[RESOLVED] Random Black Box Behind Title Images

[nightgaunt98]

I can't seem to sort out why a semi-transparent black box appears behind my title images in the list.

It happens when scrolling up or down and Gameex loads a new page of titles.

I don't think it's an issue with the image files, sometimes an image has a box, sometimes it doesn't.

 

Attached are a couple screen shots showing when Gameex first loads and then the black boxes that appear after scrolling down to the next page.

Also attached is a shot of my graphics card info, system info, and the Gameex.ini + Theme.ini 

There's 8gb of ram in there currently, I just ordered 16gb of Corsair Vengeance ram to replace the stock memory and beef it up.

Maybe that will fix it?

 

Cheers!

 

GameEx.ini

Theme.ini

[Draco1962]

Does the same thing happen when using the same view in other themes? 

[nightgaunt98]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I love this place ;-)

 

Yes, it happens on different themes as well, tried quite a few- both Default and downloaded.

[Adultery]

I would think, through pure speculation, there's something up with the alpha layer removal when GameEx renders the snap. Might want to ask Tom to take a look at this.

[nightgaunt98]

Cool, thanks.

Yeah, I tried to fiddle about with anything I could find regarding any alpha settings.

No luck.

 

Long time lurker, short time posting, so please forgive my ignorance:

How should I contact Tom?

Would that be through messaging, PM, whatever it's called?

 

[Draco1962]

Best to triage the issue here where Tom will address if necessary. Thanks!

[nightgaunt98]

Gotcha.

So "Sit tight and keep fiddling about with it until it's sorted or Tom takes a look"?

No problem.

 

Thanks again!

[nightgaunt98]

During my lunch break I went back into the Gameex.ini to try out a few more 

thoughts on this. 

Pretty much tried "True" or "False" on anything that seems like it would have any affect on images

or page loading.

No luck.

Read somewhere else that someone was having almost the same issue and the only resolving answer was

to disable "AdvancedGFX". Tried that, nope.

I can't remember exactly where I read that, I've scoured forums for a few days now looking for a solution.

Ah, well. 

Hopefully someone has some input. 

Meanwhile, I'll keep poking around periodically until something clicks.

If I manage to sort it out on my own I'll post the fix here in case someone else encounters this issue...

[nightgaunt98]

Apologies if I keep harping on this here, but it kinda helps me keep track of what I've tried ;-)

Wondering if this bit of info will help?

I just noticed that if I hold down the joystick (or up) for a bit until a couple pages would have gone by,

those black backgrounds on the titles do not show when I stop.

The black boxes only happen when you scroll down or up a line or two and you can still see the lines of titles that were there before.

Make sense? 

If you look at the two screenshots in my first post, the two lines on the bottom starting with After Burner ending with 

Asteroids from the first image are the ones still visible in the second image but now have the 

accursed black boxes around them. But the newly pulled title images are nice and clean.

So Gameex is having trouble keeping the transparency on the old images while pulling in the new ones from the next lines?

Or maybe I should stop rambling, step away from the cab, and remind The Mrs that I still exist, hahaha!

[Draco1962]

It looks like the view is displaying not only the grid but also the game snap or video for the game highlighted. Can you try selecting Change View to another grid view but not displaying the game snap or video in the background to see if the alpha processing error disappears?  Thanks. 

[nightgaunt98]

Yeah, I am trying to set it up so there is a grid list with title images and when you scroll to a game,

the video plays in the background showing you gameplay.

This is why the black boxes are an issue for me, they block out the video!

The black boxes still happen with no video playing in the background.

Attached are two screen shots, same thing as in my first post.

Scrolling down a line or two, the titles that were there before have the box, the new ones displayed on screen do not.

 

[tthurman]

Can you capture a video showing it in action, with the black/transparent boxes interfering?  Although I get an idea of what you're describing, It may prove beneficial if you had a short youtube video showing it in real time.

I find your setup to be pretty amazing looking, to be honest, I've never seen GameEx setup like that, and it looks fantastic IMO.  From what I'm seeing in your screen shots, it appears to be something many others would also find appealing!  I hope you get it sorted out one way or another, and then write a guide

 

[Draco1962]

Thanks for testing that without the video in the background. I was hoping to rule-out a problem with the video and snap renderings simultaneously but that does not appear to be the case. I will attempt a similar test on my rig which is not as high-powered as yours in the GPU department but similar enough in CPU and RAM to see if I can replicate.

[nightgaunt98]

Tthurman: Thanks for the compliment!

I own a screen printing company and do all the graphic design myself.

(As well as everything else. 1 man operation for about 20 years!)

My Arcade + Pinball cabs are what keeps me sane, haha!

I uploaded a video to youtube so you can see the Accursed Black Boxes in action:

Hopefully this can help narrow down the problem?

Draco1962: Thanks for looking into this for me, seriously appreciated!

