PS1 games that have bugs in retropie

DD-Indeed

Here's the config:

I can do some minor tweak to some stuff, but I won't start to go through the entire system again, as it otherwise works well.

dankcushions

@dd-indeed

arm_freq=1350
gpu_freq=525
core_freq=525
sdram_freq=500
over_voltage=6
v3d_freq=525
force_turbo=1
avoid_pwm_pll=1

this is a fairly aggressive overclock (and mostly pointless, IMO). one possible symptom of too much overclocking can be memory corruption which could lead to failed memory reads (stuttering, etc). the system will also downclock (perform worse) when temperature is too high.

whenever you're debugging anything, always remove all overclocking.

gpu_mem=400

this is either redundant or pointless. either way i would get rid of it. see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Memory-Split/

I can do some minor tweak to some stuff, but I won't start to go through the entire system again, as it otherwise works well.

i can understand that, but that's one of the things that makes issues very difficult to debug or pointless to compare, when people have made such drastic changes to their systems.

DD-Indeed

@dankcushions

It is, but the page where I found those had the whole overclocking feature explained properly, so I could get it working as well, since it was written clearly. I could reduce those slightly, as I've already having overheat issues.

Edit: Okay, I went with these values now, gotta play with the machine for a bit longer to see does it heat as much anymore.

arm_freq=1250
gpu_freq=500
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=450
over_voltage=5
v3d_freq=500
force_turbo=1
avoid_pwm_pll=1
disable_splash=1

Briefly tested couple games, performance was good overall, maybe slight hiccups here and there compared to the previous overclock settings, but was good overall.

BobHarris

@dd-indeed I have little knowledge about the inner workings of emulators so I keep things by their default values. The only settings I change are the ones that improve the graphics to me (smoothing, scanlines), but those can only harm and not improve the experience.
Also I only play PS1 and older consoles so I don't bother with overclocking.

I use a Pi 3B , Retropie 4.2, stock PS1 emulator, and I load the games from a Sandisk Fit Ultra 32 gb usb-stick. The micro sd card is also a Sandisk , 16 gb I don't remember which class but it's old and was cheap ..definitely <10.

DD-Indeed

@bobharris

So you are running them with stock resolution as well ? I use double resolution/enhanced graphics option to make them more crispy to eyes, so of course I might have some issues with certain games. About the SD card, I remember it being cheaper one, but I used it on a phone previosly and it didn't have any issues with it.

dankcushions

@dd-indeed said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

@bobharris

So you are running them with stock resolution as well ? I use double resolution/enhanced graphics option to make them more crispy to eyes, so of course I might have some issues with certain games. About the SD card, I remember it being cheaper one, but I used it on a phone previosly and it didn't have any issues with it.

the enhance graphics option and the necessary speed hack option (presumably you have that enabled??) cause many (mostly) minor graphical corruptions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Playstation-1/#enhanced-graphics

BobHarris

@dd-indeed Yes, the default setting fills the screen up to a full 4:3 ratio right? Otherwise I have expanded the screen size.

dankcushions

@bobharris said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

@dd-indeed Yes, the default setting fills the screen up to a full 4:3 ratio right? Otherwise I have expanded the screen size.

no that's different. we're talking about https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Playstation-1/#enhanced-graphics

DD-Indeed

@dankcushions said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

the enhance graphics option and the necessary speed hack option (presumably you have that enabled??) cause many (mostly) minor graphical corruptions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Playstation-1/#enhanced-graphics

Yea I use that.

Okay, gotta update the sheet again to include the double resolution note.

So, for sheet users, remember to use this to indicate the double resolution, if you use it:

Double Resolution = DR

DD-Indeed

One thing I started to think about with PS1 games on RetroPie software is that what other video driver plugins are there available right now and what are the ones that are supported ? I read something about Vulcan, that it has more advanced features over the standard GL.

dankcushions

@dd-indeed said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

One thing I started to think about with PS1 games on RetroPie software is that what other video driver plugins are there available right now and what are the ones that are supported ? I read something about Vulcan, that it has more advanced features over the standard GL.

pi doesn't support vulcan. you can try dispmanx which has allegedly better input lag, but doesn't support OSD messages, shaders, or rotation.

vulcan wouldn't give any advantage in pcsx_rearmed, but it is better in beetle-psx (which would also need a much better CPU).

DD-Indeed

@dankcushions

Allright, I'll try that thanks.

