diff --git a/USERGUIDE-DEV.md b/USERGUIDE-DEV.md index b99186bba..603adc608 100644 --- a/USERGUIDE-DEV.md +++ b/USERGUIDE-DEV.md @@ -1,36 +1,36 @@ # EmulationStation Desktop Edition (ES-DE) - User guide (development version) -**Note:** This document is intended as a quick start guide as well as a reference for the user interface settings and functionality. For more in-depth information and details on how to compile ES-DE and perform more advanced configuration, please refer to [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md). +This document is intended as a quick start guide and as a reference for the application settings and general functionality. For details on how to build ES-DE from source code and to perform more advanced configuration, please refer to [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md). -Also note that this document is only relevant for the current ES-DE development version, if you would like to see the user guide for the latest stable release, refer to [USERGUIDE.md](USERGUIDE.md) instead. +This version of the user guide is only relevant for the current ES-DE development version, if you are using the latest stable release, refer to [USERGUIDE.md](USERGUIDE.md) instead. Table of contents: [[_TOC_]] -## Basic steps to get ES-DE up and running +## Quick start guide If you just want to get started as quickly as possible, simply follow these steps: 1) Install ES-DE 2) Start the application and press the _Create directories_ button to generate the ROMs directory structure 3) Put your game ROMs in the directories created by the previous step, or see [here](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#supported-game-systems) for additional details -4) Install and configure [RetroArch](https://www.retroarch.com) -5) Start RetroArch and install the required emulator cores - to see which ones you need look in the systeminfo.txt files in the directories created by step 2, or again see [here](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#supported-game-systems) +4) Install [RetroArch](https://www.retroarch.com) +5) Start RetroArch and install the required emulator cores 6) Start ES-DE, scrape game media for your collection and play some games! -You can always press F4 to close the application. +You can always close the application immediately by pressing F4 on the keyboard. For additional details, read on below. There are also installation videos available at the ES-DE YouTube channel:\ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCosLuC9yIMQPKFBJXgDpvVQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCosLuC9yIMQPKFBJXgDpvVQ) -## Getting started +## Installation and first startup -Getting started with ES-DE is easy, just make sure to install the software properly, either manually as built from source code or using one of the supplied packages. On Windows and macOS you'll use the installer instead of a package. +To install ES-DE, just download the package or installer from [https://es-de.org](https://es-de.org) and follow the brief instructions below. -The following operating systems have been tested with ES-DE (all for the x86 architecture unless otherwise stated): +The following operating systems have been tested (all for the x86 architecture unless otherwise stated): * Ubuntu 20.04 to 21.04 * Linux Mint 20 @@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ The installation procedure is just covered briefly here and may differ a bit for **Installing a Linux .deb package** -The .deb package is used for Linux distributions based on Debian, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint etc. -Running the following should install ES-DE and resolve any dependencies: +The .deb package is intended for Linux distributions based on Debian, such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint etc. Your distribution should include a graphical package installer, but if you prefer to use the command line, run the following which will install ES-DE and resolve any dependencies: ``` sudo apt install ./emulationstation-de-1.0.0-x64.deb @@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ sudo apt install ./emulationstation-de-1.0.0-x64.deb **Installing a Linux .rpm package** -On Fedora you run this command to install ES-DE, which should automatically resolve all dependencies: +On Fedora you can use the graphical package installer or run this command, either method should automatically resolve the dependencies: ``` sudo dnf install ./emulationstation-de-1.0.0-x64.rpm @@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ sudo dnf install ./emulationstation-de-1.0.0-x64.rpm **Installing on macOS and Windows** -There's not really much to say about these operating systems, just install ES-DE as you would any other application. On maCOS it's via the .dmg drag-and-drop installer, and on Windows it's just a normal application installer. +There's not really much to say about these operating systems, just install ES-DE as you would any other application. On maCOS it's via the .dmg drag-and-drop installer, and on Windows via the normal application installer. **On first application startup** @@ -75,17 +74,17 @@ Upon first startup, ES-DE will create its `~/.emulationstation` home directory. On Unix this means /home/\/.emulationstation/, on macOS /Users/\/.emulationstation/ and on Windows C:\Users\\\\.emulationstation\ +**Note:** As of ES-DE v1.1 there is no internationalization support, which means that the application will always require the physical rather than the localized path to your home directory. For instance on macOS configured for the Swedish language /Users/myusername will be the physical path but /Användare/myusername is the localized path that is actually shown in the user interface. The same is true on Windows where the directories would be C:\Users\myusername and C:\Användare\myusername respectively. If attempting to enter the localized path for any directory-related setting, ES-DE will not be able to find it. But it's always possible to use the tilde `~` symbol when referring to your home directory, which ES-DE will expand to the physical location regardless of what language you have configured for your operating system. If you're using an English-localized system, this whole point is irrelevant as the physical and localized paths are always identical. + It's also possible to override the home directory path using the --home command line option, but this is normally required only for very special situations so we can safely ignore that option for now. -**Note:** As of ES-DE v1.1 there is no internationalization support, so you would always need to supply the English directory name for your home directory, which is by the way always the real physical name on the file system. For instance on macOS, /Users/myusername will be required instead of /Användare/myusername which is what's shown inside the operating system for a Swedish localized installation. But using the tilde home symbol '~' is a workaround for this, and it's recommended to always use it for any ES-DE configuration settings that require a path to your home directory as it removes any confusion regarding localized home directory paths. +Also on first startup the configuration file `es_settings.xml` will be generated in the ES-DE home directory, containing all the application settings at their default values. Following this, a file named `es_systems.xml` will be loaded from the resources directory (which is part of the ES-DE installation). This file contains the game system definitions including which emulator to use per platform, and it can be customized if needed. The customized version needs to be placed in the `custom_systems` folder in the ES-DE home directory, i.e. `~/.emulationstation/custom_systems/es_systems.xml`. You can find information on how to customize the systems configuration file in the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#es_systemsxml) document. -On first startup the configuration file `es_settings.xml` will be generated in the ES-DE home directory, containing all the default settings. A file named `es_systems.xml` will be loaded from the resources directory (which is part of the ES-DE installation). This file contains the game ROM paths and emulator settings and it can be customized if needed. The customized version needs to be placed in the `custom_systems` folder in the ES-DE home directory, for example `~/.emulationstation/custom_systems/es_systems.xml`. For more information on how to do this, refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#es_systemsxml) document. +There's an application log file created in the ES-DE home directory named `es_log.txt`, please refer to this in case of any issues as it should hopefully provide information on what went wrong. Starting ES-DE with the --debug flag provides even more detailed information. -There's a log file in the ES-DE home directory named `es_log.txt`, please refer to this in case of any issues as it should hopefully provide information on what went wrong. Starting ES-DE with the --debug flag provides even more detailed information. +After ES-DE finds at least one game file, it will populate that game system and the application will start. If there are no game files, a dialog will be shown explaining that you need to install your game files into your ROMs directory. You will also be given a choice to change that ROMs directory path if you don't want to use the default one. As well you have the option to generate the complete game systems directory structure based on information in es_systems.xml. -After ES-DE finds at least one game file, it will populate that game system and the application will start. If there are no game files, a dialog will be shown explaining that you need to install your game files into your ROM directory, and you will also be given a choice to change that ROM directory path if you don't want to use the default one. As well you have the option to generate the complete game systems directory structure based on information in es_systems.xml. - -When generating the directory structure, a file named systeminfo.txt will be created in each game system folder which will provide you with some information about the system such as the supported file extensions. Here's an example for the _gc_ system as seen on macOS: +When generating the directory structure, a file named systeminfo.txt will be created in each game system folder which will provide you with some information about the system. Here's an example for the _gc_ system as seen on macOS: ``` System name: gc @@ -97,7 +96,7 @@ Supported file extensions: .gcm .GCM .iso .ISO .wbfs .WBFS .ciso .CISO .gcz .GCZ .elf .ELF .dol .DOL .dff .DFF .tgc .TGC .wad .WAD .7z .7Z .zip .ZIP Launch command: -/Applications/RetroArch.app/Contents/MacOS/RetroArch -L %EMUPATH%/../Resources/cores/dolphin_libretro.dylib %ROM% +%EMULATOR_RETROARCH% -L %CORE_RETROARCH%/dolphin_libretro.dylib %ROM% Platform (for scraping): gc @@ -106,7 +105,9 @@ Theme folder: gc ``` -In addition to this, a file named systems.txt will be created in the root ROM directory which shows the mapping between the directory names and the full system names. +The primary use of this file is to see which RetroArch core the system needs, which you will have to install manually from inside the RetroArch user interface. Also the supported file extensions can be quite useful to know. + +In addition to this, a file named systems.txt will be created in the root of the ROMs directory which shows the mapping between the directory names and the full system names. For example: @@ -116,57 +117,57 @@ genesis: Sega Genesis gx4000: Amstrad GX4000 ``` -Note that neither the systeminfo.txt files or the systems.txt file are needed to run ES-DE, they're only generated as a convenience. +Note that neither the systeminfo.txt files or the systems.txt file are needed to run ES-DE, they're only generated as a convenience to help with the setup. -Be aware that there will be a lot of directories created if using the template es_systems.xml file bundled with the installation, so it may be a good idea to remove the ones you don't need. It's recommended to move them to another location to be able to use them later if more systems should be added. For example a directory named _DISABLED could be created inside the ROMs folder (i.e. ~/ROMs/_DISABLED) and all game system directories you don't need could be moved there. Doing this reduces the application startup time significantly as ES-DE would otherwise need to scan for game files for all these systems. +There will be a lot of directories created if using the es_systems.xml file bundled with the installation, so it may be a good idea to remove the ones you don't need. It's recommended to move them to another location to be able to use them later if more systems should be added. For example a directory named _DISABLED could be created inside the ROMs folder (i.e. ~/ROMs/_DISABLED) and all game system directories you don't need could be moved there. Doing this reduces the application startup time as ES-DE would otherwise need to scan for game files for all these systems. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_ui_easy_setup.png "ES-DE Easy Setup") -_This is the dialog shown if no game files were found. It lets you configure the ROM directory if you don't want to use the default one, and you can also generate the game systems directory structure. Note that the directory is the real physical path, and that your operating system may present this as a localized path if you are using a language other than English._ +_This is the dialog shown if no game files were found. It lets you configure the ROM directory if you don't want to use the default one, and you can also generate the game systems directory structure. Note that the directory is the physical path, and that your operating system may present this as a localized path if you are using a language other than English._ ## Migrating from other EmulationStation forks **IMPORTANT!!! IMPORTANT!!! IMPORTANT!!!** -ES-DE is designed to be backwards compatible to a certain degree, that is, it should be able to read data from other/previous EmulationStation versions such as the RetroPie fork. But the opposite is not true and it's a one-way ticket for your gamelist.xml files and your custom collection files when migrating to ES-DE as they will be modified in ways that previous ES versions will see as data loss. For instance ES-DE does not use image tags inside the gamelist.xml files to find game media but instead matches the media to the names of the game/ROM files. So it will not save any such tags back to the gamelist files during updates, effectively removing the display of the game media if the files are opened in another ES fork. +ES-DE is designed to be backward compatible to a certain degree, that is, it should be able to read data from other/previous EmulationStation versions such as the RetroPie fork. But the opposite is not true and it's a one-way ticket for your gamelist.xml files and your custom collection files when migrating to ES-DE as they will be modified in ways that previous ES versions will see as data loss. For instance ES-DE does not use image tags inside the gamelist.xml files to find game media but instead matches the media to the names of the game/ROM files. So it will not save any such tags back to the gamelist files during updates, effectively removing the display of the game media if the files are opened in another ES fork. -Due to this, always make backups of at least the following data before using ES-DE: +Due to this, always make backups of at least the following directories before testing ES-DE for the first time: ``` ~/.emulationstation/gameslists/ ~/.emulationstation/collections/ ``` -## Running on 4K displays +## Running on high resolution displays -ES-DE fully supports 4K displays (as well as 1440p and other higher resolutions) but some emulators such as RetroArch will always run using the active screen resolution, meaning the emulation will also run in 4K. On slower computers and when resource intensive shaders are in use, the performance may be quite bad. Although it's possible to start ES-DE with the `--resolution` option (which also applies to any launched emulators), this is not really recommended. Full screen mode only works on Unix with this option and even then it's highly dependent on well-written graphics drivers for proper behavior. ES-DE uses the SDL library which insists on setting xrandr to panning mode when doing resolution changes, which is quite annoying especially when using Nvidia drivers. +ES-DE fully supports high resolution displays