Advanced Emulator Launcher asset library

The Advanced Emulator Launcher asset library has been designed to help you in the process of setting up your Kodi retrogaming library and contains the following items:

• Category and launcher metadata in NFO format.

• Category and launcher assets, including Icons, Fanarts, Banners, Posters and Controllers.

• Launcher (emulator) configuration in XML for Linux, Windows and Android platforms.

There are two ways to use the library:

• Configure you categories and launchers using the AEL category/launcher creation wizard in the addon context menu. Then, use the context menu to load the metadata NFO file and the assets (Icon, Fanart, etc.).

• Use the XML configuration files to import into AEL any category or launcher. For categories, the XML file defines the metadata and assets. For Launchers, the XML file defines the metadata, the assets and the emulator parameters (aka the arguments).

• To import and XML file, go to AEL addon settings, then go to "IO" tab, then select "Import configuration". Remember to change the ROM path, assets path and application path in the XML before importing (or you can change later after importing using the "Edit Launcher" context menu).

Alternatively, you can configure your launchers using the launcher creation wizard and have a look at the XML files to learn about the app/emulator arguments you must introduce in the wizard.

After importing an XML configuration file, if you discover some mistake or want to change something, simply edit the XML configuration file, reimport the XML in AEL, and when asked about overwriting the category/launcher say yes. You can reimport categories/launchers as many times as you want until you are totally satisfied with your setup.

Having a set of XML files with your emulator configuration and asset files will serve as a backup in the event you have to rebuild your mediacenter setup for some reason (emulator upgrade, AEL addon updgrade, Kodi upgrade, hard disk crash, etc.).

Contributions to the AEL Asset Library repository are welcomed and encouraged.

The Category and Launcher NFO files

The metadata for Launchers and assets is stored in NFO files. NFO files are small XML files that containt all the metadata AEL is able to display.

A Category NFO file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<category>
  <genre>Company</genre>
  <plot>Sony Corporation, commonly referred to as Sony, styled SONY /ˈsoʊniː/, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony is ranked 116th on the 2015 list of Fortune Global 500.&#10;Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its four operating segments: electronics (including video games, network services and medical business), motion pictures, music and financial services. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Mobile Communications (formerly Sony Ericsson) and Sony Financial. Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and as of 2013, the fourth-largest television manufacturer in the world, after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and TCL.</plot>
</category>

A Launcher NFO file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<launcher>
  <year>1994</year>
  <genre>Fifth generation console</genre>
  <developer>SONY</developer>
  <rating></rating>
  <plot>The PlayStation (officially abbreviated as PS, and commonly known as the PS1 or PSX) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The console was released on 3 December 1994 in Japan, 9 September 1995 in North America, 29 September 1995 in Europe, 15 November 1995 in Australia, and for Korea in 1996. The console was the first of the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles. It primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn as part of the fifth generation of video game consoles.</plot>
</launcher>

The Category and Launcher assets

The assets for categories are stored in the [xxxx directory]().

The assets for launchers are stored in directories sorted by category. For example, the assets for SEGA launchers are stored in [xxxxxx]().

AEL Category XML configuration files

The XML files to setup categories in AEL are located in the directory xxxxx. These XML files for categories use the assets located in the xxxx directory.

A Category XML configuration file looks like this:

xxx yyy zzz

The most up-to-date documentation for Category XML files is in this example.

AEL Launcher XML configuration files

The XML launcher configuration files are organised in different directories for Linux, Windows and Android platforms. These XML configuration files use the metadata NFO files and assets located in the directories xxxx

Path configurations

It is recommended that you keep your game library organised and that you use short names for the ROMs and artwork directories. Short names means smaller databases and smaller databases load faster, particularly with huge collections.

If you want to change the ROM path or asset path from the defaults to fit your setup you can edit the XML configuration files and then reload them in AEL.

Linux

The XML files in this library assume the following ROM paths and asset directories:

Windows

In Windows it is recommended to use the Notepad++ editor to edit the XML files encoded in UTF-8.

Android

Emulator configurations

Linux

• Retroarch executable is located in /home/kodi/bin/retroarch.

• Retroarch cores are located in /home/kodi/bin/libretro/.

• MAME exectuable is located in /usr/games/mame. Remember to edit your mame.ini to include the ROM path. Otherwise MAME will not find the ROMs.

• Cemu (Wii U emulator) executable is located in /home/kodi/bin/cemu/Cemu.exe. At the time of writing this is a windows-only emulator and thus requires Wine to run. The pyhton wrapper script below can be used to launch games:

  #!/usr/bin/python3
  # File /home/kodi/bin/cemu-launcher.py
  import subprocess
  import sys
  arg_list = [
  '/usr/bin/wine',
  '/home/kodi/bin/cemu/cemu.exe',
  '-g',
  # Insert Z: and change slashes into backslashes
  '{}'.format('Z:' + sys.argv[1].replace('/', '\\'))
  ]
  subprocess.run(arg_list)

• Yuzu (Switch emulator) exectuable is located in /home/kodi/bin/yuzu.AppImage.

The XML files with emulator configurations are located in the Launchers XML Linux directory.

Linux wrapper

These configurations use a wrapper script to close Kodi on launching and reopen it again when launched app finishes. The wrapper script works OK in general Linux distros like Kodibuntu, Ubuntu or Debian. Note that you sould activate the non blocking launcher option, otherwise Kodi will not shut down properly.

Linux LibreELEC

These configurations user a wrapper script that closes Kodi on launching and reopens it again when the launched app finishes. This wrapper script works OK in LibreELEC.

Windows

The XML files with emulator configurations are located in the Launchers XML Windows directory.

Android

The XML files with emulator configurations are located in the Launchers XML Android directory.

Useful links

Advanced Emulator Launcher thread in Kodi forum

Image sizes

Icons should have a size of 256x256 or 512x512 pixels. Kodi Wiki, Add on structure Icon

Fanart should have 16:9 aspect ratio. We recommend a 1280x720 JPEG image. It should certainly be no larger than 1920x1080. Kodi Wiki, Add on structure Fanart

Banners sould have a size of 758 x 140 pixels. Kodi Wiki, Wide banner icons

Posters should have an aspect ratio 2:3, so pixel sizes of 666x1000 and 1000x1500 whould be OK. Kodi Forum, Poster art size question

Credits

All NFO files have been compiled by Wintermute0110 with information from the Wikipedia.

Artwork has been taken from many sources including:

• Hyper Launcher artwork pack by theeeduub.
• Advanced Launcher artwork pack by Angelscry.
• Home Theater Backdrops
• RazorFR has graciously allowed to include a set of Posters.
• Advanced Launcher console thumbnails by Middle, phear, BarryAllen, aNILEator and Digital Vortex.
• Sega Retro.
• Gamestarter theme by Tronkyfran.
• TheGamesDB.
• RetroPie Docs.

If you are the author of some of the assets and want to be credited here contact me opening an issue in Github.