[Cobaltor]

Firstly, I would like to apologize ahead of time if these questions are rather simple, I just downloaded the emulator today and would like some things cleared up. I thought that it would save me some time if I were to ask people who are knowledgeable with the software since I am not in any sense.

1 - Firstly, what are some recommended plugins?

From the limited research I've done I've gotten the impression that Pete's Plug-ins are the way to go, but the only one that comes pre-packaged with the program is "Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core 2.0.0", and no sound plugins. Even with using that, I ran into graphical glitches when trying to run the first game I ran (Crash Team Racing).​

2 - Is there a way to add plugins?

I downloaded Pete's sound plugin but it doesn't show up when I go to switch to it. I imagine there is more to it than just dropping the archive into the "plugin" folder and extracting it.​

3 - This may be a bit of a big question and if so I would be fine with it being unanswered, but

with those recommended plugins, what are the optimal settings?
When I attempted to fiddle around with the different settings of "Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core 2.0.0" I got stutters when there were many things on screen. I'll paste whatever specs I can find below (keep in mind that this is a 5 year-old laptop I'm working with that is not built for gaming):​

Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Model: Notebook
Processor: Intel Pentium CPU B940 @ 2.00 GHz
RAM: 4.00 GB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System
​

4 - I've run into an issue after exiting a game and trying to edit anything under "Config"...

Everything seems to be grayed out, and I don't know what the cause is. Everything that would let me start another game is also grayed out (Run ISO, etc...). The only way that I've been able to fix it is by exiting entirely and then running the .exe again, but I'm sure there is another way to fix that.
​

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you ahead of time for any advice and tips you give!

 

[cloudbill]

Firstly, I would like to apologize ahead of time if these questions are rather simple, I just downloaded the emulator today and would like some things cleared up. I thought that it would save me some time if I were to ask people who are knowledgeable with the software since I am not in any sense.

1 - Firstly, what are some recommended plugins?

From the limited research I've done I've gotten the impression that Pete's Plug-ins are the way to go, but the only one that comes pre-packaged with the program is "Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core 2.0.0", and no sound plugins. Even with using that, I ran into graphical glitches when trying to run the first game I ran (Crash Team Racing).​

Actually ePSXe 2.0 comes packaged with 2 video plug-ins: Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core 2.0.0 (which tries to use your IGP "Integrated Graphics Processor") and ePSXe GPU core 2.0.0 (which is a software render that uses your CPU for graphics); 1 sound plug-in: ePSXe SPU core (SPU is Sound Processing Unit); 2 cdrom plug-ins: ePSXe CDR ASPI core 2.0.0 (most likely won't use this) and ePSXe CDR WNT/W2K core 2.0.0 (this one is what almost everyone would use); 1 Gamepad plug-in.

The graphic glitches could be from whether you're using the software or hardware plug-in and if the hardware plug-in, what settings are you using. The hardware plug-in is more prone to these graphic glitches than the software plug-in. The hardware plug-in has better performance at the cost of accuracy. The software plug-in has better accuracy at the cost of performance.

Some games need specific settings/fixes for them to appear correctly. Some games , especially games with 2D and 3D elements can't use the "widescreen" GTE hack without seeing glitches that adversely effect gameplay. Some games like Ridge Racer Type 4 can't use the "subpixel precision" GTE hack because it causes "bright cracks" in between textures. Basically a lot of games need different settings for them to appear/work correctly. There is no "one size fits all" solution.

If you could open up your video plug-in config menu and on the right-hand bottom corner click "copy setting to clipboard" button. Then paste it on the forum we will be able to see a lot more helpful information.
​

2 - Is there a way to add plugins?

I downloaded Pete's sound plugin but it doesn't show up when I go to switch to it. I imagine there is more to it than just dropping the archive into the "plugin" folder and extracting it.​

No you appear to have done it correctly. Try d/l the plug-in again it could have been corrupted.
​

3 - This may be a bit of a big question and if so I would be fine with it being unanswered, but

with those recommended plugins, what are the optimal settings?
When I attempted to fiddle around with the different settings of "Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core 2.0.0" I got stutters when there were many things on screen. I'll paste whatever specs I can find below (keep in mind that this is a 5 year-old laptop I'm working with that is not built for gaming):​

Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Model: Notebook
Processor: Intel Pentium CPU B940 @ 2.00 GHz
RAM: 4.00 GB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System​

The bottom of my response to question 1 will help us with this. As far as your laptop not being a "gaming laptop" that shouldn't matter too much. You might not be able make use of all the features ePSXe 2.0.0 has to offer but you should definitely be able to emulate most PlayStation games.

