• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PPSSPP Emulation and Discussion Thread

Sajjaja

Member
Both games used to be and still are system killers to emulate, even for the PC.

You'll need to enable 2 options to make them playable on lower end devices:-

1. Force 60FPS or less in page 3 of the graphics settings menu. This prevents the game from needlessly internally rendering thousands of FPS and reducing the speed of the game (especially the title screens). This option has the highest impact on improving the performance of the GOW games. (Note:- You can also force the game to run at just 30 FPS internally by heading to the ppsspp.ini file and changing the ForceMaxEmulatedFPS entry to 30. It still runs pretty smoothly at 30FPS)

2. Unlock CPU Clock in System Settings. Tick it, and lower it down until you get the speed you desire. You may not have to do this if your device is already sufficiently powerful. Still recommended for mobile Android devices, good values are 60 - 100 MHz.
How does lowering the processor clock speed increase fps? I've never understood that.
 

skasaha

Neo Member
I assume you're lowering the clock speed of the emulated PSP processor, which means the emulated processor runs slower, so your device needs less power to achieve that. This is if your device is not strong enough to emulate the PSP processor at higher clock speeds.
 
Hey guys, has anyone tried to play tales of eternia on this from an andriod phone? I'm not sure what I should be doing to get the best framerate/sound as it stutters a lot in audio and the text don't always show up. Of course, I know it could just be a compatibility issue.
 
How does lowering the processor clock speed increase fps? I've never understood that.

I assume you're lowering the clock speed of the emulated PSP processor, which means the emulated processor runs slower, so your device needs less power to achieve that. This is if your device is not strong enough to emulate the PSP processor at higher clock speeds.

Bingo.

When we talk about Speed (previously known as VPS), we're referring to how fast the game is being emulated on your host device via PPSSPP. This is the crucial metric in determining how well your device is coping with the emulation and is generally the most important thing to be concerned with. This is also normally known as FPS for other 3D applications and games. 60 is always the target to aim for.

When we talk about the FPS counter in the context of PPSSPP, we're referring to how fast the game is rendering internally. This number is constant and is hardcoded to either 30, 60 or a variable number between them set by the developers. It is not affected by how well your device is coping with the emulation.

iSDOvDlXqjvQH.JPG

So, to put it simply.

Emulated PSP CPU Speed UP ---> Internal FPS UP (or sustained, especially if originally the PSP itself couldn't cope with the demands and was having slowdowns) ---> Speed (VPS) DOWN (since demands on the host device is now UP)

Emulated PSP CPU Cpeed DOWN (to a certain threshold) ---> Internal FPS DOWN (or sustained) ---> Speed (VPS) UP (as the demands on the host device goes down)

Use case scenarios for increasing the CPU Speed:-

1. Preventing internal FPS slowdown in graphically intensive situations with certain games that even the original PSP had trouble with.

2. Rectifying remaining GE timing issues in certain games that errorneously set them to 20 FPS internally.

Use case scenarios for reducing the PSP CPU Speed:-


1. Increasing the speed of emulation to a point. Lowering it too much would cause other severe issues like SPS, jitter and dysfunctional audio.

(In most games, you can actually lower down the PSP CPU clock to ridiculously low numbers like 60-80 MHz and still get sustained internal 30 FPS, which is sufficient if the game was hardcoded to run at 30 FPS in the first place)
 

Kokonoe

Banned
Holy smokes, to heck with the Power Glove! I'm playing with real power.

My new LG 39 inch 1080p TV just came in, and I hooked it up with DVI to HDMI from my PSP and for some reason the audio works. (I have no idea how that happens)

Anyhow, it looks gorgeous on a big TV rendered at 1080p.

ihGFXXeeCoxKy.jpg
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Holy smokes, to heck with the Power Glove! I'm playing with real power.

