[RESOLVED] Is it possable, using different ePSXe settings per version?

[RIP-Felix]

I was wondering if it is possable to use different versions of ePSXe with different settings each. I tried the video config, but when you change it in one version the changes are applied across the board. So the next version you open, say version 1.6.0, it will have the video config of the last version you modified, say 1.5.2.

Abviously this is annoying because there are some games that have compatability issues, like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy 9. I have working ePSXe settings for these but can't run other games with them. Is there a way to link ePSXe config settings to a specific game?

I supose that a hard workaround would be to use autohotkey to open the config and manually change these settings then exit ePSXe. I would have to use the mouse click and x,y coordinates to acomplish this, but I don't see why it couldn't be done. I did it with the Motionjoy DS3 tool to autoload my controller settings. However, this would be very time consuming and need done for each game, not just the incompatable ones, to reset the settings to the default config the rest play well in.

IDK, maybe it would be easier to use PSX.

[Draco1962]

I would say that it is possible to do. You would need to set up each version as its own emulator but within separate folders for the executibles (i.e., c:\emulators\epsxe152\ for example).

[nullPointer]

This is certainly true of GameEx settings in relation to ePSXe. Each version of ePSXe can be set up as an independent emulator in GameEx.

However, ePSXe emulator settings and plug-in settings are (unfortunately) stored in the registry. That means that they wind up being universal across all versions of the emulator.

ePSXe General Settings can be found in the registry here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\epsxe\config

ePSXe plugins store settings in the registry here:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Vision Thing\PSEmu Pro

There is a fantastic solution to this, in the form of ePSXecutor. This is an ePSXe frontend written by the legendary Pete Bernett (yes that Pete; the Pete's Plugins guy). ePSXecutor will allow you to have game specific settings for any number of games. It can also be run from the command line. Unfortunately it's also extremely old at this point. Some users have reported problems using ePSXecutor with ePSXe 1.7, but I've never experienced any issues (maybe I'm just lucky?)

So in many ways pSX does offer fewer headaches, but as you mention compatibility can vary between ePSXe and pSX. I'm hoping ePSXe 1.8 allows for game specific settings, so I can finally give ePSXecutor a well earned retirement after years of service, but only time will tell ...

[RIP-Felix]

Thanks for the quick response. I should tell you what I'm trying to do, although it's abvious.

I'm using GameEx to automate user interaction with emulators. The goal is to remove the need for a keyboard and mouse. It is on a custom built full atx HTPC (windows 7x64) and eventually I will place it all in a mini itx. I have it setup with IR using a logitec harmony remote (iMon), which controls almost any function by itself, including mouse and keyboard. I use it to navigate windows 7 media center. However, that is very un user frendly. So after messing with batch files with some success, I looked into frontends and found GamEx, the only one recommended by the authors of project 64. It took me quite some time to set everything up and I found most of the answers I needed in these forumns.

I tried Draco1962's idea first, I placed the roms into separate folders acording to what emulator they best work in. I then made 3 instances in GameEx and labeled them Sony Playstation (ePSXe 1.7.0) ...(ePSXe 1.6.0)... etc. Then I made a group called Sony Playstation that the three would be displad as in GameEx, instead of three diferent playstation emulators it just has one that displays all the games. That works well. However, as null pointed out the problem lies in the ePSXe config loading process. I thought that ePSXe 1.7.0 would remember its settings and 1.6.0 its, and etc. Unfortunatly it change all the versions to the same plugin and config.

"There is a fantastic solution to this, in the form of ePSXecutor."

Sounds interesting, I'll have a google. It doesn't have to work with 1.7.0 because I only have 2 games that benifit from that version anyway, Medevil I & II. So as long as it doesn't mess with the 1.7.0 config, and works with 1.5.2 and 1.6.0, and multiple configurations within each, then it should work fine. Does it support controller input? Can I controll the interface with my PS3 controller through Motionjoy?

[nullPointer]

"There is a fantastic solution to this, in the form of ePSXecutor."

Sounds interesting, I'll have a google. It doesn't have to work with 1.7.0 because I only have 2 games that benifit from that version anyway, Medevil I & II. So as long as it doesn't mess with the 1.7.0 config, and works with 1.5.2 and 1.6.0, and multiple configurations within each, then it should work fine. Does it support controller input? Can I controll the interface with my PS3 controller through Motionjoy?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking in regards to controller input. ePSXecutor will allow you to change settings for your input plugin(s). Some users have noted that it doesn't store controller settings on a per game basis, but I've never found that to be a huge issue. Being that I like the emulation experience to be true to the original console I've only ever needed one controller setup. (as opposed to video and sound plugins where it's practically crucial that settings are stored per game - ePSXecutor handles that part just fine).

