Freeplay Emulationstation Theme Preview

[RxBrad]

This theme is available now using the ESThemes menu in Retropie.  If you don't see it in the list of available themes, you'll first need to "Update RetroPie-Setup script" from RetroPie-Setup. Then go to Configuration/Tools, then esthemes, and scroll down to find the themes. Once installed, you can exit RetroPie-Setup and apply the theme under UI Settings.



Recommended EmulationStation UI Settings

• Carousel Transitions: ON
  
  
• Transition Style: Instant
  
  
• Gamelist View Style: Automatic
  

NOTE: The optional wheel carousel animation requires installing the Experimental Module "emulationstation-dev" (once Retropie hits v4.5, this functionality should be included, and this module shouldn't be needed). If you don't have emulationstation-dev or RetroPie 4.5+, it'll be a horizontal scrolling carousel like most themes have currently.

By default, if you install the theme from ESThemes, it'll use the Indigo/Purple color scheme.  You can change this by editing /etc/emulationstation/themes/freeplay/color.xml

Code:

sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/themes/freeplay/color.xml

Since it has the 12 different-colored versions, I actually have a script at https://github.com/rxbrad/rxbrad_themeutils that you can use to install all 12. The lines below install the tool used to install all 12 colors (this is available NOW; you don't need to wait for the theme to show up in ESThemes).

Code:

cd ~;git clone https://github.com/rxbrad/rxbrad_themeutils.git

Once the tool is installed, you can install the theme with the FreeplayTech logo using:

Code:

cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoinstall.sh

If you ever need to update the theme after that, here's the code to do it (ESThemes won't see the different color variants):

Code:

cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoupdate.sh

If, for whatever reason, you want to hide the Freeplay logo after installing all 12 color variants, you can do so with:

Code:

cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_update.sh

[Flavor]

That’s exciting! I’ll probably test it tomorrow.

[RxBrad]

It's actually totally usable at this point, but many of the systems still aren't themed.  Instead of a system logo on the missing systems, you'll just get the short name of the system in text form.

There's a fancy wheel animation on the carousel which currently requires installing the Experimental Module "emulationstation-dev" from Retropie-Setup (or you can wait until Retropie 4.5 comes out when it should be part of the stable version).  Until then, it'll be a regular horizontal-scrolling menu, which still blends well with the background as shown.

Also, note that this theme tends to flow better using "instant" transitions setting (vs. my GBZ themes which look nicer using the "slide" transitions).

To-Do List: (All done!)

• Finish theming all of the possible systems
  
• Tweak the UI around the video/screenshot/boxart area of the screen
  
• Add placeholder graphics for when no art was scraped on a particular game
  
• User-configurable color choices to coordinate with your Freeplay Zero/CM3 (indigo, glacier, red, black, etc)
  

[RxBrad]

The theme is nearly finished.  I just have a few finishing touches before I submit to have it included in RetroPie-Setup sometime in the next few days.

Note that it now includes 12 different user configurable color choices. (EDIT June 1, 2018 -- I actually replaced pink with green, since pink & fuchsia were so similar)  The color can be changed by editing the color.xml file:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/themes/freeplay/color.xml

                                               

[Flavor]

This is cool. I like that it's very stylish and minimalist at the same time!

With your GBZ35 theme you had a light and dark version. Will this be like that, can you change the top with the color.xml, or will it be only "dark?"

I'm not asking because I don't like the dark. I just know you had done the dark/light thing before.

[RxBrad]

The black visor/gamelist area actually was my attempt to sort of mimic the screen area on a GBA.

I hadn't originally planned on a "light" version, but it's something that could be done if the demand is there. It'd require a bit more work to add light-background-friendly versions of the system logos to the theme, but would be possible (could either be an xml variable to edit, or a separate theme).

[RxBrad]

The theme is done, and should show up soon in ESThemes.  By default, if you install the theme from ESThemes, it'll use the Indigo/Purple color scheme.  You can change this by editing /etc/emulationstation/themes/freeplay/color.xml

Code:

sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/themes/freeplay/color.xml

Since it has the 12 different-colored versions, I actually have a script at https://github.com/rxbrad/rxbrad_themeutils that you can use to install all 12. The lines below install the tool used to install all 12 colors. Note that you don't even need to install the theme from es-themes to use this tool. ES-themes installs a "freeplay" theme. This tool installs themes called "freeplay-red", "freeplay-blue", etc...

Code:

cd ~;git clone https://github.com/rxbrad/rxbrad_themeutils.git

Then you can install the theme with the FreeplayTech logo using:

Code:

cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoinstall.sh

If you ever need to update the theme after that, here's the code to do it (ESThemes won't see the different color variants):

Code:

cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoupdate.sh

[Flavor]

I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner. I was traveling for the last 10 days or so. I'll try to check it all out in the next couple days.

[Mootikins]

The theme looks good Brad, though I am unsure how to get the menu to display in that pseudo round kind of way, mine is still straight. Also, it looks like the last game entry in each system has its name cut off some.

[RxBrad]

The theme looks good Brad, though I am unsure how to get the menu to display in that pseudo round kind of way, mine is still straight. Also, it looks like the last game entry in each system has its name cut off some.

To get the rounded look on the carousel, you actually have to go into Retropie Setup, and install emulationstation-dev under the experimental packages (which takes awhile to compile & install).  Not totally necessary for the theme, but it makes it look better.  I assume the next v4.5 of Retropie should have the horizontal-wheel animation baked in (if I recall correctly, I think it was actually supposed to be in 4.4, but there was a bug that prevented it from displaying correctly).

Hmmm.... I'm scratching my head on the text getting cut off.  It looks okay on my Freeplay Zero, and I've also tested it out at 128x128, 320x240, 640x480, 1024x768, 720p, and 1080p resolutions.  

   

Is this on the onboard Freeplay LCD, or through HDMI?  Also, are you perhaps running at a custom resolution (if so, which one)? Also, which view are you seeing the text cut off (gamelist without any scraped metadata, gamelist with videos, gamelist with art & no videos -- or probably all three if you're seeing this)?  Thanks...