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Soqueroeu TV Backgrounds

Backgrounds for Mega Bezel Shader on Retroarch
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NOTE: This new package requires updated Retroarch versions (1.9.8 or higher) and Shader Mega Bezel pack V 0.9.097 (2022-01-05 Rev 2) or later.

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This is about my original TV backgrounds for use in conjuction with HyperspaceMadness Mega Bezel Reflection Shader.
I think lots of people would be pleased to play old games using an actual CRT TV, so I created my own project as a nice way to have a simulated TV… INSIDE your actual TV or monitor. Believe me, this works pretty well!
Please consider my work with this project as complete. New backgrounds may or may not eventually appear. Feedback is really welcome.
I hope everybody enjoys SOQUEROEU – Mega Bezel TV Backgrounds!
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What is SOQUEREU - Mega Bezel TV Backgrounds?

My TV backgrounds are meant to be used with Retroarch. They are not conventional screen overlays: included presets automatically load configurations for Mega Bezel Reflection shader to obtain maximum retro-feeling. In fact, they are designed to work as an addon to the shader and cannot be used standalone like standard overlays as they don’t have any trasparent region for tube.

Why?

My idea is to develop special backgrounds to be used while playing close to big screens. Taking inspiration from other designers projects, I started creating my own backgrounds in Photoshop featuring simple TV images. They are intended to as little space for the image tube as possible, bringing comfort for those who play close to big screens.

Users may find several spots to improve my work, after all I’m still tranining my skill with graphical tools! Btw, I tried to develop a wide variation of colors and shapes, so they wouldn’t result repetitive. I hope people will enjoy playing games and customizing their experience with my assets.

What is Mega Bezel Reflection Shader?

This is a collection of special shaders with lots of customization possibilities, as well as beautiful real-time tube reflections! They were developed by HyperSpaceMadness, with feedback from many people who like old games. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest contributions to the retrogaming emulation scene.

Requirements

  • Retroarch 1.9.8 or later with simple presets enabled.
  • Slang shaders previously installed in your Retroarch (download from Retroarch’s update menu).
  • Shader Mega Bezel pack V 0.9.097 (2022-01-05 Rev 2) or later.

Features (v2.1)

  • All backgrouns 16:9 @ 3840x2160 (4K) png format;
  • Day and night presets for a comfortable experience (Night need normal preset for reference);
  • No need for additional advanced preset adjustments;
  • Flat and curve screen presets (NEW);
  • Some graphics have color variations (NEW);
  • Generic graphics for systems without their own TV (NEW);
  • Added Nintendo Wii 16x9 preset (NEW);
  • Added Sega Dreamcast preset (NEW);

Systems included:

  • 3DO
  • Atari 2600
  • NEC PCE Super Grafx
  • NEC PC Engine
  • NEC PC Engine CD
  • NEC PC Engine Duo
  • NEC PC-FX
  • NEC Turbo Duo
  • NEC Turbo Grafx 16
  • NEC Turbo Grafx CD
  • Nintendo Famicom
  • Nintendo Famicom FDS
  • Nintendo GameCube
  • Nintendo N64
  • Nintendo NES
  • Nintendo Super Famicom
  • Nintendo Super Game Boy
  • Nintendo Super NES
  • Nintendo Wii (4x3 and 16x9)
  • Sega Dreamcast
  • Sega Mark III
  • Sega Master System
  • Sega Saturn
  • Sega SG-1000
  • Sega CD
  • Sega Genesis
  • SNK NeoGeo AES
  • Sony Playstation
  • Sony Playstation 2 (4x3 only)

To learn more about Mega Bezel Shader, please visit HSM's Forum Libretro page .
 

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How to use these backgrounds?

This guide assumes that you already use Mega Bezel shaders. It means you must have the Mega Bezel shader pack previously installed. If you haven't used these special shaders yet, look for additional information further down in this document.
These backgrouns are in 16:9 @ 3840x2160 format. Presets will always use the Standard version of Mega Bezel. Please note, there are no presets with Advanced parameter in this package.
Shader presets use relative path. You can then unzip this pack to any folder from the Retroarch root folder if you wish. If you choose a location other than this guide, consider the locations you determine to find shader presets.

