PapaShine's 4k Vertical Overlays (ArsInvictus style)

[PapaShine]

For the past few months, I’ve been creating vertical mame overlays for my Vcabinet builds and getting but after seeing the bodywork from @ArsInvictus it became clear he was heading in the direction i wanted to go with mine and I’ve decided to focus my art/layouts to match his look so I can help cover as many games as possible and share with the community - While I’m working with @ArsInvictus, @Dreamstate and @Briball on various overlays and evolving the look as we go, I’ll still find time to work on a few of my own and re-work some of the early ones I built last year too.

Links:

All overlays will have a Retroarch .cfg file in the folder as well as a mame .lay file and can be found on my Google drive here:

Google Drive - Papashine 4k Vertical Mame Overlays

Also, please check out the CoinMech Project for various coin door art assets for the community building overlays HERE with files uploaded here:

Google Drive - Papashine 4k CoinMech Project

[PapaShine]

Double Dragon II - 4k Vertical Overlay

I put this together quickly for my brother’s surprise Vertical cab build I’ve been working on - pretty close to the references I found for it but I will come back to this at a later date to tweak the Marquee lighting and build a larger screen format for it too. I used @ArsInvictus speaker layer and modified the grill to match the DD2 cab.

4k Overlay can be found here:

Double Dragon II - 4k Vertical Overlay

[ArsInvictus]

This is fantastic! You definitely nailed the look I go for, this came out almost exactly as I would have done it. Great to have you helping out, we’ll cover a lot of ground working as a team on this stuff

[PapaShine]

Sunset Riders 4k Vertical Overlay - Ars Invictus inspired, Large screen variation

Once again, a quick overlay, this time to tweak the size of the gameplay screen to @ArsInvictus lovely Sunset Riders Overlay.

My brother and I spent many hours playing this in the arcades along the beaches near where we grew up and far more since then emulated - The thing I remember most about the original cab was the size of the screen and the booming sound system kicking out that wonderful soundtrack. Like most of the Konami 3-4 player side scrollers dedicated cabs around the same time (Simpsons, TMNT), there was no bezel overlay, just a large black molded mount, but it feels like this game should have had one and i was really pleased to find this! rather than just cut a bigger hole, my brother requested the gameplay instructions for his kids to see so I took it a bit further and built a whole new bezel using the CP art this time to balance out the layout but keep Ars’s overlay vibe intact. Hopefully, it makes a nice large screen alternate view to his one if anyone needs it.

Big thanks to @ArsInvictus for updating the Marquee with his new technique - great work as always!

Download it here with mame .lay and Retroach .cfg files: Sunset Riders (large screen alt) 4k Vertical Overlay

[PapaShine]

Mystic Warriors (Konami 1993) 4k Vertical Overlay

I think like most people it seems, I never got to play this unofficial follow up to Sunset Riders (by the same programming team) when it released back in 1993 and only discovered it a few years ago. It’s well worth a look if you haven’t already tried it.

Just like the availability of the game, the artwork and reference pictures are really hard to find so I’ve restored the Control Panel art using several references and managed to find some Japanese gameplay instructions (which I’ve up-resed and will work on some more for translation at some point). Also, like the rest of Konami’s 4 player cabs, it had no bezel so I’ve made one up and bled the CP elements into the rest of the overlay. Also built a new 3D speaker panel to match the cab and restored/lit the original marquee (sourced by @ArsInvictus).

Download it here with mame .lay file and Retroach .cfg files:

Mystic Warriors (large screen) 4k Vertical Overlay

[ArsInvictus]

I love this! I’d never heard about this game prior to you mentioning it. I’ll have to give it a try this weekend. I like the pseudo-CP approach too. It’s a good compromise that retains the CP art and blends with the overall cab layout without distraction.

Blur is on point

[PapaShine]

Glad you like it! It’s tricky because I actually don’t mind building the plastic moulded bezel in, but they were so basic it’s not like there’s anything ornate about the shapes even - just a massive cab with huge panels and looks like a tank to take allot of abuse!

I’m pleased with how it turned out – let me know what you think of the game, as a set I think it compliments The Simpsons, TMNT and Sunset Riders pretty well.

Glad you approve of the blurring haha

[PapaShine]

Robocop - Redux 4K Vertical Overlay

Its been a while since I posted an Overlay of my own but this one was a request from @HyperspaceMadness through @ArsInvictus to create an overlay for the Classic ‘Robocop’ - which also happens to be one of my favorites too - the design of these late 80’s Data East cabs look like something ripped right out of the movie its-self!

There are a few Vertical Overlays out there already for this, including a lovely one by Ars (Who kindly supplied his source assets for this!) but doing the 3D control panel/CPO meant I was able to revisit it and apply our latest techniques to include a full 3D curved/lit marquee to more closely resemble the look of the original Cab - Hope you like it!

