Support NeoGAF

[Trojita]

I've seen we've had Dolphin and PCSX2 threads on here but was surprised to not see a PS1 emulation thread.

As we all know playing older games like those on the PS1 on a non CRT screen make the games even worse looking than you remember. Playing them on the PSP is tolerable but not everyone wants to play them on a small screen and not everyone still has a CRT. Emulation can help with that!

The Filters and Shaders on ePSXe can do some crazy things. The problem is picking the right one. I like the cartoon shaders but they seem to make the text in game hard to read.

Anyone still play their backup games on ePSXe?

Here's some examples of what it can do with different settings, filters, and shaders

(Final Fantasy VII using Cartoon Shader)

Final Fantasy IX Bump Mapping Shader

I really like the cartoon shader for Chrono Cross because it makes the game look cell shaded.

 

[Tomat]

I really like the cartoon shader for Chrono Cross because it makes the game look cell shaded.

No kidding, that's awesome.

 

[BosSin]

I don't know whether I love or hate that bump mapping shader

 

[QisTopTier]

Woah these shader effects are awesome... I had no idea about this stuff.

I don't know whether I love or hate that bump mapping shader

Doesn't it look like those old marvel trading cards. The special ones that are all bumpy and stuff. I like it

 

[StoppedInTracks]

One of the best if not BEST emulators out there. The only one comparable IMO is ZSNES.

So many great nostalgia memories with high-rezzed and AAed Final Fantasy 8, Chrono Cross and Crash games.

 

[Seven Force]

I remember someone posting some amazing looking shots of Mega Man Legends with some custom shader plugin.

 

[Aeana]

I like how the FF8 "original PSX" shot is stretched and blurred to make it look even worse than it should.

One of the best if not BEST emulators out there. The only one comparable IMO is ZSNES.

So many great nostalgia memories with high-rezzed and AAed Final Fantasy 8, Chrono Cross and Crash games.

But ZSNES hasn't been one of the best SNES emulators in an incredibly long time.

 

[Dylan]

I was using ePSXe to play through FF8 a few years ago. I found that while the graphics settings were mostly manageable through trial-and-error. The biggest difficulty I had was trying to get the sound to output correctly, at a good quality, and without stuttering.

The most useful tools were found at Pete's Domain (from what I can tell it hasn't been updated since 2008)

 

[Orayn]

Doesn't it look like those old marvel trading cards. The special ones that are all bumpy and stuff. I like it

I'm surprised by how nice it looks on the prerendered backgrounds, but it screws up the 3D characters something awful. Likewise, the cartoon shader totally messes with the text in Chrono Cross.

 

[Trojita]

I like how the FF8 "original PSX" shot is stretched and blurred to make it look even worse than it should.

Yeah, I can remove it if you guys want.

 

[Why would you do that?]

I've found that the only graphics plugin I like is the software renderer. It makes all the games and their effects (think RPG battle transitions) look perfect with no graphical glitches, plus it has much better performance if you have a weak graphics card. I don't think it has filters, though, but if you want to accurately play games instead of mess with the cool shaders, you should try the software renderer.

I really wish there were N64 software renderer plugins that were good like this...

I should also note that Eternal SPU plugin seems to be the best sound plugin. It's the only one that can play Um Jammer Lammy well.

 

[Jucksalbe]

But ZSNES hasn't been one of the best SNES emulators in an incredibly long time.

So, what's better nowadays?

 

[Leonsito]

With the right settings Gran Turismo on ePSXe looks incredible.

 

[Paracelsus]

So, what's better nowadays?

Clearly bsnes, which strives to barely keep 30fps on SSFII with a i5 processor.

 

[Cjdamon042]

FFIX looks so great on this thing. Not sure why anyone would ruin it with that bump map shader though...

 

[Starwolf_UK]

I guess they did they fix the dual core problem then...I recall eons ago it would disobey FPS limits if you had multiple cores unless you locked the process down to a single core.

I have to admit these filters and shaders look a bit better than I expected. Still prefer the regular graphics though.

 

[Nibel]

Is there a video of bump-mapped FF9?

 

[Bulzeeb]

I was using ePSXe to play through FF8 a few years ago. I found that while the graphics settings were mostly manageable through trial-and-error. The biggest difficulty I had was trying to get the sound to output correctly, at a good quality, and without stuttering.