The ePSXecutor interface doesn't support controller input directly. I may have muddled the issue when I referred to ePSXecutor as a frontend for ePSXe. It's a frontend insofar as it's an alternate graphical interface for ePSXe, and it launches games. It's nothing fancy at all and there's little to no eye candy. However the idea here is that you probably want to incorporate ePSXecutor into GameEx (which does support controller input obviously).

I would recommend having a look. For me ePSXecutor was that 'missing component' for ePSXe that made the emulator much more easy to manage (particularly from the frontend perspective). Before that I was a pretty staunch pSX user. Now I tend to mix it up quite a bit.

[RIP-Felix]

Oh, I see. I thought you ment it had its own GUI to launch the games. I thought there might be a point where I could get stuck and have to use a mouse because it doesn't recognize controllers. So it just take the place of the ePSXe launcher? So what are the command lines? Are they the same? I'm using the -slowboot -nogui -loadbin commands. Will they still work the same?

[nullPointer]

No the command line for ePSXecutor is quite a bit simpler. You set all of your ePSXe command options in ePSXecutor. I believe these command options are also stored uniquely for each game.

What's new with 1.0.6.0?

- Due to multiple user suggestions: it's now possible to use

the epsxecutor.exe commandline to start a special config

without even showing the ePSXeCutor window.

That means: you can do now for example an epsxecutor shurtcut

on your desktop, and give a certain config name as cmdline.

If you now double-click this shortcut, ePSXeCutor will activate

this config, and start ePSXe with it.

The syntax is easy: simply add the config name after the .exe,

for example: epsxecutor.exe Alundra2. Please note: if your config

name contains space characters, use quotation marks (like:

epsxecutor.exe "Final Fantasy 9").

Ah, yes, and there is a special cmd line config name, called

QUICKSTART. if you do a shortcut like "epsxecutor.exe QUICKSTART",

ePSXeCutor will look after the game ID of the inserted psx game

cd, and start activate the config which belongs to this game

(if there is such a config available, of course).

ePSXecutor can also create 'launch game' desktop shortcuts, meaning that you could also simply launch the shortcut from the command line (which is probably the easiest way of all).

[RIP-Felix]

I've gone as far as I can with the readme and setup of the ePSXecutor. I setup a final fantasy 9 config. I set the gpu/spu/inputs and etc. The command line is confusing me. I imagine it is much like the GameEx command line. Except that I don't see a way to point to the folder that contains the ePSXe.exe (assuming it needs it.) I tried the following and in the command window it said it failed to load.

ePSXe.exe -slowboot -nogui -loadbin "rompath"

ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "rompath"

ePSXe.exe -loadbin "rompath"

-slowboot -nogui -loadbin "rompath"

-nogui -loadbin "rompath"

-loadbin "rompath"

"rompath"

Of course I replaced "rompath" with an actual location (c:\...) It might be worth mentioning that I don't have my roms in the same folder as the emulator, they are in a separate folder called roms and sub devided by the version they best work with. I doubt that matters. I could use an example.

[RIP-Felix]

I also tried this just now:

"emulator path to .exe" -slowboot -nogui -loadbin "rompath"

No go. This is the comand I used in a batch file that loads the files. It just can't change the config settings. No way I will resort to the autohotkey solution I mentioned earlier.

[nullPointer]

I'm away from my emulation rig ATM, but I believe you just drop ePSXecutor (and its associated contents) into the same directory as ePSXe. At that point you'll set up some game configurations within ePSXecutor and then use the ePSXecutor command line to launch a game. It's been a while since I've set it up, but I don't believe there's much more to it than that. (Of course as I mentioned I'm currently away from my emulation machine).

[nullPointer]

Sorry for double post. This looks to be a fairly decent tutorial on setting up ePSXecutor and pretty well matches my memory of the required steps.

[RIP-Felix]

Thanks null, the link you posted is a little vague on the comand line details but I was able to find a mention of it in the ngemu forumns. I use a modified hosts file to remove the popups and adds from the internet, so I apologise for their clutter if you don't: http://forums.ngemu....ad.php?t=124047

Anyway, this worked for me:

-loadbin "Rompath\romname.bin" -slowboot -nogui

Again the rompath is the actual location and the rom name is the filename + .bin. The slowboot comand had to be placed first in the comand line for GameEx to get it to work which is what was throwing me off, and I was forgeting to put the .bin after the rom name. Otherwise the last comand in my list above would have worked.