You can download the Overlay along with a MAME .lay file HERE

[ArsInvictus]

I was confused for a moment, I thought the overlay on the right was another reference photo, and was like “that’s a nice photo of an actual cabinet, but where’s the overlay!?”.

Another brilliant job @PapaShine! Thank you!

[PapaShine]

I’ll take that as a compliment! Thank’s guys, really glad you like it! - there are a few cabs I can use this model for now I’m happy with the look!

[HyperspaceMadness]

Wow!, that is just Awesome, thanks so much this really does look so real!

The curved marquee is really great, it’s one of my favorite cab designs! It was what I thought I was going to build before I found this vertical format, and now That’s possible too

You’ve really made my day!

---

Some Robocop Arcade Music for your listening pleasure:

Robocop Arcade Music Soundtrack (1988)

[PapaShine]

Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja - Redux 4K Vertical Overlay

As its I put in the work to build the Data East curved marquee cab it was only right that I create a few of the others so here’s a full Overlay of the Classic ‘Bad Dudes’ - which, again also happens to be one of my favorites! (@HyperspaceMadness, might be another for your collection)

Thanks again to @ArsInvictus who supplied (from his original version) his restored Lit Marquee to drop into the curve and general feedback as well as visiting the actual cab last night confirm the overal acuracy of the look.

Once again, a full 3D marquee with authentic texture and full 3D recreated Control pannel with authentic button layout and unique 3D control sticks.

Hope you Enjoy it!

Grab it HERE

[ArsInvictus]

Another gorgeous, atmospheric cab production! I saw this cab in person just last night, and this not only captures the feel of the original cab, but it’s also quite possibly nicer to look at than the real thing!

[HyperspaceMadness]

@PapaShine

Overlay of the Classic ‘Bad Dudes’ - which, again also happens to be one of my favorites! (@HyperspaceMadness, might be another for your collection)

Thanks, it looks great! I played this one a lot when I was a kid. And if course that cab design is my favorite.

I enjoy that Karnov makes an appearance part way through

[PapaShine]

Hey @Dreamstate! Thanks, Glad you like it! Its a funny shape for sure, thats the way the bezel is - game is 4x3 ratio - think the screen bezel is a little narrower vertically but maybe @ArsInvictus can confirm what that actually looked like - theres always the chance the Bezel sorce art is slightly sqashed vertically!

@HyperspaceMadness - thought you might like it - yeah, he’s also on the Key Art too! lol

[ArsInvictus]

It’s not that the bezel is squashed vertically itself, a lot of bezel screen cutouts didn’t match the 4:3 format precisely and where more square or more rectangular and assumed the actual monitor bezel would cover the difference.

So, I don’t think the bezel itself needs to be adjusted @PapaShine, there would just be an uneven black border without using the HSM shader. If you do a mame version, then the monitor bezel you back it with would take care of the mismatch in the same way that the HSM shader is doing in your screenshot.

You can see that the monitor border is exposed here in this shot I took of the original cabinet:

[Dreamstate]

Regardless, I don’t like black bars on either side of my game screen or having to stretch the game area out to an improper aspect ratio so I changed it on my own and deleted my comment about it. I didn’t ask for it to be adjusted. I wanted confirmation from someone and decided to confirm myself. As for MAME, I don’t use crt plastic bezels. I use actual bezel art and that’s it. I see no need to insert a fake plasic curved or straight bezel around my game screen eating into the real estate. If It used a shader as yours do i would. But it would serve zero purpose for me other than to make me want to crop it out manually if my game bezel came with it. More screen area. That’s something I know you understand.

[ArsInvictus]

No worries @Dreamstate, just trying to get everyone on the same page about it!

[PapaShine]

Sly Spy - 4K Vertical Overlay

Another of the Data East curved marquee cabs, the (not so) Classic but just as retro ‘Sly Spy’ - which plays like a kind of rolling thunder/Shinobi game.

Most of the assets out there are pretty low-res so thanks to @ArsInvictus who supplied a nicer high res marquee and for grabbing a full bezel for this to restore so I can update it further down the line.

Once again, a full 3D marquee with authentic texture and full 3D recreated Control pannel with authentic button layout and unique Data East 3D control sticks!

As always, it’s on my google drive if you want to check it out HERE!

[PapaShine]

I did a bit of work on the bezel, up-ressed the art and added some duel tone to it to give it a cleaner Look, also worked up some quick icons/instructions but will update it properly when we have a better solution!

Those of you with a keen eye will notice the appearance (yet again!) of Karnov in the game lol (poster on the wall in that screenshot!)

Was thinking of doing a larger screen version of this for smaller screens (looks good on a 43") @benlogan @Thoggo, I know you’ve been keen on those in the past, is that something your interested in for these 3 overlays?