Tutorial - How to make a theme for Emulationstation and RetroPie

[mattrixk]

Edit: I created a Tutorial on how to make your own theme for Emulationstation and RetroPie.

However, it was so long I had to post it in 5 parts. I have now moved the whole tutorial over to the RetroPie Wiki.

You can see it here.

[mattrixk]

Edit: I have moved the tutorial here, but the blog won't let me delete this now extraneous post.

[mattrixk]

Edit: I have moved the tutorial here, but the blog won't let me delete this now extraneous post.

[mattrixk]

Edit: I have moved the tutorial here, but the blog won't let me delete this now extraneous post.

[mattrixk]

Edit: I have moved the tutorial here, but the blog won't let me delete this now extraneous post.

[mattrixk]

Edit: I have moved the tutorial here, but the blog won't let me delete this now extraneous post.

[meleu]

@mattrixk Why not put this info in the wiki?

[mattrixk]

@meleu said in Tutorial - How to make a theme for Emulationstation and RetroPie:

Why not put this info in the wiki?

2 main reasons:

1. It seemed kinda presumptuous.
2. I don't know how.

If someone in charge says it's okay and shows me how, it's probably a better place for it.

[herb_fargus]

@mattrixk if it were to be added anywhere on the wiki it would be here:

https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/themes

With it being a wiki anyone can edit it as long as they are signed into their github account. If you're going to put it there you can create a heading perhaps after the theme gallery on creating a theme tutorial or if it's easier for you you can just put a link to this thread on there

There are also docs on creating themes which in hindsight I should have added to the wiki page as well.

For reference: https://github.com/Aloshi/EmulationStation/blob/master/THEMES.md

[herb_fargus]

update: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Themes#creating-your-own-emulationstation-theme

I think I'm going to redo the theme gallery tables too, the formatting is all off.

[mattrixk]

@herb_fargus

Thanks for putting the link to the forum post in the wiki. I'd like to move the whole post over to the wiki (mainly so it's all in one place and not multiple posts on a thread, and for ease of updating).

Since it's so long would it be better to be its own entry, rather than being part of the 'Themes' entry? I see 'Themes' as how to use them, whereas my tutorial is how to create one.

How do I create a wiki page called "create-themes" and then put it in the side nav with the title "Create Your Own Emulationstation Theme" underneath the "Emulationstation Themes" link?

I used https://github.com/Aloshi/EmulationStation/blob/master/THEMES.md extensively while learning to make themes and it is indispensable, but mine is more of a step-by-step how-to guide.

[herb_fargus]

@mattrixk I suppose it is kinda massive.

you can just create a new wiki page and call it Creating Your Own EmulationStation Theme just so the page name is standard in the list of wiki pages.

Then you can edit the sidebar after its finished to include a link to that page.

[Zigurana]

@mattrixk :
This is awesome! Great work!

[mattrixk]

Okay, so I moved the tutorial over to the wiki.

@herb_fargus Cheers for the wiki coaching. I was hesitant to use it because I was worried I would break something. I edited the 'Themes' post to point the wiki page instead of this forum post. Did you end up putting the MetaPixel theme into the system after I renamed it to es-theme-metapixel? Could that be added to the "Themes" page too?

@Zigurana Thank you. How is your time away? I'd like to ask you questions about getting the Child-Friendly icons working once you get back in front of your computer. I filed it as an issue on your GitHub page with some more information.

[herb_fargus]

@mattrixk yes metapixel is in the theme installer. and yes if you have screenshots for it feel free to add them to the theme gallery on the wiki page, preferably one of the system view and one of the detailed (scraped) view. I just updated it so it should be simpler to add new images.

[mattrixk]

@herb_fargus said:

I just updated it so it should be simpler to add new images

I saw that. It looks good. Any particular reason you didn't show the Basic Views? Is it just because they are basic and there usually isn't much to see?

[herb_fargus]

@mattrixk yeah, most people scrape their roms so I figured it was most representative of the themes as people use them.

[meleu]

Forgive me for this comment that adds nothing: I love this community! :D
The tutorial in the wiki became really fine! Good job guys!

Oh wait! I would like to suggest a thing: @mattrixk maybe it would be nice to say in the "About This Tutorial" that it is Windows-based.

[mattrixk]

@meleu said in Tutorial - How to make a theme for Emulationstation and RetroPie:

say in the "About This Tutorial" that it is Windows-based

Well... I do make my themes on a Windows PC, but I don't think it really matters what operating system you use.

• As long as you have a text editor you can edit the XML files, so you can do that in Win/Mac/Linux.
• If you need to create images you can use any image editor on whatever OS, or even some online image editors.
• I use Herb's Portable ES because I find it easier, but as long as you can SSH or FTP into your themes folder on the RPi, you can test your theme there (and I mention this in that section of the tutorial).
• Rookervik's ES Theme Helper program is Windows only, but I don't actually use it in the tutorial.

Having said all that though, I will make a note in the intro that I'm working on a Windows PC.

Cheers for the kind words guys (at least I'm assuming you're all guys considering your gravatars are all men's faces).

This tutorial took me about 3 weeks to make, working every chance I got: lunch times at work and late at night after everyone else was in bed, so if you notice anything funky, let me know.

[herb_fargus]

@mattrixk aww I didn't know other people used my portable es builds! I sorta did an update but retroarch got too fancy for my old computer and brokeded so I need to fix that before I can test it thoroughly enough to upload new binaries.