SweetFX....utility that adds CRT shaders to nearly any directX game!

[isamu]

OK it appears I've been completely out of the loop...it wasn't until just now did I happen to discover, Boulotaur, that you actually have your own version of SweetFX. And it was just *completely* by random chance after searching for the term "sweetFX_x64 dlls" on google, that I ran into this post by TCPIP:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4582825&postcount=551

Why isn't this information, as well as a link to your SweetFX, contained in CeeJay's original post Boulotaur? People need to know there is an alternative that allows them to play x64 games and shouldn't have to search hi and low for it. Please can you update us here in this very thread, any time you release your own version of SweetFX, and provide a link accordingly? Would be much appreciated. I would have never known you released your own version if was for just dumb google luck.

[yangfeng]

Do you see any differences on your end between Bloom turned on and turned off? HDR?







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[isamu]

OK after reading some more it appears you DID post a link to the thread containing a link to your own swfx version. My bad. Oh and after doing some more reading it is now apparent that *YOU'RE* the one, Boulotaur, responsible for the ArcadeCRT shader that sweetFX has....WOW That is awesome man! I feel like I'm posting among a rockstar :  I didn't know you're the one that came up with that. Hot damn what a great job dude! Thanks! That shader is basically the SOLE reason I downloaded SweetFX in the first place

Well I just grabbed the version you posted a couple days ago and will give it a shot in MAME. Can't wait to check it out 

Do you see any differences on your end between Bloom turned on and turned off? HDR?

Are you referring to MAME's new Bloom effect? Then yes I do and imho it looks awful. Way overdone and I honestly do not see the appeal to use this effect on 2D games. Bloom is one effect I was never a big fan of except or the very latest PC games like RE6, Tomb Raider, BLOPS2, etc. Maybe Boutolaur will prove me wrong and post some incredible arcade 2D screenshots using bloom who knows.

[Boulotaur2024]

All of the images I posted so far use bloom already. Probably too much in some cases but it *can* be toned down by tuning the settings though, contrary to Mame



Improved the visuals a little, grab the archive here

[isamu]

Boulotaur...a few comments:


1)OutRun 2006 doesn't work with your build. Probably the d3d9.dll causing the issue I'm not sure. But it crashes when using your version of sweetfx. Keep in mind this is a directX 8 game, and I'm using the ENB dx8>dx9 converter so maybe that's the culprit but it works perfect with vanilla sweetfx.

2)Something interesting I'm noticing when running games using downsampling. I am downsampling using my nvidia card profile manager and running an upscaled res of 3200x1800. It works and actually works with SweetFX....However, there is a somewhat distracting "grid-like" screendoor effect when running games at this res and when Sweetfx is activated. Upon returning to my native res at 1920x1080 the screendoor effect disappears. Any idea why this happens?

3)The scanline effect you've implemented in SweerFX is honestly second to none! It's just that damn good! I thought the effect used in MAME's HLSL was the beez knees but the Arcade CRT scanline effect in SFX is the creme-de-la-creme.

However, it's quite interesting how adjusting the way the scanline themselves appear on the screen, is a direct byproduct of which settings under CRT resolution the user has. Unlike HLSL, there is no scanline specific settings like "scanline darkness" "scanline brightness" "scanline height", etc. Is this something that can be added, so that we can adjust the way the scanlines run across the screen without having to modify the CRT resolution? I usually prefer a sort of oval bowl-like appearance for the lines, but I'm constantly having to adjust the resolution X and Y settings to find the perfect look.

I'm also curious as to why the CRT resolution settings affect how prominent the scanlines look when they're at a certain value. Moving the Y slider seems to affect the look of the lines more than the X slider. The Y slider makes the lines much darker when moved in a certain direction, but then they'll get lighter again as you move it towards a higher value. Very interesting.


Not a huge deal but just thought I'd run it by you to see how you feel about it.

Keep up the good work 

[Hunk_4TH]

Wow thanks Boulotaur2024 Those scan lines are truly amazing Btw has anyone gotten SweetFx working with Dosbox or know how to? I have a lot of games in Dos that I would like to use the CRT effect on.

