Themes - custom collection standardized naming

[TMNTturtlguy]

@lostless it can be custom, but these are for the select custom from theme option. So theme makers can create logos and backgrounds, you can select that folder and the theme will be created for you. If all theme makers use the same names, you can easily switch from theme to theme.

[TMNTturtlguy]

@hurricanefan I also have a folder for kids it is take off of what @Zigurana has in his kids mode build of ES. I have all the games my kids like in there so they don't need to search for them.

[HurricaneFan]

@tmntturtlguy Thats a great idea!

[lostless]

@tmntturtlguy I guess I should test it, but how would a theme created for you look? In my PlayStation theme, it won't generate the paint splatters in the carousel. It will show just white text. Am I following this correct?

[HurricaneFan]

@lostless The collection theme folder and logo are built and saved to github for a specific type of category, like Mario. When a person builds a custom collection tied to the theme folder, it shows up in their EmulationStation list as a system. If different themes use the same folder names for these types of collections, then people don't have to create their own.

[dmmarti]

@lostless --see if this makes sense.

Here's a quick video I did about the process @TMNTturtlguy is talking about (adding a collection from the "select custom from theme" option).

You can always add a custom collection by typing in it's name...and if the theme doesn't have a corresponding theme subfolder named the same, the new collection will be shown under the main menu "Custom Collection" theme.

[lostless]

Thx all, I'll just have get my feet wet and experiment. I think I understand now.

[stephan311280]

IT looks almost attract mode 👍✌️

[hooperre]

I think a 'gems' folder for hidden gems in a large game list would be amazing.

[incunabula]

Some collections i'll be making for myself that might be useful for others:

fishing
rpg
enix
dnd (for licensed Dungeons and Dragons games on the NES, Intellivision, DosBox, etc.)
marvel (for Marvel Comics-licensed games)

[TMNTturtlguy]

I have updated the ComicBook theme to match the current naming conventions in this thread.

[meleu]

@dmmarti Great idea. The only one I would change is kof instead of kingfighter.

[dmmarti]

@meleu -- I don't have any issue with that....but would most folks know what kof would stand for?

Sounds good to me to use kof instead.

[meleu]

@dmmarti it seems to be the "standard" acronym for The King of Fighters games.

By the way, look what happens if I type kof for google:

[pjft]

Well, I'm surprised I'm the one bringing this up, but any consideration for an achievements folder?

I personally also have a backlog folder in my collections, and will likely have a completed games one as well.

[EctoOne]

@pjft huh, now that you mentioned a complete collection, that sounds more like a automatic collection to me (if we could get someone to add that as a tag for the gamelist). And while we're at it, why not have a Never Played collection too? That sounds easy to me when it looks for an missing lastplayed tag.

[dmmarti]

@meleu -- haha....awesome!

I've updated the list above ... kof it is!

[pjft]

@ectoone Well, sure... they'd be easy to add.

I suppose the key "usable" concern with the "never played" collection is that, in most users' collections [citation needed], this will be an absurdly long list of thousands of games, not that dissimilar to the "All Games" list sorted by "times played". It could be an option, but I'm not sure about adding one such auto collection - unless there's a lot of requests for it. Just to confirm, what I have in "Backlog" is not as much "All games not played", but rather "games I'm currently working through, or are on hold". :)

The "completed" collection could certainly be based on metadata, if we'd choose to add that bit of metadata to the files. I'm not planning on adding that at the moment - once again, unless there's a lot of requests for it, but yes, those are good ideas.

But, by the same token, the "Kids" collection will eventually be metadata as well, and can be an automated collection, as there is a precedent for it in the ES-Kids branch, and a lot of users request that every now and then.

So yeah, I was just mentioning some other collection ideas, though I'm fine with currently having them under the "Collections" menu. :)

Good job anyway!

[EctoOne]

@pjft said in Themes - custom collection standardized naming:

"games I'm currently working through, or are on hold". :)

I use favorites for that. ;)
Speaking of lists generated from Metadata, @meleu suggested one for games with achievements.
And since we already have the option to select which auto gamelist we want to see, why not have all? Just kidding.
But you're right this is kinda of topic for this thread.

[pjft]

@ectoone We will likely have an auto one for achievements. That being said, I'm personally not keen on adding more metadata without a specific use-case in mind - and that was also a point of discussion that we addressed on the achievements side.

So it's not as much a matter of not having them all, is more what needs to be done beforehand (and is it worth it) to have them all. :)