Documentation update.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 * Made gamelist theming much more flexible by allowing any number of elements of any types to be defined
 * Deprecated multiple older theming concepts like features, extras and hardcoded metadata attributes
 * Renamed the default theme set from rbsimple-DE to slate-DE
+* Added support for caching of SVG images
 * (Windows) Made game launching more seamless by making the application window one pixel wider instead of one pixel less in height
 * Added ares standalone as an alternative emulator for many systems
 * Added VICE standalone as an alternative emulator for the c64 (x64sc only) and vic20 systems
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
 * OpenGL: Added an OpenGLVersion setting for choosing between OpenGL 3.3, 4.2 and 4.6 (has to be manually set in es_settings.xml)
 * OpenGL ES: Added an OpenGLVersion setting for choosing between OpenGL ES 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 (has to be manually set in es_settings.xml)
 * Greatly improved the performance of shader post-processing such as scanlines and blur rendering
+* Greatly improved application startup speed by avoiding a lot of unnecessary SVG rasterizations
 * Added support for substituting the emulator binary in staticpath rules with an explicit command (useful for launching specific binaries in Flatpaks)
 * The actual names for emulators with find rule entries are now displayed in the error popup window if they're not found during game launch
 * Reorganized the UI Settings menu a bit and added entries to set the variant and aspect ratio for newer theme sets
@@ -156,7 +158,7 @@
 * ScrollableContainer faded semi-transparent text to fully opaque when resetting
 * ScrollableContainer faded in the background text color in addition to the text color when resetting
 * Text elements that had an opacity set to lower than FF via the color tag were faded in during gamelist scrolling
-* Theme sets were not always sorted correctly (as seen when mixing uppercase and lowercase in theme names)
+* Theme sets were not always sorted correctly (as seen when mixing uppercase and lowercase letters in theme names)
 * The device text flickered in GuiDetectDevice when configuring a controller
 * The selector bar was not aligned correctly during menu scale-up animations
 * Doing a manual reload using Ctrl+r in debug mode would sometimes not update modified image files
@@ -943,7 +945,7 @@ Many bugs have been fixed, and numerous features that were only partially implem
 
 **The issues below are relevant for ES-DE v1.2.4**
 
-* When using Windows on some handheld devices with AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck, AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers, and can be worked around by specifying a window size for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for instance `EmulationStation.exe --resolution 1281 800`
+* When using Windows with some AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup or when launching a game. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck, AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers, and can be worked around by specifying a resolution for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for instance `EmulationStation.exe --resolution 1281 800`
 
 * On Windows when using high DPI displays, if not running ES-DE on the primary monitor and the display where it runs does not have the same scaling percentage as the primary monitor, then the ES-DE resolution will not be properly set. The application will still work and if running in fullscreen mode it may not even be noticeable. This issue is probably caused by a bug in SDL where the primary display scaling is always used for calculating the display bounds. If using the same scaling percentage across all monitors, or if not using high DPI monitors at all, then this issue is not relevant.
 
@@ -955,6 +957,6 @@ Many bugs have been fixed, and numerous features that were only partially implem
 
 * On Raspberry Pi OS 11 there are various graphics issues and sometimes the application or emulator completely freezes which requires a power cycle of the machine. This is seemingly due to GPU driver bugs and we can only wait for OS updates to address these problems. These issues have not been encountered on Raspberry Pi OS 10.
 
-* There is some screen tearing present on Unix/Linux which is especially visible during horizontal slide transitions. The problem exists on both x86 and ARM as well as on Intel, AMD and Nvidia GPUs and on the Broadcom VideoCore. The problem seems to be Xorg-related as tearing has not been observed when using Wayland, and it's not present on macOS or Windows either.
+* There is some screen tearing present on Unix/Linux which is especially visible during horizontal slide transitions. The problem exists on both x86 and ARM as well as on Intel, AMD and Nvidia GPUs and on the Broadcom VideoCore. The problem seems to be Xorg-related as tearing has not been observed when using Wayland (and it's not present on macOS or Windows either).
 
 * Sometimes when RetroArch has been upgraded to a newer version, it apparently requires a startup to get properly initialized. When ES-DE starts RetroArch it always does so by passing some specific emulator core parameters, which does not seem to initialize RetroArch after such an upgrade. What happens in this case is that the RetroArch loading screen will be shown and then it will quit right back to ES-DE. If confirmed to be the case, this is not an ES-DE issue but a RetroArch issue and starting RetroArch separately once should fix the problem (at least until the next upgrade).

FAQ.md

@@ -38,7 +38,11 @@ On Windows ES-DE is shipped as a portable installation and as a regular installe
 
 ## I'm on Windows and ES-DE refuses to start, is the application broken?
 
-You're probably missing the OpenGL drivers required to run ES-DE. Try to download and install the latest drivers for your graphics card. If you have a really old GPU this may not work though, and you may have to go for OpenGL software rendering instead. How this is setup is described in the _Specific notes for Windows_ section of the [User guide](USERGUIDE.md#specific-notes-for-windows).
+You're probably missing the OpenGL drivers required to run ES-DE. Try to download and install the latest drivers for your graphics card. If you have a really old GPU this may not work though, and you may have to go for OpenGL software rendering instead. How this is setup is described in the _Specific notes for Windows_ section of the [User guide](USERGUIDE.md#specific-notes-for-windows). There have also been a few reports of ES-DE refusing to start or displaying excessive graphics corruption when using Intel Iris Xe GPUs. This is seemingly caused by driver bugs and will have to be resolved by Intel. Running the same hardware on Linux seems to work fine.
+
+## I'm on Windows and there is only a black screen shown on startup or when launching a game, is there a way to fix this?
+
+This behavior has been observed for some specific AMD GPUs, in some instances there is only a black screen on startup and in some instances the application starts and runs correctly but launching a game only shows a black screen. The issue is seemingly caused by GPU driver bugs and it only affects Windows as Linux works fine with the same hardware. The workaround is to make ES-DE run in windowed mode. You accomplish this by using the --resolution flag and setting the width to one pixel wider than your screen resolution. So if for instance running at a 1280x800 display resolution, run ES-DE such as this: `EmulationStation.exe --resolution 1281 800`
 
