Duimon - HSM Mega Bezel Graphics and Presets - Feedback and Updates

RetroArch Additions Overlays
#5085

I’m not sure I agree.

First of all, they are my “presets”. (Not shaders. The “shader” is HSM’s baby.)

My presets are in no way “necessary”. :grin: There was a time when I only created the graphics and let the user decide how to implement the presets.

Although I am immensely proud of my preset package, it is really just a convenience.

The XBOX graphic (a single image) is available, and setting up a simple preset for it should be child’s play to users. The problem is that my preset package has, in a large way, inhibited users from learning how to use the shader themselves.

HSM designed the shader to be used by everyone, not just artists. (Although he created some very advanced tools for artists to use.)

So no, I don’t believe it is “necessary”.

Also, the question still remains about it fitting into my mission statement. (As the link to the previous post shows, this has always been questionable.)

#5086

Well I hope you know that by “necessary” I mean, I’d really like for you to make one, haha. Of course it’s not really necessray. =).

1 Like
#5087

The biggest issue I see here is my mission statement.

There are plenty of systems that MAME has drivers for that can’t get a game running. Even though there are standalone emulators that work, I chose not to do a graphic because it doesn’t work in Retroarch.

That doesn’t mean I won’t do some for Standalone emulators, I may just release them as a separate “ShaderGlass” mini project.

1 Like
#5088

Got it! So your presets are for systems that have a representation in retroarch. That makes perfect sense, since outside of retroarch, shaders wouldn’t really work with standalone emulators (except for BigPEmu).

A “ShaderGlass” mini project would be great. =)

1 Like
#5089

That being said, the Windowcast core wasn’t a “thing” when I started my project either. So it might make sense to add them into my current project.

1 Like
#5090

I’ve been trying to get WindowCast to work recently. It’s a bit of a hassle and the results are not great, yet. There seems to be a bit of a performance hit and I also think it introduces quite a bit of latency.

Plus it’s been a while since it got last updated and I don’t know if development is still ongoing.

ShaderGlass (for now) has basically replaced WindowCast for me. It’s just so much easier to set up and introduces no latency (as far as I can tell).

1 Like
#5091

Is it able to launch things automatically in the background according to platforms used?

#5092

You mean ShaderGlass? If so then, well ‘yes’ if you employ an AutoHotkey script. I use LaunchBox to launch my games / emulators, so it’s easy to include an ahk script and it is possible to launch an emulator together with a ShaderGlass profile.

1 Like
#5093

Oh wow and that looks completely seamless? I use Launchbox as well. Would love to use Duimoin’s stuff on other emulators as well.

#5094

OK, so here is how you do it:

  1. You load up ShaderGlass and import one of Duimon’s Shader presets.
  2. You configure everything in ShaderGlass just like you want it.
  3. When you are happy with your results, you save a ShaderGlass profile.
  4. create an AHK script, e.g.

Run, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ShaderGlass\ShaderGlass.exe” -f “M:\TestProfile.sgp”

that’s basically it.

Now I tested this with Xemu Emulator and there was indeed a bit of a complication, because if you run Xemu in Fullscreen then it always puts itself above ShaderGlass. I wasn’t able to make it go behind ShaderGlass. This means that I had to run Xemu in windowed mode, but that results in the task bar still showing, because Xemu does not have a “borderless” mode.

I fixed this by downloading another program off Steam called “BorderlessGaming”, which does some magic to make programs run in borderless mode even if they don’t support it.

So that means:

  1. Add Xemu to the list in BorderlessGaming, so that borderless mode is applied automatically.

  2. Change your AHK script. My final script (which I have written with the help of ChatGPT) looks like this (it both runs and closes ShaderGlass and BorderlesGaming with Xemu):

    ; Launch supporting tools Run, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Borderless Gaming\BorderlessGaming.exe” Sleep, 1000 Run, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ShaderGlass\ShaderGlass.exe” -f “M:\TestProfile.sgp”

    ; :white_check_mark: Wait until Xemu closes, then clean up Process, WaitClose, xemu.exe

    ; Now close ShaderGlass and Borderless Gaming Process, Close, ShaderGlass.exe Process, Close, BorderlessGaming.exe ExitApp

    ; Optional: Manual kill of Xemu with Escape key $Esc:: { Process, Close, xemu.exe }

3 Likes
#5095

Nice thank you! I’ll give this a go!

1 Like
#5096

My script got scrwed up in my post above and I cannot upload files here. This is how it should look like:

image
image2653×914 179 KB

1 Like
#5097

You can paste the code into a reply, select it, and press the “Preformatted text” button </> in the editor.

1 Like
#5098

Hello everyone,

I’m currently replaying Shining Force III – Scenario 1 and I was wondering if shaders can genuinely enhance a game’s visual quality. I’m using a shader I created a while ago, but with the latest updates to RetroArch and Bezel, it no longer works — folder paths have changed, and the shader either fails to load or throws an error.

To work around this, I had to revert to an older shader/bezel folder I had backed up a few years ago. Thankfully, my custom shader is now running again.

However, I find the game’s visual rendering — or RetroArch’s output in general when using the Beetle Saturn core — to still be quite underwhelming. The image remains heavily pixelated and doesn’t seem much improved.

I’ll post a couple of screenshots below — feel free to let me know what might be wrong or what I could do to improve the overall image quality.