​

4 - I've run into an issue after exiting a game and trying to edit anything under "Config"...

Everything seems to be grayed out, and I don't know what the cause is. Everything that would let me start another game is also grayed out (Run ISO, etc...). The only way that I've been able to fix it is by exiting entirely and then running the .exe again, but I'm sure there is another way to fix that.​

If you have started a game and hit the escape key or the windows key you haven't actually exited the game you have only paused it and pushed it to the background. You can't change any of the configurations during game-play. If you go to the "Run" menu at the top of the emulator and click "Continue" you can resume your game from where you paused and pushed it to the background. It is actually meant to work like that and IMHO is pretty convenient. To close the emulator you must either use the "X" at the top-right corner or end the process in "Windows Task Manager".
​

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you ahead of time for any advice and tips you give!

Most of the people on the board are happy to help so it's not a problem.

 

[Cobaltor]

Thank you for explaining things, I wasn't able to find any solutions to my specific problems with the research I did, so this help is very much appreciated.

The graphic glitches could be from whether you're using the software or hardware plug-in and if the hardware plug-in, what settings are you using. The hardware plug-in is more prone to these graphic glitches than the software plug-in. The hardware plug-in has better performance at the cost of accuracy. The software plug-in has better accuracy at the cost of performance.

I'm assuming the hardware plugin is Pete's while the software plugin is ePSXe one?

In regards to the settings, here's the settings I have:

Plugin: Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.10
Author: Pete Bernert
Card vendor: Intel
GFX card: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family

Resolution/Color:
- 800x600 Window mode
- Internal X resolution: 1
- Internal Y resolution: 1
- Keep psx aspect ratio: on
- No render-to-texture: on

- Filtering: 3
- Hi-Res textures: 0
- TexWin pixel shader: off
- VRam size: 0 MBytes

Framerate:
- FPS limitation: on
- Frame skipping: off
- FPS limit: Auto

Compatibility:
- Offscreen drawing: 1
- Framebuffer effects: 2
- Framebuffer uploads: 1

Misc:
- Scanlines: off
- Mdec filter: off
- Screen filtering: on
- Shader effects: 0/1
- Flicker-fix border size: 0
- GF4/XP crash fix: off
- Game fixes: on [00000000]

(I did notice some slowdown with a lot of things like models and particles on screen at once)

With these settings the resolution is a lot cleaner than with the other plugin, but when starting up the game, I notice that there was a distinct lack of wheels on the karts. I didn't play any of the game since I'm just beginning to test things, but I believe that issue will persist into the game itself.

No you appear to have done it correctly. Try d/l the plug-in again it could have been corrupted.

That seemed to be the case, I redownloaded it and now everything's working fine.

 

[cloudbill]

Yes, the hardware plug-in is Pete's OpenGL2 GPU core and the software plug-in is ePSXe GPU core.

Make sure your VRAM size is set to at least 512 or whatever amount of system RAM you have reserved for you IGPU. You can only go as high as 1024 mb no matter how much VRAM you actually have though. I believe the VRAM auto-detection is bugged for Intel and AMD/ATI video cards so you need to manually set the VRAM size.

As far as the wheels being corrupted on the carts. Set your framebuffer effects to 3. It will, as it says, cause further slowdowns but nothing can be done about that. Most games are fine with the framebuffer effects set to 2 though. You can save it to a game profile after you start the game and hit the "escape" key. In order to launch the game with these setting specifically for CTR you need to open the game list and launch it from there.

 

[MMDE]

What version of CTR? Because the EU version got some extra copy protection, and running that properly is a bit tricky. You'll have to explain what version you got and what kinda graphical glitches you get!

Might be I'm mistaken in recommending this, but you may want to try:
Stretching mode: 0 (Stretch to full window size)
Render mode: 2 (Use Framebuffer Object)

This looked a lot better for me in most games, but you may want to play around with it to see what you think works best for you.