such as 4K, 6K, 1440p, ultrawide monitors etc. But some emulators such as RetroArch will also run using the same resolution which may cause performance problems on slower machines or when using resource intensive shaders. Although some emulator cores will have options to set their internal resolution, they still need to be scaled up to the screen resolution. On Unix it's possible to start ES-DE with the `--resolution` option to set a lower screen resolution (this will also affect the emulators) but this is not really recommended as it's highly dependent on well-written graphics drivers for proper behavior. -A better approach is to use the custom event scripts functionality in ES-DE to set a temporary resolution upon launching a game that will be reverted when returning from the emulator. This is detailed as an example for Unix in [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts) but should be possible to implement similarly on other operating systems such as macOS and Windows. +A better approach is to use the custom event scripts functionality to set a temporary resolution upon launching a game that will be reverted when returning to ES-DE. Such a setup is detailed in [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts) for Unix, but should hopefully be possible to implement similarly on macOS and Windows. ## Input device configuration -Upon startup of ES-DE, any connected controllers will be automatically detected and default button mappings will be applied. The same is true for the keyboard. Normally no additional configuration is required, but if you would like to apply custom button mappings for the devices, you can run the `Configure keyboard and controllers` tool from the `Input device settings` entry on the main menu. +ES-DE automatically configures the keyboard and any connected controllers using default button mappings, and normally no additional setup is required. But if you would like to apply custom button mappings for your devices, you can run the `Configure keyboard and controllers` tool from the `Input device settings` entry on the main menu. You can also force a run of this tool directly on startup via the command line argument `--force-input-config`. The actual procedure to map the inputs should be self-explanatory, just follow the on-screen instructions. -Be aware that any custom configuration is applied per unique device ID (GUID). So if two identical controllers are used with ES-DE, both will have the same configuration applied. But if connecting controllers of the same type but of different revisions, the GUID may differ and therefore the custom configuration would need to be applied to each device individually. +Any custom configuration is applied per unique device ID (GUID). So if two identical controllers are used with ES-DE, both will have the same configuration applied. If connecting controllers of the same type but of different revisions, the GUID may differ and therefore the custom configuration would need to be applied to each device individually. Note that custom button mappings will not change the help prompts. If you have issues with your input configuration, as a last resort you can reset all the mappings by deleting or renaming the file ~/.emulationstation/es_input.xml. -**Note:** If you experience double button presses with your DualShock 4 controller on macOS, please read about the workaround for this issue in the [Known issues](CHANGELOG.md#known-issues) section of the changelog. +If you experience double button presses with your DualShock 4 controller on macOS, please read about the workaround for this issue in the [Known issues](CHANGELOG.md#known-issues) section of the changelog. ## System view (main screen) -When starting EmulationStation with the default settings, you will see the main screen first. From here you can navigate your game systems and enter their respective gamelists. +When starting ES-DE with the default settings, you will see the System view first. From here you can navigate your game systems and enter their respective gamelists. -Depending on the theme, the system navigation carousel can be either horizontal or vertical. The default theme rbsimple-DE provides horizontal navigation, i.e. you browse your systems be scrolling left or right. +Depending on the theme, the system navigation carousel can be either horizontal or vertical. The default theme rbsimple-DE provides horizontal navigation, i.e. you browse your systems by scrolling left or right. -The game systems are sorted by their full names, as defined in es_systems.xml. +The game systems are sorted by their full names, as defined in the es_systems.xml file. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_system_view.png "ES-DE System View") _The **System view** is the default starting point for the application, it's here that you browse through your game systems._ @@ -175,13 +176,13 @@ _The **System view** is the default starting point for the application, it's her The gamelist view is where you browse and start your games, and it's where you will spend most of your time using ES-DE. -Upon startup with the default settings, ES-DE is set to the gamelist view style **Automatic**. In this mode the application will look for any game media files (videos and images) and set the view style accordingly. If at least one image is found for any game, the view style **Detailed** will be shown, and if at least one video file is found, the view style **Video** will be selected (superceding the Detailed style). If no game media files are found for a system, the simple **Basic** view will be selected. Note that this automatic selection is applied per game system. +Upon startup with the default settings, ES-DE is set to the gamelist view style **Automatic**. In this mode the application will look for any game media files (videos and images) and set the view style accordingly. If at least one image is found for any game, the view style **Detailed** will be shown, and if at least one video file is found, the view style **Video** will be selected (superceding the Detailed style). If no game media files are found for a system, the simple **Basic** view style will be selected. This automatic selection is applied per game system. -Also note that the Video view style requires that the theme supports it. If not, the Detailed style will be selected instead. (The default theme rbsimple-DE supports both of these view styles). +Note that the Video view style requires that the theme supports it. If not, the Detailed style will be selected instead. The default theme rbsimple-DE supports both of these view styles. -It's possible to manually set a specific gamelist view style in the UI settings entry of the main menu, but this is applied globally regardless of what media files are available per game system. The manual setting also overrides the theme-supported view styles which has the potential of making ES-DE very ugly indeed. +It's possible to manually set a specific gamelist view style in the UI settings entry of the main menu, but this is applied globally regardless of what media files are available per game system. The manual setting also overrides the theme-supported view styles which has the potential of making ES-DE very ugly indeed if the theme does not support the selected view style. -In addition to the styles just described, there is a **Grid** view style as well, but as of ES-DE version 1.0 this is highly experimental and its use is not recommended. Future versions will update this style to a more useful state. +In addition to the styles just described, there is a **Grid** view style as well, but as of ES-DE version 1.1 this is highly experimental and its use is not recommended. Future versions may update this style to a more useful state or it may be removed entirely. If the theme supports it, there's a gamelist information field displayed in the gamelist view, showing the number of games for the system (total and favorites) as well as a folder icon if a folder has been entered. When applying any filters to the gamelist, the game counter is replaced with the amount of games filtered, as in 'filtered / total games', e.g. '19 / 77'. If there are game entries in the filter result that are marked not to be counted as games, the number of such files will be indicated as 'filtered + filtered non-games / total games', for example '23 + 4 / 77' indicating 23 normal games, 4 non-games out of a total of 77. Due to this approach it's theoretically possible that the combined filtered game amount exceeds the number of counted games in the collection, for instance '69 + 11 / 77'. This is not considered a bug and is so by design. This gamelist information field functionality is specific to EmulationStation Desktop Edition so older themes will not support this. @@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ If the theme supports it, there's a gamelist information field displayed in the _The **Gamelist view** is where you browse the games for a specific system._ ![alt text](images/current/es-de_basic_view_style.png "ES-DE Basic View Style") -_Here's an example of what the Basic view style looks like. Needless to say, ES-DE is not intended to be used like this. After scraping some game media for the system, the view style will automatically change to Detailed or Video (assuming the Automatic view style has been selected)._ +_Here's an example of what the Basic view style looks like. Needless to say, ES-DE is not intended to be used like this. After scraping some game media for the system, the view style will automatically change to Detailed or Video (assuming the Automatic view style option has been selected)._ ## UI modes @@ -201,13 +202,13 @@ These modes mandate the functionalty provided by the application in the followin * Kiosk - The main menu will be severely restricted, only displaying the entry to change the audio volume. The game options menu will be restricted as well, removing the metadata editor and the ability to modify custom game collections. And finally the ability to flag or unflag games as favorites will be removed. Apart from this all games will be playable. * Kid - Only games marked as being suitable for children will be displayed (this flag is set manually per game using the metadata editor). Additionally, the game options menu is disabled, as well as the screensaver controls and the ability to flag and unflag games as favorites. There is also a separate option available to enable or disable the main menu when in Kid mode, see **Enable menu in kid mode** for additional information. -There is an unlock code available to revert to the Full mode from the Kiosk or Kid mode, as is described when changing this setting from the main menu. By default the button sequence is **Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A**. It works to use either a keyboard or a configured controller to input the passkey sequence, but it can't be entered when a menu is open. +There is an unlock code available to revert to the Full mode from the Kiosk or Kid mode, as is described when changing this setting from the main menu. By default the button sequence is **Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A** (or equivalent buttons if an Xbox controller is not used). Either the keyboard or a controller can be used to input the passkey sequence, but it can't be entered when a menu is open. -The application can also be forced into any of the three modes via the command line options `-force-full`, `--force-kiosk` and `-force-kid`. Note that this is only temporary until the restart of the application, unless the settings menu is entered and the setting is saved to the configuration file (this assumes that the main menu is available in the selected UI mode of course). +The application can also be forced into any of the three modes via the command line options `--force-full`, `--force-kiosk` and `--force-kid`. This is only temporary until the restart of the application, unless the settings menu is entered and the setting is saved to the configuration file (this assumes that the main menu is available in the selected UI mode of course). ## Help system -There is a help system available throughout the application that provides an overview of the possible actions and buttons that can be used. Note though that some general button actions are never shown, such as the ability to quick jump in gamelists, menus and text input fields using the shoulder and trigger buttons. It's also possible to disable the help system using a menu option for a somewhat cleaner look. +There is a help system available throughout the application that provides an overview of the possible actions and buttons that can be used. But some general actions are never shown, such as the ability to quick jump in gamelists, menus and text input fields using the shoulder and trigger buttons. It's also possible to disable the help system using a menu option for a somewhat cleaner look. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_folder_support.png "ES-DE Help System") _The help system is displayed at the bottom of the screen, showing the various actions currently available._ @@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ _The help system is displayed at the bottom of the screen, showing the various a ## General navigation -The built-in help system will provide a contextual summary of the available navigation options, but here's still a general overview. These are the buttons optionally mapped in the previous input device configuration step. Note that this is not an exhaustive list, but it covers most situations. The button names are based on the Xbox 360 controller as that is the naming convention used by the SDL library which handles the controller input in ES-DE. +The built-in help system will provide a contextual summary of the available navigation options, but here's still a general overview. These are the buttons mappings automatically applied by ES-DE, but they can be customized using the input configurator as described earlier in this document. It's not an exhaustive list, but it covers most situations. The button names are based on the Xbox 360 controller as that is the naming convention used by the SDL library which handles the controller input in ES-DE. The default keyboard mappings are shown in brackets. @@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ Navigate up and down in gamelists, between systems in the system view (if the th **Left and right**\ _(Arrow left / Arrow right)_ -Navigate between gamelists (if _Quick system select_ has been activated in the options), or between systems in the system view (if the theme has a horizontal carousel). +Navigate between gamelists (if the _Quick system select_ option has been enabled), between systems in the system view (if the theme has a horizontal carousel) and between media files in the media viewer. If the _Enable screensaver controls_ option has been enabled, either button also randomly selects a new game when using the Video or Slideshow screensavers. **Start button**\ _(Escape)_ @@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ Opens and closes the main menu. **Back button**\ _(F1)_ -Opens and closes the game options menu in the gamelist view, or toggles the screensaver in the system view (if the _Enable screensaver controls_ setting is activated). +Opens and closes the game options menu in the gamelist view, or toggles the screensaver in the system view (if the _Enable screensaver controls_ setting is enabled). **Left and right shoulder buttons**\ _(Page up / Page down)_ @@ -252,12 +253,12 @@ Jumps to the first and last entry of the gamelists, menus and text edit dialogs. **Left and right thumbstick click**\ _(F2 / F3)_ -Jumps to a random game or system depending on whether pressed when in the system view or gamelist view. This functionality can be enabled or disabled via a menu option. +Jumps to a random game or system depending on whether pressed when in the system view or gamelist view. Only available if the _Enable random system or game button_ option has been enabled. **A button**\ _(Enter)_ -Used to open gamelists from the system view, launch games, choose menu entries etc. +Opens gamelists from the system view, launches games, selects menu entries etc. **B button**\ _(Back key)_ @@ -272,24 +273,23 @@ Starts the game media viewer (which is accessible from the gamelist views). Used **Y button**\ _(Insert on Unix and Windows, F13 on macOS)_ -Marks games as favorites in the gamelist view (this functionality can be enabled or disabled via a menu option). Used by some other minor functions as explained by the help system and/or this