[Biased turkey]

I don't want to start a war, but I really want to know why some people pay for an emulator that , according to what I've seen on this board, can't even run GT2 properly.
So there MUST be a reason why some copies of bleem are sold when EPSXE is of high quality and free.
Just curious.
Thank's in advance for any reply

 

[kairi00]

Simple... bleem! came out way before ePSXe. No GT2, no Chrono Cross, no FFIX.... bleem! only had 2 other competitors, VGS and PSEmuPro. And it played GT1 really well.

 

[wanderer]

No prob. Bleem was made during the time when PsEmu Pro was the no. 1 free emulator. During that time when Rand (the programmer of B!) announced that there will be such an emulator that runs MDECS properly, (if I remember it correctly), even emu programmers were skeptical (MDECS in FULL COLOR??? and speed?), and said with computers (during that time 233Mhz were high end) only MDECS can be run in full speed if it was black and white. When bleem came out, it simply blasted out the opposition. Many people were praising bleem then (just as many are praising epsxe now).

You'll notice that bleem runs well even with a slow 233 Cyrix computer. For those of us with a crappy computer (mine is a 350mhz amd) bleem is the way to go. For those with faster computers epsxe is. Even still, for the games it runs well, bleem runs it well, with perfect mdecs to boot (epsxe always had those sound problems with most games I have, and I tested it with a PIII 800 Mhz, while bleem runs it well even on my old comp).

Its simply the same reason why people buy VGS before. It works well for them and they want to reward the programmers some cash. (I'm a programmer myself, and I understand why programmers go into a fit when their child program gets pirated)

 

[takwu]

plus, there are still NEW games that run better, more playable, on bleem than other emus (perhaps not VGS)

If you got a game that don't play well on ePSXe etc. try the bleem demo, and who knows maybe you want to buy bleem then.

 

[Biased turkey]

Thank's to the nice people who took some of their tome to reply.
Now, I have a better idea of why people buy Bleem. I've heard of Bleem a long time ago, but was never interestsd in it: why buy bleem if I already own a Playstation1. Then I heard about Bleemcast, and purchased it ( you see, I'm supporting you indirectly ) because GT2 is my favourite videogame ( after GT3 of course ) and it looks better on the Dreamcast than on the PS1.
Then I started to get interested in emulators in general ( surfing the Emuforums helped me quite a lot to make up my mind ). I realised that any PSX game could look better when run by an emulator ( with a powerful enough hardware of course ).
And after your explainations I can see why people choose Bleem if sound is of utmost importance to them.

I'm not converted to Bleem but at least now I'm tolerant.

 

[yoshi]

why bleem!

why do u want to buy bleem?
epsxe is much better and will be updatet regulary ( not as bleem! )

bleem will cost $29.95
ePSXe is free (and much better)

so, think about it

 

[Betamax]

Basically for the same reason that you haver to buy windows whereas Linux is free...

Whether or not the authors decides that they want money for their efforts.

 

[KillerShots]

It's not a direct comparison when using Micro$haft and Linux compared to Bleem!/ePSXe. The roles are reversed, the free one runs more software and has better support.

 

[Biased turkey]

That's exactly why I asked the question, as far as I'm concerned I couldn't see any obvious advantage for Bleem ( not free ) over EPSXE ( free and well supported ).
Now I understand why Bleem ( even if they have to pay for ) suits some people requirements better but I peresonaly have no reason at all to buy it NOW.

 

[i4get]

well at the time it went out, Bleem! rocked, so buying it wasn't that big of a question.
Now with great emulators such as ePSXe, FPSE AdripPSX, PCSX, there is no need buying a PSX emu anymore.

 

[Betamax]

Originally posted by KillerShots
It's not a direct comparison when using Micro$haft and Linux compared to Bleem!/ePSXe. The roles are reversed, the free one runs more software and has better support.

Quality does not matter where human greed is concerned. Eg Microsoft could release a version of windows with some pointless extras (most of which you could download for free anyway) and charge for it just to keep fools like us upgrading. Oh wait a sec. That's called Win ME!

Back on topic. I agree with Bi4get here. Now there is no advantage in buying bleem! (For the record I did buy it back when it was still popular). But they are a company in business to make profit whereas all the rest are hobbists creating their programs because they want to. It is this reason alone as to why we pay for bleem.