[Boulotaur2024]

1)OutRun 2006 doesn't work with your build.

Sorry but it works for me using the latest d82d9 convertor from here

2)Something interesting I'm noticing when running games using downsampling. I am downsampling using my nvidia card profile manager and running an upscaled res of 3200x1800. It works and actually works with SweetFX....However, there is a somewhat distracting "grid-like" screendoor effect when running games at this res and when Sweetfx is activated. Upon returning to my native res at 1920x1080 the screendoor effect disappears. Any idea why this happens?

Because the cgwg CRT shader is not really meant to be applied on huge resolutions like the one you're using. Use a lower res and apply FXAA/SMAA if you're worried about aliasing (the above screenshot of mine is @2100x1314 and looks good I think). Besides, the CRT shader is better suited to 2D games imho

However, it's quite interesting how adjusting the way the scanline themselves appear on the screen, is a direct byproduct of which settings under CRT resolution the user has. Unlike HLSL, there is no scanline specific settings like "scanline darkness" "scanline brightness" "scanline height", etc. Is this something that can be added, so that we can adjust the way the scanlines run across the screen without having to modify the CRT resolution? I usually prefer a sort of oval bowl-like appearance for the lines, but I'm constantly having to adjust the resolution X and Y settings to find the perfect look.

Again I didn't create the shader, cgwg did (I posted a link to the original shader file last page). You may want to ask him directly if you need some more parameters. (here would be a good place to start a new thread). And no afaik there is no proper way to set scanlines darkness (although raising the CRTBrightness parameter could help a bit with that).

[Hunk_4TH]

I guess it's much more complicated to get this working with Dosbox?

[isamu]

1)OutRun 2006 doesn't work with your build.

Sorry but it works for me using the latest d82d9 convertor from here

2)Something interesting I'm noticing when running games using downsampling. I am downsampling using my nvidia card profile manager and running an upscaled res of 3200x1800. It works and actually works with SweetFX....However, there is a somewhat distracting "grid-like" screendoor effect when running games at this res and when Sweetfx is activated. Upon returning to my native res at 1920x1080 the screendoor effect disappears. Any idea why this happens?

Because the cgwg CRT shader is not really meant to be applied on huge resolutions like the one you're using. Use a lower res and apply FXAA/SMAA if you're worried about aliasing (the above screenshot of mine is @2100x1314 and looks good I think). Besides, the CRT shader is better suited to 2D games imho

However, it's quite interesting how adjusting the way the scanline themselves appear on the screen, is a direct byproduct of which settings under CRT resolution the user has. Unlike HLSL, there is no scanline specific settings like "scanline darkness" "scanline brightness" "scanline height", etc. Is this something that can be added, so that we can adjust the way the scanlines run across the screen without having to modify the CRT resolution? I usually prefer a sort of oval bowl-like appearance for the lines, but I'm constantly having to adjust the resolution X and Y settings to find the perfect look.

Again I didn't create the shader, cgwg did (I posted a link to the original shader file last page). You may want to ask him directly if you need some more parameters. (here would be a good place to start a new thread). And no afaik there is no proper way to set scanlines darkness (although raising the CRTBrightness parameter could help a bit with that).

Thanks for the reply. Ahh I thought it was *you* who created the CRT shader for SWFX. My bad, I will get around to asking cwgw about it in that forum one of these days when I get a chance. I'd also like to point out that HDR doesn't jive so well with the CRT shader. They appear to "overlay" each other and the two effects makes the screen look like it's some sort of nasty psuedo 3D stereo effect or something. What settings can I use to make them gel better?

[Boulotaur2024]

I guess it's much more complicated to get this working with Dosbox?

Sorry for the late reply

Dosbox uses SDL or OpenGL natively so we're screwed (no Direct3D). BUT there is a D3D build maintened by the cafe.daum.net guys. So I tried my best to make SweetFX compatible with this one but couldn't in the end. I still don't know why... It's very weird... But the good news is that you can already use the cgwg CRT shader in their builds, grab it here

[Hunk_4TH]

Sweet thanks dude! Hopefully SweetFx will support Open GL in the future. I'll that build a try

[Gray_Area]

Sweet thanks dude! Hopefully SweetFx will support Open GL in the future. I'll that build a try

Far as I remember, OpenGL's heyday was about ten years ago, but it never got too big anyways. I don't think it's going to make a come-back. SDL of course is live and strong.

