Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

(09-21-2021, 10:15 PM)MayImilae Wrote: [ -> ]UI elements in the final composition are not what we should be focusing on, as the textures can be scaled separately. What matters is the 3D assets, that's where we can definitely spot.

If you want to use the UI elements for this analysis, you'll need to dump those textures and compare them to Dolphin's output. If the textures are a different shape in Dolphin than the texture files, you'll have something.

Couldn't find a ball, but I think I have something useful. This is a Dolphin screenshot. I then took a photo of a similar, even if not exactly the same scenario from the actual console, then I stretched the Dolphin screenshot to 4:3. I didn't feel like adding the PC version was relevant for this case, but I can do so if you think it's useful. I took Sonic from all 3 shots, scaled the photo Sonic to be the exact same height (212 pixels), then put them all together for an easier comparison. I then measured Sonic's wrist-to-wrist (spike-to-spike, to be exact, since he has all the power-ups) width in all 3 cases.

[attachment=19836]

I got 7.3 cm for CRT Sonic, 7.0 cm for Dolphin Sonic, 7.5 cm for 4:3-stretched Dolphin Sonic.

Which leaves us dead in the the middle. The "right" option is probably something along the lines of what @JosJuice said (a few black pixels on each side being taken into account when the lines are stretched to 4:3 and then hidden by overscan). That's why I suggest adding a 4:3 stretch option and then giving users the choice. In my case, I think the ovals in the UI look fugly (and wrong, since the actual console shows circles), so I'd use it, but I understand it may not be to everyone's tastes.

(09-21-2021, 10:15 PM)MayImilae Wrote: [ -> ]UI elements in the final composition are not what we should be focusing on, as the textures can be scaled separately. What matters is the 3D assets, that's where we can definitely spot.

If you want to use the UI elements for this analysis, you'll need to dump those textures and compare them to Dolphin's output. If the textures are a different shape in Dolphin than the texture files, you'll have something.

Here's the smoking gun. I dumped the textures using Dolphin itself. They're circles. I hope this is enough to clear any remaining doubts.

[attachment=19838]

To recap, Dolphin looks like this (very squished, clearly wrong):
[attachment=19839]

Stretched to 4:3 would ever-so-slightly overshoot the texture file (25:24 ratio when it should be 1:1 in the circles), but it's definitely closer:
[attachment=19840]

Quick math tells me the picture should be stretched to a 1.28:1 aspect ratio, with the remainder being the black pixels @JosJuice mentioned (0.025:1 black bars on each side). Nevertheless, 4:3 is pretty darn close.

The shield bonus forms a 3D ball, which on Dolphin also looks squished.
I have to use stretching shader to get proper aspect ratio.

(09-22-2021, 08:38 PM)vlad54rus Wrote: [ -> ]The shield bonus forms a 3D ball, which on Dolphin also looks squished.

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

I have to use stretching shader to get proper aspect ratio.

Thanks! @MayImilae we now have both texture and 3D proof...
Side note: stretching shader? I assume you're on PC, but it's better than nothing, even if I can't use it on Android as of yet.

(09-22-2021, 08:42 PM)Shady Guy Jose Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks! @MayImilae we now have both texture and 3D proof...
Side note: stretching shader? I assume you're on PC, but it's better than nothing, even if I can't use it on Android as of yet.

Android version should be able to use shaders (as far as i know).
Here is the shader (save as "Aspect Ratio.glsl" and place in dolphin-emu/Shaders folder):
And this must go into SA2:B config file:

(09-23-2021, 01:47 AM)vlad54rus Wrote: [ -> ]Android version should be able to use shaders (as far as i know).
Here is the shader (save as "Aspect Ratio.glsl" and place in dolphin-emu/Shaders folder):

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

Code:

void main() {
   float2 coords = GetCoordinates() - float2(0.5, 0.5);
   float2 new_coords = float2(coords.x, coords.y*1.091);
   float2 sample_coords = new_coords + float2(0.5, 0.5);
if (sample_coords.x < 0.0 || sample_coords.x > 1.0 || sample_coords.y < 0.0 || sample_coords.y > 1.0)
{
SetOutput(float4(0,0,0,0));
}
else
{
SetOutput(SampleLocation(sample_coords));
}
}

And this must go into SA2:B config file:

Spoiler: (Show Spoiler)

Code:

[Video_Enhancements]
PostProcessingShader = Aspect Ratio
[Video_Settings]
Crop = True

Thanks! It's working properly. However, @MayImilae, I'd still like this to be native, since I use other shaders, at least on PC (normally FXAA). As a workaround, though, it works.

You should probably open an issue report with all the info gathered on this thread. Not all of the active developers visit the forums regularly...

There is an already open issue for this: https://bugs.dolphin-emu.org/issues/9024
Although none of the devs seem to care about it.

(09-23-2021, 05:55 PM)vlad54rus Wrote: [ -> ]There is an already open issue for this: https://bugs.dolphin-emu.org/issues/9024
Although none of the devs seem to care about it.

I commented on that one too. I'm still hoping @MayImilae eventually reads this and is finally convinced by the texture dump they asked for, though.

I did a lookup on VI registers between Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (which renders 640x480 and displays 640x528) and Sonic Colors (which both renders and displays at 640x480), found a difference and ended up with this AR code (tested on NTSC-U and PAL):
Can i put it on Dolphin wiki, or it's out of wiki's scope?