User:Wildgoosespeeder/sandbox

This is a guide to get the best possible screenshots for all consoles and handhelds by supplying a basic technical overview of each device. Using emulators, hardware modifications, or HDMI capture provide the sharpest screenshots possible, but it takes some know-how to achieve that level of quality.


 * Things to keep in mind when supplying MarioWiki with images
 * These recommendations apply to screenshots, sprites , and 3D renders of released games and their contents. This doesn't necessarily apply to games that were never released or developer-released screenshots during the game's development cycle.
 * Use PNG. Don't use JPEG or GIF as they represent the content with varying degrees of inaccuracy, such as lossy compression or color loss, unless otherwise stated. Don't covert between these formats. Just resample the image. If you see an image that is unusually high in file size (formerly File:Thwomp Wario's Woods.png), then it is encouraged to upload a clean version of the image.
 * General rule of thumb to tell what requires the PNG format: If you can access a particular object the MarioWiki article is referencing in the game through normal gameplay or through hacking the game data, PNG is required. Otherwise the format the image was released in should stay in its current format (unless BMP or similar formats, then convert to PNG).
 * PNG Monster PNG Monstrous or ExplodePNG are recommended to be applied to the PNGs to reduce file size, but it is optional.
 * Do not use post-processing effects. This includes applying filters after a clean screenshot was taken or using a filter as the game is running in the emulator (against policy anyways).
 * If you are going to take a screenshot of a YouTube video (or equivalent media), save in PNG format and tag the image immediately with so a more appropriately captured screenshot can be uploaded at a future date. Encoders that were used to create the video or the encoder used to make those videos compatible with YouTube's players use lossy compression and the artifacts will be preserved of the screen capture when saved to the PNG format.

If screenshots don't comply with these standards, tag images with. The screenshots present in this guide are some of the best screenshots MarioWiki have produced.

NES/Famicom/Famicom Disk System/SNES/Satellaview
256 × 224 (NTSC) or 256 × 240 (PAL)
 * FCEUX for NES/Famicom/Famicom Disk System
 * Nestopia if FCEUX fails to emulate a game properly.
 * Snes9x for SNES/Satellaview
 * BSNES 073/0.73 if Snes9x fails to emulate a game properly. Great for emulating Super Game Boy. It is recommended to not use Higan because it uses unconventional emulation practices and risks being too confusing to setup. You can use BSNES-classic, an unofficial build which branches off starting from BSNES 0.73 to incorporate the latest accuracy fixes in the latest Higan builds.

FCEUX has inaccurate code emulating the color of NTSC NES, Famicom, and Famicom Disk System games correctly. It is recommended you use the correct palette. Go here for the download and instructions how to use it.

NES/SNES Further Reading

 * NES on Emulation General
 * SNES on Emulation General

N64/64DD
320 × 237

640 × 474
 * Project64
 * angrylion's RDP graphics plug-in (recommended plug-in to use, most accurate, fewest glitches, and screenshots are in the BMP file format, which is best as PNG instead)
 * Glide64 graphics plug-in (only recommended if angrylion fails, can be glitchy, less accurate with some games, and screenshots tend to be 320 × 240)
 * Mupen64Plus (untested but noteworthy)
 * GUI recommended


 * These games behave quite oddly under the angrylion plug-in :
 * Mario Tennis: The output is often 306 × 222 in the menus or 386 × 222 in-game (check file histories), leaving most or all of the black surrounding border cropped out automatically. Is this a glitch of the angrylion plug-in or does real hardware do this as well?
 * Donkey Kong 64 - N64 logo before DK Rap displays as 640 × 237. Then it displays normally after that.

Glide64 settings to more closely match real N64 hardware internal resolution
It is common to take poor N64 screenshots in an emulator. There are ways to fix that.

Expansion Pak
There are a few exceptions. The Expansion Pak increases the resolution of games that can utilize it; from the standard 320 × 240 to 640 × 480. The games covered by this wiki which support the Expansion Pak are:
 * Donkey Kong 64
 * Mario Artist: Paint Studio
 * Mario Artist: Talent Studio
 * Mario Artist: Communication Kit
 * Mario Artist: Polygon Studio
 * The 64DD boot screen

N64 Further Reading

 * N64 on Emulation General

GCN/Wii
Fullscreen is 4:3 and widescreen is 16:9.
 * Dolphin
 * GCN
 * Minimum 640 × 480 fullscreen.
 * Super Mario Strikers can support widescreen natively. Screenshots can then be 854 × 480 minimum.
 * The game controls the aspect ratio during rendering.
 * Wii
 * Minimum 854 × 480 widescreen (recommended) or 640 × 480 fullscreen (not recommended but acceptable).
 * The console controls the aspect ratio and the game takes this setting into consideration during rendering.