[isamu]

I have been trying to find an answer to this but can anyone confirm whether or not RadeonPro allows OpenGL games to work with SweetFX *without* the requirement of an OGL32.dll file? Another person mentioned this *MAY* be possible but hasn't confirmed it yet. I am using an nVidia GTX680 gfx card so I don't have a need for RadeonPro, but if it allows OpenGL emulators to work I'd reinstall it in a heartbeat.

[Howard_Casto]

Sorry, I can't confirm for you on that particular line of card, but it makes sense.  Radeon has always traditionally had really good opengl support to the point of where they often have an option to translate ogl to dx. 

Not sure why people still bother with NVidia to be honest. 

[isamu]

Sorry, I can't confirm for you on that particular line of card, but it makes sense.  Radeon has always traditionally had really good opengl support to the point of where they often have an option to translate ogl to dx.   

Interesting.

[lettuce]

How do i get sweetfx to work with project64 and epsxe emulators?. I have copied all the files from the sweetfx 1.4 zip file to the directory of the emulator and ran the game, but it doesnt seem to be working, as i see no change or scanlines??

[Boulotaur2024]

I guess both use OpenGL so you're screwed

[Hunk_4TH]

It works for PJ64 2.0 for me using the Rice Video plugin. I haven't tried ePSXe yet.

[lettuce]

Got ePSXe to work with SweetFX, just used a dx9 plugin, but im unable to get scanlines to show up, i have the advanced crt display option enabled in the sweetfx_setting.txt file, is there anything else i need to enable or disable?

[xenphor]

Sorry, I can't confirm for you on that particular line of card, but it makes sense.  Radeon has always traditionally had really good opengl support to the point of where they often have an option to translate ogl to dx. 

Not sure why people still bother with NVidia to be honest.

Uh I thought it was the exact opposite? At least in Linux, which relies heavily on Opengl, AMD's drivers suck major balls compared to Nvidias. Not to mention I think Nvidia also has drivers for FreeBSD and Solaris but don't see anything on AMD's site. And wasn't rage (last high profile opengl game) broken day 1 on AMD cards?

[Howard_Casto]

You've to understand, the people that run Linux are usually cheap as hell. Every driver not supplied by the manufacturer has to be written from scratch for Linux.  Traditionally NVidia cards have been much cheaper, thus the better support. 

[axpartam]

I guess it's much more complicated to get this working with Dosbox?

Sorry for the late reply

Dosbox uses SDL or OpenGL natively so we're screwed (no Direct3D). BUT there is a D3D build maintened by the cafe.daum.net guys. So I tried my best to make SweetFX compatible with this one but couldn't in the end. I still don't know why... It's very weird... But the good news is that you can already use the cgwg CRT shader in their builds, grab it here

I'm sorry about reviving an old topic but the information here helped me just recently and I signed up to return the favor. Yes, dosbox daum located at http://ykhwong.x-y.net/ does work with SweetFx but you need to delete d3dx9_43.dll from the archive. I'm not sure about the practical utility of that file but it's deliberately overriding a directx system dll and it prevents sweetfx to read *.fx files possibly because of reasons related to unicode compatibility. Dosbox daum runs fine without it. Also delete the x64 version if you're using the x64 executable.

Here are a couple shots from eye of the beholder ii the legend of darkmoon using sweetfx 1.4, tv2x scaler and crt.d3d.br pixel shader.

[Hunk_4TH]

I actually just saw this and I know you posted this several months ago. Just wanted to thank you for this!!!

[scoodidabop]

Sorry for the resurrection.  Just wanted to add to the thread that's helped me so much.

You can now use ReShade to add SweetFX to OpenGL, DX8, DX9 and DX 10/11.  Works with newer Demul, Sega Model 3, Mednafen and many others!

http://reshade.me/