RetroBat Marquee Manager (V2)
A Dynamic Marquees for RetroBat with Svg support / Auto-resizing / Dynamic Scraping
This project enables dynamic display of marquees on a secondary topper screen for RetroBat users on Windows 8+, utilizing custom scripts to manage the display based on user interactions.
Thanks to Aynshe and Retrobat's community testers.
Install
Important Setup Instructions
Create a marquees folder : "C:\RetroBat\marquees"
Download the project and go to the /dist folder and copy all files in "C:\RetroBat\marquees\"
In the "C:\RetroBat\marquees" folder :
- events.ini (settings file)
- ESEvents.exe (events listener like game-selected/game-start/system-selected...)
- StartRetrobatMarquees.bat (to launch without dynamic scraping) or StartRetrobatMarqueesAS.bat (to launche with Auto dynamic Scraping)
- ESEventsScrapTopper.exe (dynamic scraping listener, download image on screenscraper then rename and push scraped image in MarqueeImagePath\MarqueeFilePath)
- screenscraper.ini (dynamic scraping dictionnary)
- systems.scrap (screenscraper systems ids) [use ESEventsScrapSystems.exe to update this file if needed]
Copy ESEventPush.exe in folders such as
- "C:\RetroBat\emulationstation\.emulationstation\scripts\game-selected" >> update marquee when a game is selected
- "C:\RetroBat\emulationstation\.emulationstation\scripts\system-selected" >> update marquee when a system is selected
- "C:\RetroBat\emulationstation\.emulationstation\scripts\game-start" >> update marquee when a game start
Configuration File Setup:
Ensure that the ini file is correctly configured for proper operation of the executables.
Updating and installing dependencies if needed:
Download and install mpv and ImageMagick. These are essential for the functioning of the system.
MPV to target screen and display images and videos : for mpv, visit their official website MPV's Website and install it to the marquees directory, resulting in a path like "C:\RetroBat\marquees\mpv\mpv.exe".
ImageMagick to convert (svg to png), resize and optimize images : for ImageMagick, visit ImageMagick's Website and install it similarly in the marquees directory. This should result in a path like "C:\RetroBat\marquees\imagemagick\convert.exe".
By following these instructions, you'll ensure that ESEvents.exe and ESEventPush.exe are correctly placed, and the necessary tools (mpv and ImageMagick) are installed and configured for optimal performance.
Configuring events.ini File
Configure events.ini to specify paths for marquees and other key settings like accepted formats, MPV path and ImageMagick path, etc. This file is crucial for the marquee system to function properly.
Download and install marquees
You can download marquees here then install in the default folder "C:\RetroBat\marquees\images" :Launchbox Games Database : https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/
Pixelcade Forums : https://pixelcade.org/forum/art-exchange-lcd/a-few-lcd-marquees-links/#post-2071
Scrapping usage
If you're missing any marquee, you can activate dynamic scrapping (MarqueeAutoScraping = true in events.ini file), which allows the system to download marquee image (the real toppers, not the logos) of arcade machines directly if it detects that a marquee is missing, without having to go through the RetroBat scraper "screenscraper" (check your screenscraper id/password in Retrobat). Once scrapping is complete, a small message appears on your marquee's screen like "Metal Slug 3 topper successfully scrapped!". If you reselect or play the game again, the marquee will be updated. If you don't see the marquee appear, there may be no marquee image for that game in the screenscraper image database. The "Screenmarquee" images are only downloaded if there is no "Marquee" image. If the scraperfailed option is enabled, failed scraping will be indicated in a scrapfailed.pool file. I encourage you to take part in the screenscraper visual enhancement if you want to see a marquee appear or put it manually in your marquee folder.
How to Scrape Marquees from RetroBat
If you plan to use scraped marquees or incorporate your own custom marquee images into the system, please be aware of an issue in the scraping process. Both logos and marquee images are currently saved with the same suffix -marquee at the end of the file name. This can lead to confusion and potential file conflicts within the system.
To scrape marquees directly within RetroBat:
- Access the scraping menu in RetroBat.
- Choose to scrape from SCREENSCRAPER, HFSDB or ARCADEDB in the scraper options.
- In the 'Logo Source' option, select 'Banner' to obtain real topper marquees.
After scraping, you might encounter the situation where both marquees and logos are labeled with -marquee. To resolve this, use the script RenameMarquees.bat. This script will rename all marquee images, changing the -marquee suffix to -marqueescraped. This renaming step is crucial for ensuring that marquee images are properly recognized and prioritized by the system. Moreover, it allows you to rescrape for the actual logos without overwriting the marquees you've just scraped. Once the script has been executed, and the marquee images are renamed to include -marqueescraped.png, you can safely scrape again to obtain the true -marquee logos without any file conflicts.
It is important to note that SVG files may require additional processing time during their first use. However, once they are converted to PNG format, you will experience smoother navigation and quicker access to these images within the system.
StartRetroBat with StartRetrobatMarqueesAS.bat (with dynamic scraping) or with StartRetrobatMarquees.bat (without dynamic scraping) to activate the dynamic marquee system and launch RetroBat.
Notes
Ensure MPV and IMAGEMAGICK are installed in /RetroBat/marquees directory. Organize your marquee images according to the structure defined in events.ini.
In cases where you encounter an error with ESEventPush, it's often due to EmulationStation sending empty strings for systems that don't contain any games or content. This can cause issues in the marquee update process, as the script expects valid data to operate correctly. It's important to be aware of this limitation when setting up and using the system.
However, this issue is known and is expected to be resolved in future updates of RetroBat and EmulationStation. Keeping your system up to date with the latest versions will ensure that you benefit from these improvements and experience fewer issues related