This repository contains community-made borders, along with extracted Game Boy Player borders, converted for use with the MiSTer Game Boy Advance core.
Files must be in .bor format. By default, the GBA core looks for borders in /games/GBA; I recommend creating a subfolder inside that directory, such as /games/GBA/Borders, to help keep things organized.
Once you’ve copied your .bor files over, open the core menu and go to Video & Audio → Borders: On to enable them.
These GBA Borders have now officially been added to the update_all, so if you are running the script simply press up for settings, and you'll find the option to download them under extra content. They will then download to /games/GBA/Borders on your system.
If you're NOT using update_all, and you’d like your Downloader script to automatically grab the latest borders from this repository, add this line to the end of your downloader.ini:
[Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders]
db_url = https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dinierto/MiSTer-GBA-Borders/db/db.json.zip
Inside the Tools folder, you’ll find a Photoshop template (MiSTer GBA Border Template.psd) for creating your own borders. It includes guides for image center (yellow), GBA display area (green), and overscan (red). There is also a .png file that shows these areas, if you can't open a .psd file. Keep in mind that the GBA display area is a 240 x 160 rectangle centered inside the 320 x 240 image.
Try to avoid placing important details outside the red lines (or inside the red area, if you're using the .png template), as they may be cut off by CRT overscan. When you’re done, export your image as a bitmap (.bmp) file.
If you don't have a graphical editing program, both GIMP and Paint.net are free options and can edit the .psd format. If you want to use Paint.net, you will need to download the .psd plugin from here.
There are two scripts in the Tools folder for generating border files: convertBorder.py and convertfolder.py. Both require your input image(s) to be a 320x240 .bmp file.
To convert a single .bmp file:
convertBorder.py <input_file.bmp> <output_file.bor>
To convert all .bmp files in the folder:
convertfolder.py
Depending on your operating system, you may be able to run convertfolder.py directly from your file explorer without opening a command prompt.
Warning! You may get the following error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<convertBorder.py path>", line 2, in <module>
from PIL import Image # pip install Pillow
If so then you will need to go to the command line and type in the following command to install Pillow:
pip install Pillow
The Tools folder also includes a special border called Alignment test.bor. This is useful for adjusting the screen alignment in the latest GBA core, which allows tweaking horizontal and vertical positioning. The border features alternating color bars every 5 pixels to help with alignment.
FPGAzumSpass- Core developer, border conversion scripts
Dinierto- Github repository, border template, alignment test border, border conversions, borders (Metallic, Solid, Brushed Steel, Wood Grain)
tunnotron3000- Borders (tunnotron3000)
Richard Webster- Borders (RW Gameboy Advance, Super Gameboy Advance)
Anime0t4ku- Borders (Anime0t4ku Border Pack)
BearOnGuitar- Borders (Wide-Boy64 AGB Inspired)