If anyone has suggestions for a high-quality shader setup — ideally something that offers a “remastered” 4K-style finish — I’d greatly appreciate it.

I’m running this on a fairly powerful PC, so feel free to recommend anything demanding.

I’m currently using the SlangP (CRT) shader custom :

https://www.mediafire.com/file/36ub00yirnzb0lh/Shining_Force_3__Bezel_CRT.slangp/file

Also, if someone knows how to update it so it’s compatible with the latest Bezel versions, I’d love to hear how.

And here are the screenshots:

A1
A12239×1180 667 KB

A2
A22231×1179 304 KB

A3
A32199×1174 302 KB

A4
A42189×1174 646 KB

Many thanks in advance!

1 Like
#5099

The issue is that you saved a “Full” preset instead of a “Simple” one.

If you know the base preset that you started with, you can add its path as a reference to this code…

GAMMA_INPUT = "1.850000"
gamma_out = "1.850000"
post_br = "1.500000"
HSM_GLOBAL_GRAPHICS_BRIGHTNESS = "50.000000"
HSM_ASPECT_RATIO_MODE = "4.000000"
HSM_ASPECT_RATIO_EXPLICIT = "1.330000"
HSM_NON_INTEGER_SCALE_OFFSET = "113.500000"
HSM_SCANLINE_DIRECTION = "1.000000"
HSM_CORE_RES_SAMPLING_MULT_SCANLINE_DIR = "600.000000"
HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_OPPOSITE_DIR = "30.000000"
HSM_CURVATURE_MODE = "3.000000"
HSM_CRT_CURVATURE_SCALE = "75.000000"
SGPT_BLEND_OPTION = "1.000000"
HSM_SCALEFX_ON = "1.000000"
mask_bloom = "0.300000"
shadowMask = "1.000000"
masksize = "0.000000"

…that I extracted from your file.

Here is an example.

#reference "shaders_slang/bezel/Mega_Bezel/Presets/MBZ__0__SMOOTH-ADV.slangp"
GAMMA_INPUT = "1.850000"
gamma_out = "1.850000"
post_br = "1.500000"
HSM_GLOBAL_GRAPHICS_BRIGHTNESS = "50.000000"
HSM_ASPECT_RATIO_MODE = "4.000000"
HSM_ASPECT_RATIO_EXPLICIT = "1.330000"
HSM_NON_INTEGER_SCALE_OFFSET = "113.500000"
HSM_SCANLINE_DIRECTION = "1.000000"
HSM_CORE_RES_SAMPLING_MULT_SCANLINE_DIR = "600.000000"
HSM_DOWNSAMPLE_BLUR_OPPOSITE_DIR = "30.000000"
HSM_CURVATURE_MODE = "3.000000"
HSM_CRT_CURVATURE_SCALE = "75.000000"
SGPT_BLEND_OPTION = "1.000000"
HSM_SCALEFX_ON = "1.000000"
mask_bloom = "0.300000"
shadowMask = "1.000000"
masksize = "0.000000"

I used the SMOOTH-ADV base preset.

That will get the shader up and running.

For the “underwhelming”, I will assume it is mostly color related. You can fine tune that in the “Grade” section of the shader parameters.

IMO, anything that does that will eliminate the scanlines, which would change the flavor of the experience for the worse.

#5100

Big thanks, Duimon! You really nailed it by fixing the shader to match the recent update (even the AI just kept pointing out path errors… not exactly helpful). In the end, it was just a few lines, but same result—funny, I remember spending quite a bit of time on it back then… when all it really took was MBZ__0__SMOOTH-ADV.slangp .

Anyway, you totally handled that issue!

As for improving the graphics and smoothing out the edges of the scenery and characters so the pixelation isn’t so harsh—the CRT filter is still a solid option. Maybe in all the available presets, there’s one that makes it feel less like I’m playing on a mess of pixels… Still gotta dig around a bit. Unless there are HD texture mods out there? But I kinda doubt it.

Thanks for everything!

1 Like
#5101

Any and all shaders are failing to apply.

[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read shader preset in #reference line: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel\Presets\Base_CRT_Presets\MBZ__3__STD__GDV-MINI.slangp".
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read root preset: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Lite\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[STD]-[Guest-Mini]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp".
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create preset: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Lite\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[STD]-[Guest-Mini]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp".
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create filter chain: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Lite\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[STD]-[Guest-Mini]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp". Falling back to stock.

[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read shader preset in #reference line: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel\Presets\Base_CRT_Presets\MBZ__1__ADV__GDV.slangp".
[WARN] [Shaders]: Could not read root preset: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Advanced\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[ADV]-[Guest]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp".
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create preset: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Advanced\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[ADV]-[Guest]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp".
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create filter chain: "C:\Games\Retroarch\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel\Presets\Advanced\Nintendo_GBA\GBA-[ADV]-[Guest]-[Bezel]-[Night].slangp". Falling back to stock.
#5102

This path should be…

Retroarch\shaders\Mega_Bezel_Packs\Duimon-Mega-Bezel

You need to move the “Mega_Bezel_Packs” folder into the root shaders folder.

#5103

PACK 7 is out. The presets can now be done.

PM isn’t working for me. That’s why I posted it here.

2 Likes
#5104

Hi @Duimon is there a line to add in the preset file, like for background images (BackgroundImage = “image,png”) to add the night and led overlays? Could you tell me what it is?

1 Like