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.

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.

Root Marquee Views

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

Other Root Views

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

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.

Child List Item Views

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

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.

Other Child Views

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

Root Popup Views

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

Child Popup Views

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

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:

1. In Big Box, go to Theme Specific Options while your theme is active.

2. Adjust any settings away from the global defaults.

3. Changes will show an asterisk (*) to indicate they're now theme-specific.

4. 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.