guide. +Marks games as favorites in the gamelist view (if the _Enable toggle favorites button_ option has been enabled). Used by some other minor functions as explained by the help system and/or this guide. **F4 (keyboard only)** -Quits the application. - +Quits the application immediately. ## Getting your games into ES-DE -For most systems, this is very straightforward, just put your game files into the folder corresponding to the platform name (these names can be found at the [end](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#supported-game-systems) of this guide.) +For most systems this is straightforward, just put your game files into the folder corresponding to the platform name (these names can be found at the [end](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#supported-game-systems) of this guide.) -For some systems though, a more elaborate setup is required, and we will attempt to cover such situations in this guide as well. +But for some systems a more elaborate setup is required, and we will attempt to cover such situations in this guide as well. ### Single game file installation -Let's start with the simple scenario of a single ROM game file per platform, which is the case for the majority of systems. In this example we're setting up ES-DE to play Nintendo Entertainment System games. +Let's start with the simple scenario of a single ROM file per game, which is the case for the majority of platforms. In this example we're setting up ES-DE to play Nintendo Entertainment System games. -The supported file extensions are listed in [unix/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/unix/es_systems.xml), [macos/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/macos/es_systems.xml) and [windows/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/windows/es_systems.xml) but if you generated the game system directories on first application startup, there will be a file named systeminfo.txt in each game system directory that includes the supported file extensions. +The supported file extensions are listed in [unix/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/unix/es_systems.xml), [macos/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/macos/es_systems.xml) and [windows/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/windows/es_systems.xml) but if you generated the game system directories on first application startup, there will be a file named systeminfo.txt in each game system directory that includes the list of supported file extensions. Here is the snippet from the unix/es_systems.xml file: @@ -305,13 +305,13 @@ Here is the snippet from the unix/es_systems.xml file: ``` -It's required that the ROM files are in one of the supported file extensions, or ES-DE won't find them. +The ROM files must named using one of the supported file extensions, or ES-DE won't find them. It's highly recommended to use filenames that are corresponding to the full name of the game, otherwise you will need to manually feed the scraper the game name when scraping which is very tedious. -**Note:** Symlinks are supported for both ROM directories and individual game files, but make sure to not symlink between files within the same system or there may be undefined application behavior when scraping, launching games etc. +**Note:** Symlinks are supported for both ROM directories and individual game files, but make sure to not symlink between files within the same system directory or there may be undefined application behavior when scraping, launching games etc. -The default game directory folder is ~/ROMs. On Unix this defaults to /home/\/ROMs, on macOS /Users/\/ROMs and on Windows C:\Users\\\ROMs\. Be aware that if the --home command line option was used to start ES-DE, the tilde `~` symbol will resolve to whatever directory was passed as an argument to this option. +The default game directory folder is ~/ROMs. On Unix this defaults to /home/\/ROMs, on macOS /Users/\/ROMs and on Windows C:\Users\\\ROMs\. If the --home command line option was used to start ES-DE, the tilde `~` symbol will resolve to whatever directory was passed as an argument to this option. If ES-DE can't find any game files during startup, an error message will be displayed with the option to change the ROM directory path. @@ -370,11 +370,11 @@ It's of course also possible to skip this type of directory structure and put al When setting up games in this fashion, it's recommended to scrape the directory in addition to the .m3u file as it looks nicer to see the metadata for the games also when browsing the folders. ES fully supports scraping folders, although some metadata is not included for folders for logical reasons. If you only scrape the folders and not the actual game files, it may look somehow ok when browsing, but when a game is part of a collection, the metadata will be missing there. This includes the **Last played** and **All games** collections for instance. Also note that while it's possible to mark a folder as a favorite, it will never be part of a collection, such as **Favorites**. -As well it's recommended to set the flags **Exclude from game counter** and **Exclude from automatic scraper** for the actual game files so that they are not counted for the game statistics display and not scraped when running the multi-scraper. If you don't want to hide the individual game files but still want a cleaner look, it's also possible to set the flag **Hide metadata fields** for the game files. +It's also recommended to use the metadata editor to set the flags **Exclude from game counter** and **Exclude from automatic scraper** for the actual game files so that they are not counted for the game statistics display and not scraped when running the multi-scraper. If you don't want to hide the individual game files but still want a cleaner look, it's also possible to set the flag **Hide metadata fields** for the game files. ### Special game installation considerations -Not all systems are as simple as described above, or sometimes there are multiple ways to configure the systems. So specifics to such systems will be covered here. Consider this a work in progress as there are many systems supported by ES-DE. +Not all systems are as simple as described above, or there may be multiple ways to do the configuration. Specifics for such systems will be covered here. Consider this a work in progress as there are many platforms supported by ES-DE. #### Arcade and Neo Geo @@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ For all the supported MAME variants as well as Final Burn Alpha/FinalBurn Neo an For instance `topgunnr.7z` will be expanded to `Top Gunner`. -This is used by the TheGamesDB scraper where the expanded file names are used for game searches. (Screenscraper natively supports searches using the MAME names). It's also quite nice to have the gamelist populated with the expanded game names even before any scraping has taken place. +This is required by the TheGamesDB scraper where the expanded file names are used for game searches. (Screenscraper natively supports searches using the MAME names). It's also quite nice to have the gamelist populated with the expanded game names even before any scraping has taken place. #### Nintendo Switch @@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ Apart from the potential difficulty in locating the emulator binary, there are s There are multiple ways to run Amiga games, but the recommended approach is to use WHDLoad. The best way is to use hard disk images in `.hdf` or `.hdz` format, meaning there will be a single file per game. This makes it just as easy to play Amiga games as any console with game ROMs. -An alternative would be to use `.adf` images as not all games may be available with WHDLoad support. For this, you can either put single-disk images in the root folder or in a dedicated adf directory, or multiple-disk games in separate folders. It's highly recommended to create `.m3u` playlist files for multi-disk images as described above. +An alternative would be to use `.adf` images as not all games may be available with WHDLoad support. For this, you can either put single-disk images in the root folder or in a dedicated adf directory, or multiple-disk games in separate folders. It's highly recommended to create `.m3u` playlist files for multi-disk images as described earlier. Here's an example of what the file structure could look like: @@ -430,13 +430,13 @@ Advanced topics such as the need for the Amiga Kickstart ROMs to run Amiga games #### DOS / PC -The DOS (and PC) platform uses the DOSBox emulator and the recommended approach here is to keep the directory structure intact, just as if running the game on a real DOS computer. So this means one folder per game in ES-DE. It's also recommended to set the metadata field **Count as game** to off for all files but the actual file used to launch the game, i.e. the binary or a .bat batch file. This is done so that the game counter correctly reflects the number of games you have installed. It's also possible to mark files and subdirectories as hidden to avoid seeing them in ES-DE. Both of these fields can be set using the metadata editor. +The DOS (and PC) platform uses the DOSBox emulator and the recommended approach here is to keep the directory structure intact, just as if running the game on a real DOS computer. So this means one folder per game in ES-DE. It's also recommended to set the metadata field **Count as game** to off for all files but the actual file used to launch the game, i.e. the binary or the .bat batch file. This is done so that the game counter correctly reflects the number of games you have installed. It's also possible to mark files and subdirectories as hidden to avoid seeing them in ES-DE. Both of these fields can be set using the metadata editor. Apart from this, DOS games should work the same as any other system. The game folders can be scraped so that it looks nice when browsing the list of games, but make sure to also scrape the files used to launch the games or otherwise the entries in the collections **Last played**, **Favorites** and **All games** as well as any custom collections will miss the game metadata and game media. If you don't have these collections activated, then this can of course be skipped. #### Ports -Ports are not really executed using emulators, but are rather applications running natively in the operating system. The easiest way to handle these is to add a simple shell script or batch file where you can customize the exact launch parameters for the game. +Ports are not really executed using emulators, but are rather applications running natively on the operating system. The easiest way to handle these is to add a simple shell script or batch file where you can customize the exact launch parameters for the game. It's of course possible to add these as single files to the root folder, but normally it's recommended to setup a separate folder per game as there may be more than a single file available per game. You very often want to have easy access to the game setup utility for instance. @@ -486,9 +486,11 @@ You don't need to set execution permissions for these scripts, ES-DE will run th #### Lutris -Lutris runs only on Unix so it's only present as a placeholder in the es_systems.xml templates for macOS and Windows. +Lutris runs only on Unix so it's only present as a placeholder in the es_systems.xml files for macOS and Windows. -These games are executed via the Lutris binary (well it's actually a Python script), and you simply create a shell script per game using the syntax `lutris lutris:rungame/` +These games are executed via the Lutris binary (well it's actually a Python script) and you simply create a shell script per game inside the lutris system directory. + +Add the game information to each shell script using the syntax `lutris lutris:rungame/` You can see the list of installed games by running this command: ``` @@ -522,9 +524,9 @@ As an alternative, you can add the Lutris games to the Ports game system, if you **Note:** Launching Steam games currently has some limitations such as missing error messages when a game fails to start as well as missing game output logging. ES-DE also needs to keep running in the background when launching Steam games, which has some minor side effects. -As for the setup, it's recommended to place shell scripts/batch files directly in the root folder, with the filenames of these scripts corresponding to the game names. +As for the setup, it's recommended to place shell scripts/batch files directly in the steam system directory, with the filenames of these scripts corresponding to the game names. -Add the game information to each file using the syntax `steam://rungameid/` +Add the game information to each shell script using the syntax ` steam://rungameid/` Here's an example for the game Broforce, first on Unix with the filename `Broforce.sh`: @@ -551,6 +553,7 @@ On Linux it's very easy to find all your game ID's by looking in the desktop ent ``` grep steam ~/.local/share/applications/*desktop | grep rungameid +/home/myusername/.local/share/applications/Broforce.desktop:Exec=steam steam://rungameid/274190 /home/myusername/.local/share/applications/FEZ.desktop:Exec=steam steam://rungameid/224760 /home/myusername/.local/share/applications/INSIDE.desktop:Exec=steam steam://rungameid/304430 /home/myusername/.local/share/applications/Subnautica.desktop:Exec=steam steam://rungameid/264710 @@ -561,7 +564,7 @@ This of course assumes that you have menu entries setup for your Steam games. ## RetroArch setup -ES-DE is a game browsing frontend and does not provide any emulation by itself. It does however come preconfigured for use with emulators as setup in the `es_systems.xml` file. By default it's primarily setup for use with [RetroArch](https://www.retroarch.com) but this can be modified if needed. If you're interested in customizing your es_systems.xml file, please refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md) document which goes into details on the structure of this file and more advanced configuration topics in general. +ES-DE is a game browsing front-end and does not provide any emulation by itself. It does however come preconfigured for use with emulators as setup in the `es_systems.xml` file. By default it's primarily setup for use with [RetroArch](https://www.retroarch.com) but this can be modified if needed. If you're interested in customizing your es_systems.xml file, please refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#es_systemsxml) document which goes into details on the structure of this file and more advanced configuration topics in general. Installation and configuration of RetroArch and other emulators is beyond the scope of this guide, but many good resources can be found online on how to do this. @@ -569,7 +572,7 @@ Keep in mind that ES-DE will not install any RetroArch cores, you need to do thi A general recommendation regarding installation on Linux is to try to avoid the RetroArch releases included in the OS repositories as they're usually quite limited with regards to the number of available cores, and they're usually older versions. Instead go for either the Snap, Flatpak or AppImage distributions or build from source. -The default es_systems.xml file is paired with a file named es_find_rules.xml which tries to find the emulators and cores using some predefined rules. For Windows this should normally just work, and for macOS as well as long as RetroArch is installed at the default location /Applications/RetroArch.app. For Unix/Linux there is one exception that is problematic which is AppImages as there is no real standardized directory for storing these images. ES-DE will look for the RetroArch AppImage in the following locations in addition to searching the system PATH: +The default es_systems.xml file is paired with a file named es_find_rules.xml which tries to find the emulators and cores using some predefined rules. For Windows this should normally just work, and for macOS too as long as RetroArch is installed at the default location /Applications/RetroArch.app. For Unix/Linux there is one exception that is problematic which is AppImages as there is no real standardized directory for storing these images. ES-DE will look for the RetroArch AppImage in the following locations in addition to searching the PATH variable: ``` ~/Applications/RetroArch-Linux-x86_64.AppImage @@ -586,7 +589,7 @@ Scraping means downloading metadata and game media files (images and videos) for ES-DE supports the two scrapers [ScreenScraper.fr](https://www.screenscraper.fr) and [TheGamesDB.net](https://thegamesdb.net). In