PCSX2 Peeps

[uberpubert69]

You got a NVidia card, KRC? If so, go for the latest rvn (?) build. Nvidia updated their drivers a few months ago, which "broke" PCSX2 - screen jumps and stretches.... Latest build has Nvidia hack which stops this.

Sadly, I also use PCSXLunch, which launches games with individual settings. However, make the update to newer versions of PCSX2 difficult (not necessarily impossible - just gonna take time to look at it properly). There is another launcher called PCSX2Bonus - dunno if this is easier to keep the version updated....

Did a guide to pcsxlunch/GE integration, here:

http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/13947-pcsx2-setup-with-individual-games-settings/?p=115401

I just messed around with pcsx2bonus for the first time and I have to say that switching to a different version of pcsx2 was completely painless for me.What happened was I accidentally started configuring settings for a older build of pcsx2 and just switched the path to the most recent build and I have yet to experience any bad things or having to restart my settings for each game. I never used pcsxlunch so I don't really have a way to compare pcsx2bonus to pcsxlunch in that aspect.

[stigzler]

Cheers uber, that may be good news. However, I havent found a way the interface Bonus with gameex as you cant 'pass' games via command line. How does your setup work?

[uberpubert69]

Cheers uber, that may be good news. However, I havent found a way the interface Bonus with gameex as you cant 'pass' games via command line. How does your setup work?

I've yet to integrate pcsx2bonus with my GameEx right now I just have ISOs and my working path is pcsx2 pointing to the emulator. But there is something worth noting. You can apparently make executables (.EXEs) with pcsx2bonus for each game so I would probably have to just make an executable for each of my games and make those my "ISOs" in GameEx instead of the actual ISOs. And it launches your game with your custom configuration just tried Amplitude which requires full boot (not fast boot) to run and it works. You can also choose what icon your executable has too!

[hansolo77]

I tried setting up PS2 emulation a few years ago with no success.. My system just seemed to be able to load games, but not make them playable since rendering was so slow. I remember I had to turn off all sound, and have the resolution at 320x240 just to get it to display, but everything was still extrememly choppy. My friend at work gave me his old copy of Final Fantasy 12, which I had never played. I intend to play it on my own PS2, but I thought I'd give it another go since your topic piqued my interest again. I spent probably 3 hours last night getting it to work satifactory. I have am running in native resolution (a plus) and with sound (another plus). I spent so long tweaking things, but I have yet to actually see how a game performs "in-game". I was originally running FF12 directly from the disk in my drive, and the opening video was really stuttery and I felt that if I couldn't get it smoothed out, the in-game stuff wouldn't be any better. So I spent the whole time trying to figure out how to make the opening video smooth. What I ended up doing was making an ISO of the disk and run the thing off the HDD (so the dvd drive wasn't constantly spinning up for access), setting the audio to allow skipping rather than timestretch, and output the audio in exclusive mode (it seemed to bypass anything the system was trying to do as far as conversion and just output directly to my AMP. That caused me to control the system volume from the amp, and not the windows volume). I also tried to enable the speed hack to use use the SOFTWARE renderer for the FMVs, but that caused a lot of stutter afterwards, so I left it alone. When I get back from work today, I'm going to see how the actual in-game stuff runs.

[nullPointer]

