Endless trouble trying to run Tomb Raider II - Starring Lara Croft (E) [SLES-00718]

[shuriken 88]

Hi, I've recently started playing the TR games through again after about 10 years. I dont have a working PS1 anymore so the obvious solution is emulation. I've been using EPSXE for a few years so I'm pretty familiar with it and how to get things going, however, sometimes I run into a game that uses APE files, and this is where the nightmares and hours upon HOURS of messing around to no avail begin.

I've only come across ONE other game with APE files, which was Excalibur 2500 (forgot the actual number lol). After hours of faffing about I managed to find not a solution, but a workaround, which resulted in the game being COMPLETELY free of music (not what I wanted at all!).

Now with TR2, I'm getting the same problems. The game works fine, but no music (no thanks). I managed to convert the apes into wavs, then into bins so they could "apparently" be read by EPSXE, and I also got the missing CUE sheet file from the archive provided on the site (Thanks to Zorlon for the APE guide and Cue archive!). All I need to do now is run the game! I'm getting excited, I'm about to revisit some of my favourite gaming memories!.... What!? The game now just sits at a black screen permanently (with the "Analogue OFF" notification never going away) until I quit.

This is where I'm lost. I dont know what else to do, or what I'd doing wrong. The audio tracks are now BIN files which match the CUE sheet, but after doing all of this, the game simply will not run at all. I love Tomb Raider to bits, but I honestly couldn't imagine playing it without the music. It is afterall what gave the game its amazing atmosphere!

I tried running the game as mounted in D-tools, but doing it this way makes the game lag like CRAZY, so its a complete no-go.

Pretty much every game runs smooth as butter with my current setup of:-
-EPSXE 1.80
-Petes OpenGL2 2.9 (or the older version if not)
-Eternal SPU 1.50
-Running games directly rather than as mounted disc images

Basically, before changing the APES to WAVS then BINS, the game atleast used to run, but now it doesn't run at all...

Please can some1 help me out! I just want to play my old favourite games... I don't want to miss out on the music like I did with Excalibur!

Thanks in advance

[Zorlon]

Read the stuck guides thread and look for the ECM+APE guide it not only goes through converting ECM and APE files but also how to make it into a ePSXe usable image

ePSXe 1.8.0 does not support CDDA (Compact Disc Digital Audio) with anything other than the ePSXe SPU Core driver (This has been so since 1.7.0), unless you have the Shark Enhanced version (linked in the Links stuck thread)

[shuriken 88]

Thanks for the reply, I'll try out the Shark enhanced version then and see if it works. A bit of a stupid question, but could you point me towards this "links stuck thread" because I've done a search and I cant find anything like that (my brains melting).

I actually got to where I am now by following your guide from the ECM+APE thread. I decompressed all the APE's into WAV's then used WAV-BIN to make them BIN files, then I took the missing CUE file from your archive (pretty much followed everything to the letter), I even checked to make sure the CUE sheet matched up to the names and format of the BIN files, and everything looked okay, its just that doing this seems to stopped the game from working altogether for an unknown reason. I also figured out that running the game via the 1st BIN file (the game track?) makes the game run, but it behaves EXACTLY the same as if I were running a mounted image through D-tools (insane video & audio lag). Running via the CUE as suggested just doesn't work. Am I supposed to be merging all of these BIN files together or something? I have 60+ BIN files (the game & the audio)... Was I supposed to have merged these? If I do this, the cue sheet wont match up to the disc image again though...

Also, to clarify, are those BIN audio files actually CDDA or something else? Is this game a multi-track game? I'm so confused lol.

Edit: Okay, I've just downloaded and tried the Shark version of EPSXE, and it didn't make any difference, I'm still getting nowhere, I've tried nearly every combination of audio & video plugin...

