MAME - Vertical Bezel on Horizontal Monitor

[UFO]

Hi All,

I don't know if this has been asked - heck, I don't even know where to post it!

I was playing MAME on my laptop and wondered about the possibility of adding a graphic bezel (dependant on game) on either side of the blank screen on vertical games.

I have no idea if this is either possible or anything, but I feel it would at least look a little better when playing vertical games on my cab on a horizontal monitor.

And no, and rotating monitor is not an option for me! :-)

Thanks all - just throwing it out there!!

[PL1]

This might be what you're looking for.   


Scott

EDIT: Updated URL, old one no longer available.

[UFO]

That is FANTASTIC! 

I was expecting a torrent of laughter - seems like whatever you think hasn't / can't be done, has been!

Thanks PL1...

 

[UFO]

Ok... excitement downgraded a notch(!)

Not too sure what to do with the .lay files - is there an option in MAME?

Thanks guys...

[UFO]

Ok, I think it may have something to do with the 'hide / show' bezel option in the game menu, but I'm not sure how it picks the artwork up...

[PL1]

Put the .lay files in the artwork folder.

The .lay files include the views for artwork from Mr Do. But you will have to download all the artwork itself from his website if you wish to use it. Otherwise, if you choose those views in mame, you will get a funny looking screen.

You may also need to pull up the video options menu in MAME and select the appropriate display option like you mentioned in your last post.


Scott

Edit: Step-by-step directions on what goes where in later post here.

[UFO]

Thanks Scott... I did read that bit and have been going through the folders...

Looks like it will be fantastic!!

Thanks again...

[IG-88]

Ok PL1. Help a dense old-timer out. How does one get these bezels to show up in Mame? Do I need all of your artwork and the .lay files from Mr. Do in the artwork folder? Not getting this for some reason...

[PL1]

Ok PL1. Help a dense old-timer out. How does one get these bezels to show up in Mame? Do I need all of your artwork and the .lay files from Mr. Do in the artwork folder? Not getting this for some reason...

Not my artwork, just had the link handy.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to here, scroll down to the top of the table and click on the "WS" link in the middle of the first row.

2. Scroll down through the table and download the .ZIP files (contains 16:9 PNG, 16:10 PNG, and layout file) for the desired games from the mirror links in the right column.

Create a MAME\artwork\WS temporary folder to save the .ZIP file(s) so you don't accidently overwrite them when you do step 3. (same filenames, different content)

3. Download the In-Game Artwork .zip files for any desired games from the links in the far right column here.

Save the .zip file(s) in your MAME\artwork folder.

4. Open the .zip file(s) you downloaded into the artwork\WS folder during step 2.

5. Drag and drop the .LAY and .PNG files onto the corresponding .ZIP file(s) you downloaded in step 3 -- i.e. drag arkanoid.lay, arkan169.png, and arkan1610.png from the artwork\WS\arkanoid.zip to the artwork\arkanoid.zip icon and drop it.

This overwrites the old .lay file with the new WS .lay file and adds the WS .PNGs -- the new files still have the old Mr. Do options if you want to revert back to them.

6. Launch the game, go to the "Video Options" Menu, and select the desired view from the list at the top of the menu.   


Scott

EDIT: Updated URLs and corrected the procedure.

[DeLuSioNal29]

If you want a generic MAME bezel on ALL vertical games you can try this great hack.  The only downside is it only works with MAME 0.139 or lower.  You also need to recompile your MAME.exe to support it.  I did it on my MAME .119 and it worked great.

http://mrdo.mameworld.info/mame_artwork_generic.php

DeLuSioNaL29

[DickTurpin]

So. Were filling the black borders with these images and because they are transparent we get our actual game screen in the middle. Nice.

Would this be possible: To somehow extend your current bezel into the screen using this technique ?

Not exactly sure how to do it but I bet it would be cool.

[Jumpman64]

I want to say someone has done this but I can't remember who or which cab...