I tried setting up PS2 emulation a few years ago with no success.. My system just seemed to be able to load games, but not make them playable since rendering was so slow. I remember I had to turn off all sound, and have the resolution at 320x240 just to get it to display, but everything was still extrememly choppy. My friend at work gave me his old copy of Final Fantasy 12, which I had never played. I intend to play it on my own PS2, but I thought I'd give it another go since your topic piqued my interest again. I spent probably 3 hours last night getting it to work satifactory. I have am running in native resolution (a plus) and with sound (another plus). I spent so long tweaking things, but I have yet to actually see how a game performs "in-game". I was originally running FF12 directly from the disk in my drive, and the opening video was really stuttery and I felt that if I couldn't get it smoothed out, the in-game stuff wouldn't be any better. So I spent the whole time trying to figure out how to make the opening video smooth. What I ended up doing was making an ISO of the disk and run the thing off the HDD (so the dvd drive wasn't constantly spinning up for access), setting the audio to allow skipping rather than timestretch, and output the audio in exclusive mode (it seemed to bypass anything the system was trying to do as far as conversion and just output directly to my AMP. That caused me to control the system volume from the amp, and not the windows volume). I also tried to enable the speed hack to use use the SOFTWARE renderer for the FMVs, but that caused a lot of stutter afterwards, so I left it alone. When I get back from work today, I'm going to see how the actual in-game stuff runs.

Can't wait to hear your progress Han. This is the exact reason that something like PS2Lunch or PCSX2Bonus can be such a boon. After painstakingly manipulating settings for one game, it's a huge PITA when you have to alter those settings in order to make a different game playable. The ability to save settings on a per-game basis is huge. If you decide to jump wholeheartedly down the rabbit hole of PS2 emulation I would recommend checking one (or both) of them out.

PS2 is one of those systems for which I only add games to GameEx one at a time in order maintain proven playability and performance. (It sucks having broken games launchable through GameEx, and it's a virtual guarantee that guests will attempt to play that broken game if given half a chance!)

[DazzleHP]

This is the exact reason that something like PS2Lunch or PCSX2Bonus can be such a boon. After painstakingly manipulating settings for one game, it's a huge PITA when you have to alter those settings in order to make a different game playable. The ability to save settings on a per-game basis is huge. If you decide to jump wholeheartedly down the rabbit hole of PS2 emulation I would recommend checking one (or both) of them out.

PS2 is one of those systems that I only add games to GameEx one at a time in order maintain proven playability and performance. (It sucks having broken games launchable through GameEx, and it's a virtual guarantee that guests will attempt to play that broken game if given half a chance!)

That's exactly why i recently started using PCXS2Bonus - it makes things incredibly easy. Just choose your settings (within PCXS2Bonus) right-click the game> make exe. Then all you need to do throw all your exe's into one folder and point GameEx to it. Working Path and Rom Path are the same and command is just "[ROMPATH/ROMFILE]". Badaboom.

[uberpubert69]

That's exactly why i recently started using PCXS2Bonus - it makes things incredibly easy. Just choose your settings (within PCXS2Bonus) right-click the game> make exe. Then all you need to do throw all your exe's into one folder and point GameEx to it. Working Path and Rom Path are the same and command is just "[ROMPATH/ROMFILE]". Badaboom.

Glad you realized that pcsx2bonus has that option dazzle

I tried setting up PS2 emulation a few years ago with no success.. My system just seemed to be able to load games, but not make them playable since rendering was so slow. I remember I had to turn off all sound, and have the resolution at 320x240 just to get it to display, but everything was still extrememly choppy. My friend at work gave me his old copy of Final Fantasy 12, which I had never played. I intend to play it on my own PS2, but I thought I'd give it another go since your topic piqued my interest again. I spent probably 3 hours last night getting it to work satifactory. I have am running in native resolution (a plus) and with sound (another plus). I spent so long tweaking things, but I have yet to actually see how a game performs "in-game". I was originally running FF12 directly from the disk in my drive, and the opening video was really stuttery and I felt that if I couldn't get it smoothed out, the in-game stuff wouldn't be any better. So I spent the whole time trying to figure out how to make the opening video smooth. What I ended up doing was making an ISO of the disk and run the thing off the HDD (so the dvd drive wasn't constantly spinning up for access), setting the audio to allow skipping rather than timestretch, and output the audio in exclusive mode (it seemed to bypass anything the system was trying to do as far as conversion and just output directly to my AMP. That caused me to control the system volume from the amp, and not the windows volume). I also tried to enable the speed hack to use use the SOFTWARE renderer for the FMVs, but that caused a lot of stutter afterwards, so I left it alone. When I get back from work today, I'm going to see how the actual in-game stuff runs.

