Arcade 16:9 Overlays (1920x1080)

JesseBlue

@stuart2773 said in Arcade 16:9 Overlays (1920x1080):

It doesn't work like that, its not the png screen part that needs to 50% its the actual game screen sprites that need to be 50%. The overlays actually sit behind the game play field, by reducing the game play field to around 50% this makes it semi transparent, so the overlay png behind it shows though.

I don´t think that´s correct. The overlay (as the name suggests) sits above the gameplay. Libretro Documentation: Overlays

This is your modified Space Invaders overlay with 35% opacity on the screen and 100% on the bezel :

Retroarch Setting:

video_scale_integer = "true"
input_overlay_opacity = "1.000000"

The overlay png:

UDb23

FYI
Overlays are of course placed on top of the game graphics.
As already said libretro cores do not support Backdrops and these would be needed for Space Invaders background. Probably Advancemame will correctly support these in the future.
Concerning Libretro overlays, the setting for overlay opacity in the cfg file impacts the opacity (read : inverse of transparency) of the whole overlay image.
PNG files can contain transparency information (JPG cannot) and therefore to "simulate" a backdrop you apply transparency % (by using a graphics/photo editor software) to the part of the overlay image that is supposed to be "below" game graphics.
This makes the game graphics stand out even if the overlay is on top.

Stuart2773

This post is deleted!

Stuart2773

@jesseblue

cheers :O, i really didn't think it was possible to get the same effect but you proved me wrong, thanks for pointing me in the right direction, im going to attempt and try to recreate what you done on some other overlays i did.

thanks again for the heads up, much appreciated :)

UPDATE: i tried but with no luck :(

Space Invaders PT2, BootHill, Discs of Tron, in photoshop i set the screen image to 35% Opacity, the bezel sides were already set at 100%, saved the image, transferred to the pi, loaded the games, set the RA input_overlay_opacity = "1.000000"

but no luck, i wasnt able to see the game, the overlay just obstructed everything,
what am i doing wrong? its some silly oversight that im completely missing.

alt text

cheers.

JesseBlue

@stuart2773: It doesn't work because that png has no transparency at all. ;)

I'm not sure what went wrong, but maybe you want to check out my psd file of the Space Invaders overlay: invaders.psd

It consists of two layers: The bezel at 100% opacity and the background at 35%.

Stuart2773

@JesseBlue

can you take a look at these? and see where im going wrong?

JesseBlue

boothill: No opacity set for the background layer. The default Photoshop background layer (the one with the little lock icon) should not be activated.

dotron: Same as boothill.

frogs: The four background layers should be grouped into a folder. This new folder should be set to 35% (or whatever you prefer) opacity.

invaders: No opacity set for the background layer.

invadpt2: The default Photoshop background layer should not be activated.

triplhnt: This one is a bit messed up. ;) You don't have the foreground and background properly separated. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix aside from starting from scratch. This is how it might look: www.atarimuseum.com/orubin/Witch-Hunt.jpg

Here are the corrected files: bezels_fixed.zip

I hope this helps. I really appreciate your work! :)

johnodon

This is awesome! I hope this all works as hoped because those 3d'ish bezel look fantastic!

Stuart2773

@jesseblue

thanks for those, i understand how its working now, but for some strange reason even with the fixed versions you provided im unable to get any of the transparency to work, its driving me crazy, i keep getting the same files everytime. my photoshop must be f***ed up

i even created a new bezel from scratch using your method and i get exacly the same non working bezel with no transparency :@ agghhhhhhhhhhh

i dont have any problem whatsoever with the transparency with normal bezels i created, just these "projected ones"

JesseBlue

@stuart2773

That's odd. How do you save your png files within Photoshop?

FYI
I've managed to recreate the Triple Hunt / Witch Hunt overlay. :)

UDb23

@stuart2773 said in Arcade 16:9 Overlays (1920x1080):

i even created a new bezel from scratch using your method and i get exacly the same non working bezel with no transparency :@ agghhhhhhhhhhh

Do you flatten the image before saving the image ? That destroys transparency.
Usually I use "merge visible" layers before saving to PNG and it keeps transparencies.