DynamicArcade layout beta-v9 released 26 Jan 2021

[tsaylor]

Thanks, that was fast. Yeah, I thought alt+tab would work too, but when I do so I see no other windows (other than whatever else is running). But anyway...

With test1 I believe I see scanlines but not rounded corners. In test2 I see both. But for some reason the videos are also working in both cases (was that even expected?). And the title screens immediately go away (whether there is a video to show or not), so it's difficult to catch a screenshot. Is there an easy way to make the title screen remain? I can modify the .nut files if you like.

[jclampy69]

No, that is fine. Another user has sent me some screenshots.

With your confirmation of test2 working I will use that approach. I'll implement it, organise a beta-v8 and release it after dinner tonight.
Thanks.

[tsaylor]

Actually it looks like both methods worked. Sorry, it flashes pretty fast and wasn't obvious to me. But I see rounded corners on both tests.

[jclampy69]

Beta-v8 released.
- finalised the artwork naming convention so to not conflict with AttractMode screensaver functionality.
- expanded on the layout options for selectable default marquee. This is all done inside layout options now.
- created a new layout option for choosing CRT-Shader or Scanlines for the cabinet screen.

Link in first post.

Please pay attention to the FINAL **Artwork Naming Convention** used in your cfg file in the (AttractMode)\emulators\ folder.
wheel = game logos (preferably of resolution smaller than 1000 width / 400 height so not to overload AttractModes image cache).
cabinets = game cabinets (this layout uses cabinet images of resolution 1300x1080).
marquee = game marquees (preferably of resolution smaller than 1500 width / 400 height so not to overload AttractModes image cache).
snap = game videos (preferably 640x480 or 320x240 for correct 4:3 aspect ratio for shader effect settings. The screens of the cabinet graphics are also 4:3).
tscreens = game title screens (preferably 640x480 or 320x240 for correct 4:3 aspect ratio for shader effect settings. The screens of the cabinet graphics are also 4:3).

[tsaylor]

Here's an example of the layout running at 1600x1200. I think it works great even though it wasn't really designed for that resolution. As for the game titles /videos, you are correct that those do not show up with the default crt_shader on my AMD graphics card. With the scanlines option, the images are working. For some reason the curved corners are only working on some of my files (depending on the resolution I suppose), as in this attachment. Let me know if you need me to track down more details about resolutions and such.

[jclampy69]

Thanks for the screenshot. Ok, so everything is showing in 4:3 which is good. 

Everything seems stretched taller to fill the screen. I doubt there is a better way to do it without a complete redesign for 4:3.

At least it's not broken that is the main thing. I'll assume 16:10 should be almost indistinguishable to 16:9.

Edit:
In regards to the curved corners..
On non-black / coloured backgrounds you will see the curved corners. On black backgrounds as above the curved corners are there but you can't see them.
The square edges you are seeing are from the 'scanlines' overlay file. On a coloured background the 'scanlines' square edges are there but less visible since your eyes see the coloured 'rounded corners'.
I've made an amendment so you won't see the 'scanlines' square edges of the overlay file and it will be in beta-v9 (see attached image).

Also, I'll PM you about how the 'scanlines' look. If they are not uniform across the cabinet screen in 4:3 for you then I might be able to sort that out for you.

[jclampy69]

Beta-v9 released.
- the unused outer edges of the 'scanlines' overlay file (if you are not using 'CRT Shader') are now no longer visible.
- improved the appearance of the 'scanlines' overlay.
- Damonxxx request: layout option to toggle the game metadata 'game title' appearance from 'wrappable two line' or 'single line only'.

Link in first post.

[jclampy69]

tsaylor, as per what you were asking for in the other thread. I've made a quick mock-up of what I think you were wanting.
This is probably the easiest/quickest way to do it, if no hurdles come up along the way.
The main caveat though is that you will lose a small part of the sides of the game videos (might be problematic to squish those in as well)

Although, I could possibly remove that 'inner black border' from 'around' the videosnap, then you wouldn't lose much of the video snap.
The bezels would probably have round corners to match the screen shape.

Anyway, tell me your thoughts. If it was to be implemented as this, then it would be a toggled 'layout option'.