1 - Inside the downloaded .zip you will see a folder called Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1. Unzip this folder to Retroarch/shaders/

2 - When a game is running, load a shader preset. Find presets in one of these directories:

Retroarch/shaders/Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1/presets/TV-Console

Retroarch/shaders/Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1/presets/TV-Console-Night

Once applied, a shader preset might look like this:

 

Adventure_Island_(USA)-220210-202358.thumb.png.9a90d2c5bf3c97ea4f0ab68970c9cb73.png

 

NOTE: Some shader generated bezels are combined with a bezel built into the graphic. If you want more freedom to create your own bezel, you can use "solid" graphics available for some of them. This may require editing the file paths in the preset.


Beginning Users

if it's your first experience with Mega Bezel Shaders, here the complete instructions:

1 - You must have Retroarch 1.9.8 or later (you will not be able to load in previous versions).

2 - You will need Slang shaders previously installed in your Retroarch. Download them from Retroarch's update menu.

NOTE: You will only be able to see the Slang Shaders in the Retroarch download list if video drivers is set to Vulkan. It may be necessary to save changes and restart your Retroarch.

3 - You will need Shader Mega Bezel pack. Find the links on the MegaBezel page.

4 - If you have previous versions of Mega Bezel installed, you need to delete the old shader pack. Do not overwrite files, this can cause crashes.

5 - After downloading Mega Bezel pack, see inside the .zip there is a folder called bezel. Copy this folder into the following directory: Retroarch/shaders/shaders_slang.

6 - After downloading the TV Backgrounds pack, inside the .zip you will see a folder called Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1. Unzip this folder to: Retroarch/shaders.

7 - Open Retroarch and go to driver options (Settings>Driver>Video). Set the video driver to Vulkan. It also works with GLCore, but seems to be faster with Vulkan.

8 - Still in Retroarch, go to Settings>Video>Scale. Set integer value scale to OFF. Set the screen aspect ratio to match your monitor, for example 16: 9.

9 - When a game is running, load a shader preset. Find presets in one of these directories:

/Retroarch/shaders/Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1/presets/TV-Console

/Retroarch/shaders/Soqueroeu-TV-Backgrounds_V2.1/presets/TV-Console-Night

Note: A shader preset can take between 5 and 10 seconds to load. On first use, small stutters may occur when navigating through the parameter menus. The loading time can also be a little longer. This happens because the shader is caching the changes. Wait and trust!

10 - If any background appears upside down, access the shader parameters and modify the Flip Viewport Vertical option, in the [FLIP & ROTATE] section.

11 - If you want to change shader parameters, you should know that MegaBezel offers several customization options. Once you have desired result, you can save preset to Core (active core), content directory or whole system. I recommend you save by applying to platform/console folder contents, as each system operates with different display resolutions and a customization may present unwanted results for some other core.

IMPORTANT: When saving a preset, make sure you have the Simple Presets feature set to ON. This will save a preset that has a reference to the preset you loaded, along with any parameter changes you made. This is what will keep your presets loading correctly when the shader is updated in the future.

Have a good time!

Edited by soqueroeu
Update pack


What's New in Version 2.1   See changelog

Released

  • Fixed bezel shadow over tube
  • Adjusted frame noise
  • Night presets: fixed missing quotes path reference
  • Like 12
  • Thanks 1
  • Unusual Gem 3

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Followed the instructions, not sure what I'm doing wrong, I get a shader failed to apply error. The Mega Bezel shaders work fine, just not these. 

Also it didn't work on GL, the files don't even show, I had to change to Vulkan, which was fine (it used to crash my system so I never used it, now its not for some reason so i doesn't matter, but just letting you know, maybe that is just me or I was doing it wrong). 

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Also do you know how to make it so the shaders load on start up? Start up delay was already at 0, but that doesn't work (this is for the mega Bezels, still can't get this pack to work yet) 

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4 hours ago, Maul83 said:

Followed the instructions, not sure what I'm doing wrong, I get a shader failed to apply error. The Mega Bezel shaders work fine, just not these. 

Also it didn't work on GL, the files don't even show, I had to change to Vulkan, which was fine (it used to crash my system so I never used it, now its not for some reason so i doesn't matter, but just letting you know, maybe that is just me or I was doing it wrong). 

Never mind on both questions, I didn't follow your instructions properly. 

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6 hours ago, Maul83 said:

Followed the instructions, not sure what I'm doing wrong, I get a shader failed to apply error. The Mega Bezel shaders work fine, just not these. 

