RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login

    EmulationStation Toolkit - Theme Making Helper

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    themestoolsemulationstatiotheme making
    67 Posts 10 Posters 29.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • herb_fargusH
      herb_fargus administrators @mattrixk
      last edited by

      @mattrixk I'm sure there is a way to do it, just need to look into it when I get some time.

      just a few suggestions on your repo, It may be more portable to keep the roms/scrapes in with the rom folders (that's my personal preference) but I suppose its fine either way.

      and then for the repository you can keep all the configs in the repo and then keep any binaries like ES uploaded as a release for people to download

      If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

      Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mattrixkM
        mattrixk @mattrixk
        last edited by

        Also, I should add: If anyone finds something broken, wrong or weird, let me know. Either on this thread or using the "Issues" tab on GitHub.

        My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • J
          jdrassa @herb_fargus
          last edited by

          @mattrixk @herb_fargus I spent some time recently trying to setup an automated Windows build using appveyor. I am able to complete a build, but I get errors when actually trying to run the executable.

          Get latest build of EmulationStation for Windows here

          mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • mattrixkM
            mattrixk @jdrassa
            last edited by

            @herb_fargus:

            "keep the roms/scrapes in with the rom folders"

            Do you mean the roms/snesfolder will look like this:

            Aladdin.sfc
            Aladdin-mix.png
            Aladdin-screenshot.jpg
            Aladdin-video.mp4
            

            Or would the images and videos be in a "downloaded_images" folder within roms/snes?

            @jdrassa Good luck getting it working.

            My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

            herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • herb_fargusH
              herb_fargus administrators @mattrixk
              last edited by

              @mattrixk they would be in a downloaded images folder (I typically just call it images) in the ROMs folder

              If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

              Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

              mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • mattrixkM
                mattrixk @herb_fargus
                last edited by

                @herb_fargus: Like this?

                Imgur

                Disregard the file path, it's just a quick photoshop mockup. I used "media" because it holds Videos as well as Images, so calling it "images" seemed disingenuous.

                "and then for the repository you can keep all the configs in the repo and then keep any binaries like ES uploaded as a release for people to download"

                I'm not sure I really follow this. I understand keeping all the Roms and Media together, that way you can just move the Roms folder and take all the media with you (but you'd still have to take the Gamelist folder too). Which configs are you referring to? The UXS stuff? Also, this Repo doesn't have any binaries... I'm confused.

                My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • herb_fargusH
                  herb_fargus administrators @mattrixk
                  last edited by

                  @mattrixk yeah media is probably more accurately named. Some people separate them out to images/ snaps /marquees just so their paths are standardised and then I believe the gamelist.xml is just kept with the ROMs. Really just personal preference though.

                  Referring to binaries for example once we get an ES Windows build working you can upload a portable binary of that with your configs as a downloadable release or I can update my portable gamestation with it and this repo can just be metadata supplements. Either way

                  If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                  Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                  mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • mattrixkM
                    mattrixk @herb_fargus
                    last edited by

                    @herb_fargus Ahh, I see what you mean. At the moment I just link to the 3 Windows ES builds I've found (yours, Zigurana's Carousel Mod and Fieldofcow's Video Preview). If we somehow ended up with a complete build, would we link to that from the Toolkit Repo, or host it on the Repo itself? (I'm not much for knowing GitHub. I still don't know how to do a pull request).

                    My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                    pjftP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • pjftP
                      pjft @mattrixk
                      last edited by

                      @mattrixk this is a great toolkit, not only for Windows but for ES development as well in general.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • R
                        robertybob
                        last edited by

                        I had a quick look at this last night and found that upon attempting to load the .bat files, Emulationstation didn't load and a Windows "Emulationstation is not respondnig" messahe appeared (there was an error message too but I forgot to c&p it somewhere). Do they work ok for everyone else?

                        mattrixkM B 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • mattrixkM
                          mattrixk @robertybob
                          last edited by

                          @robertybob: Does ES start normally when you open it with the .exe?

