Carbon: Astrocade Support & Odyssey²/Videopac Fix

mediamogul

About a week ago I got the Fairchild Channel F and Bally Astrocade systems running on my RetroPie setup. Seeing as how the Channel F already had existing Carbon support included, I thought I'd go the extra mile and create the necessary artwork files for the Astrocade as well. For anyone who might want to use them, I've included a link to the files below.

astrocade

Astrocade Download Link

Also, I fixed the Odyssey²/Videopac controller image that's been bugging me for a while. As you can see from the images below, the controller was being zoomed in on and cropped on the main screen. It turns out that the controller.svg was just a non standard size. After bringing the it in line with the other images, it allowed the whole controller to be seen. It's an easy fix for anyone to do themselves, but I'll also include a download link the revised file below for anyone who might not have the software.

Before:

before

After:

after

Odyssey²/Videopac Download Link

herb_fargus

@mediamogul pull requests welcome ;)

mediamogul

@herb_fargus

I'll read up on how to do that and submit one.

herb_fargus

@mediamogul I've been meaning to do some tests this evening so we can merge in video support for carbon and I can check your stuff out while I'm at it. But whenever you get to it. One of these days we may end up getting mess working and then it will just be there :D

mediamogul

@herb_fargus

I should really give the Astrocade images a solid second look if they're going to be a permanent part of the project. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do it this evening. It's great that official MESS support is being considered. The curio game systems it offers that are normally only found in video game exhibits can be a lot of fun to play.

herb_fargus

@mediamogul yeah no worries in your own time :)

ohmycommodore

So what exactly is this easy fix for the O2 controller artwork?

edmaul69

@mediamogul i have already made a 100% pixel accurate version that can be used for your pixel theme since i needed one for my theme if you decide you want to add it to that theme. I would still need rook to make a system for it though

edmaul69

@mediamogul not sure what you did but taking the controller pic from the videopac and putting it in the odyssey2 folder worked for me.

mediamogul

@ohmycommodore said in Carbon: Astrocade Support & Odyssey²/Videopac Fix:

So what exactly is this easy fix for the O2 controller artwork?

I placed the vector art from the existing controller file into one that was the proper canvas size and adjusted the size of the art to match. However, you can just download the corrected file above and replace it in both the videopac and odyssey2 art folders within a copy of the Carbon theme that you would place in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/themes/.

@edmaul69

i have already made a 100% pixel accurate version that can be used for your pixel theme

The Pixel theme is one of the best out there, but I personally just stick with Carbon. I like the look and it supports the most systems.

taking the controller pic from the videopac and putting it in the odyssey2 folder worked for me.

Both odyssey2/videopac controller SVG images are currently the wrong canvas size in the most recent Carbon theme, resulting in the cropped controller seen above in the before picture. If you open one of them up and compare it with a controller image from any of the other systems, it's easier to see the difference.

ohmycommodore

@mediamogul Sounds good, but I don't seem to have that /themes/ directory inside /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/, and thus, no art folders to work with... Bit too advanced for me to figure out at the moment. I can certainly create /themes/ in there, but I'd need a step by step after that...

mediamogul

@ohmycommodore

You would just need to copy the existing Carbon theme from /etc/emulationstation/themes/ to /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/themes/. After that you can add to or edit it without affecting the original. If something doesn't work out, you can just delete the copy and Emulation Station will revert back to using the original.

ohmycommodore

@mediamogul I access my SD card in a couple of simple ways. Either (1) plugged into my Mac where I can see the "boot" level files, or (2) on my Mac via my network when it's plugged into my Pi and running RP, which is how I load ROMs. I don't see the /etc/emulationstation/themes/ directory anywhere.

mediamogul

@ohmycommodore

Ah, OK. Those methods will give you only a limited access to your files. You can use SSH to connect remotely with a Mac App such as CyberDuck, or you could also use the built-in file browser found in the RetroPie menu. Either will do the job.

ohmycommodore

@mediamogul Finally got it thanks :) I had never gotten into enabling SSH and using an app to view the Pi, so that's done now, and I followed your instructions. Prior to this I really only needed the simple access to load ROMs and could do that from my Mac Finder. One more step in the ol' learning thing :)

mediamogul

@ohmycommodore

Very glad to hear it.

mediamogul

@edmaul69 said in Carbon: Astrocade Support & Odyssey²/Videopac Fix:

not sure what you did but taking the controller pic from the videopac and putting it in the odyssey2 folder worked for me.

I was just looking over all this again and I have to amend my previous statement. You are 109% correct, sir. Simply moving the controller image from videopac to odyssey2 does indeed solve the issue. I still haven't found the time to learn how to submit a pull request, but I'm hoping to look into it this week.

herb_fargus

@mediamogul I've fixed the odyssey, must have missed it when I fixed the videopac one.

I'll leave the astrocade to you ;)

OneSwitch

Very nice!! Would be fantastic to get this for the Fairchild Channel F as well, if possible, please. link text

xaGe

For the would be artists and do it yourselfers I would just like to point out if anyone needs the software to create your own from scratch, convert your bitmap images into vectors or edit preexisting svg image files Inkscape is the free open source software to do it. Most Linux distributions include it through your package manager with out hassle already. In the case of Arch and Arch based ditros use a GUI package manager of choice or from a terminal enter:

sudo pacman -S inkscape

It's also available freely for download for Mac and Windows as well. :-) It's relativity simply to use if you've ever used the also free and open source GIMP, or Krita or retail packages such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop before.

It turns out that the controller.svg was just a non standard size. After bringing the it in line with the other images, it allowed the whole controller to be seen. It's an easy fix for anyone to do themselves, but I'll also include a download link the revised file below for anyone who might not have the software.