Update Emulationstation

[Marine Farinha]

EmulationStationdisplays systems based on a file called es_systems.cfg. In other distributions, this is typically the only file. However, in Batocera and higher, the /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/es_systems_.cfg can be used as an overlay to the original /usr/share/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg file.

If preferred, the entire file can be overridden by instead using /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg. Be careful if doing this, as the entire notion of maintaining this file as Batocera upgrades its internals (namely Python) thus rely on you. This is really only suitable if you never intend on updating Batocera again.

Whenever Batocera is upgraded, its version of Python used may also change. This means if you are using an es_systems.cfg which manually defines the (for example: /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/configgen/emulatorlauncher.py which is calling an older Python version), it will need to be updated accordingly.

You can create a file named es_systems_.cfg where is a name you wish to use for it. This file needs to follow the same conventions as the original es_systems.cfg, but does not need to include the entirety of the file. For example:

would only affect the 3DO system on your Batocera, with the rest of the systems still referring to /usr/share/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg for their system CFG. When both files contain the same , es_systems_.cfg will take priority.

In case you'd like to have complete control over ES systems CFG, you can still use the two previous methods to completely override it (ie. using overlays or copying the entirety of es_systems.cfg to /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg without appending a custom system name to its filename).

Batocera is smart enough to only apply the changes you make. Such as, if the only thing you need to change for a system is its ROM path, you can use the following in your /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/es_systems_pico8.cfg:

Here, it'll use the folder /userdata/roms/pico8real/ to look for Pico-8 games instead of the regular one, and use the rest of the configuration from the /usr/share/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg file.

The and paths in this example are kept the same such that they can still use the defaults as specified by Batocera. If you really want to use a unique , you'll have to manually specify your default emulator in batocera.conf. For instance if you were defining a new system with cps1 then the following would be added to batocera.conf:

You must use a unique field when adding a new system if you wish to keep the old one in addition. However, if using duplicate shortnames is a necessity and you still want the new and old system to exist simultaneously, you can also put both systems in a single CFG file.

Despite being specified in the es_systems_megadrivehacks.cfg file, Batocera doesn't actually use this as the default when launching an emulator. It instead looks for its own list of defaults for its configgen.

Batocera introduced the ability to copy the file to /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/es_system.cfg and edit it there, however this meant you would have to compare and copy the file every update, as well as appending your changes and working out if something had broken (as Batocera adds new systems nearly every major release and changes the launch methods for other systems too).

One major change with the update is that the configuration directory has been changed from .emulationstation to ES-DE. The new folder no longer has a dot in front of its name. This change means that in order to start using EmulationStation-DE again, you will have to rename this folder.

If you have a lot of custom settings already enabled, simply rename the .emulationstation folder to ES-DE. You can find this folder in $HOME/.emulationstation (/home/deck/.emulationstation on a Steam Deck). Do note that the new folder no longer has a dot in front of its name.

When I am emulating games on the Steam Deck, I tend to use EmulationStation as my graphical front end of choice. Steam Rom Manager does make it so every game has their own slot in my Steam library, but I much prefer going through a separate, more interesting program to categorize it all. Now, the awesome front end has released its 3.0 update, and it comes with some nice fixes and improvements, including a complete rebranding!

The biggest part of the update is the name change, which goes from "EmulationStation-DE" to "ES-DE." This is the abbreviation and usually how I and others refer to it, but now it has been made official. Because of this, we have a new splash screen and new application data directories to reflect the change.

The directory name change can be an issue for those who have installed all of this via EmuDeck, however, so you will need to go to your EmulationStation folder and manually rename it. To do this, just go to your home/deck folder in Desktop Mode, click on the three horizontal bars at the top right, and tick the "Show Hidden Files" box. There, you will rename the ".emulationstation" folder to "ES-DE" and you should be set!

Otherwise, we do have some new features with this update too. Font sizes can now be changed and configured, there is a new theme called "Linear" added, some new emulators were brought in, including Mesen Standalone (gamegear and mastersystem), Mednafen standalone (gb, gba, gbc), and there have been added support for the AppImage release of Vita3K and Flatpak release of puNES. There are a ton of other awesome updates, and you can check them all out on their changelog.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.

If using EmuDeck just open that and then Update on Manage Emulators.

You'll see an option to update your Emulator configuration which should handle this for you -- don't forget to follow thru and update Flatpaks, AppImages and Binaries.

Ideally, an EmulationStation is the official graphical frontend of the RetroPie project. Most people often confuse whether an EmulationStation is an emulator or not. Get it right today; an EmulationStation is not an emulator; instead, it is an enhanced polished game launcher that comprises of:

This great Software was initially developed by Aloshi (backend code) and Nils Bonenberger (User Interface), but due to shifting to other projects, the RetroPie project maintained its fork. That fork has surprisingly made some outstanding achievements to the project improvements such as controller integration, video support, faster load times alongside others.

Those users who have ever used RetroPie on their Raspberry Pi machines should at least comprehend EmulationStation as they should have at least interacted with or used it before. An emulationstation is a central section of RetroPie and allows you to sort and run configurations on your games.

Always ensure that your packages are up to date at all times before installing anything on your machine. As such, the overall functionality of your machine is maintained. So, before installing the EmulationStation on our machine, we will have to carry out the initial preparatory work.

The above command will run through the package list and check if any packages need an upgrade. You will be shown the number if there are, hence easing your work. So, if you find packages that need an upgrade, like in our case 35, run the following command:

The above command simply tells that the only package we need for this procedure to work is git. Are you asking yourself what git is for? If that is the case, git is used to grab the script required to install EmulationStation.

Contrastingly, we would have to clone and compile a number of other packages like SDL to get the EmulatioStation up and running. But this script we are utilizing is handling everything for us and is continually maintained by the RetroPie team.

After preparing our pi machine, the next step is to install the EmulationStation. Overly, the installation process of this Software is pretty straightforward as we will utilize the RetroPie setup script.

Immediately we are in the right directory, run the RetroPie setup script. Via this script, we can install specific components of RetroPie. This proves that we can install the EmulationStation to our Pi machine in our event.

Typically, many run into an error upon running the EmulationStation for the first time. Nonetheless, you need not worry if that is the case, as we will show you how to deal with and configure the Software in the subsequent step.

You will basically find the following text already set within this file. Ideally, this is a basic configuration file saved when you first run the Emulation software to give you an impression of how you define a system.

Another critical point about extensions is that you can specify multiple file extensions within a tag. Nevertheless, they must be separated by whitespace. In case you have no idea what whitespace is, it is basically a single space. This tag is vital as it is required to be set for the EmulationStation Software to scan for your ROMs. Due to that, it is clear that without the tag, the Software will be unaware of what to look for.

Note: Always remember that you need to have this emulator formerly installed for the EmulationStation to run it on your Pi machine. Furthermore, this tag is necessary because, without it, the interface will not know how it can run your game as EmulationStation does not have any emulators of its own.

Now it is time to start up our Software after configuring the systems file and adding a valid ROM on our Pi machine. Follow the following steps to take you through the process of Running the EmulationStation

Step 2. Upon executing the command for the first time, like in our case, you should be greeted with a welcome screen. To proceed, you need to either hold down a keyboard or instead a button on a gamepad.

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