Mega Bezel Reflection Shader! - Feedback and Updates

Duimon · 21 December 2023 03:21

Yep.

@HyperspaceMadness acquired the domain and, with a lot of input from both him and @TheNamec, I started work on the site.

It is a WIP, but worth looking at in it’s current state. It has been a couple of months since I did any work on it.

K-rnivoro · 24 December 2023 18:18

I’m trying to make a HSM .params for Boothill which has a semitransparent overlay, over the screen. I know it can be made as overlay instead of shader, but I’d like to have everything in the “shaders” folder. I’ve seen the game Tron has received a similar treatment, I can’t find the post about that. In any case, if anyone can help, just let me know.

HyperspaceMadness · 24 December 2023 20:02

Check out the Tron example in the HSM-Mega-Bezel-Examples package, it should show you the way

K-rnivoro · 24 December 2023 20:58

Hahahaha. That’s where it was!!!

HyperspaceMadness · 29 December 2023 02:40

Mega_Bezel_Logo

Mega Bezel is updated to V1.16.1_2023-12-26

Changes:

Fixed NTSC variants

Go to the first post here for links to the package and install instructions. Please make sure to read the install & setup instructions

GDV NTSC

The main Libretro shader repo has been updated with this release, thanks @hunterk!

Sir_SwampThing · 30 December 2023 09:38

First of all, seasons salutations to everyone.

Quick few questions, if I may, to anyone who has a few moments spare.

When I open the parameters menu, the first line is [abcxyz] … am I correct in thinking that this is the name of the base preset upon which the complete shader is built?
Can I add a line to the information that includes my custom name so that I can see which of my variations is loaded? If not, is that information shown anywhere?
If I start tweaking a preset and save the stages as (ie) test1, test2, test3, then Final (with simple presets on), if I delete any of the test versions, does that break the chain completely from the preset>Final? I think that it does but, if not, I am probably doing something else wrong.

HyperspaceMadness · 30 December 2023 15:58

This is the overall Mega Bezel version, unrelated to which base preset.

No, not really without messing with the base presets which is a bad idea, If you turn on the resolution debug (second parameter) it will show what type of Mega Bezel base preset you are using, e.g. SMOOTH-ADV

This workflow is probably going to cause you problems. By saving test1 then test2, then test3 as simple presets you are creating a reference chain where test3 -> test2 -> test1 where each has parameter changes from the last. So if you delete one of these the chain is broken

You can just keep saving over the same file, but make sure to make regular backup copies, because sometimes there is a bug and it will save a full preset.

Another method is you can open a game or image, and save your preset as a per game preset over and over again until you are happy (this way you don’t have to put in a name each time). Then take this file from the config folder and move it elsewhere and repath to the base preset.

Sir_SwampThing · 30 December 2023 16:11

Thank you very much.

K-rnivoro · 2 January 2024 18:58

@HyperspaceMadness, maybe this is a question for another thread but: How CRT shaders calculate the number of virtual scanlines? I mean, not all games are 240 lines, or 480 lines for that matter. Maybe it sounds stupid, but in order to faithful reproduce each game, the shader should read that information (from the emulator I guess) and sets the scanlines accordingly.

I understand maybe is too much effort and the overall effect won’t improve much, but I just had that thought…

kokoko3k · 2 January 2024 20:03

“the shader reads that information from the core and sets the scanlines accordingly.”

ftfy

K-rnivoro · 2 January 2024 20:05

Thanks! So that means that’s the way it actually works? Wow!!!

CrackSmokingWarlock · 2 January 2024 21:25

Hey everyone, I just started using these shaders and I’m loving them, but I’ve got a snes specific question: from what I’ve learned, some games tend to display “better” at an 8:7 aspect ratio over a more accurate 4:3 one - is there a way to configure this for these shaders? On my 1920x1080 display with 4:3 I’m getting a Final Aspect of 1.33 and a resolution of 893 x 670, setting it to PAR seems to be closer to 8:7, which yields a Final Aspect of 1.14 and a resolution of 765 x 670. I’m terrible at math so I’m not sure if that is actually the 8:7 ratio I am looking for, or if I should be using “Snap to Closest Integer Scale” to get it even more precise. Thanks!

