PsX Twisted Metal 3/4 - 4 players not working

shavecat

Hey
did anyone maybe got MULTITAP working right on PSX ?

ChaosEffect

I am sorry if I am not supposed to bump an old topic, but I am having the exact same issue as shavecat and haven't found a solution. I have some suggestions for those having issues with the PS1 multitap and will fill in some more details on shavecat's issues in case anyone can provide some insight.

Pi Model or other hardware: Pi 3B
Power Supply used: CanaKit 2.5A
RetroPie Version Used: 4.7.1
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: Wireless keyboard/mouse combo, various controllers
Controller used: Hori Pokken Tournament Pro Pad, wired 8BitDo SN30 Pro, Logitech F310
Emulator: lr-PCSX-ReARMed 1.8.8

Most of the multitap PS1 games I have tried work as intended. For those unfamiliar, to get the multitap(s) working in this particular emulator, you

go to Quick Menu -> Options
set Multitap 1 and/or Multitap 2 to ON
save a game options file
set maximum users higher than 5 (if you need more than 5 players)
go to Quick Menu -> Controls
set each port you wish to use as Device Type Standard
save game remap file
exit RetroArch and restart game

This works for the majority of games that have multitap support.

For example, Crash Bash and Crash Team Racing will allow 4 human-controlled players by setting Multitap 1 to ON, Multitap 2 to OFF, and setting ports 1-4 to Standard.

Further, I have tested the following 8-player games and find that they all work by setting both Multitap 1 and 2 to ON and setting ports 1-8 to Standard:

Micro Maniacs Racing
Micro Machines V3
NBA Fastbreak '98
NHL 98
NHL Faceoff 99
Street Racer

There are a few oddities with some multitap games. For instance, Bomberman World allows a maximum of 5 players. This can be achieved by setting Multitap 1 to ON, Multitap 2 to OFF, and setting ports 1-5 to Standard. On the other hand, Bomberman: Party Edition (another 5-player game) achieves the same result by setting Multitap 1 to OFF, Multitap 2 to ON, and setting ports 1-5 to Standard.

Like Bomberman: Party Edition, Twisted Metal III and 4 seem to expect the multitap to be in the PS1's physical port 2. If Multitap 1 is used, no controllers will work.

If you were to think of this in terms of an actual PlayStation console, using the same configuration as Bomberman: Party Edition but with only ports 1-4 active leads to controller 1 being in the physical port 1 of the PS1 and the multitap with three controllers in the physical port 2.

It has been a while since I played Twisted Metal III or 4, but I think each expected the physical port 1 on the PlayStation to be empty when the multitap was plugged in. Otherwise, player 1 would work fine, but players 2-4 wouldn't be able to do anything. Unfortunately, setting port 1 to None and ports 2-5 to Standard (and appropriately adjusting the controller indices) does not fix the issue that shavecat described.

I thought it might be a BIOS or version issue, so I tried various PS1 BIOS files (including the emulated one included with the emulator) as well as alternate versions of the games and ran into the exact same issue.

The issue is also present with NFL GameDay 2000, another 989 Studios (BOOM) game that is supposed to allow 8 players via two multitaps. With this one, I even tried setting all 16 ports to the same controller index in the hope that the game was just scrambling the controller assignments for some reason. However, it just doesn't work properly. Any connected controller can skip the opening cinematics, but none of them is able to do anything else.

The three games presenting these issues are all 989 Studios (BOOM) games released in the USA between late 1998 and late 1999. Is there some known issue with these? It seems odd that NHL Faceoff 99 (from the same publisher around the same time) works properly.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I hope my info helps you if you are having trouble getting the multitap set up and inspires someone to figure out the issue with those three games!

P.S. In Quake II on PS1, you can enable both multitaps, set ports 1-4 to Standard, and set ports 5-8 to Mouse so that each player can use a controller AND a mouse in 4-player split screen! You just have to make the appropriate adjustments to the mouse indices. My four mice use indices 0, 2, 4, and 6, but it might be different for you. Each player also has to enable the mouse in the control settings within the game.

