Big Box Theme Templates to Spark More Creativity?

[drtechnolust]

I’ve been thinking about how we could help grow the Big Box theme community, and I wanted to put an idea out there.

Right now, theme creation can feel a bit intimidating for newer users. A lot of the amazing themes out there are works of art and understandably part of the creators’ portfolios, so it’s not always easy to get access to files or examples to learn from. That makes it tough for novices who just want to experiment, maybe move a wheel, adjust some animations, or put their own spin on an existing idea.

What if we had a set of starter templates or stripped-down example themes available to everyone? Nothing that takes away from the unique work creators are doing, but simple frameworks that show how wheels, views, and layouts are structured. I think this could:

• Lower the barrier to entry and make it easier for people to learn by tweaking instead of starting from scratch.

• Encourage more creativity and innovation, as people remix and expand on those templates.

• Grow the community by helping new voices bring fresh ideas.

• Take some pressure off veteran theme creators, since people would have resources to start experimenting without needing to directly ask for portfolio files.

To me, this feels like a win-win. Creators keep full ownership of their artistic work, while the community gets a foundation to build from. Over time, we’d probably see more themes, more variety, and even new advanced creators rising up from those starting points.

What do you all think? Would something like this help spark more creativity in the Big Box community?

[AstroBob]

Heya,

Thanks for the great idea here, personally think this could be a great initiative to lower the barrier to entry for theme creators. Right now it's very much driven by the community sharing their idea and works, but if there's a way we can facilitate lowering that barrier through the app itself, I can see a lot of value there.

I hope it's okay, but i've scoped out a request on our feature tracking site, just so others can vote on it and gauge interest in an official solution to this

- https://feedback.launchbox.gg/p/starter-templates-for-big-box-theme-creation

Feel free to upvote and follow along there. 

That said, there's technically nothing stopping anyone in the community from creating these at the moment, so would love to hear what others think and how they might want to see something like this implemented

[PadeMoNiuM Prods]

I’m going to say something a lot of people are thinking quietly: creating a Big Box theme these days feels like a full-on obstacle course… when it should be fun.
On one side, you’ve got creators guarding their work as if every XAML file contained nuclear launch codes — and honestly, considering the quality of some themes, I get it.
But on the other side, you’ve got newcomers who just want to learn, and they end up tiptoeing around like they’re defusing a bomb the moment they touch a public view.

The result?
You tweak a view that was already shared, and suddenly it’s like you’ve robbed a bank.
Instant relaxation mode.

So I’m thinking: why not defuse the tension by offering educational starter templates — intentionally simple, made for experimenting without triggering World War XAML?

Not works of art, not anyone’s signature showcase. Just clean, basic foundations:
– a clear wheel view,
– a minimalist platform view,
– a basic game view,
– and some “clean” animations, well-commented and ready to teach how things work.

That way we avoid:

– unnecessary drama,
– absurd accusations,
– witch hunts over a wandering PNG.

And we gain:

– more motivated people,
– more ideas,
– more variety,
– and maybe even a slightly cooler community.

Nobody loses their work.
Everybody wins in creativity.

So here’s the idea:
Do we provide some honest-to-goodness starter kits… or do we keep pretending a leaked XAML file could bring down modern civilization?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

[SupaGrova]

I totally agree!

 

[Tsik]

On 11/17/2025 at 12:24 PM, PadeMoNiuM Prods said:

So I’m thinking: why not defuse the tension by offering educational starter templates

+1 for this... Not only for BigBox but also for LaunchBox, for the new user maybe for starters the default themes or the default launcher theme could be "edited", meaning there should be an easier way than just creating a copy and then digging into the xaml code without knowing where to start, where to end and what to edit for the simpler/smaller modifications that some of us only need. I think this feature will attract more people coming to LaunchBox.
I can say that I have dug deep enough into the code for my knowledge just to move/remove that "Loading now..." visual from the launch screen or make the CD spin slow-down and slide off the screen in the animation for the shutdown screen (which by the way I am still struggling to complete).

But there is also a problem that arises from this, if more people can edit things, more problems will arise (high RAM usage, coding errors, conflicts, etc.) and each of these problems will be tailored to a very small group of users, so the work from moderators/developers, and even members who are willing to help solve these problems will suddenly increase!

