Genesis Plus GX Wide issues (NHL '98)

RetroArch
#1

So I recently discovered the magic of RetroArch, in particular the Core RetroArch with Genesis Plus GX Wide which gives us the ability to use up all the wasted real estate on both sides of the screen. For NHL games on Genesis, this is a nice feature considering that the game uses a camera to pan over an area that is larger than the field of view. We can now play with the entire horizontal area of the rink exposed at all times, instead of the panning view we are accustomed to with the camera that follows the player positions.

There is a setting in Quick Menu > Core Options > Video > Extra Columns to draw in H40 for widescreen which allows us to determine how much extra space we are going to use on the sides of the screen. I have found that on my 16:9 TV a value of 12 works well, as it essentially keeps the entire horizontal area of the rink in view at all times without zooming too far out.

The Problem:

Now the one bug that I have found with this is that sometimes the players (on whichever team) will pop in and out of view. That is to say, they will become completely invisible . This only happens in the areas of the rink that are on the edges, where the extra real estate is.

I found some other comments in discussions on this site about possible solitions: (from here: https://forums.libretro.com/t/is-pop-in-normal-for-the-genesis-plus-gx-wide-core/42464/2_

There is a link too the patches HERE, but am I not sure this works to fix the issue of popping out. Has anyone else had any success with fixing this issue for NHL games on Genesis Plus Gx Wide cores?

Thanks

Thanks!

#2

Welcome.

It is normal to get some failures, the result is very random. Try to modify the hack options in the core quick menu, and use the vulkan or glcore video driver (if you don’t have it already).

Those hacks are something else, what they do is to change the horizontal resolution from 256 to 320. To make them work, the game has to be unzipped and the hack next to it with the same name, but it doesn’t seem to work on any RetroArch core.

On the other hand GX wide is the one that draws the whole screen in wide screen, the graphic defects are corrected with a patch, like Sonic. I don’t know any other patch for this core.

Extra Columns in 10 is to get 16:9 in 320x220 resolution and 12 for 256x224.

#3

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#4

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of that. I realized while researching just what you said; that the hack is something independent of the Wide Mode offered by Genesis Plus Gx Wide core.

I will try out your suggestions of switchng to Vulkan from glcore (which is what I am presently using).

I realized that when using the hack AND using the Genesis Plus Gx Wide core that I got some wonky results, but I didn’t try the settings you talked about. I will definitely try those out and hopefully the pop-out player issue becomes resolved. I will report back here on any successes (or failures) in case anyone else is having the same issues.

Cheers

1 Like
#5

Hi thanks for the fancy infographic. I am having a little bit of trouble understanding what you are offering here. Are you saying that 94 Euro version works fine? I did say in my original post that I am playing NHL 98.

If you don’t mind elaborating on what you were trying to convey, I would surely appreciate that.

Thanks!

#6

Hey so I tried switching from Vulkan to glcore video driver but didn’t see any difference with the problem of the player’s disappearing on the edges of the screen.

Do you have any other ideas what might help?

Thanks!

#7

I don’t know if there’s anything else that RetroArch can do.

There are a lot of hacked widescreen roms on the internet, maybe with a bit of luck you can get that game.

You can ask for the patch on the hacking forums (I guess).

You can create an issue on the core github, it might be something simple.

1 Like
#8

Thanks for your help (sorry for late reply). Unfortunately, the GitHub is meant for RetroArch main issues only (not individual game bugs). I have posted on the NHL94 forums in hopes of getting some help there.

Thanks