Backdrops in mame2003-plus

Clyde

Sorry for the late response, but I don't have much time for this at the moment.

@Riverstorm said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

Just download any pre-0.106 artwork (there's a dedicated section) from Mr. Do's website and copy it into your /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003-plus/artwork folder and run the game. No configuration required!

Thanks for the tip, the files work ootb. But if one uses crt shaders (like I do), the bezels are crt shaded, too. Is there any (easy) way to exclude the bezels from being shaded?

@UDb23 said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

@Clyde backdrop pull request done & accepted.
File is part of mame2003plus repository; check here.

Great, how do I update the files in that directory on my Retropie?

Riverstorm

Thanks for the tip, the files work ootb. But if one uses crt shaders (like I do), the bezels are crt shaded, too. Is there any (easy) way to exclude the bezels from being shaded?

@Clyde - I run a shader too and asked the same question. I didn't get a definite answer so I don't for sure but I didn't find a way. I do not like BD's with a shader either. =\

markwkidd

There is no way to avoid frontend shaders from affecting the core's built-in artwork display. To the frontend it is all essentially one image coming from the core with no distinction between layers or bezels.

This is one of the reasons it will be good to have backdrop support in RetroArch.

UDb23

@Clyde just update mame2003 plus from source and it will install the latest backdrops.
or just copy the zip files to your Pi into the bios\mame2003plus\artwork folder.

Clyde

@UDb23 said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

@Clyde said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

how I could share my omegrace.zip with others here?

Do you have a github account ? if so you could add it to my Repo (e.g. 1600 subfolder of Omega Race cockpit).

Finally, I'm getting around doing this, but I can't make a subdirectory in https://github.com/UDb23/rpie-ovl/tree/master/arcade/Omega Race, because I don't have push access to it, as Github tellls me. Furthermore, I somehow seem to have created a fork of your repo by accident: https://github.com/Taranchul/rpie-ovl 😆

Can you give me access? And how do I delete my fork? Thanks!

UDb23

@Clyde Don't worry. The way github works, if you want to contribute to someone else's project actually you DO create a fork; then add files to your fork (with folders like in this case). You can then make a "pull" request to the original repo; I will receive the request and approve it: the files will be added to my repo.

Clyde

@UDb23 Ah okay, thanks. I will try to do it, stay tuned. :)

Clyde

@UDb23 Done. This version has 0.30 brightness and a game area of 1440x1050 because the one from the original machine also didn't fill the whole backdrop area. See https://imgur.com/JeE2aqs.

UDb23

@Clyde merged. see comment on how to create folders.

UDb23

Battlezone backdrop now available.
Actually I "converted" it to an overlay by cutting out the game, radar, score and messages areas. This allows to get 1080p quality with RA. UV version coming; more info in that post.

Clyde

@UDb23 I am confused. How is it a backdrop if it's an overlay?

UDb23

Got quite crazy to make the overlay exactly fit the radar and display boxes; trial and error was the only way !

UDb23

@Clyde Actually it's no longer a BD. MrDo listed it and provided this cardboard artwork as BD; but you now no longer need the BD; just apply my RA overlay. Better quality and no impact on performance.

Clyde

@UDb23 It's not suitable for 4:3 screens, I suppose?

UDb23

@Clyde Considering that it exactly fits the upper boxes and radar @1080p, probably not.
As I recreated the cardboard in vectors I could generate a 4:3 game area only overlay for you to try. What res?

Clyde

@UDb23 That would be great, thank you for the offer! It's still my trusty old 1600x1200. :)

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - Battle Zone looks sharp. Nice job "cutting" out the holes. Was the original backdrop white? I am so used to seeing green from Mr. Do's old art that it threw me a little on first load.

Do you know if you can enable them separately (backdrops and overlays)? I see "Display Artwork" in the core options but seems to display both.

I was getting Mr. Do's Battle Zone Artwork loading from the Artwork folder at the same time with the new overlay/BD. I know AdvMAME you can enable them as separate options globally and/or per game.

UDb23

@Clyde said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

It's still my trusty old 1600x1200. :)

Done. It should fit the "cutouts" but got no way to test on my side.
Files here: https://github.com/UDb23/rpie-ovl/tree/master/arcade/Battlezone

UDb23

@Riverstorm said in Backdrops in mame2003-plus:

Was the original backdrop white?

Original in good condition (how it looks without blacklight):
Battlezone_bezel small.jpg

Most pictures you find are more "yellowish" and have more faded blue due to cardboard deteriorating over time.

I am so used to seeing green from Mr. Do's old art that it threw me a little on first load.

Green from MrDo doesn't match the original blacklight inks (personal opinion).
This is a real one:

Shown event better better in this video:

Blacklight used in early upright release (periscope) and therefore "greenish UV"; cabaret no longer used blacklight so color looked like first image but artwork slightly different.

You may have noticed I do quite extensive research before creating overlays or BDs
;-)

Green "UV" overlay in the works....

I see "Display Artwork" in the core options

Has no influence on RA overlays AFAIK. Does affect Mame overlays and BD. You need to remove the mame artwork zip from the folder but still keep "display artwork" enabled (it does the red & green vectors in the core).

Riverstorm

@UDb23 - That's some nice pics and extensive research, thanks for sharing. I like reading that type of stuff and seeing the original as memory is definitely nostalgic vs. the "truth". I had no idea it was more "white".

With Omega Race I went back and forth between UV1 and UV2 before settling on UV2 as my final backdrop. I like that UV look.

Ok, thanks for the information. I think I am straightened aroundn now. I did a bit of testing and it seems "Display Artwork" turns backdrops on and off only and doesn't affect overlays just like you said.

I would disable "Display Artwork" in Battle Zone it would remove the "backdrop" but loose the color also. I had no idea you had to enable Artwork to get color. Is that embedded in the code or is it an overlay or something?

Back to the point my confusion came from the old Mr. Do Battle Zone artwork. I thought it was a backdrop and overlay combined but I see it's a single .png and designated as a backdrop in the .art file.

Interesting thing about AdvMAME when you use the old Mr. Do Battle Zone artwork it actually clips the left and right side art and only leaves the top bar so I thought they were different file designations like an overlay and backdrop.

AdvMAME seems to only display the game area. I couldn't get the side bars in Battle Zone to display correctly. In Plus it works fine.

The shortest way to disable overlays I found was to rename the game.zip.cfg since there's no RA/core option to turn that feature on and off.

I keep thinking overlays should be like backdrops and have a enable/disable option.

Mr. Do's Space Invaders art has both an overlay and backdrop combined in one file. With AdvMAME you can turn them on and off separately as they have section headers in the .art file like "backdrop:" and "overlay:" that can be loaded or ignored depending on the option settings.

Anyway thanks for pointing that out and looking forward to the UV version.