How To Make A Custom Theme
This is one of the best ways to make Poly Beats FEEL like your own creation. Does this sound good to you? Then let's get started!
Table Of Contents (Want to see a specific topic? Skip to the action here :)
Skip: If You're Lazy
If you want to skip this section of this tutorial, you can go to the archive below, and get the .zip file that starts with the name [CURRENT], which means its the latest supported Theme schema, and extract its contents into this folder:
"%appdata%/../LocalLow/5th Step Games/Poly Beats/Local Themes"
Before we get started, if you are planning to upload your theme to the Poly Beats Marketplace (our Steam Workshop), please look at our End User License Agreement to make sure your Theme is in accordance with it.
Not adhering to this guideline can get your content removed from the Marketplace, and get you banned from there! And that's no fun. Is it?
1. Setting Up A Directory
Themes that are being made by you NEED to be in the Persistent Data Path. To get to this directory, all you need to do is copy and paste this path onto your machine:
"%appdata%/../LocalLow/5th Step Games/Poly Beats/Local Themes"
All we need to do in here is create a new folder. I'm gonna name this one Henry just to keep this guide simple. Say hi to Henry :)
"What's This For?"
This is basically where all the files for our Theme goes. This is where you'll be spending most of your time... so make yourself comfortable with your Henry!
2. Metadata.info (file)
This is basically the thing the game uses to show the game who you are, and what this theme is all about!
You can read this one used for the game's Default theme:
Metadata.info format 2. 'Jetbrains Mono' font. Captured with CodeSnap™.
Metadata
This section is where most of the information is, about your theme. This should be very simple to understand, and players will see most of the things in this section.
"Name" - The name of your font.
"Creators" - Who made this font? If it more than one person, you can leave a comma between names, or put an "//" between two names to look cooler.
"ShortDescription" - This should be a super quick one-liner statement about your font. You can leave this blank if you want, but it's recommended to just do a short thing. Even if it's a super bad joke. It works.
"LongDescription" - This is a longer description of your font, which can be shown in the Steam Workshop, and alongside the in-game downloader you can get access to by becoming a monthly HarmonyFunder (donator) of our game :)
"CoverPath" - Where the Cover Art to your theme is, relative to the Theme's folder.
"Cover Art" (.png) - This is an image that is shown alongside your theme in the selector, and also on the Marketplace
Dimensions: 800px x 800px
Tip: Try to lean into the game's default colors to make your cover pleasant to the eyes!
Or... go for something flashy. People might favor that on the Marketplace.
"Version" - The current version of the font. This is so players can check if they have the latest version on their machine or not :)
Next Section: Menu.polybeatsconfig
This is the most important part of designing a game, therefore it's the most important part of designing a theme! It's a very verbose documentation outline of all the variables and properties you can change in menus, to make Poly Beats truly yours. Making Themes can take a while, so don't be discouraged it if takes longer than you expected. I know you're working on something great! <3
Need any help, or just wanna chat with us? Follow us on our socials! :)
