Homebrew New VBA GX fork (2.3.0)

[Jacobeian]

Really appreciate the 240p Euro RGB. There is one thing that is annoying me though. Where you select roms the whole screen is shifted to the left a little too much so I can't see the first couple of characters of each rom name. It seems the picture is slightly too big for the screen (4:3 PAL CRT). When I adjust X and Y it only affects the picture in-game it seems and not the menu

Have you tried adjusting screen position in Wii System Menu settings ?

 

[ploder]

Have you tried adjusting screen position in Wii System Menu settings ?

The screen displays correctly in the Wii menu. I will test that, but if it works won't that result in having to keep changing screen position when going between vga gx and wii menu?

 

[sindrik]

@libertyernie
Can you compile a gamecuber version? I hope I can play GBC games on gamecube.

This would be nice, i can test it thoroughly.

 

[ploder]

I have been testing v2.3.2 on a couple of games. Crash Bandicoot Huge Adventure for GBA is perfect so far after a few levels. However, Advance Wars 2 has fickering text boxes when the characters are talking to you.

 

[Krafne]

First of all, thanks for the 240p and border support, i couldn't play without them since the flickering was horrible on my CRT TV, not to mention the scaling was way off. But is there any way the home menu can work like in Snes9 GX or FCE Ultra GX? Being rendered in 480i while the in-game rendering is different? Having the menu in 240p makes everything look horrible, and there is no way around it unless you switch the in-game rendering or restart the app.

The second thing is, the main menu where you select folders/roms is cut off in the new version. This has never happened in 2.2.8. The left side is cut off, and the text is hard to read, probably due to 3:2 rendering resolution instead of 4:3. This only happens on a CRT TV, i tested it on multiple different sets.

Please make the in game home menu being rendered in 480i (just ike Snes9 GX/FCE Ultra GX) and either center the menu or make it 4:3 like it was before, so it fits the screen with no overscan.

Guys, how is your setting in the VBA Gx?
For me, the gba pokemon games are a little bit laggy and been little slowdowns after maybe 10 sec in game, and then it runs normal and so on.
Nothing that really get on my nerves, but if it is a chance to change that in the settings woud be good

I have tested all the Pokemon games on the GBA. Ruby and Sapphire work flawlessly, Emerald, Leaf Green/Fire Red need frameskip to work, otherwise the audio is crackling or out of sync. However there are no slowdowns if you disable frameskip, but the audio will be messed up somewhat.

 

[SuperrSonic]

The second thing is, the main menu where you select folders/roms is cut off in the new version. This has never happened in 2.2.8. The left side is cut off, and the text is hard to read, probably due to 3:2 rendering resolution instead of 4:3. This only happens on a CRT TV, i tested it on multiple different sets.

Please make the in game home menu being rendered in 480i (just like Snes9 GX/FCE Ultra GX) and either center the menu or make it 4:3 like it was before, so it fits the screen with no overscan.

The screen width was increased some more to match the GB's pixel aspect ratio. You can read the previous pages where I explain it a couple of times, there's also a compare of the GB Player with this change.

I even mentioned this would happen and the file browser would need to be shifted 32 pixels to return to the safe area. I have now attempted this in the .dol below(source file included), if it works for you I may submit a pull request for Libertyernie to review or he could just grab the source in the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/811xoqrkjno9vxn/vbagx_shifted.zip?dl=0

 

[Krafne]

The screen width was increased some more to match the GB's pixel aspect ratio. You can read the previous pages where I explain it a couple of times, there's also a compare of the GB Player with this change.

I even mentioned this would happen and the file browser would need to be shifted 32 pixels to return to the safe area. I have now attempted this in the .dol below(source file included), if it works for you I may submit a pull request for Libertyernie to review or he could just grab the source in the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/811xoqrkjno9vxn/vbagx_shifted.zip?dl=0

I have read all the previous posts to find my answer, however isn't this an actual problem rather than a feature? SDTVs are 4:3, most of them supporting 16:9 letterboxing option. I can understand using the correct 3:2 aspect ratio for in-game display, since the scaling would be off. But why for the game menu? I think VBA 2.2.8 and FCE/SNES9 did a decent job handling the proper aspect ratio/resolution in the menus, which was 480i fixed. The game rendering was separate.

I will test this ASAP and report back. Just one more question. Is there any way to force the game menu to render in 480i, and the game itself in different rendering, just like the apps i previously mentioned? If i knew how to do it, i would do it myself but alas, i do not know. Unless the process involves changing simple values.

Edit:
It works perfectly, thank you. The menu is centered like it should be. Now only the resolution rendering problem remains, apart from the obvious slowdowns on certain games which i doubt can be fixed.

 

[sindrik]

The screen width was increased some more to match the GB's pixel aspect ratio. You can read the previous pages where I explain it a couple of times, there's also a compare of the GB Player with this change.

