As Recalbox users, you know how good it is to feel the nostalgia when playing again the games that rocked our childhood.
Playing with a PS4 controller on the living room OLED TV already allows us to find and share this pleasure of retro gaming.
However, some of us have an insatiable thirst that forces us to go further and further in the search for an experience as close as possible to the original.
In this never-ending search, the display, or image of the game is probably the most important point.
And what could be closer to the original than playing on the CRT screens of the time?
Recalbox is able to reproduce the exact resolution and frequencies of most consoles and arcade games of the time, on your CRT TV.
Get a Recalbox RGB DUAL, VGA666 and a SCART cable, a Pi2Scart or a RGBPi.
For Recalbox RGB Dual, it's automatic.
For other devices : once the device is connected to your Rasbperry Pi 4 and to the TV, edit the config file /crt/recalbox-crt-options.cfg in the [RECALBOX] partition mounted when you plug the SD card in your computer:
# For recalboxrgbdual it's automatic
# For vga666
adapter.type = vga666
# For pi2scart
adapter.type = pi2scart
# For rgbpi
adapter.type = rgbpi
You can also use the "Advanced configuration => Recalbox CRT" menu in frontend.
That's all, after restarting your Recalbox, the system is configured to send the image directly to your TV.
In the configuration file /crt/recalbox-crt-options.cfg in the [RECALBOX] partition:
# Image shift to the left (negative) or right (positive)
mode.offset.horizontal = -2
# Offset the image up (negative) or down (positive)
mode.offset.vertical = -2
The default configuration of the display modes per system and per arcade game can be found in the folder /recalbox/system/configs/crt/
modes.txt lists the display modes that can be usedsystem.txt defines for each system the mode to usearcade_games.txt defines for each arcade game the mode to useTo override or replace these configurations, you just have to create the corresponding files in the /recalbox/share/system/configs/crt/ folder.
These override files should only contain the modes, systems or games you want to override or add.
File structure:
┣ 📁 recalbox
┃ ┣ 📁 system
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 configs
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 crt
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 arcade_games.txt (read only)
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 modes.txt (read only)
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 systems.txt (read only)
┃ ┣ 📁 share
┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 system
┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 configs
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 📁 crt
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 arcade_games.txt
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 modes.txt
┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣ 🗒 systems.txt
See override example
modes.txtThe modes.txt file contains one mode per line, with its identifier, in the following format:
MODE_ID,MODE,REFRESH_RATE
Example:
snes:nes:ntsc:224@60.0988,1920 1 80 184 312 224 1 9 3 24 0 0 0 60 0 39001717 1,60.0988
Here the MODE_ID is snes:nes:ntsc:224@60.0988 and the MODE is 1920 1 80 184 312 224 1 9 3 24 0 0 0 60 0 39001717 1
systems.txtThe systems.txt file allows for each system, to configure a display mode by region, and to select the size of the display area:
SYSTEM_ID,REGION,SCREEN_TYPE,INTERLACED,MODE_ID,VIEWPORT_WIDTH,VIEWPORT_HEIGHT
Example:
vectrex,all,15kHz,progressive,standard:ntsc:240@60,0,0
This line lets Recalbox know that the Super Nintendo (snes), when loading an NTSC (non-European) game, will use the display mode identified by snes:nes:ntsc:224@60.0988 (in modes.txt).
The next two zeros let Recalbox set the best value for the height and width of the image.
arcade_games.txtThe arcade_games.txt file allows to select the display mode for each arcade game, depending on the core (or emulator) on which it will be launched. It also allows to change the size of the display area:
GAME_ID,CORE_ID,MODE_ID,VIEWPORT_WIDTH,VIEWPORT_HEIGHT,ROTATION
Example:
dino,fbneo,snes:nes:ntsc:224@60.0988,0,0
The GAME_ID is the name of the game files, without the .zip.
The CORE_ID is the name of the core used by Recalbox.
This line lets Recalbox know that the game dino.zip, launched on RetroArch with the core fbneo, will use the arcade:224@59.637405 mode.
The override allows you to add or replace modes, systems or arcade games.
All overrides are new files, located in
/recalbox/share/system/configs/crt/directory.
Each of the override modes, systems or games is added to the base configuration, or replaces it if the id already exists.
Let's say I want to change the display mode of Cadillac and Dinosaurs on arcade, and change it to 224 lines at 60Hz.
In the modes.txt file, there is a mode corresponding to 224 lines at 60Hz. It has MODE_ID standard:all:240@60.
So I will create the file /recalbox/share/system/configs/crt/arcade_games.txt and put a single line in it:
dino,fbneo,standard:all:240@60,0,0,0
The VIEWPORT_WIDTH and VIEWPORT_HEIGHT allow you to resize the displayed image. They do not change the display mode of the screen.
You may want to add specific settings for systems or arcade games.
Let's set the screen width of Metal Slug 3 to 1800 pixels in /recalbox/share/system/configs/crt/arcade_games.txt once and for all
mslug3,fbneo,arcade:224@59.185606,1800,0,0
Restart Metal Slug 3 and you can see that the screen width has decreased.