Big Box Views

Big Box is made up of many views that users navigate between. A user will navigate between a platform view, to a games view, to the system view, and the options view. Each view is a XAML file that contains the layout of what a user sees on the screen. This section contains a list of views available to theme.

Written By Brian Faeran

Last updated 8 months ago

Root Filters/Platforms Views

These are the root views that are used for displaying the platforms or filters. Start with these views in order to tweak the platforms or filters views.

File Name	Description
PlatformWheel1FiltersView.xaml	Customizable platforms wheel view
PlatformWheel2FiltersView.xaml	Customizable platforms wheel view
PlatformWheel3FiltersView.xaml	Customizable platforms wheel view
PlatformWheel4FiltersView.xaml	Customizable platforms wheel view
PlatformHybrid1View.xaml	Customizable platform + game wheel view
PlatformHybrid2View.xaml	Customizable platform + game wheel view
PlatformHybrid3View.xaml	Customizable platform + game wheel view
PlatformHybrid4View.xaml	Customizable platform + game wheel view
TextFiltersView.xaml	Text list of platforms or filters with details on the right; used for platforms in text view and all filters views

Root Games Views

These are the root views that are used for displaying games. Start with these views in order to tweak the games views.

File Name	Description
BoxesGamesView.xaml	Game images in a horizontal list with details beneath (unused in default theme)
CoverFlowGamesView.xaml	Game images in full-screen CoverFlow
CoverFlowWithDetailsGamesView.xaml	Game images CoverFlow with details on top
HorizontalWheel1GamesView.xaml	Horizontal wheel of game logos for customization
HorizontalWheel2GamesView.xaml	Horizontal wheel of game logos for customization (unused in default theme)
HorizontalWheel3GamesView.xaml	Horizontal wheel of game logos for customization (unused in default theme)
TextGamesView.xaml	Text list of games with details on the right; also used for displaying the game details
WallGamesView.xaml	Wall of game images, much like in LaunchBox
Wall2GamesView.xaml	Wall of game images, much like in LaunchBox
Wall3GamesView.xaml	Wall of game images, much like in LaunchBox
Wall4GamesView.xaml	Wall of game images, much like in LaunchBox
WheelGamesView.xaml	Vertical wheel of game logos with details on the right
Wheel2GamesView.xaml	Vertical wheel of game logos with details on the right for customization (unused in default theme)
Wheel3GamesView.xaml	Vertical wheel of game logos with details on the right for customization (unused in default theme)
Wheel4GamesView.xaml	Vertical wheel of game logos with details on the right for customization (unused in default theme)

Root Marquee Views

These are root views that are used for displaying on the marquee screen.

File Name	Description
GameMarqueeView.xaml	View displayed when a game is selected
PlatformMarqueeView.xaml	View displayed when a platform is selected

Other Root Views

These are other root views that are used elsewhere in Big Box.

ImagesView.xaml	Used when viewing images in fullscreen
OptionsView.xaml	Used for the main Options screen
SystemView.xaml	Used for the main system menu screen

Child List Views

These views are used to present lists of items in Big Box. These list views are used for most lists, but are not used for CoverFlow or wheel views.

File Name	Description
BoxListView.xaml	Used for the BoxesGamesView to display the list of images
TextListView.xaml	Used to display the text lists for TextGamesView and TextFiltersView
ThumbnailListView.xaml	Used to display the game thumbnails for favorites and recently played in the root platforms/filters views

Child List Item Views

These views are used to present a single list item in one of the child list views above.

File Name	Description
BoxGameView.xaml	Used for displaying a single image in the BoxListView list
FilterView.xaml	Used for displaying a single text filter entry in the TextListView list
TextGameView.xaml	Used for displaying a single text game entry in the TextListView list
ThumbnailGameView.xaml	Used for displaying a single game thumbnail in the ThumbnailListView list

Child Details Views

These views are used to present game, platform, or filter details in the root views. This includes the game’s text details, icons, and notes for games views, or the platform or filter’s text details for the platform and filters views.

File Name	Description
FilterDetailsView.xaml	Used to present the platform or filter details for all of the root filters/platforms views
GameDetailsView.xaml	Used to present game details for the BoxesGamesView, TextGamesView, and WheelGamesView views
TwoColumnGameDetailsView.xaml	Used to present game details for the CoverFlowWithDetailsGamesView view

Other Child Views

These are other child views that are used in various places throughout Big Box.

