Hacking USB Loader GX

[Cyan]

sorry, I don't know what 40 and 120 are, I'm not always coding the loader and I forget it.
if it's a nintendont setting, I can't tell you what's wrong and why some game doesn't work properly with these settings. The loader is only passing arguments to nintendont, I'm not responsible to how it works after the loader exits.

 

[portugeek]

The only thing where WiiFlow outstands USB Loader GX (and I really love USB Loader GX - I'm using it since it's release) is this emuflow stuff where games from SNES, Game Gear and god knows what else joins my Wii and GC games.

Is that planned Cyan?

plug-in system is planned, but I can't tell if nor when it will be done.
I work on the loader sporadically, and do things at my pace.

This would be awesome!!

 

[sonictopfan]

I guess it's been asked a lot of times already but since I don't wanna scan 1078 pages ...
The only thing where WiiFlow outstands USB Loader GX (and I really love USB Loader GX - I'm using it since it's release) is this emuflow stuff where games from SNES, Game Gear and god knows what else joins my Wii and GC games.

Is that planned Cyan?

While it certainly has its pros it also has its cons, USB Loader GX already starts up slow when you have so many games in your list and this would not only make it slower but will add a load amount of entries in your list, it's done in Multiman on PS3 and I really don't like it there, I use Iris Manager instead because of this.

Speaking of Multiman I still hope for a cache feature, it would help a lot in saving time to load games and of course you can always refresh the list when you add more games, of course this could also cause more confusion by noobs reporting bugs without remembering to try to rescan your games list first but compromises are bound to happen.

 

[sideskroll]

sorry, I don't know what 40 and 120 are, I'm not always coding the loader and I forget it.
if it's a nintendont setting, I can't tell you what's wrong and why some game doesn't work properly with these settings. The loader is only passing arguments to nintendont, I'm not responsible to how it works after the loader exits.

Fair enough.
So that question belongs in the Nintendont thread then?
You do know what I'm referring to, right? With those numbers.
"Video scale" I believe its called.

 

[Cyan]

the scale and position are only parameters passed to nintendont, like the game path and other settings.
USBGX doesn't change the console in anyway before launching nintendont.

The only affected element before launching nintendont is the video mode. The loader sets the correct mode (region, prog/int) before launching nintendont.
All other settings are only passed in the nincfg file (even the widescreen setting).

 

[sideskroll]

the scale and position are only parameters passed to nintendont, like the game path and other settings.
USBGX doesn't change the console in anyway before launching nintendont.

The only affected element before launching nintendont is the video mode. The loader sets the correct mode (region, prog/int) before launching nintendont.
All other settings are only passed in the nincfg file.

Yes. I get that.
I'm only asking if you know what that 40(40~120) stands for.
OT: Did you get a chance to check the HDD yet?

 

[Cyan]

AHHHH, after a long time wondering what you asked, I finally understand.
It's because of this f**** GBAtemp font!

the tilde is displayed as a minus !
I thought it was 40 - 120 and wondered why there were some math involved here.

in the loader, 40 TO 120 are the min to max values you can set !
I didn't use "to" because it would require a translation for that word, and every language would need a different way to translate it.
the current way the settings are working is easier to use fixed text instead of translatable strings for numerical values.

You could have found that 40 was the min value, set 20 and see it being set to 40
set 200 and see it being set to 120.

Same for the negative to positive values (for the postition)
-10 to 10 or something like that?
That's bad values, because the loader use GLOBALY (every where in the loader) the value "-1" to set the game settings to "use global".
but here the position can have a "-1" value, and it shouldn't use that value to tell the loader to "use global setting", but to really be "-1" position.
I had to hack a little to make the "use global" possible.


About the HDD :
I didn't even unwrapped it from its package.

 

[sideskroll]

AHHHH, after a long time wondering what you asked, I finally understand.
It's because of this f**** GBAtemp font!

the tilde is displayed as a minus !
I thought it was 40 - 120 and wondered why there were some math involved here.

in the loader, 40 TO 120 are the min to max values you can set !
I didn't use "to" because it would require a translation for that word, and every language would need a different way to translate it.
the current way the settings are working is easier to use fixed text instead of translatable strings for numerical values.