The most useful tools were found at Pete's Domain (from what I can tell it hasn't been updated since 2008)

this, I remember having some issues with this emulator a few years ago, has this been updated somehow?

 

[Shane86]

I wish the vita could do this.

 

[Why would you do that?]

So, what's better nowadays?

If you have a great processor, bsnes is best. It strives for 100% accurate emulation.

If you have a normal processor, snes9x is best. It is more modern than zsnes with more options, and has slightly better compatibility I believe.

If you have a slow processor, zsnes is best. It's still my favorite emulator, actually, but hasn't had any updates in years.

 

[spats]

FFIX with a plastic wrap filter looks like barf.

 

[xxczx]

I wish the vita could do this.

lets pray

 

[BHK3]

I found downloading all the plugins to be a pain in the ass and for some reason CTR had severe slowdowns, haven't touched it since then.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

I prefer PCSX-R, as it's open source, actively developed and uses the same plugins as epsxe.

So, what's better nowadays?

BSNES accuracy core if your processor can handle it, BSNES compatibilty core if not.

SNES9x if you need the extra features.

 

[Stallion Free]

Crash holds up decently.

 

[Aeana]

So, what's better nowadays?

SNES9x and SNESGT surpassed ZSNES almost 6 years ago, for starters. BSNES is "the best," but it requires a lot of power and tweaking to get vsync working just right.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

do they have a cell shaded Crash shader?

 

[Jucksalbe]

SNES9x and SNESGT surpassed ZSNES almost 6 years ago, for starters. BSNES is "the best," but it requires a lot of power and tweaking to get vsync working just right.

What exactly is so much better about those? I never had any compatibility issues with ZSNES (except for maybe SuperFX games) and vastly prefer their GUI to SNES9x.
Never tried the others, in fact this is the first time I ever heard of SNESGT. Will try them later.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

SNES9x and SNESGT surpassed ZSNES almost 6 years ago, for starters. BSNES is "the best," but it requires a lot of power and tweaking to get vsync working just right.

Vsync should only take a few minutes to get as good as it's going to.

Someone posted an easy to use tool on his forum for working it out, but I'm at work so can't search for it now.

 

[SparkTR]

ePSXe is great, but as an alternative there's Xebra. It feels more true to the original PS1 experience (warts and all) in regards to the emulation.

 

[Reuenthal]

I tried to use ePSXe but it was too slow, I couldn't get it to go over 60FPS even when I removed all options of limiting them. Generally there were other issues too and compatibility issues, I am not very pleased with the experiences I had with it.

 

[BosSin]

I'm surprised by how nice it looks on the prerendered backgrounds, but it screws up the 3D characters something awful. Likewise, the cartoon shader totally messes with the text in Chrono Cross.

That's it! It's the effect it has on the characters that is preventing me from thinking it's awesome

 

[arnoldocastillo2003]

For the love of god, please tell me where can i download this beautiful piece of software, I want to play FF8, FF7 and Chrono Cross with Cartoon Shaders, they look awesome!!!!

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

What exactly is so much better about those? I never had any compatibility issues with ZSNES (except for maybe SuperFX games) and vastly prefer their GUI to SNES9x.
Never tried the others, in fact this is the first time I ever heard of SNESGT. Will try them later.

Read through this:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/...ghz-quest-to-build-a-perfect-snes-emulator/1/

Some of the negatives no longer apply to snes9x, and some of them never did to GT(though I believe gt is no longer actively developed).

 

[spats]

Uncharted 2 with the new and revolutionary bump map shader.

 

[TGMIII]

Maybe someone in here has an idea about a problem I've been having. So on any PS1 ridge racer the game starts fine, acts normally in menus but once I actually start a race it drops to like 5-10FPS. Tried various emulators, every version of ridge racer but it's always the same.

I'm running a 2500K @ stock, 8GB DDR3, 6950, Win 7 Pro x64.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

FFIX looks so great on this thing. Not sure why anyone would ruin it with that bump map shader though...

yep

 

[Aeana]

What exactly is so much better about those? I never had any compatibility issues with ZSNES (except for maybe SuperFX games) and vastly prefer their GUI to SNES9x.
Never tried the others, in fact this is the first time I ever heard of SNESGT. Will try them later.