Since I do not know what your system specs are this is pure speculation but you're probably missing a few key settings that you need enabled/selected to get pcsx2 running well. Go into your plugin settings and make sure you have MVU Flag Hack enabled and MTVU Multi Threaded Hack and make your EE and VU cycle rates to 2 . Don't enable Vsync. Go to your VUs section and change VU0 and VU1 to supervU Recompiler. Then try running your gsdx under direct3D9 or 11. You should have something playable with those settings. The hack to switch to software on FMVs I've only used for Dirge of Ceberus Final Fantasy 7 as that game has really terrible compatibility with the FMVs in that game. I can play Final Fantasy 12 no problem. There are many games that have crappy speed during FMVs but once the game starts its all good. I remember Kingdom Hearts used to give me trouble on my old rig but the gameplay was playable.

[DazzleHP]

Glad you realized that pcsx2bonus has that option dazzle

Yes, back in May in fact

[stigzler]

Been putting off the PS2 setup since had the woes with PCSX2 update and subsequent PCSX2Lunch woes. Sadly - looks like the dev for this has disappeared.

I'll be re-checking Bonus, as I know that's still being dev'd. Just hoping:

a) Can accommodate emu updates without having to re-do all the settings for each game

You can batch process .exe production (think had probs with this before - but could be my dicky memory).

Ta for info, chaps.

[hansolo77]

Glad you realized that pcsx2bonus has that option dazzle

Since I do not know what your system specs are this is pure speculation but you're probably missing a few key settings that you need enabled/selected to get pcsx2 running well. Go into your plugin settings and make sure you have MVU Flag Hack enabled and MTVU Multi Threaded Hack and make your EE and VU cycle rates to 2 . Don't enable Vsync. Go to your VUs section and change VU0 and VU1 to supervU Recompiler. Then try running your gsdx under direct3D9 or 11. You should have something playable with those settings. The hack to switch to software on FMVs I've only used for Dirge of Ceberus Final Fantasy 7 as that game has really terrible compatibility with the FMVs in that game. I can play Final Fantasy 12 no problem. There are many games that have crappy speed during FMVs but once the game starts its all good. I remember Kingdom Hearts used to give me trouble on my old rig but the gameplay was playable.

The MVU Flag Hack was already enabled. The Multi-Thread hack I don't think I should enable since it says it's only for 3+ cores, while mine is only 2. For the EE/VU Cycle Rates to 2, are you talking about in the SpeedHacks tab, the sliders? As for Vsync, I did actually enable it, and with the Dynamicly Toggle so it would only work when it has the framerate to do it in. I'm already running GSDX d3d11.

[tthurman]

I absolutely love many aspects of the emu world, but reading this makes me think "wouldn't it be easier to just obtain a PS2?"

I know there are many objective opinions about this, but I struggle with the frustration factor emu's like this bring.

You guys have amazing patience

[hansolo77]

Thats not the point! I can't find my PS2 for one thing, and another; it would require the R/W/Y cable and my TV doesn't have those connections anymore (only HDMI). So the fact that I could emulate it, and play my games again, it's a sweet thing.

I have a USB adaptor for my Playstation Controller, plugged it in, got all the buttons mapped right. Started up FF12. The opening video is still kinda stuttery, but a lot better than it was before lastnight when I was tweaking it. I haven't made any changes to anything. When the game menu came up, I started it, and the controls are wonky. Maybe it's just cause I'm not used to the camera controls yet, but they seem backwards. Anyway, the game was still pretty choppy/stuttery but it's managable. Compared to my emulation of the GameCube, it's actually pretty good. I'm a little confused though, since I thought the GameCube was before the PS2 (N64 was around with PS1). Anyway, I can play Super Mario Sunshine (*cough*sucks*) and Mario Kart on it, but the Star Wars games I WANTED to play have like 10fps issues that it's unbearable. The PS2 however, I'm getting 50-60fps with just some occasional stuttering (might be because my system is doing something in the background). I'm definitely coming back to this when I have more time.

