creating bezels for pcsx2 and duckstation

[ksherfinski]

Does anyone have any tutorials or info on how to implement a platform bezel when using stand alone pcsx2 and duckstation?  I am moving a bunch of stuff from RocketLauncher to Launchbox, where the bezels are handled in (I believe) AHK scripts.  I already have the .png file, just don't know how to insert it.  Any ideas/gotchas would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

[neil9000]

6 minutes ago, ksherfinski said:

Does anyone have any tutorials or info on how to implement a platform bezel when using stand alone pcsx2 and duckstation?  I am moving a bunch of stuff from RocketLauncher to Launchbox, where the bezels are handled in (I believe) AHK scripts.  I already have the .png file, just don't know how to insert it.  Any ideas/gotchas would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

You cant natively add bezels to platforms that dont support them, which is the case here.

[Retro808]

Might want to check out this thread. Looks like you can use the plugin with PCSX2

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/63863-reshademanager-pre-realese-plugin-for-launchboxbigbox/

[ksherfinski]

awesome! thanks!

[djtripnosis]

I hope this isn't considered a necro post, but I have an answer to op's question.

***The following only applies to Launchbox for Windows. I have no experience with it on any other OS.****

Yes. This is totally possible with ANY emulator you use in Launchbox. I do it with pcsx2, duckstation, and tecknoparrot. You need this little file called "Overlap Wallpaper". It's a simple exe that displays any image overlaid on your monitor and it supports png tranparency.

Download Overlap Wallpaper here:
https://sites.google.com/site/overlapwallpaper/download

You will also need to download and install AutoHotkey. This is a basic install, but if you have specific issues, they have a thriving community that has the answer to most any issue.
Download AutoHotKey (v2) here:
https://www.autohotkey.com/

You also need to make sure the emulator you will be using for the game/platform doesn't run in exclusive fullscreen. Run it in borderless fullscreen or windowed (bezel can hide borders).

There are 2 methods possible to display bezels. One is the easiest, but works per game, so you'll need to do it for every game. The other method is a bit more involved, but works per emulator, so it's worth using for large collections. Either way you only have to do it once. Once you set up the first game/emulator, you can pretty much copy and paste a new folder, rename it, edit a few characters and it's done.

Onto the info...

Method #1, The Easier Method (works per game)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You will need your bezel image in png format.

Create a folder named something like "Overlap_Wallpaper", and a sub-folder inside of that with the name of the game. It's best to avoid spaces and punctuation, to make coding easier. Just make sure it's readable to you.

Place your bezel image inside the sub-folder. Same goes for naming here. Avoid spaces and punctuation. The simpler the better. I just use "bezel.png" for max simplicity.

Extract the downloaded zip into the sub-folder and rename "Overlap Wallpaper.exe" to "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe". You want your folders like this for example:

Overlap_Wallpaper
    |
---Metroid_Fusion
        |
------Overlap_Wallpaper.exe and the rest of the files from the zip
------(bezel.png)

Open "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe". You will get a "First Run" dialog. Follow the instructions telling you to right click the tray icon for Overlap Wallpaper and choose "Settings".
Click "Input Mode". You will see fields to choose and position your bezel image.
BEFORE YOU CHOOSE YOUR IMAGE FILE, put all zeros in "Photo Size" and "Photo Position".
Click "More settings"
On the new window, put a check next to "Always on Top" and "Fullscreen".
Click OK
NOW click the "Browse" button under "Photo file name" and choose the bezel file you put in the sub-folder. This will place the bezel on the screen immediately over what you are doing.
To exit, just press the windows button on your keyboard, then right click the task tray icon for Overlap Wallpaper and choose exit.

Now you should see a file in your sub-folder called "Overlap Wallpaper.ini". DO NOT RENAME THIS FILE.
Open "Overlap Wallpaper.ini" in a text editor like notepad.
Under "[Settings]", remove the file path, just leaving the file name. So for example change:

"photo file name=C:\PATH\TO\YOUR\FILE\name-of_your_bezel.png"
to
"photo file name=name-of_your_bezel.png"

Now save the file making sure to choose "All Files (*.*)" from "Save as file type:", otherwise it adds ".txt" to the end, so "File name:" should be "Overlap Wallpaper.ini"

Next you need two simple ahk scripts. One that opens "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe" but with a delay for loading, and one that just closes it.

In your game sub_folder, create a blank new text file. Open this file in a text editor like notepad.
Paste the following text into this file:

Sleep 4000
Run "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe"
ExitApp

(You can change the number after "Sleep" to suit your needs, 1000 = 1 second.)

Now save and exit.
Next change the name of the new text file to "LoadOverlay.ahk" from "New Text Document.txt" or whatever the default name was.
Again in the same folder, create another new  blank text file and open it in a text editor like notepad.
Paste the following text into this file:

Process,Close,Overlap_Wallpaper.exe

Save and exit.
Again you will change the name of the new text file but this time to "ExitOverlay.ahk" from "New Text Document.txt" or whatever the default name was.

Now right click on "LoadOverlay.ahk". If you have AutoHotKey installed correctly, you will see the option "Compile". Click it, this creates "LoadOverlay.exe"
Repeat the same for "ExitOverlay.ahk", creating "ExitOverlay.exe".