Sound emulation is the really big thing. It's nowhere near perfect in ZSNES. Some things in particular stand out for me, like the sound effects in F-Zero and the music in Bowser's Castle in Super Mario RPG, both very, very wrong in ZSNES. SNES9x got the same sound core that BSNES uses a while back, and SNESGT has always had pretty good sound emulation.

 

[Orayn]

Is it wrong that I dislike the above screenshots because I think nearest-neighbor interpolation on low poly models looks kinda cool?

 

[Aeana]

Is it wrong that I dislike the above screenshots because I think nearest-neighbor interpolation on low poly models looks kinda cool?

I don't like them because the text is filtered and goopy.

 

[Foffy]

What exactly is so much better about those? I never had any compatibility issues with ZSNES (except for maybe SuperFX games) and vastly prefer their GUI to SNES9x.
Never tried the others, in fact this is the first time I ever heard of SNESGT. Will try them later.

I think Yoshi's Island never worked properly in ZSNES when it came to some sections. I also believe the game had less issues in SNES9x, but the game slowed down in those same sections.

Funny how a 2D game that's sixteen years old seems to be demanding on emulators.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Read through this:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/...ghz-quest-to-build-a-perfect-snes-emulator/1/

Thanks! That was very interesting. I never really noticed those issues in ZSNES, but on the other hand, I never used emulators much outside of fan translations, recording or save states. I still have two SNES consoles hooked up to my TV.

Sound emulation is the really big thing. It's nowhere near perfect in ZSNES. Some things in particular stand out for me, like the sound effects in F-Zero and the music in Bowser's Castle in Super Mario RPG, both very, very wrong in ZSNES. SNES9x got the same sound core that BSNES uses a while back, and SNESGT has always had pretty good sound emulation.

I will try F-Zero right away. It should be easy to notice the difference when I play it against the original cartridge (though I only have the sucky PAL version, that probably also sounds a little bit different).

Edit: Oh god, you're right. The sound effects in ZSNES are completely wrong. BSNES doesn't run smoothly on my system, but at least it sounded right. SNESGT was close enough, I guess I'll go with that one for now.

 

[Tizoc]

Could you guys post some more images of PSX games+shaders/gfx plugins? Ya know like how they do it in the Dolphin and PS2 emulation threads?

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Could you guys post some more images of PSX games+shaders/gfx plugins? Ya know like how they do it in the Dolphin and PS2 emulation threads?

http://forums.ngemu.com/showthread.php?t=135833

 

[Vampire On Titus]

Crash holds up decently.

http://i.minus.com/iXKEciuveDeOf.png

http://i.minus.com/iKKw8S95gEa9r.png

If there is an argument to be made on Low Polygon models as an art-style rather than a technical limitation, much in the way of pixel art. Then Crash Bandicoot (1-3) is on the short list of titles that can make an argument. Spyro and Vagrant Story also.

 

[X-Kalibur]

yep

Which one are you using?

 

[PedroPanache]

It's a really nice emulator and in the context of these games looking utterly awful on HDTV's via the PS2 and PS3, the extra filters and options to improve the look of these games is an absolute godsend. I regret getting rid of my old SDTV, but, at least with this emulator you can make these games playable on HDTV's. Those FFIX screenshots, in particular, look gorgeous and with the right settings and filters, I think most games hold up pretty well.

Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do to improve these games, and it tends to be the full 3D games that suffer, such as Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid and the like. Those that use 3D on pre-rendered backgrounds such as the Resident Evil and Final Fantasy series hold up really well.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Natural vision + AA I believe.
http://www.razyboard.com/system/morethread-natural-vision-shader-aa-shader-v2o-best-shader-for-2d-pete_bernert-266904-5685248-0.html

there's a link on the 2nd page

 

[Tess3ract]

If that's what squall looked like when everyone was fauning over him back in the day, then I fear for those women who will soon be mothers now, if they arent already.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

I think Yoshi's Island never worked properly in ZSNES when it came to some sections. I also believe the game had less issues in SNES9x, but the game slowed down in those same sections.

Funny how a 2D game that's sixteen years old seems to be demanding on emulators.

FWIW Yoshi's Island is 100% playable (beatable) in ZSNES.