[ExMachina]

The purpose of this topic is to serve as an introduction to PCSX2 and to collect GAFfer submitted guides for running games in a playable and enjoyable state on the emulator. Information and configs were scattered between random screenshots and discussions throughout the old topic, so we decided that PS2 emulation deserved a similar counterpart to Stallion Free's excellent Dolphin thread. If you are currently using PCSX2 to play through a PS2 title, why not share your config? See the second post for instructions on how to submit a guide.

What is PCSX2?

PCSX2 is an open source emulator that allows you to play PlayStation 2 games on your PC. It has a very active development community that is constantly working on compatibility and adding features - the code is tweaked so often that new subversions (SVNs) of the emulator are compiled every day. Modern computers are not only capable of running most PS2 games at full speed but also at much greater resolutions than the original console hardware can render.

• PCSX2 Homepage - features a download section with the latest public versions/betas and a compatibility list of games
• PCSX2 Googlecode - center of PCSX2 development, the source code and older versions are available here
• PCSX2 at EmuCR - daily compiled builds of the latest SVNs for download

Sample Screenshots



What do I need to use PCSX2?

• PC - recommended specs - OS: Windows Vista or 7 | CPU: dual core at 3.2 GHz | GPU: nVidia 8800 GT, ATI HD 2/3000 series | RAM: 2GB | DVD drive
• PCSX2 Build - either a Public Beta or a Daily SVN (if you're not sure about what DirectX version you have, get the PCSX2 0.9.8 Beta Full Installer [ 12MB ])
• PS2 BIOS - a copy of the BIOS dumped from an actual PS2, do not ask for a download since it is illegal to share BIOS roms
• Controller - a Dualshock(2) with a PS1/2 to USB converter, a Sixaxis/Dualshock3, or a wired Xbox 360 controller are recommended

NOTE: PCSX2 is very CPU intensive and can utilize two cores, so you'll want the fastest multi core processor you can get. More powerful graphics cards with more vram will allow you to play at higher resolutions, but overall performance of the emulator is much more dependent on your CPU.

Installing the Emulator

>> PCSX2 0.9.8 Beta Full Installer

Run it and go through the prompts.

>> PCSX2 0.9.8 Beta Binary only or an SVN

Extract the contents of the 7zip archive to a directory of your choice.

NOTE: As of SVN build 4866, PCSX2 can now take advantage of more than 2 cores. So be sure to download a later build that takes advantage of this for the more demanding games if you have a multicore processor.

First Time Configuration

When running PCSX2 for the first time, you will be prompted to go through an initial setup.

>> Directories

By default, the emulator will create a directory named "PCSX2" for user documents in your Documents folder, and a folder named "inis" inside that directory for your settings.

NOTE: If you choose to change the location of your user docs/settings during installation or are deciding on where to place the contents of the Binary/SVN archive, it is recommended that you do not place it in "C:\Program Files," since PCSX2 may then have issues saving your configs properly.

>> Plugins

If you want to change your plugins after the first time setup, you can go through "Config > Plugin/BIOS Selector" in the main PCSX2 window.

Video (GS): Picking one of the GSdx plugins is your best bet, since it tends to give the best performance in most cases. If you're not sure whether your CPU supports SSE2, SSSE3, or SSE4.1, just wait until you get through the setup to PCSX2 itself and the Program Log will tell you.

NOTE: SSE2, SSSE3, and SSE4.1 are instruction sets that PCSX2 can benefit from. SSSE3 should not be confused with SSE3, SSE4.1 should not be confused with SSE4a. Current AMD CPUs for the most part don't support SSSE3 or SSE4.1, so Intel processors in general have better performance in PCSX2 right now. AMD's upcoming Bulldozer chips will support SSSE3 and SSE4.1, however.



Pad: Both SSSPSX and LilyPad work well with USB dual-analog controllers, though LilyPad is more complex but offers more advanced options (multiple bindings to a single input, support for more input devices, etc.).

Sound: Start with SPU2-X, since it usually gives the best performance and quality for most games.

CDVD: cdvdGigaherz can run discs directly from your PC's optical drive.

USB / FW / DEV9: Leave on default (there should only be 1 plugin available in each of these categories, anyways).

>> BIOS

Since the PS2 BIOS is copyrighted code created by Sony, it is illegal to share it, so do not ask for a way to download the BIOS. You can create an image of your PS2's BIOS to use on your PC using a tool such as the BIOS Dumper.

Once you have a copy of the BIOS on your PC, place it in the default "Documents\PCSX2\bios" directory (you may have to create the folder if it doesn't exist) or point the program to the folder containing the file. Then hit "Refresh list" and select one of the listed BIOS options.

NOTE: Each BIOS file will have a region associated with it, but this will not affect what games you can load. You will be able to play PS2 discs from any region in PCSX2 regardless of which BIOS you pick.

>> PCSX2

With the first time configuration complete, PCSX2 itself will finally start up and you will be greeted with the main PCSX2 window containing the emulator's logo and a Program Log window (aka the Console, which you can show/hide through "Misc > Show Console").

The Console will show that your plugins have loaded and give you information on your system (CPU, supported instructions, GPU).

Whenever "default settings" or "default config" are referred to in this topic, it means the settings detailed in this section.

General Emulator Settings

NOTE: The following are simply good general settings to try launching games for the first time. You will likely have to tweak certain settings in order to get specific games to display correctly, to run smoothly, to get around certain bugs/freezes, etc. If a game needs certain settings changed from default to work properly, it should be mentioned in the configs linked in the second post.

Go to "Config > Emulation Settings."

EE/IOP - settings that affect how the core components of the emulator (Emotion Engine and Input Output Processor) behave. Leave everything on default.

VUs - settings that affect how the parallel processors VU1/VU0 behave. Leave everything on default.

GS and GS Window - settings that affect how graphics are rendered and how PCSX2 handles its final video output. Explained below in the Video Settings in Detail section.

Speedhacks - settings that can improve performance and get a game running closer to full speed, though possibly at the cost of lower compatibility and more glitches. Enable speedhacks and set it to default. Depending on how powerful your hardware is, you may need to increase the EE Cycle Rate and VU Cycle Stealing settings, especially for demanding games such as Shadow of the Colossus.

Video Settings in Detail

>> "Config > Video (GS) > Core GS Settings" or "Config > Emulation Settings > GS"

Framelimiter: Do not disable this. Only turn it off if you want to see how quickly your system can run a game (for benchmarking purposes). Leave it enabled for playing.

Frameskipping: Disable this, since it can cause stuttering and glitches. Only use it if your system cannot run a game at full speed.

Use Synchronized MTGS and Disable all GS Output: Leave both unchecked. The former will cause games to run really slowly, the latter will cause no video to be outputted at all. Only used for debugging purposes.

>> "Config > Video (GS) > Window Setting" or "Config > Emulation Settings > GS Window"

Aspect Ratio: This setting simply resizes the final video output of the emulator. It has no effect on the actual resolution that PCSX2 is rendering, so it has no impact on performance.

Standard (4:3) and Widescreen (16:9) options will force their respective aspect ratios regardless of the size of the PCSX2 window or your monitor (in full screen mode).



Fit to Window/Screen will simply stretch the video to fill in entirely.

Choose the Aspect Ratio depending on the game (for example, Persona 4 only supports 4:3 and will be stretched out in 16:9, whereas Final Fantasy 12 has a 16:9 setting in the in-game options so it can maintain proper proportions in widescreen) and your preferences about filling the screen versus maintaining the proper aspect ratio.

Custom Window Size: Lets you set the video output window size in windowed mode.
Disable window resize border: When checked, you cannot change the window size with your cursor in windowed mode.
Always hide mouse cursor: When checked, the mouse cursor will not be visible in the video output window.
Hide window on suspend: When checked, the video output window will be hidden whenever emulation is suspended (the ESC key suspends emulation, by default).
Default to fullscreen mode on open: When checked, the emulator will go to full screen mode when starting a game.
Use exclusive fullscreen mode (if available): When checked, the emulator will use a different video mode designed for older displays or video cards. Do not use this since it causes instability when switching between full screen and windowed modes.
Wait for vsync on refresh: When checked, reduces screen tearing during full screen mode but at a signficant performance cost. Very graphics card intensive. Recommended that you leave this off.

Configuring the Graphics Plugin (GSdx)

>> "Config > Video (GS) > Plugin Settings..."

Renderer:

There are 3 different types of graphics renderers to choose from... Hardware, Software, and Null. NOTE: You can cycle between the hardware and software renderers in game with F4.

• Hardware - uses your GPU. Higher performance and options for improving IQ such as upscaling, with some graphical glitches.
• Software - uses your CPU. Higher compatibility with fewer graphical glitches but lower performance and less options.
• Null - no video output

There are also 3 different DirectX modes... DX9, DX10, and DX11. Choose the highest one that your graphics card supports (DX10 and 11 are Vista/W7 only) for better graphics. DX9 may have higher compatibility/better performance in some cases, however.

Interlacing: Settings to deal with screen shaking. None works perfectly most of the time. NOTE: You can cycle through interlacing modes in-game with F5.

D3D Upscaling: only available when a hardware renderer is selected, settings for improving IQ by increasing the resolution at which graphics are rendered by the emulator

• D3D internal res - Set a specific resolution in pixels by inputting numbers for width and height, make sure to set Scaling to 1x
• Or use scaling - multiplies the native resolution by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 6x
• Or use original PS2 resolution - when the Native box is checked, video will be rendered at the original size as on an actual PS2 (640x480 or less)

It's generally better for IQ to use scaling by a multiplier rather than setting a fixed D3D internal res, since the latter may result in more graphical glitches like the ghosting pictured above. While the native resolution varies from game to game (very few games actually run at 640x480, the ideal PS2 res), 4x upscaling is almost always higher than 1080p. For example, FF12's native resolution is 512x448, and upscaled 4 times it becomes 2048x1792.

NOTE: The higher the internal resolution or scaling, the more detailed and smoother the graphics will be. Higher resolutions or more scaling will be more demanding on the graphics card.

Hardware Mode Settings: only available when a hardware renderer is selected, settings impacting performance and IQ

• Texture filtering - When checked, all textures will be bilinearly filtered. Improves IQ.
• Allow 8-bit textures - When checked, improves performance but may cause graphical glitches.
• Logarithmic Z - DX9 only. When checked, may help deal with graphics that are "transparent" when they shouldn't be. Recommended.
• Alpha correction (FBA) - DX9 only. When checked, fixes blending issues in DX9. Recommended.

Software Mode Settings: only available when a software renderer is selected,

• Rendering threads - Improves performance with a multi-core processor. If you have a quad-core, set this to 3 (since 1 thread needs to be available for PCSX2 itself).
• Edge anti-aliasing (AA1) - Applies anti-aliasing to improve IQ.

Hacks: only available if you've edited the GSdx.ini file and and changed the line "AllowHacks=0" to "AllowHacks=1"

• HW Anti Aliasing - Applies smoothing to edges. Improves IQ, higher numbers are very demanding on your graphics card.
• Alpha Hack - Can help with graphical issues involving fog, may cause other graphical glitches.
• Offset Hack - Applies an offset to all surfaces to try to fix effects being shifted due to upscaling. Can cause other graphical glitches.
• Skipdraw Hack - Skips drawing problematic surfaces altogether, the higher the number the more likely graphical elements will be missing/broken.

Configuring the Controller Plugin

"Config > Controllers (PAD) > Plugin Settings"

>> SSSPSX

Simply click on the input you want to bind and push the corresponding button/direction on your device. You can set bindings for 2 separate pads.

>> LilyPad

The General tab will show you what input devices are connected to your computer - any PS2 controller input can be bound to any of these devices - and allow you to save or load bindings to/from a .lily file. You can also choose from multiple APIs, allow multiple PS2 inputs to be bound to 1 device input, and enable controller hacks... but leave it all on default for now.

The Pad 1 and 2 tabs will allow you to set your bindings - click the input you want to bind and push the corresponding button/direction on your device. The bindings will show up in the column on the left, and you can add multiple bindings for one PS2 input (such as 2 separate buttons both sending the Triangle signal). You can also enable rumble functionality by using the Add Force Feedback options in the bottom right (test the rumble and change feedback settings by clicking on the Big or Small Motor entries in the left column).

Booting a Disc

>> To boot from a disc using the cdvdGigaherz plugin...

• Configure the plugin by going to "CDVD > Plugin Menu > Plugin Settings" and choose the drive letter of the optical drive that you'll be putting your PS2 discs into.
• Select "CDVD > Plugin."
• Go to "System > Reboot CDVD (fast)" or "System > Reboot CDVD (full)." Fast simply skips the PS2 startup animation

>> To boot from an ISO...

• Select "CDVD > Iso."
• "CDVD > Iso selector > Browse" to select the image of the game disc you want to load.
• Go to "System > Reboot CDVD (fast)" or "System > Reboot CDVD (full)." Fast simply skips the PS2 startup animation

NOTE: It is highly recommended that you make an ISO image of your PS2 game disc instead of loading the game straight from your computer's optical drive since it can improve performance and tends to be less noisy.




Games are running really slowly! How do I improve performance of the emulator?

>> Check if the game has a specific hack that should be enabled under "Config > Emulation Settings > Game Fixes."
>> Try using all default settings or settings detailed in a submitted config below. Turn off all settings that improve IQ at the cost of performance (such as hardware anti aliasing, vsync, and D3D upscaling) and try running the game at its Native resolution.
>> If the game still can't be run at full speed, it means your CPU is bottlenecking. Try turning on speed hacks such as EE Cycle Rate and VU Cycle Stealing.

How do I enable hardware anti aliasing in PCSX2? I don't see an option for it in the graphics plugin settings...

>> You need to enable GSdx hacks by manually editing the GSdx.ini file (should be located in your Settings directory, "Documents/PCSX2/inis" by default) and changing the line "AllowHacks=0" to "AllowHacks=1." The option for hardware anti aliasing will then be available when configuring the graphics plugin.

What's a good program for making images of my PS2 discs to run in PCSX2?

>> ImgBurn is a free, lightweight disc burning/imaging application.

Any useful hotkeys?

>> Switch between full screen and windowed mode by pressing Alt + Enter.
>> The ESC key suspends emulation. You can resume it through "System > Resume."
>> F8 will save a screenshot (at full Internal Resolution, not the final video output of PCSX2) to a folder named "snaps" in your PCSX2 user docs directory.
>> F5 toggles between interlacing modes.
>> F9 toggles between software and hardware mode.

How do I transfer saves from my PS2 to use on my PC in PCSX2?

>> If you have a PS3 and a Memory Card Adapter, you can copy saves from a PS2 memory card to a USB drive.
>> If you have a PS2 and a method to boot a file manager such as uLaunchElf, you can copy saves from your memory card to a USB drive.

Then use MyMC to add the save files to your existing PCSX2 memory card images.

Since the PS2 is backwards compatible, can I play PS1 games on PCSX2?

>> You should use ePSXe, a dedicated PS1 emulator, instead.

How can I use actual PS1/PS2 controllers on my PC?

>> With a PS1/2 -> USB adapter.

I recommend the Xtokki 360 Converter, confirmed to be essentially lagless and it works with Microsoft's drivers so it's supported completely in Windows.

How can I use a PS3 controller on my PC?

>> With the MotioninJoy drivers, which allow you to use the Dualshock3/Sixaxis in Windows either through the USB cable or over Bluetooth. NOTE: If you install MiJ to use PS3 controllers wirelessly, you overwrite your Bluetooth drivers and cannot connect other devices over BT.

FMVs look weird when I use upscaling! How can I fix it?

>> Some games' videos simply don't play well with D3D scaling, there may be a game specific fix for it or you may simply have to toggle on software rendering (and revert to native resolution) by hitting the F9 key whenever FMVs play for them to display correctly.

How do I set it up so that different games load with different setting configs?

>> Luigi87 details how in the following post: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=222

[ExMachina]

Credits

>> Thanks to Gvaz for info on instruction set differences between AMD and Intel CPUs and how it affects PCSX2 performance.

>> Luigi87 for the post about setting up individual Steam shortcuts for different games with their own icons and configs.

>> DeFiBkIlLeR for the news about SVN build 4866's rewrite to take advantage of more than 2 cores. Exciting stuff!

I tried out a guide and found some discrepancies or ways to improve performance/compatibility! How can I help?

>> If something in a config isn't working out for you or you found some awesome tweak, post about it! You'll either let the author know about the new info so they can fix their config or update it with notes... or I can link to it as an "addendum" to the guide in this post's list.

>> There's also nothing stopping you from submitting a config of your own. Multiple configs are especially useful if your PC's hardware differs greatly from the other person's.

I want to submit a guide! How can I help?

>> Great! You're awesome. :P You can quote and copy my FF12 config to use as a template... then simply post the guide in this thread and PM me a link to it so I can add it to this list. If you don't feel like writing out everything, you can take screenshots of your settings (some PCSX2 menus have a little camera button in the bottom left that does that) and share those instead.

>> If you don't have the means to crop down a screenshot to make a proper header image, you can send me the original image (from the snaps folder in your PCSX2 user docs directory) and I'll resize it and add text to it for you.

>> Please only post thumbnails/links for any included screenshots/videos, don't stretch out the entire page with large (both dimension- and filesize-wise) images!

>> Try to keep your config updated! If other GAF members try it out and give you feedback, feel free to incorporate it into the guide. If you get further in the game and encounter a new issue, be sure to add it in.




- Auto Modellista

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Chulip | alternate config

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA. Font can be improved with HW hacks.

- Dark Cloud 2

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA. Font can be improved with HW hacks.

- Disgaea

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA, some garbage appears around text at higher resolutions.

- Devil May Cry

Playable at full speed, occasional HUD scaling issues when using resolution higher than native.

- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Can only use custom scaling HWAA improves IQ, the #x scaling causes framerate problems. HW hacks improve font.

- Fatal Frame

IQ can be greatly improved with D3D up-scaling and HW AA. Some performance issues with high internal resolutions and glitches that can be bypassed by switching temporarily to software emulation.

- Fatal Frame II: Crimson Buttefly

Playable with default settings, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D up-scaling.

- Fatal Frame III: The Tormented

SkipDraw must be set to 1 and must turn on progressive mode in-game or framerate will be unstable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D up-scaling.

- Final Fantasy XII (and FFXII IZJS)

Completely playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Freedom Fighters

Playable with default settings, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D up-scaling and HW AA.

- God Hand | alternate config

Completely playable at full speed, some graphical errors due to DoF effect and cutscenes that use sepia-filter.

- Grim Grimoire

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Odin Sphere

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Pipo Saru 2001

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Samurai Western

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Sarugetchu Million Monkeys

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Shadow of the Colossus | confirmed completable

Completely playable at full/close to full speed but highly demanding, requires speed hacks.

- Simpsons Hit & Run

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Sky Gunner

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

Playable at full speed, shadows will render on top of characters.

- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4

Completely playable with default settings, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Shinobi

Playable at full speed.

- Technic Beat

Playable, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.

- Tekken Tag Tournament

Playable at 50-60fps. Flickering FMV (skippable) and framerate drops in certain stages.

- Yakuza | alternate config

Completely playable at full speed, blurry cutscenes that may be fixed by skipdraw hack, some issues with bloom/lighting overlay.

- Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

Playable with D3D upscaling, requires a powerful GPU.

[ExMachina]

Game Info and Performance

Title (Region): Final Fantasy XII (NTSC) and Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System (NTSC-J)
Summary: Completely playable with default settings, IQ can be greatly improved with D3D upscaling and HW AA.
Completion: 50%
Default FPS: 60
Frame drops from fullspeed: GPU-dependent (slowdown during effects-heavy animations such as level 3 Quickenings), can be avoided by lowering IQ improvement options and/or resolution
Widescreen option available in game: yes
Issues:
- occasional sound skips in dialog during cutscenes
- some lighting effects, especially on hair, are misaligned when upscaled

Build and Plugins Used

Build: SVN r3878
Graphics: GSdx
Sound: SPU2-X

Emulation Settings

EE/IOP: default
VUs: default
GS: Framelimiter - enabled, Frameskipping - disabled, Use Synchronized MTGS - no, Disable all GS output - no
GS Window: Aspect Ratio - Widescreen (16:9) - Custom Window Size - 976x690, Disable window resize border - no, Always hide mouse cursor - no, Hide window on suspend - yes, Default to fullscreen mode on open - yes, Use exclusive fullscreen mode (if available) - no, Wait for vsync on refresh - no
Speed Hacks: enabled, default
Game Fixes: none

Graphics Plugin Settings

Renderer: Direct3D11 (Hardware)
Interlacing: None
D3D Upscaling: D3D internal res - n/a, Scaling - 4x, Native resolution - no
Hardware Mode Settings: Texture Filtering - yes, Allow 8-bit textures - no, Logarithmic Z - n/a, Alpha Correction (FBA) - n/a
Hacks: HW Anti Aliasing - 0-4x, Alpha Hack - no, Offset Hack - no, Skipdraw Hack - 0

NOTE: Very high D3D internal resolutions may cause slowdown in the menu and map. 4x upscaling was the highest my GPU could handle without any slowdown in those situations.

NOTE: Various levels of HW AA may result in performance instability. IQ is already greatly improved with a high D3D internal resolution, try turning off HW AA or lower numbers (0-2) for better results.

Sound Plugin Settings

Mixing Settings: Interpolation - Linear, Reverb Boost Factor - 1X
Output Settings: Module - XAudio 2, Latency - 150 ms, Synchronizing Mode - TimeStretch, Audio Expansion Mode - Stereo
Enable Debug Options: no
Use a Winamp DSP Plugin: no

Computer Specs

OS: Windows 7
CPU: Intel i5-2500k at 4.5GHz
GPU: 1GB nVidia GTX 460
RAM: 8GB

Screenshots/Video

720p FF12-IZJS Screenshot Gallery

Additional Contributors

Thanks to Billychu for pointing out instability due to HW AA at 4x.

[Fox1304]

Subbed !

Thanks for this guide, it'll be very handy ... if my new GT430 can handle it ...

[Dark Octave]

Subscribed for later viewing. Looks good.

[Emitan]

Has anyone gotten Burnout 3: Takedown working? I get these weird lights all over the screen, but the game seems to be holding up well. Until I fix my backwards compatible PS3 PCSX2 is the only way I can play my games and I am itching for some Burnout, dammit!

[Dwayne]

Is there a front end loader that sets all this stuff up automatically using saved configs? Seems like it would be the best way to get this done.

[Netto-kun]

Subscribed. This thread is useful for whenever I decide to mess around with the emulator. :D

[Dizzy-4U]

Awesome thread. Subscribed!

[nincompoop]

I wish someone would set up a Wiki site for compatibility/instructions on getting every game to run, like there is with Dolphin. After trying out a handful of games on my new PC, my impression is that PCSX2 is nowhere near as advanced or usable as Dolphin is, but that could just be because I don't know what the best settings to use are.

[Corran Horn]

Subb'ed.

I should install this sometime soon as my ps3 60 gig is long gone and I have only a ps3 slim while owning like 200+ ps2 games :/

[Cataferal]

Brilliant thread.

I would recommend subtitling the heading with "An Introduction" or something similar, since "game configs" implies that only those in the know will get anything out of it.

You're selling yourself short; I'm sure it'll initiate plenty of newcomers if they have the confidence to click.

[Ifrit]

Excellent thread, subscribed

[ExMachina]

Thanks, guys. I'll probably post configs for P4 and SotC sometime this weekend... Hopefully more people from the old PCSX2 thread will wander over to share screenshots and configs for other games.

Is there a front end loader that sets all this stuff up automatically using saved configs? Seems like it would be the best way to get this done.

I wish there were. :( Being able to simply share and load configs via one tidy file would make life so much easier...

I would recommend subtitling the heading with "An Introduction" or something similar, since "game configs" implies that only those in the know will get anything out of it. You're selling yourself short; I'm sure it'll initiate plenty of newcomers if they have the confidence to click.

Aha, that's a very good point! I'll PM a mod about changing the title.

[Chairhome]

This is a great thread with great info. Please add something that says its a punishable crime to stretch a 4:3 image to fill your screen :-p

[Gvaz]

It should be noted that your processor is way more important than your graphics card. Also it should be noted that AMD is much worse than Intel in terms of CPU power. I have an AMD Phenom II X3 720 overclocked to 3.2GHz and it's "acceptable". It'd run faster if I could use sse4 or whatever that instruction set is called (it isn't the same on amd and intel chips) that pcsx2 supports. So, if you have AMD you're stuck with sse2 which is much slower.

Also to be noted (at least on my cpu and graphics card, a 1GB 4890 @ stock speeds) that DX10 looks much better than the DX9 renderer, I get better performance out of the DX9 renderer because it's not as slow. I think this is because my CPU is bottlenecking my system with a slower instruction set instead of sse4 like you could do on an intel chip.

Something to keep in mind.

[Archer]

Subscribed.

[DaBuddaDa]

Even with a beefy rig, I could never get Shadow of the Colossus to run at anything above a jittery slideshow.

[How About No]

Thanks!

[LiquidMetal14]

Great idea and pulled off with loads of info. I will contribute once I mess more with some games.

[The Technomancer]

This will be great for when I have to give Orayn his PS2 back this summer

[Minimum Rage]

Wow. I never knew there was a decent ps2 emulator in existence. Now I can go look in the bargain bin for ps2 games I might like. There should be some ps2 exclusives that are a must for any gamer I guess?

[Emitan]

Wow. I never knew there was a decent ps2 emulator in existence. Now I can go look in the bargain bin for ps2 games I might like. There should be some ps2 exclusives that are a must for any gamer I guess?

Shadow of the Colossus if you can't wait for the PS3 version. If you can run it decently, it's practically the same thing.

[Shalashaska161]

Anyone able to get Final Fantasy X-2 working properly? For some reason I can't get it to display over SD resolutions, despite the emu working fine for FFXII.

[plc268]

Subscribed. I messed around with PCSX2 a while ago, but I gave up because I didn't get decent framerates (and this was on a Core i5 750 quadcore, ATI 5770, 4gb ram). Perhaps I'll give it another shot soon.

[Gvaz]

The public beta is a lot worse than the daily builds, but it's more stable and better than it used to be.

[xemumanic]

Excellent job on the intro post for this thread ExMachina. This is what I always wanted to do for the one I started, but never got around to. The old thread has been going for so long, it's gotten hard to sift through all the information that's been piled up. I was just amazed that a thread I started so long ago, still had people posting on it.

Maybe I should ask the mods to lock the old thread?

[Chairhome]

Anyone able to get Final Fantasy X-2 working properly? For some reason I can't get it to display over SD resolutions, despite the emu working fine for FFXII.

I've played it. Works pretty well with the occasional bug. Try newer builds and mess with the speedhacks. Should work fine

[Ryu bogard]

I tried the Mac version of pcsx2 but I couldn't get it to work at all. Will try again If I ever get a new pc.

[Ezalc]

I tried to play FFXII zodiac job system with this, and it lagged to hell. It went as low as 19 FPS. The same happened when I tried Odin Sphere. I pretty much gave up on it after that. I'll keep a watch on this though maybe it can help me figure out why it was basically un-playable for me.

[Chairhome]

I tried to play FFXII zodiac job system with this, and it lagged to hell. It went as low as 19 FPS. The same happened when I tried Odin Sphere. I pretty much gave up on it after that. I'll keep a watch on this though maybe it can help me figure out why it was basically un-playable for me.

Have you tried the latest build and the settings listed in the second post of this thread?

[brotkasten]

Ah, finally! That's a really, really nice OP.

[Gvaz]

For comparison FF12 IZJS works perfectly for my system.

[Ezalc]

Have you tried the latest build and the settings listed in the second post of this thread?

It was about two or three months ago when I tried it so I don't know if that was the latest version or not. I'm going through the settings you used and making the changes to see if I can play it fine. I'll edit/post later to say how it goes.

[Kaako]

Well done on the OP man. Thorough and easy to navigate.

[Chairhome]

It was about two or three months ago when I tried it so I don't know if that was the latest version or not. I'm going through the settings you used and making the changes to see if I can play it fine. I'll edit/post later to say how it goes.

Make sure you grab the latest SVN build and plugins from the OP, the public beta is outdated. The FFXII settings in the second post should be a good start.

[ExMachina]

Regarding Shadow of the Colossus in PCSX2...

Even at fullspeed, SotC isn't the most fluid game. I suspect is has its own framelimiter built in and the animations are keyframed at 20-30 fps or something silly. Still, it can be run full speed (as in, at the best speed it ever achieves on a PS2) and it's definitely playable... but I'm still curious as to how the HD Team ICO Collection will perform.

It should be noted that your processor is way more important than your graphics card. Also it should be noted that AMD is much worse than Intel in terms of CPU power. I have an AMD Phenom II X3 720 overclocked to 3.2GHz and it's "acceptable". It'd run faster if I could use sse4 or whatever that instruction set is called (it isn't the same on amd and intel chips) that pcsx2 supports. So, if you have AMD you're stuck with sse2 which is much slower. Also to be noted (at least on my cpu and graphics card, a 1GB 4890 @ stock speeds) that DX10 looks much better than the DX9 renderer, I get better performance out of the DX9 renderer because it's not as slow. I think this is because my CPU is bottlenecking my system with a slower instruction set instead of sse4 like you could do on an intel chip. Something to keep in mind.

Interesting info. I've been running Intel CPUs for my past couple of builds so I had no idea that AMD CPUs don't support SSE4... always wondered why people have been reporting about AMD procs not running PCSX2 very well compared to Intel CPUs when otherwise they have similar performance. I'll try and squeeze in a blurb in the OP about how the inclusion of SSSE3/SSE4 helps Intel CPUs run PCSX2 better.

This is a great thread with great info. Please add something that says its a punishable crime to stretch a 4:3 image to fill your screen :-p

Heh, I tried to be diplomatic in the OP... but I definitely wanted to type "play games at the correct AR or YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG." xD

Excellent job on the intro post for this thread ExMachina. This is what I always wanted to do for the one I started, but never got around to. The old thread has been going for so long, it's gotten hard to sift through all the information that's been piled up. I was just amazed that a thread I started so long ago, still had people posting on it.

PS2 emulation was definitely in a different state back in '07, still lots of great info in that thread. =] I think the release of mainstream CPUs that can emulate most PS2 games at full speed has increased interest a lot... Hell, half the reason I built my recent PC was because of some of the incredible screenshots shared in your old topic and the Dolphin thread.

Great idea and pulled off with loads of info. I will contribute once I mess more with some games.

Cool, lookin' forward to getting a little more game variety...

[teiresias]

Question about the HW Anti-Aliasing Hack setting.

I can run with 4x with little performance hit in FFXII (depending on the zone), but I get some screen corruption of some kind along the top and left side of the screen, as if the rendered area is shifted one pixel or so to one side and down.

Does anyone else experience this? Just wondering if there is a work-around fix for it? Maybe I need to move on to one of the daily builds to fix it?

Otherwise, playing on my plasma doesn't really require 4x with 4x native resolution.

Also, general question, is it better to stick to 4x internal resolution, or to set a custom 1920x1080 internal resolution? Is the program optimized better for the resolution multipliers maybe? I'm guessing 4x internal res. actually is a larger resolution than a custom 1080p resolution, right?

[chickdigger802]

Question, Have the devs ever mention that quad core support is in the works?

[ExMachina]

Question about the HW Anti-Aliasing Hack setting. I can run with 4x with little performance hit in FFXII (depending on the zone), but I get some screen corruption of some kind along the top and left side of the screen, as if the rendered area is shifted one pixel or so to one side and down. Does anyone else experience this? Just wondering if there is a work-around fix for it? Maybe I need to move on to one of the daily builds to fix it? Otherwise, playing on my plasma doesn't really require 4x with 4x native resolution. Also, general question, is it better to stick to 4x internal resolution, or to set a custom 1920x1080 internal resolution? Is the program optimized better for the resolution multipliers maybe? I'm guessing 4x internal res. actually is a larger resolution than a custom 1080p resolution, right?

I don't see any corruption in FF12 w/ 4xAA, using SVN r3878. Might as well give a newer build a shot, can't hurt.

It's better for IQ to use Nx scaling rather than setting an arbitrary resolution.

The native resolution varies from game to game (many run at less than 640x480, the PS2's ideal res) so you'll get a different resolution with the same multiplier from game to game, but 4x almost always ends up larger than 1080p. For FF12, 4x will render the game at 2048x1792.

[Grinchy]

It's amazing how much work went into textures that we couldn't even make out properly when the games were played from the PS2.

[Gvaz]

Interesting info. I've been running Intel CPUs for my past couple of builds so I had no idea that AMD CPUs don't support SSE4... always wondered why people have been reporting about AMD procs not running PCSX2 very well compared to Intel CPUs when otherwise they have similar performance. I'll try and squeeze in a blurb in the OP about how the inclusion of SSSE3/SSE4 helps Intel CPUs run PCSX2 better.

GSdx wants:
SSE2
SSSE3
SSE4

My CPU has: (like most if not all amd I'm aware of)
x86 Features Detected:
MMX.. SSE.. SSE2.. SSE3
MMX2 .. 3DNOW .. 3DNOW2.. SSE4a

The only one here lining up being SSE2, which is slowest.

Devs have said that it only uses 2 threads, and the thing that works best is simply an increase in GHz, and an increase in threads is difficult and not nearly as worth it.

[xemumanic]

PS2 emulation was definitely in a different state back in '07, still lots of great info in that thread. =] I think the release of mainstream CPUs that can emulate most PS2 games at full speed has increased interest a lot... Hell, half the reason I built my recent PC was because of some of the incredible screenshots shared in your old topic and the Dolphin thread.

Yeah, around the time I started the thread, such CPUs were just coming around. Now, its hard not to have a CPU that's up to snuff in a new PC.

As for the massive amount of info from the old thread, hopefully that all comes here in a more organized fashion.

Question, Have the devs ever mention that quad core support is in the works?

It's......been a mess. They HAD such support, but it didn't work out. And actually, if I remember correctly, was actually slower. These days, CPUs are so much faster per core, that it's not so much about throwing more CPU cores at the problem. However, the GSDX plugin has made good use of quad core CPUs for a while now, via the software mode. This requires a quad core CPU.

[Emitan]

Cutscenes aren't working with that FFXII config. They run at about 2 FPS and then the emulator crashes unless I skip the scene. Specifically what graphics plugin are you using?

EDIT: Turned HW AA down to 0x and it's running flawlessly now. Bizarre.
EDIT 2: 0x, 1x, and 2x work fine but 4x causes the crashing during cutscenes but performance during gameplay is basically the same between all 4.

[demosthenes]

ExMachina....a god among gaffers. Thank you for doing the OP.

[John]

thank you muchly for this thread!

[gotee12]

I can now comprehend what I'm doing instead of just blindly clicking check boxes to see if performance improves. Thanx for the thread!

[Ploid 3.0]

Thank you, the other thread's OP was lacking in this type of in depth info. Subscription. I probably won't do much with it. The only PS2 game I'd be willing to replay is ff12. Love me some ofline ff11. WKC failed me.

[Big Papa Husker]

Thanks for making this thread. Subscribed!

[sotodefonk]

Great OP! subscribed!