Beetle PSX HW - Core Settings Advice

[WuTangDan]

Hi All,

 

Was wondering if anyone could recommend the 'best' settings to use in RetroArch for PS1 games. I am using the Beetle PSX HW core and I was hoping that it might be possible to get some advice on which settings are safe to tinker with?

 

I do appreciate that different games may react differently to certain settings, but I am just looking for the options that are okay to change for all or most games?

 

I have played with a few settings and although on some games they worked great and made the game look amazing, other games really didn't like them and caused crashes or visual glitches.

 

System Specs are below to assist with any suggestions you might have;

 

CPU : i5 3570k @ 3.5 Ghz

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 770

RAM: 16GB DDR3 

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

N.B: These are my emu machine specs, so please don't laugh I have a main PC with much better specs, I promise! 

[Zombeaver]

I have the core option settings I use listed in the other thread:

beetle_psx_hw_renderer = "software"
beetle_psx_hw_renderer_software_fb = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_adaptive_smoothing = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_internal_resolution = "1x(native)"
beetle_psx_hw_filter = "nearest"
beetle_psx_hw_internal_color_depth = "32bpp"
beetle_psx_hw_wireframe = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_display_vram = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_pgxp_mode = "memory only"
beetle_psx_hw_pgxp_caching = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_pgxp_texture = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_dither_mode = "1x(native)"
beetle_psx_hw_scale_dither = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_initial_scanline = "0"
beetle_psx_hw_last_scanline = "239"
beetle_psx_hw_initial_scanline_pal = "0"
beetle_psx_hw_last_scanline_pal = "287"
beetle_psx_hw_frame_duping_enable = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_widescreen_hack = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_crop_overscan = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_image_crop = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_image_offset = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_display_internal_framerate = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_analog_calibration = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_analog_toggle = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_enable_multitap_port1 = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_enable_multitap_port2 = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_cpu_overclock = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_cdimagecache = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_skipbios = "disabled"
beetle_psx_hw_use_mednafen_memcard0_method = "libretro"
beetle_psx_hw_enable_memcard1 = "enabled"
beetle_psx_hw_shared_memory_cards = "disabled"

Software rendering is the most accurate renderer, full stop. No matter how many bells and whistles get thrown on top of the other options, that's not likely to change anytime soon, and as long as that's the case it's what I'll continue to use. Software rendering and 1x resolution.

[WuTangDan]

I am surprised that you leave the resolution at 1x, I understand why for compatibility reasons but...Does it not look a bit ugly? 

[mylkman]

Um what' s wring with your specs? 

  They are good enough to run most platforms well enough. 

[neil9000]

Those specs are identical to what I used to run, i5 3570k, GTX 770, 16GB DD3 and I ran everything just fine. I have since swapped out the 770 for a 1060 but all the other hardware is still the same. So yeah those specs are great for emulation.

[WuTangDan]

And that is exactly what they are used for!

I have a main PC but wanted to build a dedicated Emu machine for Big Box  Got the parts from eBay and built it from scratch as a fun little project. Already had the CPU, RAM and Mobo so it was quite easy.

The only emulator i can see it struggling with is Cemu for Zelda Botw, but i play that on my i7 7700k/GTX 1080 so that doesn't bother me.

[mylkman]

I dot even run a video card.  I have the i3 8100.  And Im able to run emulation just fine. I do have to lower my settings for rise of the tomb raider and most other pc games. But I'm content.  I have my xbox one X for games I rely want in 4k or just a bit better looking graphics. I don't play many pc games or xbox for that matter so it doesn't bother me one bit.    

[WuTangDan]

Each to their own. You can easily get away with much lower specs, but I am a bit picky when it comes to frame-rates and graphics and really don't like to compromise! 

It's an expensive obsession 

 

I have been watching videos on the new Ryzen 2200G APU and they can run everything for like £90. Really cool bit of kit.

The funny thing is, I don't game that much either due to being at work 12 hours a day Monday-Friday, yet I have a £3000 Gaming PC, PS4 Pro, Rasperry Pi 3 AND my new Emu Machine that I built haha.

[Zombeaver]

3 hours ago, WuTangDan said:

I am surprised that you leave the resolution at 1x, I understand why for compatibility reasons but...Does it not look a bit ugly? 

Unless by ugly you mean "like a Playstation" then no.

You can use shaders to make it look however you want.

[WuTangDan]

5 minutes ago, Zombeaver said:

 

 

I'll be honest, I have not played with the shaders at all so maybe I need to experiment with those to get the sort of look I want. I just found that when you increase the resolution you kind of get this instant 'clean' look and it gets rid of most of the aliasing and shimmering you get with old PS1 era games. Because I am playing on a large 43" screen, it really shows the age of these games unfortunately.

[Zombeaver]

I find that buggy, broken models and textures are a wee bit more distracting than any amount aliasing, and I have a 46" TV as my monitor.

Upscaling is well and good when it works, but it doesn't work for tons of stuff. There's a reason that standalone Mednafen doesn't support it - it breaks things. Shaders, on the other hand, can be applied on top of native resolution and still maintain the underlying accuracy.

If you're wanting to actually upscale, I think you'd be better off with ePSXe as you'll have less problems overall. Mednafen is the better, more accurate emulator, but ePSXe does upscaling better and with lower hardware requirements.

[WuTangDan]

That's something to consider, I might add ePSXe as a second emulator choice and try it out, but I will try and mess with shaders first.

I am going to try your configs this weekend so see how well they work for me first of all  

[Nyny77]

On 06/03/2018 at 2:43 PM, Zombeaver said:

Unless by ugly you mean "like a Playstation" then no.

You can use shaders to make it look however you want.

hey @Zombeaver

what do you use as a shader for psx please  ?

thanks

[Zombeaver]

@Nyny77 Those are from the pack I made

The first one there is Neuromancer the others are Razorgirl Molly. You can find them here:

 

[Nyny77]

Thanks @Zombeaver