I even mentioned this would happen and the file browser would need to be shifted 32 pixels to return to the safe area. I have now attempted this in the .dol below(source file included), if it works for you I may submit a pull request for Libertyernie to review or he could just grab the source in the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/811xoqrkjno9vxn/vbagx_shifted.zip?dl=0

Works perfect on my CRT TV, thank you. Any chance you can do a Gamecube build?

 

[SuperrSonic]

Any chance you can do a Gamecube build?

The link is now updated.

I can understand using the correct 3:2 aspect ratio for in-game display, since the scaling would be off. But why for the game menu? I think VBA 2.2.8 and FCE/SNES9 did a decent job handling the proper aspect ratio/resolution in the menus, which was 480i fixed. The game rendering was separate.

The menu is still 4:3, just wider. Separating the stretching to just the games is possible but it's already worked around with the gui shift and personally I would say this is better because the menu images are 1:1.

 

[libertyernie]

The 240i/240p setting in the main menu is kept because I didn't put in any code to change the resolution when the menu is opened or closed. This would be a good future improvement (as would better drawing of the borders, something that would allow an actual 640x480 border on a GBA game stretched to 480x320.) I'm not working on vba-gx right now, though, so someone else would have to do it.

I did merge SuperrSonic's change into the github repo, so any future builds should have it. It causes the screenshots on the menu (if you have any) to overlap the list a little, but I think it's more important that the menu be visible on a CRT.

 

[Zopenko]

Hi libertyernie, i would like to make the update on the resolution change in the menus, but i don't have to much experience coding, could guide me where to start or which files to modify?, any ideas / suggestions on where to start are much appreciated. thank you.​

 

[sindrik]

(delete)

 

[sindrik]

The link is now updated.
The menu is still 4:3, just wider. Separating the stretching to just the games is possible but it's already worked around with the gui shift and personally I would say this is better because the menu images are 1:1.

Thanks! A couple of bugs i found on the Gamecube build:

- D-pad Down is not working on the menus/file browser (Gamecube pad). This also happens in the 2.3.2 Wii build with GC controllers.
- When you load a game, only a white screen appears. You can re-enter the menu, but the game won't load.

 

[SuperrSonic]

Sorry, I just compiled a GC version upon request, I have no way of testing it but all I did was move the file browser nothing else should change. The input issue was present before my change.

 

[sindrik]

Sorry, I just compiled a GC version upon request, I have no way of testing it but all I did was move the file browser nothing else should change. The input issue was present before my change.

I know, man. As i said, the GC pad problem is present in the Wii build too. However, games do not work in the Cube build as opposed to the Wii build. Thanks for making the binary anyway, hopefully someone can fix it.

 

[Krafne]

The link is now updated.

The menu is still 4:3, just wider. Separating the stretching to just the games is possible but it's already worked around with the gui shift and personally I would say this is better because the menu images are 1:1.

Alright. I thought the aspect ratio was changed for some reason.

The 240i/240p setting in the main menu is kept because I didn't put in any code to change the resolution when the menu is opened or closed. This would be a good future improvement (as would better drawing of the borders, something that would allow an actual 640x480 border on a GBA game stretched to 480x320.) I'm not working on vba-gx right now, though, so someone else would have to do it.

I did merge SuperrSonic's change into the github repo, so any future builds should have it. It causes the screenshots on the menu (if you have any) to overlap the list a little, but I think it's more important that the menu be visible on a CRT.

That makes perfect sense. I thought it was made on purpose for some reason. It's not really a big problem for people who use 240p anyway, but the text is hard to read and the GUI looks horrible.
I would switch to RetroArch, but for some reason i can't get a perfect scaling for any emulated console. Especially SNES/GBA. The aspect ratio doesn't work in progressive mode, and the borders also work in a weird way. I suppose i should ask on their forums rather than spamming here.

 

[Maeson]

Alright. I thought the aspect ratio was changed for some reason.


That makes perfect sense. I thought it was made on purpose for some reason. It's not really a big problem for people who use 240p anyway, but the text is hard to read and the GUI looks horrible.
I would switch to RetroArch, but for some reason i can't get a perfect scaling for any emulated console. Especially SNES/GBA. The aspect ratio doesn't work in progressive mode, and the borders also work in a weird way. I suppose i should ask on their forums rather than spamming here.

http://libretro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1065
A nice user called Vague Rant did a thread about that. It worked for me, I hope it works for you too.

 

[Krafne]

http://libretro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1065
A nice user called Vague Rant did a thread about that. It worked for me, I hope it works for you too.

Thanks for the link. I tried a few of the setups but none of them make the picture look pixel perfect. I always use 240 or progressive video, since i can't stand interlaced for anything other than games that have a native support for it. That, and there is the borders and square pixel problem. But i will play with the settings a bit and see if i can make the picture look good, otherwise i will just stick with the current emulators.

 

[Jaggent360]

WAIT A MINUTE! pokemon silver isnt a GBA game! Its a GBC game, right?

 

[ShadowOne333]

WAIT A MINUTE! pokemon silver isnt a GBA game! Its a GBC game, right?

Yes it is.