I'm trying to get the bezels from The Bezel Project to line up properly with my games (using RetroArch). Any tips? (Screenshot included)

[PurpleTentacle]

This is a screenshot taken directly in RetroArch, so the actual bezel got cutoff, but it's obviously there when I'm playing the games.

As you can see, the game is a bit off-center (as far as I can tell, it's not the bezel that's off-center). NES games fit within the boarders (albeit not perfectly - there's a bit of space between the game & the bezel, but the bezel doesn't cover up anything), but Atari 2600 games are off center.

 

I tend to really like the bezels, so I'd like to keep them where I can. Unfortunately, cutting off the edges is handicapping myself, so I'd like to see if I can fix it. 

 

Related, I also have N64 games that aren't zipped, so they don't follow the NoIntro naming conventions. Is there an easy way to fix that without reimporting the games (like replacing the file extension in a config file or such)?

[Lordmonkus]

I don't use bezels at all but that seems to look about right for the 2600, it's off center even real hardware on a CRT TV. It's just how the system works.

[PurpleTentacle]

huh, it's been so long since I've played a real Atari 2600 on a CRT that I don't remember that it does that naturally. I kind of wish RetroArch had a toggle for overlays/bezels, since that would give an easy method of disabling it for games where it becomes an issue. Oh well.

[Lordmonkus]

I have my 2600 hooked to a CRT TV using one of these 

and it's off center to the right.

[neil9000]

32 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

I kind of wish RetroArch had a toggle for overlays/bezels,

You can just turn it off in the quick menu then save a game override.

[PurpleTentacle]

33 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

You can just turn it off in the quick menu then save a game override.

Yeah, that's what I do now. I meant a hotkey to make it instant so that I can turn it off/on, depending on my mood. I toggle it off/on in the menus at the moment, but it does make it feel a bit more involved every time I want to load a new game.

 

Not a huge deal or anything, but it would make it easier for me.

[Lordmonkus]

Just leave it as it is, offset is "authentic"

[PurpleTentacle]

8 minutes ago, Lordmonkus said:

Just leave it as it is, offset is "authentic"

ha, the ultimate dilemma retro gamers have when emulating... 

[DOS76]

while I understand that A2600 is off kilter naturally a lot of bezels for RA are made to the same size and they don't take into account the actual resolution of the emulated system so you see part of the picture not quite fitting the bezel correctly it isn't really that much of a bother but I kind of wish someone would make a pack that used the real aspect instead the standard 4:3 or whatever is being used. I've never messed with the bezel project bezels so I don't know if they fit into that category or not.

[spycat]

Those bezels have a transparent game window of approximately 1440 x 1080 which is a 4:3 aspect ratio.
A2600 games have an 8:5 aspect ratio. Also, some games have offsets.
MAME has Position and Stretch sliders that allow you to adjust each "out of step" game to fill it's bezel game window. This, however, distorts a game's aspect ratio.
I don't know if RA supports this feature.

While the A2600 bezels could be reworked to match the game aspect ratio, the issue of some games having offsets would still show up as black areas. Designing each bezel to have a window that fits the actual game playing area and hides the unwanted bits would result in some bezels having a lopsided look. Some users might find this as unsightly as seeing the black bits.
 

[eatkinola]

I'm in the bezel camp and prefer aesthetics over authenticity. You can use RA per-game overrides as needed for games with black bars. It's a bit of a pain to setup, but once it's done it's done. It'll obviously be more of a pain to setup if you have a complete collection of a26 games; my collection is limited to about 90 games. Per-core override STELLA.cfg:

Spoiler

# FULLSCREEN VIDEO
video_fullscreen = "true"
video_fullscreen_x = "1920"
video_fullscreen_y = "1080"

# VIEWPORT W/OVERLAY
aspect_ratio_index = "23"
custom_viewport_width = "1380"
custom_viewport_height = "1000"
custom_viewport_x = "270"
custom_viewport_y = "40"
input_overlay = ":\@my\opsonins\overlays\ATARI_2600.cfg"
input_overlay_opacity = "1"

