Game List and Gif ideas (ES)

EctoOne

@zigurana said in Game List and Gif ideas (ES):

Now the real question is: do you want to enable your end-users to set the source, or should it be locked in the theme (requiring changes to the xml to change the source).

That's a hard question.
Normally i would say that a way for users to choose what to show would be best but the problem here would be that some themes are pretty restricted in terms of element positions. So a theme can look good because it's optimized for a marquee carousel but it might look weird when using boxart.

The problem with having the carousel determined by the theme is that maybe some creators want to offer both variants and therefore have to maintain multiple variants. This would be the lesser problem IMO.
Another solution would be to add some sort of new view type where the themer can create layouts for both options inside the theme and it then would use whatever the user selects.

Example:

 <view name="detailed" type="boxart">
  <carousel name="systemcarousel">
   <imagetype>boxart</imagetype>
some position settings and stuff
  </carousel>
 <view name="detailed" type="marquee">
  <carousel name="systemcarousel">
   <imagetype>marquee</imagetype>
different position settings and stuff
  </carousel>

I assume that this would be overkill to add tho, so i would say that the themer should decide what to use. And if they want to have both options available they can "simply" offer one. With that solution there will be no problems with breaking other themes (at least none that i can think of right now).

Speaking of it, will the carousel have the same theming options as the system carousel? Like can we make a vertical or vertical_wheel one? If so, was there any progress made on adding the horizontal_wheel option?

paffley

My thoughts are just to use the md_marquee tag for the carousel, the user can then decide what to put in the marquee folder, wheelart, boxart, screenshot etc. This way it is a separate entity and everything can be kept 'as-is' without jeopardising anybody's current setup.

Hope this helps and makes sense.

Personal build...

Those are collections on the carousel wheel, I'm thinking maybe the vertical_wheel on the gamelist view could look very similar.

sturbek

Second vote for a minimal graphics only theme using Marquee art.

Here’s a rough mock-up of a vertical carousel, with the selected game highlighted
https://m.imgur.com/0F981lZ

darknior

@lilbud said in Game List and Gif ideas (ES):

Videos on the system view

I like all your ideas, but this one is the most important for me :)

I have create a new thread for the other idea i have with some mockup to come...
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15029/savestate-loading-from-es-like-on-snesmini-with-screenshot

paffley

Hey @Zigurana any more thoughts on this? What do you think regarding a marquee only carousel?

paffley

Anyone got any more thoughts or input on this marquee carousel?

danielmewhouse

@zigurana said in Game List and Gif ideas (ES):

For instance, you can describe in some detail how you would expect the system to work. This new component, it would act as a replacement of the gamelist, and themes should define how they would want to employ it.

I think this feature could be interesting... Specially to themes that mimic Snes Classic Mini gamelist. @ruckage and @frgn will get some benefits from this for his themes.

paffley

I second this @danielmewhouse , there are so many options for this being horizontal and vertical. It would complete my retropie bubble lol.

sturbek

Here is a rough hack of a carousel using the existing ES

(basically just positioning text elements off screen and centering the artwork)
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15346/mame-minimal-marquee-theme

paffley

@sturbek said in Game List and Gif ideas (ES):

Here is a rough hack of a carousel using the existing ES

(basically just positioning text elements off screen and centering the artwork)
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/15346/mame-minimal-marquee-theme

What exactly do you mean by a carousel hack?

just display a single image center and remove everything else? I don't get it.

danielmewhouse

@sturbek said in Game List and Gif ideas (ES):

Here is a rough hack of a carousel using the existing ES

Sorry buddy, but this isn't the same thing we are talking about. In this case, the developer just removed the gamelist and is just showing the game marquee. We are talking about a gamelist with boxarts instead of just plain text. Something similar to the system select carousel.

EctoOne

So i got my second Pi yesterday and today i took some time to install RetroPie again and updated my personal theme and i noticed something. As i mentioned before, it would be great if we could define what image to use for certain objects with something like <imagetype>, it would be awesome if the gamelist carousel had it's own md_image.
Because then it would be possible to display three images (if no videos are used.)
I could use boxart with <showSnapshotNoVideo>, screenshots with <marquee> and marquees with that new tag in the carousel (or vise versa if we get the option to select what image to use).

