ECM vs ISO ePSXe

[NVF]

Is there a difference? I ask because I was playing Legend of Dragoon on ePSXe with an ISO and decided to try out the European ECM version and if my eyes aren't deceiving me the ECM version is sharper looking and the battle system--whereby you press the X button several times based on visual direction--seems noticeably slower. I thought that maybe the seeming slow down is something relative to one's PC and the ECM's sharper graphics because my PC has always struggled with any kind of graphic intensity with games and even videos.

Thanks. And thanks the admins for this absolutely fantastic site.

[skullpoker]

ECM files should not work at all, as ECM is a compression method based on removing repeating code from the disc image. You would need to use UNECM.exe to get a working ISO, IMG, or BIN file.

[Warrior]

ECM is a very old/outdated disc image compression method used to save a tiny little bit of bandwidth back in the dialup era.

You want to look for the redump PSX set for the best possible images.

I have a nice chunk in the PSX masterlist, search redump and youl see.

If you give me a reminder il post Legend of Dragoon USA, the japanese version is up.

Also as with what I taught skullpoker you should use Retroarch for the best PSX emulation results, epsxe is inaccurate and way more hassle than it should be.

Legend of Dragoon has Anti Modchip protection that gives anything but Mednafen PSX trouble . (Mednafen is a Retroarch core and standalone command line emulator)

[skullpoker]

Also as with what I taught skullpoker you should use Retroarch for the best PSX emulation results, epsxe is inaccurate and way more hassle than it should be.

Mostly true but since my X-Com UFO Defense is in a format that RA doesn't recognize, I keep ePSXe around since I can use it with Daemon tools. I suppose I could re-extract it with ISOBuster but meh. It works how it is and I don't have to copy all my codes into Retroarch from PEC codelist.

I like to have options, including the streamlined convenience of Retroarch.

[Warrior]

Mostly true but since my X-Com UFO Defense is in a format that RA doesn't recognize, I keep ePSXe around since I can use it with Daemon tools. I suppose I could re-extract it with ISOBuster but meh. It works how it is and I don't have to copy all my codes into Retroarch from PEC codelist.

I like to have options, including the streamlined convenience of Retroarch.

You will have the PCSX ReARMed core on PC hopefully soon instead of being stuck on ARM hardware.

Its better than epsxe and lighter than mednafen, it has all the bells & whistles like epsxe in the visual department since it uses the various graphics plugins.

You can cheat with the mednafen psx core its just since no one has hooked cheat files to it yet you need to use Codebreaker 3 or something, not a big deal.

[NVF]

You want to look for the redump PSX set for the best possible images.

I have no idea what you're referring to here.

Is Retroarch as easy on a PC as ePSXe? ePSXe seems to work pretty well with the exception of some blacked out graphics here and there in my experience playing about 10 games or so.

Looked at my Dragoon file and it says .bin.ecm and is described as an ECM file. Whatever it is exactly you can view it as the (E) download.

Thanks.

[Warrior]

I have no idea what you're referring to here.

Redump is a disc preservation project that accurately dumps the data of a game disc in bin/cue format thats ready to be burned or played in a emulator.

Is Retroarch as easy on a PC as ePSXe? ePSXe seems to work pretty well with the exception of some blacked out graphics here and there in my experience playing about 10 games or so.

Ya its easy once you get the hang of it, http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/apple/osx/x86_64/

I assume you are on 64 bit , grab the bottom nightly build thats up to date.

If you give me a bit of time I can try my best to set you up and I am upping Legend of Dragoon now.

BTW when you start Retroarch for the first time use the controller only at first so it registers the controller instead of the keyboard, you navigate the GUI with your controller for the most part.

Edit: Posted Legend of Dragoon USA - http://www.epforums.org/showthread.p...22#post1831422 you an only get one link at a time.

[NVF]

How does a redump differ from the ISOs and bin.ecms I was using, especially regarding how the game plays/looks itself? (I did find a redump post of yours and downloaded a file but didn't realize what it was because I haven't seen a VLC for the ePSXe in a while.)

Just downloaded your first disk--which works with my ISO saves--and the graphics are really impressive. The game also seems to run smoother or more quickly. Why would it be then that the bin.ecm is slower, especially the battles? I had some trouble with one or two of the battle system additions, looked on youtube for some direction, and have seen both the slower and faster tempos so I'm not sure what's what. Does the ePSXe reproduce game speed accurately with all games and files?

I'll download Retroarch later and maybe you can lead me through things or direct me to a good tutorial.

Thanks for all your help.

[Zorlon]

It does not in the slightest they are the same CD image regardless

ecm is a compression format though and if it is not extracted first it would have to do that on the fly that I would guess will slow certain processes down

graphics are no different though

ePSXe does rely strongly on graphics hardware for OpenGL and Direct3D plugins, software does not though and although it will run more smoothly on most machines it does not have the graphical boosts that OpenGL or Direct3D have

[NVF]

Ya its easy once you get the hang of it, http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/apple/osx/x86_64/

I assume you are on 64 bit , grab the bottom nightly build that's up to date.

Here's the problem I have at the moment. I've seen two tutorials for set-up. One purports to be the easy method: downloading a "stable" package, tweaking a few settings, downloading cores and using Launchbox to launch games. When I downloaded the stable package things looked as they did in the tutorial. The other tutorial says to download a nightly build and proceeds to walk you through a longish set-up. The problem I incurred with the nightly package I downloaded following him as well the package you link to is that it's missing virtually all the single files that appear both in his video and in the stable package. I noticed in the video that the package he downloads is about 20 mbs larger than the one I downloaded which would explain my lack of those single files.

Thanks.

Update: I believe you sent me to an osx package when I have a PC. However the missing files are still missing in the PC nightly package I downloaded.

[Warrior]

Jeez I'm getting all screwed up here, thought you were the user who was on a mac.

http://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly...4/RetroArch.7z

You need to use the Online Updater to get the missing cores/shaders/etc.

The only thing you can not get are bios files and games.

Here is the bios pack - Download Links:
Links are hidden from guests. Please register to be able to view these links. F toggles fullscreen.

F1 toggles the GUI while in game.

you must put the bios files in the Retroarch system folder then in Retroarch go to settings>directorys>bios directory>set to the retroarch system folder then hit escape to close and save your settings in case it crashes, when RA crashes you lose any unsaved settings.

Load the mednafen psx core and go to information>core information, you should see the bios files say PRESENT, if so you are ready to load a game and play.

[NVF]

I was able to download the correct package but found something odd: The Nightly -> Windows -> x86_64 2105-10-10-01:23 package--which is the first one under the "latest" folder and which is larger than the most recent package at the bottom--doesn't have the library and dll files. Does this make any sense to you?

When I try to open the program I get the following error message and must close it through a Windows crash window: The procedure entry point PowerCreateRequest could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll. The Stable package that I downloaded opens properly.

Thanks

[Warrior]

Check the link in post #11

it has all the dependencies you need.

[NVF]

I downloaded the package from your link (which I'm pretty sure is what I downloaded myself) and I get that error message I just posted. And any idea why the 2015-10-10-1:23 package didn't come with the files? Just curious about that.

Thanks

[Warrior]

I downloaded the package from your link (which I'm pretty sure is what I downloaded myself) and I get that error message I just posted. And any idea why the 2015-10-10-1:23 package didn't come with the files? Just curious about that.

Thanks

Messed up buildbot structuring?

Can you try to replace the retroarch.exe from the nightly to the stable retroarchs folder and see if it gives the same message?