Finalburn Alpha ported to PSP

Post by **Icarus** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:57 am

Thunder Force wrote:I briefly tested the September 3rd version FBA4PSP V8p1 from that blog on my PSP Slim CFW 3.80 M33-5, and the results are that several titles like Dangun Feveron, Mahou Daisakusen, and ESPRade were playable with sound. (unfortunately the Tate mode on this emu is autostretched to 16:9... not sure if this can be adjusted)

Yeah, I'm aware of that version. Was playing Mahou Daisakusen and Shippu Mahou earlier. Sound is still a little off though (either too fast or too slow). Can't seem to get Garegga or Bakraid to load, either (Bakraid actually crashes my PSP).

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:34 am

Man, if this doesn't end up working out on a phat PSP (in time of course), I think i'm gonna have to make the switch to a slim =/. I guess it's just a matter of how long I can hold out once they have it up to par.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:32 pm

seiatsu wrote:Man, if this doesn't end up working out on a phat PSP (in time of course), I think i'm gonna have to make the switch to a slim =/. I guess it's just a matter of how long I can hold out once they have it up to par.

i think they'll make ti work on phat PSPs ... i mean, NJ made not one but 4 emulators for the PSP Phat, and they all run flawlesly, this guys are using some code from NJs emus, so i think that when they get the emu to a level where most of the games run at desirable (playable and enjoyable) speeds, they'll implement the cache thing for non slim PSPs... bear in mind that probably there are more Phats than slims anyway (liek he cares! T_T).

one can hope, anyway.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:40 am

Update

This one is running all kinds of stuff, with sound, even for us phat users.

Aero Fighters
Air Gallet
DonPachi
DoDonPachi
Esprade
Guwange
Hotdog Storm

I got all of those working on my phat as well as most of the beat em' up titles. Some games could definitely use some optimization, but they're up and running fairly well for the most part. Couldn't get Feveron or Truxton 2 to work, might be a different matter for those of you with slims, so try those out.

Looking very promising. Running the games is a priority right now I'm sure, but I really hope some screen/control customization is coming soon.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:09 am

subcons wrote:Update

This one is running all kinds of stuff

My brief Slim test shows that version runs at original aspect ratio for Tate (no forced 16:9 stretch) but seems less compatible on my Slim; ESP.Rade's graphics are completely scrambled, while the other version had ESP.Rade stretched to 16:9 but otherwise it ran fine.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:58 pm

Thunder Force wrote:My brief Slim test shows that version runs at original aspect ratio for Tate (no forced 16:9 stretch) but seems less compatible on my Slim; ESP.Rade's graphics are completely scrambled, while the other version had ESP.Rade stretched to 16:9 but otherwise it ran fine.

It's running fine on my phat and it's not stretching it when flipped; it's got bars top and bottom.

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:24 pm

Damn, this is good news. I can't check it out this moment but I wonder how the toaplan stuff holds up on the phat.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 3:09 pm

i've recently installed a lot of shmups from the PS1 era into my PSP, but havin this one runnin fin with Guwange makes me drool!... im gonna try it out soon, but what i really hope is for this to be as optimized as NJ's emulators, pretty soon... i'd even donate money to the programmer of this when that happens.

thx for the news.

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:44 pm

subcons (or anyone):

Since I'm working currently, I can't really mess with the update you've posted. However, i followed the link and noticed that the site is in Japanese. Does the file have some sort of English read me for setup? If no, would you mind giving a brief summary of the install. (I'm pretty versed on PSP hacking so it doesn't have to be anything too fancy or overly detailed).

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:45 pm

well... for what i could tell, theres no readme included in the download... so i dont really know what to tell you about the install proccess.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:55 pm

The developer for that particular release is Chinese. There isn't a readme file included, but it's real easy. Just stick the folder with the eboot file in it (you can name the folder whatever you want, FBA4PSP, Final Burn Alpha, etc.) in your PSP > GAME folder on your stick. Put all your roms in the roms folder (duh.) and you should be set.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:14 pm

subcons wrote:The developer for that particular release is Chinese. There isn't a readme file included, but it's real easy. Just stick the folder with the eboot file in it (you can name the folder whatever you want, FBA4PSP, Final Burn Alpha, etc.) in your PSP > GAME folder on your stick. Put all your roms in the roms folder (duh.) and you should be set.

so all you need is the mame rom set, put it in the roms folder and thats about it?... im gonna give it a try tonite.

thx for the info.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 7:48 pm

I got this info from someone that posted it over on the Neo boards. He followed up with a link to the post made to a BBS about this which is in Chinese: [LINK REMOVED]

As I understand it from his response with regards to the slowdown, this newest one creates a cache file, which is why these are running on a phat. However, the version released back at the end of July (found here) runs the games that it can on a slim without a cache giving better performance. So if you have a slim, that's the better one to use unless you just want to see Guwange running or something.