general TheGamesDB supports less formats and less systems, but in some areas such PC gaming, the quality is better and sometimes ScreenScraper is missing some specific information such as release dates where TheGamesDB may be able to fill in the gaps. -Here is an overview of what's supported by ES-DE and these scrapers: +Here's an overview of what's supported when using these scrapers: | Media type or option | ScreenScraper | TheGamesDB | | :----------------------- | :-----------: | :--------: | @@ -616,7 +619,7 @@ The single-game scraper is launched from the metadata editor. You navigate to a ### Multi-scraper -The multi-scraper is accessed from the main menu by selecting **Scrape**. +The multi-scraper is accessed from the main menu by entering the **Scraper** menu and then selecting the **Start** button. ### Scraping process @@ -624,17 +627,17 @@ The process of scraping games is basically identical between the single-game scr By default, ES-DE will search using the metadata name of the game. If no name has been defined via scraping or manually using the metadata editor, this name will correspond to the physical file name minus all text inside either normal brackets `()` or square brackets `[]`. So for example the physical filename `Mygame (U) [v2].zip` will be stripped to simply `Mygame` when performing the scraping. -The behavior of using the metadata name rather than the file name can be changed using the setting **Search using metadata name**. +By disabling the option **Search using metadata name**, the physical file name will be used even if there is a scraped or manually entered name for the game. -Note that there is an exception to this behavior for arcade games (MAME and Neo Geo). For ScreenScraper the short MAME names are used by default as this scraper service fully supports that. For TheGamesDB the short names are instead expanded to the full games names using a lookup in the MAME name database supplied with the ES-DE installation. It's possible to override this automatic behavior by using the _Refine Search_ button in the scraper GUI if the search did not yield any results, or if the wrong game was returned. In general though, searching for arcade games is very reliable assuming the physical game files follow the MAME name standard. +There is however an exception to this for arcade games (MAME and Neo Geo) when using the TheGamesDB scraper. As this service does not support searches using the short MAME names, these will be expanded to the full game names via a lookup in the MAME name database supplied with the ES-DE installation. But if using ScreenScraper the _Search using metadata name_ option is always respected as this service fully support scraping based on the short MAME names. -Apart from this, hopefully the scraping process should be self-explanatory once you try it in ES-DE. +Apart from this, hopefully the scraping process should be self-explanatory. ### Manually copying game media files -If you already have a library of game media (images and videos) you can manually copy it into ES-DE. +If you already have a library of game media (images and videos) you can manually copy these files into ES-DE. -The default directory is `~/.emulationstation/downloaded_media//` +The default media directory is `~/.emulationstation/downloaded_media//` For example on Unix: ``` @@ -662,7 +665,7 @@ The media directories per game system are: * screenshots * videos -**Note:** The miximages are generated by ES-DE. Normally that takes place automatically when scraping, but in this example of manually copying existing media files, the miximage offline generator should be used instead. This tool can generate the miximages for the complete game collection in one go. How that works is explained elsewhere in this guide. +The miximages are generated by ES-DE. Normally that takes place automatically when scraping, but in this example of manually copying existing media files, the miximage offline generator should be used instead. This tool can generate the miximages for the complete game collection in one go. How that works is explained elsewhere in this guide. The media files must correspond exactly to the game files. For example the following game: @@ -677,7 +680,7 @@ Must have corresponding filenames for its media files in this fashion: ~/.emulationstation/downloaded_media/c64/videos/Multidisk/Last Ninja 2/Last Ninja 2.mp4 ``` -JPG and PNG file formats and file extensions are supported for images, and AVI, MKV, MOV, MP4 and WMV are supported for videos. +For images .jpg and .png file extensions are supported and for videos .avi, .mkv, .mov, .mp4 and .wmv are supported. Remember that on Unix filenames are case sensitive, and as well the file extensions must be in lower case, such as .png instead of .PNG or .Png or the file won't be found. @@ -686,7 +689,7 @@ It's possible to change the game media directory location from within ES-DE, for ## Main menu -This menu can be accessed from both the system view and gamelist views. It contains the scraper, the input configuration tool and the application settings. Settings are saved when navigating back from any menu screen, assuming at least one setting was changed. Pressing F4 to quit the application will also save any pending changes. +This menu can be accessed from both the system view and gamelist view. It contains the scraper, application settings and various tools such as the input configurator and the miximage generator. Settings are saved when navigating back from any menu screen, assuming at least one setting was changed. Pressing the application exit key (F4) will also save any pending changes. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_main_menu.png "ES-DE Main Menu") _The ES-DE main menu._ @@ -706,7 +709,7 @@ Scraper service selection, currently ScreenScraper.fr and TheGamesDB.net are sup **Scrape these games** -Criteria for what games to include in the scraping. It can be set to _All games, Favorite games, No metadata, No game image, No game video_ or _Folders only_. +Criteria for what games to include. It can be set to _All games, Favorite games, No metadata, No game image, No game video_ or _Folders only_. **Scrape these systems** @@ -718,7 +721,7 @@ Setup of ScreenScraper account. **Use this account for ScreenScraper** -Whether to use the account that has been setup here. If this is disabled, the username and password configured on this screen will be ignored during scraping. This can be useful if you have scraping issues and want to check whether it's related to your account or if it's a general problem. Note that screenscraper.fr does not seem to return a proper error message regarding incorrect username and password, but starting ES-DE with the --debug flag will indicate in the log file whether the username was included in the server response. +Whether to use the account that has been configured. If this is disabled, the username and password setup on this screen will be ignored during scraping. This can be useful if you have scraping issues and want to check whether it's related to your account or if it's a general problem. Note that screenscraper.fr does not seem to return a proper error message regarding incorrect username and password, but starting ES-DE with the --debug flag will indicate in the log file whether the username was included in the server response. **ScreenScraper username** @@ -726,15 +729,15 @@ Username as registered on screenscraper.fr. **ScreenScraper password** -The password as registered on screenscraper.fr. Note that the password is masked using asterisks on this screen, and the password input field will be blank when attempting to update an existing password. Entering a new password will of course work, and it will be saved accordingly. Be aware though that the es_settings.xml file contains the password in clear text. +The password as registered on screenscraper.fr. This is masked using asterisks on the screen, and the password input field will be blank when attempting to update an existing password. This is by design and not a bug. Be aware that the es_settings.xml file contains the password in clear text. #### Content settings -Describes the content types to include in the scraping. Most users will probably not need to adjust so many of these. +Describes the content types to include in the scraping. **Scrape game names** -Whether to scrape the names of the games. This does not affect the actual files on the filesystem and is only used for viewing and sorting purposes. The downloaded media files are also matched against the physical game files on the filesystem, and not against this metadata. See the comments under _Overwrite files and data_ below to understand some additional implications regarding the game names. +Whether to scrape the names of the games. This does not affect the actual files on the filesystem and the game name is primarily used for appearance and sorting purposes. The downloaded media files are matched against the physical game files on the filesystem, and not against this metadata. See the comments under _Overwrite files and data_ below to understand some additional implications regarding game names. **Scrape ratings** _(ScreenScraper only)_ @@ -762,15 +765,15 @@ Logotype for the game. **Scrape 3D box images** _(ScreenScraper only)_ -These images are primarily used for generating miximages, but they can also be viewed directly from the media viewer. +These are primarily used for generating miximages. #### Miximage settings -These are the settings for the miximage generator, which can either be run from the scraper (single-game scraper or multi-scraper) or from the offline miximage generator. The miximages combines the screenshot, marquee and box images to make a composite picture that is displayed in the gamelist view. There are various settings for the generator. +These are the settings for the miximage generator, which can either be run from the scraper (single-game scraper or multi-scraper) or from the offline generator. The miximage combines the screenshot, marquee and box images to make a composite picture that is displayed in the gamelist view. There are various settings for the generator. **Miximage resolution** -It's possible to select betweeen 1280x960, 1920x1440 and 640x480 resolutions for the generated miximages. It's normally recommended to use the default option 1280x960 which gives good image quality without slowing down ES-DE too much. But for very weak machines, 640x480 may be a better option. However 1920x1440 is normally not recommended as it brings little quality improvements over 1280x960 and makes the gamelist browsing feel less responsive. +It's possible to select betweeen the 1280x960, 1920x1440 and 640x480 resolutions for the generated miximages. It's normally recommended to use the default option 1280x960 which gives good image quality without slowing down ES-DE too much. But for very weak machines, 640x480 may be a better option. The 1920x1440 resolution is normally not recommended as it brings little quality improvements over 1280x960 and slows down the gamelist browsing. **Screenshot scaling method** @@ -810,7 +813,7 @@ This is not a setting, but instead a GUI to generate miximages offline without g #### Other settings -Various scraping settings. Most users will probably not need to adjust so many of these. +Various scraping settings. **Region** _(ScreenScraper only)_ @@ -818,7 +821,7 @@ The region to scrape for. This affects game names, game media and release dates. **Preferred language** _(ScreenScraper only)_ -Multiple languages are supported by ScreenScraper, and this affects translations of game genres and game descriptions. As the option name implies this is the preferred language only as not all games have had their metadata translated. Unfortunately some less used languages have quite few games translated to them but hopefully this will improve over time as there's an ongoing community effort to make more translations. If the preferred language is not available for a game, ES-DE will fall back to scraping the English metadata. +Multiple languages are supported by ScreenScraper, and this affects translations of game genres and game descriptions. As the option name implies this is the preferred language only as not all games have had their metadata translated. Unfortunately some less used languages have quite few games translated, but hopefully this will improve over time as there's an ongoing community effort to make more translations. If the preferred language is not available for a game, ES-DE will fall back to using the English metadata. **Overwrite files and data** @@ -826,17 +829,15 @@ Affects both overwriting of metadata as well as actual game media files on the f **Halt on invalid media files** -With this setting enabled, if any media files returned by the scraper seem to be invalid, the scraping is halted and an error message is presented where it's possible to retry or cancel the scraping of the specific game. In the case of multi-scraping it's also possible to skip the game and proceed to the next one in the queue. With this setting disabled, all media files will always be accepted and saved to disk. As of ES-DE v1.0 the file verification is crude as it's just checking if the file is less than 350 bytes in size which should indicate a server error response rather than a real media file. In some exceedingly rare situations, proper media files may be smaller than 350 bytes, and for those rare instances, simply disabling this setting temporarily allows these files to be scraped. Future versions of ES-DE will implement proper CRC/checksum verifications for ScreenScraper and possibly media file integrity checks for TheGamesDB (as this scraper service does not provide file checksums). +With this setting enabled, if any media files returned by the scraper seem to be invalid, the scraping is halted and an error message is presented where it's possible to retry or cancel the scraping of the specific game. In the case of multi-scraping it's also possible to skip the game and proceed to the next one in the queue. With this setting disabled, all media files will always be accepted and saved to disk. As of ES-DE v1.1 the file verification is quite basic and future versions will improve on this by using file checksums and other file integrity checks. **Search using metadata names** -By default ES-DE will perform scraper searches based on the game name that has been manually set in the metadata editor, or that has been previously scraped. If you prefer to search using the physical name regardless of such data being available, then turn off this option. - -Note that when using TheGamesDB as scraper service for arcade games (MAME/Neo Geo), the short MAME name will always be expanded to the full game name as this scraper does not properly support searches using MAME names. Also note that you need to save the game name in the metadata editor before you can use it for scraping. +By default ES-DE will perform scraper searches based on the game name that has been manually set in the metadata editor, or that has been previously scraped. If you prefer to search using the physical file name regardless of such data being available, then disable this option. Note that when using TheGamesDB as scraper service for arcade games (MAME and Neo Geo), the short MAME name will always be expanded to the full game name as this scraper service does not support searches using short MAME names. **Interactive mode** _(Multi-scraper only)_ -If turned off, the scraping will be fully automatic and will not stop on multiple results or on missing games. +If turned off, the scraping will be fully automatic and will not stop on multiple results or when no matching game was found. **Auto-accept single game matches** _(Multi-scraper only)_ @@ -844,7 +845,7 @@ Used in conjunction with interactive mode, to not having to confirm searches whe **Respect per-file scraper exclusions** _(Multi-scraper only)_ -It's possible to set a flag per game file or directory to indicate that it should be excluded from the multi-scraper. This setting makes it possible to override that restriction and scrape all entries anyway. +It's possible to set a flag per game file or folder using the metadata editor to indicate that it should be excluded from the multi-scraper. This setting makes it possible to override that restriction and scrape all entries anyway. **Exclude folders recursively** _(Multi-scraper only)_ @@ -854,17 +855,17 @@ If this setting is enabled and a folder has its flag set to be excluded from the Enabling this option causes folders themselves to be included by the scraper. This