Making Vector games LOOK BETTER ??*************

[koolmoecraig]

Hello,

I have an arcadeVGA card running a 19" Vertical CGA arcade monitor.

My problem is that every Vector game looks like crap. I know it can't be perfect with a CGA monitor, but I didn't expect this much blur.

Is there anything that I can do to fix this?

Thanks,
Craig

[Sasquatch!]

Have you played around with MAME's "Vector" video settings at all?

[1UP]

Try running at 640x480.  If this doesn't help, try also cranking up the beam width and intensity (easily done in Mame 32)

[Tailgunner]

Personally I wouldn't bother loading the vector roms on a cab with a CGA monitor. The MAME settings can help, but at best they're still going to look like fuzzy crap. I'd rather use a PC monitor if I were limited to only one cab, but then I'm partial to the vector games.

[Gunstar Hero]

Better monitor.

[Minwah]

The MAME settings can help, but at best they're still going to look like fuzzy crap.

Compared to a real vector screen, yes, but I am quite satisfied with the vector games on my standard res. monitor (note I'm not a vector-freak tho).  I was actually surprised how good Tempest looks  

[rchadd]

suggest you try resolution described here (specify it in the game's .ini file)

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=25878

personally i think the display is ok with this

given the maximum max pixel counts with a CGA monitor i didn't ever have high expectations.

and CGA it does have advantage of playing std res raster games just like in the arcade.

closest thing to vector monitor would be to use SVGA monitor - but then you will loose the arcade authenticity (although you can use scanlines).

maybe get best of both with multisync 15Khz/31Khz monitor? not sure if that would work

for ultimate (v expensive) solution:

use vector mame with ZVG card and hope that a vector monitor turns up on ebay (you might have a very long wait!)

http://www.zektor.com/zvg/index.htm

[ericball]

The problem is with a 15KHz CGA monitor you only have a resolution of around 320x240, so vector games are going to look very, very chunky.  Even a 31KHz SVGA monitor is only 640x480, which is barely enough for vector games.  For a good raster approximation of a vector monitor, you really want a high res computer monitor (1024x768 or better).

[Thenasty]

I have mine running at 640x260@60hz in my 15khz Arcade Monitor w/Nvidia Video Card. It look good enough considering you will never get what a true Vector Monitor gives.

[Minwah]

I run mine at 640x480 interlaced - bit flickery on some games but as I say I'm quite happy with it, considering.

[Lilwolf]

Vector games are the only ones that really look better on a SVGA monitor over an arcade monitor.

BUT..

man... when I had my Radeon 9700 on my Elsa monitor and set it to 8x AA, 3d games looked AMAZING!  

I would LOVE to see someone convert mame vector games to use real OpenGL lines... To allow FSAA to make games at low resolution to look sweet.

[JoyMonkey]

I used WG D9100 monitors in a couple of cabs, they're VGA/SVGA/XGA and handle low-res arcade settings perfectly, but can also do 1280x1024. So you can have your lovely arcade raster graphics with the traditional arcade monitor feel and some high-res modes for vector games. Nothing is going to emulate a real vector monitor, but this is the closest I've found.  

(you can pick up an 18/19" refurbished one from WG for about $200 - they're $350 new)

[whammoed]

I used WG D9100 monitors in a couple of cabs, they're VGA/SVGA/XGA and handle low-res arcade settings perfectly

I didn't think the d9100 could do 15Khz CGA resolutions?

[JoyMonkey]

I used WG D9100 monitors in a couple of cabs, they're VGA/SVGA/XGA and handle low-res arcade settings perfectly

I didn't think the d9100 could do 15Khz CGA resolutions?

It's been a couple of years since I set it up, but I'm sure that I had AdvanceMame configured on the monitors for 320x200, 320x240 etc. and displaying perfectly. I'm pretty sure there was no stretching, I'll have to take a look at the backup of the config files.

[koolmoecraig]

Hello again,

I turned all of the core mame vector settings to 0, and then I made a 640x480 config file for Tempest, and it looks pretty damn good. I would rate it an 8 out of 10.

Thanks for the help!