Using new features like "similar games" will require using a different theme?

[FlightRisk]

I am just assuming here that features aren't a "skin" in LB, but a completely programmed interface such that if something like similar games/recommended games are added, that won't appear in the GUI in an old theme? Can you modify an old theme easily to include this? If not, we are dependent on the theme makers to update their themes, right?

[neil9000]

4 minutes ago, FlightRisk said:

I am just assuming here that features aren't a "skin" in LB, but a completely programmed interface such that if something like similar games/recommended games are added, that won't appear in the GUI in an old theme? Can you modify an old theme easily to include this? If not, we are dependent on the theme makers to update their themes, right?

This has always been the case, when new features are added to Launchbox or Bigbox that effect functionality then themes need to be created/updated to use said new functionality.

[FlightRisk]

What I am seeing is that BigBox automatically shows the feature, since it is just a list of game options on the right (on my theme), but it doesn't give any option in Launchbox to see this same information, it has to be part of the theme. On the video for 12.1 there is a sidebar in a new LB theme with new options:

But I noticed in my LB, that the default theme shows "related games" on this sidebar, but the "default plus" does not. Does that mean the theme doesn't support it or it is just turned off? I made my theme from the old default theme, but looks like I may have to switch themes and adjust colors.

And back to BB, that seems to operate differently. My game details sidebar (and the one in the 12.1 video), shows that list of everything automatically in all the themes I tried. It isn't fancy like it is in LB.  So all themes default to showing that list, but LB themes do not? In Unified, this list is on the right, here it is on the left from the video in whatever theme he is using:

I guess I was expecting it to be like one of the competing game front-ends that originated this feature, where the entire screen is filled with 3 or 4 frames of information and one of them was a list of the names and platforms of related games you had installed (like pac-man on all the different platforms). You may remember I was one of the main nags for this feature over the years having used that other system and other poll features kept beating it out until now. Persistence pays  i