is useful for DOS games or any multi-disk games where there is a folder for each individual game. -**Auto-retry on peer verification errors** +**Auto-retry on peer verification errors** _(ScreenScraper only)_ ScreenScraper sometimes has issues with its TLS certificates which causes searches to randomly fail. It's normally resolved within a few days, but in the meanwhile activating this setting will have the scraper automatically make up to eight additional attempts when this error occurs. That is normally enough to complete the search, but if not, just press 'Retry' in the error dialog and ES-DE will try eight more times. This setting applies to both the single-game scraper and the multi-scraper. The following error notification dialog and corresponding es_log.txt entry is displayed when this error occurs: "Error downloading thumbnail: SSL peer certificate or SSH remote key was not OK". ### UI settings -Various settings that affects the user interface. +Various settings that affect the user interface. **Gamelist on startup** -If set to _None_, the system view will be showed. Any other value will jump to that game system automatically on startup. +If set to _None_, the system view will be displayed. Any other value will jump to that game system automatically on startup. **Gamelist view style** @@ -872,7 +873,7 @@ Sets the view style to _Automatic, Basic, Detailed, Video_ or _Grid_. See the de **Transition style** -Graphical transition effect, either _Slide, Fade_ or _Instant_. +Transition animation when navigating between the views. Can be set to _Slide, Fade_ or _Instant_. **Theme set** @@ -904,7 +905,7 @@ With this option enabled, there are black pillarboxes (and to a lesser extent le **Render scanlines for gamelist videos** _(OpenGL renderer only)_ -Whether to use a shader to render scanlines for videos in the gamelist view. The effect is usually pretty subtle as the video is normally renderered in a limited size in the GUI, and the scanlines are sized relative to the video window size. +Whether to use a shader to render scanlines for videos in the gamelist view. The effect is usually pretty subtle as the video is normally renderered in a limited size in the GUI and the scanlines are sized relative to the video window size. **Sort folders on top of gamelists** @@ -916,7 +917,7 @@ Whether to sort your favorite games above your other games in the gamelists. **Add star markings to favorite games** -With this setting enabled, there is a star symbol added at the beginning of the game name in the gamelist views. It's strongly recommended to keep this setting enabled if the option to sort favorite games above non-favorites has been enabled. If not, favorite games would be sorted on top of the gamelist with no visual indication that they are favorites, which would be very confusing. +With this setting enabled, there is a star symbol added at the beginning of the game name in the gamelist views. It's strongly recommended to keep this setting enabled if the option to sort favorite games above non-favorites has been enabled. If not, favorite games would be sorted on top of the gamelist with no visual indication that they are favorites, which would be quite confusing. **Use plain ASCII for special gamelist characters** @@ -924,15 +925,15 @@ There are some special characters in ES-DE such as the favorites star, the folde **Enable quick list scrolling overlay** -With this option enabled, there will be an overlay displayed when scrolling the gamelists quickly, i.e. when holding down the _Up_, _Down_, _Left shoulder_ or _Right shoulder_ buttons for some time. The overlay will darken the background slightly and display the first two characters of the game name. If the game is a favorite and the setting to sort favorites above non-favorites has been enabled, a star will be shown instead. +With this option enabled, there will be an overlay displayed when scrolling the gamelists quickly, i.e. when holding down the _Up_, _Down_, _Left shoulder_ or _Right shoulder_ buttons for some time. The overlay will darken the background slightly and display the first two characters of the game names. If the game is a favorite and the setting to sort favorites above non-favorites has been enabled, a star will be shown instead. **Enable toggle favorites button** -This setting enables the _Y_ button for quickly toggling a game as favorite. Although this may be convenient at times, it's also quite easy to accidentally remove a favorite tagging of a game when using the application more casually. As such it could sometimes make sense to disable this functionality. It's of course still possible to mark a game as favorite using the metadata editor when this setting is disabled. For additional restrictions, the application can be set to Kid or Kiosk mode as is explained [elsewhere](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#ui-modes) in this guide. Note that this setting does not affect the functionality to use the _Y_ button to add games to custom collections. +This setting enables the _Y_ button for quickly toggling a game as favorite. Although this may be convenient at times, it's also quite easy to accidentally remove a favorite tagging of a game when using the application more casually. As such it could sometimes make sense to disable this functionality. It's of course still possible to mark a game as favorite using the metadata editor when this setting is disabled. The option does not affect the use of the _Y_ button to add or remove games when editing custom collections. **Enable random system or game button** -This enables or disables the functionality to jump to a random system or game. It's mapped to the thumbstick click button, either the left or right thumbstick will work. The help prompts will also visually indicate whether this option is enabled or not. +This enables or disables the ability to jump to a random system or game. It's mapped to the thumbstick click button, either the left or right thumbstick will work. The help prompts will also visually indicate whether this option is enabled or not. **Enable gamelist filters** @@ -940,11 +941,11 @@ Activating or deactivating the ability to filter your gamelists. This can normal **Enable quick system select** -If enabled, it will be possible to jump between gamelists using the _Left_ and _Right_ buttons without having to first go back to the system view. +If enabled, it's possible to navigate between gamelists using the _Left_ and _Right_ buttons without having to first go back to the System view. **Display on-screen help** -Activating or deactivating the built-in help system that provides contextual information regarding button usage. +Activates or deactivates the built-in help system that provides contextual information regarding button usage. **Play videos immediately (override theme)** @@ -960,7 +961,7 @@ With this option enabled, the video will continue to run when viewing the images **Stretch videos to screen resolution** -This will fill the entire screen surface but will possibly break the aspect ratio of the video. +This will fill the entire screen surface but will probably break the aspect ratio of the video. **Render scanlines for videos** _(OpenGL renderer only)_ @@ -980,7 +981,7 @@ Settings for the built-in screensaver. **Start screensaver after (minutes)** -After how many minutes to start the screensaver. If set to 0 minutes, the timer will be deactivated and the screensaver will never start automatically. It's however still possible to start the screensaver manually in this case, assuming the _Enable screensaver controls_ setting is enabled. Note that while any menu is open, the screensaver will not start regardless of how this timer setting is configured. +After how many minutes to start the screensaver. If set to 0 minutes, the timer will be deactivated and the screensaver will never start automatically. It's however still possible to start the screensaver manually in this case, assuming the _Enable screensaver controls_ setting is enabled. While any menu is open, the screensaver will not start regardless of how this timer setting is configured. **Screensaver type** @@ -988,7 +989,7 @@ The screensaven type to use; _Dim_, _Black_, _Slideshow_ or _Video_. **Enable screensaver controls** -This includes the ability to start the screensaver manually using the _Back_ button from the system view, but also while the screensaver is running to jump to a new random game using the _Left_ and _Right_ buttons, to launch the game currently shown using the _A_ button and to jump to the game in its gamelist using the _Y_ button. If this setting is disabled, any key or button press will stop the screensaver. +This enables the ability to start the screensaver manually using the _Back_ button from the system view, but also while the screensaver is running to jump to a new random game using the _Left_ and _Right_ buttons, to launch the game currently shown using the _A_ button and to jump to the game in its gamelist using the _Y_ button. If this setting is disabled, any key or button press will stop the screensaver. #### Slideshow screensaver settings @@ -1000,11 +1001,11 @@ For how long to display images before changing to the next game. Allowed range i **Stretch images to screen resolution** -This will fill the entire screen surface but will possibly break the aspect ratio of the image. +This will fill the entire screen surface but will probably break the aspect ratio of the image. **Display game info overlay** -This will display an overlay in the upper left corner, showing the game name and the game system name. A star following the game name indicates that it's a favorite. +This will display an overlay in the upper left corner, showing the game name and the game system name. A star following the game name indicates that it's flagged as a favorite. **Render scanlines** _(OpenGL renderer only)_ @@ -1020,7 +1021,7 @@ Whether to search the custom image directory recursively. **Custom image directory** -The directory for the custom images. The tilde `~` symbol can be used which will expand to the ES-DE home directory. It's also possible to use the %ESPATH% and %ROMPATH% variables which will set the directory relative to the ES-DE binary directory or the ROM directory. +The directory for the custom images. The tilde `~` symbol can be used which will expand to the user home directory. It's also possible to use the %ESPATH% and %ROMPATH% variables which will set the directory relative to the ES-DE binary directory or the ROMs directory. #### Video screensaver settings @@ -1028,15 +1029,15 @@ Options specific to the video screensaver. **Swap videos after (seconds)** -For how long to play videos before changing to the next game. Allowed range is between 0 and 120 seconds in 2-second increments. If set to 0 (which is the default setting), the next game will be selected after the entire video has finished playing. +For how long to play videos before changing to the next game. Allowed range is between 0 and 120 seconds in 2-second increments. If set to 0 (which is the default value), the next game will be selected after the entire video has finished playing. **Stretch videos to screen resolution** -This will fill the entire screen surface but will possibly break the aspect ratio of the video. +This will fill the entire screen surface but will probably break the aspect ratio of the video. **Display game info overlay** -This will display an overlay in the upper left corner, showing the game name and the game system name. A star following the game name indicates that it's a favorite. +This will display an overlay in the upper left corner, showing the game name and the game system name. A star following the game name indicates that it's flagged as a favorite. **Render scanlines** _(OpenGL renderer only)_ @@ -1049,11 +1050,11 @@ Whether to use a shader to render a slight horizontal blur which somewhat simula ### Sound settings -General sound settings. +Various sound settings. **System volume** _(Linux and Windows only)_ -As the name implies, this sets the overall system volume and not the volume specifically for ES-DE. Note that the volume change is applied only after leaving the sound settings menu. +As the name implies, this sets the overall system volume and not the volume specifically for ES-DE. The volume change is applied when leaving the sound settings menu and not immediately when moving the slider. **Navigation sounds volume** @@ -1061,11 +1062,11 @@ Sets the volume for the navigation sounds. **Video player volume** -Sets the volume for the video player. This applies to the gamelist views, the media viewer and the video screensaver. +Sets the volume for the video player. This applies to the gamelist view, the media viewer and the video screensaver. **Play audio for videos in the gamelist view** -With this turned off, audio won't play for game videos in the gamelists. +With this turned off, audio won't play for videos in the gamelists. **Play audio for media viewer videos** @@ -1086,36 +1087,36 @@ Settings related to the input devices, i.e. the keyboard and controllers. **Controller type** -This setting gives the ability to choose between the controller types Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and SNES (Super Nintendo). Doing so changes the help icons and help text as well as the icons and text for the input device configuration tool. The setting is only cosmetic and does not change the controller behavior or the controller button mappings. +This setting gives the ability to choose between the controller types _Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5_ and _SNES_ (Super Nintendo). Doing so changes the help icons as well as the icons and text for the input device configurator. The setting is only cosmetic and does not change the controller behavior or the controller button mappings. **Only accept input from first controller** -If enabling this option, only the first controller detected during startup will send its input to ES-DE. This is a good way to limit potential chaos with mutliple users fighting over which games to start. Note though that disconnecting and reconnecting controllers while ES-DE is running may change what is considered the first controller. This setting does not affect the emulators in any way, it's only applied to ES-DE itself. +If enabling this option, only the first controller detected during startup will send its input to ES-DE. This is a good way to limit potential chaos with mutliple users fighting over which games to start. Disconnecting and reconnecting controllers while ES-DE is running may change what is considered the first controller. This setting does not affect the emulators in any way, it's only applied to ES-DE. **Configure keyboard and controllers** -This tool allows the configuration of button mappings for the keyboard and any connected controllers, as explained [here](USERGUIDE.md#input-device-configuration). Normally this is not required as ES-DE automatically configures the input devices, but this tool allows overriding the default button mappings which may be useful in some instances, primarily for the keyboard configuration. Be aware that custom button mappings will not change the help icons or text. +This tool provides configuration of button mappings for the keyboard and controllers, as explained [here](USERGUIDE.md#input-device-configuration). Normally this is not required as ES-DE automatically configures all input devices, but button customizations may be useful in some special situations. Be aware that custom button mappings will not change the help icons or help text. ### Game collection settings -Handles collections, which are built using the games already present in your game systems. See the [collections](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#game-collections) section below in this document for more information. +Handles collections, which are assembled using games present in the game systems. See the [collections](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#game-collections) section below in this document for more information. -**Finish editing _'COLLECTION NAME'_ collection** _(Entry only displayed when editing a custom collection)_ +**Finish editing _'COLLECTION NAME'_ collection** _(Entry only visible when editing a custom collection)_ Self explanatory. **Automatic game collections** -This opens a screen that lets you enable or disable the automatic game collections _All games, Favorites_ and _Last played_. +This lets you enable or disable the automatic game collections _All games, Favorites_ and _Last played_. **Custom game collections** This lets you