 

[JuniorCRB]

alot of people own Bleem because its the only way to play psx games ligitamitly on a pc if you don't own a playstation but epsxe does work better. if you don't like bleem then get a real psx (for those that don't have one).

 

[wanderer]

Originally posted by Betamax

Eg Microsoft could release a version of windows with some pointless extras (most of which you could download for free anyway) and charge for it just to keep fools like us upgrading. Oh wait a sec. That's called Win ME!

That's why I'm not upgrading to windows XP when it comes out... imagine what that would do to my poor old comp!

I like Linux (with the way it runs even on a 386), but... most of the programs I use run in windows, so, I'm forced to use it (free, but with little apps that I can use vs commercial but with apps that I can use). Same with bleem!. I bought bleem! because it runs on low end comps. It fits my requirements just fine.

 

[clumzy]

I was one of the early adopters as well. Bleem! was revolutionary at the time and I wanted to support the unknown developer (at the time). It ran great for the game I wanted, GT, and that's basically all I wanted it for.

But now the landscape has changed considerably. With the excellent video cards and high powered systems of today ePSXe is amazing. I personally love it and it even runs GT better than Bleem did (timing wise) IMHO.

However, I still feel that Bleem has a place other than on aging old computers. I works great on my Laptop which is a 450mhz with very poor S3 video. It even texture smooths it where ePSXe just crawls and looks terrible.

The support and user base of ePSXe is definitely an advantage and I believe time will show that my primary GT playing will be with ePSXe on my game machine. But on the road with my laptop Bleem still has it's place.

 

[Betamax]

Originally posted by wanderer


That's why I'm not upgrading to windows XP when it comes out... imagine what that would do to my poor old comp!

I'm debating that upgrade issue myself. I really couldn't be bothered with the hassle of that activation key. I already use win 2K so I have most of the features already. I use winamp not the media player, mozilla not ie and use desktopX for my shell instead of the default so the benifits that I would get are minimal.

 

[Gstkein]

Well, actually

A lot of ppl just download a cracked version of bleem so they get it cause it´s good and free

 

[Exophase]

Why does everyone keep saying Bleem has better sound than ePSXe??? ePSXe has lotsa SPUs, and trust me that not all of them have problems with MDEC's. But other than that several of them have ADPCM emulation that is WAY beyond what Bleem does. Now I haven't tried the 1.6 beta stuff (I purchased Bleem but there's no way I feel like giving them my address for some silly beta) but in 1.5 the ADPCM was awful. Go play FF7 or something in Bleem. Then try with the good ePSXe SPUs - the internal one, Null2's, Pete's DSound and probably best of all, Iori's, which is still under development. I could list all the technical things they emulate and Bleem probably doesn't but the fact is that if the game is doing more than streaming CD-DA or CD-XA audio then chances are it'll sound like crap in Bleem, whereas an advanced SPU like Iori's can actually do a pretty good job at emulating it. Oh yeah, and Pete's plugins are also way more advanced than Bleem's D3D, but that's another can of worms

- Exophase

 

[wanderer]

Originally posted by Exophase
Why does everyone keep saying Bleem has better sound than ePSXe???
- Exophase

Relative to the user. Some users like their sounds consistent (like VGS, which is sooooo good). Others, say (like me), say Bleem sound is good because it simply isn't choppy, and works smoothly, although tinny, on the games it runs well. Epsxe on my part although I say it really is close to a psx sound, is simply choppy on my computer (XA audio is its weakpoint, I find Adripsx sound much much better, even with MDECS, which is quite superb with the WIP version, on my AMD k6-2 350mhz).

Still Epsxe is quite good (I just turn XA Audio off). But for the games Bleem runs, I use it.

 

[Adair]

I have never played a game on Bleem that had better or less choppy sound than when playing in ePSXe. Many times the problems with sound in Bleem will even cause short pauses in game play.:spy:

 

[wanderer]

Like I said, its relative to particular users. Megaman X5 works perfectly, MotoRacer 2 also works fast, Armored Core works very well, Earthworm Jim also works very fast, and some more games as well. All these games have more or less good sound (except perhaps of the mdecs of MotoRacer 2).

Specs of my comp (don't laugh )
350 Mhz k6-2
96MB ram
windows 98
Creative savage 4 pci

Oh by the way, the pauses are caused by a timing problem in 1.5b. Versions 1.4a are the best to use for this... Its good to keep different versions handy.