Input needed: ES theming improvements

Capeman

It sounds like you want EmulationStation to be more like AttractMode. But given that AM also can run on retropie (in the experiemental packages if I'm not mistaken) then there isnt much of a reason to over complicate ES. Best to keep it elegant and simple IMO.

HurricaneFan

@Capeman I wish AttractMode had its own controller setup option. So once you built it, you didn't have to start EmulationStation first to setup your controller before switching to AttractMode.

masteryoer

@Capeman From what I have read, AttractMode is reliant on ES, or has some requirements for it that you setup in ES and use in AttractMode, so no, that doesn't really help. It would be nice for the more advanced system to have the more advanced features.

herb_fargus

@masteryoer the way it is integrated yes it assumes a basic config from ES I think- feel free to correct me if im wrong. but if you are just running attract mode standalone ES is not a requirement (would you really expect people on PC to download ES just to run attract mode?)

Anyway the automatic integration with retropie through the experimental menu is still preliminary/experimental, and I don't know if controller hooks are implemented for generating RetroArch configs, that may still need to be done manually But you shouldn't HAVE to use ES to use your controller, as I'm sure attract mode has a function for it somehow.

Zigurana

Just to Update: The PR for System Carousel theming got accepted!

lilbud

@Zigurana

Zigurana

@lilbud Ha! That used to be my ringtone! But 15 minutes of it? Damn!

Nismo

@Zigurana lol... XD.

Congratulations for you PR @Zigurana , lot of hard work behind that PR.

lilbud

@Zigurana I'm stealing that idea.

robertybob

Could someone give me a working example of the code? There's quite a few different examples in this thread and I haven't gotten one to work yet :(

jdrassa

@robertybob

The theme documentation on github has been updated with the details.

https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/blob/master/THEMES.md#carousel

Here is working example:

<feature supported="carousel">
  
  <view name="system">

    <carousel name="systemcarousel">
      <type>horizontal</type>
      <pos>0 0.42</pos>
      <size>1 0.2325</size>
      <color>ffffff</color>
      <logoScale>1.5</logoScale>
      <logoSize>0.125 0.155</logoSize>
      <maxLogoCount>5</maxLogoCount>
    </carousel>

    <text name="systemInfo">
      <backgroundColor>dddddd00</backgroundColor>
      <color>000000ff</color>
      <fontPath></fontPath>
      <fontSize>0.035</fontSize>
    </text>

  </view>

  </feature>

I also just released an updated build for windows to GitHub.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/9094/updated-emulationstation-for-windows/

Zigurana

@robertybob This file i've been using in a theme called dev. This was basically pixel, but with all references to pixel.xml changed into dev.xml. (You could also rename this one file into pixel.xml).

Inside you'll find two variations (one commented out) of the horizontal and vertical carousel respectively.

Let me know how you fare!

dankcushions

@Zigurana pixel has a non-modifying clause: https://github.com/ehettervik/es-theme-pixel

i think releasing even an example might be unfair really.

jdrassa

@dankcushions I can't speak for @Rookervik, but I believe that he was mostly concerned with derivative themes using his artwork. Since this is only an xml file and intended as an example of how to modify a theme to use this new feature, I would like to think that he would be OK with it.

TMNTturtlguy

@jdrassa sorry for the question, I haven't been following the threads for the carousel modifications and just came across it now. I tried to scroll through related threads and there is a lot of info, but I am unclear on this update. Is there an ES update for raspberry pi that is coming out that allows the carousel settings to be applied to the theme .xml? Or will it work on my current install? I see there is an update of ES for windows. Thanks

jdrassa

@TMNTturtlguy The carousel modifications just landed today in the RetroPie repository. You can use RetroPie-Setup to update your pi. You may need to use the "update from source" option, I am not sure how often they update the binary. I pushed out the updated Windows build and posted about it since many of the theme developers use it while working on their themes.

robertybob

Thanks guys, works great!!

TMNTturtlguy

@jdrassa great! Thanks

robertybob

Probably a dumb question, but is it possible to have a transparent carousel?

jdrassa

@robertybob it is. The color field works like other color fields where the first 6 digits are the color and the last 2 are the transparency. Just set the last 2 digits to 00.

<carousel name="systemcarousel">
      <color>ffffff00</color>
</carousel>