Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

[Nifft Batuff]

I imagine the number of people who would opt for that version over emulating the Wii version is rather small.

Probably.

 

[Duraframe300]

 

[Grauken]

kinda interesting

 

[Nifft Batuff]

After many aborted tries to play Deadly Premonition on PC, due to bugs, inane keyboard mapping, glitches etc... I recently tried the PS3 DC version with the last version of RPCS3 and it run perfectly. Now I am about 12 hours in the game without problems. The game runs also particularly smoothly in RPCS3: my fan is completely silent while the game runs emulated, while it was noisy with the official PC version of the game.

 

[Baron Dupek]

 

[aweigh]

After many aborted tries to play Deadly Premonition on PC, due to bugs, inane keyboard mapping, glitches etc... I recently tried the PS3 DC version with the last version of RPCS3 and it run perfectly. Now I am about 12 hours in the game without problems. The game runs also particularly smoothly in RPCS3: my fan is completely silent while the game runs emulated, while it was noisy with the official PC version of the game.

Consider trying out the original release version of Xbox 360 release version of Deadly Premonition on Xenia emulator, which just had some updates. The Xbox 360 version of DP is considered the best version of the game.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Is there any way to get rid of those terrible slowdowns in Soul Fuckers on Citra? I don't belive this geam is much more demanding that SMT4.

Problem was still available despite me trying to use older Citra builds... but now I'm running it butter smooth without a single fps drop on LINUX Citra build.

Guess Linux has better drivers for Ryzen / Radeon.

 

[Puukko]

I never had any slowdowns with SH, it was the easiest SMT to run aside from SJR.

 

[flyingjohn]

Anyone here have any experience in emulating the apple II in mednafen?
I just can't get the damn thing to read keyboard input.Hotkeys like select save state work but there is no way it will read anything for the apple 2.
I know applewin is miles better but,i am interested in mednafen apple 2 capabilities.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Yuzu on Linux brings some serious problems. Vulkan renderer makes emulator crashes on start, with OpenGL I can run SMO intro (which runs better than on Windows) but game crashes anyway, Ultra Street Fighter 2 doesn't run either... both of these games were ok on Windows.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

Puyo Puyo Tetris runs perfectly on Yuzu Linux so it's not like me doing something wrong, any ideas why L-Yuzu has much worse compatibility than Windows version?

Did anybody try to run WinYuzu via Wine?

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Puyo Puyo Tetris runs perfectly on Yuzu Linux so it's not like me doing something wrong, any ideas why L-Yuzu has much worse compatibility than Windows version?

Did anybody try to run WinYuzu via Wine?

The last time I touched Linux was maybe 15 - 16 years ago in a small internet cafe that can't bother to pirate Windows. Can't help man, sorry.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Anyone here have any experience in emulating the apple II in mednafen?
I just can't get the damn thing to read keyboard input.Hotkeys like select save state work but there is no way it will read anything for the apple 2.
I know applewin is miles better but,i am interested in mednafen apple 2 capabilities.

I think you need to select explicitly the keyboard as the input device. Then you need to avoid the clash of the native keys with the emulator hotkeys, for example by setting an hotkey switch.

 

[flyingjohn]

Managed to fix my issue with mednafen.
CTRL + SHIFT + MENU gets you keyboard input.
For anybody wondering.

 

[flyingjohn]

So our favorite furry emu dev decides to nuke EVERYTHING he ever made.
HAHAHAHAH.

Here is a clean backup link for higan/byuu:
https://mega.nz/file/Ya5BlDLa#vt_pah9-xzRY4BghMl1OKsdJ4YQFfMezdJ_Q5FFlJjM

There are no bios files so it doesn't count as piracy.

 

[d1r]

So our favorite furry emu dev decides to nuke EVERYTHING he ever made.
HAHAHAHAH.

Here is a clean backup link for higan/byuu:
https://mega.nz/file/Ya5BlDLa#vt_pah9-xzRY4BghMl1OKsdJ4YQFfMezdJ_Q5FFlJjM

There are no bios files so it doesn't count as piracy.

Literally who?

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

I never had any slowdowns with SH, it was the easiest SMT to run aside from SJR.

I guess you have Nvidia graphic card? I switched back to Windows and tried the newest build, Soul Fuckers still has slowdowns. I have AMD card.

It appears that OpenGL stuff runs better on Linux. Are there any plans for Citra to support Vulkan?

 

[Duraframe300]

So our favorite furry emu dev decides to nuke EVERYTHING he ever made.
HAHAHAHAH.

Here is a clean backup link for higan/byuu:
https://mega.nz/file/Ya5BlDLa#vt_pah9-xzRY4BghMl1OKsdJ4YQFfMezdJ_Q5FFlJjM

There are no bios files so it doesn't count as piracy.

While its not surprising, developments like these are always near tragic. Byuu created one of the most well respected emulators of all time which helped a community greatly while always whining about how X or Y in his life didn't work out.

FFS people, learn to appreciate the things you have achieved and what you actually HAVE done in life. And let me tell you: Even if you manage all the other things you wanted now you still won't be happy, because going mental over shit like this (after you had already quit normally!) just shows that you are constantly looking for your own downfall.

