Community The Emulation Thread - When That PC Port Just Ain't Happening

[Tizoc]

Thank you for those infos, as with most things these days, all I get out of it is that I’m a dirty poor.
This is tiring

There there pal
You can still get milage from ps1 and pre era games

Start with stuff you like that wont be too demanding on your phone, load them up in your phone via emulator and try them out
Eventually youll be filling your phone with ye olde games that you'll eventually have cleared 52 games before you know it~

 

[Li Kao]

Well the issue is that I don't have the money for a phone anyway
But thanks for those words of wisdom, if I had a phone I would want to emulate the most hardware I can, but there is indeed an ocean of great not too demanding games !

 

[Durante]

If you only want to emulate games up to the ~ PS1 / PSP level, there are some relatively inexpensive (i.e. €60-70) devices which do that very well.

 

[Li Kao]

If you only want to emulate games up to the ~ PS1 / PSP level, there are some relatively inexpensive (i.e. €60-70) devices which do that very well.

Well as I said, ideally I would like to emulate PS2, but if it's unreasonable on a budget, yeah, this series of question started from me seeing a retro portable and imagining playing the GBA Mario RPG or early Megaten.
What's the go to for that ? Retroid Pocket 2 on chinese reseller sites ?

edit
The Switch form factor, emulating until PS2, gimme please Santa !
I know there are promising beasts that play even further, but I'm clearly not in the target population.

 

[Durante]

Personally I like the Hardkernel devices, like the Odroid Go Advance. It's decent quality HW at a nice price but requires a bit of tinkering.

The RG351P is basically a clone (with a few more buttons) and comes assembled if that's more your thing.

 

[Li Kao]

Oh yeah, a thought that crossed my mind yesterday. What about streaming for more demanding hardware ? Would it be possible, with good results, to stream PS2 games via things like Steam Link ?

And on another topic, emulators and games, hard drives or ssd ? I suppose I doesn't matter much for old hardware, but for the things that use caching ?

 

[Tizoc]

Oh yeah, a thought that crossed my mind yesterday. What about streaming for more demanding hardware ? Would it be possible, with good results, to stream PS2 games via things like Steam Link ?

And on another topic, emulators and games, hard drives or ssd ? I suppose I doesn't matter much for old hardware, but for the things that use caching ?

I'ma give you a suggestion, compile a list of games you have interest in playing from the lists in this site

/v/'s Recommended Games Wiki

All of these recommendations come from /v/ (or at least should be). Expect tastes that may not match your own, a healthy serving of hateful language, and punishing standards of quality. We hate so hard because we love video games so much. This wiki, like all wikis, lives and breathes on the...

vsrecommendedgames.fandom.com

 

[freshVeggie]

 

[Pogi]

Is there a rotating clip for the 8bitdo controllers? I can't seem to find it locally and Google search is super unhelpful. This is for the purpose of playing DS games on portrait orientation on my phone and I prefer the 8bitdo SN30 for portability (and I find the design incredibly nostalgic, makes me happy) purposes. Otherwise, I'd just go Xbox series S controller although it is unwieldy on the commute.

 

[Alextended]

Anyone else's fully updated FBN core in RA getting issues with CPS2 games like Armored Warriors, SFA3 or MvC? It was fine just a while ago, I dunno if a core update borked it or my romset refresh I did to get it renewed with all the Sega System 32 games FBN added support for recently. Games for other boards work.

 

[Alextended]

Anyone else's fully updated FBN core in RA getting issues with CPS2 games like Armored Warriors, SFA3 or MvC? It was fine just a while ago, I dunno if a core update borked it or my romset refresh I did to get it renewed with all the Sega System 32 games FBN added support for recently. Games for other boards work.

It's fixed with today's FinalBurn Neo core update

 

[Tizoc]

Hmmmm
Lolipop chainsaw with vulkan isnt rendering very well :/

Lollipop Chainsaw

Lollipop Chainsaw is a comedy horror video game that features a collaboration between game designer Suda51 and filmmaker James Gunn. The game follows Juliet Starling (voiced by Tara Strong), a cheerleader zombie hunter fighting hordes of zombies in a fictional California high school. Juliet can...

wiki.rpcs3.net

Edi- lemme test that.

 

[Cacher]

I started ripping my PSX and PS2 games and thinking which one I should play afterwards. Probably Xenogears first (done disc 1 years ago but the save was lost) then onto Wild Arms Alter code f.

 

[Kvik]

I started ripping my PSX and PS2 games and thinking which one I should play afterwards. Probably Xenogears first

Xenogears is a good choice~ .Enable PGXP to combat those wobbly textures!

Consider Saga Frontier too if you have a copy. Its sprite work still looks good. With dithering enabled and 6x integer scaled to 1440p, it looks better than the remaster, imo.

 

[Cacher]

Xenogears is a good choice~ .Enable PGXP to combat those wobbly textures!

Consider Saga Frontier too if you have a copy. Its sprite work still looks good. With dithering enabled and 6x integer scaled to 1440p, it looks better than the remaster, imo.