enable or disable your own custom game collections. -**Create new custom collection from theme** _(Entry only displayed if the ability is provided by the theme set)_ +**Create new custom collection from theme** _(Entry only visible if the ability is provided by the theme set)_ -If the theme set in use provides themes for custom collections, then this entry can be selected here. For example, there could be themes for _"Fighting games"_ or _"Driving games"_ etc. The default rbsimple-DE theme set does not provide such themes for custom collections and in general it's not recommended to use this approach, as is explained [later](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#custom-collections) in this guide. +If the theme set in use provides themes for custom collections, then this entry can be selected. For example, there could be themes for _"Fighting games"_ or _"Driving games"_ etc. The default rbsimple-DE theme set does not provide such themes for custom collections and in general it's not recommended to use this approach, as is explained [later](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#custom-collections) in this guide. **Create new custom collection** @@ -1123,7 +1124,7 @@ This lets you create a completely custom collection with a name of your choice. **Delete custom collection** -This permanently deletes a custom collection, including its configuration file on the file system. A list of available collections is shown, and a confirmation dialog is displayed before committing the actual deletion. Only one collection at a time can be deleted. +This permanently deletes a custom collection, including its configuration file on the file system. A list of available collections is shown, and a confirmation dialog is displayed before performing the actual deletion. Only one collection at a time can be deleted. **Sort favorites on top for custom collections** @@ -1131,11 +1132,11 @@ Whether to sort your favorite games above your other games. This is disabled by **Display star markings for custom collections** -With this option enabled, there is a star marking added to each favorite game name. It works identically to the setting _Add star markings to favorite games_ under the _UI settings_ but is applied specifically to custom collections. It's disabled by default. +With this option enabled, there is a star marking added to each favorite game name. It works identically to the setting _Add star markings to favorite games_ under the _UI settings_ menu but is applied specifically to custom collections. It's disabled by default. **Group unthemed custom collections** -With this enabled, if you have created custom collections and there is no theme support for the names you've selected, the collections will be grouped in a general collection which is correctly themed. It's strongly recommended to keep this option enabled as otherwise your collections would be completely unthemed which doesn't make much sense. This option is provided mostly for testing and theme development purposes. +With this enabled, if you have created custom collections and there is no theme support for the names you've selected, the collections will be grouped in a general collection system which is correctly themed. It's strongly recommended to keep this option enabled as otherwise your collections would be completely unthemed which doesn't make much sense. This option is provided mostly for testing and theme development purposes. **Show system names in collections** @@ -1147,11 +1148,11 @@ These are mostly technical settings. **VRAM limit** -The amount of video RAM to use for the application. Defaults to 256 MiB which works fine most of the time when running at 1080p resolution and with a moderate amount of game systems. If running at 4K resolution and with lots of game systems enabled, it's recommended to increase this number to 512 MiB or so to avoid stuttering transition animations caused by unloading and loading of textures from the cache. Enabling the GPU statistics overlay gives some indications regarding the amount of texture memory currently used by ES-DE, which is helpful to determine a reasonable value for this option. The allowed range for the settings is 80 to 1024 MiB. If you try to set it lower or higher than this by passing such values as command line parameters or by editing the es_settings.xml file manually, ES-DE will log a warning and automatically adjust the value within the allowable range. +The amount of video RAM to use for the application. Defaults to 256 MiB (80 MiB on the Raspberry Pi) which works fine most of the time when running at 1080p resolution and with a moderate amount of game systems. If running at 4K resolution or similar and with lots of game systems enabled, it's recommended to increase this number to 512 MiB or possibly more to avoid stuttering transition animations caused by unloading and loading of textures from the cache. Enabling the GPU statistics overlay gives some indications regarding the amount of texture memory currently used by ES-DE, which is helpful to determine a reasonable value for this option. The allowed range for the settings is 80 to 1024 MiB. If you try to set it lower or higher than this by passing such values as command line parameters or by editing the es_settings.xml file manually, ES-DE will log a warning and automatically adjust the value within the allowable range. **Display/monitor index (requires restart)** -This option sets the display to use for ES-DE for multi-monitor setups. The possible values are the monitor index numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4. If a value is set here for a display that does not actually exist, then ES-DE will set it to 1 upon startup. Index 1 is the primary display of the computer. It's also possible to override the setting by passing the --display command line argument. Doing so will also overwrite the display index setting in es_settings.xml. Be aware that the Display/monitor index option only changes the display used by ES-DE; the emulators need to be configured separately (which can easily be done globally if using RetroArch). +This option sets the display to use for ES-DE for multi-monitor setups. The possible values are the monitor index numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4. If a value is set here for a display that does not actually exist, then ES-DE will set it to 1 upon startup. Index 1 is the primary display for the computer. It's also possible to override the setting by passing the --display command line argument. Doing so will also overwrite the display index setting in es_settings.xml. The Display/monitor index option only changes the display used by ES-DE; the emulators need to be configured separately (which can easily be done globally if using RetroArch). **Fullscreen mode (requires restart)** _(Unix only)_ @@ -1159,11 +1160,11 @@ This gives you a choice between _Normal_ and _Borderless_ modes. With the border **Video player** _(Only on some builds and operating systems)_ -This gives the choice between FFmpeg and VLC, which is applied to the gamelist videos, the media viewer and the video screensaver. The VLC video player is not included by default and is omitted on some builds. If this option is not available in the menu, it means that the FFmpeg video player is in use. +This gives the choice between FFmpeg and VLC, which is applied to the gamelist videos, the media viewer and the video screensaver. The VLC video player is not included on some builds. If this option is not available in the menu, it means that the FFmpeg video player is in use. **When to save game metadata** -The metadata for a game is updated by scraping and by manual editing (using the metadata editor), but also when launching it as this updates the _Times played_ counter and the _Last played_ date. This setting enables you to define when to write such metadata changes to the gamelist.xml files. Setting the option to _Never_ will disable writing to these files altogether, except for some special conditions such as when a game is manually deleted using the metadata editor, or when scraping using the multi-scraper (the multi-scraper will always save any updates immediately to the gamelist.xml files). In theory _On exit_ will give some performance gains, but it's normally recommended to leave the setting at its default value which is _Always_. Note that with the settings set to _Never_, any updates such as the _Last played_ date will still be shown on screen, but during the next application startup, any values previously saved to the gamelist.xml files will be read in again. As well, when changing this setting to _Always_ from either of the two other options, any pending changes will be immediately written to the gamelist.xml files. +The metadata for a game is updated by scraping or by manual editing using the metadata editor, but also when launching it as this updates the _Times played_ counter and the _Last played_ timestamp. This setting enables you to define when to write such metadata changes to the gamelist.xml files. Setting the option to _Never_ will disable writing to these files altogether, except for some special conditions such as when a game is manually deleted using the metadata editor, or when scraping using the multi-scraper (the multi-scraper will always save any updates immediately to the gamelist.xml files). In theory _On exit_ will give some performance gains, but it's normally recommended to leave the setting at its default value which is _Always_. Note that with the settings set to _Never_, any updates such as the _Last played_ date will still be shown on screen, but during the next application startup, any values previously saved to the gamelist.xml files will be read in again. As well, when changing this setting to _Always_ from either of the two other options, any pending changes will be immediately written to the gamelist.xml files. **Game media directory** @@ -1171,7 +1172,7 @@ This setting defines the directory for the game media, i.e. game images and vide **Hide taskbar (requires restart)** _(Windows only)_ -With this setting enabled, the taskbar will be hidden when launching ES-DE, and it will be restored when the application exits. This can make for a more seamless experience as the taskbar could otherwise flash by briefly when launching games and when returning from games. It could potentially cause some issues on some Windows installations though, so the option is disabled by default. +With this setting enabled, the taskbar will be hidden when launching ES-DE, and it will be restored when the application exits. This can make for a more seamless experience as the taskbar could otherwise flash by briefly when launching and when returning from games. But it can potentially cause issues on some Windows installations so it's disabled by default. **Run in background (while game is launched)** @@ -1179,11 +1180,11 @@ Enabling this option makes ES-DE continue to run while a game is launched. This **AMD and Intel GPU game launch workaround** _(Windows only)_ -There is an issue with launching games on some Windows computers, seemingly on those with AMD and Intel GPUs. The emulator will start and work correctly, but the screen will be blank. Enabling this option is a workaround for that problem, with the drawback that the screen will become white instead of black when the emulator is loading. This option is enabled by default, so experiment with disabling it for a slightly better user experience. If you're using an Nvidia GPU, chances are high that it will then work fine. An alternative workaround is to enable the _Run in background (while game is launched)_ option described above, so test which gives the best result. The two options can however not be enabled at the same time. Hopefully this whole game launching issue can be resolved completely in a future ES-DE release. +There is an issue with launching games on some Windows computers, seemingly on those with AMD and Intel GPUs. The emulator will start and work correctly, but the screen will be blank. Enabling this option is a workaround for that problem, with the drawback that the screen will become white instead of black when the emulator is loading. This option is enabled by default, so experiment with disabling it for a slightly better experience. If you're using an Nvidia GPU, chances are high that it will then work fine. An alternative workaround is to enable the _Run in background (while game is launched)_ option described above, so test which gives the best result. The two options can however not be enabled at the same time. Hopefully this whole game launching issue can be resolved completely in a future ES-DE release. **Upscale video frame rate to 60 FPS (FFmpeg)** -With this option enabled, videos with lower frame rates than 60 FPS, such as 24 and 30 will get upscaled to 60 FPS. This results in slightly smoother playback for some videos. There is a small performance hit from this option, so on slower machines it may be necessary to disable it for fluent video playback. This setting has no effect when using the VLC video player. If the VLC video player is not included in the ES-DE build, the "(FFmpeg)" text is omitted from the setting name. +With this option enabled, videos with lower frame rates than 60 FPS, such as 24 and 30 will get upscaled to 60 FPS. This results in slightly smoother playback for some videos. There is a small performance hit from this option, so on weaker machines it may be necessary to disable it for fluent video playback. This setting has no effect when using the VLC video player. If the VLC video player is not included in the ES-DE build, the "(FFmpeg)" text is omitted from the setting name. **Per game launch command override** @@ -1191,15 +1192,15 @@ If enabled, you can override the launch command defined in es_systems.xml on a p **Show hidden files and folders (requires restart)** -If this option is disabled, hidden files and folders within the ROM directory tree are excluded from ES-DE. On Unix this means those starting with a dot, and on Windows it's those set as hidden by using an NTFS attribute. This setting is probably mostly useful for special situations and is not to be confused with the next option which hides files based on metadata configuration within ES-DE. +If this option is disabled, hidden files and folders within the ROMs directory tree are excluded from ES-DE. On Unix this means those starting with a dot, and on Windows it's those set as hidden by using an NTFS attribute. This setting is only intended for special situations and is not to be confused with the next option which hides files based on metadata configuration within ES-DE. **Show hidden games (requires restart)** -You can mark games as hidden in the metadata editor, which is useful for instance for DOS games where you may not want to see some batch files and executables inside ES-DE, or for multi-disk games where you may only want to show the .m3u playlists and not the individual game files, as is discussed [here](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#multiple-gamefiles-installation). By disabling this option these files will not be processed at all when ES-dE starts up. If you enable the setting you will see the files, but their name entries will be almost transparent in the gamelist view to visually indicate that they are hidden. +You can mark games as hidden in the metadata editor, which is useful for instance for DOS games where you may not want to see some batch files and executables inside ES-DE, or for multi-disk games where you may only want to show the .m3u playlists and not the individual game files. By disabling this option these files will not be processed at all when ES-DE starts up. If you enable the option you will see the files, but their name entries will be almost transparent in the gamelist view to visually indicate that they are hidden. **Enable custom event scripts** -It's possible to trigger custom scripts for a number of actions in ES-DE, as is discussed [below](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts), and this setting decides whether this functionality is enabled. It's recommended to leave it at its default off value unless you need it as it generates unnecessary debug logging. +It's possible to trigger custom scripts for a number of actions in ES-DE, as is discussed [below](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts), and this setting decides whether this functionality is enabled. It's recommended to leave it at its default off value unless you need it as it otherwise generates unnecessary debug logging. **Only show ROMs from gamelist.xml