PSX Emulator questions and topics

[The_Swimmer]

Hi there,

I first apologize for bumping up this thread, but I've been trying to play Suikoden II for 2 or 3 days now, and couldn't get any good results.

I searched the Internet for answers to my question, but couldn't find a solution either.

Here's the thing:
I am playing Suikoden II (graphics are nice - no strange artifacts - no visual bugs) and every once in a while, the game itself stutters, the image freezes/blocks, Controls do not respond and sound is flickering, like in a loop. It can last for 2 seconds or so, I've got a FPS drop (from 59.8 to 17, something like that), and then it stops, FPS goes back to stable 59.8 and I can play on.

It can happen when I am entering a new zone, sometimes Ryube for example, or even on the world map, when I am wandering around or when a random battle occurs. I noticed it also happen when I want to save using a Journeyman Crystals or talking to a Inn-Keeper.

I am playing a NTSC-US version of the game.
I am using a patched version of the game. I used this website to do so: https://github.com/pyriell/gs2-bugfixes
It actually fixes numerous bugs and I have now music during Major Battles. The bug still happened before I patched the game.

I also use epsxe 2.0 with Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.9 and Eternal SPU Plugin 1.41 Lite. I tried lots and lots of plug-ins config and even epsxe 1.9, but this annoying laggy bug keeps occuring, from Fast to Nice settings or personal ones. I tried with D3D and Software plugins (Pete's to name one as well).

I am playing on an Asus Laptop with Intel HD Graphics 4000 card. Please note that the laptop is actually connected to my TV with an HDMI cable.

Did anyone already have that problem? It's really frustrating. I hope I've been clear enough with my explanations.

EDIT: I found 2 potential solutions:
1. After reading this thread: http://ngemu.com/threads/weird-video-so ... es.158606/ - I realized it might be the same kind of problem I am currently encountering. The user said at the end he used .ecm files to play the games.
2. Related to the fact that my laptop is connect to my TV with HDMI cable, I found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comm ... tter_help/
- I would have to turn off vsync in the nvidia control panel.

What do you guys think?

EDIT2: Well none of the 2 above solutions worked. Still have that bug, it freezes the game for a moment, sound is blocked in a loop. I assume it is because the game loads areas, or texts or something... But I really don't understand.

Before going to bed, I quickly tried to run the game using PCSX-Reloaded, with the same Plug-ins I am using for epsxe 2.0. It SEEMED stable although the sound of the intro is crackling now. I am pretty sure I can work around that problem though. Anyway, I haven't played for too long to confirm the "laggy bug" has disappeared for good...

[Pyriel]

I don't know how compressing an ISO into an ECM would fix the first guy's issues, unless it was the error correction data on the disc that was causing it. If I remember correctly, that's all ECM does is strip out the error correction data with the intention of decreasing the file size so it can be shared more easily. I didn't think emulators could even read them directly.

You might look into your power settings. If the laptop is running off battery, or you have it set up to aggressively power down components in general, that might account for it slowing down when it needs to read from the disc.

[The_Swimmer]

It was just a potential solution I found on the Internet.

Anyway, it's not an overall slowdown. It's like a quick freeze of the game, with the music blocked into a loop - Just like a proper Freeze in a console game, but after 1 second or two, I can play on.
My laptop is always plugged in when I am playing like that; plus, I change the setting to normal use, instead of power/energy saving. I am aware of this.

Like I said, PCSX-Reloaded might be a solution - But I am frustrated I don't understand why I encounter this problem. It can't seem to find any answer to to it online.

[Metsu]

I use eSPXe 1.8 myself and don't experience that. Maybe it is an issue exclusive to 1.9? Every now and then I hear a crackly part of the music but it doesn't last long, and I do notice a slight slow-down on the world map while moving sometimes. My computer uses an nVidia 670 and I have vsync enabled. I have yet to try it on PSX which I use for debugging but I'll let you know.

