If creating theme sets specifically for ES-DE, please add `-DE` to the theme name, as in `rbsimple-DE`. Because the ES-DE theme support has already deviated somehow from the RetroPie EmulationStation fork and will continue to deviate further in the future, the theme set will likely not be backwards compatible. It would be confusing and annoying for a user that downloads and attempts to use an ES-DE theme set in another EmulationStation fork only to get crashes, error messages or corrupted graphics. At least the -DE extension is a visual indicator that it's an ES-DE specific theme set.
ES-DE allows the grouping of themes for multiple game systems into a **theme set**. Each theme is a collection of **views** that define some **elements**, each with their own **properties**.
Every game system has its own subdirectory within the theme set directory structure, and these are defined in the systems configuration file `es_systems.xml` either via the optional `<theme>` tag, or otherwise via the mandatory `<name>` tag. When ES-DE populates a system on startup it will look for a file named `theme.xml` in each such directory.
By placing a theme.xml file directly in the root of the theme set directory, that file will be processed as a default if there is no game-specific theme.xml file available.
In the example below, we have a theme set named `mythemeset-DE` which includes the `snes` and `nes` systems. Assuming you have some games installed for these systems, the files `mythemeset-DE/nes/theme.xml` and `mythemeset-DE/snes/theme.xml` will be processed on startup. If there are no games available for a system, its theme.xml file will be skipped.
The directory structure of our example theme set could look something like the following:
An *element* is a particular visual element, such as an image or a piece of text. You can modify an element that already exists for a particular view, as was done for the "description" example:
"Extra" elements will be drawn in the order they are defined (so make sure to define backgrounds first). In what order they get drawn relative to the pre-existing elements depends on the view. Make sure "extra" element names do not clash with existing element names. An easy way to protect against this is to start all your extra element names with a prefix such as "e_".
*Properties* control how a particular *element* looks - for example its position, size, image path etc. The type of the property determines what kinds of values you can use. You can read about the types below in the "Reference" section. Properties are defined like this:
If you are writing a theme it's recommended to launch ES-DE with the `--debug` flag from a terminal window. You can also pass the `--resolution` flag to avoid having the application window fill the entire screen. By doing so, you can read error messages directly in the terminal window without having to open the log file. You can also reload the current gamelist view and system view with `Ctrl-R` if the `--debug` flag has been set.
Note that properties can get merged. In the above example the `<color>` tag from `fonts.xml` got overwritten by the equivalent tag in `snes/theme.xml`. This happens because that tag was effectively declared after the first `<color>` tag. Be aware that the included file also needs the `<formatVersion>` tag.
Sometimes you want to apply the same properties to the same elements across multiple views. The `name` attribute actually works as a list (delimited by any characters of `\t\r\n ,` - that is, whitespace and commas). So for example, to apply the same logo to the basic and detailed views you could write the following:
You can theme multiple elements *of the same type* simultaneously. The `name` attribute actually works as a list (delimited by any characters of `\t\r\n ,` - that is, whitespace and commas). This is useful if you want to, say, apply the same color to all the metadata labels:
Starting ES-DE with the --debug flag will provide feedback on whether any navigation sound elements were read from the theme set. If no navigation sounds are provided by the theme, ES-DE will use the bundled navigation sounds as a fallback. This is done per sound file, so the theme could provide for example one or two custom sounds while using the bundled ES-DE sounds for the rest.
You can change the order in which elements are rendered by setting their `zIndex` values. All elements have a default value so you only need to define it for the ones you wish to explicitly change. Elements will be rendered in order from smallest to largest values.
Below are the default zIndex values per element type:
- A header image. If a non-empty `path` is specified, `text name="logoText"` will be hidden and this image will be, by default, displayed roughly in its place.
- A header image. If a non-empty `path` is specified, `text name="logoText"` will be hidden and this image will be, by default, displayed roughly in its place.
- Displays the game count (all games as well as favorites), any applied filters, and a folder icon if a folder has been entered. If this text is left aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the right of the other information, and if it's right aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the left. Left aligned by default.
- The "lastplayed" metadata. Displayed as a string representing the time relative to "now" (e.g. "3 hours ago").
