Custom configs for CRT using the built-in composite out

Dipkid

Having a bit of trouble..
New clean 4.5.1 image on a pi3 with all the cfgs and bios in their place.
Im getting nice clean images on my LG 2001 Coca-cola CRT tv! Iv edited the config.txt to sdtv_mode =2 since Im in europe & the tv is PAL. Could that be why I dont get fullscreen on any emulators? The cores doesent seem to be 4:3 / full screen, i have pretty big black bars at top and bottom on SNES and Genesis / 32X.
Neo-Geo is even weirder. There I get the screen cut off at the left & right sides although all of the green border on the Retroarch GUI is visible.

Now, I can fix these things manually by changeing X & Y aspect ratio custom values, but then I wont get the results the author had in mind. Wanted to know if I made some rookie misstake. I was under the impression that I shouldnt mess with the overscan settings when using these configs? / In advance thanks, Dipkid

Sakitoshi

@Rion sorry if is a little too late, but I was busy managing another project.
I rather not add custom configs for every arcade game, it's too much work since those will not work well unless I take care of them one by one. arcade monitors are calibrated for the specific game they are running and so would I need to do in order to get good results.
regarding the gameboy overlays, I prefer to keep things simple and have a single default overlay per system or I would have already added a gb pocket, gb light, gba sp and gb micro overlays.
If you want to change them though, you have to match the existing overlays in size and screen window. I know the resolution is weird but it's because of the aspect ratio correction I have to apply.
remember the pi outputs 720x480 but a crt tv visually squishes that to 4:3, so it looks like 640x480. my little secret number to get the right proportions is 1.125 (720 / 640), so gb/c for example 160 x 1.125 = 180 x 2 = 360. vertical is fixed so no need to mess with that. do the same with all the other portables.

@Dipkid sorry, but this is designed for ntsc. I have no access to a pal tv so I can't guarantee it works, but some have reported it works fine with pal60.

Dipkid

@Sakitoshi Ok, thanks for the reply.
(I`ll start messing with the overscan then :D )

tix

Hey sakitoshi, Well done for your contribution !

Yesterday I took the plunge and did a fresh install so that I can use your settings !!
I can report that everything in the consoles front plays beautifully !
In the arcade front I have mixed results.. I understand that it's a "best possible" solution but some games are simply broken..
for instance Moon Patrol, R-Type 1 and 2 are displayed in a stretched wide screen stripe making them unplayable..
I know that the two R-Types at least used a standard 4:3 monitor..

So do you have a tip how to fix them ?
I don't mind doing a per game configuration setting !!

Thanks anyway.

dimetrius

@Sakitoshi Dear, you can’t create your own settings for the batocera linux system. thank you very much

tix

@Sakitoshi and everyone else, HELP

OK, I understand that you can make a config for a specific game that overrides the general rule,
and I have downloaded the 'arcade rez table' so far so good.
Can you give an example of a custom config?
let's say for the R-Type games..

Thanks guys

Sakitoshi

@tix I pushed an update that will fix the issue. no need to install all again, just replace this file https://github.com/Sakitoshi/retropie-crt-tvout/blob/master/to_configs/all/retroarch/shaders/tvout/shaders/box-vert.glsl
you should probably take a look at the expand field of view presets too to be able to see the whole screen since r-type uses a resolution that goes out of a normal crt screen.

@dimetrius isn't batocera based on recalbox? if that's the case I don't want to do it. recalbox is very restrictive with its configs and I wasn't able to make a clean and easy setup (read, not hacky by overriding some important recalbox configs) for it like a year ago when I tried.
you can still take a look at the configs and adapt them if you want. but I don't want to mess with a stubborn environment like recalbox.

dimetrius

@Sakitoshi Dear, as far as I know, now batocera 5.24 is very different from recalbox. I am ready to try to adapt your configs for batocera, but I have poor knowledge of Linux, if you can help me, I will be very happy for your help. What needs to be done to make ES work in 480p, retroarch in 240i? where to watch this script? I am waiting for your help, thank you very much. just in case here is my email: dimetriusdx@gmail.com

tix

@Sakitoshi said in Custom configs for CRT using the built-in composite out:

