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Heran Bago
Aug 18, 2006





Hello Retro Games! Big lurker, but I rarely post here these days as it makes me want to spend money like crazy.

Lately I've been diving into "widescreen" support for old console video games. It's hard to find one definitive resource on the subject so I am collecting everything I can find here. I like gathering links and testing things but I don't consider myself an expert. Most all of the info here is second-hand. I hope to edit this OP later with any cool info you might have.

This thread is for discussion too! I want to hear your experiences playing old games in Widescreen, and I want you to try more if it's easy and fun for you.


What is widescreen? What's wrong with how old games look?

TVs and monitors used to have a 4:3 aspect ratio. Nowadays screens have something else. Generally 16:10 or 16:9. If you watch old media it puts these giant black bars on the sides or worse, stretches the image so that people are short and circles are ovals. Wouldn't it be cool to play Super Mario World and "get rid of" those black bars so you could see "everything"?

The original games are good! If you are playing for accuracy and preservation, 4:3 is the limitation these things were designed around. For those looking to enhance old games, even those playing on the original hardware, widescreen is a nice modern Quality of Life improvement. That extra fraction of a second to react when an enemy enters the screen in a platformer, shoot em up, or beat em up makes a surprising difference.


Old games don't work that way! How is widescreen even possible?

Let's say you just told the emulator to show stuff that is off the edge of the screen. For 99% of 8-bit and 16-bit games, this is a nightmare. Background art comes in and out in visible chunks. When sprites or models exit the 4:3 area they pop out of existence (culling). This isn't some hardware restriction, more so the game optimized to run that way. Developers could have stuff keep being drawn out of the screen bounds, but why would they? We can tell the emulator to show us those areas, and sometimes we can tell the game to show that stuff. For games with a 3D camera, we can change the "lens" or "aperture" that the camera is using.




How do you make old games be widescreen without just stretching the picture?
We have a few methods to achieve this:

1. It just works in the emulator
I said 99% before. That remaining % work great with the right emulator, settings, or video plugin for said emulator. A rare handful of PS1 and N64-era titles have a widescreen option in-game. Options like this, or based on a setting in the console's system menu, become more common over the generations until the Wii era where it's pretty standard.

2. A cheat code
Sometimes a game can have a single value changed that makes it output in Widescreen nicely. Maybe culling happens a little too close but the variable can be changed. Many retro games are made available in widescreen with simple Gameshark, Action Replay, Game Genie etc codes. Many of these will actually work on the real hardware if you have a cheat device!

3. A game patch
When a code isn't enough and the game's files need to be modified, hackers may put together a patch. Patches can start their lives as cheat codes. Patching a ROM is easy and this is my preferred method. Common patch files are .ips, .bps, .xdelta, .xdelta3, and .ppf.

4. Some crazy poo poo
You could disassemble the game into machine code, painstakingly document it and convert it to C, and then build it natively for your platform of choice! That sounds so easy, why doesn't everyone do it?


What about Ultra-wide? Letterboxed vs anamorphic?
This also exists, to a lesser degree. I don't have access to an ultra wide display and am not personally interested. With a couple exceptions, I'm not really covering ultra wide support here. If it's your thing please speak up and share your knowledge. I am not distinguising between kinds of widescreen or specific aspect ratios here for the sake of brevity. I will cheat and use ultra wide screenshots in the post though.


Do I have to use goddamn RetroArch?
Generally no, but Genesis Plus GX Wide and Mupen64Plus-Next are only available as libretro cores in RetroArch. RetroArch may also be how you access your widescreen SNES and Playstation emulators, but you have options.
Retroarch is an amazing piece of software. It is the culmination of a lot of individual work by many different people across the world. Sadly its legacy is built on blood. Certain individuals harassed Byuu/Near, creator of BSNES, to the point of suicide with some kiwi farms bullshit. The Duckstation dev pulled their libretro core and quit hobby programming for a while over some different crap with them. I encourage you to look into it yourself and not just take my word for how the situation is. The other side has also been pretty vocal. You don't have to feel bad about using the software imo. Just be extra careful not to give them any money. (If anyone from the RetroArch team finds this info innaccurate, please contact me privately, I am open to discussion and revision.)

Also important to note with RetroArch, its GUI is absolute poo poo.





