Gradius V in PCSX2

This is the main shmups forum. Chat about shmups in here - keep it on-topic please!
Post Reply
User avatar
Restart_Point
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:40 pm
Location: London, UK

Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Restart_Point »

I'm playing Gradius V in PCSX2 emulator on a decent PC / GPU running Batocera OS, connected to a 1080p 40" flat screen, and it looks PHENOMENAL, with no discernible problems of lag. If there's anyone out there who hasn't dabbled in this then I totally recommend it, even if you'd never play PS2 games this way full time, you should at least check it out once just for the sheer spectacle of it.

You've gotta hand it to Treasure, it's almost like they secretly knew that this would happen one day and they hid extra detail in the game that would only get seen on future equipment. They made one of the most beautiful and epic games of all time here, and I honestly can't see any reason to fire up my PS2 for it ever again now this PC is set up like a console in my lounge. There's one other polygonal shmup where I was very impressed at the results of a big hike in internal resolution, and it's Einhander. Benefits similarly.

One other thing I have noticed, Gradius IV is polygonal too, but it does not look so great in PCSX2 (or on PS2 either), the game appears to use an interlaced graphics mode which never quite looks clear, but if you play the version included in the PSP Gradius Collection in PPSSPP emulator and double or triple the internal resolution, it look absolutely amazing, much sharper and more detailed than it does on a PSP screen of course, but it also looks a lot better than I have managed to get the PS2 version looking
User avatar
Obiwanshinobi
Posts: 7463
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

I would expect Contra: Shattered Soldier* to take high resolutions just as well. Seems to me that their exceptionally - for PS2 games - neat anti-aliasing on real hardware has got something to do with scaling down to SD from a res remarkably higher than that. I believe Ico does the kind of thing on a PS2, and MGS2 looks the type to me as well (which would explain why the latter looks so much CRSIPER on RGB CRT - in 576i anyways - than its "HD" port in 720x960 smeared upon LCD HDTV screen).

*) Shin Contra's phenomenally steady performance for a polygonal 3D game (I don't recall the faintest framerate drop ever from all of it that I'd played) reinforces my impression the hardware never gets quite stressed by its demands; the same CANNOT be said about Gradius V, though.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off

Image
Bassa-Bassa
Posts: 1161
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:18 pm

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

As a formely PS1 project, Ico is a 240p game, it looks so good on a CRT because it not only lacks interlacing, but also overstretched and filtered textures like most PS2 3D games use.

I think that the natural(=best) display for Gradius V is a 31k monitor, a big PC monitor (with sync on green support for direct console usage) for a 480p picture. Rendering GV at 1080p sounds a bit like overkill, as it is for the recent Ikaruga ports.

What's a good online manual for PCSX2 (not a YouTube video, please), anyway?
User avatar
Obiwanshinobi
Posts: 7463
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Reportedly - as I've no reason to doubt - Ico is rendered at twice its displayed vertical resolution, then scaled down to 240p, hence the pretty good anti-aliasing (my suspicion is that aforementioned Konami games resort to a similar technique). Ico's textures ARE filtered indeed, however, to a wrong kind of ugly effect in places. (Botched up mip-mapping in the PAL version doesn't help as the mip-maps are missing when zooming in.)
Very few PS2 games keeps pixellated textures with no filter applied: Sky Odyssey in its forest stage comes to mind and I seem to recall Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song doing the same, but no such luck in at least my version of Ico (PAL one is 60 Hz but later build than NTSC US/C, as is NTSCJ). That's just digressing on my part.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off

Image
User avatar
Restart_Point
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:40 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Restart_Point »

Obiwanshinobi wrote:I would expect Contra: Shattered Soldier* to take high resolutions just as well
Good call. I shall try out Shattered Soldier in PCSX2 asap. I own the PAL release and have played it a bit on PS2, good gameplay shame about the drab colour palettes they chose.
Obiwanshinobi wrote:What's a good online manual for PCSX2 (not a YouTube video, please), anyway?
I guess the official WIKI : https://wiki.pcsx2.net/Main_Page


.
User avatar
Despatche
Posts: 4196
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:05 pm

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Despatche »

Gradius V runs surprisingly well even on low-end hardware. Only issue I've ever seen on weaker PCs is that the framerate chugs a bit when warp effects kick in (e.g. stage 1 boss).

I do not trust the PSP collection. There are weird changes made across the board, and if I remember right, Gradius IV is one of the games especially affected.
Rage Pro, Rage Fury, Rage MAXX!
User avatar
Sly Cherry Chunks
Posts: 1969
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:40 pm
Location: Colin's Bargain Basement. Everything must go.

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Sly Cherry Chunks »

I've had gross, corrupted textures during the stage 2 cutscene across 3 different computers. Cant remember the last time I updated PCSX2 though, must check this out. So nice to be able to play Gradius V without the PS2 disk drive vibrating my entire house to pieces.

Thunderforce VI seems to play good except horrible slowdown and missing textures on the cerberus level.
The biggest unanswered question is where is the money? [1CCS]
User avatar
Obiwanshinobi
Posts: 7463
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:14 am

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Sly Cherry Chunks wrote:So nice to be able to play Gradius V without the PS2 disk drive vibrating my entire house to pieces.
Them noisier PS2 games released on CDs are worth printing on DVD (if you can play such backups), although it takes altering the disk image a bit (I did so with my Gradius V, as with my Tokyo Road Race).
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off

Image
User avatar
Mortificator
Posts: 2808
Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:13 am
Location: A star occupied by the Bydo Empire

Re: Gradius V in PCSX2

Post by Mortificator »

I've been able to minimize the vibration by setting a book on top of the PS2. Though given the positive OP, maybe it's time for me to jump to emulation, as I already have for most legacy hardware.
RegalSin wrote:You can't even drive across the country Naked anymore
Post Reply