[uberpubert69]

Thats not the point! I can't find my PS2 for one thing, and another; it would require the R/W/Y cable and my TV doesn't have those connections anymore (only HDMI). So the fact that I could emulate it, and play my games again, it's a sweet thing.

I have a USB adaptor for my Playstation Controller, plugged it in, got all the buttons mapped right. Started up FF12. The opening video is still kinda stuttery, but a lot better than it was before lastnight when I was tweaking it. I haven't made any changes to anything. When the game menu came up, I started it, and the controls are wonky. Maybe it's just cause I'm not used to the camera controls yet, but they seem backwards. Anyway, the game was still pretty choppy/stuttery but it's managable. Compared to my emulation of the GameCube, it's actually pretty good. I'm a little confused though, since I thought the GameCube was before the PS2 (N64 was around with PS1). Anyway, I can play Super Mario Sunshine (*cough*sucks*) and Mario Kart on it, but the Star Wars games I WANTED to play have like 10fps issues that it's unbearable. The PS2 however, I'm getting 50-60fps with just some occasional stuttering (might be because my system is doing something in the background). I'm definitely coming back to this when I have more time.

From what I've read the GameCube is actually stronger than the Xbox or PS2. And yes I was talking about the sliders in the speedhacks menu. Sounds like you may just have an outdated rig for emulating anything higher than dreamcast. Emulators like dolphin are being optimized to the point where a newish setup is required. For example there is no more 32 bit support for Dolphin as well as Direct X 9. The more accurate the higher the system requirements. But games like Star Wars Rouge Squadron 2 do not play well at all still regardless. Glad to hear you got playable framerates on pcsx2 though.

[hansolo77]

Yeah I was actually trying to play Bounty Hunter on the Gamecube. Not very enjoyable at all. I haven't tried to emulate the Dreamcast yet. I will try those slider tweaks later and see if I get any kind of speed boost. It's strange though, when I hit TAB to go turbo, and F4 to disable the framelimiting, things start flying. So I wonder if there IS setting somewhere that's causing slow downs.

[uberpubert69]

Yeah I was actually trying to play Bounty Hunter on the Gamecube. Not very enjoyable at all. I haven't tried to emulate the Dreamcast yet. I will try those slider tweaks later and see if I get any kind of speed boost. It's strange though, when I hit TAB to go turbo, and F4 to disable the framelimiting, things start flying. So I wonder if there IS setting somewhere that's causing slow downs.

You are going to want to mess with those sliders. I'm gonna tell you right now that I wasn't able to get Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 to run faster than 30-40 FPS ever so I just lived with it. I also never messed with the EE cycle and VU cycle rates (kept them both at 1). As soon as I put them both on 2 I was playing that game with 60 FPS even on multiplayer (Has occasional hiccup)! I also wasn't able to play Sly Cooper faster than 40 FPS and it now runs at 60 FPS solid.

And to anyone who likes Earth/Global Defense Force 2 turn off framelimiting! I was at 60 FPS and the game was still slower than S**T and when I turned framelimiting off it jumped to 80 FPS and played amazingly. Also turn sound from Timestretch to Asynchronous to keep the sound normal and not sped up.

[hansolo77]

OK heres one for you. I'm using a USB adapter that my original PS2 controller plugs into. There were no drivers to configure. When I configured all 3 drivers in PCSX2, they all work, but the rumble/vibration doesn't. I have another controller that is generic USB (not PS2 or anything) and I can configure IT to use force feedback (rumble/vibration) but it doesn't have enough buttons to work with everything the PS2 controller does. Any ideas what I can do to get it working?

