Cave shmups in PCSX2

[kozo]

I played it on my Mac Mini, but under native Windows using boot camp. I haven't tried the Mac build, sorry!

[littlenemo]

apparently not , someone on this thread has a lot of ps2 shmups running perfectly on a mac book mini ^^
I forgot to precise some things :
I ve tried many different configurations , including the ones shown on this topic , I m running under 10.5.8 Os , lots of odd things regarding the package I installed ( although it ' s zedrOn latest port of pcsx2 ) , especially the fact that in my applications folder after the triple installation ( x11, CG and pcsx2) , I can just see a pcsx2 launching icon , no folders of anykind with it ( I oftenly read in installation guides that plugins must be dragged in the plugin's folder /application/pcsx2/bin/plugins , there is no such place on my HD even after pcsx2's installation , although in the plugins and bios "choose directory" windows in the configure menu of pcsx2 I can see those files and paths ...Maybe the latest package installs differently than previous versions and allows to access those files only via x11 and pcsx2. I cannot drag anything there since it is a configuration window under x11 , I have a bios directory problem because of that)
Still I can run the games but in the awful conditions I mentionned later , maybe I installed it badly.
If anyone recently installed pcsx2 via the new 3 objects package and runs smoothly the games , advices are more than welcomed )

Edit : I just read your answer kozo erf ... I am afraid of bootcamp , never done it before , it s a PC version of pcsx2 that you run it ?

[EPS21]

mac OSX

Found your problem.

Your best bet is to overcome your odd fear of installing another OS (if you're worried about losing data in partitioning a section for windows gone awry, just make sure to back up stuff) because from the sounds of it, that mac PS2 emu runs absolutely horridly, but the hardware you have running should sufficiently run these undemanding games at 60fps constantly.

[littlenemo]

It is you who fears Os !!
More seriously I will do that if I don't find better solutions , but all among the web there are a lot of people having games running very smoothly on that port ( no bootcamping , just running pcsx2 mac version , ps2 browser runs perfectly on my mac ), I understood that people witch pcsx2 on mac on this topic had good results .

[littlenemo]

Me again ... It is not the topic I know but I d like to ask to my mac friend : is my Madcatz TE is going to be recognized if I bootcamp ?

Edit : you were right , even if pcsx2 mac is starting to look good it s experimental and handled by one guy , brilliant mr zedrOn . So the best solution will definitely be bootcamp by now

[EPS21]

Me again ... It is not the topic I know but I d like to ask to my mac friend : is my Madcatz TE is going to be recognized if I bootcamp ?

Edit : you were right , even if pcsx2 mac is starting to look good it s experimental and handled by one guy , brilliant mr zedrOn . So the best solution will definitely be bootcamp by now

Microsoft has a unified driver for all 360 controllers, easiest way to get it is using windows update and it shows up under optional updates. I know it shows up for vista/win7 updates, if you're booting to XP you might have to download/install it manually. I have the TE as well, works fine for me. I don't have a mac, but I imagine once you boot that thing into windows, the computer sees itself as a normal PC (except your lack of right click )

[croikle]

I can just see a pcsx2 launching icon , no folders of anykind with it ( I oftenly read in installation guides that plugins must be dragged in the plugin's folder /application/pcsx2/bin/plugins , there is no such place on my HD even after pcsx2's installation , although in the plugins and bios "choose directory" windows in the configure menu of pcsx2 I can see those files and paths

Try control-clicking on the pcsx2 icon and selecting "Show Package Contents". The directories where you need to put the plugins are probably in there somewhere.

(I haven't tried pcsx2 myself, as my machine is too old to hope for playable performance)

[littlenemo]

Thank you guys ( actually zedrOn told me about the right click tip on pcsx2 icon )

I don't want to turn that topic into a bootcamp one , it s just I m quite afraid of how XP ( or vista I haven't made my choice yet ) is going to handle apple's hardware . In theory if I bootcamp I just purely and simply turn my mac into a PC , but here and there I saw that regarding drivers I was supposed to use apple's one .

By the way , is Ibara still problematic on pcsx2 pc ? espgaluda , mushi and ddp are really identical to under ps2 running ' s ones ?
Regarding graphical output ( my goal is to go in VGA onto my HD tv , my results with mame osx are reallllly surprising ) will I have CRT rendering or if not , interesting result ( I am very curious regarding HD rendering of those games via the pcsx2 output otpions ) ?
It s actually why I am so interested by pcsx2 : present rendering of my ps2 via RGB on HD is just plain HORRIBLE .