[tsaylor]

Thanks jclampy69! I really like seeing those bezels but agree that it hurts to narrow the snap image, and makes the bezels seem comparatively too large. I looked at what the original cabinet looked like (https://www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/1943.jpg). I found it interesting that there was no black border around the screen, but I tried a photoshop mockup that way and it just doesn't look right. Your black border seems necessary.

I tried a mockup keeping the original snap image, adding the black border, and then squishing the width of the bezel sections. I like the result but admit it would be more effort, as I think the squished left/right sides of the bezel would need to be rendered separately. Not sure how much effort you want to put into it, but here's my mockup just to see what it could look like.

[jclampy69]

Thanks jclampy69! I really like seeing those bezels but agree that it hurts to narrow the snap image, and makes the bezels seem comparatively too large. I looked at what the original cabinet looked like (https://www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/1943.jpg). I found it interesting that there was no black border around the screen, but I tried a photoshop mockup that way and it just doesn't look right. Your black border seems necessary.

Wait.. That bezel is different to the ones posted by Yaron. I'll send you a PM?

I tried a mockup keeping the original snap image, adding the black border, and then squishing the width of the bezel sections. I like the result but admit it would be more effort, as I think the squished left/right sides of the bezel would need to be rendered separately. Not sure how much effort you want to put into it, but here's my mockup just to see what it could look like.

It sounds like what you were doing is a more complex process.. I would create an automated process to do everything. As long as it can be done in automation then no problem. 

[tsaylor]

I did some test mods in the layout.nut, but I used Yaron's theme for that since it had the side bezel support already (so I don't even know which post is more relevant for this discussion). I "squished" the bezels at run time so they are displayed narrower, and placed the left/right sides of that separately. I actually think it looks pretty nice, as it keeps the full screen snapshot while also showing the full bezel (albeit squished). The main issue I ran into is that the snaps have varying aspect ratios, and similarly the visible bezel widths differ from game to game. Nothing about the bezel files tell us the inner width, so I had to take a guess on a percentage that looks good on most games.

Then as an experiment I tried enabling it for horizontal games as well, and it actually didn't look too bad. Mainly because the bezels for those games are already much thinner than the vertical game bezels. Could be enabled as a separate option perhaps. But to handle it better, we'd probably need to compute the aspect ratio for those horizontal snaps, and if it is too wide (basically consuming the entire available area, as some of them do, we could shrink the snap size a little).

Here's an example of a vertical game (1943) and a horizontal game (Defender), with the bezels squished to 65% of their full size. I can share the code I used, but it was based on the "At-The-Arcade Multi-Cab" layout so not directly applicable for this layout.

[Yaron2019]

As we are having this discussion here, I will also post a suggestions, what do you think of this?
It's without the inner black part of the bezels as one of the discord friends suggested. I placed the bezels under the snap so we don't have to cut it and have double bezel folders.
First screen without Lottes shader, second with.

[tsaylor]

That looks very nice! Personally I prefer a bit of separation but the shader accomplishes that. And it's definitely an advantage to use the same image files. How were you able to find room for the entire bezel? [edit - actually I see you didn't fit the entire image, but most of it]

Now that bezels are in play, in hindsight, it probably would have been better if the cabinet images didn't contain a black bezel/border. More space to work with.

[jclampy69]

tsaylor,

Here is an example of using your 'fuller size' bezel. Obviously due to this cabinet image dimensions/ratio the bezels need to be cropped from either top or bottom. Probably a manually done decision based on each individual bezel artwork.

I still need to fine tune dimensions, etc.. Looking at it now I would probably have the bezel the same width as the control deck so they line up.

Video is still maintaining aspect ratio and full resolution showing.

This method could probably be used to add these style of bezels for horizontal games as well.
Probably requires someone or a group of people that would be keen to put some effort into each bezel. Anyone interested?

[tsaylor]

Well that looks very nice! Definitely loses some available space for the video (unavoidably), but it's a really great option. But is there any good library out there of full-sized bezels (or at least as large as the side-bezel library that Yaron found)? If needed I'd be ok with doing some image editing for the games I use, but I only play a few dozen games so it's a very small subset of what others would want for a proper MAME library.

Seems like the ultimate group project would be a full set of cabinet images (control panel, marquee, bezel, snap, side art,...), with standard sizing but available as separate parts or combinable. But I doubt that anything like that exists.