Ok, awesome. So I just make as many of these as I need for special game configs. setup another ePSXe instance in GameEx and insted of the ePSXe.exe comand I point it to the shortcut. Then remember to point GameEx to look for the rom in the place it's located, so it displays the game in menu? Then add it to the group. Does that about sum it up?

[RIP-Felix]

Oh, I do have one more question. Do I have to set a short cut for every game now? Then put them into groups? How did you do it?

[nullPointer]

I use a modified hosts file to remove the popups and adds from the internet, so I apologise for their clutter if you don't: http://forums.ngemu....ad.php?t=124047

Anyway, this worked for me:

-loadbin "Rompath\romname.bin" -slowboot -nogui

Yep that looks right to me. Great job sussing that out. Heh, yeah ever since they implemented those ads on ngemu it's been a (potential) nightmare. Thank you AdBlock!

Ok, awesome. So I just make as many of these as I need for special game configs. setup another ePSXe instande in GameEx and instead of the ePSXe.exe comand I point it to the shortcut. Then remember to point GameEx to look for the rom in the place it's located, so it displays the game in menu? Then add it to the group. Does that about sum it up?

That does about sum it up. Read on ...

Oh, I do have one more question. Do I have to set a short cut for every game now? Then put them into groups? How did you do it?

You can do this a few different ways, but I think the shortcut method is by far the easiest (that's what I do). The downside is that you'll need to create a shortcut to each game configured through ePSXecutor (in truth configuring all the games is what may take a while, after that creating the shortcut(s) is easy). The good news is that several games (or groups of games) can rely upon identical config settings. Another potential caveat is that you'll want to have your shortcut (and really your ePSXecutor config) named identically to your disc image (assuming your disc images are following a standard naming convention like TOSEC or ReDump). That way you can leverage the GameEx database against your "rom" names and still have everything match up correctly.

So to sum up, your working path will be the location of ePSXecutor. Your rom path will be the directory containing all of your shortcut files, and your command line in GameEx will simply be [ROMFILE]. Additionally you may want to set your ROM filter to be *.lnk depending on what all you've got in the shortcut directory.

Good luck man! Sounds like you're almost there!

[RIP-Felix]

I experimented with what you suggested. I'm still a little unclear on how to setup the groups you mentioned. I made some shortcuts onto the desktop (just for testing purposes) and created an ePSXe instance in the GameEx config wizard. I set the working path to the desktop, and the rom path to the desktop. I can see and launch the shortcuts from within GameEx. Big, however coming. GameEx launches the shortcut then goes back into the GameEx menu. If I minimize the GameEx window, the game is running in the backround! When I click on it I can hear the sound, the screen displays as much of it as it can, but only part of the whole picture (depending on the fullscreen resolution I set in ePSXecutor.) I can hit escape and the game ends, but that is when GameEx is supposed to come back, not as the game starts and assign it to the backround! If I double click the shortcut from the desktop it works flaylessly. What gives?

[nullPointer]

Ooops I almost forgot. You'll need an advanced emulator config. The problem that is happening is that GameEx is 'watching' the ePSXecutor process since that's what gets launched by your shortcut. The trouble is that ePSXecutor only hangs around long enough to launch ePSXe. When ePSXecutor exits GameEx just figures that you're done playing. You need to tell GameEx to watch ePSXe. That's where an advanced emulator config will be your friend.

Open up notepad and paste the following contents into it. Save the file as ePSXecutor.ini (or whatever you like)

# This is an advanced emulator configuration file. It does things such as allow keyboard only emulators to be operated by a gamepad, wait for additional processes to exit and map keys. If this file is used it overrides the MAPKeys setting for the emulator.

[GENERAL]

# Enabled. Use this.

Enabled=True

#Make MCE Back button and X-ARCADE Escape and SlikStik Escape to close emulator process

MapBack=False

#Make Escape key close emulator process

MapEscape=False

#When exiting an emulator via the above mappings, you can specify keys in the send keys format to send instead of having GameEx close the process to cleanly exit the emulator. Such as the Q Key or ALT F4 which is %{F4}

KeysToSendOnExit=

#Wait for keys to be processed by the emulator

EmuWaitForKeys=True

#Additional processes to wait to exit or close on exit. Dont include the .exe. Leave blank not to use.