Also it didn't work on GL, the files don't even show, I had to change to Vulkan, which was fine (it used to crash my system so I never used it, now its not for some reason so i doesn't matter, but just letting you know, maybe that is just me or I was doing it wrong). 

 

5 hours ago, Maul83 said:

Also do you know how to make it so the shaders load on start up? Start up delay was already at 0, but that doesn't work (this is for the mega Bezels, still can't get this pack to work yet) 

Looks like you've already solved the problems. Anyways, shade presets will only be listed when the appropriate driver is active. For slang shaders, you must have previously downloaded the default Slang shaders via Retroarch's update menu. In order to list these shaders, the driver must already be active, in this case, Vulkan.

You should not use the delay option when loading the shader for Mega Bezel, it can cause crashes.

Good luck and good gaming!

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On 8/3/2021 at 2:06 PM, Maul83 said:

Also wondering if there is a way to zoom in? I tried upping the scale a bit but it wasn't working. 

Using the Standard base preset, the Background layer can’t be scaled. Assuming you know how to do it, If you don’t use too many layers you could use the Decal layer for the background and the Top Layer for the Decals or Leds. They both have scaling modes (although in this pack I didn't use a decal layer). Obviously you would have to change the lines for pointed directories in the preset and modify some scale values in the shader parameters.

You have to:

  • In shader preset, replace "BackgroundImage" with "DecalImage"
  • Add this line to your preset: HSM_STANDARD_DECAL_SHOW_UNDER_FRAME = "1,000000"
  • In shader parameters screen, scale the Decal layer for desired  value
  • In shader parameters screen, increase No-Integer Scale to match the desired size.
  • In shader parameters screen, adjust tube X and Y direction to correct alignment

    Note: this may not work well for night presets, unless you correctly scale the led layer. For this, you need to make one more modification, which consists of:
  • In night shader preset, replace "LEDImage"  with  "TopLayerImage".
  • In shader parameters screen adjust Top Extra Layer Blend Mode to 2.00 (ADD).
  • It may be necessary to adjust frame width and height to align with the background.

After all, I have a zoomed version of NES Night:

 

image.thumb.png.dfd459d97408627185b5710e39342ef9.png



 

Edited by soqueroeu
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On 8/3/2021 at 5:08 PM, soqueroeu said:

Using the Standard base preset, the Background layer can’t be scaled. Assuming you know how to do it, If you don’t use too many layers you could use the Decal layer for the background and the Top Layer for the Decals or Leds. They both have scaling modes (although in this pack I didn't use a decal layer). Obviously you would have to change the lines for pointed directories in the preset and modify some scale values in the shader parameters.

You have to:

  • In shader preset, replace "BackgroundImage" with "DecalImage"
  • Add this line to your preset: HSM_STANDARD_DECAL_SHOW_UNDER_FRAME = "1,000000"
  • In shader parameters screen, scale the Decal layer for desired  value
  • In shader parameters screen, increase No-Integer Scale to match the desired size.
  • In shader parameters screen, adjust tube X and Y direction to correct alignment

    Note: this may not work well for night presets, unless you correctly scale the led layer. For this, you need to make one more modification, which consists of:
  • In night shader preset, replace "LEDImage"  with  "TopLayerImage".
  • In shader parameters screen adjust Top Extra Layer Blend Mode to 2.00 (ADD).
  • It may be necessary to adjust frame width and height to align with the background.

After all, I have a zoomed version of NES Night:

 

image.thumb.png.dfd459d97408627185b5710e39342ef9.png



 

I found an easier way. Just go into video > scaling and set a custom aspect ratio width and height to something really high. 

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Just wanted to drop a quick thank you for these, I've been all over hyperspace madness's posts and duimon's stuff, it's all amazing.  I was thinking of asking for some specific tv models from when I was a kid, but your pack looks to have some of the old Sony type models that are exactly what I was looking for.  Awesome stuff man, keep up the good work!

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Awesome shader set. Just thought I'd let you know that for some reason the Atari2600 shader preset changes the screen to vertical and the background image is just gray diagonal lines. How can this be fixed?

