GBZ35 & GBZ35-Dark RetroPie Themes for Small Screens
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
an alternative to get themes to show up is in the below vid, start from 2.50min, might help someone he adds a decent theme, probably no good for a small screen but shows a good alternative to get the themes folder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZa8PotebQw&t=195s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZa8PotebQw&t=195s
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFz7yW ... GtQ/videos
Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
He was using ssh to get in, but I was able to see where the linked folders needed to be and put the files where they needed to be using my Chromebook.Lpoolm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:01 pman alternative to get themes to show up is in the below vid, start from 2.50min, might help someone he adds a decent theme, probably no good for a small screen but shows a good alternative to get the themes folder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZa8PotebQw&t=195s
Thanks.
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Since the last update of emulationstation a new feature is available: recent.
It can be used to show the last played games by their order or show all games or favorites...
To setup this feature go here: MENU > GAME COLLECTION SETTINGS > AUTOMATIC SELECTIONS > select the "LAST PLAYED"
Some of us was asking a long time for this feature!
A question special to rxbrad: since this recent column is managed as being another system its necessary to be integrated in your theme!
Are you planing to make an update of your ES Theme especially for this feature?
Because I love to use your ES Theme but just this new recent system has still the old plain boring standard view.
It can be used to show the last played games by their order or show all games or favorites...
To setup this feature go here: MENU > GAME COLLECTION SETTINGS > AUTOMATIC SELECTIONS > select the "LAST PLAYED"
Some of us was asking a long time for this feature!
A question special to rxbrad: since this recent column is managed as being another system its necessary to be integrated in your theme!
Are you planing to make an update of your ES Theme especially for this feature?
Because I love to use your ES Theme but just this new recent system has still the old plain boring standard view.
- RxBrad
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
I'll take a look at it (I added it to the issues list on my Github). I'm waiting on a replacement screen for my GBZ since I broke mine trying to get the shell closed a little tighter around the HDMI port. It should show up any day now, and then I'll see about clearing up this and some other outstanding issues (add theming to Retropie menu, C64 theme, tweaking list item display).McGyver wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:31 amSince the last update of emulationstation a new feature is available: recent.
It can be used to show the last played games by their order or show all games or favorites...
To setup this feature go here: MENU > GAME COLLECTION SETTINGS > AUTOMATIC SELECTIONS > select the "LAST PLAYED"
Some of us was asking a long time for this feature!
A question special to rxbrad: since this recent column is managed as being another system its necessary to be integrated in your theme!
Are you planing to make an update of your ES Theme especially for this feature?
Because I love to use your ES Theme but just this new recent system has still the old plain boring standard view.
(I guess I could always work out most of the kinks and preview them on my Pi3 box)
Out of curiosity (since I can't check right now), is the new Favorite feature working in the theme? I'd implemented the version in ChildFriendlyES, but I don't know if that same implementation is what got moved to the official build.
EDIT: Was just looking through some of the recent theming changes in Retropie. The new Videos view is slick. I'm gonna need to implement that, too; and see about carousel theming while I'm at it. Grid view is novel, but I don't think it's well-suited to our little micro-screens.
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Just an update on what I'm working on..
I almost have video preview support working. You'll need to have the latest version of RetroPie installed for it to work properly. Once I get that, I hope to quickly clear up all the issues reported on Github.
Shortly after that's done, I expect that the theme will be installable using RetroPie-Setup, so it'll be a whole lot easier to get onto your setup.
EDIT: Video previews added (the Pi Zero apparently struggles with video previews in RetroPie, so you may only want to scrape videos if you have a Pi2 or Pi3 in your GBZ); Retropie menu fixed; requested addition to RetroPie-Setup
I almost have video preview support working. You'll need to have the latest version of RetroPie installed for it to work properly. Once I get that, I hope to quickly clear up all the issues reported on Github.
Shortly after that's done, I expect that the theme will be installable using RetroPie-Setup, so it'll be a whole lot easier to get onto your setup.
EDIT: Video previews added (the Pi Zero apparently struggles with video previews in RetroPie, so you may only want to scrape videos if you have a Pi2 or Pi3 in your GBZ); Retropie menu fixed; requested addition to RetroPie-Setup
Last edited by RxBrad on Tue Jul 18, 2017 5:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
- RxBrad
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Hey, @McGyver.. I just added favorite, all games, recently played and custom-collections functionality to both versions of the theme. Thanks for the heads-up.McGyver wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:31 amSince the last update of emulationstation a new feature is available: recent.
It can be used to show the last played games by their order or show all games or favorites...
To setup this feature go here: MENU > GAME COLLECTION SETTINGS > AUTOMATIC SELECTIONS > select the "LAST PLAYED"
Some of us was asking a long time for this feature!
A question special to rxbrad: since this recent column is managed as being another system its necessary to be integrated in your theme!
Are you planing to make an update of your ES Theme especially for this feature?
- RxBrad
- Posts: 278
- Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 9:10 am
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Both GBZ35 themes can now be installed directly from RetroPie-Setup (network connectivity required).

Inside RetroPie-Setup, first run "Update RetroPie-Setup script". Then go to Configuration/Tools, then esthemes, and scroll down to find the themes. Once installed, you can exit RetroPie-Setup and apply the theme under UI Settings.
Note that you will need a current installation of RetroPie to use some of the newer features like the Last Played list and video previews. If you have an older version of RetroPie installed and want to enable these features, go back into RetroPie-Setup and choose "Update all installed packages". I typically say yes when it asks me to update underlying OS packages. Then you wait. On a Pi Zero, don't be surprised if this takes a couple hours.

Inside RetroPie-Setup, first run "Update RetroPie-Setup script". Then go to Configuration/Tools, then esthemes, and scroll down to find the themes. Once installed, you can exit RetroPie-Setup and apply the theme under UI Settings.
Note that you will need a current installation of RetroPie to use some of the newer features like the Last Played list and video previews. If you have an older version of RetroPie installed and want to enable these features, go back into RetroPie-Setup and choose "Update all installed packages". I typically say yes when it asks me to update underlying OS packages. Then you wait. On a Pi Zero, don't be surprised if this takes a couple hours.
Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Thanks for the work RxBrad, I currently have the SAMBA installed method on my build, do I need to remove this first before I install through RetroPie-Setup? Thanks once again
My bartop Arcade
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3107
My GBZ (Henry)
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3281
Headless Setup (no usb port required)
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3289
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3107
My GBZ (Henry)
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3281
Headless Setup (no usb port required)
http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3289
- RxBrad
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Re: Custom ES Theme for 3.5" GBZ Screens
Just to be safe, if you renamed the Samba version to either gbz35 or gbz35-dark, you may want to first switch themes and then delete the old version. Otherwise, RetroPie-Setup will throw an error when you try to update it (though, honestly, I think it updates okay despite the error message)
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