@tix I pushed an update that will fix the issue. no need to install all again, just replace this file https://github.com/Sakitoshi/retropie-crt-tvout/blob/master/to_configs/all/retroarch/shaders/tvout/shaders/box-vert.glsl
you should probably take a look at the expand field of view presets too to be able to see the whole screen since r-type uses a resolution that goes out of a normal crt screen.

Thanks man ! you totaly fixed all my issues !!

tix

@Sakitoshi

tix

Hey @Sakitoshi, what about the vector games ?
with the current settings they display a black screen, with some vertical lines.. the game plays in the background !
the same goes for vectrex games..

Sakitoshi

@tix lets just say that I don't want to mess with that.
it was already challenging enough to find the perfect configuration for vertical arcade.

tix

@Sakitoshi said in Custom configs for CRT using the built-in composite out:

@tix lets just say that I don't want to mess with that.
it was already challenging enough to find the perfect configuration for vertical arcade.

Fair enough,
How can I exclude them from the general config ?

I guess advance Mame remains the best option for vector games !

Sakitoshi

@tix as vectrex doesn't have a dedicated config in my setup it defaults to the general config as if you didn't have my configs at all. you can edit vectrex config file at configs/vectrex/retroarch.cfg or use the built-in retropie config editor.

tix

@Sakitoshi said in Custom configs for CRT using the built-in composite out:

@tix as vectrex doesn't have a dedicated config in my setup it defaults to the general config as if you didn't have my configs at all. you can edit vectrex config file at configs/vectrex/retroarch.cfg or use the built-in retropie config editor.

Thanks !
regarding Mame ? how can I remove a vector game from the general config ?
I'm asking for a tip.. similar to the override configs you made for vertical games (to turn the 480i on)

Sakitoshi

@tix to make a particular game use the retropie defaults you can make a game override (inside retroarch. quick menu -> overrides -> save game overrides) and then modify it replacing the contents of the override file (should be located at configs/arcade/config_crt/MAME 2003 (0.78)/*name of the game.cfg*) with the default retroarch config (you may have a copy of it named retroarch.cfg.rp-dist).

arcade default:

# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

that will make that game behave as if you don't have my configs and of course you can edit that config file to your liking to make the game look as you wish.

dimetrius

@Sakitoshi Tell me how did you create the 240p switch during the emulator? I want to try to do in the batocera 2.4 system.

mitu

@dimetrius Switching resolutions is done using tvservice - see this file - which is run before the game is started. tvservice is part of the Raspbian distribution, I think Batocera might include it as part of the PACKAGE_RPI_USERLAND option.

tix

@Sakitoshi said in Custom configs for CRT using the built-in composite out:

@tix to make a particular game use the retropie defaults you can make a game override (inside retroarch. quick menu -> overrides -> save game overrides) and then modify it replacing the contents of the override file (should be located at configs/arcade/config_crt/MAME 2003 (0.78)/*name of the game.cfg*) with the default retroarch config (you may have a copy of it named retroarch.cfg.rp-dist).

arcade default:
# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"
that will make that game behave as if you don't have my configs and of course you can edit that config file to your liking to make the game look as you wish.
Thanks man !

I guess vector games will benefit greatly by turning on 480i mode ?
Can you give an example of a override config, doing this ?

Sakitoshi

@tix 480i mode is a thing of my scripts, not part of retroarch, so editing that config file will not activate it.
for that you need to put a file named 480i.txt inside the folder of the system you want to force 480i, inside the file you have to write the name of the rom file (preferably with its extension) and that's it. this is explained in the readme at github btw.
if is an arcade game and you have the optional arcade tweaks the 480i file should be already there, so you only have to add the vector games to the list.