                          What does your file path look like? eg:
                          C:\Users\RobertyBob\EmulationStation\Launch ES Mid Size (1280x720).bat
                          or
                          E:\EmulationStation\Launch ES Mid Size (1280x720).bat

                          My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                          R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • R
                            robertybob @mattrixk
                            last edited by robertybob

                            @mattrixk I'm at work at the moment but I think it's:

                            C:\Program FIles (x86)\Emulationstation

                            It worked ok when using the .exe

                            mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • mattrixkM
                              mattrixk @robertybob
                              last edited by

                              @robertybob Hmm... I don't know what could be causing it, but I'll have a play and see what I can find. I stole the .bat files from @herb_fargus's Portable EmulationStation build, so I don't really know how they work, just that they do work for me.

                              The .bats start with set HOME=%~dp0, but I don't actually know what that means or does. Maybe Herb can tell us.

                              My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                              herb_fargusH R 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • herb_fargusH
                                herb_fargus administrators @mattrixk
                                last edited by

                                @mattrixk ah so it's my fault now is it ;)

                                Put it in a path without spaces and then see if it works. The launch bats are supposed to be for the portable builds where everything has relative paths. Eg if you install emulationstation on Windows possibly wont work, vs extracting the zip which should.

                                If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                                Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • mattrixkM
                                  mattrixk @herb_fargus
                                  last edited by

                                  Hey don't blame me @herb_fargus, I'm just the thief using other people's hard work :D
                                  (I just realised I never actually gave you credit for them, so that has now been fixed in the README.md file)

                                  My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                                  herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • herb_fargusH
                                    herb_fargus administrators @mattrixk
                                    last edited by

                                    @mattrixk I'd like to streamline the testing as much as possible.

                                    I wrote up a guide on installing a portable ES here
                                    https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station/wiki/Manual-Installation

                                    But for your testing repo I'd like to:

                                    • get automated test builds for retropie ES (I'll see if I can do that this weekend)
                                    • add rookerviks theme helper (I'll ask him)
                                    • make a quick guide on installation

                                    Then I would also like a wiki page of sorts on integrating video view for ES (perhaps may be a nice addition to your theme making guide) and then also would be nice to have a guide on scraping videos

                                    If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                                    Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                    mattrixkM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • B
                                      backstander @robertybob
                                      last edited by

                                      @robertybob

                                      I had a quick look at this last night and found that upon attempting to load the .bat files, Emulationstation didn't load and a Windows "Emulationstation is not respondnig" messahe appeared (there was an error message too but I forgot to c&p it somewhere). Do they work ok for everyone else?

                                      I haven't used this toolkit yet but I have used @herb_fargus Portable EmulationStation build and I had the same issue with the .bat files and after some troubleshooting, I discovered it was because of spaces in the directory name(s) so I just moved everything to C:\EmulationStation\ and after that I didn't have these issues.

                                      R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • R
                                        robertybob @backstander
                                        last edited by

                                        @backstander

                                        Awesome, thanks for letting me know :)

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • mattrixkM
                                          mattrixk @herb_fargus
                                          last edited by mattrixk

                                          @herb_fargus Sounds like the beginnings of a plan. I'll see what I can do on my end. I have a Pi on the way , so I'll be able to test out video preview on the latest image properly. Once I've wrapped my head around exactly what can and can't be done with videos, then I'll update the How-To guide.

                                          I have some time off coming up next month, and I plan on spending at least part of it with RetroPie* (I may even spend some time playing games, which I don't actually do very often).

                                          * I eventually want a single portable unit with LED, power button, fan and hard drive, but I'll be happy with just a power button to start.

                                          Edit: Thanks @backstander, that's good to know. I've made a note of it in the README.md file.

                                          My ES themes: MetaPixel | Spare | Io | Indent

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • lilbudL
                                            lilbud
                                            last edited by

                                            @mattrixk said in EmulationStation Toolkit - Theme Making Helper:

                                            playing games, which I don't actually do very often

                                            Same here. I spend more time with themes and experimenting with the pi.

                                            Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                                            Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                            • First post
                                              Last post

                                            Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                                            Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.