TheNamec - Mega Bezel Packs Amiga, Commodore 64, VIC20, CRTgaming soon

[TheNamec]

Some advanced features from Mega Bezel Reflection Shader are disabled by default as these may have a noticeable impact on levels of black and can be a little distracting.

As I want people to experiment the unique features of the shader, I’m introducing a separate module to take care of the advanced lightning details, including my favourites:

• tube diffuse texture
• top shadow from the bezel
• Ambient/lightning reflections on tube
• tube emptyness+ screen black border
• additional cabinet/glass texture

This is a proof of concept on my Philips TV preset, zoom or download the screenshot for full details.

Devil is in detail, I’m in love with that double black border around the gaming area and the general matheric feel of surfaces!

(Of course, this is an imaginary Amiga porting of Streets of Rage 2, so don’t ask for the dump )

[soqueroeu]

@TheNamec

Devil is in detail, I’m in love with that double black border around the gaming area and the general matheric feel of surfaces!

I really liked the filter in the tube. Share the preset, please!

[TheNamec]

@soqueroeu

the filter in the tube

Heya master @soqueroeu! Do you mean the slot-mask layer or the whole reflection and cabinet glass thingie?

[TheNamec]

Heya bezellers! This time I experimented with a fake-flat screen using cabinet glass and baked-in room reflections. The visual challenge was doing something lifelike enough, without putting distracting artifacts between gamer and his beloved games

In the raging first days of flat CRT revolution, some manufacturers built quality TVs with “almost” flat tubes and plain projection. They used a rather a simple trick to fill the remaining gap: add a lenticular glass with a side modeled against the tube profile, and a totally flat surface exposed to the final user.

So I decided to implement the thick glass in my PHILIPS 21pt3326-v7 and after like… 200 tryes I got what I wanted: something totally believable when the screen is totally black (usually in selection menus, levels statistics, loading screens) but also gentle and not bulky on colors while gaming.

I’m pretty happy with the final results, see how the reflective highlights in the center get almost unnoticeable under sir Arthur sprite!

I’ll never do such a complex texture in Illustrator in my life… EVER!

[soqueroeu]

@TheNamec

Heya master @soqueroeu! Do you mean the slot-mask layer or the whole reflection and cabinet glass thingie?

Yes, I mean the changes of all parameters for the tube!

[SharkaBytes]

Congrats on being featured in the libretro blogpost about HSM, Namec! Cheeky question, but does that mean there’s an update due soon?

[HyperspaceMadness]

There will be an update of the base Mega Bezel package from me soon to fix a couple issues and improve night lighting options.

I’ll let @TheNamec speak to his grand plans

[TheNamec]

@SharkaBytes

Congrats on being featured in the libretro blogpost about HSM, Namec!

Tnx, it’s been quite a long run with fellows artists from Mega Bezel Community!

I’m also proud @HyperspaceMadness decided to show so many different captures from my case studies with peculiar design challenges like Curse of Monkey Island illustrations antialiased smoothing, REZ wireframe downrez resampling, Star Wars and Vib Ribbon vector postprocessing.

Lots of experimentation here, I’m really happy with re-igniting life in these masterpieces!

@SharkaBytes

Cheeky question, but does that mean there’s an update due soon?

As you’ve seen, the Libretro article is teasing lots of new scenarios and displays from my packs.

In the last weeks I’ve been extensively rebuilding my whole chain based off a new RetroArch incoming feature and flaming hot Mega Bezel 1.0 coolness, finally working out a way to add “layers” of effects in a more modular and manageable way. In current state, the pack is not compatible with public RetroArch.

The backbone is done, presets are working, I’m simply replicating everything for each scene and device combination. A boring tailoring work of love!

I hope to be ready in time for next RetroArch release

@HyperspaceMadness

improve night lighting options.

Wohooooooo ride the lightning!

[Duimon]

While my presets don’t have the structure to take advantage of the upcoming feature in Retroarch, I will be making use of the new night lighting features in the shader. (Once HSM finishes his work.)

There will be a lot of deep diving into presets and some new night layer renders.

Lot’s of exciting things on the horizon!

[TheNamec]

Ah yeah, here we go again…

[Duimon]

Oooo, if that’s how it looks with just outlines, I bet it’s beautiful.

[TheNamec]

Well, well,well… Commodore CDTV overlay, included in TheNamec Mega Bezel Commodore RC4

I need a square monitor! Too many pixels to display! I’m in doubt with the speaker on the left, should it stay or should it go?

Although based off Amiga500 hardware plus a CD-ROM reader, this was not officially branded as ‘Amiga’. Of course I had to add the floppy drive cd-1411 to enable compatibility with ADF floppy images.

PS: too bad the display will end up covering the majority of this artwork, some scenes should really be vertical-only.

[Duimon]

Truly a work of art! My vote is to keep the speaker but maybe de-saturate it to match.

[SharkaBytes]

Omg, my hype and excitement levels just skyrocketed, that looks amazing!

[TheNamec]

Everybody loves microwave oven design… so hail the newborn Ikegami TM14-17R!

Coming soon in Mega Bezel : CRT Gaming pack.

PS: @Digitech, by “soon” I mean when next RetroArch will be out…

[Neofuuma]

@TheNamec

Everybody loves microwave oven design

I mean, if it can cook my HungryMan TV dinners while I’m playing, it’s got my vote!

[TheNamec]

@Neofuuma

if it can cook my HungryMan TV dinners while I’m playing

Of course Ikegamis come with a cook to “safisfy your craving!”

[SharkaBytes]

This looks fantastic, and yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever crossed my fingers this hard that Retroarch puts out a release soon. Even just on the Commodore pack side and new 1080p presets for those, I’m so excited for it.

[TheNamec]

@SharkaBytes

I don’t think I’ve ever crossed my fingers this hard that Retroarch puts out a release soon

Believe me, just looking at how many things cool things the entire Mega Bezel Community kept building while waiting for release… really makes crossings everything crossable - ouch - a daily routine!

Let’s hope the update drop soon, I need some feedback on my latest folies to stay grounded to planet earth!

[ZeroSin3]

2 questions : you mention RC4. Where can i find it or when is it expected to be released on your github? I saw the Mega Bezel is updated to V1.0.007_2022-08-29_Rev-1 and Duimon already made some changes to his presets. Do you also have to make changes to have it work with V1.0.007_2022-08-29_Rev-1