Video Preview in EmulationStation

Nismo

@fieldofcows Ok here is the video:

fieldofcows

@Nismo I've actually managed to find a spare hour today so rather than just throwing the code together and leaving you to test it (sorry!) I've given this one a reasonable amount of testing before publishing it:

https://github.com/fieldofcows/EmulationStation/releases/tag/v0.1-beta.6

Rework logic behind starting and stopping videos to address strange behaviour with multiple videos playing, videos starting at the wrong time, etc.
Issue #5: Add option to select random game videos as screensaver
Fix relative paths in video and marquee metadata (yay!)

Fingers crossed!

Nismo

@fieldofcows omg!!! don't tell me you finally fixed relative paths!!! really? Nice! now finally i can scrape games and emulationstation can save my times playes and last played day, etc.

Thank you very much!!! I'm sick on bed today, but i'll test and tell you how it goes.

Thanks again.

Nismo

@fieldofcows I have tested a bit, and seems all it's working very well.

The sound problem with videos it's gone.
About relative paths, my path are something like this:

<video>~/.emulationstation/roms/megadrive/Videos/3 Ninjas Kick Back.mp4</video>
<marquee>~/.emulationstation/roms/megadrive/Marquees/3 Ninjas Kick Back.png</marquee>

After playing, when saving the paths changes like this:

<video>./Videos/3 Ninjas Kick Back.mp4</video>
<marquee>./Marquees/3 Ninjas Kick Back.png</marquee>

But no problem, videos and marquees still working, maybe because they are inside rom folder, so still working in portable mode.

Only thing I notice is that when exit emulationstation the video sounds for a few seconds ( 3 or 4), but I know that isn't an issue, it's because emulationstation is saving now, not like before that saving was disabled.

Very, very nice commit, this is absolutely stable version, no bugs, congratulations.

Edit: I don't know how to put the code inside the black box...

Nismo

@fieldofcows I have a little request for you, I think this one is very easy for you.

Can you decrease time for autoscroll on description and gamelist? It takes tooo long...

Thanks again.

fieldofcows

@Nismo I found where relative paths were handled for images and just made it work the same for marquees and videos. It doesn't store the original relative path but instead calculates it again from the system directory so it can and up different but should work. If it becomes a problem then I know how to fix it properly.

Yes, I know the sound plays while the metadata is saved. I did notice that but didn't think it was worthwhile fixing it. Maybe I will if it annoys people too much.

You get the black box by using three backquotes round your code like this:

'''
Code
'''

(except use backquotes, not forward quotes like I did there)

fieldofcows

@Nismo said in Video Preview in EmulationStation:

@fieldofcows I have a little request for you, I think this one is very easy for you.

Can you decrease time for autoscroll on description and gamelist? It takes tooo long...

Thanks again.

Ha ha! I've done exactly that on my local build!

Nismo

@fieldofcows Nice! I want one build with that commit!! XD.

Relative path change it's not an issue, it's working very good now. And about the sound on exit, it's only 3 or 4 seconds, I think everybody can handle that, it's saving.

No bugs, very stable release, i'm so happy!!

Edit: if the sound on exit is an issue for the people (not for me), maybe an easy way to avoid the issue it's to mute video (or emulationstation sound) when press exit .

fieldofcows

Here's a quick and nasty video of this version of ES in action with @Nismo 's theme:

This video is taken from a Raspbery Pi 3 running on a small 800x600 monitor running a custom version of EmulationStation that provides video preview of games as well as a video screensaver.

The video shows the boot process followed by system selection then the Mame gamelist. The gamelist shows video preview of each game or a 'static' screen for games without videos. After the banner the system fades to the screensaver which swaps to a random video every 30s.

Sorry for the poor quality and stock music - I don't have speakers hooked up to my RPi.

Nismo

@fieldofcows Very nice, but I think is better without the emulationstation splash... more cool.

Also I see scanlines transparency it's working.

Last played and rating it's not good there, but it's ok on mine... why???

fieldofcows

@Nismo Scanline transparency is working but there is aliasing due to the low resolution screen so it looks a bit uneven.

I'm not sure where the rating has gone - maybe it is because of the low resolution again.

I haven't really started configuring my pi yet. I just wanted to demonstrate that the theme and videos work without problems.