ChaosEffect

A related point:

I think that Twisted Metal III and 4 expect no controller AND no memory card in slot 1 when the multitap is plugged in. While lr-PCSX-ReARMed allows for the toggling of a shared memory card 2, I don't see the option to disable memory card 1. If deleted, it (the game.srm file) seems to get automatically re-created whenever either game is launched.

Is there a way to prevent the use of memory card 1 in this emulator? I did see the related post on the game Codename: Tenka:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/21432/codename-tenka-memory-card-issue

However, that issue seems to be the opposite of what I want. That game needed a memory card in slot 1 and no memory card in slot 2. I need the reverse.

ChaosEffect

@shavecat @kounabi22 and to everyone else, the Twisted Metal games and Rakugaki Showtime work with 4 players in lr-duckstation when the multitap is set to "Port 1 only."

NFL GameDay 2000 also correctly enables its 8-player mode with the dual-multitap setting in lr-duckstation.

I think the recent RetroArch updates made that "maximum users" setting more important, so make sure that is set to 8 if you want to use dual multitaps (default seems to be 5).

shavecat

@chaoseffect
Hey thanks
But i dont have lr-duckstaion (or even to install it on the retropie pi4)..

ChaosEffect

@shavecat From the EmulationStation menu, go to

RetroPie -> RetroPie Setup -> Update RetroPie-Setup Script

Let it update (shouldn't take long).

Then go to

Manage packages -> Manage experimental packages -> lr-duckstation

You should be able to install it from there. You can then switch which emulator a particular ROM uses by opening that ROM and pressing a button during the loading sequence to bring up the Runcommand window.

shavecat

@chaoseffect
i install it
but the lr-duckstion just exit back to the retropie menu...

ChaosEffect

@shavecat I had some issues too. That happened to me when I didn't have a PS1 BIOS file in the /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS folder. Do you have one? Duckstation seems pretty flexible with the BIOS you can use. You can use the same file for PCSX-ReARMed. I used scph1001.bin. You're on your own with obtaining that file, though.

shavecat

@chaoseffect
Thanks
i do have the SCPH101.BIN file on the bios ofucrse PCSX-ReARmed works prefect ....
just did a rest maybe it will fix it ? :O

ChaosEffect

@shavecat Hmm, that one is listed in Duckstation's docs, so I assume it should work. Maybe you do need to restart after installing. I usually just do that on habit. If that doesn't work, maybe try the 1001 version?

shavecat

@chaoseffect
i do have it also ;)
if it wont work i will open a new ticket .
thanks :)

shavecat

@chaoseffect
lr_duckstiaon
so the games still runing on multitap like twisted metal 4
but no 4players
only 2 :
tried to play with the multitap
enable 1/2 or both..
but still always 2 players

ChaosEffect

@shavecat When you enable the port 1 multitap, you have to restart the emulator to have it take effect. Probably the best thing to do is to save a game options file with multitap mode set to "port 1 only" so that that particular game always loads with the multitap on.

This is in Quick Menu -> Options -> Manage Core Options

Try deleting the game options file if there's already one there.

So, to summarize:

Start your game
Go into the RetroArch menu's Quick Menu -> Options -> Manage Core Options
Delete the game options file, if there is already one
Go back to Quick Menu -> Options
Set Multitap mode to "Enable on Port 1 Only"
I also Disabled "Force Analog Mode on Restart" for both player 1 and player 2 (not sure if this matters; I just wanted to avoid the pop-up message when the game loaded)
Go to Manage Core Options again and save the game options file
Exit the emulator as you usually would (Select + Start?)
Re-enter the game

Note that the Twisted Metal games only allow more than 2 players in deathmatch mode. Tournament mode is limited to 2 players max. Let me know if you have any issues.