Or we could just get md_screenshot and/or md_fanart as new image elements.

paffley

I'm with you @EctoOne , lets just hope someone picks this up.

I have an awesome theme just about completed with all systems and collections. I can upload some screens if you wanna see, I know it wont be everyones cuppa tea but I'm trying to stay away from AM as its too clunky imo. It's kinda like hyperspin but my own designs and own spin on it, gonna call it ultraspin ha! the only thing is it really needs the gamelist carousel to go with it, at the moment I'm using a large 3d boxart in place of the carousel, still looks cool but ya know. Ive also added a text gamelist version but like i say, it really would fit like a glove with a marquee type carousel.

Fingers crossed!

EctoOne

@paffley Nah, no need to upload pictures. And to be honest, I probably won't even use a carousel in my theme. I prefer it more simple, but I would love to try something new.
Maybe over the holidays, I'll take some time to find fanart images for all my games, so that I can recreate the look of the Kodi theme I'm using. I tried that a while ago, but I ran into a wall back then because of layer issues. But that was fixed a long time ago.
But maybe I should start playing more, I mean that's why I got myself a second Pi for.

paffley

@EctoOne Yeh i totally hear ya, fanart images sounds like a great idea! You'll have to keep us posted.

I'm the same, I always like to try new things and when ya get something in your head I like to see it visually. that's my job at the end of the day, I'm a designer by trade so when somethings in this bulbus of mine, I need it out ha! :)

I just wish i knew how to program cause I'd be all over this in an instant amongst other ES stuff like we've been talking about (more md_ tags).

I'm sure someone will pick it up, @Zigurana was starting to look into splitting the system carousel down to use for other styling so maybe he's the man, but no pressure as I don't like pressure myself ha! So if it happens it will be a bonus :)

I just have so many ideas i need out of my head haha! (to fill up with the next ones) :P

EctoOne

@paffley What do you want to know about fanart? I was just planning on using md_marquee as fullscreen background with a semi-transparent bar at the bottom over it with the text gamelist, description and boxart on that bar. So that it is readable on busy backgrounds.
I have no design background but i think I've never seen a theme for anything that i fully liked. So i have to try to make something i do like. At least ES is easily to theme.

And yeah, I wish i could code to help out. But i was happy that i was able to compile a small piece of software yesterday even tho it wasn't working quite right in the end. I hope @zerojay finds some time to take a look at it because the DOS version of that game is kinda buggy.
But as you said, no pressure. I'm happy enough that maybe someday someone will do something. And meanwhile, maybe I'll find a way myself when I'm bored enough to learn something. :D

lilbud

This mockup is called ES 3.0, or I got no sleep and made this in a half awake fugue state.
alt text

Zigurana

@lilbud hmm, interesting thought experiment! I am not sure you realize that what you musing about here is more in the realm of UI element behavior, than of layout design. For instance : How do you expect the 'system carousel' to work in this type of UI?
I mean, how to get from the leftmost system to the exit and settings menu?
Maybe the systemslist should be some kind of non-cyclic horizontal list? That would be one way to escape it, and get to the adjacent menu item.

Anyways, thanks for sharing this bit of inspiration, as it tickles me to think about improvements we could / should be thinking about in the future!

lilbud

@zigurana Once again, made this half asleep and am typing this also half asleep so let me try here.

I got the ideas from some Smart TV ui's I saw a few days ago. Where there is a lot more customization with menu elements. The carousel will only show a set limit of systems and when you get the the end, there will be a link to an apps drawer (kinda like Android TV) where all systems and programs will live. Moving all the way to the left would enable you to go to the settings menu and have the option to exit as well. All ES and Retroarch settings would live here and could all be changed, even per core settings, from this menu page. Also, the game list would be a separate component and clicking on a game will take you to a separate page with all info about that game.

Don't get me wrong, while I love ES, I feel like it is in dire need of a ui rehaul. There is only so much that can be done with themes and I personally think that the whole thing needs a redo.

danielmewhouse

@lilbud Hello!!! Are you planning to make this carousel design for game list too or just for system list? Looks so great!!!