Thanks for the recommendations! Unfortunately I don't have SaGa Frontier so I will probably play the remaster instead. Your screenshots look great though

 

[Kvik]

Unfortunately I don't have SaGa Frontier so I will probably play the remaster instead.

Since you're fluent in Japanese, the JP version of Saga Frontier can still be found in Zeus.

 

[Cacher]

Since you're fluent in Japanese, the JP version of Saga Frontier can still be found in Zeus.

Thanks! Getting a physical copy (in Japan) is actually quite easy and affordable, too. But I need to return first

 

[Knurek]

Friends don't let friends recommend friends play the PS1 version of SaGa Frontier.
I mean, that game released in a pre-alpha state, and this was before online patches were a thing.

 

[Kvik]

Friends don't let friends recommend friends play the PS1 version of SaGa Frontier.
I mean, that game released in a pre-alpha state, and this was before online patches were a thing.

I've only played it for a couple of hours myself, with one character (Emilia) and it seems to emulate just fine in Beetle PSX HW core. Unless you're talking about the game balance and the grind gets real like many other RPGs of the era?

 

[Knurek]

I've only played it for a couple of hours myself, with one character (Emilia) and it seems to emulate just fine in Beetle PSX HW core. Unless you're talking about the game balance and the grind gets real like many other RPGs of the era?

It's a famously unfinished game.
Most (all?) of that seems to be getting added to the remaster.

 

[Kvik]

It's a famously unfinished game.
Most (all?) of that seems to be getting added to the remaster.

Wew, there's quite a lot there under the Lost in Translation section. While I'm not expecting Scarlet Grace's level of localisation in the first place, I'm not confident they'll fix all those localisation issues for the remaster.

 

[Alextended]

Still an alpha, performance, visual, rumble issues, crashes, etc., but it's coming along finally.

Libretro Cores Updates – PCSX2 Alpha release for Windows and more! – Libretro

 

[Alextended]

This isn't new but I missed it. I think it's convinced me that there are no meaningful shortcomings to the device that I was looking for as an excuse to not buy it.

 

[Alextended]

Kewl, I just rediscovered this game, finally. I couldn't remember its name for the life of me, I kept thinking it's Strider-esque because of the theme even though it's so much faster (and a shooter instead I guess, lol). I had forgotten it was basically Sunset Riders: Ninja Edition. These games are fun. Ever since Metal Slug became a thing I don't tend to like run and gun games with more restricted agility and shooting directions etc., but these are among the great exceptions.

 

[Alextended]

Never heard of this game but wow. A year before Doom and it's an arcade FPS with full control. The arcade stick is forward/back and strafing like WASD and the lightgun is both for shooting and turning left/right. The 2nd player only gets to shoot as it's single screen and he can only use his stick to move if p1 dies. Neat..!

Environments aren't as fully featured as Doom but it sure wins in terms of action like all good lightgun shooters of this chaotic rather than precision shot style.

 

[Li Kao]

Wii emulation, scanlines or no scanlines ?
I mean, what would you have played on at the time ?

 

[Alextended]

Well, Dolphin is the one emulator I still use stand alone instead of through RA (idk, it's just how it's happened) so it might be affecting my decision but generally I use crt/scanline filters and usually the original native resolution up to the Dreamcast (though some times I go high res for it too) but for Wii and GameCube I generally just increase resolution and leave the image clear. Maybe whenever I migrate to the Dolphin core I'll experiment differently though, idk.

 

[Kvik]

Wii emulation, scanlines or no scanlines ?

No scanlines across all emulation cores. I like my pixels sharp and thicc.

 

[Li Kao]

Another question, even more stupid. Scanlines for PC ? Until which year ? Pre-2000 ?

 

[Alextended]

I've PC gamed since ~2000 (I had to force myself to turn my Dreamcast on and finish the Shenmues but it was worth it) and don't recall ever having scanlines visible. I think they only showed if you had to use much lower resolution than your CRT monitor's native by then. I didn't dabble in emulation back then to see if playing say SNES and Neo Geo games ran at low resolution got nice scanlines naturally without filters, that's a shame. Of course you'll want scanlines even for modern native PC games if they're low res pixel artsy (and they usually offer options), I'm just speaking for the average 3D game Dreamcast onwards here.

I never thought to add scanlines when playing older 3D PC games except when using dgVoodoo2 for Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D or similarly ancient titles that don't natively work in Windows 10 and I didn't stick with it. I guess I'm weird given that sort of game is definitely pre-Dreamcast era. Maybe I'd use scanlines for the N64 version but perhaps the longer draw distances and detail levels afforded by PC of that time means it's better in high resolution. I guess a 3D game that can't be ran in native high resolution and defaults to some 640x480 could be better with scanlines but in the past when running lower than native games like Diablo II or Baldur's Gate (not EE) I enabled windowed mode (if unavailable set the GPU to center the image) instead so that they're not stretched to full size.

Of course if you have like a 4K monitor they'd be tiny windows so you might want a different approach.