Wow that sounds great, what systems and emulators support this!?
Each one is a different story:


:mario: SNES / Super Famicom :mario:
Emulator: bsnes-hd, also available as a libretro core.
Generally you only need to use the emulator with the right settings. If you are using the libretro core, update it. They improved the default settings while writing this post. You may want to change the resolution to 16:10 if it just barely isn't working with the default 16:9. I suggest changing "Render sprites" to "Render anywhere (unsafe)".
Another neat feature of this Emulator is "HD Mode 7" as seen in this Pilotwings screenshot.
Someone on Gamefaqs tested a few hundred SNES games and reported their results here. A surprising number of games work really well without any changes needed, including many SHMUPS and Beat-em-Ups. If you are interested in Ultra-wide resolutions, there are some games with good support on the list.
I have sorted that person's list for my own reference here, feel free to comment any additions or edits you would like to see:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VV7oUwLZwY3V-kzMqq3Nqk81LP-osmiix7bFOHWjjxI/edit?usp=sharing
There are specific game patches for Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and On the Ball. Super Punch Out, Top Gear 2, R-Type III, and Hyperzone have .bso files available which just go next to the ROM of the same name.




:mufasa: Genesis / Mega Drive :mufasa:
Emulator: Genesis Plus GX Wide, only available as a libretro core.
I personally recommend disabling the horizontal sprite limit, although some rare few games will rely on it for effects. Someone on Reddit tested a few dozen games and kind of ranked their results. Of these there are about a dozen that run flawlessly. Highly recommended are Gunstar Heroes, Ecco the Dolphin 1, and Panorama Cotton (there's a translation too!).
https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/lr0v7f/genesis_plus_gx_wide_test_results_wip/
For Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and ROM hacks thereof, you need to patch the ROM with this:
https://heyjoeway.github.io/sonic-wide-autopatcher/



:laugh: NES & GB :laugh:
Emulator: Another NES Emulator and WideGB
These two are actually a mess, and not really what I'm talking about. What they do is draw or record the screen out of bounds as it moves. You can zoom the overall field, and you get a result like one of those big level maps or NES Atlas videos. It's a neat effect and gets an honorable mention.



:anime: N64 :anime:
Emulator: Mupen64Plus-Next is available as a libretro core which includes Glide64. You could set it up with the normal mupen64plus as well.
Starting here and moving forward with 3D-capable consoles, it's common for widescreen to stretch HUD elements but not the gameplay. Some of these squish the screen horizontally, so that when ran in widescreen it gets properly unsquished. If you're running the game at greater than 1x resolution there shouldn't be a loss in picture as a result.
I have not found a good single resource for N64 game patches or codes. I first found this reddit post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOnAndroid/comments/8n8chk/n64_widescreen_no_stretching/
Which led me to gamemasterplc's youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/gamemasterplc
In the individual videos, they have download links for patches. Codes are consolidated here:
https://sites.google.com/site/gamemasterplcscheatcodes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un1WAeOYjh8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-gIHpDdzAk&t=59s

:sg: Gamecube & Wii :sg:
Emulator: Dolphin
Many games have widescreen out of the box, assuming you use the right cable or emulator options. I'll again refer to my list of those for Gamecube.
The Dolphin "Unofficial Widescreen Development Topic" has an archive of GC and Wii widescreen codes, last updated 04.27.2019.
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-unofficial-widescreen-development-topic-archive
The Dolphin forums also has a thread where member takla has collected Gamecube codes created by Ralf@gc-forever and the community, last updated 02.04.2017.
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-gc-ar-codes-for-16-9-21-9-60hz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKs43f5XKnc

:yoshi: PS1 :yoshi:
Emulator: Duckstation or PCSX-Redux
pcsx2.net has a thread where users collect widescreen codes and patches. The vast majority of these are cheat codes. El_Patas on the PCSX2 forums has collected all of these into an "archive" last updated 08.24.2021.
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PSOne-Widescreen-Patches?pid=477709#pid477709



:shopkeeper: PS2 :shopkeeper:
Emulator: PCSX2 or its forks.
When you tell the emulator to output in Widescreen, it will apply a widescreen code to the majority of games. PCSX2 and its derivatives contain a zip file or folder named cheats_ws. This contains almost all known verified widescreen cheat codes in .pnach format. These codes also work on the original hardware with a cheat device.
There is no longer a need to scour the internet for PS2 widescreen cheats or .pnach files - just install PCSX2 if you want them.
These two pages are out of date, but are a good historical resource:
http://ps2wide.net/
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PCSX2-Widescreen-Game-Patches?pid=271674#pid271674
You may also be interested in some 60 FPS codes:
https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-60-fps-codes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doNsXgcSXSk

