Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

Nathir

Liturgist
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
1,088
In translated Persona 1 PSX port (called Revelations: Persona) they cut out alternative route called 'Snow Queen Quest' which is the fucking essence of this game (best dungeon in any Persona game). PSP is an obvious choice since it has both routes, only drawback is dat horrible j-pop soundtrack but it can be fixed with patch that restores original music.

P2:IS PSP has better interface than PSX one but suffers from censorship connected with nazis- Hitler is now Fuhrer and wearing cool sunglasses etc.

For PS2:EP play PSX port since PSP is only in Wapanese. The latter has moar content though.

Alright, thanks.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
4:3. Even the titles (if not all, then certainly a vast majority) that had 16:9 support (like FFXII) were vert- rather than hor+, meaning you lose top and bottom real estate and don't really gain anything, it's like a cropped version of the 4:3 frame.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
Retroarch has a new way of removing input latency (different than hard gpu sync) that can even work on lowering games 'inherent' input latency, giving (possibly, along with hard gpu sync/ good controller / monitor / driver) better than console input.

It's also a horrible hack.

As far as i can tell it works by making a savestate every frame (thus it will only work well on cores with fast and small savestates) and when the user presses something, RA turns off the display and sound (keeps current emulator image), rollsback to the N'th=inherent_game_frame_lag savestate, feeds the user input *then* fastforwards N frams and finally presents the calculated image.

So it's sort of time-travelling so inputs appear on the past and fast forwarding back to where you were so the effect can be seen. It depends on information that the average user is too much of a idiot to find by himself though, so it better get into the database...

Tried it on the ps1 but since my computer is worse than trash didn't try for long. If there is ever a ps2 core for RA might be something to try.

I've tried the new runaway method in the latest Retroarch nightly, and it's pretty impressive (I also have to eat my words when I said that I wasn't interested, this is pretty cool).

In Mesen (my NES core of choice) most games have 2 frames of inherent input delay - shaving off one of those frames is actually perceptible and not placebo at all, playing some timing intensive games like Ninja Gaiden it definitely feels closer to what I remember on an actual console through a CRT. Snes9x also works great (most SNES games that I play have 3 frames of input delay and you can shave 2 off with no perceptible artifacting), but more demanding cores like Higan are too slow when using this, at least on my machine (admittedly a now ancient i5 3570k running at 4.5k Ghz)

In fact, run ahead is too laggy on all cores that emulate more recent consoles (PSX up). But it's a cool idea that makes a perceptible difference, I'll be using it from now on.

If you download a recent RA nightly, it's under settings -> latency.
 
Last edited:

v1rus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
2,253
Is this retroarch thingy worth it? Seems nice, but, for instance, i prefer using epsxe.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
Yes, it's very much worth it. Retroarch's timing/sync method is peerless and if you're sensitive to issues like input delay (as I am) it's almost impossible to go back to other emulators (PCSX2 being the most egregious example). The shaders are also the best in the business.

There's an initial barrier to get yourself acquainted with the interface and how everything works, but it's blown out of proportion by a lot of people - it's not that hard if you can read.

Retroarch's PSX core (Beetle PSX) is extremely accurate. I'd recommend trying it with an open mind.
 

Vorark

Erudite
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Messages
1,392
In translated Persona 1 PSX port (called Revelations: Persona) they cut out alternative route called 'Snow Queen Quest' which is the fucking essence of this game (best dungeon in any Persona game). PSP is an obvious choice since it has both routes, only drawback is dat horrible j-pop soundtrack but it can be fixed with patch that restores original music.

Go here and look for Persona 1 (PSP): "PSX music patch" - Canzah
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
Well, if by "upgrade" you mean increasing the internal render resolution and upscaling textures, then yeah, sure. There's a variant core known as Beetle PSX HW that supports all that. It also has support for perspective correction and subpixel precision (basically, you can get rid of wobbly polygons and texture warping that are prevalent in PSX games).

More info (old, but still valid; support has only improved since then):

https://www.libretro.com/index.php/mednafenbeetle-psx-pgxp-arrives/

Personally, I prefer to play PSX games as close as possible to their original version, with a good CRT shader. But some games benefit very much from the HW core - I recently completed a Soul Reaver playthrough that really looked like another game.

Usually, though, PSX games combine very low res bitmaps and sprite work with polygons, and upscaling textures doesn't produce results that are as good as what increasing render resolution does for polygons, so it usually looks very jarring. Therefore, the term "upgrade" is subjective. But it is an option.
 
Last edited:

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
16,320
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
In translated Persona 1 PSX port (called Revelations: Persona) they cut out alternative route called 'Snow Queen Quest' which is the fucking essence of this game (best dungeon in any Persona game). PSP is an obvious choice since it has both routes, only drawback is dat horrible j-pop soundtrack but it can be fixed with patch that restores original music.

Go here and look for Persona 1 (PSP): "PSX music patch" - Canzah
Unfortunately this patch doesn't fix all of the issues. Namely the remake cut down the available track markers in the code in half because the composer only did so many of the songs on the original, so the hack still isn't the same and has about half the songs missing (as well as some fadeout problems iirc).
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Messages
14,099
4:3. Even the titles (if not all, then certainly a vast majority) that had 16:9 support (like FFXII) were vert- rather than hor+, meaning you lose top and bottom real estate and don't really gain anything, it's like a cropped version of the 4:3 frame.

