MAMEWorld Forums - MAME Artwork X: Other Artwork Projects - Vaughan's Custom Bezels (Archive of Multiple Posts)

Rug Rats

Rug Rats (AKA Wiping) is a fun little game that is somewhat spoiled by a poor color scheme. Since enemy positions are random at the start of each game, it can be really tough to play.

What it needed was some kind of Bezel.

And here is one until something better comes along:

Galaxian Part I

Nothing to say about this game, other than the original bezel is/was dull dull dull (although whoever put it together for Mame did a great job).

There's another custom bezel out there, but for games with a black background I prefer a black bezel.

Having created a few bezels very quickly today, I thought this one would be a breeze. It was far from it. Every image on this has had extensive clean-up. Black and white images have been colored, some blemishes in the original paper prints were all touched up. Along with that, I had to create the scorecard from two pieces. They were originally blue, but I wanted black. The easy thing to do would have been to delete the text there, and type in new text - but I wanted to keep the exact font, so I went in and had colored each letter. Yeah, each letter - and that took forever.

The end result is...... disappointing. It just doesn't look right. I'll likely revisit this at some other time, but it won't be soon. For now it'll do its job.

WARNING - don't forget that if you copy this to your ARTWORK folder you'll overwrite what's there. Instead - rename the current Galaxian.zip file to something else before trying this - that way if you hate it you can switch back.

Galaxian Part II

Well, the whole Galaxian bevel thing was bugging me, so it was time to go back and see what I could do.

As you see, I made changes. I'm still not happy with it, but it's a step in the right direction (I think).

On a 16:9 the score card looks a little squat - I'm conflicted, because this is happening because of the Bevel ratio (in keeping with the games, it's scaled for 4:3, which is then stretched by Mame to fit 16:9, creating a little distortion). I'm not in a mind to change it just yet.

My main issue is the picture on the lower right hand panel. You can see where my design skills are lacking. I think of everything so damn symmetrical. There was another picture I'd of preferred to use, but the only scan of it I have is very grainy (even the image itself is grainy) and that makes playing with it more difficult (if you want to lasso elements it's really hard, and then blending small detail out is virtually impossible to do invisibly, at least with my skills).

Still, I stylized a bit, and it helps somewhat. I wish I was more creative - but it ain't to be.

Moon Cresta

Well, the whole Galaxian bevel thing was bugging me, so it was time to go back and see what I could do.

As you see, I made changes. I'm still not happy with it, but it's a step in the right direction (I think).

On a 16:9 the score card looks a little squat - I'm conflicted, because this is happening because of the Bevel ratio (in keeping with the games, it's scaled for 4:3, which is then stretched by Mame to fit 16:9, creating a little distortion). I'm not in a mind to change it just yet.

My main issue is the picture on the lower right hand panel. You can see where my design skills are lacking. I think of everything so damn symmetrical. There was another picture I'd of preferred to use, but the only scan of it I have is very grainy (even the image itself is grainy) and that makes playing with it more difficult (if you want to lasso elements it's really hard, and then blending small detail out is virtually impossible to do invisibly, at least with my skills).

Still, I stylized a bit, and it helps somewhat. I wish I was more creative - but it ain't to be.

Gaplus

Galaga is one heck of a game, but for me it was always Gaplus. I used to play this over a few pints of a lunch time - good times!

I had found a Bezel for this around the net, but frankly it was pretty poor, consisting only of an instruction card - in Japanese - and nothing more. A stellar game like Gaplus deserved better!!!

Well, better as in as good as I could make it right now. This took quite a bit of time - three or four hours - because the source material needed all kinds of masking, joining, and distorting. Also, after my last effort (Galaxian) I didn't want it to be so "blocky". Using symmetrical squares is, for the me creative side, a curse. So this time I went all out to make things flow a little more - and to have some different embellishments to stop it looking as though it was made in five minutes (which it still might do, but I can assure you it didn't)

Most work went into the aliens in the right panel, and instruction card. I decided against keeping the original fonts, deciding close was close enough (it would have taken a lot more work to keep them, editing at the pixel level.

All in all, famous last words, but this is one of my favorites of those I've done. Maybe it's because I just finished it. I have a lot of games to go - so onwards and upwards!!!

