PSX2PSP: Are the L2, R2, R3 and L3 active on a PS3 controller and are there European PBP files?

PetroRie

Emulators are region free, there should be no issue with that. I always play USA games because it's easier to find cheats for them, and I'm from EU. Any region will work fine on a emulator.

Just stick with ISO/BIN PSX format, no need to convert anything. It's just a waste of time IMO. Just swap disks trough the RGUI menu if needed. Who ever told you need to convert them has no idea what he's talking about. And if someone told you that you need to play games from your own region, well same as above he's clueless. Sounds kinda racist lol "Go play games from your own region!".

"PSP controller"? Haha, bro have you ever seen a PSP controller it's a handheld device. On the PS3 controller you'll have more buttons available so whats the problem?

It's funny that many newcomers actually think that you really need to use .PBP files for PSX emulation or convert them to that format. There is no need to do that, it will only increase the loading times. I believe disk swapping was a problem in an older version of Retro Pie but that has been fixed long time ago.

Capeman

.PBP as 2 advantages for multidisk games.

One advantage is that it lets you set retroarch control shortcuts to switch disks. It lets you set retroarch hotkeys (select+button(s)) to eject disk, switch to previous or next disk, then eject button to reinsert. It's a very seamless integration and you don't need to interrupt the game with a menu.
The other advantage from a clean-theme standpoing is that it lets you have one entry for multi disk games instead of per disk (just"Final Fantasy 7" instead of "Final Fantasy Disk 1" "Final Fantasy Disk 2" ... etc)

For non-multi disk games, PBP has literally no advantage. Load times may be longer since the files are compressed, but it's still faster than a real psx.

PBP definitely has the advantage for multi disk.

@PetroRie, if things have changed in previous versions that allow for either of my listed advantages with ISO or BIN/CUE, i'd like to know them. It's good to know if my info is out of date.

mediamogul

@Capeman

if things have changed in previous versions that allow for either of my listed advantages with ISO or BIN/CUE, i'd like to know them.

Nothing has really changed, but this method also offers the advantages you listed without altering the file types. Both methods are valid options. PBPs still have the advantage of compressing file size, but it comes at the cost of some loading speed, so it's great to have an alternative for those that consider that a deal breaker.

Capeman

@mediamogul I'd not realized that Retropie could use the .m3u method. I use that method in OpenEmu on my mac for multi disk games since that emulator doesn't support .PBP files.

Good to know, thanks for the info!

Capeman

Random question on disk switching that i've come across.

In the retroarch.cfg master file, disk switching shows up at 2 keys.

input_disk_eject_toggle = *btn
input_disk_next = *btn

I found the only way to go to a previous disk (in case you press the button too many times) is to add this:

input_disk_prev = *btn

Is the next option supposed to cycle through disks and jump to the first disk after the last one (because it's not for me, it just stops at the final disk), or was prev just missing from the retroarch master file. I'd rather just map 2 buttons instead of 3.

mediamogul

@Capeman

In retroarch.cfg it describes the function of input_disk_next to be:

Cycles through disk images. Use after ejecting.
Complete by toggling eject again.

Are you incorporating the eject function when using this feature?

edmaul69

@Capeman are you trying to use a keyboard or a joystick? For joystick the commands are like what i posted below. I actually added them to the individual controller configs so all my different controllers have their own configs since famicom disk system and possibly some other emus use these functions and i use different controller depending on system.

input_disk_eject_toggle_btn = 
input_disk_next_btn = 
input_disk_prev_btn =

Not sure about *btn? Does that make it work on joystick too?

Capeman

Right, that's what im already using. I was hoping i was doing something wrong and disk_next was supposed to cycle the list and loop from disk 1 if you go beyond the final disk. It doesn't seem to work that way... i was hoping i could use less buttons on my next console build, but i guess im stuck at 3.

Capeman

Not sure about *btn? Does that make it work on joystick too?

_btn is the joystick shortcut, remove it for the keyboard shortcut

edmaul69

@Capeman i just wasnt sure what you were doing just because of how you wrote it. It had me confused.

PetroRie

@Capeman said in PSX2PSP: Are the L2, R2, R3 and L3 active on a PS3 controller and are there European PBP files?:

.PBP as 2 advantages for multidisk games.