:megaman: Sega Saturn :megaman:
Emulator: SFF
Mostly CEP codes, but some patches (ex. Fighters Megamix). A rare few games have built-in widescreen options (ex. Panzer Dragoon Zwei).
I am yet to find a good single resource for Saturn widescreen codes. Descriptions in Youtube videos are a good start for specific games. A few can be unearthed in this archived assemblergames thread:
https://web.archive.org/web/20191113045100/https://assemblergames.com/threads/sega-saturn-widescreen-hacks-panzer-dragoon-saga-poc.63026/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiR_aBj-4LE

:fut: Sega Dreamcast :fut:
Emulator: Flycast or Redream
Flycast has widescreen hack options built into the emulator. Redream has widescreen support available in the "Manage cheats" menu.
A list of Widescreen codes at segaretro:
https://segaretro.org/List_of_Dreamcast_widescreen_codes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mlXmkOEJIc

:tubular: Microsoft Xbox :tubular:
Emulator: CXBX Reloaded
Xbox players seem to be patching the games themselves using "hex codes" rather than a cheat device. Here is an assemblergames thread if you want to dabble:
https://web.archive.org/web/20191108220806/https://assemblergames.com/threads/xbox-widescreen-hacks.68347/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAX8VW4OVE

:bubblewoop: Nintendo DS :bubblewoop:
Emulator: DeSmuME. Disable Maintain Aspect Ratio.
Games need Action Replay codes or individual patches. I am aware of patches for Mario Party DS, Super Mario 64 DS, and Sonic Rush.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eWA-quAZY4

:ironicat: Playstation Portable :ironicat:
Emulator: PPSSPP
The PSP is already Widescreen! Some games have been patched for ultrawide resolutions.
https://forums.ppsspp.org/showthread.php?tid=26189



:siren: Nintendo Wii U :siren:
Emulator: CEMU
The Wii U is already widescreen! Ultra wide is out there. Expect stretched HUD elements.
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/modders-add-ultrawide-resolutions-to-wii-u-emulation-21-9-botw.1382043/
https://www.reddit.com/r/cemu/comments/6drjb0/guide_to_play_your_cemu_games_in_ultrawide_219_or/


Heran Bago fucked around with this message at 19:51 on May 7, 2023

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Heran Bago
Aug 18, 2006



Honorable mentions

While these are outside of the scope of my OP, they are tangentially related, cool as poo poo, and I would be happy to see their discussion here or in a relevant thread.


Ports
Of course there are official ports. Why set up N64's Worms Armageddon with widescreen when the PC version has it, on top of being a better version?
Some games have source ports, re-implementations, or full disassemblies. If you are looking for the best way to play Mario 64, it's not going to be an N64 ROM but instead a native port like Super Mario 64+ or Super Mario 64 Ex. Aside from the recent Mario 64 and Zelda OoT ports, there are a lot of full code disassemblies in-progress. The one for the Jak & Daxter games has the 1st one 100% playable.
https://osgameclones.com/

Upscaling and HD texture packs
You can get emulators to dump every texture they see to a .png file. Then you can get the emulator to replace the textures in memory with a .png, even if it's a different size or quality. There is a group called "games repainted" which crowdsources this process, replaces textures with memes and poo poo, and stream the result. A more noble use is replacing textures with higher quality equivalents to get games an "HD remaster". The best ones are done by a team with some artists. These rival commercial HD remasters and are sometimes even a step up. Some people like the fan-made Chrono Cross PS1 upscale more than the official one. Anybody can make these now with some time and effort thanks to AI image upscaling and a very active community. Texture replacement is a pretty advanced feature, but many of the emulators in the OP support it. It's going to be a very happy day when a DS emulator adds this feature.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GameUpscale/
https://upscale.wiki/wiki/Main_Page

60 fps patches and cheats
This is a rabbit hole I'd love to go down sometime. People get pretty into framerate, but with retro games all kinds of things might be tied to frame rate like damage ticks or physics. here are some for PS2.



What games have widescreen without having to do anything?

I took all the lists of games with native Widescreen options that I could find, combined them, sorted by names, and removed duplicates. Every list seemed to have some things that the others were missing. I am taking these strangers on the internet at their word too, so I noted sources. I haven't trawled old forum threads for people claiming "oh yeah this one too."

