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Wrong PAL aspect ratio - temporary work around

harlekin

New member
I've already filed a ticket in the bug tracker regarding this issue - but until the devs get to it, here also is a temporary work around.

The problem is basically this:

dcemu1.png

dcemu3.png


Demul outputs PAL games like seen on the left - in all situations but one - when youve set output to window (not full screen), window resolution to 720*576 and aspect ratio to stretch. Then you get the output you can see on the right.

But how do we get this in a full screen setup? Introducing two little programs called

- WindowedBorderlessGaming (to remove our window boarders and do the stretching and centering part)
- Irfanview (to get a black "background")
-


1. Set up Demul to output to a 720*576 window and aspect ratio to stretch.

2. Download WindowedBorderlessGaming from here ( h**p://steamcommunity.com/groups/WindowedBorderlessGaming/discussions ) and let it run one time, then exit it (from the trey) - just to let the program create its config.ini file.

3. Replace the content of said config.ini file with the following (Preset created for a 1920*1080p screen):
Code:
[Global_Config]
AutoSetResolution=never
DefaultDeskTopWidth=1920
DefaultDeskTopHeight=1080
AutoSetOffset=never
DefaultPosX=0
DefaultPosY=0
KeyBind1_AddWindow=72
KeyBind1_ForceBorderless=73
KeyBind2_ForceBorderless=73
ForceKeyCheckTitle=always
ForceTriggerCheckTitle=always
AddWindow_Confirmation=never
[Title:Demul;Class:window]
Process=demul.exe
Style=382337024
Process=
PosX=285
Width=1350
Height=1080
[Title:gpuDX11hw]
Style=
Process=
PosX=285
Width=1350
Height=1080

//-- if this doesnt work for you - follow the instructions here ( h**p://steamcommunity.com/groups/WindowedBorderlessGaming/discussions/0/846966336006883352/ ) to set up your emulator window yourself. There is a slight problem with WindowedBorderlessGaming using F3 to map the Game Window and Demul using F3 in its mappings also, but you will eventually get lucky spamming the F3 key and WindowedBorderlessGaming will bind the Demul window.

4. To get a black background, download, and install the Irfanview ( h**p://www.irfanview.com/ ) Image viewer. Go to settings, full screen, disable the checkbox "show text", click Ok. Open any picture in Irfanview that is smaller than your stretched Demul Window, double click on it to trigger fullscreen.
---

Here is the process after setup:

1. Auto hide the windows task bar
2. launch WindowedBorderlessGaming
3. launch Demul (notice that its border will get stripped and the window will get stretched).
4. (if the Demul taskbar doesnt show, press F3) Start the Game in Demul
5. Wait until the game is on its Start screen.
6. Press F3 to hide Demuls Task bar
7. right click on the WindowedBorderlessGaming Tray Icon (in the windows task bar) and select "Open Game Settings", then hit "Apply", then close the options window.
8. Load your small image of choice in Irfanview.
9. Doubleclick on it to make it go full screen
10. alt+tab over to your main Demul Game Window.

(Irfanview fullscreen might make the windows task bar choose not to reappear, so remember to exit Irfanviews full screen mode with ESC when you are done.)

hf

h.
 
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OP
H

harlekin

New member
WindowedBorderlessGaming is actually quite helpful in dissecting the problem at hand, because it lets you choose aspect ratio and offset via direct pixel calculations.

Although PAL and NTSC were displayed as 4:3 (=1,33), native Pal resolution was 720*576 which amounts to 5:4 (=1,25), which then got stretched to 4:3 on normal PAL TVs.

Jet strangely, characters in Shenmue seem to look squished, when 1,33 (4:3) aspect ratio is applied. When you switch to 1,25 via the method described above - it is noticeable that the "world around you" - seems "vertically stretched", at least judging from overlay graphics in game (tomato market logo f.e.).

If I find the time, I might look into it a bit further (dart machines in the arcade are modeled (not graphics) and the board is supposed to be perfectly round > screencapture and pixel counting :) ).
-

Regardless - WindowedBorderlessGaming allows you to set any aspect ratio you want - preferably with "windowed, 720*576, stretched" as output base for PAL DC games.

Here is the aspect ratio table for 1.25 (5:4) - 1.33 (4:3) on a 1080p display:

AR, stretch resolution, x-offset (to center the resulting image)

1.25, 1350x1080, 285 - 5:4
1.26, 1360x1080, 280
1.27, 1372x1080, 274
1.28, 1382x1080, 269
1.29, 1393x1080, 263 - directly in between 4:3 and 5:4
1.30, 1404x1080, 258
1.31, 1415x1080, 253
1.32, 1425x1080, 247
1.33, 1436x1080, 242 - 4:3

You can change the resolutions/aspect ratios on the fly, just by using WindowedBorderlessGaming, hitting the apply button - while Demul is running.

- - - Updated - - -

First try with quite short diameters.

Pupils should have been modeled round when looking directly at you? :)

3jHgRk6.png


- - - Updated - - -

Turns out Shenmue is a strange game...

The following pictures were taken from tothegame.com (Xbox Version of Shenmue 2), so they are sure to be captured on original hardware (or part of a press kit).

You can clearly see the "superdeformed" look of the faces, but other parts of the character models show perfectly symetric charakteristics...

DU0kTZl.png


*sigh*
 
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