Chicuelo Theme

[chicuelo]

@movisman
Super famicom folder, xml and logo have the same name as "snes"right? so the user can change from one theme to other manually? I am right or they have different system names?

[movisman]

@chicuelo

Hi,

So, like other "alternatives" such as TG-16, Family Computer, Mega-CD, Odyssey2, etc, Super Famicom would have it's own system folder, but it isn't picked up / used by ES unless the user edits an existing config file to display the alternative version instead of the regular one.

So for Super Famicom, we would create a folder called "sfc" and it would have it's own theme.xml, logo and controller image. Just like TG-16, Family Computer, etc. The BG image we can copy from SNES and rename.

See here:
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/PC-Engine or
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/VideoPac-Odyssey-2

If you scroll down it shows you the config file the user can edit to change PC-Engine to TG-16 or Videopac graphics over to the Odyssey 2 variant.

I would make a version of these instructions for the readme for every "alternative" created in case the user wants to switch graphics.

The pixel theme (https://github.com/ehettervik/es-theme-pixel) has some of the most system variations i've seen (supergrafx, etc, etc), but i'm not sure we need to do this many seeing as they are not 'default'. I think Odyssey 2 should be done as it's on every other theme, and maybe we do the Super Famicom, but then not worry about others at this stage. The common ones are done eg. Family Computer, TG-16, Genesis, Mega-CD (I only did Mega-CD because it was quick, controller is the same) and then hopefully Odyssey2 and Super Famicom to finish. Later on when the theme is complete maybe we can look at PC-Engine CD, Turbografx-CD, Supergrafx, and other 'extra' systems like this which aren't part of the default for the few users that would like them as part of the theme.

Hope this makes sense.

I will do the Super Famicom one later if you could sort a controller out, otherwise we can just use SNES one if you don't have time.

Cheers

[movisman]

@chicuelo

I've added in SFC (Super Famicom) as alternative system to SNES (like Famicom is an existing alternative to NES), and raised a PR for that.

However, the controller in the directory needs updating to the Famicom style (different logo stamp and start/select font) if at all possible.

I will also work on a few readme / documentation additions which will be ongoing, but will raise PR's for these as I make changes.

Thanks!

[movisman]

@chicuelo

I have worked on the readme / instructions file today (quite extensively). It's looking good and should be informative to the users who want information about the theme. I will raise a PR for that soon and you can let me know what you think. I'm fairly pleased with it, even though it is just documentation (not very exciting!).

Just a question about the license. I noticed you have a generic GNU license pasted into the readme, possibly from another theme. I notice a lot of other themes like 'carbon' (retropie default) and others use the CC (Creative Commons) license. I have put together some text based on the CC license with a nice logo embedded into the readme and a link to the common type of license most themers use (which allows sharing, must be credited etc, but no commercial distribution allowed), along with other clear guidelines about what else is allowed and what is not. It all looks correct to me and what would be considered normal for a theme. Are you cool for me to update this part of the readme? I haven't deviated from the original much, just tidied it up a lot more and got some useful text from the Creative Commons website along with a specific license type commonly used for these types of projects.

Thanks!

[chicuelo]

@movisman
Great point there! I use that license because it was in another theme. I think it will be ok to use and share crediting, and no commercial purposes like selling or taking any profit. I was thinking also on using my logo in some place

[cosmo0]

@chicuelo take care with the CC no commercial license. I understand you're working in a company that sells arcade bartops using this theme ? If so, I'm not sure if using this license would allow you from selling these. (update : a CC non-commercial license seems to prevent only others from selling your work, so it looks OK https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/ )

You can choose a CC license here : https://creativecommons.org/choose/
Or another type of license : https://choosealicense.com/appendix/

[movisman]

@cosmo0

Yeah, I had a read of the CC license and I think it's ok. It just stops others from selling the work.

I chose this type of license for my mass README.md rewrite (which I will post a link for shortly on a separate branch):
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

This seems to match up with most other themes for ES.

You can also select a similar one but instead of ShareAlike it is NoDerivatives, which is no modifications without permission first:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

I think the first one is fine?

Cheers

[movisman]

@chicuelo

I present a rewritten readme on a separate branch I created to update documentation!

It took a while actually, but i'm really happy with it.

You can see it here if you scroll past the files/folders:
https://github.com/movisman/es-theme-Chicuelo/tree/readme_updates

I have used proper Github markdown to make the formatting nicer and included anchor links to navigate up and down the readme nicely.

Hope you like it!

I am still working on the file, but it is mostly complete. If you are happy when i'm done i'll raise a PR to have this merged over!