The full list is here. Tabs at the bottom. You can comment to suggest additions or edits. Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox have about 100, 400, and 400 titles respectively. The rest are few enough to just paste here:


Nintendo 64
Banjo-Tooie
Donkey Kong 64
Goldeneye 007
Jet Force Gemini
Mickey's Speedway USA
Mission Impossible
Perfect Dark
Starshot: Space Circus Fever
The World is not Enough 007

Sega 32X
Virtua Fighter

Sega Saturn
All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua
Aqua World: Umibi Monogatari
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams...
Hexen: Beyond Heretic
High Velocity: Mountain Racing Challenge
NiGHTS into Dreams...
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei
Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 98 Summer Action
Saturn Bomberman
Seifuku Densetsu: Pretty Fighter X
Sōkyūgurentai
Stellar Assault SS
Touge King the Spirits 2
Zen Nihon Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua

Sega Dreamcast
AeroWings
Disney's Donald Duck Quack Attack
F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa
Giant Gram 2000: Zen Nihon Pro Wres 3 Eikou no Yuushatachi
Giant Gram: Zen Nihon Pro Wres 2 in Nihon Budoukan
Metropolis Street Racer
Pier Solar and the Great Architects
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
StarLancer
Test Drive V-Rally
Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2
Toy Commander
Toy Racer
Trickstyle
V-Rally 2: Expert Edition
Wacky Races

Sony Playstation
Aqua GT
Bloody Roar II
Bubsy 3D
Bust-A-Move '99
C3 Racing/Max Power Racing
Codename: Tenka
Colin McRae Rally
Colin McRae Rally 2.0
F1 2000
Formula 1 (1996)
Ghost in the Shell
ISS Pro Evolution 2
J-League Winning Eleven '98-'99
J-League Winning Eleven 2000
J-League Winning Eleven 3
Jarrett & Labonte Stock Car Racing
Madden NFL 2002
Max Power Racing
Moto Racer World Tour
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
Need for Speed: V-Rally 2
Pac-Man World 20th Anniversary
Porsche Challenge
Rush Hour
Snow Racer '98
Sōkyūgurentai
Spyro 2 (NTSC-U version)
This is football
TOCA Championship Racing
Trap Gunner
Triple Play 2000
Triple Play 2001
Triple Play Baseball
Wip3out
WipEout 3: Special Edition
Worms Armageddon
Yarudora Series Vol. 1: Double Cast

Heran Bago fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 23, 2022

Mescal
Jul 23, 2005

Thanks for putting in the time and effort to make a fantastic OP! This is something that I had been wondering about lately and it's great to see the info. Are you posting this somewhere the greater internet can read?

mysteryberto
Apr 25, 2006
IIAM

Mescal posted:

Thanks for putting in the time and effort to make a fantastic OP! This is something that I had been wondering about lately and it's great to see the info. Are you posting this somewhere the greater internet can read?

Agreed this is awesome OP and you really did your research. Is retro games subforum only available to those with :10bux:?

Heran Bago
Aug 18, 2006



Mescal posted:

Thanks for putting in the time and effort to make a fantastic OP! This is something that I had been wondering about lately and it's great to see the info. Are you posting this somewhere the greater internet can read?

Thanks for the encouragement!

Very good point about visibility. At the moment Retro Games is publicly visible but that kind of thing changes here from time-to-time. Feel free to link or spread it

I'll consider crossposting it to GBAtemp, or setting up an account on Reddit. Maybe even sign up for resetera, NeoGAF, or gamefaqs. Would probably have to turn off comment suggestions on the spreadsheet.

Medullah
Aug 14, 2003

FEAR MY SHARK ROCKET IT REALLY SUCKS AND BLOWS
This is a really great post, I really appreciate fellow emulation enthusiasts. I just got an arcade cabinet with a 42" TV as the monitor so I'll definitely be playing around with some of this. :)

After The War
Apr 12, 2005

to all of my Architects
let me be traitor
Awright, it's up! Widescreen hacks on PS2 through OPL has been one of my jams lately, so I'll try to work up a post about that when I can.

Mordja
Apr 26, 2014

Hell Gem
Not 100% thread aligned but I still play a bunch of old RTS games (almost entirely because of their still-active mod scenes) and when I do, I play them at my native 1440p. In the C&C community, for example, some people prefer to play at lower resolutions solely because higher ones literally shrink the unit sizes but I love that crisp, sharp look modern resolutions give those games as I command my tiny ant armies. Tiberian Sun in particular in particular is (visually) my favourite, here's a screenshot for a mod that *kinda* shows what that's like.


Another fav is Total Annihilation which, far as I can tell, supports higher resolutions straight out the box because Cavedog were goddamn heroes. Here's a (composited) ultrawide promo from the Escalation mod.

Jimmy Smuts
Aug 8, 2000

Total Annihilation's video resolution settings seem to just go off whatever Windows allows it to do; that's the only way I can figure a game from 1997 supports 4K and maybe even 8K without issue. It's amazing how maps that seemed so huge and needed a lot of scrolling back then, now fit fully on even a 1440p display.

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Detective No. 27
Jun 7, 2006

The Genealogy of a Holy War could really benefit from a widescreen specific hack. Those maps are so big.

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