Aha, I see your point.
Anyway, so I assume 40 to 120 is the range then, correct?
Meaning what? 120 is what resolution and 40 what?
If I see correctly, all that "scale" is doing is changing the width of the image. I didn't noticed any changes on the height (I may be wrong though) So "scale" wouldn't be the proper name for that option. Width would be more like it.
And which is the other option? "position" I believe?
I'm trying to understand what each setting does (Like I've always said, I don't like changing sh*t just because) And those 2 settings are something I'm just starting to experiment with.

 

[Cyan]

yes it's the range.
from 40 to 120
40 means the picture will be 640px
120 means the picture will be 720px wide
nintendont adds that value to 600 to determine the width (40 is the default value to make it 640px)


it's the width scale.
nintendont called it "scale" so I kept the same name to prevent confusions.
position is the horizontal position of the picture.

There's no need of vertical positioning/scale, the issue with TVs is the "horitontal overscan" used by CTR. this option is used to fix the overscan horizontal scaling.

 

[sideskroll]

yes it's the range.
from 40 to 120
40 means the picture will be 480px
120 means the picture will be 560px wide
nintendont adds that value to 440 to determine the width (40 is the default value to make it 480px)


it's the width scale.
nintendont called it "scale" so I kept the same name to prevent confusions.
position is the horizontal position of the picture.

There's no need of vertical positioning/scale, the issue with TVs is the "horitontal overscan" used by CTR. this option is used to fix the overscan horizontal scaling.

Ok, so just out of curiosity, why isn't it at 120 by default? Since on LEDs , Plasmas, or LCDs 480Px doesn't generate a true 4:3 aspect ratio thus creating an elongated (distorted) image. And on CRTs the fact that the console would be (probably) set as 4:3 in the system menu would prevent the 120 (560px) to stretch beyond the frames of the set. It would make sense to have it at 120 by default don't you think?
Also, why 560? Is that the upper limit of the GCN? I would've guessed the correct resolution would be 640x480.

 

[Cyan]

because it's 40 by default in nintendont, so I'm not forcing a different value in the loader, it would make different result when launching from different method and users will be confused.

well, scratch what I said. It was all wrong. that's what happen when I try to talk about something I forgot.
it's applied on the width, not on the height, so it doesn't affect the "480" but the "640"

600 + (40 to 120) = width
640 to 720


The correct resolution is 640*480
It's just that CTR has a big overscan borders, and games suffered from hidden area on the edge of the screen.
So lot of games compensated the hidden area by scaling down the "internal resolution" of the game, not the displayed pixels amount, to get all the important element visible on screen.
Some games just moved the important element away from the border instead of scaling.
So some games need the "scale down fix" by stretching the number of pixels on the screen (not the game resolution) some don't.


game resolution and screen resolution are two different things.
the screen resolution is the real number of pixel displayed on the tv.
The game resolution is changed with the "widescreen patch", making the game looks like it's widescreen by displaying more info on screen but keeping the same amount of output pixel. It looks like widescreen but you lose precision and details. That's the default "widesceen" mode for the Wii : skewing the picture to display correctly on widescreen TV with the same amount of pixels.

 

[sideskroll]

because it's 40 by default in nintendont, so I'm not forcing a different value in the loader, it would make different result when launching from different method and users will be confused.

well, scratch what I said. It was all wrong. that's what happen when I try to talk about something I forgot.
it's applied on the width, not on the height, so it doesn't affect the "480" but the "640"

600 + (40 to 120) = width
640 to 720

See? I told you
Anyway, so 40=640 and 120=720 then. Or am I misunderatanding something?
Cause IIRC the wii can output up to 800++ . so why not use it to the fullest?
Also, what resolution is USBLOADER GX gui using? In both, widescreen and wiiu widescreen (4:3) cause thats the correct aspect ratio. And Id like to "pass it" to GCN games.

 

[Cyan]

that's the thing : the wii DOES NOT output 800+
the max size is 640 px.
it never did real widescreen, only a fake drop down quality skew pictures to looks correctly sized on strecthed widescreen TV.
You lose quality for fake widescreen effect.

only WiiU output a real widescreen pixel size, and that's why it has a real 4:3 mode with black bars on the side that the wii can't do.

