RetroPie: Enable Video Shaders and Add Video Shader Hotkeys

RetroPie: Enable Video Shaders and Add Video Shader Hotkeys

This post will go over how to enable shaders and set up hotkeys so that you can change shaders while playing games. Shaders are applied to video games to achieve some type of visual effect. These effects can give a game a more retro look.

Enable Video Shaders

1. Navigate to RetroArch config file for the specific emulator
cd opt/retropie/configs

2. Open the configuration file
sudo nano retroarch.cfg

3. Find the option to enable shaders (you'll see some lines that have "video_shader")

4. Enable the video shader by changing the value from false to true
video_shader_enable = true


Now that the video shaders are enabled, you will want to add video shader hotkeys to your account. By adding video shader hotkeys, you can adjust the shaders in-game and see which one you prefer.


Add Video Shader Hotkeys

1. Navigate to the controller configuration file
cd /opt/retropie/emulators/RetroArch/configs/

2. Assign video shader hotkeys to your controller configuration.
#input_shader_next_btn = “ ”
#input_shader_prev_btn = “ ”


Here is an example of my controller configuration file after I added Video Shader hotkeys:
input_device = "USB,2-axis 8-button gamepad "
input_driver = "udev"
input_b_btn = "1"
input_y_btn = "3"
input_select_btn = "6"
input_start_btn = "7"
input_up_axis = "-1"
input_down_axis = "+1"
input_left_axis = "-0"
input_right_axis = "+0"
input_a_btn = "0"
input_x_btn = "2"
input_l_btn = "4"
input_r_btn = "5"
input_enable_hotkey_btn = "6"
input_exit_emulator_btn = "7"
input_save_state_btn = "0"
input_load_state_btn = "1"
input_state_slot_increase_axis = "-1"
input_state_slot_decrease_axis = "+1"
input_shader_next_btn = “5”
input_shader_prev_btn = “4”

If you aren't familiar with modifying the controller configuration, see my previous post: Configure a USB SNES Controller for RetroPie