Cheers

[EctoOne]

Seeing all that previews from at the new readme, i think that C64 needs a different character image and that the current one should be used for ScummVM. I mean it's "Script creation utility for Maniac Mansion - Virtual Machine" and while Guybrush is a fitting character, i think that Dave would be better.
On the other hand it's been to long that I can't think of a good character for C64.

[movisman]

@ectoone

Yeah, agreed. Those previews screen are also a little out of date now, at some point in the future @chicuelo will need to update them I think.

If Amiga eventually gets a Superfrog image and ST keeps Zool, could C64 utilise the unused Turrican image (seeing as Turrican was originally developed for C64?). And the the current C64 image could then be used for ScummVM.

I guess you then have Guybrush as the orphan then. Where could he be used instead? It would seem a shame for that to be wasted.

Cheers

[chicuelo]

@cosmo0 said in Chicuelo Theme:

@chicuelo take care with the CC no commercial license. I understand you're working in a company that sells arcade bartops using this theme ? If so, I'm not sure if using this license would allow you from selling these. (update : a CC non-commercial license seems to prevent only others from selling your work, so it looks OK https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-types-examples/ )

You can choose a CC license here : https://creativecommons.org/choose/
Or another type of license : https://choosealicense.com/appendix/

I work as a designer and I made arcades as a hobby, not for living so I don't have any trouble with licenses there!

Awesome work with that readme, its gorgeous!!

[chicuelo]

@ectoone

I remember playing maniac mansion on the C64, and I love that game, also I played monkey island on pc and I think it represents better the point and click games because it was more familiar to people, thats why I used maniac for C64 and monkey for scumm

[movisman]

@chicuelo

I'm glad you like it, it took a while as I was learning the GitHub markdown stuff at the same time! Documentation is one thing I'm not too bad at, and as I can't really help with the character artwork I figured the readme could do with some enhancing - and then I got a bit carried away adding more and more info!

Agreed with Monkey Island, I played the first two through a few times when I was younger and they are iconic games for me and ones which I remember very fondly. It would be a shame not to keep / use Guybrush.

Cheers

[cloudlink]

This awesome theme is getting better and better! I really like this theme. The list of missing consoles is getting smaller.
vectrex
sg-1000
ngp
ngpc
intellivision
nds
msx
msx2
supergrafx

[movisman]

@chicuelo

PR raised for the new readme! Will raise another over the weekend with further corrections i'm sure.

I noticed you have a branch called pr/1 in addition to the master one. I can see that hasn't been altered for ages and i'm not convinced it's needed any more. Maybe you could delete that branch to tidy things up?

Cheers

[chicuelo]

@cloudlink

Working on that! Soon the theme will cover the most used (and not too) systems!
Thanks for the support!

[chicuelo]

@movisman
Great! updated the readme.
I have no I dea what a branch is and what is used for but I deleted :) now there is a master one only

[movisman]

@chicuelo

Awesome. Thank you! And thanks for deleting the orphan branch.

I have been working with command line for Git stuff but still finding some of it a bit odd to get to grips with and I keep forgetting some of the commands, so I installed GitKraken due to recommendation from someone else. So far I like it and I reckon i'll learn more this way. The documentation on their website is also much easier for me to understand. This is where I spotted that other branch!

About what a branch is - from the GitHub docs:
When you're working on a project, you're going to have a bunch of different features or ideas in progress at any given time – some of which are ready to go, and others which are not. Branching exists to help you manage this workflow.

When you create a branch in your project, you're creating an environment where you can try out new ideas. Changes you make on a branch don't affect the master branch, so you're free to experiment and commit changes, safe in the knowledge that your branch won't be merged until it's ready to be reviewed by someone you're collaborating with.

As far as I understand, creating a branch is useful for when you are working on something but you don't want to affect the 'master'. Once you are happy with the work on the branch, you can then merge this into the master and remove the branch, as it's not likely to be required anymore.

For a project like this, where only you are managing the master and accepting PR's as they come in, unless you are making big changes to the theme, I doubt you'd need to use branches unless it helps your workflow. Someone who knows more about GitHub may correct me though, and please do (still learning).

With this, we are just adding new stuff and not even really changing files at the same time, so we don't really make use of the GitHub feature set. I just found it easier to work from my forked master and raise PR's off that!

Cheers

PS. I am a total novice with GitHub, only started using it regularly when I first helped with this theme! Prior to that I think I have done a couple of pull requests for other projects and that's about it!

[chicuelo]

@movisman
Great explanation! Thanks!

[movisman]

@chicuelo

Superb additions with Intellivision and Vectrex!

I notice the readme.md has got a bit messed up with what looks like a merge you have performed. Let me sort it out and i'll raise a PR for it.

Cheers