File Name	Description
BackgroundView.xaml	Used by the games and platforms views to display background images.
HorizontalMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a single item in horizontal indexes (such as the alphanumeric index)
ImageView.xaml	Used to display the main image for root games and filters/platforms views
MenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a single item in vertical indexes (such as the alphanumeric index) as well as the game details menu items
OptionsButtonMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a button option type in the options pages
OptionsCheckBoxMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a check box option type in the options pages
OptionsControllerButtonMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a controller button option type in the options pages
OptionsKeyboardMappingMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a keyboard mapping option type in the options pages
OptionsListMenuItemView.xaml	Used to display a list option type in the options pages
OptionsPage.xaml	Used to display the various options pages in the OptionsView

Root Popup Views

These views are used for all the popups available inside of Big Box.

File Name	Description
AchievementsPopupView.xaml	Used to display a game's Achievement popup, found in the Game Details menu
AchievementProfilePopupView.xaml	Used to display the Achievements Profile popup, found in the System Menu
ErrorPopupView.xaml	Used to display messages to the user across Big Box, including error, loading, about, etc…
FilterPopupView.xaml	Used to display the Filter popup window, which is opened from the game index
ForcePopulateView.xaml	Used to display a confirmation popup when selecting the options to force populate images
KeyboardView.xaml	Used to display the on-screen keyboard
MameGameLeaderboardsPopupView.xaml	Used to display a game's MAME High Score Leaderboards
MamePlayerPopupView.xaml	Used to display player MAME High Score information. Accessed when clicking on a player via the MameGameLeaderboardsPopupView.xaml
MusicNotificationView.xaml	Used to display the music on screen display notifications
PinPopupView.xaml	Used to display the PIN popup when locking Big Box
RelatedGamesPopupView.xaml	Used to display the Related Games popup, found in the Game Details Menu
SelectOptionPopupView.xaml	Used to display a list of items, such as change view, change theme, and many other options throughout Big Box
StarRatingPopupView.xaml	Used to display the Star Rating popup
WebView.xaml	Used to display web related content, such as the RetroArchievements browser

Child Popup Views

These views are used as embedded child elements for the popups views in Big Box

File Name	Description
AchievementView.xaml	Used to display each achievement item within the Achievements popup. This is a child view of AchievementsPopupView
AchievementProfileRecentActivityView.xaml	Used to display your Recent Activity within the Achievement Profile popup. This is a child view of AchievementProfilePopupView
AchievementProfileGameAchievementView.xaml	Used to display the game specific achievement images within your Recent Activity inside of your Achievement Profile. This is a child view of AchievementProfileRecentActivityView
AchievementLeaderboardView.xaml	Used to display the layout of the Achievement Leaderboard within the Achievements Profile popup. This is a child view of AchievementProfilePopupView
AchievementLeaderboardEntryView.xaml	Used to display each item that displays inside of the Achievement Leaderboard within the Achievements Profile popup. This is a child view of AchievementLeaderboardView
FilterFieldView.xaml	Used to display each item that displays inside of the Field combobox within the Filter popup. This is a child view of FilterPopupView
FilterComparisonView.xaml	Used to display each item that displays inside of the Comparison combobox within the Filter popup. This is a child view of FilterPopupView

Theme Settings

There are 2 kinds of Theme Settings that can be used to customize your theme even further. This section will explain both of them and how you can utilize them.

ThemeSettings.xml

This file is located in your LaunchBox\Themes\[theme name]\ folder. It can help you customize the experience for your users in a number of ways, by controlling the video element location, and enabling/disabling the views you would like to be used inside of your theme as options.

Here’s an explanation of each option:

ForceGamesDisableBackgroundVideos
If true, Game background videos via the background transition presenter will ignore a user’s options and force it not to appear within that element. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the Enable option.

ForceGamesEnabledBackgroundVideos
If true, Game background videos via the background transition presenter will ignore a user’s options and force it to appear within that element. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the Disable option.

ForcePlatformsDisableBackgroundVideos
If true, Platform/Filter background videos via the background transition presenter will ignore a user’s options and force it to not appear within that element. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the Enable option.

ForcePlatformsEnabledBackgroundVideos
If true, Platform/Filter background videos via the background transition presenter will ignore a user’s options and force it to appear within that element. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the Disable option.

The following properties, if set to true will disable that view from being selected in Big Box by the user.

