PSP Castlevania DXC - framerate issues with SOTN ?

tjsgaming

RP3B with a pretty default install of the latest retropie. I've done minimal tweaking.

Handfull of PSP games run great, CVDXC main game runs great - very smooth, good framerate etc etc.

However, the unlockable Symphony Of The Night (which is entirely 2D) runs VERY slow and choppy, horrible frame rate and VERY slow operation. (Did they try to emulate a Saturn on the PSP?!)

Anyone have any advice? Is this a known issue? I can't find anyone talking about this particular problem on the forums, so i'm not really sure what to troubleshoot.

Darksavior

The psp emulator is rather new and will have slowdowns and bugs. No one's talking about it because they tend to run the ps1 version.

tjsgaming

@Darksavior thats kindof what I feared.
The PSP version has a bunch of additional content, and playing it on a "big screen" is a huge motivator.
If anyone has any tips, please post. Also, when i have a chance to troubleshoot more (probably in a day or three) I'll post progress and results on this thread so others can learn from my results (success or fail)

Darksavior

@tjsgaming It doesn't have that much extra content over the original. It has new dialogue, new voice actors, playable Maria, and two familars that were in the japanese ps1 version. I'm nostalgic for the old voice actors and cheesy dialogue.

You can google the problem to see if it's a common problem on other ports of ppsspp and what they did to fix it.

backstander

@tjsgaming
Here is the official PSP Compatibility List. You can updated it with your findings as well.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V-MEx1tOXqCcJL1fQzGh9xLHny-qL-PSWqvY7F80Y90/edit#gid=139803120

I loved Symphony Of The Night on the PS1 and the cheesy dialogue is how I remember it!

I believe someone has taking the Castlevania: Rondo of Blood English audio dialogue from the PSP version and has patched it over the Japanese PC Engine CD version of the game (Translation Patch PSP to TurboGrafx-CD).

tjsgaming

I believe someone has taking the Castlevania: Rondo of Blood English audio dialogue from the PSP version and has patched it over the Japanese PC Engine CD version of the game (Translation Patch PSP to TurboGrafx-CD).

That is correct! I actually have a burned disc of that which works in my not-emulated Turbografx-16 CD attachment, it's probably the best game on that console.

backstander

@tjsgaming

That is correct! I actually have a burned disc of that which works in my not-emulated Turbografx-16 CD attachment, it's probably the best game on that console.

I'll have to get it a try then. Back in the day I had a burned copy of Akumajou Dracula X - Chi no Rinne for my non-emulated TurboDuo and it was a lot of fun but I couldn't tell you what the story was about.

mediamogul

@Darksavior

I'm nostalgic for the old voice actors and cheesy dialogue.

@backstander

the cheesy dialogue is how I remember it!

Same here. I can't imagine it any other way. Dracula's earliest monologue in the game is delivered as if coming from some late night Roger Corman creature feature. I always have to laugh when he gets to the infamous "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets."

I believe someone has taking the Castlevania: Rondo of Blood English audio dialogue from the PSP version and has patched it over the Japanese PC Engine CD version of the game

I'm currently playing through this at the moment. It's a great hack and the game is of course amazing.

tjsgaming

Ok - I've got SOTN basically playable.

Using the retroarch overlay config GUI (select+X in game) I set:
frameskip to 1
custom viewport width 1440 (x3)
custom viewport height 816 (x3)
integer scale on

other settings:
hw biliner filtering - turning this to off makes the game look significantly better on my big flatscreen from apx 3 meters away, but doesn't seem to impact performance (disclaimer that I prefer a pixelated look to a blurred look for my scalers)

other observations:
loading savestates seems unstable until loading a regular game save. not sure if its related to my settings changes or not.