 ## The emulators don't seem to be properly configured?
 

USERGUIDE-DEV.md

@@ -262,11 +262,13 @@ Just make sure to never place games or other resources on network shares using t
 
 In order for ES-DE to run, graphics drivers with OpenGL support have to be installed. If not, the application simply won't start. For really old graphics cards the available drivers may not provide an OpenGL version that is modern enough for ES-DE to work, and in this case a last resort solution would be to install the _Mesa3D for Windows_ library which provides software-based OpenGL rendering. The 64-bit version of this library can be downloaded from [https://fdossena.com/?p=mesa/index.frag](https://fdossena.com/?p=mesa/index.frag) and you simply extract the opengl32.dll file into the ES-DE installation directory. Just be aware that the performance may be quite bad.
 
-On some handheld devices with AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck (although not if using SteamOS), AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers, and can be worked around by specifying a window size for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for example:
+On some AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup or when launching a game. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck, AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers and apparently does not occur when using Linux. The problem can be worked around by specifying a window size for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for example:
 ```
 EmulationStation.exe --resolution 1281 800
 ```
 
+Some computers using Intel Iris Xe GPUs refuse to start ES-DE or display excessive graphics corruption. These problems are seemingly caused by driver bugs and do not occur when using Linux. There is no known solution or workaround to this issue other than switching to Linux or waiting for Intel to resolve the problem with a driver update.
+
 Some older games (and possibly emulators too) may not work correctly or even start at all if ES-DE is set to run in the background while a game is launched. So if you experience strange issues with some games, make sure that the setting _Run in background (while game is launched)_ is disabled. If launching any of these problematic games from the _desktop_ system, also make sure to use the default emulator entry _Suspend ES-DE_ and not the alternative emulator _Keep ES-DE running_.
 
 In a similar fashion, some older games may require the compatibility mode to be set to an older Windows release. This is done by right clicking on the .exe file or .lnk shortcut for the game or emulator, selecting _Properties_ and then the _Compatibility_ tab, then checking the box named _Run this program in compatibility mode for:_ and finally selecting an appropriate Windows release. Some experimentation with different Windows versions may be required. Don't attempt to change the compatibility mode for ES-DE itself though as that may cause any types of unforeseen issues.

USERGUIDE.md

@@ -260,11 +260,13 @@ Just make sure to never place games or other resources on network shares using t
 
 In order for ES-DE to run, graphics drivers with OpenGL support have to be installed. If not, the application simply won't start. For really old graphics cards the available drivers may not provide an OpenGL version that is modern enough for ES-DE to work, and in this case a last resort solution would be to install the _Mesa3D for Windows_ library which provides software-based OpenGL rendering. The 64-bit version of this library can be downloaded from [https://fdossena.com/?p=mesa/index.frag](https://fdossena.com/?p=mesa/index.frag) and you simply extract the opengl32.dll file into the ES-DE installation directory. Just be aware that the performance may be quite bad.
 
-On some handheld devices with AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck (although not if using SteamOS), AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers, and can be worked around by specifying a window size for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for example:
+On some AMD GPUs, ES-DE may only display a black screen on startup or when launching a game. This can be seen on for instance the Steam Deck, AYA NEO and ONEXPLAYER 8.4. The issue seems to be caused by buggy GPU drivers and apparently does not occur when using Linux. The problem can be worked around by specifying a window size for ES-DE that is a single pixel wider than the actual screen resolution. So for example for a 1280x800 display, the resolution can be set to 1281x800 and then rendering should work correctly. This is applied using the --resolution command line option, for example:
 ```
 EmulationStation.exe --resolution 1281 800
 ```
 
+Some computers using Intel Iris Xe GPUs refuse to start ES-DE or display excessive graphics corruption. These problems are seemingly caused by driver bugs and do not occur when using Linux. There is no known solution or workaround to this issue other than switching to Linux or waiting for Intel to resolve the problem with a driver update.
+
 Some older games (and possibly emulators too) may not work correctly or even start at all if ES-DE is set to run in the background while a game is launched. So if you experience strange issues with some games, make sure that the setting _Run in background (while game is launched)_ is disabled. If launching any of these problematic games from the _desktop_ system, also make sure to use the default emulator entry _Suspend ES-DE_ and not the alternative emulator _Keep ES-DE running_.
 
 In a similar fashion, some older games may require the compatibility mode to be set to an older Windows release. This is done by right clicking on the .exe file or .lnk shortcut for the game or emulator, selecting _Properties_ and then the _Compatibility_ tab, then checking the box named _Run this program in compatibility mode for:_ and finally selecting an appropriate Windows release. Some experimentation with different Windows versions may be required. Don't attempt to change the compatibility mode for ES-DE itself though as that may cause any types of unforeseen issues.