Nismo

@fieldofcows Rating it's because low resolution.

Here is a quick fix for you (only for 800x600 screen): http://www.mediafire.com/file/6oql4q6mqjku1o3/simple.xml

Overwrite simple.xml inside oldroom theme folder with this new one. Tested at 800x600.

Enjoy!

Edit: I'm thinking in doing a 4:3 version of the theme when this one is finished, it whould take time to adjust all images a bit.

Nismo

@fieldofcows I have a problem with the theme. I'll try to explain as better I can.

I have this:

                <image name="md_image">
			<origin>0 0</origin>
			<pos>0.544 0.475</pos>
			<size>0.115 0.375</size>
		</image>

But I need to use maxsize, like this:

                <image name="md_image">
			<origin>0 0</origin>
			<pos>0.544 0.475</pos>
			<maxsize>0.115 0.375</maxsize>
		</image>

But it breaks the theme if I use it.

This value is correct like specified here: https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Creating-Your-Own-EmulationStation-Theme

*There are 7 Properties accepted by the Image Element. They are:

- <pos>
The position of the image within the screen.
- <size>
The absolute size of the image. Does not maintain aspect ratio. Use either this or <maxSize>, not both.
- <maxSize>
The maximum size to stretch an image. Maintains aspect ratio. Use either this or <size>, not both.*

If I use it on "md_marquee" also breaks the theme.

So I don't know what's happening here....I need this working for the theme.

Nismo

@fieldofcows Sorry mate, it's my fault, I forgot the caps on the S, it's maxSize and I was typing maxsize.

It's working, sorry for annoying you.

fieldofcows

@Nismo Haha! I hadn't started looking at it yet :D

Nismo

Hi @fieldofcows, I have an annoying problem with emulationstation, and maybe you can fix it.

To launch some emulators I use a batch file, one example of es_systems.cfg:

<command>%HOME%\.emulationstation\systems\fusion\fusion.bat "%ROM_RAW%"</command>

My batch file it's working pretty good but "%ROM_RAW%" returns this:

P:\.emulationstation\systems\fusion\Fusion.exe "P:\\.emulationstation\roms\Sega32x\Virtua Racing.zip"

Keep an eye on double back slash:

"P:\\.emulationstation...

While this works with fusion, other emulators fail to load because the double back slash.

For example, if I launch a game in ZX spin emulator through command line this way:

P:\.emulationstation\systems\zxspin\zxspinexe "P:\\.emulationstation\roms\zxspectrum\Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (Europe).zip"

ZX spin emulator fails to load because the double back slash thing but if I send the same through commandline without double backslash it works:

P:\.emulationstation\systems\zxspin\zxspinexe "P:\.emulationstation\roms\zxspectrum\Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (Europe).zip"

No matter if I use "%ROM_RAW%" or "%ROM%" or %ROM%, this commands always returns double back slash.

This is the batch file:

start /MIN %~dp0AllInOneFYC.exe AllInOneFYC.ini
%~dp0Fusion.exe %1
taskkill /f /im AllInOneFYC.exe

Please can you fix it for better compatibility with more emulators?

Thanks.

Edit: I only use the batch file to see the cmd window, I convert the bash file to exe file and that way I hide cmd window, I do the same to launch ES portable mode hiding cmd window.

fieldofcows

@Nismo I'm not getting the same problem with my configuration. I only get single backslashes.
Can you post your es_systems.cfg and a the gamelist entry for Virtual Racing to see if I can spot any difference?

Nismo

@fieldofcows Here you have:

es_system.cfg:

         <system>
                <name>sega32x</name>
                <fullname>Sega 32X</fullname>
                <path>~\.emulationstation\roms\Sega32x</path>
                <extension>.32x .zip</extension>
                <command>%HOME%\.emulationstation\systems\fusion\fusion.bat "%ROM_RAW%" -fullscreen</command>
                <platform>sega32x</platform>
                <theme>sega32x</theme> 
        </system>

gamelist:

	<game>
		<path>./Virtua Racing.zip</path>
		<name>Virtua Racing Deluxe</name>
		<desc>Virtua Racing Deluxe is an enhanced arcade-to-console conversion of Sega's 3D racing game. This game is primarily an arcade-style affair; Players compete in a 5 lap race with timed checkpoints. It's also possible to play with 2 players in a split-screen mode.The 32X version of Virtua Racing adds a couple of new features. There are now 3 different types of cars to drive, including a stock car and a prototype racer. Furthermore, there are two all-new tracks.</desc>
		<image>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/Sega32x/Virtua Racing-image.png</image>
		<video>./Videos/Virtua Racing.mp4</video>
		<marquee>./Marquees/Virtua Racing.png</marquee>
		<rating>0.75</rating>
		<releasedate>19941121T000000</releasedate>
		<developer>Sega</developer>
		<publisher>Sega</publisher>
		<genre>Race, Driving</genre>
		<players>1-2</players>
	</game>

And his is the batch file:

start /MIN %~dp0AllInOneFYC.exe AllInOneFYC.ini
%~dp0Fusion.exe %1
taskkill /f /im AllInOneFYC.exe

But like a told you, it's not only that game, it's for all games and emulators. Maybe it's a windows issue? you tested on windows? Fusion emulator works, but ZX spin refuses to load files because the double back slash, (and for sure more emulators have problems with that).

Thanks for the help.

Nismo

Hi @fieldofcows ,

I've made a launcher for ES, and I made your version portable with all plugins and dll files inside the exe itself. Do you give me permission to post my launcher with your windows build on Ideas and Development section?

This is the readme file and what launcher does:

EMULATIONSTATION WITH VIDEO SUPPORT BETA 6 BY FIELDOCOWS - PORTABLE + LAUCHER MOD BY NISMO

A portable version of Emulationstation with video support by fieldofcows, all credits to him.

Based on Fieldofcows Windows binary Beta 6.

INFO

I was trying to do the EmulationStation experience on windows a little bit better,
was annoying to see the desktop and opened windows everytime you load a game,
also the pop up cmd windows break the experience a lot.

i like EmulationStation so much, it's fast and smooth, so I spent a lot of time
trying to fix the things a bit, or almost make it a bit better, and this is the result.

DETAILS

You can use the launcher for any windows build of EmulationStation.
Launch ES in portable mode without the annoying CMD window.
Launcher will hide desktop before launch EmulationStation for better experience and feeling.
It doesn't kill explorer.exe, so if you are copying/moving files when launch ES, you are safe.
Launcher will try to hide almost all annoying CMD windows when launch a game
(you still can see the cmd windows, but only on launch game and only for a few miliseconds).
No CMD windows when exit games.
Only Emulationstation.exe and Launch portable.exe, all dll files and plugin folder are inside the EXE itself.
If you doesn't use the launcher you still can use ES in non portable mode.

REQUIREMENTS

Only for windows.
You need to use a compatible theme (Oldroom WIP theme port by me it's included).
You almost need to have the videos in your video folders for each system, and the right paths in your gamelist.xml.
If not, the theme will not use the video view, and detailed view it's not finished at the moment.
Marquees folder not required but recommended.

Example paths in gamelist.xml for videos and marquees:

<game>
	<path>./Deadly Moves.zip</path>
	<name>Deadly Moves</name>
	<desc>You are Joe, a young American who has been secretly training to become a powerful fighter.</desc>
	<image>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/megadrive/Deadly Moves-image.png</image>
	<video>~/.emulationstation/roms/megadrive/Videos/Deadly Moves.mp4</video>
	<marquee>~/.emulationstation/roms/megadrive/Marquees/Deadly Moves.png</marquee>
	<rating>0.6</rating>
	<releasedate>19920814T000000</releasedate>
	<developer>System Vision</developer>
	<publisher>Kaneko</publisher>
	<genre>Fighting</genre>
</game>

What do you say?

Nismo

@fieldofcows Please, can you make EmulationStation don't touch videos and marquees paths on gamelist please? I'm still having problems with relative paths.

I didn't see before, but if you play a game, a lot of paths are changed inside the gamelist, and with the annoying double back slash:

<video>Z:/EMU//.emulationstation/roms/mastersystem/Videos/Action Fighter (USA, Europe) (Rev 2).mp4</video>

Please make it don't write videos & marquees tags.

Regards.

P.D: A new update of the theme is coming...