Hey everyone! I’ve got a couple of things to show you. (Get ready to read a book. )
First. Let me tell you that HSM has been working on this like it’s his full-time job. I don’t know how he finds time for a personal life. (Hat’s off to you my friend.)
What I do know is that he and I had to create a new private thread because we maxed out the number of messages in our first thread. No matter how crazy of an idea I throw at him, he is not fazed.
Here are some teaser shots at what he (And I.) have been doing. <<< He has been doing all the hard work, I get to have all the fun.
HSM has been working on adding image layers, with the intent of mimicking some of the features of RA overlays, and more importantly, MAME layouts.
What you see here is:
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The Top Image layer as the background
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The Bezel Image layer as the arcade cabinet.
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The Glass Bezel layer as the Cabinet glass art.
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The Gel layer which is in multiply mode and turns a B & W game into a color one.
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The Background as a cabinet backdrop.
You’ll notice the Cabinet is a different color in the second and third shot. This is done by Hue, Saturation, & Value parameter in the shader. (Keep in mind that it is a Hue offset. You will need to start with a fairly saturated base and can adjust from there. There is no way to add color or saturation to an unsaturated image.)
And in case you think that there is no room for a reflection bezel…
Here we are not using a Gel or Backdrop image. Again you can see the different colored cab.
The plan is to make all the layers (Correct me if I get something wrong @HyperspaceMadness. ) with the exception of the Night layer, share most scaling & masking features, they can be scaled following the tube, background, bezel, decal layer, etc. So when you scale one they all follow. They can be masked to show the tube, bezel, frame, bezel & frame, or background. Although they will be labeled with an intent, the end use will be up to the user, depending on which layer depth they desire for an image. Only the Night and Bezel Image layers will have an HSV adjustment.
In addition HSM is creating an independent mask that starts at the center and can be scaled with aspect, scaled along the X axis, and positioned along the Y axis. The end user can choose which layers use this “Cut-out”.
The idea is that anyone, not just artists, can simply edit the image paths and all the positioning, sizing, blending modes, opacity, masking, etc. can be done in the parameters in real-time.
HSM is also working to add image path variables to the RA shaders so, for example, all your horizontal MAME games could share the same cabinet art using a single shader preset. The Glass Bezel art (And background image etc.) would be pulled in automatically.
Tragically, this last feature is far out as he is now working on a fairly tragic setback that will delay a significant release to the shader for a while.
I will let him elaborate more on that when he chooses.
WOW! That was a lot of text.
Let me leave you with this last teaser.
The GCE Vectrex.
For now the screen overlays are raster images. Unlike RA and MAME these have two parts:
The transparent part uses the Gel layer and is a full screen image scaled to fit the tube. It has both multiply blending to change the color of the game, and additive blending to change the color of the screen. Both parameters can be adjusted.
The opaque part is using the Bezel Glass layer and is scaled following the tube. It’s brightness and opacity can be adjusted.
The background image is separate and can be replaced with an image of your choosing. (As you can see in the third shot.)
The Vectrex and controllers are using the Bezel Image layer, which is also scaled following the tube, so you can do this…
…by simply scaling and positioning the tube in the parameters.
I plan on converting the common overlays (That can be found on libretro.) to vector as my first new project after I finish this one. I will be doing both standard one piece images for RA overlays, and two piece versions for the shader. In the meantime we can use the standard versions without the added benefit of a multiply on the game.
After that I may do some of my favorite arcade bezel glass.
I am currently working on a vector version of the raster cabinet I used in the first few shots. I will also be using the Decal layer for T-molding and speakers. I will do a few different speaker styles.
The T-molding and speakers will wait until I finish the rest of the core graphics.
Until next time my friends.
Please join me in thanking @HyperspaceMadness for his tireless work.