GCN and Wii games have varying internal resolutions, which is quite strange considering expected screenshot resolution outputs of other sections in this guide are fairly consistent. For example, Super Mario Sunshine is suspected to have an internal resolution of 596 × 448. It gets even more complicated with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door because it is suspected to have an internal resolution of 640 × 528, which means on real hardware, it gets cropped to fit on a 640 × 480 display. Taking good quality screenshots in Dolphin just further complicates this issue. This is due to amateur programming that has yet to be fixed. Until that is resolved, it is often better and easier to take screenshots above 1× native. If you are displaying a 1× native image in full screen mode, such as a monitor that can display up to 1920 × 1080p, make sure that you adjust graphical settings. Otherwise blurriness due to stretching occurs. Just set the Internal Resolution of the graphical settings to Auto (Window Size). Then enter full screen mode (alt + enter).

Title Screens and Cutscenes
DON'T use above 1× native for certain title screens and cutscenes because it displays a static image or pre-render video instead of live 3D models. It just pixelates the image or makes encoder artifacts more apparent. For cutscenes, it is better to try to extract these videos from the game itself than to use an emulator. If that is not possible, use 1× native and scale the emulator window appropriately in these cases. Here's examples of these cases below:

Sample Images
Dolphin may not produce exactly 4:3 or 16:9 images, such as outputs of 1,208 × 900 or 1,600 × 876 if you are using 2.5× native going fullscreen on a 1600 × 900 monitor. This is perfectly normal. Not all GameCube and Wii games utilize the entire 640 × 480 or 854 × 480 frame on real hardware. DON'T force stretching to fit the entire display. Keep the fullscreen resolution and aspect ratio settings to auto.

When running the game, you may need to adjust the aspect ratio graphics setting in the emulator so that way images are stretched properly, or else distortion occurs. DON'T use the widescreen hack. DON'T edit the screenshot to accommodate the aspect ratio. Below are examples of properly stretched screenshots when set in a certain aspect ratio mode.

GCN/Wii Further Reading

 * GCN on Emulation General
 * Wii on Emulation General

Wii U
An emulator exists, but it is highly alpha and isn't nearly accurate enough to be considered good for screenshot taking. It is better to use an HDMI capture device for the Wii U console and hardmod a Wii U GamePad.


 * TV
 * 1280 × 720 or 1920 × 1080
 * GamePad
 * 854 × 480

Wii U Direct Upload
If you use the built-in web browser for the Wii U, you can upload screenshots directly to MarioWiki! Images are limited to 1280 × 720 for TV and 854 × 480 for the GamePad, but in the JPEG format. This feature is only allowed if the Wii U or software permits it.

Miiverse
Screenshots uploaded to Miiverse and then uploaded to MarioWiki are acceptable but are limited to JPEG and a considerable amount of detail is lost because the image is 800 × 450.

Wii U Image Share
Some games may not have dedicated Miiverse pages. The Wii U Image Share may be the only way to get images uploaded to MarioWiki:
 * Wii U Image Share

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has an Album mode that can store 1920 × 1080 JPEGs, but only if you have a compatible SD card inserted into the Wii U. Don't use the edit tools provided by the game.

Press Images
Nintendo Press uploads BMPs of the games they are promoting. Convert the BMPs to PNG.

Wii U Further Reading

 * Wii U on Emulation General

Virtual Boy
384 × 224
 * Emulators

Virtual Boy Further Reading

 * Virtual Boy on Emulation General

GB/GBC
160 × 144
 * VisualBoyAdvance 1.8.0-beta3

GB/GBC Further Reading

 * GB/GBC on Emulation General

GBA
240 × 160
 * VisualBoyAdvance 1.8.0-beta3
 * VBA-M
 * NO$GBA (great for getting screenshots for games in Game Link Cable mode)

NO$GBA needs to have GBA Mode/Colors set to NDS-Lite in GBA mode (poppy) for correct GBA colors or else the screenshot will be dull-looking.

GBA Further Reading

 * GBA on Emulation General

DS/DSi
256 × 192 Each screen
 * DeSmuME
 * NO$GBA

Both emulators are missing fog effects (such as Tick Tock Clock roaming around or Dire Dire Docks when the camera is underwater). Shadows are incorrect in NO$GBA and shadows are better in DeSmuME but not entirely accurate. Other effects are missing in NO$GBA, such as the transition effect when Yoshi puts on Mario's Cap to fake being Mario. The only advantage that NO$GBA has is DSi emulation. In theory, you could use 3DS homebrew (outlined below in the 3DS section) because when is pressed with no homebrew is used, it sends a "closed lid" signal to the DS/DSi games as a prompt displays to either return to the 3DS main menu or resume playing a DS/DSi game. 3DS homebrew overrides. Just be sure to hold down and  when a DS/DSi game is loading to capture screenshots in native resolution (will produce black borders).



DS/DSi Further Reading

 * DS on Emulation General
 * DSi on Emulation General

3DS
Emulators exist, but they are highly alpha and aren't nearly accurate enough to be considered good for screenshot taking. It is better to use The Homebrew Launcher on a 3DS and some of its screenshot tools. Notice how the homebrew overrides the system's ability to suspend system software running as the button now takes a raw screenshot instead. To convert the raw screenshots to PNG, load the Screenshot tool.

