What an option is
Offering choices to your theme's user.
An option is a property the user will find in their machine's menus: “Theme colors: Blue / Green / Red”, “Retro filter: CRT / scanlines / none”.
It is what distinguishes a rich theme from a frozen one.
What an option really does
An option is not a “show or hide” switch. It is a file loaded on top of the theme, which redefines whatever it wants: a color, a font, an entire layout.
On the official themes, the vast majority of options only change colors — often by redefining a simple <variable>. Hidings are rare.
An option acts on every view at once: it is a property of the theme, not of a view.
The official theme's options
recalbox-next-2025 offers ten of them, which gives a good idea of what is done:
| Option | What it changes |
|---|---|
systemView | the layout of the system list |
gameList | that of the game list |
gameclipview | that of the screensaver |
SysInfos | the systems' information: full, minimal, hidden |
gameInfos | the games' information |
colorTheme | 12 palettes of colors |
shader | the retro filter: CRT, scanlines, honeycomb, none |
shadow | the shading |
bands | the color bands: thin, thick, none |
iconesetTheme | the help bar's icons: 8 sets |