I don't often play PC games much older than those two. Beneath a Steel Sky is one I played but forget if I used SCUMMVM filters. I think it's possible I used scanlines to double the image size while still playing windowed or something along those lines. Actually that was my approach when emulating the likes of GBA years back before RetroArch, just use scanlines2x or similar. But I guess newer games like Trails in the Sky would qualify given they're very PS1-like in low res visuals (but support high res for their 3D) engine, yet I didn't feel the need for scanlines there either. I guess I'm weird. It's up to you what looks fitting

 

[Li Kao]

Yeah, I can’t remember if scanlines on monitors were ever a natural thing of if this was exclusive to TVs

 

[Kvik]

Yeah, I can’t remember if scanlines on monitors were ever a natural thing of if this was exclusive to TVs

All displays produced using CRT technology will have scanlines whether it's a TV or monitor.

 

[KainXVIII]

It's a famously unfinished game.
Most (all?) of that seems to be getting added to the remaster.

I heard that Unlimited Saga was even worse

 

[Knurek]

I heard that Unlimited Saga was even worse

No, that's only missing a decent tutorial
(and also people need to realize it isn't a RPG, but a digital board game)

 

[Li Kao]

In the mood for some Kawazu. Now, Final Fantasy Legend II GB or its remake, Saga 2 DS ?
Or another one, fuck ocd, Saga games aren’t linked, right ?

 

[Cacher]

In the mood for some Kawazu. Now, Final Fantasy Legend II GB or its remake, Saga 2 DS ?
Or another one, fuck ocd, Saga games aren’t linked, right ?

If I was the one choosing, I would play Collection of Saga on Switch. It has the three original titles.

 

[Li Kao]

If I was the one choosing, I would play Collection of Saga on Switch. It has the three original titles.

Good point ! Though I just read that the original 3 wasn’t Kawazu and wasn’t very good. Wondering if I should skip that one or maybe play the remake overseen by Kawazu (?) if there is a fan translation.

 

[Li Kao]

In what measure do you need a guide to play Saga Frontier (Remastered or not) ? I mean are there secret endings BS ? Or is this more of a read a guide to introduce yourself to the quirky mechanics but then you can play as you want ?

 

[Alextended]

Speaking of lightguns there's also this DYI system that uses 4 IR points to calibrate the aiming with supposedly equal accuracy to the Sinden after all the correct configuration. I'm not good with stuff like that so Idk what to make of it. This guy pimps a store that sells pre-made kits with it but it's $250 for a modded guncon.

I'm gonna stick with waiting for the right time to buy a Sinden as it has a nice gun shell and isn't DYI. I thought it's expensive also but it sure isn't close to $250. Though I wonder if the border approach is overkill, maybe he can just make it so it only needs the 4 corners or something? But I guess that's just cosmetic at that point, it ideally renders the tracking area outside the game view so whether it's black or a full tracking border doesn't matter after all.

 

[Kal1m3r0]

That's it, I have to play Vagrant Story now

 

[Kvik]

I found this on one of my travels, it may be of interest.

Shadow Hearts UNDUB patch : swosho : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Midway has kept most of the Japanese combat voice clips in the localised versions of the game, so this undub addresses the scant remaining English audio and...

archive.org

 

[Li Kao]

So if I want some PS1 goodness on Retroarch. Beetle, Beetle HW or Duckstation ?

 

[SkyStarblaze]

So if I want some PS1 goodness on Retroarch. Beetle, Beetle HW or Duckstation ?

From personal experience I say Beetle HW, Duckstation/Swanstation was struggling to hit fullspeed with shaders on my 8600k CPU o.o

 

[Parsnip]

I've been using beetle hw for the most part. I find them to be pretty much equally good in the end.

 

[Li Kao]

I tried Duckstation and it seems solid enough for the games I have in mind.
Still I have no idea how to set up rumble. If I click on rumble in the controller config the emulator wants me to enter an hotkey.

That and sometimes the emulation is too fast by a very marginal degree and I'm not sure if and where there is an FPS limiter. There is vsync, but I don't want that, but other than that...

 

[KainXVIII]

Still I have no idea how to set up rumble. If I click on rumble in the controller config the emulator wants me to enter an hotkey.

Have you switched to Dualshock in controls menu?

 

[Li Kao]

Have you switched to Dualshock in controls menu?

Hmm, if memory serves I selected Xbox as it's the controller I'm using.
It's a strange option, as if it was to choose an hotkey 'to activate' rumble. But it probably isn't that, because similar functions display a pop up on screen telling you you activated or deactivated this or that. When I push the keys I selected for rumble, nothing is displayed.

 

[KainXVIII]

Hmm, if memory serves I selected Xbox as it's the controller I'm using.

No, i mean changing controls option when you loaded your PS1 core of choice in quick menu, usually you need to switch from Playstation Controller to Dualshock (Device Type)

 

[Li Kao]

Oh I see our misunderstanding. I tried Duckstation stand alone !

 

[KainXVIII]

Oh I see our misunderstanding. I tried Duckstation stand alone !

Its usually same setting in other emulators