One advantage is that it lets you set retroarch control shortcuts to switch disks. It lets you set retroarch hotkeys (select+button(s)) to eject disk, switch to previous or next disk, then eject button to reinsert. It's a very seamless integration and you don't need to interrupt the game with a menu.

The other advantage from a clean-theme standpoing is that it lets you have one entry for multi disk games instead of per disk (just"Final Fantasy 7" instead of "Final Fantasy Disk 1" "Final Fantasy Disk 2" ... etc)

For non-multi disk games, PBP has literally no advantage. Load times may be longer since the files are compressed, but it's still faster than a real psx.

PBP definitely has the advantage for multi disk.

@PetroRie, if things have changed in previous versions that allow for either of my listed advantages with ISO or BIN/CUE, i'd like to know them. It's good to know if my info is out of date.

I believe with an older version of RetroPie they had some problems with multi disks. But now you can use the RGUI menu. The functions you're using are the same, the only difference is that you acces them via the RGUI menu. Beside you'll use that hotkey only once at the end of a game. @edmaul69; do the hotkeys work on ISO/BIN files?

For PSX I have created a separate folder for each game. For the multi disk games I just added the disk number to the file. Like:

Metal Gear Solid [NTSC-U] Disk 1
Metal Gear Solid [NTSC-U] Disk 2

My entire point about PBP files is that newcomers get confused by this, I have seen this also on YouTube in which people tell others to convert their games to PBP file which isn't really necessary.

I think many newcomers are not aware about the RGUI menu and all the things you can control from there.

edmaul69

@PetroRie yeah it works with iso files. The reason i like pbp is one file in the game list. Plus the smaller size of them.

PetroRie

@edmaul69 said in PSX2PSP: Are the L2, R2, R3 and L3 active on a PS3 controller and are there European PBP files?:

@PetroRie yeah it works with iso files. The reason i like pbp is one file in the game list. Plus the smaller size of them.

Aha cool thanks for answering, I was too lazy to try it out myself lol. I also think the .PBP file will only create one save file. With Resident Evil 2 people have problems loading the second disk, the game checks for the save file created by the first disk, the names are equal to the game image name. In order for the emulator to load it you need to change the name of the save file to the name of the second ISO file. I'm pretty with sure PBP you won't have this issue. Not so long ago a guy here opened a topic about this issue.

edmaul69

@PetroRie yeah you dont have an issue with the game save with a .pbp. I forgot about that bonus.

Capeman

@PetroRie said in PSX2PSP: Are the L2, R2, R3 and L3 active on a PS3 controller and are there European PBP files?:

I think many newcomers are not aware about the RGUI menu and all the things you can control from there.

Alot of us old heads in the retropie scene are focusing now on seamless experiences, now that we've mastered the basics. Trying to make the experience as close to the console as possible. This includes things like disabling the launchcommand script and hiding any console text between games loading and unloading, hiding the yellow loading emulator text, and optimizing our themes among other tweaks.

Having to use the RGUI menu for anything reminds you that you're using a computer and not a real "console"... People like me like to get all the settings right, mostly by editing config files by over SSH, and make it so we never need to see that ugly, blurry, green checkerboxed menu again. I've gotten my retropie experience so streamlined, that i haven't needed to use the RGUI menu in months, it's wonderful. Why use a clunky menu when shortcut keys are right on the controller, right?

Anyway, I'm not downplaying the power of RGUI, but i am definitely dogging on it's ugliness. If i dont need to see it, i don't want to see it, haha.

PetroRie

@Capeman The RGUI menu does look ugly that is true lol. It would be cool if we could change the font and background of the RGUI menu.

AlexMurphy

@PetroRie Change it to the xmb gui driver. Looks just like the PS3 Menus.

AlexMurphy

@PetroRie xmb looks like this

edmaul69

@PetroRie the checkerboard background is the worst. On some tv's its really hard to read the text.

Capeman

@AlexMurphy That's the Lakka interface, the new default face of Retroarch if you were to install it directly on a pi/windows/mac without a frontend. It's nice, though a little convoluted.

I guess i just prefer to pop open my macbook and use Cyberduck to SSH and edit files directly, personal preference i guess.

The only thing i've ever needed RGUI for is setting remap files for each console so the 2 button consoles are correctly mapped to YB instead of BA (not sure why it doesnt ship that way, but it's easy enough to set once), after that, still havent needed RGUI since.