Most of the TVs and computer screens in the 80s and 90s were 4:3. When you run them today on a 16:9 format monitor, there will be empty space on both sides.
The remaining space on the left and right side of the game can be filled with decorations (bezels).
Retrobat offers 3 types of decorations:
- Decorations
- The Bezel Project
- Mega-Bezels
Standard decorations are the simplest way to fill the left and right space.
They can be enabled from the MAIN MENU (Game Settings > Decorations), from the VIEW OPTIONS (Advanced System Options > Decorations) or from the GAME OPTIONS (Advanced Game Options > Decorations).
The following options are available:
Setting | Remark |
---|---|
AUTO | Reproduces the console or arcade machine decoration. |
NONE | No decoration |
AMBIANCE BROADCAST | |
AMBIANCE GAMEROOM | |
AMBIANCE MONITOR 1084S | |
AMBIANCE NIGHT | |
AMBIANCE VINTAGE TV | |
ARCADE 1980S | |
ARCADE 1980S VERTICAL | |
ARCADE VERTICAL DEFAULT | |
DEFAULT UNGLAZED | |
THEBEZELPROJECT | See The Bezel Project section |
Here is an example of the AUTO setting for Super Nintendo:
The Bezel Project provides personalized bezels per gaming system, and for many of them even personalized bezels per game.
You can download the bezels from the UPDATES & DOWNLOADS menu
Select THE BEZEL PROJECT and choose the system for which you want to download bezels.
Press and confirm installation.
The download starts
Wait until completion of the installation
The downloaded Bezels are stored in the \decorations\thebezelproject\games
folder:
See the Decorations section.
Set the decoration option to THEBEZELPROJECT
Example of decoration from The Bezel Project:
{% hint style="info" %}
To use per game Bezels, the rom file needs to have the exact same name as the bezel in the \decorations\thebezelproject\games
folder.
{% endhint %}
The MegaBezel pack combines both Shaders and Bezels, it adds dynamic reflections on the bezel.
{% hint style="info" %} Mega Bezels can only be used with Libretro cores, it does not work with standalone emulators. {% endhint %}
From the CONTENT DOWNLOADER, select Megabezels
The pack is downloaded in the \emulators\retroarch\shaders
folder
Mega Bezels can be enabled from the MAIN MENU (Game Settings > Shader Set), from the VIEW OPTIONS (Advanced System Options > Shader Set) or from the GAME OPTIONS (Advanced Game Options > Shader Set)
There are multiple options available for each pack.
In addition, set DECORATIONS to NONE and GAME ASPECT RATIO to FULL
{% hint style="info" %} You can leave GAME ASPECT RATIO on "AUTO" if you are using a 4/3 screen. {% endhint %}
Last but not least, Mega Bezels only work with VULKAN video driver, so ensure it is set properly in the Advanced Settings > Drivers menu
Here are some examples of Mega Bezel:
Refer to section "Customize Mega-bezels"