*`text name="md_playcount"` - ALL
- The "playcount" metadata (number of times the game has been played).
*`text name="md_description"` - POSITION | SIZE | FONT_PATH | FONT_SIZE | COLOR | Z_INDEX
- Text is the "desc" metadata. If no `pos`/`size` is specified, will move and resize to fit under the lowest label and reach to the bottom of the screen.
*`text name="md_name"` - ALL
- The "name" metadata (the game name). Unlike the others metadata fields, the name is positioned offscreen by default
- A header image. If a non-empty `path` is specified, `text name="logoText"` will be hidden and this image will be, by default, displayed roughly in its place.
- Displays the game count (all games as well as favorites), any applied filters, and a folder icon if a folder has been entered. If this text is left aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the right of the other information, and if it's right aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the left. Left aligned by default.
- The "lastplayed" metadata. Displayed as a string representing the time relative to "now" (e.g. "3 hours ago").
*`text name="md_playcount"` - ALL
- The "playcount" metadata (number of times the game has been played).
*`text name="md_description"` - POSITION | SIZE | FONT_PATH | FONT_SIZE | COLOR | Z_INDEX
- Text is the "desc" metadata. If no `pos`/`size` is specified, will move and resize to fit under the lowest label and reach to the bottom of the screen.
*`text name="md_name"` - ALL
- The "name" metadata (the game name). Unlike the others metadata fields, the name is positioned offscreen by default
- A header image. If a non-empty `path` is specified, `text name="logoText"` will be hidden and this image will be, by default, displayed roughly in its place.
- Note that many of the default gridtile parameters change the selected gridtile parameters if they are not explicitly set by the theme. For example, changing the background image of the default gridtile also change the background image of the selected gridtile. Refer to the gridtile documentation for more informations.
- Displays the game count (all games as well as favorites), any applied filters, and a folder icon if a folder has been entered. If this text is left aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the right of the other information, and if it's right aligned, the folder icon will be placed to the left. Left aligned by default.
- The "lastplayed" metadata. Displayed as a string representing the time relative to "now" (e.g. "3 hours ago").
*`text name="md_playcount"` - ALL
- The "playcount" metadata (number of times the game has been played).
*`text name="md_description"` - POSITION | SIZE | FONT_PATH | FONT_SIZE | COLOR | Z_INDEX
- Text is the "desc" metadata. If no `pos`/`size` is specified, will move and resize to fit under the lowest label and reach to the bottom of the screen.
*`text name="md_name"` - ALL
- The "name" metadata (the game name). Unlike the others metadata fields, the name is positioned offscreen by default
* NORMALIZED_PAIR - two decimals, in the range [0..1], delimited by a space. For example, `0.25 0.5`. Most commonly used for position (x and y coordinates) and size (width and height).
* NORMALIZED_RECT - four decimals, in the range [0..1], delimited by a space. For example, `0.25 0.5 0.10 0.30`. Most commonly used for padding to store top, left, bottom and right coordinates.
* PATH - a path. If the first character is a `~`, it will be expanded into the environment variable for the home path (`$HOME` for Linux or `%HOMEPATH%` for Windows) unless overridden using the --home command line option. If the first character is a `.`, it will be expanded to the theme file's directory, allowing you to specify resources relative to the theme file, like so: `./../general_art/myfont.ttf`.
Common to almost all elements is a `pos` and `size` property of the NORMALIZED_PAIR type. They are normalized in terms of their "parent" object's size; 99% of the time, this is just the size of the screen. In this case, `<pos>0 0</pos>` would correspond to the top left corner, and `<pos>1 1</pos>` the bottom right corner (a positive Y value points further down). `pos` almost always refers to the top left corner of your element. You *can* use numbers outside of the [0..1] range if you want to place an element partially or completely off-screen.
The order you define properties in does not matter.
Remember, you do *not* need to specify every property!
- The image will be resized as large as possible so that it fits within this size and maintains its aspect ratio. Use this instead of `size` when you don't know what kind of image you're using so it doesn't get grossly oversized on one axis (e.g. with a game's image metadata).
- Where on the image `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the image exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
- Multiply each pixel's color by this color. For example, an all-white image with `<color>FF0000</color>` would become completely red. You can also control the transparency of an image with `<color>FFFFFFAA</color>` - keeping all the pixels their normal color and only affecting the alpha channel.