Plenty of games on PCSX2 have widescreen hacks that will fix things, check for whatever you're playing.
 
Self-Ejected

aweigh

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
17,978
Location
Florida
Does retroarch offer more options for emulators than their stand-alone versions? I still don't fully understand what it is exactly other than a front-end.
 
Self-Ejected

aweigh

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
17,978
Location
Florida
took me hours but I finally got Zelda Breath of the Wild running. I wanted to ask if the beginning stamina bar depletes this quickly or if it's an emulation error of some sort:



I'm running it at 30fps locked, but the recording process cut that down to 15fps which is why the footage is like that.

This emulator is a fucking marvel! My specs are:

i3 7100 (3.9ghz)
8gb 1200mhz
mechanical 7000rpm HDD
gtx 1050 2gb

It's literally a $400 rig and it's running BotW at 1080p with 30fps (a bit more actually, but I locked it). Just fucking amazing.

EDIT: Reading forums now to find performance graphicsPacks cos I know I can get steady 45 fps. Already downloaded one that disables depth of field, and there are some FPS packs there.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
It really does deplete that quickly. Stamina is a rare resource especially in the early game, but there's food you can cook that gives you an extended bar and to replenish it.

Regarding Retroarch, it's not a front-end, it's a framework with its own specific timing/polling/syncing methods. For me, it's the best in the business and I can't go back to standalone emulators (unless I have no choice) because input delay is almost nonexistent - especially now with the runahead method, it's possible to have next-frame input response (this is discounting display lag of course, but that's external to the emulator). This is core and game-dependent, though. Even without the runahead method, it's still incredibly responsive.

The excellent shader environment is the icing on the cake.
 

Walden

Savant
Joined
Mar 23, 2016
Messages
289
For our April release, we’re bringing even more elusive electronic esoterica to light. MAME 0.197 finally includes support for the 1987 version of the Spanish quiz game Master Boy, believed to be Gaelco’s first release. There are now drivers for several Neo-Geo MVS variants, exposing different capabilities. Lamp outputs are now supported for The Irritating Maze, bringing the game to life a little more. We’ve added four more Tiger LCD games, all based on licensed IP: Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Independence Day, and Transformers – Generation 2.

The Sega Model 2 improvements keep coming, with Rail Chase 2 now working. With its protection MCU emulated, Capcom’s F-1 Dream is also working. MAME 0.197 adds support for alternate versions and bootlegs of a long list of systems, including Crazy Bonus 2002, Explosive Breaker, Fidelity Excel 68000, Lup Lup Puzzle, Pochi and Nyaa, Renegade, and Silkworm. In addition, there are graphical improvements to Sega ST-V/Saturn, and Magical Tetris Challenge.

There are some nice improvements for computer emulation this month, too. The Acorn Electron has improved video handling and support for the Mega Games Cartridge. The NEC PC-98 CD-ROM software list has been updated with the latest dumps and compatibility status – recent emulation improvements mean more fully supported titles. You can now boot HP-BASIC cartridges on the HP9000/340 series.

MAME 0.197 released.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
Are there any good MAME exclusives that were never re-released outside of the arcades?

Many great arcade games never got ported.

Osman (like Strider, but more over the top):


Denjin Makai 2 (one of the best beat'em ups of all time):


Ninja Baseball Bat Man (pretty fun silly beat'em up):


Battle Circuit (underrated Capcom beat'em up, came out at around the same time as Tower of Doom):


Fixeight (basically a beter version of its predecessor, Outlanders - this is a vertical top-down character shooting game - like Mercs, Shock Troopers, etc. Very fun game by Toaplan, the shmup legend):



There are many other examples, but these are just what came to mind immediately.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
One of my favourites is Undercover Cops, but it was ported to the SNES (although the port is quite shoddy in comparison). It was made by IREM, by the same people who later left the company and went on to work on Metal Slug. So, the animation is really good and there's a lot of detail in the post-apoc backgrounds.



I'm usually not a big fan of Konami beat'em'ups, but Metamorphic Force is pretty fun and never got a home port.



Violent Storm was a later Konami game that was also pretty cool that was never released outside of arcades. You've probably heard of it, though.



A later-day beat'em'up that also never got a port was Gaia Crusaders, by the same people that made Sengoku 3. It's also pretty dope.

 
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Messages
5,866
I was going to include Revenge of Death Adder, but it's not really that good. Stages are very short, bosses are lame and repeat from the 3rd level onwards and there are only 5 levels (well, the last level is really just the boss, so I'd say it has 4 levels). Admittedly, there are a couple of branching paths.

It looks cool, but that's about it. Even the characters are lame.
 
Last edited:
Self-Ejected

aweigh

Self-Ejected
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
17,978
Location
Florida
There's a new release of Cemu (12.1d), however I didn't notice any tangible improvement on the two games I'm playing: Zelda: BotW and Xenoblade Chronicles X. Zelda runs at 40-45 fps for me in the new release, same as in the previous one, and Xenoblade X runs at 30 fps because there isn't yet a patch to unlock the frame-rate.

Amusingly enough I can't think of any other games worth playing on Wii U other than those two games, the Twilight Princess and Windwaker HD remasters, and the Mario/Mario-themed games (like Captain Toad for example).

The Cemu dev team was unbelievably smart about charging for development while the iron was hot with the release of Breath of the Wild because there is literally nothing else worth playing on the emulator.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom