MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - MAME. HLSL Settings Question for all games

> Hello everyone quick question. Is there a website that one can look and get a game by
> game HLSL settings recommendation?
>
> My question is to adjust the hlsl settings so it will look as close to the original
> arcade game.

Hi,

I typically set a base line HLSL in the mame.ini, then copy it and adjust it per machine. Renaming the mame.ini to, for example, neogeo.ini so the neogeo games retain the D3D Post processing settings and then edit another mame.ini for cps1, cps2 games, etc., and renaming the file according to source cpp or directory name for individual machine settings. It's the only way I feel to have proper CRT replication, because there isn't really a "one setting fits all" because of the myriad of hardware and CRT's that differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. This is my base line:

#
# DIRECT3D POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#

hlslpath hlsl
hlsl_enable 1
hlsl_oversampling 0
hlsl_write auto
hlsl_snap_width 1440
hlsl_snap_height 1080
shadow_mask_tile_mode 0
shadow_mask_alpha 0.0
shadow_mask_texture shadow-mask.png
shadow_mask_x_count 6
shadow_mask_y_count 4
shadow_mask_usize 0.1875
shadow_mask_vsize 0.25
shadow_mask_uoffset 0.0
shadow_mask_voffset 0.0
distortion 0.0
cubic_distortion 0.06
distort_corner 0.10
round_corner 0.05
smooth_border 0.03
reflection 0.0
vignetting 0.0
scanline_alpha 0.60
scanline_size 1.0
scanline_height 1.0
scanline_variation 1.0
scanline_bright_scale 1.0
scanline_bright_offset 0.0
scanline_jitter 0.0
hum_bar_alpha 0.0
defocus 0.8,0.8
converge_x 0.0,0.0,0.0
converge_y 0.0,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_x 0.0,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_y 0.0,0.0,0.0
red_ratio 1.0,0.0,0.0
grn_ratio 0.0,1.0,0.0
blu_ratio 0.0,0.0,1.0
saturation 0.9
offset 0.0,0.0,0.0
scale 1.0,1.0,1.0
power 1.0,1.0,1.0
floor 0.0,0.0,0.0
phosphor_life 0.0,0.0,0.0

The cubic_distortion and distort_corner values I'm using make the screen appear to be curved and effectively wraps around the curvature of a CRT, like some of the older Wells Gardner CRT's from the late 70's and early 80's. On newer monitor systems, I rarely use the distortions but I still do but ever so slightly. So it really depends on what games you are playing.

These two lines are going to be the biggest thing you want to adjust when using HLSL:

scanline_alpha 0.60
scanline_size 1.0

The alpha is how dark you want your scan lines to be and the size is how big you want your scan lines. I tend to adjust plus or minus 0.38 from a 1.0 size based on the current games screen display resolution. Example, if you are running a screen configuration of 1440x1080 then using the same HLSL settings on a game running at 660x440 its going not going to look right. So it depends on a lot of factors that you will learn over time.

What I do is, is load a game, then pause it while its on a bright screen splash and then "tilde" over to these settings and adjust on the fly until the game display text and sprites look really clear but have very defined scanlines. When "I" am happy, then open up the mame.ini and add those values, then rename that file to the game I'm adjusting.

I am completely happy with my scan lines, some friends call them the best in the business LOL

Check ya later...