Yeah, my rig may be a bit of overkill for Galaga, but my son loves playing Star Wars Battlefront 

with the additional flightsticks on my cab. Gotta keep them graphics clean ;-)

 

[tthurman]

Thanks!  That is exactly what I envisioned, and perhaps I've been living under a rock, but it's just completely unlike any other GameEx setup I've ran across.  I've been doing the list scrolling thing so long, I just accepted it as the norm and moved onto other things.  To me though your setup brings GameEx to an entirely different level of "coolness"   

 

[Draco1962]

I know this is off topic, and I probably already know the answer, but are you using game ogo files in place of the actual game snaps for your MAME and other emulators in your setup? It works well with this view.

[nightgaunt98]

I'm more of a visual guy and can't stand text lists if there is the possibility of using artwork instead!

Growing up in the 80's, I LOVED the art style arcades used. Especially when the game was so silly looking because of graphics

limitations back then that they had to attract with killer artwork.

Example: Old Atari box art. Horrible blocky graphics, but looking at the awesome box cover artwork it helped us to use our imagination more while playing the game. "Oh, that weird square thing is an awesome tank. Got it!"

 

To create this view I used the Theme editor and removed Image + Image 2.

Then stretched out the Lists field to fill the screen. I then had to completely resize all the title images I had when I was using Hyperspin (shudder) to fit in Gameex's box format. They where horribly cropped before.

Then i kept hitting "Change View" until my title images and screenshot videos of gameplay show up in the background.

 

I think I've exhausted my brain on searching for clues to those damn black boxes.

I'll come back to it later and poke around some more. Gotta get to work, bands will be screwed and quite unhappy if merch is not at the venue in time. Pac Man is not a valid excuse for missing deadlines apparently,hahaha!

 

Oh, and while I'm rambling about my arcade, here's a pic of my "Break Room"

 

[nightgaunt98]

1 minute ago, Draco1962 said:

I know this is off topic, and I probably already know the answer, but are you using game ogo files in place of the actual game snaps for your MAME and other emulators in your setup? It works well with this view.

I don't even know what a ogo file is! Haha.

I am using png files for the title images and screen recorded mp4's for the video snaps...

[nightgaunt98]

"Origin Pro Graphic Object File"

Alrighty, new one to me!

Are you suggesting I convert my png files to ogo format?

If so, I'll do a bit of investigation on this after work.

 

Thanks yet again!

[nullPointer]

Heh, I'm pretty sure he meant game logo files in place of snaps (so rather then using a snap of the game play or whatevs you're using the logos).  I definitely wouldn't recommend converting to a more obscure format!

Beautiful game room man!  Is that a bar cab sitting on top of a steamer chest?  I never would have thought about it, but it's a really cool look, kinda like a Pirate Cove or something!

[nightgaunt98]

1 minute ago, nullPointer said:

Heh, I'm pretty sure he meant game logo files in place of snaps (so rather then using a snap of the game play or whatevs you're using the logos).  I definitely wouldn't recommend converting to a more obscure format!

Beautiful game room man!  Is that a bar cab sitting on top of a steamer chest?  I never would have thought about it, but it's a really cool look, kinda like a Pirate Cove or something!

Yeah, I've been working with graphic design for quite a long time and never heard of "ogo" files!

Soooooo, you are saying to use a logo file instead of videos in the background?

Hmm, I would really rather sort out how to get it working this way. I dig the fullscreen background videos, the dimming option is icing.

But if I can't get those black boxes to disappear, I'll have to go back to the drawing board on this one. Sigh.

 

That is actually a speaker on top of a rather old footlocker. There are speakers everywhere down here, and that one adds to the surround sound

(Hawkwind really loud while blasting away at strange aliens is pure bliss) and creates a nice place for setting drinks and wot not.

[nullPointer]

20 minutes ago, nightgaunt98 said:

(Hawkwind really loud ...

Hell yeah, that's a name you don't hear everyday!  Good call!  (Sorry for OT)

Back on topic I modified the title of the thread to alert Tom that there may be an issue with alpha rendering as others have suggested.

[nightgaunt98]

7 minutes ago, nullPointer said:

Hell yeah, that's a name you don't hear everyday!  Good call!  (Sorry for OT)

Back on topic I modified the title of the thread to alert Tom that there may be an issue with alpha rendering as others have suggested.

Thanks for helping out with this!

Would it help if I included a zip file here with my png title images?

In case it would benefit the troubleshooting process...

 

Oh yeah. Warriors on the Edge of Time is one of my favorite "blasting through the cosmos" Arcade soundtracks ;-)

 

[stigzler]

Nice gameroom. Is that a separate dynamic marquee. Love me some dynamic marquee. Others may be suprised to hear me say that because I never go on about it at all. Ever....

Also - where are those game logos from? I aint got that in my mame assets collection. They are much needed - could you upload them to the GameEx FTP?

 

 

[Adultery]

I still think this is a GameEx issue with the alpha channel during the rendering FWIW.