LaunchBox (I think) has revived well since its last update, the only thing we don't want is to go back to this hole of fixing something that broke and adjusting things to please every user, which (in my opinion) is a step towards that. I honestly don't know (I'm not a developer nor do I have a programming background) if theme editing can conflict with the rest of the software in such significant ways, but i believe we have to take that into account.
Besides, according to this team article and this one (about plugins), the things that come with LaunchBox by default are fixed, optimized for compatibility, stability and ease of use.

The bottom line is that Yes, we want easy customization for new/inexperienced users, @PadeMoNiuM Prods said "...a clean wheel view, a minimalist platform view, basic game view and some "clean" animations, well-made and ready to teach how things work", but in a way that whatever they do doesn't interfere with the software core and doesn't make things worse (if it does in the first place). Perhaps this is the reason other frontends/launchers don't have all those customization options LaunchBox is already offering.

P.S. The use of Community Theme Creator by @y2guru was made (maybe) just to solve this issue, but it seems to have paused its development. (also in the Patreon). 🥲 plus you couldn't edit the already default themes with it. 🥲🥲

I hope you get my point.

Thanks

Edited February 21 by Tsik

[TJ_on_Launchbox]

On 11/17/2025 at 11:24 AM, PadeMoNiuM Prods said:

...

Nobody loses their work.
Everybody wins in creativity.

So here’s the idea:
Do we provide some honest-to-goodness starter kits… or do we keep pretending a leaked XAML file could bring down modern civilization?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

This is a great Thread, a great Idea. Thank you so much for this.
I started with Big Box a few years ago. I liked some of the Themes but there was always something i wanted to have changed.
Therefore i reverse engineered and learned by myself from scratch what each program codes do if you change this and change that.
It took me weeks of hard work but in the end i made it happen to have my theme personalized how i wanted it.
But i always thought why there is not a Template where unexperienced Users could create their Themes how they want to.
 

[damageinc86]

4 hours ago, TJ_on_Launchbox said:

This is a great Thread, a great Idea. Thank you so much for this.
I started with Big Box a few years ago. I liked some of the Themes but there was always something i wanted to have changed.
Therefore i reverse engineered and learned by myself from scratch what each program codes do if you change this and change that.
It took me weeks of hard work but in the end i made it happen to have my theme personalized how i wanted it.
But i always thought why there is not a Template where unexperienced Users could create their Themes how they want to.
 

Could you look at the BannerBox theme code and help me get the details/game name screen to slide in quicker than it currently does?  That's all I want different in the theme.  It takes WAY too long for all the details to slide in and populate once you land on a console or a game from the list.

[PadeMoNiuM Prods]

I really can’t recommend enough that you take some time to browse the forums. There are resources everywhere, especially when it comes to animations. Sometimes they’re very simple, but incredibly useful. And if one day you feel like creating something a bit more unique, you can always build your own animations. It does take time. You have to code them and experiment. But honestly, with AI today, it’s not nearly as complicated as it used to be.

Over time, I’ve built myself a small animation library just by picking things up here and there, from friends and from shared themes. If people share their work, it’s meant to be reused. That’s the whole point. Faeran made a lot of “standard” themes for a reason. They’re there for creators to dig into, learn from, and build on. They were made for us. So don’t hesitate to explore them. They’re a huge help.

Y2guru also occasionally releases small theme concepts, proof-of-concept builds with tons of interesting animations. Those require a slightly higher skill level to really understand and adapt, but what he shares are absolute gems. You’ll find unique animations and genuinely complex mechanics in there.

For example, the Netflix theme served as the foundation for Kingslayer’s new CoverFlow. He built his own vision on top of it, of course, but the original structure, the skeleton, came from there.

A few years ago, together with another contributor, we started working on a template theme. We never really continued developing it due to a lack of participants, but I could bring it back. I believe we still have the files.

If you’re interested, I can post it here.

[TJ_on_Launchbox]

14 hours ago, damageinc86 said:

Could you look at the BannerBox theme code and help me get the details/game name screen to slide in quicker than it currently does?  That's all I want different in the theme.  It takes WAY too long for all the details to slide in and populate once you land on a console or a game from the list.

I would recommend to use Chat GPT. 
Honestly it would take a long time for me.

