Enable scanlines in dosbox

[vonblubba]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to enable scanlines for gk in dosbox. According to docs, all you need to do is add these lines to dosbox confuguration file:

[render]
scaler=scan2x

Alas, it doesn't work for me.

Anyone has had better luck?

Thanks!

[Crescent Fallen]

It is because the renderer does not think they would look good.
You can force then by adding -force

[render]
scaler=scan2x -force

[Alber7]

Originally posted by Crescent Fallen:

It is because the renderer does not think they would look good.
You can force then by adding -force

[render]
scaler=scan2x -force

It doesn´t work.
I´m using ddraw, the others doesn´t recognize the resolution that I put in the config. text file.

[alcoatjez]

My reply is a bit late, but perhaps you still have this issue.

It works when you use this:

[render]
scaler=scan2x forced

[Alber7]

Originally posted by alcoatjez:

My reply is a bit late, but perhaps you still have this issue.

It works when you use this:

[render]
scaler=scan2x forced

Ha. Do not worry. Somehow I figure out how to run it properly with dsbox dum.
Seems good. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2820469650

[alcoatjez]

Ah, good to hear.
Which scaler do you use now?

[Risingson]

the dosbox provided with this version of GK is very simple - you need to replace it with a modern branch like dosbox-x and use shaders from there. Or use scummvm.

[Dexter]

I don't think the default scaler is actually working or doing anything "out of the box". All Screenshots come out 640x480 Standard.

If you want to actually enable it you have to add "forced" behind the line and then Screenshots come out as 1280x960 and some elements like the text look less blurry:
scaler=normal2x forced

Experimenting around with Scanlines, I believe this seems to give the best results, especially when cycling through the Menu icons etc. but I'm not sure I prefer it to the default:
scaler=rgb3x forced

I found this Retrospective with blurred .png Screenshots that look different from all the available scalers: https://www.filfre.net/2019/08/gabriel-knight-sins-of-the-fathers/

I believe achieving "period-correct" graphics (displaying games as they would have looked on a PC/CRT monitor back in the day) instead of just throwing basic scalers at it making pixels bigger and declaring it "good enough" has only very recently come more into focus and it's a more expansive topic: https://blog.johnnovak.net/2022/04/15/achieving-period-correct-graphics-in-personal-computer-emulators-part-1-the-amiga/

For the record, this is how the game looks on Steam with normal3x forced: https://i.imgur.com/GrQ5flB.jpeg

This is rgb3x forced: https://i.imgur.com/0o5p3Sy.png

This is how you can get the game to look via RetroArch/DosBOX Pure and crt-guest-advanced-hd Shaders:
Uncompressed PNG: https://postimg.cc/gallery/PvxpFR5
Compressed JPG: https://imgur.com/a/Wu6Pt7v