This tutorial will show you how to enhance Freedom Planet with scanline and CRT effects. These effects give the game a look similar to what classic console and arcade games looked like on old TVs and monitors. If you've played modern re-releases of games like Sonic CD, or used emulators, you're probably familiar with these kinds of filter effects.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE* Freedom Planet was recently transitioned to OpenGl. Since SweetFX only works with DirectX, this tutorial won't work with new versions of the game. However, you can currently roll-back your installation of Freedom Planet to version 1.20.2 under the "Beta" tab of game properties, allowing SweetFX to function. I'm not sure what updates or bug fixes you lose out on by using the older version, or how long the old Direct X 1.20.2 version will be kept available. If it disappears entirely, rendering this guide totally broken, please leave a comment so I know to remove it.)

Since Freedom Planet doesn't have built-in filters, we need an external way of adding the effects we want. You've probably heard of the "SweetFX" enhancement set, which is used to add visual flare and anti-aliasing to games like Skyrim. Well, SweetFX also has an "Advanced CRT" effect that is just what we need!

There are various releases and builds of SweetFX, and if you already have one of those it probably has about the same settings. For the purposes of this tutorial I'm going to use SweetFX Configurator because it's pretty easy to set up.

First off, go to their website and download the tool:
http://sweetfx.thelazy.net/

You'll probably need a program like WinRAR[download.cnet.com] (free) to extract the archive. The program runs from its folder (no need to run an installer), so place that folder where you want to keep it, like in your Program Files folder.

Now double-click SweetFX_config.exe to open the program. This is what you should see:


Next, click the "Add New Game" button on the lower left hand corner. The filepath to the game's exe (FP.exe) should be something like this:

\Steam\steamapps\common\Freedom Planet

That should add Freedom Planet to the list on the left. If it isn't given the right name, click on Game Settings, change it, then Save Settings to exit that screen.

Now you'll have something that looks more like this (minus the other two games I have listed):


You can see a bunch of options in the middle under "Categories" and "Category Details". A few will already be selected by default. Under "Categories" you should uncheck everything – make sure you scroll down to get them all. Then check "Advanced CRT", the filter we want to use. With it highlighted, the lower box "Category Details" should show a list of things we can modify/tweak with the CRT effect. Right below it is another box that lets you change the selected settings.

If we go with the default settings, here's what we get:


That's a bit over the top to me, and includes settings designed to emulate the warped screen of really old CRTs, and the odd viewing angle of an arcade machine. So here are my own settings, which deactivate that weird stuff and just add a moderate scanline/CRT effect. Simply select each setting under "Category Details", then change the value in the box below:

#define CRTAmount .5
#define CRTResolution 1.5
#define CRTgamma 2.4
#define CRTmonitorgamma 2.2
#define CRTBrightness 2
#define CRTScanlineIntensity 2
#define CRTScanlineGaussian 0 (disabled)
#define CRTCurvature 0

(the following are probably fine left default, most won't work with Curvature disabled)
#define CRTCurvatureRadius 2.0
#define CRTCornerSize 0.0100
#define CRTDistance 2.00
#define CRTAngleX 0.00
#define CRTAngleY 0
#define CRTOverScan 1.00
#define CRTOversample 0

When you are done, click the "Save New Config" button right below. With those settings, you should get enough of an effect to enhance the look of the game without distorting the image or making text hard to read. You will need to click to enlarge these images to see the differences:


And here is the original for comparison:


If you want a stronger or more genuine look to the filter, then you will probably want to set "CRTAmount" to 1.00 and lower the "CRTResolution". The Configurator shows what the default settings are for everything, which should give you something to go on if you want to experiment!

Again, once you have the settings the way you want them, just click "Save New Config". That will put the tweaked files into the game directory, so next time your run it (from Steam or the configurator launcher) you should get the effects in-game. You can toggle the effect in-game using the Scroll Lock key.

Just a few things to keep in mind:

• Depending on what resolution/scale you run the game, you may need to alter the CRT settings to compensate. I was running the game fullscreen at 1080p.
  
• Running SweetFX could have a performance hit on weaker systems.
  
• Press "Scroll Lock" on your keyboard to toggle the effect in-game.
  
• If it's not working, make sure you didn't accidentally toggle Advanced CRT off in the Configurator. It's easy to do.
  
• SweetFX may work with other 2D games, so give it a try! I still can't get it working with Shantae: Risky's Revenge, though :(

I hope this guide is helpful, let me know if there is anything I can improve!