- The size of the grid. Take care the selected tile can go out of the grid size, so don't position the grid too close to another element or the screen border.
- Selects the image to display. `thumbnail` by default, can also be set to `image`, `miximage`, `screenshot`, `cover`, `marquee` or `3dbox`. If selecting `image`, the media type `miximage` will be tried first, with fallback to `screenshot` and then `cover`.
-`vertical` by default, can also be set to `horizontal`. Not that in `horizontal` mod, the tiles are ordered from top to bottom, then from left to right.
-`false` by default, when `true` the selected tile will be locked to the center of the grid.
*`scrollLoop` - type: BOOLEAN.
-`false` by default, when `true` the grid will seamlessly loop around when scrolling reaches the end of the list. Only works when `centerSelection` is `true`.
*`animate` - type : BOOLEAN.
-`true` by default, when `false` the grid scrolling will not be animated.
*`zIndex` - type: FLOAT.
- z-index value for component. Components will be rendered in order of z-index value from low to high.
- The size of the default gridtile is used to calculate how many tiles can fit in the imagegrid. If not explicitly set, the size of the selected gridtile is equal the size of the default gridtile * 1.2
*`padding` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- The padding around the gridtile content. Default `16 16`. If not explicitly set, the selected tile padding will be equal to the default tile padding.
*`imageColor` - type: COLOR.
- The default tile image color and selected tile image color have no influence on each others.
- A shortcut to define both the center color and edge color at the same time. The default tile background color and selected tile background color have no influence on each others.
*`backgroundCenterColor` - type: COLOR.
- Set the color of the center part of the ninepatch. The default tile background center color and selected tile background center color have no influence on each others.
*`backgroundEdgeColor` - type: COLOR.
- Set the color of the edge parts of the ninepatch. The default tile background edge color and selected tile background edge color have no influence on each others.
- The video will be resized as large as possible so that it fits within this size and maintains its aspect ratio. Use this instead of `size` when you don't know what kind of video you're using so it doesn't get grossly oversized on one axis (e.g. with a game's video metadata).
- Where on the image `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the image exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
-`0 0` - automatically size so text fits on one line (expanding horizontally).
-`w 0` - automatically wrap text so it doesn't go beyond `w` (expanding vertically).
-`w h` - works like a "text box." If `h` is non-zero and `h`<= `fontSize` (implying it should be a single line of text), text that goes beyond `w` will be truncated with an elipses (...).
- Where on the component `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the component exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
- Where on the component `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the component exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
- Allows moving of the "selector bar" up or down from its computed position. Useful for fine tuning the position of the "selector bar" relative to the text.
- Horizontal offset for text from the alignment point. If `alignment` is "left", offsets the text to the right. If `alignment` is "right", offsets text to the left. No effect if `alignment` is "center". Given as a percentage of the element's parent's width (same unit as `size`'s X value).
ES-DE borrows the concept of "nine patches" from Android (or "9-Slices"). Currently the implementation is very simple and hard-coded to only use 48x48px images (16x16px for each "patch"). Check the `data/resources` directory for some examples (button.png, frame.png).
- Only one value is actually used. The other value should be zero. (e.g. specify width OR height, but not both. This is done to maintain the aspect ratio.)
- Where on the component `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the component exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
- Multiply each pixel's color by this color. For example, an all-white image with `<color>FF0000</color>` would become completely red. You can also control the transparency of an image with `<color>FFFFFFAA</color>` - keeping all the pixels their normal color and only affecting the alpha channel.
-`0 0` - automatically size so text fits on one line (expanding horizontally).
-`w 0` - automatically wrap text so it doesn't go beyond `w` (expanding vertically).
-`w h` - works like a "text box." If `h` is non-zero and `h`<= `fontSize` (implying it should be a single line of text), text that goes beyond `w` will be truncated with an elipses (...).