Keep in mind that Nintendo releases patches for the 3DS firmware and methods to run homebrew will sometimes be circumvented. At this time, it is recommended to stay on 10.5.0-30 or below to retain or obtain full control of your 3DS. Homebrew developers are always trying to find new ways for people running the latest 3DS firmware to start using homebrew.


 * 400 × 240 Top screen
 * 320 × 240 Bottom screen



Miiverse
Screenshots uploaded to Miiverse and then uploaded to MarioWiki are acceptable but are limited to JPEG. Unlike the Wii U's Miiverse pages, no shrinking occurs.

3DS Image Share
Some games may not have dedicated Miiverse pages, such as Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS) (a search for "Mario & Sonic" doesn't turn up the London entry to the series). The 3DS Image Share may be the only way to get images uploaded to MarioWiki:
 * 3DS Image Share

Press Images
Nintendo Press uploads BMPs of the games they are promoting. Convert the BMPs to PNG.

3DS Further Reading

 * 3DS on Emulation General

CD-i
384 × 280
 * MESSUI

The screenshot feature of MESS stretches the native resolution of the CD-i slightly vertically and adds the LCD information of the console above the captured image to produce a 384 × 310 image. It is better to take a picture of the window and crop it instead for the time being. First thing to do is make sure MESS isn't in fullscreen mode. Then set the video mode to 48:35. Then shrink the window until the emulator window doesn't want to shrink any more. Then use your preferred method to take a screenshot of the window or screen, such as Windows Snipping Tool. Then crop the picture to the native resolution (FastStone Image Viewer works well). The end result should be like the sample images in this section.

CD-i Further Reading

 * CD-i on Emulation General

MS-DOS
320 × 200

320 × 240

640 × 480
 * DOSBox

Use DOSBox for maximum accuracy because Windows has accuracy issues running DOS programs. Press CTRL+F5 to take a screenshot. Check with DOSBox documentation where the screenshot was saved.

MS-DOS Further Reading

 * MS-DOS on Emulation General

Saves, Cheating, and Passwords
Emulation is all fine and good but there is a catch to this method. You would need to play the game again to obtain these high quality images. That's time-consuming, especially for RPGs such as the Paper Mario (series). This explains why it is more appealing to upload a YouTube video screenshot than an emulator screenshot. Fortunately enough, there are resources to aid in getting a better quality screenshot by supplying saves that unlock everything:


 * Zophar's Domain - This site hosts "native saves" for NES, SNES, N64, GB, GBC, and GBA. These are the same thing as saving on the cartridge itself and its method for saving, such as battery back-up or flash memory chip. Check your emulator's documentation how to properly set up this kind of feature, where to store the file download, and how to name the downloaded file. This may take some experimentation for the game to read save files.
 * GameFAQs - This site hosts "backup saves" for GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS games. These saves are not "native saves" as these need the import dialog of the emulator to convert them into native saves.
 * GameFAQs hosts Wii Power Saves by Datel. It needs sq-dps to convert them to be used on regular Wiis or Dolphin emulator.
 * Dolphin emulator specifically:
 * GameCube real memory card saves require GCMM for import/export so they can be imported into the emulator. It bypasses any copy or move protection.
 * The Wii specifically can copy saves stored on its internal NAND to an SD card and then be imported into the emulator.
 * Some Wii saves cannot be copied to the SD card, such as Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. These need SaveGame Manager GX to copy them. These extracted saves are not the same as the saves that the Wii puts on SD cards. This requires right-clicking the game in the Dolphin list and selecting Open Wii save folder.
 * Both VisualBoyAdvance and VBA-M have issues with GBA gamepak saves only, especially with importing saves, although VBA-M has better detection. It tries to detect the correct type but is often incorrect. It is recommended you download a file called vba-over.ini and put it in the same directory as the emulator executable. This acts as a manual override to the auto-detection. It doesn't include all games though. Mario vs. Donkey Kong, for example, needs to be added to the file and then it will work properly. A game like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the import won't take effect. The right configuration for that game has not been found yet.
 * DeSmuME has a weird issue where you need to use the import dialog twice for the import to take effect.
 * GameFAQs also hosts passwords (such as for the game Tetris Attack).
 * TAS Videos - This site is great for downloading special movie files that an emulator can understand that contain input sequences if you don't feel like playing the game yourself. Could be useful in a few cases.
 * Use these acceptable formats for playback to obtain screenshots. Don't use these unacceptable formats for playback. The rule of thumb here is if it requires an emulator to read the file data, you can use that format. If it can be played back in a standard media player, don't use that format.
 * Game Genie - For cheating devices under the Game Genie brand. Generally great for "Start in World X" codes (such as Super Mario Bros.).
 * BSFree - For cheating devices under the GameShark brand. Generally great for games with pre-release and unused content.
 * The Cutting Room Floor for more cheats related to accessing otherwise unobtainable game content.
 * Action Replay - For cheating devices under the Action Replay brand.