 

[sideskroll]

that's the thing : the wii DOES NOT output 800+
the max size is 640 px.
it never did real widescreen, only a fake drop down quality skew pictures to looks correctly sized on strecthed widescreen TV.
You lose quality for fake widescreen effect.

only WiiU output a real widescreen pixel size, and that's why it has a real 4:3 mode with black bars on the side that the wii can't do.

Ok so why 720(120) then? To mimic the anamorphic effect wii games use?
By the way, ULGX resolutions please? Both, in widescreen as well as in 4:3. The loader looks even more correct (with the exception of the pointer) than original wii games. So congrats on that I guess.

 

[Cyan]

Inside the loader:
if it detects the "widescreen" mode in the console's settings, it's 708*480
if it doesn't detect it, it's 694*480
It used to be lower, I increased the 4:3 width recently to 694 to have less black bars on the sides.

Inside the loader, there's also an algorythme which re-scale all theme pictures if widescreen is detected, but the ratio is not right. (0.8 instead of 0.75)

There's also a setting in the GUI named "widescreen", but it's NOT a widescreen setting. That option doesn't change the output pixel number of the screen.
It's an option to enable user defined scale width for prompt menus and buttons. It doesn't affect the background or pictures.
in French translation, I renamed it to "use scale factor for menus" "and "scale amount".
There are lot of wrongly and misleading settings name in the loader. I would like to make a menu and name updates after 3.1 (hope I'll release 3.1 one day haha)


and why 720 ? maybe it's the max size the console can output, I don't know. I haven't tried other bigger values.
242 to 720 (and not 800+) are probably the limits.
or maybe there's only a upper limit, not a lower one. I really don't know, never tested so I can only say wrong things.

 

[sideskroll]

Inside the loader:
if it detects the "widescreen" mode in the console's settings, it's 708*480
if it doesn't detect it, it's 694*480
It used to be lower, I increased the 4:3 width recently to 694 to have less black bars on the sides.

And the "scale" equivalent of those numbers would be? If we were to think that 40 is 640 and 120 is 720. Should I divide the diference to find the equivalents?
WiiU widescreen plays by those numbers as well? Meaning that a 4:3 image by using WiiU widescreen is 694 as well?
Also, a good rule of thumb for knowing how should a 4:3 image look on an HD display is to pop a 4:3 movie on your ppayer and compare.

There are lot of wrongly and misleading settings name in the loader. I would like to make a menu and name updates after 3.1 (hope I'll release 3.1 one day haha)

I wish I could help you with that but all I know in french is oui, mademoiselle and merci
BUT, I can help you with spanish and greek. If you provide me with an english translation obviously.

and why 720 ? maybe it's the max size the console can output, I don't know. I haven't tried other bigger values.
242 to 720 (and not 800+) are probably the limits.

Aha. But Im guessing the 720 limit is hardcoded into Nintendont or ULGX (or both)
So if for instance I enter 240 (double 120) it wouldnt work, right?

 

[Cyan]

if you enter 240, USBLoaderGX will set it to 120.
there's a min and max range, you can't overflow.

And the "scale" equivalent of those numbers would be? If we were to think that 40 is 640 and 120 is 720. Should I divide the diference to find the equivalents?

why divide? 40 is 640, and 120 is 720, then 108 is 708. there's nothing to divide.
If you want 708, where's the difficulty ?
I told you nintendont use 600 + scale.
if you want 708, then you need to set the scale to 108 : 600 + 108 = 708
that's first grade school level.

 

[Miggg]

Since you can't download themes anymore, is there a way to manually install them?

 

[GreyWolf]

Since you can't download themes anymore, is there a way to manually install them?

Just unzip them to the /themes/ folder so their .them file is in that folder along with the theme's content folder.

 

[ngs428]

if you enter 240, USBLoaderGX will set it to 120.
there's a min and max range, you can't overflow.

why divide? 40 is 640, and 120 is 720, then 108 is 708. there's nothing to divide.
If you want 708, where's the difficulty ?
I told you nintendont use 600 + scale.
if you want 708, then you need to set the scale to 108 : 600 + 108 = 708
that's first grade school level.

The USBLoaderGX scale setting + 600 = Nintendont width setting makes sense. Not knowing that, and setting the settings in each separately did give me numbers that satisfy that equation.

If you do rename "scale" please make it "Width".