# SHADER: CRT W/CURVATURE
video_shader = ":\@my\opsonins\shaders\crt-geom.glslp"
video_shader_enable = "true"
video_smooth = "false"

Per-game override Barnstorming.cfg:

Spoiler

# GAME-SPECIFIC VIEWPORT
custom_viewport_width = "1440"
custom_viewport_height = "1090"
custom_viewport_x = "210"
custom_viewport_y = "0"

Nevermind the moire effect -- that's just how the screenshots come out when using the shader:

P.s. Oh man I'm rusty at this game

[PurpleTentacle]

4 hours ago, eatkinola said:

I'm in the bezel camp and prefer aesthetics over authenticity. You can use RA per-game overrides as needed for games with black bars. It's a bit of a pain to setup, but once it's done it's done. It'll obviously be more of a pain to setup if you have a complete collection of a26 games; my collection is limited to about 90 games. Per-core override STELLA.cfg:

  Hide contents

# FULLSCREEN VIDEO
video_fullscreen = "true"
video_fullscreen_x = "1920"
video_fullscreen_y = "1080"

# VIEWPORT W/OVERLAY
aspect_ratio_index = "23"
custom_viewport_width = "1380"
custom_viewport_height = "1000"
custom_viewport_x = "270"
custom_viewport_y = "40"
input_overlay = ":\@my\opsonins\overlays\ATARI_2600.cfg"
input_overlay_opacity = "1"

# SHADER: CRT W/CURVATURE
video_shader = ":\@my\opsonins\shaders\crt-geom.glslp"
video_shader_enable = "true"
video_smooth = "false"

Per-game override Barnstorming.cfg:

  Hide contents

# GAME-SPECIFIC VIEWPORT
custom_viewport_width = "1440"
custom_viewport_height = "1090"
custom_viewport_x = "210"
custom_viewport_y = "0"

Nevermind the moire effect -- that's just how the screenshots come out when using the shader:

P.s. Oh man I'm rusty at this game

Oooo, I'll have to take a look at this once my brain starts waking up. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I have the entire Atari library, so it would probably take quite a bit of effort. I kind of enjoy putting on the scanline shaders sometimes, but not by default. I'm still split on how much I prefer aesthetics vs. authenticity, but I find that when the bezels look right, it kind of helps make it feel more authentic & like I'm not playing on a LCD/LED monitor, ironically enough.

 

Semi-related - I was also reading up about the differences between the various NES emulators because my understanding came down to "Mesen is the most accurate", but not much else, but sometimes I feel like Nestopia runs smoother for me (running on a laptop while watching Twitch w/ a second monitor) . That got me to read up about palette choices for the NES (specifically for Mesen)... point being that once I start down a rabbithole of emulation options, I can't dig myself back out.

I actually recently upgraded the firmware on my 8bitdo controllers, and it actually made a huge difference in latency, so just throwing it out there that it was one of the best things I've done for my setup recently. 

 

Also, Barnstorming is a ton of fun for such a simple game. I actually got a fairly good time semi-recently.

[Lordmonkus]

Yeah Mesen is a bit more system intensive, this is the cost of more accuracy.

As for palettes don't get too hung up on what is "most accurate" because there is no such thing because of how the NES and TVs worked together to determine colour, just use what looks best to your eye and don't worry about it.

[PurpleTentacle]

49 minutes ago, Lordmonkus said:

As for palettes don't get too hung up on what is "most accurate" because there is no such thing because of how the NES and TVs worked together to determine colour, just use what looks best to your eye and don't worry about it.