DiablePlatformWheel1FiltersView
DiablePlatformWheel2FiltersView
DiablePlatformWheel3FiltersView
DiablePlatformWheel4FiltersView
DiableBoxesGamesView
DisableCoverFlowGamesView
DisableConverFlowWithDetailsGamesView
DisableWheelGamesView
DisableWheel2GamesView
DisableWheel3GamesView
DisableWheel4GamesView
DisableHorizontalWheel1GamesView
DisableHorizontalWheel2GamesView
DisableHorizontalWheel3GamesView
DisableWallGamesView
DisableWall2GamesView
DisableWall3GamesView
DisableWall4GamesView
DisablePlatformHybrid1View
DisablePlatformHybrid2View
DisablePlatformHybrid3View
DisablePlatformHybrid4View

Force16X9AspectRatio
If true, the theme will force itself to a 16:9 aspect ratio regardless of a user’s monitor size. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the 4X3 aspect ratio option.

Force4X3AspectRatio
If true, the theme will force itself to a 4:3 aspect ratio regardless of a user’s monitor size. This property works as a radio checkbox between itself and the 16X9 aspect ratio option.

Example of the Default theme’s ThemeSettings.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<LaunchBox>
  <ThemeSettings>
    <ForceGamesDisableBackgroundVideos>false</ForceGamesDisableBackgroundVideos>
    <ForceGamesEnableBackgroundVideos>false</ForceGamesEnableBackgroundVideos>
    <ForcePlatformsDisableBackgroundVideos>false</ForcePlatformsDisableBackgroundVideos>
    <ForcePlatformsEnableBackgroundVideos>false</ForcePlatformsEnableBackgroundVideos>
    <DisablePlatformWheel1FiltersView>false</DisablePlatformWheel1FiltersView>
    <DisablePlatformWheel2FiltersView>false</DisablePlatformWheel2FiltersView>
    <DisablePlatformWheel3FiltersView>true</DisablePlatformWheel3FiltersView>
    <DisablePlatformWheel4FiltersView>true</DisablePlatformWheel4FiltersView>
    <DisableBoxesGamesView>true</DisableBoxesGamesView>
    <DisableCoverFlowGamesView>false</DisableCoverFlowGamesView>
    <DisableCoverFlowWithDetailsGamesView>false</DisableCoverFlowWithDetailsGamesView>
    <DisableWheelGamesView>false</DisableWheelGamesView>
    <DisableWheel2GamesView>false</DisableWheel2GamesView>
    <DisableWheel3GamesView>true</DisableWheel3GamesView>
    <DisableWheel4GamesView>true</DisableWheel4GamesView>
    <DisableHorizontalWheel1GamesView>false</DisableHorizontalWheel1GamesView>
    <DisableHorizontalWheel2GamesView>true</DisableHorizontalWheel2GamesView>
    <DisableHorizontalWheel3GamesView>true</DisableHorizontalWheel3GamesView>
    <DisableWallGamesView>false</DisableWallGamesView>
    <DisableWall2GamesView>false</DisableWall2GamesView>
    <DisableWall3GamesView>false</DisableWall3GamesView>
    <DisableWall4GamesView>false</DisableWall4GamesView>
    <ForceDisablePlatformNotes>false</ForceDisablePlatformNotes>
    <ForceOverrideBackgroundFade>false</ForceOverrideBackgroundFade>
    <BackgroundFadeValue>0</BackgroundFadeValue>
    <Force16X9AspectRatio>false</Force16X9AspectRatio>
    <Force4X3AspectRatio>false</Force4X3AspectRatio>
    <DisablePlatformHybrid1View>false</DisablePlatformHybrid1View>
    <DisablePlatformHybrid2View>false</DisablePlatformHybrid2View>
    <DisablePlatformHybrid3View>false</DisablePlatformHybrid3View>
    <DisablePlatformHybrid4View>true</DisablePlatformHybrid4View>
  </ThemeSettings>
</LaunchBox>

BigBoxSettingsOverrides.xml

Theme-Specific Defaults That Still Respect the User

BigBoxSettingsOverrides.xml lets theme developers define default settings that automatically apply when users load the theme—overriding global Big Box options without permanently locking anything in. It’s a powerful way to ensure your theme looks and behaves exactly as intended, while still giving users full control to make changes later. Things like which platform view, or game view a user should be starting on when the theme is loaded can be found in here.

How to Use:

In Big Box, go to Theme Specific Options while your theme is active.
Adjust any settings away from the global defaults.
Changes will show an asterisk (*) to indicate they're now theme-specific.
These overrides are automatically saved to BigBoxSettingsOverrides.xml inside your theme folder.

Include this file with your theme when distributing it, and your custom defaults will apply right out of the box. Users can still modify any of these settings later through the Theme Specific Options menu—so you're not locking them in, just giving them the best starting point.