Overlay

Overlay Editor is where you design shader overlays for the Game screen, including bezels, CRT treatments, and scene content. ArcadeServer activates the published overlay when a matching game starts.

Development status

The current development build includes Overlay Editor, profile overrides, assignments, Studio preview, and official runtime support for DX11, DX12, OpenGL, and Vulkan. Community-supplied native overlay DLLs are not supported in this build.

Overlay is not the physical display above the cabinet and it is not cabinet lighting. Use Marquee for the separate marquee display and LED for lights.

Prepare the overlay runtime

Install ArcadeStudio Multi Overlay from Data Packs if the official overlay runtime is not already present. The official package supplies the native runtime and the renderer backends available to the editor and cabinet.

Installing the package does not start an overlay. You still need to choose a shader package, save a profile, assign it, and publish.

Design and preview

Open Overlay Editor, choose a shader overlay package, and use the View menu to move between:

Workspace	Job
Setup	Choose the package, profile, and basic configuration
Design	Arrange and configure the overlay scene
Preview	Run the active renderer surface in Studio

The command bar provides Undo, Redo, Sync from cabinet, Save, Apply, and preview controls. Sync from cabinet brings control slots from Cabinet Composer into the generated canvas layer; Overlay still owns their appearance and enablement.

Choose a preview backend that the installed pack supplies. The editor exposes DX11, DX12, OpenGL, and Vulkan, while the cabinet uses the backend that the game process actually runs.

Caution

Studio preview is a design check, not proof that the overlay is live on the cabinet. The cabinet continues to use its last published configuration.

Save profile overrides

A profile is a named set of changes for one shader package, such as a default CRT look or a configuration for a particular game.

• Save stores sparse profile overrides.
• Save as… creates another named profile.
• Apply refreshes the Studio preview with the current settings.
• Resetting a field restores the package default.

Package files remain immutable; the editor stores your changes separately instead of modifying the installed .arcadepack.

When a catalog game supplies button labels in Master.db, Overlay can use those labels—for example LP, MP, and HP—instead of generic button names. Cabinet labels remain the fallback when catalog labels are unavailable.

Assign where a profile runs

Open Assign Overlays… and choose a saved profile for a machine, platform, or game.

Assignment precedence is specific to general:

1. Game
2. Platform
3. Machine

A game assignment overrides a platform assignment, and a platform assignment overrides the machine assignment. An unassigned context remains disabled. Disabling an assignment stops overlay startup for that context without disabling controller-only orchestration.

Publish to the cabinet

1. Save the profile.
2. Confirm the intended machine, platform, or game assignment.
3. Open Publish and publish the cabinet bundle.
4. Start a matching game through ArcadeServer.

Publish includes the overlay profiles and assignments that ArcadeServer needs at runtime. ArcadeServer does not read unsaved editor state or live Studio files.

If the overlay does not appear, first confirm that the profile is assigned and enabled, the latest cabinet bundle is published, and the official runtime pack includes the backend used by the game.

Next: Data Packs or ArcadeServer.