Don't forget, you may already have a Bezel for Gaplus - in which case you must either merge these, or overwrite what you have. If you had the same as I did it wasn't a hard decision - I just overwrote it (apologies if the person who created the original on reads this, no offense intended).

Phoenix

Pheonix is a great game, a true classic.

Taking a look around, it seems there was never a Bezel that matched the quality of the title. I already had a file in my ARTWORK directory - but it only contained artwork for the cocktail version, along with a generic bezel that is no doubt the original.

I wanted something a little more exciting. I plundered the cocktail art for the logo and eagle on the left, along with the instruction card. I didn't recreate the instruction card, opting instead to go in, pixel by pixel, to brighten it up for more contrast. I'm amazed it looks as good as it does, and that it's readable at all.

The picture on the right was something else entirely, and took quite a bit of work. It's from a flyer - the problem being the original was printed across two pages, and for no doubt good reason, the two scans didn't match up. I had to go in and recreate some bits, blend others, and join yet more in a way that appeared seamless. It's a really laborious process, but at the same time kind of relaxing. If anyone wants the complete image let me know, and I'll make sure you get it - might save you time should you ever need to join them yourself.

Anyway - you might well have a Pheonix Zip, so don't forget to rename that one if you choose to try this one.

As always - forgive any obvious errors, they're unintentional.

Berzerk

Berzerk is yet another classic title - better yet, the original Bezel was/is a true work of art. And wouldn't you know, some genius recreated it for Mame in the past.

You'd think there was nothing more that could be done for the title, but in my playing about I thought it would be nice to have a background image. Those who want authenticity can run for the hills.

Note - the zip file contains the original Bezel. I'm not sure I should be doing that, but I don't think it can be improved upon, and posting my background here without the original Bezel would be sacrilege.

Astro Fighter

Ever get involved in something you wish you'd never started?

The image on the right is from a flyer - but the flyer is covered with text and screen shots. I had to go in and take all that out, and draw back in the missing pieces. Safe to say, that wasn't something that took five minutes.

As an added bonus here, I've included an option to play with no Bezel - but with a nice star background.

Mr. Do's Castle

Good game, but with a generic Bezel - so here's something different.

Smash TV

Okay, so the amount of work I've done on this is zero. It seems to have been created by someone named Aioros back in 2012 ( I found it here: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=185772&page=4)

He did a great job, so it was just a matter of putting it into a zip.

Mercs

Well, another in the series. Merc's is a good game, except I play the opening sequence over and over and can't get passed the beginning after you jump out of the vehicle. So frustrating.

Still, it's well done, and deserving of more than the original bevel, which is/was yawn inducing. This one livens things up a bit.

Amidar

The original Bezel - implemented in Mame - is excellent and good fun. There's really no way to improve on it, nor am I inspired to do anything differently.

However, a nice background does cheer things up a little bit.

So here it is!

Jungler

Well, I expect I'm getting on everyone's nerves at the moment with so many postings.

Jungler though needs something to make it prettier. It's a decent game, but with no Bezel, a little sad looking. No worries!

And apologies again for posting so many of these......

Marvin's Maze

Here's another one.

Guys - are these worth my while to keep doing? I've posted a lot now, and my goal was to add some color to those games either without a Bezel, or with a poor Bezel (design wise).

But I don't want to fill this forum up with my lame Photoshop skills and just annoy everyone.

Anyways - Marvin's Maze is a decent game - but lacked a Bezel. So here's one to brighten things up.

Block Out

This is such a strange take on Tetris - but none the worse for that. All it needed was a Bezel.

Outzone

After my epic battle with Nemo, this one was simplicity itself, taking a whopping fifteen minutes.

Very simple - but better than a blank space.

Wily Tower

Wily Tower wasn't a game I remember playing, but I found it in Mame and found it quite compelling. It has that key element that every time you die, you feel as though YOU did something wrong.

You have to make your way through five floors (I think it's five) before completing the game (then it recycles). I played this quite a bit, and was finally able to beat it with only a single coin. Proof that practice makes perfect. Perhaps I'll replay it now it has a nice Bezel.

Van Van Car

Well, this Bezel is basically rubbish - it clearly fits in the "better than nothing" category. Except in this case, nothing might actually be preferable.

Problem here was the almost total lack of source material.

As for the game itself, it's another one I played a lot - finally getting it to cycle through all the mazes (I think that's 12 or 15 Mazes) with a single coin.