Now you have the two exe files we can use in Launchbox.
(SAVE BOTH AHK FILES. You can't edit the exe files you made and you may need to make changes later. In that case you can just edit the ahk, delete the old exe and Compile a new one.)

Place the entire "Overlap_Wallpaper" folder in you Launchbox directory. Anywhere is fine, just make sure you can find it yourself. I put mine in "Launchbox>systems>Overlap_Wallpaper".

Now you just need to setup Launchbox to open the bezel with the game.

Open Launchbox.
Find the game you are adding the bezel to, right click and choose "Edit > Edit Metadata/Media".
Choose "Additional Apps" from the left.
Click "Add Application..."
Type a name for the application, I use "Load Overlay".
For "Application Path", click "browse" and point to the "LoadOverlay.exe" we created in the sub-folder.
Put a check next to "Automatically Run Before Main Application"
Click OK
Again choose "Additional Apps".
Click "Add Application..."
Type a name for the application, I use "Exit Overlay".
For "Application Path", click "browse" and point to the "ExitOverlay.exe" we created in the sub-folder.
Put a check next to "Automatically Run After Main Application"
Click OK
Then click OK again.

The bezel should be setup to run with the game now.

To repeat for other games, just copy the folder you made under "Overlap_Wallpaper", "Metroid_Fusion" for example, and paste it into the same folder ("Overlap_Wallaper"), then rename it to the new game, "Ikaruga" for example. Then edit add "LoadOverlay.exe" and "ExitOverlay.exe" as we did above for the new game.

Method#2, The Harder Method (works per emulator)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will need your bezel image in png format.

Create a folder named something like "Overlap_Wallpaper", and a sub-folder inside of that with the name of the platform to be used with the emulator. It's best to avoid spaces and punctuation, to make coding easier. Just make sure it's readable to you.

Place your bezel image inside the sub-folder. Same goes for naming here. Avoid spaces and punctuation. The simpler the better. I just use "bezel.png" for max simplicity.

Extract the downloaded zip into the sub-folder and rename "Overlap Wallpaper.exe" to "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe". You want your folders like this for example:

Overlap_Wallpaper
    |
---PS2
        |
------Overlap_Wallpaper.exe and the rest of the files from the zip
------(bezel.png)

Open "Overlap_Wallpaper.exe". You will get a "First Run" dialog. Follow the instructions telling you to right click the tray icon for Overlap Wallpaper and choose "Settings".
Click "Input Mode". You will see fields to choose and position your bezel image.
BEFORE YOU CHOOSE YOUR IMAGE FILE, put all zeros in "Photo Size" and "Photo Position".
Click "More settings"
On the new window, put a check next to "Always on Top" and "Fullscreen".
Click OK
NOW click the "Browse" button under "Photo file name" and choose the bezel file you put in the sub-folder. This will place the bezel on the screen immediately over what you are doing.
To exit, just press the windows button on your keyboard, then right click the task tray icon for Overlap Wallpaper and choose exit.

Now you should see a file in your sub-folder called "Overlap Wallpaper.ini". DO NOT RENAME THIS FILE.
Open "Overlap Wallpaper.ini" in a text editor like notebook.
Under "[Settings]", remove the file path, just leaving the file name. So for example change:

"photo file name=C:\PATH\TO\YOUR\FILE\name-of_your_bezel.png"
to
"photo file name=name-of_your_bezel.png"

Now save the file making sure to choose "All Files (*.*)" from "Save as file type:", otherwise it adds ".txt" to the end, so "File name:" should be "Overlap Wallpaper.ini"

Now we can set up Launchbox to use the bezel whenever you launch a specific emulator.

Open Launchbox.
Choose "Menu>Tools>Manage>Emulators...".
In the new window, choosehighlight your emulator from the list.
Click "Edit".
From the next window, highlight "Running Script" on the left.
Paste the following text into the "Running AutoHotkey Script" field on the right.
(Make sure you change C:\PATH\TO\OVERLAP_WALLPAPER\FOLDER to the correct path for your folder.)

 

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir, C:\PATH\TO\OVERLAP_WALLPAPER\FOLDER

Mousemove 1920,0, 1
Sleep 3000
Run "C:\PATH\TO\OVERLAP_WALLPAPER\FOLDER\Overlap_Wallpaper.exe"
Sleep 1000
Send +``
Sleep 500
Send +``
$Esc::
    {
    Process, Close, {{{StartupEXE}}}
    Process, Close, Overlap_Wallpaper.exe
    }

Next, highlight "Exit Script" on the left.
Paste the following text into the "Exit Auto Hotkey Script" field on the right, above any existing text:

Process, Close, Overlap_Wallpaper.exe

Click OK.
Click OK again.
Click "Close" in the lower right.

Now Launchbox should load the bezel anytime that emulator is used to open a game.

To repeat for other platforms, just copy the folder you made under "Overlap_Wallpaper", "PS2" for example, and paste it into the same folder ("Overlap_Wallaper"), then rename it to the new platform, "Gamecube" for example. Then just copy the ahk text from Launchbox in the other emulator and paste it into the settings for the new emulator, changing the path to point to the new folder in "Overlap_Wallpaper".

I will also be posting a better edited version with pics as a tutorial in the forums and the facebook group soon.

Edited November 26, 2023 by djtripnosis
Highlighted code with code tags.