Freeplay Theme - EmulationStation/RetroPie theme optimized for small screens

[RxBrad]

[June 9, 2018 - Theme is now available in RetroPie-Setup / es-themes] The Freeplay theme can 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.

Recommended EmulationStation UI Settings

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

Also, there are multiple color variations for the theme:

SpoilerShow

To change the color, there are two options:

1) Edit the color.xml file. Uncomment the color you want to use (make sure only one color is uncommented).

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

2) Use a separate theme utility script, which will install every color variation (so you can switch colors by picking the one you want from the UI Settings option in EmulationStation). This script installs 12 additional color-specific versions of the theme, which are separate from the theme installed by RetroPie-Setup / ES-themes.

Install Utility with...

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

...then install all 12 colors with:

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cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_install.sh

...or optionally install all 12 colors with a FreePlay logo using:

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cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoinstall.sh

Once installed, you can't update all of the color variations to the newest version using the ESThemes menu like most themes. Instead, use:

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cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_update.sh

...or for the versions with Freeplay logos:

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cd ~/rxbrad_themeutils;./freeplay_logoupdate.sh

(once the themes are installed, you can also switch between logos/no-logos with the freeplay_update / freeplay_logoupdate scripts)

Freeplay theme on Github
RxBrad Theme Utility on Github

Release History:
June 1, 2018: Initial release

[Holydohnut]

Looks awesome! Might give it a try on the PiddlyPi. See how it looks on a 1.44" screen!

[RxBrad]

Looks awesome! Might give it a try on the PiddlyPi. See how it looks on a 1.44" screen!

(Also, probably something like this...)

[Italian77]

Nice!

[RxBrad]

The theme is now available though ES-themes. Inside RetroPie-Setup, first run "Update RetroPie-Setup script". Then it'll show up in the list of available themes.

The ES-themes version of the theme is called "freeplay", and is configured by default to use the purple/indigo color scheme. The color of this version of the theme can be changed by editing the color.xml file.

[sixteenbit]

Does this theme not work with 4.3? After I install and activate the theme, it's not looking like your screenshots. It's just text for each system and black and white overall colors.

[RxBrad]

Does this theme not work with 4.3? After I install and activate the theme, it's not looking like your screenshots. It's just text for each system and black and white overall colors.

Hmm.. it's possible that it may not work on 4.3. I make use of a lot of variables in the theme XML, and those don't always play nice with older versions. I'll do some digging to see if I can figure out what exactly breaks it on that version.

You could possibly try restarting EmulationStation; but given that it showed up for you as a choice to pick, that probably won't help.

You could also try updating the theme in RetroPie-Setup. I know that there were a couple times that I accidentally broke the theme adding new features, and if you happened to install it during the few hours it was broken, you'd get what you see now.

[sixteenbit]

I’ll try 4.4 again but I had a ton of issues unrelated to your theme. It’s been easier to just stick with what works.