files** @@ -1207,19 +1208,19 @@ If enabled, only ROMs that have metadata saved to the gamelist.xml files will be **Disable desktop composition (requires restart)** _(Unix only)_ -The window manager desktop composition can adversely affect the framerate of ES-DE, especially on weaker graphic cards and when running in 4K resolution. As such the desktop compositor is disabled by default, although the window manager has to be configured to allow applications to do this for the option to have any effect. Note that this setting can cause problems with some graphic drivers (notably the Nvidia proprietary drivers) so if you see strange flickering and similar after quitting ES-DE, then disable the setting. In case of such issues, make sure that the emulator is also not blocking the composition (e.g. RetroArch has a corresponding option). +The window manager desktop composition can adversely affect the framerate of ES-DE, especially on weaker graphic cards and when running at higher resolution. As such the desktop compositor is disabled by default, although the window manager has to be configured to allow applications to do this for the option to have any effect. Note that this setting can cause problems with some graphic drivers (notably the Nvidia proprietary drivers) so if you see strange flickering and similar after quitting ES-DE, then disable the setting. In case of such issues, make sure that the emulator is also not blocking the composition (e.g. RetroArch has a corresponding option). **Display GPU statistics overlay** -Displays the framerate and VRAM statistics as an overlay. You normally never need to use this unless you're debugging a performance problem or similar. **Note:** As of ES-DE version 1.0 the VRAM usage statistics is not accurate. This will be addressed in a future version. +Displays the framerate and VRAM statistics as an overlay. You normally never need to use this unless you're debugging a performance problem or similar. **Note:** As of ES-DE v1.1 the VRAM usage statistics is not accurate. This will be addressed in a future version. **Enable menu in kid mode** -Enabling or disabling the menu when the UI mode is set to Kid. Mostly intended for testing purposes as it's normally not recommended to enable the menu in this restricted mode. +Enabling or disabling the menu when the UI mode is set to Kid. Mostly intended for testing purposes as it's not recommended to enable the menu in this restricted mode. **Show quit menu (reboot and power off entries)** _(Unix and Windows only)_ -With this setting enabled, there is a Quit menu shown as the last entry on the main menu which provides options to quit ES-DE, to reboot the computer or to power off the computer. With this setting disabled, there will simply be an entry shown to quit the application instead of the complete quit menu. +With this setting enabled, there is a Quit menu shown as the last entry on the main menu which provides options to quit ES-DE, to reboot the computer or to power off the computer. With this setting disabled, there will simply be an entry to quit the application instead of the complete quit menu. ### Quit @@ -1240,9 +1241,9 @@ Self explanatory. ## Game options menu -This menu is opened from the gamelist views, and can't be accessed from the system view. The menu changes slightly depending on the context, for example if a game file or a folder is selected, or whether the current system is a collection or a normal game platform. +This menu is opened from the gamelist view, and can't be accessed from the system view. The menu changes slightly depending on the context, for example if a game file or a folder is selected, or whether the current system is a collection or a normal game platform. -You open the menu using the **Back** button, and by pressing **B** or selecting the **Apply** button any settings such as letter jumping using the quick selector or sorting changes are applied. If you instead press the Back button again, the menu is closed without applying any changes. +You open the menu using the **Back** button, and by pressing **B** or selecting the **Apply** button any settings such as letter jumping using the quick selector or sorting changes are applied. If you instead press the Back button again or select the **Cancel** button, the menu is closed without applying any changes. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_game_options_menu.png "ES-DE Game Options Menu") _The game options menu as laid out when opening it from within a custom collection, which adds the menu entry to add or remove games from the collection._ @@ -1251,7 +1252,7 @@ Here's a summary of the menu entries: ### Jump to.. -This provides the ability to jump to a certain letter using a quick selector. If the setting to sort favorite games above non-favorites has been selected (it is enabled by default), then it's also possible to jump to the favorites games by choosing the star symbol. If there are only folders or only favorite games in a certain game list, these games and folders will be indexed as well, making it possible to jump betwen them using the quick selector. +This provides a quick selector for jumping to a certain letter. If the setting to sort favorite games above non-favorites has been enabled, then it's also possible to jump to the favorites games by choosing the star symbol. Similarly if there is a mix of folders and game files in the system and folders are configured to be sorted on top, then it's possible to jump to the folders using the folder icon. If there are only folders or only favorite games for the system, these games and folders will be indexed by their first letters and the star and folder symbols will be disabled in the quick selector. ### Sort games by @@ -1274,14 +1275,14 @@ The secondary sorting is always in ascending filename order. ### Filter gamelist -Choosing this entry opens a separate screen where it's possible to apply a filter to the gamelist. The filter is persistent throughout the program session, or until it's manually reset. The option to reset all filters is also shown on the same screen. +Choosing this entry opens a separate screen where it's possible to apply a filter to the gamelist. The filter is persistent throughout the program session, or until it's manually reset. The option to reset all filters is shown on the same screen. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_gamelist_filters.png "ES-DE Gamelist Filters") _The gamelist filter screen, accessed from the game options menu._ The following filters can be applied: -**Text Filter (Game name)** +**Text Filter (game name)** **Favorites** @@ -1322,7 +1323,7 @@ This opens the metadata editor for the currently selected game file or folder. ## Metadata editor -In the metadata editor, you can modify the metadata for a game, scrape for game info and media files, delete media files and gamelist entries, or delete the entire game. When manually modifying a value, it will change color from gray to blue, and if the scraper has changed a value, it will change to red. When leaving the metadata editor you will be asked whether you want to save any settings done manually or by the scraper. +In the metadata editor, you can modify the metadata, scrape for game info and media files, clear the entry which will delete all metadata and game media files, or delete the entire game which also removes its file on the filesystem. When manually modifying a value, it will change color from gray to blue, and if the scraper has changed a value, it will change to red. When leaving the metadata editor you will be asked whether you want to save any settings done manually or by the scraper. ![alt text](images/current/es-de_metadata_editor.png "ES-DE Metadata Editor") _The metadata editor._ @@ -1337,7 +1338,7 @@ This is the name that will be shown when browsing the gamelist. If no sortname h **Sortname** _(files only)_ -This entry makes it possible to change the sorting of a game without having to change its name. For instance it can be used to sort _Mille Miglia_ as _1000 Miglia_ or _The Punisher_ as _Punisher, The_. Be aware though that the _Jump to..._ quick selector on the game options menu will base its index on the first character of the sortname if it exists for a game, which could be slightly confusing in some instances when quick jumping in the gamelist. +This entry makes it possible to change the sorting of a game without having to change its name. For instance it can be used to sort _Mille Miglia_ as _1000 Miglia_ or _The Punisher_ as _Punisher, The_. Note that the _Jump to..._ quick selector on the game options menu will base its index on the first character of the sortname if it exists for a game, which could be slightly confusing in some instances when quick jumping in the gamelist. **Description** @@ -1365,11 +1366,11 @@ One or multiple genres for the game. **Players** -The amount of players the game supports. +The amount of players the game supports. This could be an absolute number such as 1 or 3, or it could be a range, such as 2-4. **Favorite** -A flag to indicate whether this is a favorite. Can also be set directly from the gamelist view by using the _Y_ button (unless this has been disabled in the main menu settings). +A flag to indicate whether this is a favorite game. This flag can also be set directly from the gamelist view by using the _Y_ button (assuming the _Enable toggle favorites buttom_ option is enabled). **Completed** @@ -1381,7 +1382,7 @@ A flag to mark whether the game is suitable for children. This will be applied a **Hidden** -A flag to indicate that the game is hidden. If the corresponding option has been set in the main menu, the game will not be shown. Useful for example for DOS games to hide batch scripts and unnecessary binaries or to hide the actual game files for multi-disk games. If a file or folder is flagged as hidden but the correponding option to hide hidden games has not been enabled, then the opacity of the text will be lowered significantly to make it clear that it's a hidden game. +A flag to indicate that the game is hidden. If the corresponding option has been set in the main menu, the game will not be shown. Useful for example for DOS games to hide batch scripts and unnecessary binaries or to hide the actual game files for multi-disk games. If a file or folder is flagged as hidden but the corresponding option to hide hidden games has not been enabled, then the opacity of the text will be lowered significantly to make it clear that it's a hidden entry. **Broken/not working** @@ -1393,7 +1394,7 @@ A flag to indicate whether the game should be excluded from being counted. If th **Exclude from multi-scraper** -Whether to exclude the file from the multi-scraper. This is quite useful in order to avoid scraping all the disks for multi-disk games for example. There is an option in the scraper settings to ignore this flag, but by default the scraper will respect it. Note that the manual single-file scraper will work regardless of whether this flag is set or not. +Whether to exclude the file from the multi-scraper. This is quite useful in order to avoid scraping all the disks for multi-disk games for example. There is an option in the scraper settings to ignore this flag, but by default the multi-scraper will respect it. **Hide metadata fields** @@ -1401,7 +1402,7 @@ This option will hide most metadata fields in the gamelist view. The intention i **Launch command** _(files only)_ -Here you can override the launch command for the game, for example to use a different emulator than the default one for the game system. Very useful for MAME/arcade games. +Here you can override the launch command for the game, for example to use a different emulator than the default one defined for the game system. Very useful for MAME/arcade games. **Times played** _(files only)_ @@ -1413,7 +1414,7 @@ For game files, there will be five buttons displayed on the bottom of the metada **Scrape** -Opens the single-game scraper, which is explained [above](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#single-game-scraper) in this guide. The _Y_ button can also be used as a shortcut to start the scraper without having to navigate to this button. +Opens the single-game scraper. The _Y_ button can also be used as a shortcut to start the scraper without having to navigate to this button. **Save** @@ -1425,7 +1426,7 @@ Cancels any changes and closes the window. **Clear** -This will remove any media files for the file or folder and also remove its entry from the gamelist.xml file. The actual game file or folder will however _not_ be deleted. A prompt will be shown asking for confirmation. +This will remove any media files for the file or folder and also remove its entry from the gamelist.xml file, effectively deleting all metadata. The actual game file or folder will however _not_ be deleted. A prompt will be shown asking for confirmation. **Delete** _(Files only)_ @@ -1437,7 +1438,7 @@ The game media viewer displays videos and images in fullscreen mode and is launc If a game video is available, this will be played automatically when launching the viewer. The _left_ and _right_ buttons are used to navigate betweeen the game media files. By default the video will continue to play when browsing the images, but this can be changed with a setting as described earlier in this document. -The other settings for the media viewer are similar to what is available for the screensavers; the audio can be enabled or disabled, the video can be stretched to fill the entire screen and scanlines and blur can be rendered on top of it. For screenshots, scanlines can be rendered. All these options are configurable using the main menu. +The other settings for the media viewer are similar to what is available for the screensavers; the audio can be enabled or disabled, the video can be stretched to fill the entire screen and scanlines and blur can be rendered on top of it. For screenshots, scanlines can be rendered. All these options are configurable via the _UI Settings_ menu. Pressing any other button than _left_ or _right_ closes the media viewer. @@ -1449,7 +1450,9 @@ Numerous options can be set for these screensavers, as detailed [here](USERGUIDE The Dim screensaver simply dims and desaturates the current view and Black will show a black screen. The Slideshow and Video screensavers are more interesting as they can display images and videos from your game collection. In addition to this, the Slideshow screensaver can be configured to only show images from a specified directory. -If the option **Enable screensaver controls** has been activated, you can manually toggle the screensaver from the system view by pressing the **Back** button. In addition to this, for the Slideshow and Video screensavers, the controls will allow you to jump to a new random image or video using the **Left** and **Right** buttons on your keyboard or controller. It's also possible to launch the game currently displayed using the **A** button, and the **Y** button will jump to the game in its gamelist without starting it. +If the option **Enable screensaver controls** has been activated, you can manually toggle the screensaver from the system view by pressing the **Back** button. In addition to this, for the Slideshow and Video screensavers, the controls will allow you to jump to a new random image or video by using the **Left** and **Right** buttons on your keyboard or controller. It's also possible to launch the game currently displayed using the **A** button, and the **Y** button will jump to the game in its gamelist without starting it. + +For the video and slideshow screensavers, an overlay can be enabled via the screensaver options that displays the game name and the game system as well as a star to indicate that the game is marked as a favorite. If the Video screensaver has been selected and there are no videos available, a fallback to the Dim screensaver will take place. The same is true for the Slideshow screensaver if no game images are available. @@ -1458,13 +1461,13 @@ _An example of what the video screensaver looks like._ ## Game collections -ES-DE provides two types of collections, **Automatic collections** and **Custom collections**, the latter being defined by the user. Collections are as the name implies only collections of games already present in your actual game systems, so they're basically grouping your games together into convenient views. As such the use of collections is entirely optional, but it is a very nice feature and it's worth some effort to setup. +ES-DE provides two types of collections, **Automatic collections** and **Custom collections**, the