Well I read something, that Vulcan at least on Beetle in PC envirovement has that anti jitter/polygon stabilization feature, that would be more than enough to get over to this system.

dankcushions

@dd-indeed said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

@dankcushions

Allright, I'll try that thanks.

Well I read something, that Vulcan at least on Beetle in PC envirovement has that anti jitter/polygon stabilization feature, that would be more than enough to get over to this system.

well, 'vulcan' doesn't have that jitter/warping by default - the beetle-psx emulator does, after the code was ported from pcsx_reloaded (if memory serves). i believe it works in GL also, in beetle. however there are some other things that uniquely better in vulcan for that emulator (psx framebuffer effects i think).

in any case, it doesn't help the pi, which is only viable to use with the NEON software plugin and ARM dynarec, both unique to pcsx_rearmed.

DD-Indeed

@dankcushions

Ah, I see, learning new stuff every day. Anyway, is that feature going to come over to RetroPie envirovement anytime soon ?

dankcushions

@dd-indeed it already is - you can install lr-beetle-psx via retropie, and run it with these features on a compatible PC-type device.

if you're asking will it come to a raspberry pi retropie install? not viable with the current raspberry pi models.

DD-Indeed

@dankcushions said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

@dd-indeed

if you're asking will it come to a raspberry pi retropie install? not viable with the current raspberry pi models.

So the anti-jitter option is too demanding to be concidered even for RPi 3 ? That's a bummer, I was hoping to see buttersmooth graphics on the PiStation I have.

Another thing, I solved the MediEvil icon issue on the main menu: Double Resolution broke those. Noted it in the sheet, otherwise works perfectly.

BobHarris

It seems I can't add a row in the spreadsheet? I wanted to add Agent armstrong.

DD-Indeed

@bobharris said in PS1 games that have bugs in retropie:

It seems I can't add a row in the spreadsheet? I wanted to add Agent armstrong.

Gotta wait till Hurricane sees this, so he can edit it. He's locked out the game list from editing, which is actually good thing, as someone could wipe it out otherwise in worst case scenario.

HurricaneFan

@dd-indeed @BobHarris I've added Agent Armstrong. If you see any other games missing just @ my name and I'll add them.

DD-Indeed

Man it's been demanding job to test the games haha, gotta ease off and play more. So far I've learned these things about the PS1 emulation:

Talking about the Double Resolution-option, it causes multiple different kind of issues with games. Mainly it's just very demanding for the whole system and games have some slowdown, audio cuts and jerking, but sometimes the games works really nicely with it and only have some minor graphical glitches, which usually happen with loading screens. I'm not an expert in terms of understanding the development of these things, but I really hope, that some game specific fixes would be introduced at some point or further develope and optimize this feature, as it really makes the PS1 games shine. Some games can be even concidered to look like their PC-port versions, when that feature is enabled.
The previous overclocking I had actually had significant impact to the overall performance. As soon as I slightly dropped them down, many games started to have some lag with DR-option Enabled. So to me, RPi 3 is capable of running PS1 games in full speed without any hiccups, if you are using proper cooling system for the RPi due the heavy overclock you have to do. I will improve the cooling of my current system and return back to the original, rather heavy overclock. I had to drop it a bit, as I realized that the whole system runs a bit too hot.
About some audio related issues with certain games, I dunno that is it about the audio driver or something else, but sometimes I hear these weird, low quality sounding sounds on the games. They remind me of 8 or 16-bit era sounds in some terms. One example of this can be heard in Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped, on the 4th level, Bone Yard. Walk up to the point, where you do this sort of U-turn and briefly you are in a sidescrolling angle. There is these lava-rivers behind you and their sound effect has this weird low quality crackling-sound. It could be like that by the game's design or something, but I would really wanna know, that do others hear that as well.
As for the DR-settings, I noticed, that you need to select the suitable speedhack option for each game, as the speedhack does some weird things sometimes, when it's on or off. Many games tend to have some sort of scaling conflict, especially in pause menus, that causes the backround to go haywire. Demolition Racer's pause menu is a good example of this, when the speedhack is off, there is slight vibration in certain places on the picture, but when putting the speedhack on, the whole screen goes absolutely nuts and is pretty good for getting motion sickness. :P
For video driver, I went for SDL Dispmanx over the stock GL. That is one key thing to make the DR-feature work better. Also, some games with stock emulation settings do work better with that as well, so you might wanna try it out, if you see some graphical issues with games.