Process1=ePSXe

Process2=

Process3=

Process4=

[JOYMAPPING]

# For mapping a GamePad to keys

# Specify a virtual key code to send when the specific joystick control is pressed. Look at vkcodes.htm for codes.

JoymappingEnabled=False

Left=

up=

Right=

Down=

Button1=

Button2=

Button3=

Button4=

Button5=

Button6=

Button7=

Button8=

Button9=

Button10=

Button11=

Button12=

Button13=

Button14=

Button15=

Button16=

[GAMEPADEXIT]

#MAP Gamepad controls to exit and make controls exit process

MapGamePadExit=False

#Flag the controls that exit a game by placing True next to each control. To not use the control as part of the combination use a 0

Left=True

Down=

Right=

Up=True

Button1=

Button2=

Button3=

Button4=True

Button5=True

Button6=True

Button7=

Button8=

Button9=

Button10=

Button11=

Button12=

Button13=

Button14=

Button15=

Button16=

[MOUSEMAPPING]

# For registered users, the ability to control the mouse with a gamepad and/or directional keys.

# For example for PC strategy games.

# Apparantly this functionality is similar to the software Pinnacle profiler. Remember you can setup an emulator

# as one PC game. Specify enabled, and mousespeed 0-20. 20 Being fastest. This setting overrides the directional

# mapping for the above and buttons 1 and 2 Button 1/CTRL becomes left mouse. Button 2/ALT Right mouse

MouseMappingEnabled=False

MouseSpeed=0

[bLOCKKEYS]

# Use this section to disable and block key presses and mouse clicks.

# To disable the mouse clicks use code 1 for left mouse button,

# 2 for right button and 4 for middle button

Enabled=False

BlockKey_1=1

BlockKey_2=2

BlockKey_3=4

BlockKey_4=

BlockKey_5=

[KEYBOARDREMAP]

# Remap Keys for the emulator. Specify from the from key, which is the key you wish to replace the to key

# This should be good enough for real time gaming. Registered version feature. Look at VKCodes.htm for codes.

Enabled=False

Remap_1_From_VK=

Remap_1_To_VK=

Remap_2_From_VK=

Remap_2_To_VK=

Remap_3_From_VK=

Remap_3_To_VK=

Remap_4_From_VK=

Remap_4_To_VK=

Remap_5_From_VK=

Remap_5_To_VK=

Remap_6_From_VK=

Remap_6_To_VK=

Remap_7_From_VK=

Remap_7_To_VK=

Remap_8_From_VK=

Remap_8_To_VK=

Remap_9_From_VK=

Remap_9_To_VK=

Remap_10_From_VK=

Remap_10_To_VK=

Remap_11_From_VK=

Remap_11_To_VK=

Remap_12_From_VK=

Remap_12_To_VK=

Remap_13_From_VK=

Remap_13_To_VK=

Remap_14_From_VK=

Remap_14_To_VK=

Remap_15_From_VK=

Remap_15_To_VK=

Remap_16_From_VK=

Remap_16_To_VK=

Remap_17_From_VK=

Remap_17_To_VK=

Remap_18_From_VK=

Remap_18_To_VK=

Remap_19_From_VK=

Remap_19_To_VK=

Remap_20_From_VK=

Remap_20_To_VK=

Remap_21_From_VK=

Remap_21_To_VK=

Remap_22_From_VK=

Remap_22_To_VK=

Remap_23_From_VK=

Remap_23_To_VK=

Remap_24_From_VK=

Remap_24_To_VK=

Remap_25_From_VK=

Remap_25_To_VK=

Remap_26_From_VK=

Remap_26_To_VK=

Remap_27_From_VK=

Remap_27_To_VK=

Remap_28_From_VK=

Remap_28_To_VK=

Remap_29_From_VK=

Remap_29_To_VK=

Remap_30_From_VK=

Remap_30_To_VK=

Remap_31_From_VK=

Remap_31_To_VK=

Remap_32_From_VK=

Remap_32_To_VK=

Put that file in the following directory:

...\GameEx\CONFIG\EMULATORS

Now open up the setup wizard and navigate to the Advanced Emulator Setup screen for your ePSXecutor setup(s). On that screen you'll see a field called Advanced Config. Your new advanced emulator config should appear in that dropdown list. Select your new config and exit the Setup Wizard. Give that a shot and see if it works any better for you. We may still need to tweak the name(s) of the watched process(es), but that should be well on the way to being fully operational.