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:05 pm

Thanks for the info on install...pretty much the same as most emu's for psp.

In regards to the cache files..i think most of the similar emus also do that on phat (CPS24PSP) so that's not unusal...In fact i remember reading that the people messing with FBA4PSP were using similar code as nj. It doesn't typically seem to affect performance as long as they aren't zipped. the only problem though is that the cache files take up (much?) more space iirc.

don't have my psp with me to check but I believe that's what I remember

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:43 pm

seiatsu wrote:Thanks for the info on install...pretty much the same as most emu's for psp.

In regards to the cache files..i think most of the similar emus also do that on phat (CPS24PSP) so that's not unusal...In fact i remember reading that the people messing with FBA4PSP were using similar code as nj. It doesn't typically seem to affect performance as long as they aren't zipped. the only problem though is that the cache files take up (much?) more space iirc.

don't have my psp with me to check but I believe that's what I remember

Yeah, the Neo and CPS2 emus do use cache files, but you have to create them yourself. This emu is creating them on the fly when you load up the rom, which is kind of neat (and maybe the reason for the emu choking when trying to load multiple games in a single session?). However, it definitely needs some optimizing. As I understand it, if you have a slim, you don't get the same slowdown running say, Esprade, without the cache file as you do with a cache file. Doesn't really matter if you have a phat as you're limited by its ram, so you're stuck using the version that creates the cache file.

Still, I'm impressed that these are up and running fairly well this quickly. Hopefully (probably) it'll get better.

spongdangly · Post by **spongdangly** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 11:51 pm

subcons wrote:Couldn't get Truxton 2 to work, might be a different matter for those of you with slims, so try those out.

Truxton 2 works fine on my Phat PSP. I found that if a game wasn't loading, I would just have to restart the program.

Aerofighters runs a lot better on MVSPSP.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 12:05 am

spongdangly wrote:Truxton 2 works fine on my Phat PSP. I found that if a game wasn't loading, I would just have to restart the program.

Aerofighters runs a lot better on MVSPSP.

Maybe it's just my ROM. I'm aware of the loading issues, so I tried loading games that didn't work from a fresh reboot.

Aero Fighters is a PCB, not a Neo game. Parts 2 + 3 are MVS. This is the only way to play AF on the PSP as far as I know.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:32 am

subcons wrote:I got this info from someone that posted it over on the Neo boards. He followed up with a link to the post made to a BBS about this which is in Chinese: PSP1000用FBA测试版,优化PGM, 可玩三国战记,西游记,电精2

As I understand it from his response with regards to the slowdown, this newest one creates a cache file, which is why these are running on a phat. However, the version released back at the end of July (found here) runs the games that it can on a slim without a cache giving better performance. So if you have a slim, that's the better one to use unless you just want to see Guwange running or something.

I tried clicking on that link about more info on it and the BBS tried to d/l some viruses on my PC. Don't click on it, fellow shmuppers.

What is the the d/l link so I may d/l Final Burn for my PSP-1001 model version?

Thanks in advance for the link. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:17 pm

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:I tried clicking on that link about more info on it and the BBS tried to d/l some viruses on my PC. Don't click on it, fellow shmuppers.

What is the the d/l link so I may d/l Final Burn for my PSP-1001 model version?

Sorry about that. I just checked it and the link doesn't take you to the same place it did when I posted it yesterday. I edited it out.

Here's the link to the emu: FBA4PSP-20080914

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:42 pm

Everything I tried running on a phat ran like ass, even with the latest update that subcons posted. While it was nice to see guwange running, it was littered with far too excessive slowdown and some other weird things. Guess I'll stick to PC FBA for now.

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:59 am

This is awesome. Can't wait to test it out on my phat in a while.

