Emulation central - recommendations in 1st post

[Derringer]

"Oh boy, now I can emulate ps3 hd collections of ps2 games with issues on pcsx2."
Every single hd collection has bugs or missing graphical features/performance problems.
Never mind, guess I am sticking to pcsx2.

Persona 5/Demons Souls emulator.

Meh, figured out how to remove the intro from Mega Bezels, had to scroll ALL the way down the shaders settings to see it but sadly i just discovered the shader isn't so good at handling aspect ratio as i first through. Loaded up Black Tiger on MAME and the aspect was clearly wrong. The overlay too is wrong funny how those people spend so much time trying to replicate the visuals of those old arcades and consoles and yet nobody seems to care about something as simple as not having your image stretched out and your guy looking like he gained 50 pounds since the last time you saw him years ago in the arcades as a kid.

It's just the mame core, if you don't know how to get into the basic mame config settings to adjust the pixel ratio I'm not really sure what to tell you beyond just using the FireBurn Alpha core instead since it's easier to use.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Meh, figured out how to remove the intro from Mega Bezels, had to scroll ALL the way down the shaders settings to see it but sadly i just discovered the shader isn't so good at handling aspect ratio as i first through. Loaded up Black Tiger on MAME and the aspect was clearly wrong. The overlay too is wrong funny how those people spend so much time trying to replicate the visuals of those old arcades and consoles and yet nobody seems to care about something as simple as not having your image stretched out and your guy looking like he gained 50 pounds since the last time you saw him years ago in the arcades as a kid.

It's just the mame core, if you don't know how to get into the basic mame config settings to adjust the pixel ratio I'm not really sure what to tell you beyond just using the FireBurn Alpha core instead since it's easier to use.

That's not what i'm talking about. Mega Bezels has its own aspect ratio handler, and in fact you are told to just set RetroArct to "full" and not core provided so that the Mega Bezels shader can handle the aspect ratio by itself.

Second, the overlay is just a png image so what i was referring to there is modders not factoring in certain aspect ratios (in this case, 8:7), which i thought was amusing considering how much time and effort those guys are putting in recreating the old school experience and yet somehow they have no problem running games at the wrong aspect ratio.

 

[Derringer]

Meh, figured out how to remove the intro from Mega Bezels, had to scroll ALL the way down the shaders settings to see it but sadly i just discovered the shader isn't so good at handling aspect ratio as i first through. Loaded up Black Tiger on MAME and the aspect was clearly wrong. The overlay too is wrong funny how those people spend so much time trying to replicate the visuals of those old arcades and consoles and yet nobody seems to care about something as simple as not having your image stretched out and your guy looking like he gained 50 pounds since the last time you saw him years ago in the arcades as a kid.

It's just the mame core, if you don't know how to get into the basic mame config settings to adjust the pixel ratio I'm not really sure what to tell you beyond just using the FireBurn Alpha core instead since it's easier to use.

That's not what i'm talking about. Mega Bezels has its own aspect ratio handler, and in fact you are told to just set RetroArct to "full" and not core provided so that the Mega Bezels shader can handle the aspect ratio by itself.

Second, the overlay is just a png image so what i was referring to there is modders not factoring in certain aspect ratios (in this case, 8:7), which i thought was amusing considering how much time and effort those guys are putting in recreating the old school experience and yet somehow they have no problem running games at the wrong aspect ratio.

Curvature (the bend on shaders) can be turned off on good shaders, besides that there's an option to force resolution ratios under Video-->Scaling.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Meh, figured out how to remove the intro from Mega Bezels, had to scroll ALL the way down the shaders settings to see it but sadly i just discovered the shader isn't so good at handling aspect ratio as i first through. Loaded up Black Tiger on MAME and the aspect was clearly wrong. The overlay too is wrong funny how those people spend so much time trying to replicate the visuals of those old arcades and consoles and yet nobody seems to care about something as simple as not having your image stretched out and your guy looking like he gained 50 pounds since the last time you saw him years ago in the arcades as a kid.

It's just the mame core, if you don't know how to get into the basic mame config settings to adjust the pixel ratio I'm not really sure what to tell you beyond just using the FireBurn Alpha core instead since it's easier to use.

That's not what i'm talking about. Mega Bezels has its own aspect ratio handler, and in fact you are told to just set RetroArct to "full" and not core provided so that the Mega Bezels shader can handle the aspect ratio by itself.

Second, the overlay is just a png image so what i was referring to there is modders not factoring in certain aspect ratios (in this case, 8:7), which i thought was amusing considering how much time and effort those guys are putting in recreating the old school experience and yet somehow they have no problem running games at the wrong aspect ratio.

Curvature (the bend on shaders) can be turned off on good shaders, besides that there's an option to force resolution ratios under Video-->Scaling.

Maybe i'm explaining myself as well as i think i am. I wasn't complaining that i can't set the aspect ratio correctly. I can and i did. I'm just commenting on the fact the people creating those overlays and shaders did not take those aspect ratios into consideration, which is odd considering their stated goal is simulating "the original experience".

After some googling, it turns out the issue goes back to the arcades themselves. This one for instance shows the correct aspect ratio, which is how i remember it:

But apparently there's some cabinets out there where the picture is stretched out so i'm not sure what to make of this. I'm extremely sensitive to aspect ratio so i can't play it with the overlay that is provided by the bezels pack.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

These Mega Bezels are another level of autism.

 

[Don Peste]

 

[Derringer]

Meh, figured out how to remove the intro from Mega Bezels, had to scroll ALL the way down the shaders settings to see it but sadly i just discovered the shader isn't so good at handling aspect ratio as i first through. Loaded up Black Tiger on MAME and the aspect was clearly wrong. The overlay too is wrong funny how those people spend so much time trying to replicate the visuals of those old arcades and consoles and yet nobody seems to care about something as simple as not having your image stretched out and your guy looking like he gained 50 pounds since the last time you saw him years ago in the arcades as a kid.

It's just the mame core, if you don't know how to get into the basic mame config settings to adjust the pixel ratio I'm not really sure what to tell you beyond just using the FireBurn Alpha core instead since it's easier to use.

That's not what i'm talking about. Mega Bezels has its own aspect ratio handler, and in fact you are told to just set RetroArct to "full" and not core provided so that the Mega Bezels shader can handle the aspect ratio by itself.

Second, the overlay is just a png image so what i was referring to there is modders not factoring in certain aspect ratios (in this case, 8:7), which i thought was amusing considering how much time and effort those guys are putting in recreating the old school experience and yet somehow they have no problem running games at the wrong aspect ratio.

Curvature (the bend on shaders) can be turned off on good shaders, besides that there's an option to force resolution ratios under Video-->Scaling.

Maybe i'm explaining myself as well as i think i am. I wasn't complaining that i can't set the aspect ratio correctly. I can and i did. I'm just commenting on the fact the people creating those overlays and shaders did not take those aspect ratios into consideration, which is odd considering their stated goal is simulating "the original experience".

After some googling, it turns out the issue goes back to the arcades themselves. This one for instance shows the correct aspect ratio, which is how i remember it:

But apparently there's some cabinets out there where the picture is stretched out so i'm not sure what to make of this. I'm extremely sensitive to aspect ratio so i can't play it with the overlay that is provided by the bezels pack.

The retroarch core scales it like shit anyways, you're better off just running it through mame with a similar version to your romset if you want good looking bezels, I'm not really sure how to crop them though unlike say Retroarch. You're right about the scaling, it fucks it up along with the resolution if you use the bezel artwork with it. Fireburn Alpha also needs you to force whatever aspect ratio you want through Video --> Scaling.

https://a.pomf.cat/zzccgk.png
https://a.pomf.cat/bycppv.png

You can crop the bezels with the custom Aspect Ratio option in Retroarch but you're basically stuck setting up your own custom resolution and adjusting the position of it.

 

[Great Deceiver]

"Oh boy, now I can emulate ps3 hd collections of ps2 games with issues on pcsx2."
Every single hd collection has bugs or missing graphical features/performance problems.
Never mind, guess I am sticking to pcsx2.

Shadow of the Colossus and Ico remasters on the PS3 are very, very good and I'd say strictly superior to the original versions.

Afaik every effect is intact, there's no fucking with the artistic intent (no upscaled textures or any of that shit) and the framerate is rock solid.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Probably you already know, but if you want to play the PS2 version of ICO, you should get the PAL version (https://teamico.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_changes_from_the_U.S._version_of_Ico)

 

[flyingjohn]

Recheck my ii gs collection.
"Hmm, I wonder why secret of the Bharas is missing?"
Tosec has been naming it secret of the Bahras. So, minus the inability to handle the letter the and ;, they also have a severe case of fucking up basic names.

Also gonna start updating some of my computer collection i uploaded years ago. Starting now with apple ii GS:
https://mega.nz/file/ZCJTDLSQ#vSa-18WPR5lfKQ5ceznej2yUCwUv1_WDqTyEj77BKhM
Changelog:
-Updated emu's
-Handpicked selection of rpg/sim/strategy games instead of everything.
-Combination of tosec and a very good apple ii gs website
-Much more manuals(they are contributing to 2/3 of the size)
-Much more hdd combinations
-apple ii games . Yes,you can play apple ii games on the gs emulator.
STILL MISSING CENTAURI ALLIANCE,IF SOMEBODY HAS A SINGLE DISK IMAGE OF THE GAME PLEASE SHARE.

Going through Mac, it is going to be hell of a chopping block for that fat bastard.

Extra extra:

Moving script

Okey, i am going to give you the moving script I use on windows.
Paste this in any notepad and save as a .bat file and run it in cmd:
@ECHO OFF

CHCP 65001 > NUL

FOR /F "usebackq delims=" %%I IN ("LOCATION OF TEXT FILE WITH NAMES") DO (
xcopy /s "MOVEFROMLOCATION\%%I" "MOVETOLOCATION\%%I*"
)
Obviously change location stuff for actual location. Also be very precise with names in the list. If you type bard, it will not pick up bard's.
And if the folder you are moving stuff contains folders, you are gonna have to do it like this:
**Bard's** instead of Bard's.
Notepad ++ allows you to use regular expression to add characters to every beginning and end of line, so it is easy.

 

[flyingjohn]

Modified the mac collection:
https://mega.nz/fm/IXhA3YpZ

-Size went from 18 to 3 gb's.
-Removed most stuff that has windows 3.1 ports
-Only stuff that actually reviewed well and has codex mentions stayed
-Removed system 9 since there is zero point since the cutoff point is 1995

 

[Don Peste]

 

[flyingjohn]

New mobygames webiste is available.
Gee, I wonder can I finally sort the mecha category and not just have to browse an unfiltered list:
And you can actually can, quite a improvement.

 

[spekkio]

Still no option to filter out Add-ons, DLCs and other shit in game series?

 

[flyingjohn]

Still no option to filter our Add-ons, DLCs and other shit in game series?

Well you can go to the new game browser and type in resi games and action, it won't exclude every dlc but it will look like this:

 

[unseeingeye]

flyingjohn​

just wanted to thank you for all of your packages. I've downloaded each one of them on my phone and am in the process of importing the roms and a few of the emulators into my Android version of LaunchBox and since we have such similar interests in games and computers here your efforts have saved me countless hours, so sincerely thank you very, very much. We spoke in another thread a while back about Mac emulation, which by the way I did end up figuring out and got Mini vMac, Basilisk II and SheepShaver up and running each with a decent sized virtual drive that has all of the RPGs I intend to play fully installed with manuals for between OS 6 through 9; firing up the old Wizardry games in OS 6 with the windows GUI is so much fun, and I mostly only use SheepShaver running OS 9 for installed copies of Fallout and Might and Magic III.

Anyway, I have all of the relevant computers and consoles setup in LaunchBox on my gaming laptop with as near complete libraries as I've been able to maintain (they have all the games I'm interested in and about 25,000 others I probably never even heard of, because why not?) but I only had on my phone libraries for Amiga, MSX and MSX2 as far as computers go with only the Amiga being truly complete (setup by importing WHDrun configs for WHDLoad), and for consoles the only complete libraries I have are Super Nintendo and the regular Nintendo, Sega Master System and Genesis. The rest are either incomplete because I hadn't had time to fill them out, or due to space. For PlayStation I have all the Kings Field games and Shadow Tower, Tactics Ogre and Ogre Battle, a few others, and then I have a few Sega Saturn and Sega CD games but I keep them limited due to the size.

I just yesterday finished up setting the games I'm most interested in working on various Japanese computers, so I have fairly comprehensive libraries for PC-88, PC-98, FM-7, FM-Towns / Marty, PC-E and PC-E CD, Sharp X1 and Sharp X68000, and one of my main interests is to be able to mess around with every version of Last Armageddon. I figured out how to launch the game for most of these computers but I got stuck on the PC-98 version; no matter what I do I cannot get past the opening screens and since I've forgotten most of the Japanese I'd learned in my teens I can't figure out if it is a matter of needing a specific sequence of multi-disk insertions or if it is a keyboard issue. It was driving me crazy and I had to give up, but I'm determined to get it working like I did the others.

I was going to recreate most of my Japanese and 80s era Western computer libraries on my phone LaunchBox but was away from my laptop and most of the available packs I could find online were either incomplete or using a naming scheme that wouldn't work well with LaunchBox importing, so I was thinking what to do. My laptop libraries are, like most people I imagine, the results of many hours spent sourcing obscure games, combining multiple packs and God only knows how many hours spent organizing and renaming to have a clean presentation with manuals readily accessible and so on, and there is no way I'm redoing all of that on my phone form within the phone itself. But then I remembered this thread, and your packs, and this was seriously the most perfect solution I could even imagine. So again I am sincerely grateful for your efforts, they are incredibly convenient.

EDIT - I forgot to mention that I also am finally getting around to trying Snatcher and Policenauts, though the latter appears to involve quite an undertaking to get running with correct sound synching on PC-98 which is, of course, the version I'm most interested in seeing.

 

[flyingjohn]

@flyingjohn​

just wanted to thank you for all of your packages

Nice to see somebody finding use for my waste of times.
Just for lunacy sake I actually copied moby/game faq lists and manually went through all entries to check for missing stuff when making said collections ,I am never doing that shit again in my life.
Unfortunately my personal collection is a heavily shrunk down version of what I uploaded thanks to disc space and Japanese making my eyes bleed lately.

it is a matter of needing a specific sequence of multi-disk insertions

100 % this.
Fuck whoever made their disk naming conventions. Disk A literally can be the last disk inserted in some cases.
Trying to get daisernyaku running made me really hate this process. I would recommending getting a hard drive image of the game but, doesn't seem to be one.

 

[unseeingeye]

100 % this.
Fuck whoever made their disk naming conventions. Disk A literally can be the last disk inserted in some cases.
Trying to get daisernyaku running made me really hate this process. I would recommending getting a hard drive image of the game but, doesn't seem to be one.

Yea man I'm at a total loss, I tried every conceivable combination of disks I could; there are only 4, and I had 3 different versions of each so I went to town. I thought the general rule for the 98 was disk 1 and 2 plays intros and disk 1 and 3 plays the games, but one of my copies had a 5th disk so I'm all kinds of confused. With disk 1 and 2 I can watch the whole (glorious animation) opening cutscene, and with disk 1 and 3 I can press what I think is "start" or another option that opens a new screen that lets you view hundreds of monsters. I can click on a monster and back out, but thats it. When I try to (what I think is) start the game, a screen comes up clearly indicating to insert disks, and I think I see a 1 and a 2 in there, but swapping out the disks results in a brief reading process followed by nothing, just sits there playing the music until the song finishes. It was driving me nuts; I may have to try that AI translation tool for RetroArch and see if that can help get me through. I have never before encountered a game I couldn't even figure out how to start; headaches sure, but I've always figured out it eventually.

 

[Derringer]

Okage Shadow King is a mediocre blobber JRPG and slow as fuck but it's amazingly charming compared to a lot of cinematic trashy JRPGs I've played for the PS2.

 

[Rahdulan]

Okage Shadow King is a mediocre blobber JRPG and slow as fuck but it's amazingly charming compared to a lot of cinematic trashy JRPGs I've played for the PS2.

Probably because it's one of the very few JRPGs that manages to be genuinely humorous. Tighter combat system would've made it much better, though.

 

[unseeingeye]

Well, this is as far as I've gotten with the PC-98 version of the Last Armageddon game. I believe the loading sequence I used began with Disk D in the the first FDD slot, and Disk C in the second FDD slot. This enabled me to get to a new initial screen; the other combinations I tried invariably resulted in either the introductory cutscene playing or took me to a screen with two options, the first of which brought me to a screen with like 200 monster names that I could select and get to a new screen with a picture of the monster and a bunch of stats (I assume, because it is entirely in Japanese) that I can not get past, while the second option prompted what I presume to be a "insert disk" message, followed by an attempt at disk reading and then nothing, no matter what keys I press or disks I insert.

This new screen was similar to the one I was presented with in a different version (only I forget which one, maybe the PC-E CD or the FM Towns) and I was overcome with joy. There are three options, and when I chose the middle option it took me to the start of the actual game, but the sound stopped and the screen was all blurry, then an 'insert disk' prompt appeared, so I put Disk A in the first slot the music started playing again but the screen was still blurry. So then I put in Set 1 Disk B in the second slot, and lo and behold the screen was fixed and there I was, with a pre-made party (maybe this is a quick-start option, or a saved game of whomever copied the disks, I have no idea), yet no matter what I tried I could not move around the map! I could open different menus, what I think are the inventory or stats screens, and using the numbers 2, 4, 6 and 8 (I assume the numpad directional keys) I can operate the menus, but nothing worked to actually play the game. I was so close! And yet so far, lol. If anybody happens to see this and has any idea how to play this game on the PC-98 or PC-88 I would be extremely grateful for any advice. Here are some screen shots I took of my progress. I've not messed around much with multi disk PC-98 games so I'm a novice here trying to learn how its done.

 

[unseeingeye]

Woah hold up, those screen shots are of the PC-88 version which I did get working, I apologize. It is the PC-98 version that I could manage to get started but couldn't move around the map, but I forgot to take screen shots of it.

EDIT - Ok clearly the option I picked that started the game was a former save, judging by the party levels and stats. As for not being able to move in the PC-98 version but all other normal keys working, I'm assuming at this point that it is the absence of a numpad. I have one on my actual laptop but I use an external monitor, keyboad and mouse so either unhooking everything and trying it that way, or remapping with Joy2Key are my only immediate options.

 

[flyingjohn]

I've not messed around much with multi disk PC-98 games so I'm a novice here trying to learn how its done.

There are 3 hdm floppy files I presume?
Disk a is just the intro, nothing else (uniquely stupid).
Disk C opens up the party management in which you need to setup your party members. Check the youtube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlBL_dIh-kI&t=531s
Disk b, fuck if i know, but it is probably the actual game.

 

[Rincewind]

"Oh boy, now I can emulate ps3 hd collections of ps2 games with issues on pcsx2."
Every single hd collection has bugs or missing graphical features/performance problems.
Never mind, guess I am sticking to pcsx2.

Shadow of the Colossus and Ico remasters on the PS3 are very, very good and I'd say strictly superior to the original versions.

Afaik every effect is intact, there's no fucking with the artistic intent (no upscaled textures or any of that shit) and the framerate is rock solid.

What do you think about the PS3 remasters? I prefer the atmosphere of the PS3 version overall, based on this comparison video. The PS2/PS3 versions look a lot more atmospheric and cinematic to me, and while the PS4 version has more detail, I wouldn't call that an improvement. It looks much more "videogame-y".

 

[Great Deceiver]

"Oh boy, now I can emulate ps3 hd collections of ps2 games with issues on pcsx2."
Every single hd collection has bugs or missing graphical features/performance problems.
Never mind, guess I am sticking to pcsx2.

Shadow of the Colossus and Ico remasters on the PS3 are very, very good and I'd say strictly superior to the original versions.

Afaik every effect is intact, there's no fucking with the artistic intent (no upscaled textures or any of that shit) and the framerate is rock solid.

What do you think about the PS3 remasters? I prefer the atmosphere of the PS3 version overall, based on this comparison video. The PS2/PS3 versions look a lot more atmospheric and cinematic to me, and while the PS4 version has more detail, I wouldn't call that an improvement. It looks much more "videogame-y".

Outside of the improved framerate, I didn't like the PS4 remake of SotC at all. It suffers from some of the same problems as the Demons Souls remake by the same company - it butchers the artstyle and overall feel of the original game. This is a game that really benefits from the "aethereal" quality of low-res textures and the very specific type of overblooming that Team Ico was so fond of in the PS2 days. This allied with the limited view distance of the original really made you feel like you were in an alien, mysterious - and most of all barren, lifeless, melancholy world, and of course that is in itself important to the game's narrative. All of that is pretty much ruined in the recent remake, it's too colourful, too "alive", too banal shit boring.

Plus, they added some collectathon metrics that are completely out of place. It's a much lesser experience in my opinion. Whenever I feel like replaying SotC, I boot up the PS3 remaster, which is strictly better than the PS2 original in all respects with no downsides at all.