And this shit gets encouraged in social circles nowadays. Modern society is cancer. Also get better friends.

 

[spekkio]

^
Link to DRAMA or GTFO.

 

[Duraframe300]

^
Link to DRAMA or GTFO.

There's no specific drama. Instead constant complaining about everything like this. (Note the first sentence and that is exactly the kind of shit I'm referring to)

He literary wrote an essay once on his website which he called *Futility of Hope*.

Also he ended up with major TDS and as a non-binary furry.

 

[spekkio]

So he (?) deleted fucking everything without posting a proper epic meltdown first?

Now that's just bad manners when it comes to internet drama queens.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Shame he's too

to realize he could treat the art and language as a hobby (like learning an instrument without expecting to become a musician) so he wouldn't go crazy about it being "wasted time". Especially since he already has a more marketable skill...

 

[flyingjohn]

Pcsx2 report:
https://pcsx2.net/295-q2-2020-progress-report.html

Good news:
They seem to have fixed jak 1 eye issue.

Bad news:
Also no more support for windows 7/8 and the direct-x video plugin doesn't work anymore for my computer.
Good job.

Can anybody test if the latest development version of pcsx2 works with direct-x video plugin and windows 7?

 

[Duraframe300]

Written by lightningterror


GSdx Improvements
[Accuracy Enhancement] #3414, #3433 (HW/SW) Z-Buffer improvements. By lightningterror, refraction and KrossX, backport from Dobiestation.

A huge boost in accuracy that we've accomplished was improving Z-Buffer emulation on both hardware and software renderers. What this means is that a lot of games received a boost in accuracy throughout the ps2 game library. Many text and HUD issues have been resolved. So far these are the games that we know of that show an improvement:

• Itadaki Street 3 (text display),
• Midnight Club 3 (text input),
• Rozen Maiden DuellWalzer (text)
• F1 2004 (starting lights),
• Alone in the Dark (improper controller display),
• Silent Hill 2 and 3 (textures not showing on different angles such as toilet),
• Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (weapon HUD),
• Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness (book pictures).

For anyone interested what Z-Buffering is and it's technical aspects, there is a nice wiki page that you can read here.

Here are some eye candy image comparisons from some of the mentioned games

Itadaki Street:



Rozen Maiden DuellWalzer:



Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness:



Alone in the Dark:



[Accuracy Enhancement] #3436 (HW) Improved Texture shuffle detection. By lightningterror and kojin.

To put it simply it improves the effect detection so that games can be properly rendered, plus we removed the CRC hacks that were in its place to skip the bad draw calls. So far we know of only two games that hit the code path such as Onimusha 3 and Devil May Cry 3, but we believe there are more that we don't know of.

Everybody loves image comparisons right?

Onimusha 3:



Devil May Cry 3:





[Accuracy Enhancement] #3131 (HW) Invalidate Source with overlapping draw. By iMineLink.

Improve texture cache Source objects invalidation logic taking into account overlapping with current draw.
Fixes eyes rendering for the Major in Jak 1.



[Accuracy Enhancement] #3075 (HW) Extend Software Sprite Renderer to Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3. By iMineLink.

Previously we've discussed that we have a new feature called SWSpriteRenderer that we use to properly render the Jak character model in Jak games. Now we are extending the feature as well as improving the SWSpriteRenderer code itself to work on Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3 games. This improves rendering of Kaio-ken effect in Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2, as well as improve character silhouette in Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3 when a character is hidden from displaying from an obstacle (rock for example), as well as properly render character flashing on a charged attack.

So far only Jak and Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3 games use this feature. In the future we plan on finding more games that can benefit from this, further improve the feature and always enable it by default along with auto detection.

Budokai Tenkaichi 2:



Budokai Tenkaichi 3:



[Accuracy Enhancement] #3027 (HW) Add dithering support. By KrossX.

Dithering support has been added on all hardware renderers. Another great step in increasing accuracy which further matches or gets close to Software renderer. For more specifics about what dithering is you can check this link here. For those who wish to turn off dithering on the latest development builds they can do so with the Page Down key which is temporary or edit the GSdx ini file which is permanent. There are 3 levels. Off, Scaled and Unscaled. A lot of games use dithering so here is an example below from Castlevania.





[Accuracy Enhancement] #3264 (HW) Color clip blending improvements. By lightningterror.

• Enable recursive blending when blending is set to None. Previously recursive blending was enabled only when blending was set to Basic or higher, and now it will be active on None option as well as there are 0 drawbacks. It is faster so games will gain a couple of FPS when blending is disabled and it is also more accurate. A win - win situation.

• (OpenGL) Always use accurate sw blending on Safe/Accurate Frame buffer masking instead of accumulation mode. Fixes shadows in Superman Shadows of Apokolips, see image comparison below.

[Misc Enhancements] Other important GSdx changes:

• #3247 (PSX/PS1 emu) PS1 emulator plugin support has been dropped/removed, as the code wasn't maintained at all and the feature was barely working. What does this mean? GSdx as a plugin can no longer be used on other ps1 emulators that support a plugin interface such as ePSXe. PS1 titles can still be played using PCSX2. By lightningterror.