Another thing; I tried ICO last night. I remember only being able to play it like 3 times on my PS2 then I kept getting the Disc Read error (because it's a CD-ROM and not DVD). I plugged it in my drive and it played like a dream with no problems. I made a bin/cue of it anyway so I can get better response out of the emulator. However, I also tried to run Devil May Cry, and it's slow as heck. Like 30fps, shots take like 2 seconds each. I remember it was a lot faster on my PS2. Is DMC known to be a system hog?

[uberpubert69]

OK heres one for you. I'm using a USB adapter that my original PS2 controller plugs into. There were no drivers to configure. When I configured all 3 drivers in PCSX2, they all work, but the rumble/vibration doesn't. I have another controller that is generic USB (not PS2 or anything) and I can configure IT to use force feedback (rumble/vibration) but it doesn't have enough buttons to work with everything the PS2 controller does. Any ideas what I can do to get it working?

Another thing; I tried ICO last night. I remember only being able to play it like 3 times on my PS2 then I kept getting the Disc Read error (because it's a CD-ROM and not DVD). I plugged it in my drive and it played like a dream with no problems. I made a bin/cue of it anyway so I can get better response out of the emulator. However, I also tried to run Devil May Cry, and it's slow as heck. Like 30fps, shots take like 2 seconds each. I remember it was a lot faster on my PS2. Is DMC known to be a system hog?

Yeah I think it is. Games that have multiple polygon characters on screen the slower it is and the farther the render distance (as is both in DMC's case) the slower it will also be. Bully is another game I forgot to mention that I was running at 40 FPS and wasn't able to play at 60FPS until I ran the slider hacks to 2. In your case setting them to 3 may be of greater help but you start losing compatibility from doing so, therefore not many games will benefit from that high of a setting. I tried DMC a while ago and I remember nothing negative while playing (I usually do if it ran like S**t), actually I remember how fun it was to run around and do crazy stuff so fast. God of War 1 & 2 obviously are major system hogs, but I can get running fullspeed even at 1000x1000 resolution (which is what I play all my games at).

As for your PS2 adapter I probably have the same adapter you do. Is this what you have?

I don't use it though because it messes up my 360 controller numbers and I have to change the controller settings for every one of my emulators. I have a driver that I got that I don't remember where but it says it has rumble support so I'mma UL it, You can try it at your leisure.

Twin_USB_Vibration_Gamepad_-_81017906_-_W7.rar

[hansolo77]

Not exactly.. its the same see-thru blue color, but thats about it. Mine only has 1 input. The more I play these emulators, the more it seems like the Xbox360 controller is THE controller to get instead of using all these others. And I like the way the 360 feels too. I wonder how much they cost. Would it be cheaper to get a 360 wireless adapter or just a wired USB controller?

How can you run at 1000x1000 res! I'm lucky I'm doing the default (I think it's 640x480). You must have a better rig than me. I have a Core2Duo e6600 (2.40 ghz) and 6gb memory with a nVidia GeForce GTS 250 card.

[uberpubert69]

Not exactly.. its the same see-thru blue color, but thats about it. Mine only has 1 input. The more I play these emulators, the more it seems like the Xbox360 controller is THE controller to get instead of using all these others. And I like the way the 360 feels too. I wonder how much they cost. Would it be cheaper to get a 360 wireless adapter or just a wired USB controller?

How can you run at 1000x1000 res! I'm lucky I'm doing the default (I think it's 640x480). You must have a better rig than me. I have a Core2Duo e6600 (2.40 ghz) and 6gb memory with a nVidia GeForce GTS 250 card.

Yeah the 360 controller is the way to go. I'd say go for wired because wireless costs more plus the cost of the adapter. I've seen lots of 3rd party 360 controllers laying about here and there and the one I use is a mini PowerA controller that has LEDs and it cost me like 15 bucks at a used game store (Right bumper no longer clicks though). I've even seen spots at the mall that allow you to create your own personal controller too. But those are probably expensive.