[Zorlon]

Just do what it says in the guide, rebuilding the image with Isobuster creates a fresh bin & cue so you no longer need the old files at all

And it will not work unless you do that first

recommended settings from http://psxdatacenter.com/ are

Emulator ePSXe v1.9.0
Video Plugin Pete's OpenGL Driver v2.9 ( internal X & Internal Y= Very High, Stretching mode: Stretch to full window size, render Mode: 2 (Use framebuffer object) text filt = 2 FPS limit= 53, Compatibility=1,3,2; Shader effects= 1 (Fullscreen smoothin))
Audio Plugin ePSXe SPU Core v.1.9.0
CD-ROM Plugin ePSXe Cdrom plugin
Game Pad Plugin N / A
Vibration Compatible The game doesn't have it (Digital only).


Though from the sounds of it you will need to set your sights lower

The lagging has nothing to do with D-Tools but more to do with your system specs and maybe setting OpenGL2 up too high for your system to handle

[shuriken 88]

Thanks I'll try all this out! So I need to merge all these BIN files into 1 using ISObuster, then run via the CUE?

About the lagging though, this only happens when running this specific copy of Tomb Raider (not the one just called "Tomb Raider 2"). The other copy ran flawlessly (in terms of FPS), but that copy comes with no audio tracks at all, thats why I'm thinking the lag must have something to do with the emu or D-tools. I use the same plugins for nearly all my games, its only this version of TR2 thats giving me slowdowns with my current plugin setup.

I've got pretty good specs (enough to run the latest games on max without DX10+ features, except Crysis 2 & 3 LOL), so EPSXE should be no problem in terms of system req's. Then again, I can run 2013-14 games at full whack, but trying to emulate PS2 games on the SAME system results in a 20 or less FPS slideshow. I dont know what kind of monster computer you need to run PS2 games, but its obviously the same kind of computer that took over the world in Terminator 2...

Thanks again for the detailed information! I'll get back to you when I've tried this out.

Edit: As you can imagine, I've just had a heart attack because now, not ONLY is the game running smooth, I've got MUSIC too! Cant believe its finally working. It might've taken me nearly a whole day to suss out how to run ONE game, but damn, whats one day when you haven't seen a game in 10 years!

Huge thanks mate. Where we'd be without the internet and forums I dont know... I would've never figured this out by meself! Somebody should REALLY upload a "working as-is" version. I could provide mine, it wouldn't be any hassle to me. Now time to sit back, crack open a couple brews and get on the nostalgia express!

[Zorlon]

Glad you got that sorted

[shuriken 88]

Thanks again, but it looks like I spoke too soon. The game does work smooth, and the audio tracks play, but for some reason its as if only 1 audio track is able to play at a time. In otherwords if a character is talking and a music track starts playing, then the talking will suddenly cut out and you can only hear the music.

The first time you notice this problem is in the first level (about 5 minutes in) where you find the 1st secret. In this level you can constantly hear the wind and other ambient sounds (an audio track), but when you pick up a secret, another audio track plays, which completely stops the backround sounds, and they never come back. Its a real immersion killer lol, and the game full of places where this kind of thing will happen; The most obvious example being, every time you pick up a secret, the ambient sounds or music will cut out, and wont return until you enter an area that triggers a new audio track.

I've tried fiddling with the settings of pretty much all the usable audio plugins, and also tried a few different CD plugins. I've tried running the game as is, or as mounted in D-tools, and I've tried it on the 4 different versions of EPSXE I have (1.70, 1.80, 1.80-shark & 1.90). None of these things have fixed the problem, so I did some googling, and after about 2 hours I came up with nothing at all.

The problem basically seems to boil down to "I dont want to play more than 1 audio track at once". I need to find the option in EPSXE that allows multi-channel audio, or simulaneous overlapping audio (if I'm on the money with what the problem actually is) and enable it, wherever this option is. If anybody knows how to fix this, or have had similar problems please let me know!!

Thanks!

[Zorlon]

I will do some testing when I get the chance

I'm on a low end system so will be testing with P.E.Op'S Soft driver

Testing now, yep the ambient sounds stop after she goes Aha and the bling sound effect hits (not so sure that is CDDA though and too lazy to check, I would guess at the Ambiance being CDDA though)

More tests to come...

I can't seem to fix this but saving and loading fixes it, just use Laura's Notebook thing save/load options

I will test the US copy another time though see if that version works better with ePSXe

[shuriken 88]

Thanks for trying some tests, I haven't touched the game since I discovered this problem, because I really need the sound and I have no idea how to go about fixing it...