[damageinc86]

14 hours ago, TJ_on_Launchbox said:

I would recommend to use Chat GPT. 
Honestly it would take a long time for me.

Well, I just wasted over an hour trying to explain to chatgpt what to do, and the game select fade-out and details transition in for BannerBox theme still is slow as molasses.  It could never figure it out lol. 

[TJ_on_Launchbox]

12 hours ago, damageinc86 said:

Well, I just wasted over an hour trying to explain to chatgpt what to do, and the game select fade-out and details transition in for BannerBox theme still is slow as molasses.  It could never figure it out lol. 

You have to think a little bit by yourself.
What i did back then: I counted the seconds until it transitioned. It was i think 5 seconds.
Then i searched for this number in the xml. Then i changed the first found 5 to 10 and watched the reaction until i found the right one.
I could also not solve how to delete the transition but i changed the number from 5 seconds to 100 seconds so it never bothered me again.

[damageinc86]

1 hour ago, TJ_on_Launchbox said:

You have to think a little bit by yourself.
What i did back then: I counted the seconds until it transitioned. It was i think 5 seconds.
Then i searched for this number in the xml. Then i changed the first found 5 to 10 and watched the reaction until i found the right one.
I could also not solve how to delete the transition but i changed the number from 5 seconds to 100 seconds so it never bothered me again.

Yeah i don't know where to look.  and apparently chatgpt can't figure out what values to edit either.  I need the banner box details to fly in(transition) quicker.  It takes too long after you land on a game for eveeything to come in. 

[TJ_on_Launchbox]

3 hours ago, damageinc86 said:

Yeah i don't know where to look.  and apparently chatgpt can't figure out what values to edit either.  I need the banner box details to fly in(transition) quicker.  It takes too long after you land on a game for eveeything to come in. 

What do you mean with "I don´t know where to look"?
I explained it to you. Did you count how many seconds it takes that the details fly in? 
Just count the time and then look in the xml file for this number.
Change it to 2 seconds and watch what happens. You can´t destroy anything. You can always change it back or just copy paste the xml and if you screw things up then you can insert the backup file again.
 

[damageinc86]

12 minutes ago, TJ_on_Launchbox said:

What do you mean with "I don´t know where to look"?
I explained it to you. Did you count how many seconds it takes that the details fly in? 
Just count the time and then look in the xml file for this number.
Change it to 2 seconds and watch what happens. You can´t destroy anything. You can always change it back or just copy paste the xml and if you screw things up then you can insert the backup file again.
 

ok i searched for 3 seconds as an example.  i got anything that had the number 3 in it lol.  including grid height "1080 Width "384" .  so...still don't know where the value for delaying the game details coming in would be.

[damageinc86]

On 3/2/2026 at 1:16 AM, PadeMoNiuM Prods said:

I really can’t recommend enough that you take some time to browse the forums. There are resources everywhere, especially when it comes to animations. Sometimes they’re very simple, but incredibly useful. And if one day you feel like creating something a bit more unique, you can always build your own animations. It does take time. You have to code them and experiment. But honestly, with AI today, it’s not nearly as complicated as it used to be.

Over time, I’ve built myself a small animation library just by picking things up here and there, from friends and from shared themes. If people share their work, it’s meant to be reused. That’s the whole point. Faeran made a lot of “standard” themes for a reason. They’re there for creators to dig into, learn from, and build on. They were made for us. So don’t hesitate to explore them. They’re a huge help.

Y2guru also occasionally releases small theme concepts, proof-of-concept builds with tons of interesting animations. Those require a slightly higher skill level to really understand and adapt, but what he shares are absolute gems. You’ll find unique animations and genuinely complex mechanics in there.

For example, the Netflix theme served as the foundation for Kingslayer’s new CoverFlow. He built his own vision on top of it, of course, but the original structure, the skeleton, came from there.

A few years ago, together with another contributor, we started working on a template theme. We never really continued developing it due to a lack of participants, but I could bring it back. I believe we still have the files.

If you’re interested, I can post it here.

how about you prod?  could you look at the BannerBox .xaml files and find where the values are to change the delay on details entering once a game is landed on?  it takes WAY too long for the fade out and theme elements to begin to slide in and populate the details