Editing themes - questions from a n00b

AndersHP · 21 Jul 2017, 20:08

!! Extreme newbie alert !!

After @herb_fargus suggested me to dive into theme editing, I tried it out.. But it makes no sense for me. I read the docs, I downloaded the ES portable and am editing the Tronkyfran theme, since I want to remove the metadata, making the theme simpler, and having bigger box-arts in the system folders.

So, I went and edited the "theme.xml" in Notepad++ for the Genesis folder, simply removed everything regarding ratings, times played, etc etc, just leaving the code with background, system name, image on top, description and the gamelist.

I saw that the "simple.xml" is included in the code, so I did the same in this file, and now it looks like this: where does it get the metadata fields from, when I removed them?

Have mercy on me. I am clearly no coder.

TMNTturtlguy · 21 Jul 2017, 20:10

@andershp unfortunately you can't delete metadata. It has to exist. What you need to do is set its position to 1 1 and its scale to 0. Then it will be hidden from view.

If you just delete it from the theme, ES puts in generic font in a generic location.

Syhles · 21 Jul 2017, 23:47

You can also use a font that is blank.

lostless · 22 Jul 2017, 04:04

@tmntturtlguy actually i deleated all the meta data entries on my PlayStation theme and it's working. I think its an update to the latest ES where it's not needed

Syhles · 22 Jul 2017, 05:47

@lostless
Do you have screenshots or boxart visible though?

I'm honestly curious, as I follow the GitHub for ES and I don't remember anything going through that would alter that.

Sorry if this seems rude.

lostless · 22 Jul 2017, 05:56

@syhles i have artwork and video working just fine.
My thread for the ps1 theme is here. I also teach someone how to move objects in ES. Check it out here. I'll be doing some updates this weekend and uploading when I feel it's good for release.
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/11547/ps1-theme
I read on some thread about updates to emulation station how about how there is more than just the regular "system, basic, detailed, video". And how you can now create a custom view and don't need to put in meta data fields. Just want you want in the theme.

lostless · 22 Jul 2017, 06:38

Actually now that I'm looking into my theme, I can see the meta data shows for a split second before my backround image appears. It's as if the backround image is covering all the meta data. I'll have to look into this.

AndersHP · 22 Jul 2017, 07:35

Success! Thanks for the tips. @herb_fargus and @caver01 what do you think regarding an alternative to the Tronkyfran theme, looking like this?

Syhles · 22 Jul 2017, 10:35

@lostless
Sounds like you're having issues with the z-index feature if your text is loading under your background.

Also the update to themeing to where you can make your own views is currently still under development.

stephan311280 · 22 Jul 2017, 19:30

i have also a question
when i reboot the pi the boxart is like this

when i have 1 time scrole the art looks fin

Syhles · 22 Jul 2017, 21:27

@stephan311280
I think that's a bug that still exists in ES, it shouldn't be anything that you have done that is causing it.

HurricaneFan · 23 Jul 2017, 15:11

@stephan311280 What version are you using? I thought that bug was fixed.

AndersHP · 30 Jul 2017, 14:30

How do you edit themes and in which directories?

Tried editing the themes in the /etc folder directy on the pi, but the changes didn't correspond with what worked on my pc version (se image in previous post).

The changes was done in the simple.xml file in the snes folder, setting metadata place to 1 and size to 0, but the result was a complete blue snes screen with yellow generic text. This confuses me.... Why this result and why the mismatch when it worked on pc?

stephan311280 · 30 Jul 2017, 20:32

i rip the theme out ect/emulationstation/themes
and rename it and put it in home/pi/.emulationstation/themes

i use winscp and notepad++

AndersHP · 31 Jul 2017, 19:54

@stephan311280 how exactly? And why? I don't understand why the changes I did didn't correspond with what I did on my pc.

ruckage · 31 Jul 2017, 20:01

@andershp
We can try and help you but you're going to have to give us more to go on, if it works on PC it should work on the raspberry pi exactly the same (providing the version of ES is the same). Paste a copy of the changes you made exactly as they appear in the theme you modified on the raspberry pi, or if possible upload the xml somewhere for us to see - it could just be a simple mistake that we can spot.