Custom Collections

dizny71

I'm working with trying to create custom collections based off theme. The problem is I have the cfg files already of the games I want to have in the custom collection so for example, for Pacman, I already have all the games across the systems in a cfg file.

How do I move that file into the correct folder via FTP? I can't find the right folder and when I tried to put it under the themes folder inside the Pacman collection I got a "permission denied".

Anyone doing this? I hate to have to go through the whole setup of each collection one by one when I have the files already done.

Thanks.

mitu

The custom collections are configured in /home/pi/.emulationstation/collections. If you have a <collection>.cfg file that contains all the ROM paths you want in the collection, just copy it there, restart ES, then choose to display the collection in the ES config menu.
Of course, rename <collection> in the name of the file with the actual collection name (i.e. pacman, megaman, etc.)

cyperghost

@dizny71 You might want to SHARE your custom collections like in the thread? There is also an instruction how to install the files. All in all @mitu told you what to do ;) But the files should be named custom-NOW_NAME_THE_COLLECTION.cfg in the path mitu gave you.

thelostsoul

Also, you might have to enable the collection first. If the file does not appear when it should, go to Main menu of Emulationstation by pressing Start. Go Game Collection Settings, head over to Custom Game Collections and enable or disable every single one you want.

On my setup the FTP does not work, but Samba does. Samba must be enabled. In Linux (not sure if its the same as in Windows) connect via smb://retropie/ in file manager. Then you can operate there as if it would be a normal folder on your desktop pc. Then I chose "configs" subfolder after connection, go to all > emulationstation > collections. Put there any collections you want, but it have to be named like "custom-NAME.cfg", where NAME will be the part shown in Emulationstation. And then, don't forget to enable it.

CargoRunner

@thelostsoul said in Custom Collections:

Also, you might have to enable the collection first. If the file does not appear when it should, go to Main menu of Emulationstation by pressing Start. Go Game Collection Settings, head over to Custom Game Collections and enable or disable every single one you want.

On my setup the FTP does not work, but Samba does. Samba must be enabled. In Linux (not sure if its the same as in Windows) connect via smb://retropie/ in file manager. Then you can operate there as if it would be a normal folder on your desktop pc. Then I chose "configs" subfolder after connection, go to all > emulationstation > collections. Put there any collections you want, but it have to be named like "custom-NAME.cfg", where NAME will be the part shown in Emulationstation. And then, don't forget to enable it.

Thanks thelostsoul - that was exactly my problem - they didn't show up as they were not selected (enabled) in the game collection settings. Thanks for solving my problem

CargoRunner

@cargorunner And as another tip - be careful editing your cfg files in windows. Windows uses both line feed and carriage return characters at the end of a line. If your custom list of roms contains carriage return characters then it is treated as an empty list by emulation station. You can check your cfg file using Nopepad++ and viewing special characters. For your cfg file to work in emulation station there must ONLY be a line feed at the end of each line.

As well as the usual Zelda, Sonic and Mario lists I used the player's rating scores in Launchbox to create "Top 50" lists by genre across all systems and they are good fun to look at and play through. I have really enjoyed the custom lists feature on my retropie.