Graphics settings

[Tommy714]

When I run a game through Attract Mode, the images are fuzzy.  It's most noticeable on wire frame type games like Tail Gunner.  When I run it through a GUI interface called Arcade 64, it looks perfect.

What setting, and where do I need to change?

[KenToad]

Frontends often have their own settings that override the emulator's settings. This can be especially annoying if using pre-configured frontends, such as those all-in-one packs, because it's very likely that whoever initially configured it didn't know what they were doing. Look in the frontend config files or try starting fresh.

[Tommy714]

Ok, with a little more digging, when I run MAME.exe, and go through the non-gui menu to select and run Tailgunner, I get the same fuzzy result. 

It appears my setup issue is with MAME.exe rather than the front end.  I've played around with the video options, but to no avail.  Am I missing something?

[KenToad]

Try a fresh copy of Mame. It's probably related to vector settings or hlsl, but I'm not expert in filters as I don't use them.

[Tommy714]

I re-installed MAME .251, and no luck.  When I go into the settings in the GUI (Arcade64), I can adjust the Vector Settings.  I adjusted the sliders as shown, and it's perfect.  How do I adjust these in MAME without the GUI?

[KenToad]

Looks like the same vector settings from mame.ini, so it might work to just change those values by using a text editor. I'm not sure if you also need HLSL on or off to make the vector settings active, though.

[Tommy714]

The settings are already set to 1 in the MAME.ini file (see images).  I also attached the Direct 3D portion of the MAME.ini file with the HLSL settings in them.

[Tommy714]

The plot thickens.  The MAME start screen looks different depending on how I launch the game.  The white one is from the GUI, and the blue one was launched from Attract Mode.

[KenToad]

Try turning HLSL off in the mame ini.

[Tommy714]

Narrowing it down now.  I can go into the "Slider Controls" in the settings menu (tab) once in the game itself, and adjust the "Beam Width Maximum" from 4 to 1, and it's fixed. 

Now the new problem, it doesn't save the adjustments.  I have to re-adjust it every time I launch from Attract Mode.

[Tommy714]

Not surprising, the fix came from the first post.  I searched for mame.ini from my mame root directory, and found one in the MAME folder with the mame.exe, and one in a folder for the GUI (Arcade 64).

I copied the mame.ini from the GUI folder (that's the one that was working properly) to the mame.exe folder, and PRESTO! 

Problem solved

Thanks guys!