I knew it would be possible on phat eventually

cl25 · Post by **cl25** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:17 pm

There's a new version of the FBA4PSP out now:

http://dl.qj.net/FBA4PSP-20-09-2008-PSP ... /catid/501

I tried it on my phat PSP (a very early PSP-1001 version), and so far all of the following games run at full speed:

Dangun Feveron
Dodonpachi
Donpachi
Esprade
Air Gallet
Aerofighters
Batsugun (no sound, same as Mame version)
Dogyuun (ditto...)
V-Five (ditto..)
Hellfire
Zero Wing

(unfortunately, Guwange doesn't seem to work)

But now that we have playable arcade versions of Donpachi/Dodonpachi, I just cleared my memory stick of the the PSX versions. Now I have those two games for a mere 13 MB, instead of using up ~500 MB! Not to mention that having portable versions of Esprade, Dangun Feveron, and Air Gallet is pretty awesome.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:26 pm

well, i've been playin the PSX versions of donpachi and do donpachi on my PSP, w/o the CDDA trax and they sport no more than 20Mb each... but now that the emu is runnin them at full speed, im SO gonna make some room for them there.

too bad Guwange doesnt work, thats one of my Cave's favorites!.

thx for the info, dude.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:01 pm

Cool. Definitely a performance improvement. Speed is faster and more consistent on the games I tried. I'm still not getting rid of my (Do)DonPachi eboots. I know most people don't like to stretch the image for these games, but I like to fill the screen up considering its small size. Being able to remap the buttons for TATE games is a plus too.

This thing is coming along nicely though. It's weird with all these different releases. There's another release that I never posted about that came out between this one and the others. It has speed controls and different screen modes selectable (yes, stretching included). It still has some wonky performance issues though. This one seems better overall, at least for the phat.

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:24 pm

What I find odd is that gawange runs like ass (and really weird shit happens like disappearing bullets) but DDP plays. It's odd because usually it's the other way around (many complain that DDP run slow in FBA PC unless they increase the cpu). I wonder why ESPRa.De works without issue on both PC and PSP. Seems it often has a lot more moving objects onscreen at certain points than DDP (although smaller scale in some cases).

I dunno..just weird observations

yoonakron · Post by **yoonakron** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:00 am

cl25 wrote:There's a new version of the FBA4PSP out now:

http://dl.qj.net/FBA4PSP-20-09-2008-PSP ... /catid/501

...

(unfortunately, Guwange doesn't seem to work)

Here's how I got Guwange to run on my phat, using the "original" version of FBA4PSP from cl25's link. First, get the port of FBA4PSP named "FBA4PSP lbicelyne 0909 v8p4" and install it on your phat PSP. (Of all the ports I've tried, this was the only one that would run Guwange, BUT it won't run other games.) Run Guwange with this port and it'll create a cache file. Next, take that cache file and throw it into the cache folder of the "original" version of FBA4PSP. Make sure you've got a Guwange ROM in the "original" version's ROM folder and start it up!

It seems to run relatively well using this method. In fact, I think it runs a little more smoothly on the "original" port than in the "v8p4" port that created the cache! Go figure. I had both versions of FBA4PSP on my phat (just to have Guwange) before I figured out that this cache "swap" worked. Now, I can run Guwange on my "preferred" port of FBA4PSPS, since like subcons said, it does seem better overall for the phat.

One thing I've noticed is that FBA4PSP won't create cache files for some games if there isn't a CERTAIN amount of memory on your MS. Not a SUFFICIENT amount, but a CERTAIN amount. For example, FBA4PSP wouldn't create a cache file (12.5MB) for Donpachi, even though I had 190MB of space left on my MS. So, I cleared up some space and had 350MB+ of space left. I ran Donpachi again and this time, FBA4PSP created a cache and started up the game just fine. Weird.

cl25 · Post by **cl25** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:01 pm

To yoonakron:

Thanks for letting us know about the Guwange cache-swap tip!

I'll definitely give that a try (I actually tried that other version of FBA4PSP you mentioned, too, but ended up ditching it because of all the weird speed issues). But at least I know we can use it now to generate a working Guwange cache file.

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:58 pm

linky for that version of the emu?... i'd like to try that method out myself too... thx.

yoonakron · Post by **yoonakron** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:30 pm

Kaspal wrote:linky for that version of the emu?... i'd like to try that method out myself too... thx.

Hmm, I can't seem to duplicate my the original Google search that took me to that link for the "v8p4" version. I'm almost certain that I found it at DCemu. Regardless, here's my Rapidshare link for it:

http://rapidshare.com/files/148346382/F ... 4.rar.html

Let me know if you guys have any problems with it. I noticed that this version has config files for Knights of Valour and Oriental Legend, but I've not been able to get either game to run on ANY version of FBA4PSP.

And off the topic of shmups, this "v8p4" version runs Gaia Crusaders with English text, as opposed to Japanese. But, like cl25 stated, there are speed issues as well as funky stretch issues. But, I still hold it in high regard because it got Guwange to work!

Kaspal · Post by **Kaspal** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:06 pm

thank you for the link... downloading now.