On top of the bar...

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 12:47PM

MrVestek wrote: »

I hope you're not a perfectionist like me Myrddin! Otherwise you'll never stop making tweaks and changes to the thing.

Ha, I don't really intend on making any changes to it once it's done. I did like your idea of adding in a wall mount usb panel at the back, as currently I have zero connectivity options (all the config work is being done with the back off & a bog standard usb kb & mouse connected). I might add one of those cheap kb/mouse wireless bundles thingies, but tbh I'm not sure how awkward they are for big file & folder work.

I also want to mount a large, low rpm fan in there somewhere too...even with the back off it I can feel the heat building up from the screen & pc. I also want to add a wireless nic too, transferring things over by usb is awful awkward. I was testing a bunch of roms yesterday & I must have went back & forth between systems half the day over missing bios files etc. Would be a lot easier if the bartop had its own connection. I hardwired it for the Hyperlaunch git setup, but removed it then asap as it's runnign with zero in the way of malware/virus protection.

The replacement amp arrived today...I have sound! Yus!

Steve X2 · 11-02-2014 12:58PM

MrVestek wrote: »

I might just give that a go. Currently busy hacking my own bartop to bits.

To me, the difference is night and day so definitely at least try it.

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 01:04PM

Myrddin wrote: »

Ha, I don't really intend on making any changes to it once it's done. I did like your idea of adding in a wall mount usb panel at the back, as currently I have zero connectivity options (all the config work is being done with the back off & a bog standard usb kb & mouse connected). I might add one of those cheap kb/mouse wireless bundles thingies, but tbh I'm not sure how awkward they are for big file & folder work.

I also want to mount a large, low rpm fan in there somewhere too...even with the back off it I can feel the heat building up from the screen & pc. I also want to add a wireless nic too, transferring things over by usb is awful awkward. I was testing a bunch of roms yesterday & I must have went back & forth between systems half the day over missing bios files etc. Would be a lot easier if the bartop had its own connection. I hardwired it for the Hyperlaunch git setup, but removed it then asap as it's runnign with zero in the way of malware/virus protection.

The replacement amp arrived today...I have sound! Yus!

I didn't want to hijack your thread so I posted some pics of that back panel install over in Arcade 24/7 just there a few minutes ago.

The Last Bandit · 11-02-2014 01:32PM

Run a usb extension lead out of the air holes, will do as a temperary solution till everything is configured nicely.

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 01:38PM

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Run a usb extension lead out of the air holes, will do as a temperary solution till everything is configured nicely.

Yep might just do that. Not overly pushed yet as again, tis still in the config stages

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 02:29PM

When looking to create custom genre xmls', is it a case of downloading the official one first from the HL site...& editing it by removing the games you don't want displayed? Or is there a better way of doing it?

The Last Bandit · 11-02-2014 02:59PM

Probably a million different ways of doing it but I just edited a stock "greatest hits" list to suite myself.

Hypertools can create XML lists based on the ROMs in a particular directory and a bunch of other neat stuff.

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?20141-Don-s-HyperSpin-Tools-3-0!

Steve X2 · 11-02-2014 03:29PM

Myrddin wrote: »

When looking to create custom genre xmls', is it a case of downloading the official one first from the HL site...& editing it by removing the games you don't want displayed? Or is there a better way of doing it?

http://honerbrink.com/?page_id=14

http://www.waste.org/~winkles/ROMLister/

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 03:41PM

I haven't bothered setting up custom lists yet but you'd probably use something like rom2xml to generate the XML file.

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 05:17PM

Sweet. Tonight's reading sorted so. Thanks for all the help guys

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 05:32PM

Myrddin wrote: »

Sweet. Tonight's reading sorted so. Thanks for all the help guys

Did you do much renaming of roms to match Hyperspin's XML files or did you do everything yourself from scratch?

Hyperspin Rom Matcher seems to be having issues with some of my PSX and Saturn roms.

The Last Bandit · 11-02-2014 05:44PM

Hyperspin uses the TOSEC naming convention so a lot of the goodroms stuff is all mislabeled which is a bit of pain.

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 05:44PM

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Hyperspin uses the TOSEC naming convention so a lot of the goodroms stuff is all mislabeled which is a bit of pain.

Found any good matching programs?

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 05:50PM

MrVestek wrote: »

Did you do much renaming of roms to match Hyperspin's XML files or did you do everything yourself from scratch?

Hyperspin Rom Matcher seems to be having issues with some of my PSX and Saturn roms.

Haven't had to rename anything at all thus far

Though it's all Mame roms so far, does the renaming only occur with console stuff?

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 05:52PM

Myrddin wrote: »

Haven't had to rename anything at all thus far Though it's all Mame roms so far, does the renaming only occur with console stuff?

The MAME stuff is handy as it's usually the same naming convention for everything.

The fun and games comes if you already have rom packs that are in a certain format and the XML file for the console is in another format.

For instance in the XML file if it says:

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (EU) but your bin is named Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (EUR) then it won't match up.

Fun fun fun...

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 05:55PM

Ah I get ya now. I don't have any console roms at all so will be building up the file list from scratch. I won't focus too heavily on console stuff though really, a few of the classics from the 16bit era & older I'd say will be all.

The Last Bandit · 11-02-2014 05:57PM

MrVestek wrote: »

Found any good matching programs?

Fatmatch

Its supposed to match up media files with the ROMs and bulk rename the closet matches.
I feed it the (known correct) hyperspin videos or artwork as the ROM name and let it match those again the actual mismatch of roms I have (all legally owned) and it will rename the roms to match the media files

Really cuts down the amount of faffing about.

