TheNamec Retrogaming Packs - Retroarch Mega Bezel and FS-UAE themes

[TheNamec]

This thread is about my collections of original overlays and ready-to-go CRT presets for RetroArch and FS-UAE emulators.

I'm an italian graphic artist and these projects are my love letter to Commodore devices and Amiga in particular, as it was my first real gaming platform as a teenager.

I'll be updating this thread with future updates and releases.







THENAMEC MEGA BEZEL COMMODORE PACK
Mega Bezel Commodore Pack is powered by HyperspaceMadness Mega Bezel Reflection Shader and focuses on famous Commodore hardware, including Commodore Amiga, Commodore64, Commodore Vic-20, Commodore16 and Commodore Monitors.



Mega Bezel Commodore Pack RC 3 (April 16th, 2022)
Download on the Official DevBlog


THENAMEC FS-UAE THEMES
FS-UAE themes relies on Frode Solheim emulator unique features to achive dynamic overlays with real-time animated led for drive activity, media presence, power and audio connection and more. At the moment this includes an original design for a futuristic A1200 inspired by a retrosynth design.



FS-UAE Amiga Themes v1.0 (January 7th, 2021)
Download on the Official DevBlog

Devblog & download | Libretro thread | Mega Bezel Commodore Pack Github Repo | FS-UAE Amiga Themes Github Repo
Facebook Page | YouTube Channel | E-mail

[fxgogo]

Looks very interesting. Will give them a try this weekend. Thanks

[mkrleza]

Very nice. Thank you so much!

[TheNamec]

Heya pixel lovers! I dropped some EASTER EGGS and dutiful hotfixes. Without further esitations, let me introduce…

Mega Bezel Commodore Pack RC3 (April 16th, 2022)
Download link
New release for public testing, adding lots of blocky memories with Commodore64 and VIC20 packs. HAPPY EASTER BONUS: Amiga 1000 ambient preset and c264-series Commodore16.



Content:

• Added COMMODORE 64 Silver label presets and original assets, the first model
• Added COMMODORE 64 Breadbin presets and original assets, the real classic
• Added COMMODORE 64 ALDI presets and original assets, cheap consumer edition
• Added COMMODORE 64 DreanComm presets and original assets, with extra argentine flavor
• Added COMMODORE 64 G Series presets and original assets, with additional german taste
• Added VIC20 Gold label presets and original assets, first revision collector edition
• Added VIC20 Mark2 presets and original assets, the most widespread model
• Added VIC20 Mark3 presets and original assets, rainbow logo edition for Europe, Canada and Australia
• Added VIC-1001 presets and original assets, first Japan-only edition
• BONUS: Added AMIGA 1000 presets and original assets with a new experimental ‘ambient design’
• BONUS: Added Commodore 16 presets and original assets, from c264-series

Features:

• Added CURVED bezel presets to each display
• Added FLAT bezel presets to each display
• Added NORMAL SCALING presets, full display chassis visible
• Added INTEGER SCALING preset, automatic display zoom for cleanest pixels and less artifacts

Enhancements:

• Revamped MEGA BEZELS presets for much nicer depth, realistic lightning and customized decals
• Revamped DISPLAY presets for much nicer depth and better reflections
• Refactored DISPLAY preset names for a clear separation of presets variations
• Refactored FOLDER STRUCTURE for incoming future features :wink:
• Updated BEZELTRON CRT-SERIES presets and assets in favor of real-life brands
• Updated LO-FI MONOCHROME presets with tube texture to mimic phosphor surface
• Updated LICENSE and WATERMARKS to Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 because of bad guys stealing my assets without permission

Fixes:

• Updated MEGA BEZEL REFLECTION SHADER presets parameters to latest public MBR shader version
• Updated AMIGA CD32 led assets for proper YELLOW cd-drive indicator
• Updated MONITOR C1702 PRESETS NAMES typo C1072 -> C1702
• Updated MONOCHROME PRESETS with better brightness, wider contrast and a subtle ‘matheric’ texture
• Removed PERFORMANCE PRESETS as they are no longer needed (thanks to graphics caching)

Just 4k for now, the 1080p edition will follow soon.

What’s cool about latest Release Candidate?

Oh, lots of much anticipated Commodore goodies. Commodore 64 being one of the most requested features, I had to go deep in researches and build many regional and historical variants beyond the classic BREADBIN model.

The same process went on for Datassette and VIC20, and the little Commodore16 from the x264 series. The share a pretty similiar chassis, speeding up the design process. But hey, this required lots of logos to be customized!

I highly doubt anybody will ever emulate a VIC20 game in Retroarch, but that was a pretty interesting journey in memory preservation… and Commodore 16 being slick black is simply TOO COOL.

I also added some features to enhance visuals: a more CRT-like color correction from my incoming custom shaders, NTSC variants from almighty guest.r, flat/curved variants for displays and integer scaling to reduce bad artifacts. Levels of zoom, being ‘near’ and ‘normal’, will let you decide how far from the simulated screen will your face be.

[gizmomelb]

following.. thank you.

[nivam]

Thank you!

[TheNamec]

Here’s the blasting Amiga artwork Scarecrow by Made mangled thru Mega Bezel Reflection Shader.

Would you believe it’s just 64 colours?



The level of detail is astonishing and brings some evidence that these artworks were not meant to shine on razor sharp pixels, but rather on smoothed, subtly glowing phosphors.

I was so impressed by the CRT - A2080 - HiRes SmartRes Shader from guest.r included in WinUAE pack by Rincewind… I had to build my personal take leveraging on extra candies from Mega Bezel and Guest Advanced.

[Jimmy's Miggy's]

wow incredible work.

[TheNamec]

Heya brothers in pixels! Following experimentations with CRT shaders, I decided to release an intermediate RC to include a separate chain for slot-mask and aperture-grille.

This includes heavy modified versions of some really nice pixel shaders from the Libretro community:
- Guest.R 1 & Rincewind for CRT-A2080-HiResSmartResShader
- Cyber for CyberLab Death-to-Pixels

Commodore displays are set to Slot-Mask. Procedural bezels make use of Aperture-grille.

Note: screenshots are really high quality, save or open these in a new tab to see the Commodoresque CRT masking detail!







Here we go with the changelog:

Mega Bezel Commodore Pack RC3.1 (May 1st, 2022)


Download link

New release for public testing, added a new pixel shader chain to customize displays CRT visuals. BONUS: squashed some minor visual bug.

Software requirements:
- RetroArch v1.9.8 with aspect ratio set to ‘full’
- HSM_Bezel_Reflection_V_0.9.106_2022-03-24_Rev_1

Features:
- Added CRT-TECH CHAIN to get pixel shaders customization according to actual IRL display technology

Enhancements:
- Added CRT-TECH SLOT-MASK COMMODORE for Commodore displays visuals (based off CRT-A2080-HiResSmartResShader by @Guest.R & @Rincewind)
- Added CRT-TECH APERTURE-GRILLE SHARP for procedural bezels visuals (based off Death-to-Pixels by @Cyber)

Fixes:
- Fixed SCALE PRESETS for better visual coherence across curved, flat and integer (tnx @Ruysan)
- Fixed SCENE PRESETS to fix tube reflections texture (tnx @HyperSpaceMadness)
- Fixed GITHUB REPO STRUCTURE to ease out the updating process for advanced users (tnx @HyperSpaceMadness)