[DickTurpin]

I think it would be cool jump man. Do you know Manic Miner?
If not you should check it out. I think it would be a game you would like.

[PL1]

Bad news.

Went to download some more files from the widescreen layouts page and the page, files, and folder are all 404.      

Did anyone save copies of the .LAY and .PNG files to their local drive? 

I'm tinkering with turning those on their side to make layout templates for a vertical 16:9 or 16:10 widescreen with the largest possible 4:3 display window either horizontal or vertical (as required) and adding a higher resolution marquee to the layout file so that you don't need to use MAME hooker.

Crude proof of concept draft .PNG and manually modified .LAY file (delete the ".txt" from the filename) attached -- but both still need a lot of tweaking before they will work right.

NOTE: If you use the attached .LAY file, you may need to set the video options to turn the screen 90 degrees so the game is oriented properly within the bezel.


Scott

EDIT:  Managed to recover the .LAY files (lay.zip) and the 16:9 A-F .PNG files (a-f-16-9.zip) from cache.

Still looking for the rest of the 16:9's and all of the 16:10's.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can assist on this one.

[PL1]

Bump for anyone who downloaded the files from this site and can share them.


Scott

[PL1]

Thanks to UFO who sent the "g-q-16-10" and "specials" from the bottom of the page.   

When I went to Mr. Do's page to look for some other artwork, I found that all the widescreen artwork, specials, and .LAY files had been uploaded to the "Other Artwork" page.

There's even a "WS" link at the top of the table that will sort and display only the titles with widescreen layouts available.

NOTE: This isn't the "In-Game Artwork" page where all the other layout/art files are located.

Once again Mr. Do's comes through.               

Updated the step-by-step procedure here to reflect the new URL and file organization.


Scott

[UFO]

Good news Scott...

I did plan to come back to this when I start on my software.

Thanks for the update... 

[PL1]

Just found out that Lord Hiryu and Tapule have released MamelayPlus for MAME 0.149.            

I'm still working my way through the site (bring your Spanish-English dictionary ) but here's what I've found so far on the downloads page:

- High resolution marquee packs (1024 px wide instead of 500 px) containing ~1250 marquees
- Standard cabinet packs (upright cabinets) with marquee and bezel for vertical widescreens
- Japanese table packs (cocktail tables) with instruction cards and bezel for horizontal widescreens
- 32 and 64 bit executables.

Photos are scaled down 50% to give you a taste of how great these are.


Scott

[UFO]

WOW!

They are FANTASTIC - great quality and totally unique.

Nice find Scott!

 

[PL1]

Got MameLayPlus up and running.

If I understand correctly, in addition to the prefab layouts, there are also preset layout options for you to create your own custom horizontal and vertical settings using templates they provide.

Several screenshots attached.


Scott

[UFO]

Just finished downloading (in case they disappear!).

They look fantastic in game - can't wait to give them a spin!

[blashyrk]

Just finished downloading (in case they disappear!).

They look fantastic in game - can't wait to give them a spin!

Bah, they are down already. Any chance you could upload the HQ marquees to the ftp server ?

[UFO]

Just finished downloading (in case they disappear!).

They look fantastic in game - can't wait to give them a spin!

Bah, they are down already. Any chance you could upload the HQ marquees to the ftp server ?

I would, but I have no idea of the details... I can upload them to mine though...?

Would this be prudent though? I mean without permission?

[PL1]

Just finished downloading (in case they disappear!).

They look fantastic in game - can't wait to give them a spin!

Bah, they are down already. Any chance you could upload the HQ marquees to the ftp server ?

The server is just 509 -- temp suspended due to too much traffic.

Just try again a bit later.


Scott

[UFO]

Just finished downloading (in case they disappear!).

They look fantastic in game - can't wait to give them a spin!

Bah, they are down already. Any chance you could upload the HQ marquees to the ftp server ?

Just try again a bit later.


Scott

Probably a better option...