Yeah, this is the philosophy that I'm leaning towards. I care about palette accuracy in the sense that I just don't want the colors to be wildly off from what it should be (I.E., let's say a sky of teal instead of a sky blue color), but I don't need it to *exact* because there are too many factors to determine what "exact" would mean. Hell, the colors on my second monitor differ from my main monitor a bit, so it's impossible for me to make color representation uniform anyway.

 

As far as Mesen vs. Nestopia, one of the nice things about LaunchBox is being able to setup multiple emulators, including multiple setups for RetroArch to use different librettos for the same platform. Unless I'm using save states, it's handy to be able to switch back & forth between them as my needs suit me (for example, using the Mesen libretto in RetroArch on Castlevania III causes constant popping noises, so I use Nestopia instead - although the Mesen emulator itself runs it fine).

Edited August 25, 2019 by PurpleTentacle

[Lordmonkus]

Well as I am sure you have learned from your dive into the rabbit hole the NES didn't actually determine the colours output though obviously it had some say in the colours. It was the TVs hardware that decided the final colours your saw. Of course that is an over simplification of it so here is a more detailed and technical explanation:

Quote

The RF Famicom, AV Famicom, NES (both front- and top-loading), and the North American version of the Sharp Nintendo TV use the 2C02 PPU. Unlike some other consoles' video circuits, the 2C02 does not generate RGB video and then encode that to composite. Instead it generates NTSC video directly in the composite domain. The TV decodes this into RGB to drive its picture tube, and most TVs' decoders intentionally deviate somewhat from the NTSC standard.

https://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/PPU_palettes

[PurpleTentacle]

Yup! I decided on PVM Style D93 due to it being based on a Sony PVM CRT screen. Not that I have any attachment to a specific CRT TV, but it seems like a good option to base a palette on. My point was that even if there was a hypothetical 100% accurate palette (which there isn't), ultimately, each one of my monitors is going to replicate those colors differently anyway. This explanation gave me a good idea of how the FBX palettes were made. I'm happy so long as it doesn't have that weird high rez glossy look, if that makes sense.

 

Edit: Just experimented & compared them directly a bit more, and I think I prefer the Unsaturated palette most. It's kind of most accurate to the colors/tones that I have in my head when I try to picture certain NES games...

Edited August 25, 2019 by PurpleTentacle

[damageinc86]

What I loved most about that page, is that when I clicked the home link,...it took be back to a 1990s webpage. 

[Headrush69]

On 8/25/2019 at 9:53 AM, eatkinola said:

I'm in the bezel camp and prefer aesthetics over authenticity. You can use RA per-game overrides as needed for games with black bars. It's a bit of a pain to setup, but once it's done it's done. It'll obviously be more of a pain to setup if you have a complete collection of a26 games; my collection is limited to about 90 games. Per-core override STELLA.cfg:

  Reveal hidden contents

# FULLSCREEN VIDEO
video_fullscreen = "true"
video_fullscreen_x = "1920"
video_fullscreen_y = "1080"

# VIEWPORT W/OVERLAY
aspect_ratio_index = "23"
custom_viewport_width = "1380"
custom_viewport_height = "1000"
custom_viewport_x = "270"
custom_viewport_y = "40"
input_overlay = ":\@my\opsonins\overlays\ATARI_2600.cfg"
input_overlay_opacity = "1"

# SHADER: CRT W/CURVATURE
video_shader = ":\@my\opsonins\shaders\crt-geom.glslp"
video_shader_enable = "true"
video_smooth = "false"

Per-game override Barnstorming.cfg:

  Reveal hidden contents

# GAME-SPECIFIC VIEWPORT
custom_viewport_width = "1440"
custom_viewport_height = "1090"
custom_viewport_x = "210"
custom_viewport_y = "0"

Nevermind the moire effect -- that's just how the screenshots come out when using the shader:

P.s. Oh man I'm rusty at this game

I prefer under Retroarch options , using the horizontal overscan cropping. Save this as a game specific options.

You will have still have very small black bars vertically, but it's very close and you don't have to mess with config files.