My new LG 39 inch 1080p TV just came in, and I hooked it up with DVI to HDMI from my PSP and for some reason the audio works. (I have no idea how that happens)

Anyhow, it looks gorgeous on a big TV rendered at 1080p.

ihGFXXeeCoxKy.jpg

It's a standard feature in modern GPUs. You do have to use a DVI->HDMI cable or adapter though, normal DVI won't work.
 
Just a minor heads up.

In the latest revisions (post 0.8.1-617), there has been a rather major change in the volume range for the controls in the audio settings section.

It used to be 1 - 5, now it's 1 - 8.

What this means is that if you had it at 5 by default, and find that you're missing SFX in certain games (like Monhun games, Megaman and others), just jack it up to 6, 7, or 8, to restore the original sound mix.

Same goes for the BGM audio control.

Honestly, I just jack up both to 8 and lower PPSSPP's global volume using the Windows Audio Panel to around 10 - 11% to maintain a consistent soundmix in all my games.
 

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
If you're looking to upgrade, upgrade now.

v0.8.1-844-ge36e976 introduced some major, major, speed boosts in Crisis Core and quite a number of games.

Those builds are up as usual on the buildbot:-

http://buildbot.orphis.net/ppsspp/

There seems to be a new bug when switching games now. When I was trying to test a few games and it'll launch the game that was selected first game again instead of the one I picked..
 
There seems to be a new bug when switching games now. When I was trying to test a few games and it'll launch the game that was selected first game again instead of the one I picked..

That is a NewUI issue and is being looked into at the moment.

The team is aware of it. Switch back to the Old UI until it's fixed, or use the Stop button from the Emulation menu in the Windows UI.
 
how do i increase internal res? CTRL-4 ?

/dumb question

It's a legit question, since the emulator doesn't have customized internal resolutions yet.

You have two options for now.

1. Play in windowed mode, use Ctrl+1 to switch between 4 choices (1x RR, 2x RR, 3x RR and 4x RR) (relevant in the latest dev builds, older builds still use Ctrl + 1, 2, 3, and 4 for separate Rendering resolutions in windowed mode)

2. Play in full screen mode, and the emulator will use the desktop resolution as the internal rendering resolution. This may not be ideal on lower end systems, and trust me, we're looking into implementing a customized internal resolution sooner than later for the benefit of lower end systems, and also super high end systems for downsampling.
 

Sajjaja

Member

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
Just a minor heads up.

I've updated my generic performance guide for PPSSPP (for Windows and Android) here:-

http://forums.ppsspp.org/showthread.php?tid=5236

Also wrote up an easy to follow guide for compiling PPSSPP on Windows in case any gaffer is interested in self-compiling PPSSPP (independence from the buildbot is a great thing) on their systems:-

http://forums.ppsspp.org/showthread.php?tid=5231

Actually this saying JIT should be on by default fixed a lot of my speed problems in games. It's never been on for me. D:
 
Actually this saying JIT should be on by default fixed a lot of my speed problems in games. It's never been on for me. D:

JIT off makes even my Core 2 laptop weep at any and every game lol.

It's something of a wonder that you've been tolerating the poor performance that comes without JIT lol.
 

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
JIT off makes even my Core 2 laptop weep at any and every game lol.

It's something of a wonder that you've been tolerating the poor performance that comes without JIT lol.

Well games for the most part ran alright but just tanked in performance in certain areas!(Mostly alpha effect filled areas.) I just attributed it to early stages of an emulator and hoped for improvements. I wonder why it has always been off for me though since it's supposed to be on by default supposedly.
 

ector

Neo Member
Yes, PPSSPP runs really well on Shield! It will be one of the best platforms to run the emulator on for sure.

0.9 will have official Shield support with autoconfigured button mapping. Releasing mid-August.
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
So what status could the emu be considered at now? Does it play the majority well, or are there still significant issues that need more time?
 
So what status could the emu be considered at now? Does it play the majority well, or are there still significant issues that need more time?
It works great/perfect on games that are compatible. The list is very quickly growing. If the game in mind is popular, it'll probably run excellent.

Otherwise some issues here and there.
 

