ShrineFox.com Forum

Just an update.
I think I've settled on an upscaling process, which involves downscaling, dithering, upscaling and the use of anti-aliasing.
Quite pleased with the results.



Again I wish I could push the in-game resolution of the bustups even further, but oh well.
I do have very high resolution copies of each bustup, but the example I've show is at the resolution of 1024x512.
(It might be a bit compressed too, for web and discord use.)

Thanks.

One unfortunate realisation is that because tmx files are limited to 256 colours when you import the upscaled content it introduces slightly noticeable colour banding.
Colour banding was noticeable in vanilla, but I think having the higher resolution image only accentuates the issue.
Yes I have run the images through debanding, but once you import them, it appears again.

Another issue is the blinking images, where characters would blink. The upscaling process must be adjusting the edges of the blinking images slightly, which causes annoying seams to appear around the eyes of the character when they blink. I have tried to remedy this by using different methods of upscaling/colour correction etc, but nothing seems to work. It's best to leave the blink images on vanilla, or just delete them outright.
I've opted to delete them, as the lack of blinking doesn't bother me. I found it looked odd in vanilla anyway.

I have nearly imported every single upscaled 'BUSTUP' in the DATA\BUSTUP folder. This is a very boring and lengthy task, as there is no quick way of doing this. What I'm saying is, after this is done I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to make improvements.
I might look to see if I can improve the state of the Persona images, but I'm not sure at this point.
Thanks.

I would say that, for the most part, I am now finished.
Every bustup in the DATA\BUSTUP folder has been imported into the game, plus the addition of DATA\CAMP\BUSTUP AND DATA\CAMP\PERSONA.
I will continue to experiment with other files and see what I can get away with, but I think I should just enjoy the game now.

Should there be any interest in my current build I can see to making it available.

Many thanks.

Wow! I love how the upscale process makes the bustups less murky. Looking at it side to side it really does make vanilla look like washed out. How did you port the textures into the game? Is it still using the same resolution, but with sharper textures?

Could you make the upscaled .BIN /bustups files available somewhere? uploading them

I'm playing the game on a very weak PC, for this reason, I'm not playing on a very high resolution. I was fine with it, but then I decided to use a widescreen patch and for some reason, all 2D images got VERY low quality. It's terrible to look at and I can't play the game like that

I assume if I used the upscaled bustups, it would look normal. I just want the character portraits. I can live with everything else

thanks in advance

CaptainLevi wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 12:14 pm Could you make the upscaled .BIN /bustups files available somewhere? uploading them

I'm playing the game on a very weak PC, for this reason, I'm not playing on a very high resolution. I was fine with it, but then I decided to use a widescreen patch and for some reason, all 2D images got VERY low quality. It's terrible to look at and I can't play the game like that

I assume if I used the upscaled bustups, it would look normal. I just want the character portraits. I can live with everything else

thanks in advance

Sadly upscaled bustups are not possible in the current build of PCSX2, nor any upscaled texture for that manner. You can change the screen res, but not the resolution of textures. This is to change sooner or later as Rexis is building a custom version of PCSX2 which supports texture replacement. Its a long way from release as it supposedly has many bugs rn, but its being passed around to people who are currently making upscale projects for P3 and P4 so that they can test their projects and get their mods in the right format for when it launches. Id advise just upping screen res in the graphics settings, or just asking for help in a support channel.

Sorry for the delayed response.

Actually, you can have upscaled bustups in-game. What you're seeing in my examples are all being used in a current build of PCSX2.
They are 2x the resolution of the originals, and I haven't noticed any issues whilst playing the game.

I am using the Rexis build to upscale the UI of the game, which I shall post an update on soon, but for the bustups I just imported them using the Amicitia tool and hostfs.

pigeonpoet wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 3:41 am Actually, you can have upscaled bustups in-game. What you're seeing in my examples are all being used in a current build of PCSX2.
They are 2x the resolution of the originals, and I haven't noticed any issues whilst playing the game.

I am using the Rexis build to upscale the UI of the game, which I shall post an update on soon, but for the bustups I just imported them using the Amicitia tool and hostfs.

really? that's good to know...

but I actually tried upscaling a portrait myself. Pretty sure I did, but there was no difference in-game. Do you know why?

in any case, could you share the /bustup folder with the modified .bin bustups?

dang these look good
I wish I could set up ESRGAN properly on my laptop, but looks like I can't because of optimus, it's a shame