[RIP-Felix]

Holy crapy, dude, It worked like a charm! Perfect! I think I will make a shortcut for each game. It may be time consuming, but once it's done I can just adjust it to tweek each game I'm playing for performance and compatability.

I have one last problem to over come related to ePSXe. How on earth do I change discs? I know there is a frontend (I don't remember its name) that is supposed to acomplish this but how will that play with the ePSXecutor, the autohotkey program I run the enable my motionjoy profile, and etc. Its a little off topic, but I don't suppose you know how to run my xpadder profiles before NullDC. or better yet how to get it to recognise full analog conrtol not just U, UL, L, DL, D, DR, R, UR? I heard it is not built into NullDC therefore you have to emulate keystrokes, which precludes the possability of axis control. If you can do that, dude you're a savont!

BTW: I've never had as productive a forum discussion. If I were to be googling answers to this, it would have taken me days at least. I probably would have given up. I'm impressed with how robust GameEx is. I've been able to get all my emulators working, and I see there is touchscreen support! That will come in handy for new handheld devices and etc. I will very likely be paying for this soon. That nag screen really defeats my SSD's purpose. I just wanted to make sure I could resolve the problems first. Thank null, seriously you rock.

[nullPointer]

Holy crapy, dude, It worked like a charm! Perfect! I think I will make a shortcut for each game. It may be time consuming, but once it's done I can just adjust it to tweek each game I'm playing for performance and compatability.

Great! I'm glad everything worked out for you.

I have one last problem to over come related to ePSXe. How on earth do I change discs? I know there is a frontend (I don't remember its name) that is supposed to acomplish this but how will that play with the ePSXecutor, the autohotkey program I run the enable my motionjoy profile, and etc. Its a little off topic, but I don't suppose you know how to run my xpadder profiles before NullDC. or better yet how to get it to recognise full analog conrtol not just U, UL, L, DL, D, DR, R, UR? I heard it is not built into NullDC therefore you have to emulate keystrokes, which precludes the possability of axis control. If you can do that, dude you're a savont!

• Changing discs. Well ... ah ... not to be overtly self promotional or anything, but I'd like to draw your attention to this. I should note that SwitchDisc is a very young application, and there are enhancements on the way (I've also been writing up the help documentation in between posts today, so hopefully it will also be a bit easier to use some time in the near future)
  

• In order to launch an Xpadder profile in advance of launching an emulator, you might want to have a look at the Xpadder Plugin written by our very own Adultery. The great part about that plugin is that it works natively from within GameEx. Other than the plugin you can also launch an Xpadder profile by way of a Launch Before command configured through the Setup Wizard.
  

• I was unaware until I started digging around a bit, but apparently nullDC has something of a history with PS3 controllers. Near as I can tell it's possible to configure analog bia PS3 controller if you use a recent version of nullDC in conjunction with the PuruPuru controller plugin (which I believe is included with more recent versions of nullDC(?)) Naturally YMMV. I'll keep an eye out for any additional information I can find on this topic.
  

Glad to be of some assistance Felix!

[RIP-Felix]

I didn't realize I was chat'n with celeb! Awesome, I will check it out.

Unfortunatly, I can't run anything above NullDC 1.0.3 because of my 64bit operating system. 1.0.4 returns a dll error that is suposed to be a direct x issue, but it's actually a 64bit issue. Reinstalling direct x doesn't help. So yea, I will need to run xpadder, unless there is a 64bit release I've not hear about, or a workaround. Or the PuruPuru plugin works with 1.0.3 and I've just overlooked it.

I don't know how much more I will get to tody so untill next time.

TAG: "When nothing is left in his bag of trix, Felix dies."

[nullPointer]

HI Felix

Hope you don't mind, but I moved your questions regarding SwitchDisc Configurator into the dedicated SwitchDisc thread (right here). As much as I love talking about my stuff, I'm also tasked with maintaining some semblance of order around here. I also figure that any information I provide regarding SwitchDisc at present might as well be easy to find so as to benefit to the rest of the (small number of) people currently using the app.

Thanks!

Edit:

Just so you're not waiting for the other shoe to drop, it will definitely be at least 3 hrs (from the time of edit) before I have a chance to fully elaborate on the SwitchDisc question. Thanks again

Edited October 11, 2012 by nullPointer
Adding Clarification

[RIP-Felix]

Nope, this topic is resolved anyway. Well, unless any body know how to make nullDC run in windows 7 x64?

Edited October 15, 2012 by Draco1962
This thread is now closed. If the problem re-occurs, please start a new thread