PS2 emulation Problems

[byere]

(first off, apologies if this is in the wrong section. I wasn't sure where to put it, so please feel free to move it if it is)

Ok, so, I just downloaded the emulator pcsx2, got it installed and able to run games. Not a problem. What IS a problem is that it's slow, choppy and in some cases bugs out (I think that would be the best term for it).

I read over a few posts and I think I should post my system specs first:

I'm running;-
Windows Vista
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz 2.39 GHz
3Gb RAM
32-bit OS
NVIDIA GeForce 210

(I hope you lot understand that, because I don't lol)

The games I've tried running so far... both on hard copy disc AND downloaded ISO (with the same results per game) are;-
Ratchet & Clank (the first one... though I assume the rest of the series will have the same problem)
Grandia 2

The emulator starts off a little lagged, but quickly goes through the normal start-up screens.

In the case of R&C, the main menu works perfectly fine and at normal speed. Then, when it goes through the cut-scenes at the beginning of the game, it's a little slow and the graphics don't load well for the first few seconds, but it quickly re-adjusts. The problem begins when I get into the actual gameplay part. Again, the graphics take a moment to get all the polygons correct, but then the spoken dialog starts and it suddenly goes REALLY SLOW MOTION...... However, if I manage to get to a small corner where the stuff on screen is minor (as in, not showing much other than a REALLY close up Ratchet), it starts to work normally.

I read on one of the posts about a speed-up mod or something for the emulator/emulation. Would that be what I need? If so, can anyone suggest one please.

As for Grandia 2, it starts off with the cut-scenes lagging for a couple of seconds, but quickly catching up. That's fine. When it gets to the gameplay, it generally seems fine (though the dialog seems to have gotten a slight speed-up... but that could be the game itself, not a problem). However, when I get to the battles, the sound bugs out. Sometimes it'll slow down immensely, sometimes it's just go all crackly and weird. The biggest bug though is how the polygons of the battlefield are often replaced by gray blocks.


Can anyone make any suggestions on helping me with getting games to run properly on the emulator please? I'm not very technically minded >.<

[Zorlon]

http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/offici...ide.html#SHack are the speed hacks, but these can cause more harm than good in some cases

P.S. you have not provided us with info about your GPU (Graphics Processing Unit, aka graphics card or chip set)

There are other things you can try as well like change the GPU setup from DX11 to DX9

Your machine that looks like it may be a little under par for PS2 emulation at full speed without issues

Grandia II was originally a Dreamcast game you may be better off getting the dreamcast version and NullDC the best version for the dreamcast for emulation anyway is a GDI dump

[byere]

I thought the NVIDIA GeForce 210 WAS the graphics card...

Thanks for the info though

How do I go about changing the GPU setup?

[Zorlon]

http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/offici...guide.html#Gfx just use the official guide

I don't emulate this system myself but Zaladane may offer you some help later when he gets online

[Zaladane]

Your PC isn't the greatest for ps2 emulation but neither is it terrible. Zorlons right though, you may be better served by running Grandia 2 on NullDC. I have a feeling when it comes time for casting spells especially the dark magic ones that Millenia uses it's going to slow right down to just a few frames a second.

I suspect your graphics card is what's causing the bottleneck - to check that run Ratchet in a window and look at the values in the top right specifically EE and GS and post what they are when the game starts slowing down. I wouldn't be surprised to see GS maxing out at around a 100%.

There are 2 routes we can take though.

First off sticking with hardware mode as mentioned dropping down to direct3d9 hardware Config => video=> plugin settings and use the drop down menu for renderer. and click the box for native resolution. Then pop into the speedhacks in Config => emulation settings => speedhacks (along the top) Click the box for speed hacks. You'll see 2 slide bars. One for EE and one for VU. You can move EE to 2 and VU to 1. This can cause little to major corruption in game though everything to entire layers of graphics disappearing to even having the reverse effect of slowing the game to outright crashing the emulator. VU cycle stealing is the worst culprit for this. But feel free to increase them incrementally and keep an eye on the game - if little or no corruption then all the better. You can also click the box for mtvu hack but it may simply not do anything.

2. Go with software rendering. Same spot you switch to direct3d9 simply choose the 3d9 (software one) and down below in the same window you will see extra rendering threads which you can test at both 1 or 2. don't go any further than 2 as I believe pcsx2 only recognizes up to 3 cores anyways. Even with software mode you can still fiddle with the speedhacks as well.


Also the standard stuff like shutting down as many background processes from the task manager may help. Stuff like Antivirus programs, Steam etc.. This can go either way but playing in a window could help.

Grandia 2 running around in the field isn't exactly taxing to the system - but in battle things become a bit more complex so that's why it would slowdown there. For Ratchet and Clank it is definitely more complex than Grandia 2. It's a colorful more faster paced game. Playing something like Gran Turismo 4 or God of War would likely be too slow yet something like FFX would run much better so keep that in mind.

Try these out and let us know.

[byere]

Ok, so, very start of the game, after all the cutscenes (whereby EE is at 99%, GS is at 6-7%), the gameplay part comes in (at which point EE is still at ~99%, but GS has gone up to around 59-78% fluxuating).

Well, the first option DID make it run at playable speeds, albeit the graphics looking totally mussed... However, I found that part way through the first major cut-scene, the audio was cracked and then died altogether.

Mehaps I'll just have to hold off playing the R&C series till I can get hold of an actual PS2, a better PC or if/until they bring this emulator out of Beta

Thanks very much for your help
I'll look into the solution you guys mentioned regarding Grandia 2 as well

[Zaladane]

Ok, so, very start of the game, after all the cutscenes (whereby EE is at 99%, GS is at 6-7%), the gameplay part comes in (at which point EE is still at ~99%, but GS has gone up to around 59-78% fluxuating).

Well, the first option DID make it run at playable speeds, albeit the graphics looking totally mussed... However, I found that part way through the first major cut-scene, the audio was cracked and then died altogether.

Mehaps I'll just have to hold off playing the R&C series till I can get hold of an actual PS2, a better PC or if/until they bring this emulator out of Beta

Thanks very much for your help
I'll look into the solution you guys mentioned regarding Grandia 2 as well

yeah with the graphics messing up that could have been the speed hacks - you can lower them epsecially the vu one and see how fast it runs plus you can uncheck the box that says texture filtering. Plus there are some options in for the audio plugin as well that may help like disabling post processing effects and setting interpolation to 1 and module to 2.