Lol I actually made a minor error I'm running at 1024x1024. I've just never been able to deal with the fuzziness of the PS2's native resolution on my TV lol. You should try running 512x512 apparently the emulator likes resolutions that are the same for both dimensions. I have a A-10 5800K APU at 3.80Ghz (Quad Core) with a HD 7660D GPU integrated in it with 8GB DDR3 with a 2GB HD7750 that is dual graphic'd (Crossfired) with my iGPU. It's ironic because I look down at my rig, my friend destroys my computer and he doesn't even do emulation of any sort.

[RIP-Felix]

If you guys have PS3 controllers you can use it witlessly! I use "Motioninjoy" and "Better DS3" in combination. The former is the pairing/driver program and the latter loads your profile when the controller is paired, so you don't have to launch motioninjoy. This supports the vibration function too, it's just a matter of getting your emulators to. All you need is a blutooth dongle, one dedicated for this purpose. And pull out any others while you set this up as It may screw up your wireless blutooth drivers for them. Once it's all installed and paired then you can plug them back in. Be sure to set a system restore first, you might need to use it a few time before getting it right. Once you do though it's sweet.

[uberpubert69]

If you guys have PS3 controllers you can use it witlessly! I use "Motioninjoy" and "Better DS3" in combination. The former is the pairing/driver program and the latter loads your profile when the controller is paired, so you don't have to launch motioninjoy. This supports the vibration function too, it's just a matter of getting your emulators to. All you need is a blutooth dongle, one dedicated for this purpose. And pull out any others while you set this up as It may screw up your wireless blutooth drivers for them. Once it's all installed and paired then you can plug them back in. Be sure to set a system restore first, you might need to use it a few time before getting it right. Once you do though it's sweet.

I had one from a garage sale I payed 5 bucks for for a long time, but I decided to sell it and make more money instead. I do not like the motioninjoy ds3 stuff. Was just a pain. With the 360 controllers I just plug in and go.

[nullPointer]

I use and recommend this Xinput Wrapper for DS3 over MotionInJoy. It's super easy to use, glitch free (in my experience), and best of all - no crazy unsigned drivers to worry about (your DS3 is recognized as an Xbox 360 controller). Good times my friends!

[RIP-Felix]

Motioninjoy now has signed drivers so that is not an issue any longer. But as null pointed out there are ways of using a PS3 controller pain free. Motioninjoy has profiles to set up the controller in various ways, so for users that have games that say don't recognize a 360's joystick they can set the buttons and jousticks up suct that it will. I have a lot of legacy games like this, Descent 1&2, Homebrew Zelda Classic, and etc.

As they say, whatever floats your boat. I like the PS3 controller better than the 360. So, nah nah nuh, boo boo, stick your head in doo doo . Psst, x-box 360. HA!

[uberpubert69]

Motioninjoy now has signed drivers so that is not an issue any longer. But as null pointed out there are ways of using a PS3 controller pain free. Motioninjoy has profiles to set up the controller in various ways, so for users that have games that say don't recognize a 360's joystick they can set the buttons and jousticks up suct that it will. I have a lot of legacy games like this, Descent 1&2, Homebrew Zelda Classic, and etc.

As they say, whatever floats your boat. I like the PS3 controller better than the 360. So, nah nah nuh, boo boo, stick your head in doo doo . Psst, x-box 360. HA!

I have nothing against PS3 controllers. I just had a difficult time with them because I was unaware of stuff like what Null said. I still stay behind my statement of you having to do literally nothing but plug your 360 controller in to get rollin with some game. The average joe is not going to be aware of any unofficial drivers that rock that hard.

[DazzleHP]

If y'all want to stop arguments right now, and you don't have the means for a cab setup - dual 360 wired. Nuff said. Yes i'll back it up if need be