Metalzoic's MAME .169 HLSL settings of DOOM!

[Metalzoic]

UPDATED: 1/18/16
1.Overhauled. Fixed black levels/color. Updated pics to show new version.
2. Bit more fine tuning.
 
These settings were built by comparing my HyperSpin cabinet directly, side-by-side, with my real arcade machines. For direct comparison I used my Mario Bros machine and my Neo-Geo running Samurai Shodown 5 Special, Nightmare in the dark, Metal Slug and Twinkle Star Sprites. I tried to match these settings to look close to the real machines, but with a bit more ideal color and sharpness.

These were set with Contrast, Brightness & Gamma at 1.00. However games vary a lot so I tried to set it saturated and bright enough that it displays darker games well, and brighter games can be adjusted by lowering the brightness, contrast and/or gamma. Still tinkering to find the best middle ground.
Hopefully some of you find they work on your setup.
 
Gigapig mentions this below, but make sure you're using the latest Artwork & HLSL folders (If you've updated MAME, but not the folders this won't display correctly). This uses the slot-mask.png mask.
 
  
  
 
 
HLSL

#
# DIRECT3D POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
hlsl_enable               1
hlslpath                  hlsl
hlsl_prescale_x           6
hlsl_prescale_y           6
hlsl_write                1
hlsl_snap_width           2048
hlsl_snap_height          1536
shadow_mask_tile_mode     0
shadow_mask_alpha         0.14
shadow_mask_texture       slot-mask.png
shadow_mask_x_count       6
shadow_mask_y_count       4
shadow_mask_usize         0.1875
shadow_mask_vsize         0.1875
shadow_mask_uoffset       0.0
shadow_mask_voffset       0.0
curvature                 0.10
round_corner              0.10
smooth_border             0.03
reflection                0.05
vignetting                0.20
scanline_alpha            0.92
scanline_size             1.00
scanline_height           0.95
scanline_bright_scale     1.20
scanline_bright_offset    0.55
scanline_jitter           0.05
defocus                   0.50,0.0
converge_x                0.2,0.0,-0.1
converge_y                0.0,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_x         0.2,0.0,-0.2
radial_converge_y         0.0,0.0,0.0
red_ratio                 0.80,0.10,0.10
grn_ratio                 0.10,0.80,0.10
blu_ratio                 0.10,0.10,0.80
saturation                1.40
offset                    -0.03,-0.01,0.03
scale                     0.97,0.99,1.0
power                     1.30,1.35,1.30
floor                     0.00,0.00,0.00
phosphor_life             0.45,0.35,0.40

BLOOM

#
# BLOOM POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
bloom_blend_mode          0
bloom_scale               0.175
bloom_overdrive           1.0,1.0,1.0
bloom_lvl0_weight         1.0
bloom_lvl1_weight         0.21
bloom_lvl2_weight         0.19
bloom_lvl3_weight         0.17
bloom_lvl4_weight         0.15
bloom_lvl5_weight         0.14
bloom_lvl6_weight         0.13
bloom_lvl7_weight         0.12
bloom_lvl8_weight         0.11
bloom_lvl9_weight         0.10
bloom_lvl10_weight        0.09

[EvilDindon]

Thanks for sharing, will try this !

 

Do you find HLSL better than GLSL, now (with mame 0.169) ?

[Metalzoic]

Thanks for sharing, will try this !

 

Do you find HLSL better than GLSL, now (with mame 0.169) ?

 

HLSL has always had the edge over GLSL in my opinion. We've been able to tweak and really fine tune HLSL to get it close to the look of a real CRT monitor and the past several versions of MAME have made big improvements.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong and the GLSL files themselves can be edited? I'll play with it when I get a chance.

 

However GLSL is also less taxing on a system and I've had a few people tell me my HLSL settings can bog their system down.

Hope you like them, let me know.

[AlexDC22]

Looks good... but hard to tell the difference with no side by side comparison.

I currently use retropigs glsl settings and am satisfied xD

Could you compare the two and put a split image using yours and pigs?

One side yours and one his?

It be interesting xD

[gigapig]

 

However GLSL is also less taxing on a system and I've had a few people tell me my HLSL settings can bog their system down.

Hope you like them, let me know.

 

I can certainly confirm that. I'm using a temporary nVidia 9800gt until my GPU is sorted. I tried your new HLSL settings this morning and it was a slide show and the gpu fan span up. Switched back to my GLSL ini files and all was fine again.

I'm surprised it's such a hog.

[Metalzoic]

I can certainly confirm that. I'm using a temporary nVidia 9800gt until my GPU is sorted. I tried your new HLSL settings this morning and it was a slide show and the gpu fan span up. Switched back to my GLSL ini files and all was fine again.

I'm surprised it's such a hog.