EDIT: Ok so I found out that it's the "Rotate CRT tube" option. If I switch it to 0 this shows: image.thumb.png.4d5dd5b460d5d15aae6b2f05d21f12dd.png and if I change it to 1 this shows: image.thumb.png.3c6972b41bec4e2c2c9f07f8e6ffbf84.pngAll the other shaders display correctly except atari2600.

Edited by Azgorath
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2 hours ago, Azgorath said:

Awesome shader set. Just thought I'd let you know that for some reason the Atari2600 shader preset changes the screen to vertical and the background image is just gray diagonal lines. How can this be fixed?

EDIT: Ok so I found out that it's the "Rotate CRT tube" option. If I switch it to 0 this shows: image.thumb.png.4d5dd5b460d5d15aae6b2f05d21f12dd.png and if I change it to 1 this shows: image.thumb.png.3c6972b41bec4e2c2c9f07f8e6ffbf84.pngAll the other shaders display correctly except atari2600

@Azgorath , thanks for reporting this!
The Atari 2600 system is one of the few that fluctuates during shader execution. This can happen because the shader tries to scale the resolution automatically. Normally this is fixed when we set the screen format to 4x3 by shader parameters, instead of keeping it on auto. But it's still not a definitive solution.

The shader creator is working on improved versions of the package. I encourage you to appreciate the work of HSM.
Meanwhile, I'm working on fixes and at some point I might release an update, ok?

Thanks again!

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Can someone help me out with this?  I downloaded everything exactly to the instructions and everything fails to load.  No issues loading other vulkin-based shaders, not sure what I am doing wrong here.  I downloaded the recent zip file and moved it to the appropriate location with no luck.  I even tried opening one of the shader config files and seeing what it references and everything it uses is in place.  

Edit - Looks like I am missing MBZ__2__STD.slangp, not sure where to get this since it isn't in the HSM pack.

Edit 2 - For those that find this in 2022, the existing tv pack has to be updated because of the update to the Mega Bezel package.

Edited by rancid
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13 hours ago, rancid said:

Edit 2 - For those that find this in 2022, the existing tv pack has to be updated because of the update to the Mega Bezel package.

Exactly @rancid!

Thanks for informing!

With Mega Bezel Shader updates, the Soqueroeu pack may not work as expected. That's because the names and structure of the presets changed. I plan to update this preset pack to be compatible with new versions of HSM Shader Pack. I'm also finalizing version 2.0 of the package, with all the backgrounds reworked.

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1 hour ago, soqueroeu said:

Exactly @rancid!

Thanks for informing!

With Mega Bezel Shader updates, the Soqueroeu pack may not work as expected. That's because the names and structure of the presets changed. I plan to update this preset pack to be compatible with new versions of HSM Shader Pack. I'm also finalizing version 2.0 of the package, with all the backgrounds reworked.

Very excited to hear this, love your work and can't wait for the update!

 

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14 hours ago, housello said:

donloaded ver 2.0, but some assets are missing in the img folder (all sega consoles i noticed)

Hey @housello , sorry about that! You were absolutely right. 😊
Thanks for letting me know. I just updated the pack. Download again.

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Looks like Mega Bezel was updated again on Apr 23 and it might have caused the shaders to now work. I am unable to apply any of them.

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6 hours ago, Soundtrackgeek said:

Looks like Mega Bezel was updated again on Apr 23 and it might have caused the shaders to now work. I am unable to apply any of them.

Yeah, the last update is from 2022-04-23.
Do you have problems running this Soqueroeu TV pack?

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I can't run the current pack, it would appear things were changed on July 15th.

Edited by Haelstrom
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On 8/3/2021 at 2:06 PM, Maul83 said:

Also wondering if there is a way to zoom in? I tried upping the scale a bit but it wasn't working. 

Yes, in the newest versions of Mega Bezel, it's possible!
For those who want to increase the viewing area in my presets+backgrounds, it is possible with just one adjustment, in this parameter:

image
.
.
Additionally, you may want to adjust the height, as I did in the image below. See now the edges of the TV reach the end above and below:

image

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If you're going to do bezels, I think this is the way to do it! Only comment would be to improve the wooden plank that the TVs are sitting on to make it look more realistic. 

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I was able to fix the issue by looking at the .slangp file I wanted to use and verifying the directory structure at the top.

Edited by Coptimus
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you have to change the path in the .slangp files to

'#reference "../../../shaders_slang/....'

(only 3 times '../' instead of 4)

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