• #3304 (HW) Custom Resolution has been removed from the GUI. The option didn't work properly with many features such as Depth Emulation, Destination Alpha Test and many more, breaking accurate emulation in the process. For anyone still wishing to use Custom Resolution even though we strongly advise against it, they can modify the GSdx ini file. By lightningterror.

• #3263 (HW/SW) Mirror RGBAQ to 0x11. Fixes Ridge Racer V shadows, see image comparison below. By kojin and PSI-Rockin, backport from Dobiestation.

• #3279 (HW/SW) Mask A+D addresses. Fixes network configuration wizard display issues on some games, see image comparison below. By refraction, backport from Dobiestation.

• #3440 (HW) Alpha Stencil hack has been now completely removed from the Direct3D10/11 renderer as well. As it was the case with OpenGL now DATE Accuracy renders the effects properly with little to no side effects, leaving Alpha Stencil completely useless. In 9 out of 10 cases Alpha Stencil used to break plenty of post processing effects which was an awful hack. By lightningterror.

Core Improvements
[Accuracy Enhancement] #3311, #3400 IPU Improvements. By turtleli.

• Adds dithering to the RGB32->RGB16 conversion (see images from Hisshou Pachinko PachiSlot Kouryaku Series Vol 10 - carefully
  
  ).

• Adds SSE2 implementation of RGB32->RGB16 conversion (speed on the opening FMV in Hisshou Pachinko PachiSlot Kouryaku Series Vol 10 goes from ~175% to ~275% with frame limiter disabled using GSdx software mode).

• Implements VQ (see images from Klonoa 2).

• Removes GameDB patches for Klonoa 2, and revert workaround for Klonoa 2 crashes which are no longer needed.

[Misc Enhancements] Other important Core changes:

• #3386 SuperVU legacy recompiler has been completely removed. In order to move forward and make things easier (for example adding 64bit support) we have decided to completely remove the legacy SuperVU recompiler. By arcum42.

• #3361 Allow reading of 8bit timers (and other hardware pages). Fixes Robin Hood (character not being able to move, enemies not spawning, missing UI elements). By refraction.

• #3385 Fix situation where a VIF IRQ triggers and the game triggers a STOP causing the IRQ to never trigger. Fixes Nitro Bike (hanging). By refraction.

• #3095 Make recLUT not hardcoded to 32 MB. This change makes the EE recompiler not hardcoded to working with 32 MB of RAM. This may be helpful if anybody else in the future wants to emulate a PS2 dev kit with 128 MB of RAM. By water111.

• #3324 Implemented memory mode check in COP0. This makes Next Generation Tennis 2003 (Roland Garros French Open 2003) and Spongebob Squarepants Battle for Bikini Bottom (PAL release) work. By prafullpcsx2 and refraction.

SPU2-X Improvements

• #3244 XAudio 2.7 has been removed as it's no longer needed since Windows 7 is no longer supported. By MonJamp.
• #3454 Rewrite the spu2-x dialog on Linux in wxwidgets. By arcum42.

GameDB Improvements

• #3376 Performance patch fix for Primal and Ghosthunter. Fix for terrible performance in US versions of Primal (all the time) and Ghosthunter (when encountering Teddy Bear and in the moment of Gator-Man's rush attack, maybe a few other cases). By RazielZnot.

• Other GameDB additions or deletions have been done throughout the Q2 cycle as well.

Misc Improvements

• #3357 Preliminary work on macOS support, it still needs a lot work but it's a great step moving forward. By tellowkrinkle.

• #3477, #3423 Better DPI scaling support. Fixed some texts being cut off from the GUI on several plugins as well as the glitchy logo when using DPI scaling. By lightningterror and Ryudo300.

• #3420 Switch over the null plugins dialog code to use wxWidgets instead of gtk on Linux. By arcum42.

• Windows 7 and Windows 8 support has been dropped in order to move forward.

• There have been other improvements made such as more code cleanups, bug fixes and other improvements but we won't mention them since they aren't that big of a deal.

Future Plans
64 bit support is in progress and getting along nicely, more work on macOS support, more juicy new core accuracy improvements that will be mentioned in the next report, more code cleanups, refactoring, overhauling and so on.

And that's all from us, see you next time in our Q3 Report!

 

[spekkio]

Can anybody test if the latest development version of pcsx2 works with direct-x video plugin and windows 7?

Tested pcsx2-v1.7.0-dev-124-ge04d86ad3-windows-x86, the "oldest" one available on Orphis' buildbot on Win7 x64 machine.

And:

1) You can choose D3D 11 Renderer in GSdx settings:

But it crashes the emulator when you try to run anything (game / bios). OpenGL still works fine.

2) SPU2-X no longer works in default mode (XAudio 2):

You have to switch the plugin to DirectSound module to get sound.

So, the search for the last Win7-compatible build continues. Older builds can be found on EmuCR.

I think I'm just gonna stick with "official" 1.6.0 from 06.05.2020 on my Win7 machine.

R.I.P. in peace the last decent OS in history.