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
Well I didn't know PPSSPP could play games straight from Media Go downloads! I tested it with my copy of Corpse Party I have stored on my computer and it worked right away.
 

Schrade

Member
Is there a non-pay SixAxis/DualShock 3 Bluetooth App thingy for Android? I am aware of the one that is pay...

I just want to try things out.
 
I'm proud to announce that we've hit yet another milestone in the project!

One of our fellow devs has successfully implemented multithreading into PPSSPP.

I don't need to tell you folks what that means. :D

ib0aWPV3Mwa9Wf.jpg


Just as soon as the Orphis buildbot starts working again, everyone (on Windows/Android) will be able to get access to this brand spanking new function to try out. It's highly experimental, but you should notice a sizeable increase in performance in almost every game with the option enabled, some bigger than others.

In the interest of full disclosure, there are some side effects from enabling this option though, at the moment:-

a. An intermittent black flickering in certain games happens very, very occcasionally.

b. Certain games may exhibit lowered internal FPS, leading to sluggish gameplay. This is already being ironed out at the moment.

c. Certain games may crash with it on, especially when unthrottling the framerate. Also being looked into by the developers.

Details on games that play well with it/problematic ones here on the github:-

https://github.com/hrydgard/ppsspp/issues/3116
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I still have a Sony account with PSP games. How do Hot Shots Golf games work? Those were my shit, basically the only thing I miss.
Since PC doesn't have golf anymore besides Tiger Woods WTF.
 

Sajjaja

Member
I still have a Sony account with PSP games. How do Hot Shots Golf games work? Those were my shit, basically the only thing I miss.
Since PC doesn't have golf anymore besides Tiger Woods WTF.

According to the compatibility list, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee only works on the menu/intro. Not sure if that's the most up to date with the newest revisions so you're free to try it and any other Hot Shot games.
 

Labrys

Member
Tried out a few games.

Megpoid the Music:
Game has input lag, otherwise it'd be perfect.

Super Dangan Ronpa 2: Sayonara Zetsubou Gakuen:
Game works fine other than the "sunny" effect becoming blocky and odd when on the beach. Game looks better on an actual PSP, IMO.

Project Diva Extend:
Locked at 30fps, a lot of input lag and flashing. Only managed to get one good shot.
 

Darknight

Member
Does Brave Story New world work? I bought this game from PSN before it was pulled. In hoped to play it on Vita some day. The day came and the game is not compatible even though if you do the Kernel PSP exploit, you can download it through the PSP PSN store and play it :(

Damn it Sony! Now my hopes are up in that I may be able to play it on my android device or PC! Fricking A!

Edit: apparently it works sans scenes/movies or so. Ill wait till its 99% playable atleast.
 

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
Yes, PPSSPP runs really well on Shield! It will be one of the best platforms to run the emulator on for sure.

0.9 will have official Shield support with autoconfigured button mapping. Releasing mid-August.

fantastic news, my Shield is ready.
 
The buildbot is alive again folks!

I HIGHLY recommend that you upgrade to the latest dev builds (now at 0.8.1-1275) to access the brand spanking new Multithreaded function I've been ranting about in my previous post.

Not to mention the countless other fixes and performance optimizations since the last dev build.

http://buildbot.orphis.net/ppsspp/
 

Amici

Member
Didn't know there was a new thread on this emulator, so...

I can't believe there's already a very playable PSP emulator around (I think I've been living under an emuation rock :p). How is Patapon 3? Always wanted to replay that :D
 

Labrys

Member
Didn't know there was a new thread on this emulator, so...

I can't believe there's already a very playable PSP emulator around (I think I've been living under an emuation rock :p). How is Patapon 3? Always wanted to replay that :D

From what I can tell it works fine, I didn't find anything too wrong with it.
(The image cropped oddly, sorry)
 

Amici

Member
Unbelievable. So far all the games I own work almost flawlessly. Tactics Ogre, Patapon 2 and 3, ZHP Unlosing Ranger. Awesome.
 
Top Bottom