Updated version of Herb_Fargus' Portable?

ShawnS

The wiki page on creating your own theme has been an immense help in getting up and running with my own creation.

But I've noticed some differences between how the "portable Emulationstation by @herb_fargus" renders my theme (namely .svg files with "fancy" effects like gradients and strokes) compared to the updated version on my actual Pi.

Is there an updated version of this portable edition somewhere? I haven't been able to find anything on it on the wiki or on here but searching for USB or PORTABLE turns up way more results than I have time to dig through.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help!

meleu

@ShawnS maybe @mattrixk can give some light here...

mattrixk

@ShawnS: It was only through chance that I first found the portable version.

I was looking for a windows version of ES (so I could make themes on a PC instead of on the Pi), but I could only find ones that had to be compiled by the user. I didn't understand how to do any of that, so I looked on youtube for instructions. At some point I started looking up "precompiled windows emulationstation" (or something similar) and I found a video by @herb_fargus which had a link to his portable version. I'd been on a real portable program kick, so it was perfect for me.

In saying all of that, he did make it a while ago so it's probably an older version of ES. Also, it's just ES, not RetroPie, so it doesn't have any of the extra stuff RetroPie brings in (I don't know if that would make any difference or not, but it's worth noting).

PS: I'm glad the tutorial is helping you out.

herb_fargus

@ShawnS I hastily threw a new one together based on retroarch 1.3.6 that can be downloaded here: https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station/releases

But yeah I didn't want to go through the hassle to try and compile ES on windows so its the stock ES without any of the retropie additions (ie the nanosvg library isn't as up to date)

mattrixk

That's great @herb_fargus, cheers.

mattrixk

@ShawnS

The portable ES is also a good way to test themes in a 4:3 resolution. When you open ES with Launch Portable (Windowed).bat it starts ES at 1280x720, but you can duplicate that file, then using a text editor change the line:

emulationstation.exe --windowed --resolution 1280 720

to

emulationstation.exe --windowed --resolution 1024 768

and save it as Launch Portable (4-3).bat (or whatever naming convention you follow). I find that really handy if you are making themes that work for smaller screens/handhelds.

ShawnS

@herb_fargus wow, thanks so much!

ShawnS

@mattrixk I fumbled my way into the .bat files to do that at some point. But you just reminded me about 4:3 resolutions too, which I was not building for at all. Fortunately, things looks pretty much the same. Definitely need to add a note about it in the readme when it's done. Thanks again for a handy tip!

mattrixk

@herb_fargus: I just downloaded your latest build and I extracted the contents to this folder D:\Games\Emulators\EmulationStation [Portable], but I'm having some problems:

I can open ES with the .bat files without a problem, and I can put roms in and scrape them no worries, but when I try to actually run a game ES folds down, cmd line opens with the message:

'D:\Games\Emulators\EmulationStation' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

And then cmd disappears and ES opens again. This all takes no more than 2 seconds.

Also, when I open D:\Games\Emulators\EmulationStation [Portable]\emulationstation.exe instead of a bat file, ES opens straight up to the message "We can't find any systems! check that your paths are correct in the systems configuration file, and your game directory has at least one game with the correct extension."

Well, it was finding the games without a problem when run from the .bat file, so I don't know why it isn't finding them when run from the .exe file. Have I just put ES in wrong place, or is there something else I am missing?

I was only using the previous version of the portable ES to build themes. I never tested it to see if the games actually work. But I just treated myself to a new 8bitdo controller and wanted to play some games on my PC.

herb_fargus

@mattrixk the path can't contain spaces and perhaps special characters. Try naming your folder EmulationStationPortable

mattrixk

@herb_fargus: Aaaaaand... it works! You sir are a legend. Thank you.