latter being defined by the user. Collections are as the name implies only collections of games already present in your actual game systems, so they're basically grouping of games into convenient views. As such the use of collections is entirely optional, but especially the custom collection support is a very nice feature which is worth some effort to setup. The numerous collection settings available are covered [here](USERGUIDE-DEV.md#game-collection-settings). ### Automatic collections -The automatic collections are named **All games**, **Favorites** and **Last played**. The 'All games' collection simply groups all your game systems into one big list, 'Favorites' combines all your games marked as favorites from all your game systems, and 'Last played' is a list of the 50 last games you have launched. +The automatic collections are named **All games**, **Favorites** and **Last played**. The _All games_ collection simply groups all your game systems into one big list, _Favorites_ combines all your games marked as favorites from all your game systems, and _Last played_ is a list of the 50 last games you have launched. These automatic collections can be individually enabled or disabled by going to the main menu, selecting **Game collection settings** and then **Automatic game collections**. @@ -1476,7 +1479,7 @@ These are collections that you create yourself. Examples could be grouping in ge If the theme set supports it, you can create a custom collection directly from a theme. However, rbsimple-DE does not provide such themes as it's believed that grouping them together in a dedicated Collections system is a more elegant solution. Especially since the theme set would need to ship with an almost endless amount of collection themes for whatever categories the users would like to use for their game collections. -So if you have enabled the option **Group unthemed custom collections** (it's enabled by default), any collections you add will show up in the special Collections system. Here you can access them just as you would access folders inside a regular gamelist. The amount of games per collection is shown in the description, and a random game is displayed each time you browse through the list (you can quick jump to this game by pressing the **Y** button). +So if you have enabled the option **Group unthemed custom collections** (it's enabled by default), any collections you add will show up in the special Collections system. Here you can access them just as you would access folders inside a regular gamelist. The amount of games per collection is shown in the description, and a random game is displayed each time you browse through the list (you can also quick jump to this random game by pressing the **Y** button). To create a custom collection, go to **Game collection settings** from the main menu and choose **Create new custom collection**. @@ -1486,7 +1489,7 @@ The collection will now be created and the collection edit mode will be entered. Removing games works the same way, just press **Y** to remove it if it's already present in your collection. You can do this either from the gamelist where the game was added, or from the collection itself. -Only files can be part of collections, not folders. As well, games marked as hidden or to not be counted as games can't be added either. +Only files can be part of collections, not folders. Games marked as hidden or to not be counted as games can't be added either. During the time that the collection is being edited, any game that is part of the collection is marked with a leading tick symbol in the game name. @@ -1519,7 +1522,7 @@ The file contents is simply a list of ROM files, such as the following: Any changes to custom collections (for example adding or removing a game) will be immediately written to the corresponding collection configuration file. -Note that if you copy or migrate a collection from a previous version of EmulationStation or if you're setting up ES-DE on a new computer, even though you copy the files into the collections directory, they will not show up inside the application as you always need to enable the collections from the menu. ES-DE looks inside the es_settings.xml file during startup to see which collections should be enabled. +If you copy or migrate a collection from a previous version of EmulationStation or if you're setting up ES-DE on a new computer, the collection will not be enabled by just copying its configuration file to the `~/.emulationstation/collections` directory. You always need to explicitly enable each collection via the menu. If you're migrating from a previous version of EmulationStation that has absolute paths in the collection files, these will be rewritten with the %ROMPATH% variable the first time you make a change to the collection. @@ -1530,11 +1533,11 @@ ES-DE is fully themeable, and although the application ships with the comprehens Somewhat confusingly the terms _theme_ and _theme set_ are used to refer to the same thing. The technically correct term for what you apply to the application to achieve a different look is actually _theme set_ as it's a collection of a number of themes for a number of game systems. The bundled rbsimple-DE is an example of such a theme set. But in this guide and in other EmulationStation resources on the Internet, the term theme is often used to refer to the same thing as a theme set. -Note that this Desktop Edition fork adds additional features to the themes and more still will be added in future versions. This means that you may not get the full benefits of the application if you're using a different theme set. But effort is spent trying to make ES-DE backwards compatible with the available themes used by other EmulationStation versions. The exception to this are some themes made for the Recalbox and Batocera forks of EmulationStation as they have added a lot of additional theme functionality that ES-DE has no intention to replicate. +Note that the Desktop Edition fork has added additional features to the themes and more still will be added in future versions. This means that you may not get the full benefits of the application if you're using a different theme set which has not been updated specifically for ES-DE. But effort is spent trying to make ES-DE backward compatible with the available themes used by other EmulationStation versions. The exception to this are some themes made for the Recalbox and Batocera forks as they have added a lot of additional theme functionality that ES-DE does not support. Themes are most easily installed to your ES-DE home directory, i.e. `~/.emulationstation/themes`. By just adding the theme sets there, one folder each, they will be found during startup and you can then choose between them via the UI Settings menu on the main menu. -Note that although you can put additional themes in your ES-DE home directory, the default rbsimple-DE theme is located in your installation folder. For example this could be `/usr/share/emulationstation/themes` or `/usr/local/share/emulationstation/themes` on Unix, `/Applications/EmulationStation Desktop Edition.app/Contents/Resources/themes` on macOS or `C:\Program Files\EmulationStation-DE\themes` on Windows. +Although you can put additional themes in your ES-DE home directory, the default rbsimple-DE theme is located in your installation folder. For example this could be `/usr/share/emulationstation/themes` or `/usr/local/share/emulationstation/themes` on Unix, `/Applications/EmulationStation Desktop Edition.app/Contents/Resources/themes` on macOS or `C:\Program Files\EmulationStation-DE\themes` on Windows. If you would like to customize the rbsimple-DE theme, simply make a copy of the complete rbsimple-DE directory to ~/.emulationstation/themes and then that copy of the theme will take precedence over the one in the application installation directory. @@ -1545,7 +1548,7 @@ In this example, we've downloaded the [Carbon](https://github.com/RetroPie/es-th ~/.emulationstation/themes/es-theme-fundamental ``` -You would now have three entries for the Theme set selector in the UI settings menu, i.e. rbsimple-DE, es-theme-carbon and es-theme-fundamental. +We now have three entries in the _Theme set_ selector in the UI settings menu, i.e. rbsimple-DE, es-theme-carbon and es-theme-fundamental. Here are some resources where additional theme sets can be downloaded. @@ -1566,22 +1569,22 @@ _An example of a modified version of the [Fundamental](https://github.com/G-rila There are numerous locations throughout ES-DE where custom scripts will be executed if the option to do so has been enabled in the settings. By default it's deactivated so be sure to enable it to use this feature. -The setup for event scripts is a bit technical, so please refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts) document to see how it's configured. +The setup for event scripts is a bit technical, so refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#custom-event-scripts) document to see how it's configured. ## Portable installation (Windows only) -On Windows, ES-DE can be installed to and run from a removable media device such as a USB memory stick. Together with games and emulators this makes for a fully portable retro gaming solution. The setup is somewhat technical, please refer to [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#portable-installation-on-windows) to see how it's done. +On Windows, ES-DE can be installed to and run from a removable media device such as a USB memory stick. Together with games and emulators this makes for a fully portable retro gaming solution. The setup is somewhat technical, refer to [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#portable-installation-on-windows) to see how it's done. -## Command line arguments +## Command line options -Please refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#command-line-arguments) document for a list of the command line arguments per operating system. +Refer to the [INSTALL-DEV.md](INSTALL-DEV.md#command-line-options) document for a list of the command line options per operating system. ## Supported game systems -**Note:** The following list is what the default es_systems.xml files and the rbsimple-DE theme supports. This theme set is very comprehensive, so if you're using another theme, it may be that some or many of these systems are not supported. ES-DE will still work but the game system will not be themed which looks very ugly. +**Note:** The following list is what the default es_systems.xml files and the rbsimple-DE theme supports. This theme set is very comprehensive, so if you're using another theme, it may be that some or many of these systems are not supported. ES-DE will still work but the game system will unthemed which looks very ugly. Note as well that the list and corresponding es_systems.xml templates may not reflect what is readily available for all supported operating system. This is especially true on Unix/Linux if installing RetroArch via the OS repository instead of using the Snap or Flatpak distributions (or compiling from source code) as the repository versions are normally quite crippled. @@ -1589,20 +1592,20 @@ The column **Game system name** corresponds to the directory where you should pu Regional differences are handled by simply using the game system name corresponding to your region. For example for Sega Mega Drive, _megadrive_ would be used by most people in the world, although persons from North America would use _genesis_ instead. The same is true for _pcengine_ vs _tg16_ etc. This only affects the theme selection and the corresponding theme graphics, the same emulator and scraper settings are still used for the regional variants although that can of course be modified in the es_systems.xml file if you wish. -Sometimes the name of the console is (more or less) the same for multiple regions, and in those circumstances the region has been added as a suffix to the game system name. For instance `na` for North America has been added to `snes` (Super Nintendo) giving the system name `snesna`. The same goes for Japan, as in `megacd` and `megacdjp`. Again, this only affects the theme and theme graphics. +Sometimes the name of the console is (more or less) the same for multiple regions, and in those cases the region has been added as a suffix to the game system name. For instance `na` for North America has been added to `snes` (Super Nintendo) giving the system name `snesna`. The same goes for Japan, as in `megacd` and `megacdjp`. Again, this only affects the theme and theme graphics. For the **Full name** column, text inside square brackets [] are comments and not part of the actual game system name. The **Default emulator** column shows the emulator configured in es_systems.xml, and for emulators that support multiple cores, the configured core is shown inside brackets. Any system marked with an asterisk (*) in this column requires additional system/BIOS ROMs to run, as should be explained in the emulator documentation. -For additional details regarding which game file extensions are supported per system, refer to the es_systems.xml templates [unix/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/unix/es_systems.xml), [macos/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/macos/es_systems.xml) and [windows/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/windows/es_systems.xml). Normally the extensions setup in these files should cover everything that the emulators support. +For additional details regarding which game file extensions are supported per system, refer to the es_systems.xml files [unix/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/unix/es_systems.xml), [macos/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/macos/es_systems.xml) and [windows/es_systems.xml](resources/systems/windows/es_systems.xml). Normally the extensions setup in these files should cover everything that the emulators support. -MAME emulation is a bit special as the choice of emulator or core depends on which ROM set you're using. It's recommended to go for the latest available set, as MAME is constantly improved with more complete and accurate emulation. Therefore the default `arcade` system is preconfigured to use the RetroArch core _MAME - Current_ which as the name implies will be the latest available MAME version. For really slow computers though, the 0.78 ROM set is a popular choice. To use this you either need to modify the es_systems.xml file, or you can use the `mame` system which comes preconfigured for the RetroArch core _MAME 2003-Plus_. There are other alternatives as well such as _MAME 2010_ that uses the 0.139 ROM set but this would require a manual change of the es_systems.xml file and is generally not recommended. +If you generated the ROMs directory structure when first starting ES-DE, the systeminfo.txt files located in each game system directory will also contain the information about the emulator core and supported file extensions. + +MAME emulation is a bit special as the choice of emulator or core depends on which ROM set you're using. It's recommended to go for the latest available set, as MAME is constantly improved with more complete and accurate emulation. Therefore the default `arcade` system is preconfigured to use the RetroArch core _MAME - Current_ which as the name implies will be the latest available MAME version. For really slow computers though, the 0.78 ROM set is a popular choice. To use this you either need to make a customized es_systems.xml file, or you can use the `mame` system which comes preconfigured for the RetroArch core _MAME 2003-Plus_ that is compatible with the 0.78 ROM set. There are other alternatives as well such as _MAME 2010_ that uses the 0.139 ROM set but this is generally not recommended. There are other MAME versions and derivates available as well such as MAME4ALL, AdvanceMAME, FinalBurn Alpha and FinalBurn Neo but it's beyond the scope of this document to describe those in detail. For more information, refer to the [RetroPie arcade documentation](https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade) which has a good overview of the various MAME alternatives. -Running RetroArch on macOS is a bit problematic as some cores (e.g. the Nintendo 64 emulators) don't exist at all, and some cores are unusable on older macOS versions as the compilation was done without the necessary backwards compatibility support. On macOS you may therefore need to compile some cores yourself. - Consider the table below a work in progress as it's obvioulsy not fully populated yet! | Game system name | Full name | Default emulator | Recommended game setup |