Adding consoles to themes

Drdave79

Hello,

I've found a lot of very nice themes, but having trouble adding additional consoles to the theme itself. They show up with a black background. I know the authors put quite a lot of work into these themes, but is there an "easy" way for a novice to add missing consoles to themes?

Thank you.

LN_RC

@drdave79 I use the classic SNES theme and I create icons for it and upload them into the corresponding folders. If you go to /etc/emulationstation/themes through an FTP program like WinSCP, you'll be able to add files to the themes saved on your Retropie. Every theme is different, but if you select a theme and look for a folder with backgrounds, you should be able to find all of the background image files. Upload an image to that folder with the console name as it matches the rom folder (ex. if the Pokemon Mini folder name is pokemini, the background file name should be pokemini.png), and the background should match up automatically. If you share the theme you want to use, I can give more specific help! The process isn't too complicated once you find the right file path.

Drdave79

@ln_rc Thank you for helping me out! I'm trying to modify the Fundamentals theme. I have a few consoles that are just blank and I'm trying to add them. Here's where I'm stuck. For example, the theme already has a folder for Atari ST. But not one for Atari XEGS. So I copied the Atari ST folder and renamed it to Atari XEGS. I found the text file to change the description. But I can't change the main console name from Atari ST to Atari XEGS on the master list for the theme. So there's two Atari ST sections in the main theme. I also can't seem to find the background image.

LN_RC

@drdave79 To actually change a pre-existing console name or add a new console, you will need to edit the Emulation Station systems list. Here's the Retropie guide on how to do so:
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Add-a-New-System-in-EmulationStation/

A simplified version of the instructions.

Make a copy of /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg and paste it into /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation

You can use the command below to do that

sudo cp /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

Edit the new es_systems.cfg file with any desired changes

I would recommend looking at the guide on how the xml and systems works because changing a pre-existing system is a bit more complicated than adding a new system.

Another note is that every time you install a completely new system using the Retropie Setup (that is, a system not included in the main packages), you will need to add the system manually to the new es_systems.cfg file. It's just copy-paste though. You can get all the system info from /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg and paste it into /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg. Retropie will also give you a warning after an install when you'll need to update your system's list, so it won't be a surprise when you need to.

I hope this helps!

Drdave79

@ln_rc I think you misunderstood. I already have these consoles in my build. I'm trying to edit the display of them in the Fundamentals theme. For example, they all show up in the Supersweet theme. When I choose Atari XEGS, I get the correct console name in the main list, there's a background, etc. In other themes such as Fundamentals, that theme doesn't feature Atari XEGS. So I copied the Atari ST folder to accomplish this in the theme. But I can't change it on the list. See attached examples. The first one, Supersweet shows both Atari ST and Atari XEGS. The second one, Fundamentals, has Atari ST twice (even though the games inside are Atari XEGS.

mitu

Post the es_systems.cfg fragment that you added for the new system.

Drdave79

@mitu Here's two examples.

Drdave79

@mitu The consoles work fine. Just trying to get them editable in the theme.

mitu

@drdave79 The es_systems.cfg looks fine. Can you upload the theme that you modified somewhere to take a look ?

Drdave79

@mitu It's the Fundamental theme that I'm focused on, but a majority of themes are blank for systems like Atari XEGS, Arcadia, Channel F, etc.

mitu

@drdave79 Right, but in order to support a new system you have to add something to the theme, otherwise it won't work. Post your modified theme somewhere so we can take a look and see why it's not working.

Drdave79

@mitu Alright, how can I upload the theme here so you can look it over?

mitu

The forum doesn't allow uploads, that why I said post your modified theme somewhere - Gdrive, OneDrive, iCloud, other file hosting service.

smartazz104

It looks like you need to find an Atari XEGS logo in .svg format to replace the one in the theme folder you copied (logo.svg).