask for updates on something but is there a chance to get at least a build of the 2.6.0 version in the near feature? I'm struggling with some positions on a theme I'm working on and having the new origin support would really help to align things correctly faster.
Although being able to test out the new carousel enhancements would be nice too. ;)

jdrassa

@ectoone Use the link in my signature. That release gets continuously updated with automated builds.

EctoOne

@jdrassa Ohhhh, i thought it was an older version because it says: jrassa released this on 13 Jul · 26 commits to 230c6e4a97bbfa022ca7d4f8a6beb296b1a2c1b6 since this release

jdrassa

@ectoone That was the date that I setup the continuous release. The auto build process doesn't update the description, but the actual downloads should be for the latest version.

NoP

Thank you for your work, it's really nice to have all these updates for EmulationStation.

EctoOne

@jdrassa Heya, regarding the crash bug on the windows build. I was about to report it on GitHub, but the same day it got fixed and was removed from the issue tracker, so i kinda forgot...
And when i click on the "XX commits to a7e32119966bc81493a773f7c3e59db76df83ade since this release" link on the download page, there is no green tick on the blackscreen fix commit (which i guess was the right fix, because that's the one from that particular day).
But good to know that disabling the on-screen help fixes the issue as of now.

Edit: I just updated to the latest version and the bug seems to be fixed and it feels overall faster now. So nevermind.

elcaverao

Thanks for this, it helps me a lot! I have a question, is there any way to add add an intro (splashscreen) when starting ES for windows? I've been looking for this for a long time, thanks for the attention!

jdrassa

@elcaverao There is not. RetroPie itself has a way to do this regardless of which frontend the user is using, so there are no current plans to implement this in EmulationStation.

elcaverao

@jdrassa
Thanks for answering.