Updated EmulationStation for Windows

JoeRamone

Hi there

Thanks for this amazing version.

I am working in a "launcher" to make ES more portable and user friendly...

My idea is a small window with the basic options ( %HOME% current dir, full or windoned )
alt text
And a second widown where you can load and edit es_system.cfg without deal with tags or txt editing

This is just a Draft for now...

I will finish some details to make if functional and post the code here later

Zenjiro

Good news everyone https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation/pull/475 has been merged so PS2, Wii, and other large file games will now properly display again!

EctoOne

@joeramone no offense but what's wrong with a batch?

set HOME=%~dp0
emulationstation.exe --windowed --resolution 1280 720

I like the es_systems.cfg editor though.

JoeRamone

@ectoone said in Updated EmulationStation for Windows:

@joeramone no offense but what's wrong with a batch?
set HOME=%~dp0
emulationstation.exe --windowed --resolution 1280 720
I like the es_systems.cfg editor though.

No problem at all with bat files.
In fact the launcher will create a bat file, so you can use it later.

My first thought was a simple es_systems config interface. But I found myself editing and starting the bat file so many times that I found it easier to make a button and leave a shortcut

PittStone

I am looking for a solution.

I want to load various super nintendo games with different cores for retroarch in emulationstation.

In es_systems.cfg i can only put one libretro.dll for each system.

how can I create a config for each game individually?

Only with a .bat file?

EctoOne

@JoeRamone Ah ok, i thought it would get rid of the batch files. From a theming point of view, It would be kinda nifty to have a launcher with a dropdown menu to select different resolutions, instead of finding the correct batch file.

ppuspfc

@pittstone I don't know if it works, but i think you can create another system entry for the same console, and then, use another core on it

PittStone

@ppuspfc Good idea, but that makes two systems in the Main Menue and this is not perfect. And not that what i wanted. My best solution is to make a .bat for each game and start it with that:

cd .emulationstation\systems\retroarch
.\retroarch.exe -C -f -L "%HOME%.emulationstation\systems\retroarch\cores\bsnes_performance_libretro.dll" "%HOME%.emulationstation\roms\snesmsu\Lion King-MSU1\lk_msu1.bml"

Unfortunately, loading from Retroarch to the game takes a bit longer.

ppuspfc

@pittstone you can use another theme for that 'fake' system as well...you just have to feature a folder with the name on the theme directory and you can change the logo...just giving you ideas.

mattrixk

Is there a Windows version of ES with a working Grid View?

I'm also curious if there is a list of the capabilities of the most recent Windows version (custom carousel, video previews, custom collections, etc).

I've been away from this for a while, so I don't know exactly what can and can't be done.

mitu

@mattrixk @jdrassa's Windows builds are based on the latest -dev version, so they always have the latest features and fixes.

mattrixk

Awesome, thanks @mitu. How do I go about getting the latest Windows build? Can I just download it from git somewhere? Is it pre-compiled or do I have to do it myself?

(So, was that a "yes" to Grid View? I don't know if that's a normal ES function yet or not.)

mitu

@mattrixk Go to the first post of this topic, you have a download link. It's a precompiled binary.

mattrixk

Cheers @mitu. I'll have to try this out tonight (or over the weekend).

EDIT: I have a theme that I haven't worked on in over a year that I want to get back into.

mattrixk

I'll have to try this out tonight (or over the weekend)

I did and it is glorious. Huge thank you to @jdrassa for his outstanding work.

Now if I could just find instructions on how to code for the grid layout...

mitu

@mattrixk said in Updated EmulationStation for Windows:

Now if I could just find instructions on how to code for the grid layout...

The new grid options have been documented in the Wiki page and there are also a few topics on this:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17968/emulationstation-grid-view-v1-ready-for-wider-testing

mattrixk

Oh wow, you're a fount of knowledge. Thanks @mitu!

UnluckyForSome

Hi Guys, Any progress on fixing the UI sounds?

Currently, within a theme's .xml, only:

<sound name="launch">
	<path>./art/launch.wav</path>
</sound>

seems to be implemented. I read somewhere these were one of the last things that the original ES developer was working on before abandoning the project, so they never got round to adding the rest. Looking at old theme files, it looks like support was originally intended for the following:

<sound name="systemscroll">
	<path>./art/navigate.wav</path>
</sound>

<sound name="systemselect">
	<path>./art/systemselect.wav</path>
</sound>

<sound name="listscroll">
	<path>./art/navigate.wav</path>
</sound>

<sound name="back">
	<path>./art/back.wav</path>
</sound>

<sound name="launch">
	<path>./art/launch.wav</path>
</sound>

<sound name="menuopen">
	<path>./art/menu.wav</path>
</sound>

I know a scroll sound can be selected with:

<textlist name="gamelist">
	<scrollSound>./art/scrollsound.wav</scrollSound>
</textlist>

But I think that tag maybe old? and:

<sound name="systemscroll">
	<path>./art/navigate.wav</path>
</sound>

...was intended to replace it. The system launch sound:

<sound name="launch">
	<path>./art/launch.wav</path>
</sound>

Appears to be coded in and works, so perhaps adding the others wouldn't be so difficult?

Also, when looking at es_log.txt, I seem to get a similar error for every system;

lvl1: 	  Warning from theme "C:/Users/Joe/.emulationstation/themes/simple/psx/theme.xml"
        (from included file "C:/Users/Joe/.emulationstation/themes/simple/psx/../simple.xml")
        could not find file "./art/menu.wav" (which resolved to "C:/Users/Joe/.emulationstation/themes/simple/psx/../art/menu.wav")

Which is weird because I can't fine "menu.wav" referenced anywhere else. Maybe another half-implamented sound file for music on a system screen?

Many thanks!

mitu

@unluckyforsome Why are you tagging me ?

UnluckyForSome

@mitu hahaha sorry, no idea. Think I thought you were a dev looking after ES