- Where on the component `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the component exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
- A button icon override. Specify the button type in the attribute `button`. The available buttons are:
`dpad_updown`,
`dpad_leftright`,
`dpad_all`,
`thumbstick_click`,
`button_l`,
`button_r`,
`button_lr`,
`button_lt`,
`button_rt`,
`button_a_SNES`,
`button_b_SNES`,
`button_x_SNES`,
`button_y_SNES`,
`button_back_SNES`,
`button_start_SNES`,
`button_a_PS`,
`button_b_PS`,
`button_x_PS`,
`button_y_PS`,
`button_back_PS4`,
`button_start_PS4`,
`button_back_PS5`,
`button_start_PS5`,
`button_a_XBOX`,
`button_b_XBOX`,
`button_x_XBOX`,
`button_y_XBOX`,
`button_back_XBOX`,
`button_start_XBOX`,
`button_back_XBOX360`,
`button_start_XBOX360`.
#### badges
It's strongly recommended to use the same image dimensions for all badges as varying aspect ratios will lead to alignment issues. For the controller images it's recommended to keep to the square canvas size used by the default bundled graphics as otherwise sizing and placement will be inconsistent (unless all controller graphic files are customized of course).
*`pos` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
*`size` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- Possible combinations:
-`w h` - Dimensions of the badges container. The badges will be scaled to fit within these dimensions. Minimum value per axis is `0.03`, maximum value is `1.0`. Default is `0.15 0.20`.
*`origin` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- Where on the component `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the component exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied. Default is `0 0`.
*`rotation` - type: FLOAT.
- angle in degrees that the image should be rotated. Positive values will rotate clockwise, negative values will rotate counterclockwise. Default is `0`.
*`rotationOrigin` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- Point around which the image will be rotated. Default is `0.5 0.5`.
- Valid values are "row" or "column". Controls the primary layout direction (line axis) for the badges. Lines will fill up in the specified direction. Default is `row`.
*`lines` - type: FLOAT.
- The number of lines available. Default is `2`.
*`itemsPerLine` - type: FLOAT.
- Number of badges that fit on a line. When more badges are available a new line will be started. Default is `4`.
*`itemMargin` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- The margins between badges. Possible combinations:
-`x y` - horizontal and vertical margins. Minimum value per axis is `0`, maximum value is `0.2`. Default is `0.01 0.01`. If one of the axis is set to `-1` the margin of the other axis (in pixels) will be used, which makes it possible to get identical spacing between all items regardless of screen aspect ratio.
*`slots` - type: STRING.
- The badge types that should be displayed. Should be specified as a list of strings delimited by any characters of `\t\r\n ,` - that is, whitespace and commas. The order will be followed when placing badges on the screen. Available badges are:
-`favorite`: Will be shown when the game is marked as favorite.
-`completed`: Will be shown when the game is marked as completed.
-`kidgame`: Will be shown when the game is marked as a kids game.
-`broken`: Will be shown when the game is marked as broken.
-`controller`: Will be shown and overlaid by the corresponding controller icon if a controller type has been selected for the game using the metadata editor.
-`altemulator`: Will be shown when an alternative emulator is setup for the game.
*`controllerPos` - type: NORMALIZED_PAIR.
- The position of the controller icon relative to the parent `controller` badge. Minimum value per axis is `-1.0`, maximum value is `2.0`. Default is `0.5 0.5` which centers the controller icon on the badge.
*`controllerSize` - type: FLOAT.
- The size of the controller icon relative to the parent `controller` badge. Minimum value is `0.1`, maximum value is `2.0`. Setting the value to `1.0` sizes the controller icon to the same width as the parent badge. The image aspect ratio is always maintained.
*`customBadgeIcon` - type: PATH.
- A badge icon override. Specify the badge type in the attribute `badge`. The available badges are the ones listed above.
*`customControllerIcon` - type: PATH.
- A controller icon override. Specify the controller type in the attribute `controller`. These are the available types:
- Where on the carousel `pos` refers to. For example, an origin of `0.5 0.5` and a `pos` of `0.5 0.5` would place the carousel exactly in the middle of the screen. If the "POSITION" and "SIZE" attributes are themeable, "ORIGIN" is implied.
The help system is a special element that displays a context-sensitive list of actions the user can take at any time. You should try and keep the position constant throughout every screen. Keep in mind the "default" settings (including position) are used whenever the user opens a menu.