MrVestek · 11-02-2014 05:59PM

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Fatmatch

Its supposed to match up media files with the ROMs and bulk rename the closet matches.
I feed it the (known correct) hyperspin videos or artwork as the ROM name and let it match those again the actual mismatch of roms I have (all legally owned) and it will rename the roms to match the media files

Really cuts down the amount of faffing about.

Excellent, must check that out when I get home.

Just thought I'd point out that the PSX and Saturn roms I mentioned above are only what I already have on disc. Of course.

Steve X2 · 11-02-2014 07:43PM

Here's a couple of thousand Hyperspin formatted XML's.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8aWLXavqJuIU2ZOZEktQkFzTVU&usp

Should cover a lot of genres on a lot of systems, as well as MAME.
The Databases.rar file in there is just all of them compressed if you want to grab them all in one go.

Steve X2 · 11-02-2014 08:36PM

As promised earlier.

I've attached the prescale file and the relevant ini file code is below.
Now, this is for a 1080p display. If you have a different resolution you might need to change stuff(but probably not). I'm still fine tuning it, but this is where I am at the moment.

#
# DIRECT3D POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
hlsl_enable               1
hlslpath                  hlsl
hlsl_ini_read             0
hlsl_ini_write            0
hlslini                   %g
hlsl_prescale_x           0
hlsl_prescale_y           0
hlsl_preset               -1
hlsl_write                
hlsl_snap_width           1920
hlsl_snap_height          1080
shadow_mask_alpha         0.1
shadow_mask_texture       aperture.png
shadow_mask_x_count       320
shadow_mask_y_count       240
shadow_mask_usize         0.09375
shadow_mask_vsize         0.109375
curvature                 0.0
pincushion                0.02
scanline_alpha            1.0
scanline_size             1.0
scanline_height           1.0
scanline_bright_scale     1.0
scanline_bright_offset    0.0
scanline_jitter           0.00
defocus                   0.1,0.1
converge_x                0.2,0.0,0.0
converge_y                0.0,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_x         0.2,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_y         0.0,0.0,0.0
red_ratio                 0.85,0.15,0.0
grn_ratio                 -0.05,1.05,0.0
blu_ratio                 -0.025,-0.025,1.05
saturation                1.0
offset                    -0.15,-0.16,-0.16
scale                     1.15,1.16,1.16
power                     1.1,0.95,0.8
floor                     0.0,0.0,0.0
phosphor_life             0.0,0.0,0.0

Make sure you don't have any other kind of filtering going on like scanlines or direct x filters. The "effect" should be blank.

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness                1.0
contrast                  1.0
gamma                     1.0
pause_brightness          1.0
effect

Edit:-
Some samples, its clearer in a video but these will give you an idea.

All Good(code above, sharp arcade monitor).
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/1581/clzs.png

Not so good(most code shared online, someone spilled Vaseline on arcade monitor).
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/4324/a87r.png

Abomination(no filters :eek:, shoot me in the face now please).
http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/1951/be7m.png

Again, a video shows it better.

Good (nice amount of sharpness, but not too much)

Not as good (it still looks good, but its blurry as it's had a linear effect applied before an HLSL is applied)

I must sort out a video comparison as it really shows up there.

.

Myrddin · 11-02-2014 10:53PM

Fantastic Steve, only back from a night course so will take a look at this in the morning :cool:

MrVestek · 12-02-2014 11:42AM

Yeah going to try this out myself tonight after re-sanding and re-spraying some of my own cab to cover up some holes.

I'm struggling to see the difference between 'perfect' and 'not as good' as posted up above Steve.

Care to help my silly eyes see the difference?

12-02-2014 11:48AM

MrVestek wrote: »

Care to help my silly eyes see the difference?

Looks at the 8 in the score at the bottom!
it is blurry but deffo hard to notice

Steve X2 · 12-02-2014 12:04PM

It's not as obvious in a pic. But if you make the changes and don't notice anything then sure it doesn't really matter ;0)

If you understand why it's slightly more blurry (the linear filter) then it should drive you crazy that it's being applied at all! It's blurred before you do any HLSL settings at all.

MrVestek · 12-02-2014 12:07PM

Was that something flying over my head just then?

*edit*

I see the difference now. It's subtle but it's there.

Steve X2 · 12-02-2014 12:15PM

I swear, it's not an "emperors new clothes" thing

MrVestek · 12-02-2014 12:16PM

Steve SI wrote: »

I swear, it's not an "emperors new clothes" thing

No no I see it now. I looked at the number 8 in the hud as suggested and I can definately see the difference.

You script does look alot better. I have to try it out on my own bartop soon.

You know I really wish that there was a scanlines graphics driver out there. I don't see why one hasn't been done before at all.

Steve X2 · 12-02-2014 12:23PM

MrVestek wrote: »

No no I see it now. I looked at the number 8 in the hud as suggested and I can definately see the difference.

You script does look alot better. I have to try it out on my own bartop soon.

You know I really wish that there was a scanlines graphics driver out there. I don't see why one hasn't been done before at all.

Yeah, something that could be added into the Arcade VGA maybe.
Although I like having scan line control externally with the SLG and SLG Scart.

MrVestek · 12-02-2014 01:22PM

No I mean like for average GPUs without the need for an external card.

I don't see any technical reason why it can't be done but simply that it just hasn't been done yet...

Steve X2 · 12-02-2014 01:44PM

MrVestek wrote: »

No I mean like for average GPUs without the need for an external card.

I don't see any technical reason why it can't be done but simply that it just hasn't been done yet...

Yeah, an Arcade VGA is just a very average internal card. It just has a custom firmware/driver.
But yes it certainly could be done on a driver level. Must have a google and see if anyone's done it or anything similar.

On top of the bar...

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