 

Yeah, I run a pretty potent machine that can play any modern PC game maxed at a high frame rate so it doesn't even notice it, but it definitely requires some processing power to run. 

By the way I wasn't talking bad about your GLSL settings, they are great. Just what I see as the differences between HLSL & GLSL.

[andyco40]

works brill on mine matalzoic no lag but i do have a high end pc running in my arcade cab like you have.

[Metalzoic]

Looks good... but hard to tell the difference with no side by side comparison.

I currently use retropigs glsl settings and am satisfied xD

Could you compare the two and put a split image using yours and pigs?

One side yours and one his?

It be interesting xD

 

Maybe later. Right now I'm already late for the office. Ha!

[gigapig]

Here is a side by side on my machine from the settings in the OP. Looks quite different to the screen shots that Metal posted.

 

HLSL left. GLSL right.

 

[andyco40]

GLSL looks dull eye strain mate.

[AshuraX]

hlsl is blurry and shiny!

[gigapig]

Hang about. I thought the difference was to great and there must be something a miss. So I grabbed the latest hlsl folder from the Mameuifx site and this is the new result.

 

These look closer to the OP screen shots.

 

HLSL Left.      GLSL Right.

 

 

Looks to me that HLSL loses some detail and has weird fringing around the Moon. GLSL seems slightly darker but not as washed out.

 

EDIT:The fringing is only on the left side of the moon anyway, so ignore the above.

[andyco40]

they both look ok to me unless my eyes are going lol.

[gigapig]

Here's another. I usually test Alex Kidd as it's quite a bright game to start with instead of games with black backgrounds.

 

[AlexDC22]

ahh fuck that lol i dont see it being better at all... the details and colors are way better on the glsl

no offence to anyone... everyone gots theyr favorite, ill stick with glsl for now

[Styphelus]

Thanks for the comparison screen Gigapig but it seems to me that you could tweek your HLSL setting to look a bit better. Your GLSL settings have really dark scanlines. I don't remember having a TV with scanlines that dark.

 

Maybe it's juts me but my HLSL setup looks quite good to me. I tried GLSL and to be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference between the 2.

 

Just a question, in newer games with higher res, the scanlines look terrible. Do you have good settings for those?

[griffin518]

The biggest issue with HLSL, IMHO, is the scaling when using bezels. Especially for vertical games. When scaled, they look awful since the filter art doesn't scale... it's really annoying.

[Metalzoic]

The biggest issue with HLSL, IMHO, is the scaling when using bezels. Especially for vertical games. When scaled, they look awful since the filter art doesn't scale... it's really annoying.

 

I remember someone saying this before, but I run bezels and haven't noticed any issues with vertical games at all.

Isn't that what the Screen/Source shadowmask option is for. Keep it on screen and it re-orients/scales to match horizontal or vertical.

 

 

 

Or maybe this from the 169 changelog which is fixed from 168 (last I was running was 167, so if that was a 168 glitch I never experienced it.)

 

 

defocus is now independent from screen size and ratio horizontal and

vertical defocus now have the same strength replaced asymmetric

defocus kernel by a symmetric kernel defocus is now limited to a

maximum of 10 added shader uniforms for orientation and rotation

settings Fixed HLSL for LCD screen

[Metalzoic]

OK here's a new one.

 

The one above very closely mimics a real arcade machine that has been sitting in an arcade, powered on for years with thousands of plays on it.

This new one is more of an ideal fresh-off-the-assembly-line build. Still very true to the real machines I use, but tightened up with less bleed and a bit sharper convergence. Slightly less wash and color corrected so there's less fade across red.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

 

Gigapig mentioned this above, but make sure you're using the latest Artwork & HLSL folders (If you've updated MAME, but not the folders this won't display correctly). This uses the slot-mask.png mask.

 

EDIT: Made some minor color corrections. EDIT AGAIN: Few more fine tunes.

EDIT FINAL: Settings redone to fix color issues. Updated in the first post.

[gigapig]

Very nice Mr Zoic, thank you.

[bulbousbeard]

I think it's nice that Metalzoic is trying to help others, but I completely disagree with him on what looks like a real arcade monitor and HLSL versus GLSL.

 

Whenever I see someone post some HLSL settings that supposedly look like a real arcade monitor, I get excited, plug them in, fire up MAME, and see that it looks like burnt ass.

 

I have NEVER seen any HLSL settings that have looked remotely as good as GLSL looks with the Timothy Lottes shader. Never.

 

The shots Metalzoic posted are washed out, the colors don't pop, they're not as sharp as a real arcade monitor (HLSL's defocus setting is complete crap and is basically worthless as far as approximating a CRT). I've never seen HLSL screenshots that weren't either too sharp or too soft.