[The_Swimmer]

Thank you for your reply Metsu.
I will try epsxe 1.8 when I am home - I actually tried yesterday PCSX-Reloaded, but no improvments... Same thing with another file with the extension .img
I still have that bug...

I will keep you posted in any case. I'm thinking about downloading another ISO of the game as well. That might help... hopefully.

[Pyriel]

This may be obvious, but have you tried playing just on the laptop screen? Offhand, I wouldn't expect an HDMI signal to be a performance killer, but we might as well spit-ball at this point.

[The_Swimmer]

Yes, I have. Still have that bug... Could it be related to the laptop directly? The gfx card or something...?

[Metsu]

Ah yeah forgot to mention I copied the game disc to an IMG file too so I wouldn't have to wait for cd loading. I use the basic settings/plugins for eSPXe 1.8 too. Wouldn't hurt for you to watch your CPU or GPU load and see if the emulator is causing a spike on the CPU.

[The_Swimmer]

Speaking of which, here's the config of my laptop:

Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
Memory 4GB
Wiindows 8.1
gfx cards: Intel HD Graphics 4000 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M 2GB

I hope that's enough information.

Well, no improvements so far: I used epsxe 1.8 with another ISO that I did not patched. Still have freezes, even with soft plugins.

[Metsu]

Can you go into the video plugin and do the copy config to clipboard button and paste that here? I will try using your settings. Outside of that, maybe pass me your save so I can see if it's a certain part of the game for some reason.

[The_Swimmer]

You mean a Printscreen of Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.9? If it's the case, yes, sure I can. But I went through so many different configs so far... I don't know if that would help.

In any case, I usually go for something like this:

Fullscreen mode 1366*768 - color depth 32bit
Internal res: 1 & 1
Stretching mode: 0
Render mode: 2

It's 2D game so no texture filtering - I'm leaving 0 for everything in this case.

Framerate: well i like to see the FPS Display, so I tick it; plus FPS Limit and Auto detect FPS

Compatibility: I go for 1 2 2

Filters: I tick Screen filtering and also use Shader effect 1 Fullscreen smoothing and Shader level 2 - I leave 0 pixels for Flicker- fix border.

In misc: I just tick MDEC filter.


For the save, I actually used Save-States at some points of the game but in the meantime I used the in-game save in the Inns through other emulators. I read somewhere that save-states might cause slow-donws... The only way to stop them was to use an other emulator and save the game normally, then go back to the first emu. I did it, but no improvements either.

Do you think it's something related to the computer itself...? Like Vsync or something...?

[Metsu]

In eSPXe under the configure plugin (at least the Pete's ones do) there is a button on the bottom that says "copy config to clipboard" or something like that. But looks like you posted most of those settings.

Yesterday I ran around the world to every shop and I did notice some significant slowdown in parts of certain towns. I think it's strictly emulator though because I have a beefy computer and you have an i7 so there shouldn't be any performance issues.

Interesting theory about the save states, but I think that's unlikely. I was using them quite heavily the other day too and didn't notice anything. Did you happen to watch your CPU load from task manager during that time?

[The_Swimmer]

Did these slowdowns make the music skip and the video freeze for a few seconds as well? Because if it's the case, that is the problem I'm currently facing...!

Some other information I just gathered on the Internet: https://www.bluegartr.com/threads/47727 ... uikoden-II)-emulation-help
You may be right; the emulator might be the cause of those slowdowns. Which one do you use?

Well, I could take a look at the task manager while playing. I am not an expert though, but I assume that if it goes up, somethings' wrong. But what...?

[Metsu]

Yes, all you're looking for is a jump. Note what the CPU normally runs at (don't have to be very accurate, just generalized) when the game is running on the title screen or something, then when you get the slow down, see if the CPU jumps significantly.

[The_Swimmer]

Okay, I understand the process. But what kind of information would this give me? If the CPU jumps when I've got slow-downs during the game, what would that mean...?