So when you say save and load, do you mean using the save-point diamonds? That brings me to another potential problem (although may just be failing memories LOL): I completed the whole first level (The Great Wall), and not once did I see any save points. The level isn't extremely long, but its long enough to need atleast ONE save-point IMO. If you die in the "Assault Course of Death" section near the end of the level, your going a LONG way back. I can't remember enough about the original back in the day because it was just too long ago, but do you happen to know if theres supposed to be save-diamonds in level one? Strangely enough there IS one in level 2, near the beginning which is even stranger... All I can do is use save-states in level 1, and they "remember" that the sound has stopped, so it doesn't come back.

Really appreciate the help your trying to give me, I just need to play Tomb Raider 2!! The cravings are getting worse, rehab didn't help so now I dont know what to do...

[Zorlon]

Save Point Diamonds... nope not in this one, you can save/load at any time

Save states I would avoid or use as well as in game saving because if there is an issue later on and you change any of the plugin settings, loading in a save state will only revert what you just changed back to what it was, plus they can cause bugs to start with.

[shuriken 88]

Anybody else know anything about getting TR2 to work properly in a PS emulator? Really don't want to have to buy another PS1, even for £30 when I know it wont last longer than half a year, regardless of how carefully and lovingly I treat it... I'm kind of a retro console enthusiast, and the fact that the multiple PS1's & PS2's I've owned are the ONLY consoles in my collection that have died is no coincidence. The Xbox that I bought around the same time as the PS2 works fine. Even my old ZX, 64, Amiga 500, Jag, 2600 etc all work fine, after well over 20 years of usage. I'm glad Sony finally started realising the importance of build quality with the PS3... Anyway I digress.

[Zorlon]

Not with ePSXe but you can try other emulators such as Xebra, that went more for accuracy though lacks 3D enhancments

[cool-er]

here is your solution
my upload, no .ape files, all in a single .bin .cue .sub .ccd

[Zorlon]

Unless there was an error in the image then your upload is not going to help, I hope it does, but all you do with a ape+ecm+cue is convert it back to a single bin+cue anyway

[shuriken 88]

Thanks mate, I'll try out the image at some point, but mine is the probably the same thing as what you have (An aped up ISO, converted to WAV's then BIN's then bounced down into 1 image), also I've just re-bought (f*ck SAKE Sony!) TR2 last-night on PSN which is annoying because I shouldn't HAVE to buy a game twice lol, but I only payed about 2.99 so I ain't too bothered and everything works fine (all audio plays, or seems to play as expected, with multi-track/simultaneous audio working too), no graphical glitches so far either AND I get to use my PS3 pad which is loads better than my 360/PC pad. The only gripe I guess is that the PS3 graphics enhancements on PS1/2 games are practically non-existant (all you get is some AA smoothing I think, on/off looks almost identical), but you DO get working widescreen resolution, which is great on a big telly. I'm just glad that I can play the damn game again... I pretty much gave up TBH then I stumbled on a sale on PSN and thought "I'm HAVING that!". I noticed that the PSN version of TRII is only 200mb, when it should be around 700, so I was expecting it to have no audio, but gladly I was wrong, I guess its just extremely compressed, but it still sounds nice.

This has got me thinking though... If Sony's paid PS1 emulator (the cheek of it...), which is pretty lacking and extremely basic in terms of functionality, can handle multiple audio streams at once, then I'm surprised the biggest unofficial emulator CAN'T, with ANY audio/CD plugin. It almost seems like that functionality has been completely overlooked, and I highly doubt TR2 is the only PS1 game that pushes multi-track audio. In any case, I'm guessing the PSN version is the ONLY way to play TR2 properly other than actually playing it on a PS1. I wonder how hard it would be to add this into a future version of EPSXE? Maybe the only reason they haven't is because its a buried secret only Sony knows how to emulate, but I doubt thats the case.

Anyone who wants to get the proper TRII experience and has a PS3, you've got about 2 weeks to grab it before it goes from 3 quid back to something like a tenner. Dont miss out!

Thanks all!