 

To top it off, Metalzoic's shots don't even have even scanlines (you can see uneven scanline artifacts all over the place). The thing about HLSL is that you're basically not going to get even scanlines unless you run at incredibly high resolutions (2880x2160+). The Lottes shader is FAR more generous when it comes to lower resolutions. You can squeak by with 1920x1440. 1080p basically isn't enough resolution for any decent shader period...

 

The only shader I've seen that looks arguably better than the Lottes shader with GLSL is CRT Royale in Retroarch.

If you want, I can post some screenshots of the Lottes shader and the same scene with Metalzoic's settings. Lottes completely smokes it.

[Metalzoic]

I think it's nice that Metalzoic is trying to help others, but I completely disagree with him on what looks like a real arcade monitor and HLSL versus GLSL.

 

Whenever I see someone post some HLSL settings that supposedly look like a real arcade monitor, I get excited, plug them in, fire up MAME, and see that it looks like burnt ass.

 

I have NEVER seen any HLSL settings that have looked remotely as good as GLSL looks with the Timothy Lottes shader. Never.

 

The shots Metalzoic posted are washed out, the colors don't pop, they're not as sharp as a real arcade monitor (HLSL's defocus setting is complete crap and is basically worthless as far as approximating a CRT). I've never seen HLSL screenshots that weren't either too sharp or too soft.

 

To top it off, Metalzoic's shots don't even have even scanlines (you can see uneven scanline artifacts all over the place). The thing about HLSL is that you're basically not going to get even scanlines unless you run at incredibly high resolutions (2880x2160+). The Lottes shader is FAR more generous when it comes to lower resolutions. You can squeak by with 1920x1440. 1080p basically isn't enough resolution for any decent shader period...

It's cool if you don't like my settings and prefer the look of GLSL, but if you think these settings look like burnt ass then the problem is with your other settings because they don't.

You also can't truly judge anyone's HLSL or GLSL settings just from screenshots and it kind of sounds like you didn't actually try them.

Like I said, I'm not going from memory or feel. You may disagree what looks like a real monitor, but these settings were made by literally comparing them side-by-side with real arcade machines running the same games on real monitors. I'm certainly not claiming they're perfect or the best, but they are getting really damn close to authentic. The scanlines are pretty close to correct thickness and darkness (they aren't actually as thick and dark as people tend to remember). Also If you did try these and colors were washed out then that would probably have more to do with your contrast/gamma/brightness etc... I do have the Saturation pretty high so people will need to adjust that to suit. I am still fine tuning color though (in fact I just added a micro more blue DC into the mix and a couple other small tweaks).

Lottes CRT shader (if that's the one you're talking about) is pretty good, but it certainly isn't closer to looking like the real thing. In fact Lottes isn't even the most "real" looking GLSL shader, Geom Bloom comes much closer to the look of an actual arcade machine. If someone prefers the look of GLSL that's the one I'd recommend they use (of the ones built in). I've never seen the Royale one you mentioned though so I can't say about that one.

I definitely agree that these shaders aren't perfect (HLSL or GLSL). I also agree things look either to soft or to sharp. Defocus isn't nearly gradual enough so you need to adjust focus with color offset, convergence and bloom which certainly makes it look more like a true monitor, but people don't like the smeariness of it. So these newer settings err on the side of sharpness.

[bulbousbeard]

I absolutely did try your settings, and I have a CRT monitor to compare against here as well, and the Timothy Lottes shader with GLSL is objectively more authentic.

 

The main red flag with your settings is that every color is completely wrong, and blacks aren't black. Blacks with those settings actually look like they're dark green. It isn't right.

 

Take a 16:9 screenshot of Street Fighter 2's boot screen with no widescreen artwork to cover up the pillarboxed area. I bet that the background won't be the same color as the black pillarboxed area.

 

Your settings can't be authentic if they can't even display the color black correctly, right?

 

I know I didn't use your brightness, gamma, and contrast settings here, but I tried it with and without your settings, and it doesn't fix any of the issues raised in the following video.

 

Blacks should _not_ look like that. It's completely wrong. That combined with the uneven scanlines just kills the effect completely.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUIQ0rSbjYg

[damageinc86]

I have never messed around with any of this stuff to try to make and lcd look like an arcade monitor, I can easily see on that video the uneven scanlines and patches of scanlines.  But in the comparison that was supposed to be good where he goes "woah the blacks are actually blacks", and then goes on to say the scanlines are even,...I still saw a block of no scanlines in between the scanlines at what looked like regular intervals, so it was patchy too.  I would only say it was better, but not really as wonderful and amazing as the commentator made it sound.

[gigapig]

All in the eye of the beholder. I converted to GLSL as soon as it hit Mameuifx 0.160, to me it looks good whether it's accurate or not. 

I also used to have bloom and beam flicker on vector games until I played an Asteroids cab. Went straight home and turn all that crap off so now it's bright, it pops and is quite close to the cab.

 

If you want black to be black with HLSL the "Floor" settings need to be "0"