Duimon · 3 January 2024 00:40

765 / 670 = 1.14179~ so that is correct, and you can set an explicit ratio in the shader.

But as you can see the result is almost square.

Although the SNES might generate this aspect ratio, it was displayed on a 4x3 TV screen.

The “Core Provided” setting is one that many live by but it has always confused me… the TV screen never had letter-boxing when playing SNES.

For the most legitimate experience, I recommend sticking to 1.33 (4x3) on any system that uses a CRT display. (Although some computer screens may have had some black bars.)

Cyber · 3 January 2024 00:58

While this may be the correct way, I’ve noticed that in some cases, particularly during SNES emulation sometimes certain elements aren’t rendered correctly when 4:3 is used depending on the Shader and Integer Scale Settings.

Things like power bars in certain games.

One strange case is the Mortal Kombat Arcade games which use checkerboard dithering to produce a transparency effect. It doesn’t seem to look correct using 4:3 at all. Not even Core Provided gives the correct result.

Then I’ve seen some cases in some games where 4:3 or Core Provided produces warped circles.

hgoda90 · 3 January 2024 02:06

The Super Nintendo produces a aspect ratio of 8:7 and the tv stretches it to 4:3. The proper resolution out of the Super Nintendo is 256x224 which translates to 1.142857.

A lot of the Super Nintendo library adjusts for the aspect ratio change which is why they look proper in 4:3 and horizontally squished at 8:7.

MIKEBLK · 7 January 2024 02:02

Hello all and Happy holidays,

Ran into an issue recently when loading the heavier Mega Bezel shaders on bsnes. No issues on FBNeo, Genesis plus GX, Dolphin and a couple other cores I use. I have the part of the log where the error occurs. Looking for any guidance. thx

I can provide more of the log. Also, I’m not sure if I posted the log in the easiest way to read. I can edit it if someone has the correct punctuation for it.

[INFO] [Shaders]: Applying shader: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel\Presets\MBZ__0__SMOOTH-ADV.slangp".
[INFO] [Shaders]: Menu shader set to: "C:\RetroArch-Win64\shaders\shaders_slang\bezel\Mega_Bezel\Presets\MBZ__0__SMOOTH-ADV.slangp".
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 43).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 109).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 43).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 800x672 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 44).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 109).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 97).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 768x672 (format: 37).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 44).
[INFO] [Vulkan filter chain]: Updating framebuffer size 256x224 (format: 44).
[INFO] [Video]: Average monitor Hz: 60.006001 Hz. (1.499 % frame time deviation, based on 2048 last samples).
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 47921.08 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: 1234x1080.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found vulkan context: "vk_w".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Detecting screen resolution: 1920x1080.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 0: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found GPU at index 1: "Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU index 0.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using fences for WSI acquire.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Using GPU: "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Queue family 0 supports 16 sub-queues.
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to create device.
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: win32_set_video_mode failed.
[ERROR] [Vulkan]: Failed to set video mode.
[ERROR] [Video]: Cannot open video driver.. Exiting..``

c9f5fdda06 · 7 January 2024 12:41

Retroarch will not launch when “Vulkan” driver is set on W10 pro laptop with Nvidia Optimus · Issue #10880 · libretro/RetroArch · GitHub

Try switching to glcore

Should be in: Settings > Video > Output > Video Driver

kokoko3k · 7 January 2024 13:30

While the workaround is probably going to work, I think the issues are different here.

@MIKEBLK do some other vulkan apps work?

c9f5fdda06 · 7 January 2024 14:19

yeah, I agree. I just always like to give people the ‘I want to play now’ solution hoping it works well enough for them

MIKEBLK · 7 January 2024 17:18

I’m able to load all my apps through vulkan. bsnes, dolphin, fbneo, genesis plus gx, flycast, mupen64plus-nxt and swanstation. They’re all able to load the heaviest shader sets also, except for bsnes. That is where I run into an issue.