best visual settings for VisualBoyAdvance

[djnickname]

I use VisualBoyAdvance and I was wondering what the best are for the best visual performance(<--- is this the right grammar?)

[Darksaber J]

This really depends on your computer. More specifically your ability to process. I use VBA on my 433 mHz processor and an old ATI Rage graphic integrated card and I have to turn on the frame skip to 3 for many games to run fast enough to really play. This also means that I have to decide what I want more...smoother framerate at slower speeds or better sounds with faster, choppier graphics.
Now with a computer I could use at work it ran great. I could even turn on the filters to smooth out the graphics a bit and had no problems whatsoever. Of course this was a Pentium 4 Dell...it was a thing of beauty. Brought a tear to me eye...
Now for the weird part. My dad's got a 900 mHz processor...but it doesn't play any different at ALL from the way mine does. Even when I tried turning the throttle up it was still either a smoother, slower framerate or better sound. This really puzzles me. Why won't it run any faster on a 900 mHz processor than it does on mine? Of course his computer is Hewlett Packard....
ANYWAY, if you have the power, crank it up. Turn the frame skip to zero, turn on one of the 2xSAI or your favorite filter, kick it into fullscreen and push esc to hide the gui bar and have fun!
If not, experiment with the frameskipping, turn OFF the filters and see what you get.
One other thing worthy of note: the newest version of VBA supports even OpenGL. Maybe that can help if you have a graphics card that can use it.

[Roux!]

Good suggestions, J!
Having the latest version helps out most of the time (it has always worked better than older versions for me anyway...).

Right, since you're asking for best performance (and I suppose by "best" you mean a cross between good speed/nice visuals), I'll tell you this...

Under "Options", check the following:
Frameskip: 0
> Throttle: No throttle
Video: x1 (Fastest) or x2 (Good size, a bit slower on old machines)
> VSync: Disabled
> Render Method: OpenGL (DirectDraw is faster, but gives you a blurrier image); in older versions, just disable DirectDraw Emulation.
Gameboy: "Real Colors" enabled (Gameboy colors are a bit "sad").
Priority: Highest (if necessary, otherwise leave it at Normal)
Filter: Normal
>Interframe Blending: None

In my opinion, GBA games don't really need any fancy filters, so don't even try... Even on a fast system, it really bogs down the overall speed... It's not worth it.

But if you want "prettier" graphics, use 2xSai, Super 2xSai or Super Eagle engine... I can't really tell the difference between the last two...

[Grim Reaper]

Originally posted by Ru


In my opinion, GBA games don't really need any fancy filters, so don't even try... Even on a fast system, it really bogs down the overall speed... It's not worth it.

But if you want "prettier" graphics, use 2xSai, Super 2xSai or Super Eagle engine... I can't really tell the difference between the last two...

You need filters to play in full screen, try playing one with normal full screen and one with the AdvanceMame Scale2x filter in full screen and you'll see what I mean.

[djnickname]

Thnx a lot guys it runs great now

[Solitude]

i have a problem.i just upgraded my computer to p4 1.8ghz and now all the games are running a bit too fast.i mean it's ok for games like advance wars but it's making it impossible for me to play games like legacy of goku 2.is there any way i can tweak the settings to reduce the speed?

[djnickname]

maybe you must set frameskip to 0?

[Solitude]

i tried...didn't work

[Darksaber J]

Maybe you should check to see if the SYNC is on. That helps if you do that. Not the VSync. This would be found in VBA under OPTIONS-EMULATOR-SYNCHRONIZE. Make sure this is checked. If I uncheck it regular GameBoy and GameBoy Color games are WAY too fast.

[Roux!]

Unless you messed with the settings, the default ones should be OK... They always are...

Options> Frame skip> Throttle> No throttle
Options> Video> Enable VSync (Not necessary, but it WILL slow down your emulator)
Options> Video> Render Metod> OpenGL (slower, needs a fast system)
Options> Priority> Normal