 

[Cobaltor]

The slowdown that I mentioned above seems to calm down when I manually set the VRAM amount, however the game seems to come to a standstill (or pretty close to one) when the missile powerup is visible on screen, probably due to the particles and such involved with the object. Switching my render settings to use the Framebuffer Object fixed my graphical glitches, and everything visually seems to be working fine apart from the game halting when there is a heavy amount of particles or whatever it is on screen.

However, one thing I noticed once I got my PS3 controller configured and working is that the analog sticks don't seem to be working. I used Motionjoy to set it up and setting up the controls within the gamepad configuration in ePSXe worked flawlessly, and according to the PS DataCenter page the game is analog supported. It's weird that it's not working and I don't know why it isn't (obviously).

Oh yes, and MMDE, I'm using the NA version of CTR, my game is running fine apart from some performance hiccups.

 

[cloudbill]

The game "halting" is a weird issue that shouldn't be happening. I can understand slowing down to a crawl but not seemingly stopping altogether. If you are still getting slowdowns (not haltings) it's most likely due to your igpu. An Intel processor @2 ghz from 2011 shouldn't be a bottleneck on most games.

As far as the controller.......I can't be of any help. I've been using a Logitech Rumble Pad 2 since forever it seems. Unfortunately that means I general don't have any practical experience with gamepad/controller issues with ePSXe.

 

[Cobaltor]

Ya, I exaggerated the slowdowns I was experiencing, they're just extreme slowdowns that make it feel like the game is stopping. After some googling I found out that this is a game specific problem, and others have run into the same slowdowns that I experienced, which is unfortunate.

In regards to the controller problem it turns out that changing the controller type from Dualshock (which is the type of gamepad I am using) to DualAnalog fixed my problem, which is weird since, as I said above, I ran into no problems mapping the controls.

 

[MMDE]

Last time I played my copy (EU) version of the game, I had only one issue after actually making it run properly (damn copy right protection). This would be that when characters in the game were talking, the game would sometimes kinda freeze, and set you back like quarter of a second or something and repeat. Same with the audio.

http://ngemu.com/threads/crash-team-racing-sound-crackling.180697/

Apparently that is the fix, that I had to use P.E.Op.S. Sound Audio Driver 1.10! I usually don't use that because it can't play music in games that plays that music like it was a CD. You know the games you could put in a CD player and play music off. That audio doesn't seem to work with it in my experience, you'll hear all other sound effects and stuff. Luckily, I don't think CTR got any of that, so it should be safe to use.

 

[Cobaltor]

Apparently that is the fix, that I had to use P.E.Op.S. Sound Audio Driver 1.10!

I'm currently using PE OPs DSound Audio Driver 1.9, which according to the website is based on 1.15 of the sound plugin you're using and is working fine. However, when I attempted to switch over to the one you mentioned, the game didn't advance past the "Sony Computer Entertainment Presents" screen and out of place voice lines began to play. Weird.

The problem I seem to be running into is slowdowns that happen (within CTR specifically) during the opening sequence when all of the characters burst out of the crate, which drops my fps, according to the fps counter, about 20 frames to 40fps until all of the effects wear off. Another slowdown I was experiencing is when the missile powerup appears, which brings my game to 10fps and lower until it either explodes or goes off screen. I loaded up the game Rollcage and the same thing happened with that powerup when it hit a surface which triggered it to explode. I think it may have to do with the effects associated with them, but both games run smoothly with the ePSXe GPU core 2.0.0 video plugin. I'm also getting split-second hiccups during cutscenes when there is a change in scene, with a drop of about 10fps for a fraction of a second. Oh ya, I'm currently using Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.9 as my video plugin.

I would hate to have to resort to the ePSXe video plugin since Pete's plugins does such a nice job visually so if there is some solution to this it would be awesome.

 

[cloudbill]

Sounds like your IGPU just isn't strong enough to handle those framebuffer effects. There is really nothing that can be done if you want all the effects of the original gameplay while still using the hardware plug-in.

 

[Outerbeast]

Avoid using OpenGL2 plugins on integrated GPUs, especially if its one on a laptop.
Instead use Peops OpenGL 1.78