Firstly, let me just say that I am VERY impressed that someone created a hack for old software-based 16-bit games that implement wide screen. Never thought it was even possible. So I tested a few Sega Genesis titles like The Adams Family and noticed the pop-in/draw issue with that extra real estate we get in widescreen. Is this normal for this core or is there an additional setting that can reduce it? I have a fairly beefy system (10-core Intel/RTX 3070/VRR/Gsync monitor).
If, in “Core Options - Emulation Hack” you can change the lines per-tile. It seems to me that it only works with vulkan, but it doesn’t work in all games, in fact, there are many that will give you popup.
It’s an interesting resource that can work surprisingly well with a few games. Most racing games will work fairly well (though Road Rash titles won’t since their engine is quite different), but Super Monaco GP 2, Outrun, Chase H.Q. 2, Bimini Run and more work fine.
There’s a recent patch from Paul_Met for Beyond Oasis for widescreen (16:9) which requires the “Wide” core variant to work properly, same for the NHL (94 through 98) and Zombies Ate my Neighbors he recently released as well.
If you’re not familiar with BSNES HD Beta, it has similar features and adds the ability to make Mario Kart, F-Zero and similar games backgrounds in higher definition.
With that said, and this is known even for 3D games up to the 128-bit era, to make such games work properly, they’d mostly need manual work and patching, there are many proper codes for that.
Super Mario World had this treatment from a fan and many aspects of the game had to be reprogramed, enemy, items, sprites behaviors will only activate when they’re being visible, meaning this patch in particular was quite the undertaking and works really well, even Nintendo is probably jealous they never had the courage to take that extra effort in order to bring their classics to fans and a new audience in a more decent way.
Interestingly enough, if you move really fast in Donkey Kong Country, even in a CRT TV, you can see items popping in as you move forward, this is specially noticeable with barrels, it was probably a way to save memory, but I never noticed this in their sequels.
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Thanks for the info. I was looking for the hack and didn’t get any, but, it looks like it uses the RetroArch core unaltered.
True, most of his mods will work fine just by setting the display to full and using the normal core, but Beyond Oasis is the mod which requires the Wide variant.
I did some research about those hacks, and I think there is a confusion in terms. It’s Russian and maybe he uses google to translate.
The only authentic hack for widescreen HD/4K, is “Beyond Oasis” and it works only on RetroArch with “Genesis Plus GX Wide” core.
The others are hacks to change the video mode from 256х224 to 320х224. This mode, with some games (like Sonic) gives you wide resolution at 16:10, but it doesn’t reach 16:9 of HD and 4K.
Paul calls it “wide mode”, it’s the first time I hear this term in Genesis, I know that this mode in PC-DOS was informally called “Game Mode”.
In the games NHL, Warlock and Zombies. The activated mode gives a little more than 4:3, (4:35). If you set the screen to 16:9 they warp horribly and with the GPGX-Wide core, they don’t work well.
Double Dragon V. This game works in the Core Wide without hack, but it has graphic clichés.
With a normal core, the hack does reach 16:10, but it still deforms (stretches).
If you use the hack and the Wide core, it gives good results, because the proportion is corrected and the bugs are corrected.
About the emulator mod, I don’t think it exists, it seems to me that Paul confused the Genesis Plus GX Wide core from RetroArch with a mod of the genesis emulator from mednafen, which is also based on Genesis Plus GX.
For now, the only authentic hacks for HD, that I’ve managed to get are the ones for Sonic and this one for Oasis. I have not been able to find anything else.
Yes, they are wider, but not exactly 16:9. Paul also made many similar enhancements for Saturn games, some remove the top/bottom borders, there’s also the black bars removal from Shining Force III battle scenes, and these look amazing without them, by the way.
You are right about the ones you mentioned, NHL, Zombies and a few others aren’t 16:9, still, given those games were never designed to run on anything other than squarish TVs, it’s a bonus. They won’t look right if stretched to fit 16:9, like you said, however.
On his website, in Russian, there are also a few PS1 games, notably Alundra, which is similar in style, top-down with pixel art, received a widescreen patch which is 16:9 as well.
Here are some more examples, some are 16:10:
16:10
16:9, maybe 16:10, not sure (Stretches 2D UI elements) Wachenröder
