New Comic Book Theme!

ruckage

@TMNTturtlguy Oh, I got the message :)

I suppose there are a few assumptions there that, while they may be true to part of the audience, will limit its effectiveness and reach.

"Replace in all files" isn't necessarily available in all editors. Notepad++ runs only on Windows.

What about users who will load your theme from the Pi? Maybe even install it from RetroPie-Setup?

It's just a note that, while we are blessed to have all these devices and skills at our disposal, not everyone does :) Just want to make sure your theme is the most accessible to everyone.

It doesn't affect me per se, by all means - I can easily do that.

I'm just thinking of the "general user" :)

I agree things should be made as easy as possible for the end user but when allowing this kind of modification there is only so much that can be done and it's very difficult to make it completely fool proof. With ES as it is currently it will always need the end user to edit an XML file and some people just won't be happy doing that (most will probably never read the readme file to even know it's possible).
I think as long as the theme functions perfectly out of the box any extra xml modifications are just a nice bonus for those who like to experiment more.

Unfortunately with system specific changes like this there really is no way to avoid the multiple xml edits needed so search and replace is one of the easier options. (Notepad++ is a life saver, it's saved me so much time when I've needed to make changes to my own themes).

Theme is looking great by the way :)

pjft

@ruckage Ah, sure. Maybe I wasn't clear: I was just referring to having a version with the mascot, and one without (with the controllers).

Or just make a default one with the mascots, since that's one of the big differentiators here - and sure, people can tweak and disable should they choose to. :)

ruckage

@pjft said in New Comic Book Theme!:

@ruckage Ah, sure. Maybe I wasn't clear: I was just referring to having a version with the mascot, and one without (with the controllers).

Or just make a default one with the mascots, since that's one of the big differentiators here - and sure, people can tweak and disable should they choose to. :)

Sure, multiple version definitely would be an option. The only downside being then needing to maintain two different versions which increases the workload a bit. If going that route I think it's better to wait until the theme is finished.

I think what would be really nice (though probably a pipe dream) would be the ability to have custom views that were selectable from the in game menu. That way things such as alternate images, colours, and layouts could be added to themes and easily selectable by the end user.

pjft

@ruckage Fully agreed, we're on the same page there. Don't want to add more work here!

TMNTturtlguy

@ruckage and @pjft Thanks for the comments. I think you are both right in line with my thinking and hopes for the future. As we can agree there are limitations to what we can do with ES and themes, and as @pjft has noted, there are limitations to what users can do, some can and will do more than others. Here is a quick overview of my thoughts and plans for this theme:

The main goal is to have the theme as part of the theme options from the retropie menu script.
I want to limit the amount of different themes available to download, having multiple theme versions is hard to manage, and honestly, when i see a theme with more than 2 or 3 options, i sometimes skip over them because i don't want to download all of them to see if i like them.
I will release 4 theme versions which in my opinion is already to many! 16:9, 4:3, and 16:9 Special Edition, and 4:3 special edition.
The Special Edition will include a modification that is standard for users that have their roms scraped with marquee and wheel art for all systems. The system logo that appears over the Video preview will be the marquee/wheel art and the system logo .svg file will not show. The advanced users will have the option to turn the .svg logo to "true" for systems they do not have any wheel art for. The reason this needs to be a separate theme release is that the marquee function cannot be assigned a true/false tag like images can. The marquee must always be on. What currently happens is the marquee size is at 0,0 and off the screen in the main version. In the special addition the marquee will be properly placed over the video preview. Because a vast majority of users do not have complete scrapes, or use a scrape service that does not scrape wheel art and place it into the marquee line, the basic versions are available.
The controllers where never meant to be a standard part of the theme, from the beginning i had a post asking @Rookervik for permission to use the system logos and controller art, and that a new solution would be found for the controllers. After working on this for several months, the simplicity of the controller has grown on me, and i assume others might have taken a liking to the simple imagery that is displayed. The theme intent is to have the "rip" characters coming out of the page, and i will be creating splash screens that will accommodate them to tie the view to the launch image. This is why the "out of the box" theme will have the "Rip" mascots as standard, but advanced users can modify.
i have tried to look into some sort of script that could be run, or even having two sets of the theme.xml and main comic_book.xml available, I don't have enough expertise to create a script to perform a rename function on all of the files that would function perfectly for every users needs, and making the user rename manually is just as cumbersome as a true false edit, and creates more work to maintain and more margin for errors.

This is a lot of information, but i have really tried to think this through and make it as easy as possible. The out of the box download will be how I intend the theme to look. The optional changes are something inserted for the users who have the ability or better yet those who have the passion to learn! All that being said, i would love thoughts and recommendation on how to make this approach easier. It would be awesome if we could figure out an easy to use front end that gave the end user ability to choose what .xml to use from simple menu, but again that is way above my knowledge level.

jdrassa

The theme variables change that I have been working on could solve some of these issues. I also have some loose design ideas in my head about a way to implement theme options that would build off of theme variables and imports to allow users to set theme options within ES.

TMNTturtlguy

@jdrassa That sounds awesome! As not to rush you at all, I am assuming you are still heavy in development and this theme is nearly ready for release, would you recommend that I release the updates as i currently have it designed and then I can implement your updates when you have them ironed out?

jdrassa

@TMNTturtlguy Go ahead and release when ready. The theme variables, due to their nature, will not be backward compatible with older versions of ES, so it will be good to put out an finished release first.

xbrazukas

How can I use this thema in the recalbox?

TMNTturtlguy

@xbrazukas Sorry, i don't know much about recall box. I would wait just a bit as the new release is almost ready.

ortsac

@TMNTturtlguy Will the "git clone" option replace the old files automatically?...that's the option I used to install the previous version.

TMNTturtlguy

@ortsac I would delete the theme first and then reinstall with the new one. I think if you just reinstalled from git it might put a (1) after the new download. I am not sure, maybe someone else knows. I always delete my old version first and then reinstall when installing from github.

TMNTturtlguy

4:3 Progress Images

I am on my last push hoping to get both the 4:3 and 16:9 updates released in a few hours! Here are some images for all of you who have been waiting for the 4:3 Version. (Again, please pay no attention to the gamelist or video, i simply copy one system several times and change the theme in my es_systems.cfg for testing)

illhurtya

@TMNTturtlguy Looks great! Thanks for all of your hard work.

8bithero

where do i download this from

TMNTturtlguy

@8bithero I will be posting a link to the github download in a few hours. I am working on packaging both versions up right now.

8bithero

awesome this the best looking theme i have seen so far awesome work man

TMNTturtlguy

I have started a new thread for the full release of each of the systems in hopes to make it easier for everyone to find the correct version for their builds. Please find the thread and download information here:

Comic Book 4:3

Comic Book 16:9

ortsac

@TMNTturtlguy I'm new to all this. What's the safest and cleanest way to delete the old version? Can I delete through WinSCP instead of deleting it in Linux environment? Or will WinSCP corrupt my build?

TMNTturtlguy

@ortsac WinSCP is perfect. I do 90% of my work through WinSCP and never have had an issue. Simply browse to the location that the theme is located in and delete just the Comic Book Theme. Then upload the new version in the same place and restart emulationstation and you will be updated!