[captpain]

Why would you be afraid of XP handling Apple's hardware? Apple has put out drivers and everything works just fine.

[linko9]

I was extremely happy when Galuda started working properly with the latest beta, and the game runs perfectly except for one slight issue. All of the enemy bullets, shrapnel, and some background tiles have a ghostly half-square outline around them. It's not really that distracting, but it's certainly noticeable. I've tried fiddling with all kinds of settings, but to no avail. Does anyone else have this problem, and if so, has anyone been able to fix it?

[EPS21]

Internal renderer running at default resolution? Or it might be texture filtering, turn that off as well.

[emphatic]

I was extremely happy when Galuda started working properly with the latest beta, and the game runs perfectly except for one slight issue. All of the enemy bullets, shrapnel, and some background tiles have a ghostly half-square outline around them. It's not really that distracting, but it's certainly noticeable. I've tried fiddling with all kinds of settings, but to no avail. Does anyone else have this problem, and if so, has anyone been able to fix it?

Isn't this because ESPGALUDA uses interlaced textures for enemy shadows and stuff like that? IIRC, some folks have had issues with this running the PS2 through hardware upscalers as well.

[Fudoh]

IIRC, some folks have had issues with this running the PS2 through hardware upscalers as well.

different problem. The drop shadows in those games are flickering with a 1/30sec rate to make them appear half-transparent within the game. Hardware deinterlaces often can't handle this. It's not related to the blocky outlines though.

[captpain]

The way to fix this problem is to have PCSX2's D3D internal resolution "Native" checkbox checked and the aspect ratio set to "Stretch".

[ratsflif]

Hey guys I thought I would chime in here and maybe help out some of you who are running a similar setup. I have a Blast City with a trisync monitor set up vert and a mame cab running an arcade vga. I have messed with almost every setting and have it locked down pretty good for the cave shmups. Here are some of my settings that work out really well.

CPU: Pentium dual core E5200 OC to about 3100

PCSX2 beta 18888

D3D 9 (software) the arcade vga is just not fast enough, the games are actually slower with (hardware) enabled.
640x480 and wait for vsync
No patches turned on and all of the speed hacks off. Leave it on default cycle rate, Galuda runs terrible when the cycle rate is changed.
I have the multithreading checked and the esc hack enabled.
no frame skip, set to limit.

DDP DOJ perfect

ESPGaluda probably 95% only hicups for a sec when the bosses first come on the screen.

Ibara seems perfect to me

Mushihimesame slows down too much on my system, if you use frameskip on d3d software then you get garbage on the screen when frame skipping

Also I can launch the games from mala frontend so no need to break out the keyboard and mouse, the command is:

pcsx2.exe -nogui -bootmode 0 "path to iso"

Hope this helps someone out. Here is pic of the Galuda on the BC.



Aint it beautiful.....

[EPS21]

That's a really nice setup you got there

D3D 9 (software) the arcade vga is just not fast enough, the games are actually slower with (hardware) enabled.
640x480 and wait for vsync

Do you get no input lag even with vsync enabled? Does that have anything to do with it running in software mode?
For me enabling vsync would always have unplayable input lag, but at higher refresh rates (usually 100Hz+) you don't get the screen tearing anymore when vsync is off. This is playing from a computer CRT monitor however, I imagine that's not possible on a proper cab display.

I haven't thought of running D3D in software mode though, gonna have to try that and see how it works. Thanks for the tip on running pcsx2 from the command line, it gets annoying opening it up and selecting different iso's each time

[ratsflif]

The only game that gives me input lag is Mushi and starts right when the game starts slowing down. I am going to get some new ram for my pc so I can overclock a little more aggressively and might get mushi playable, it's almost there.

[mangadrive]

I've recently gotten my collection working on the PC as well in the new(er) 1888 beta of PCSX2

My experiences with Mushihimesama on the actual PS2 console make me believe that the emulation is not at fault. There are *many* instances of slowdown where the hardware slows to a crawl during play on the console itself. If you look at the stats being run in the emulator on the PC often you will still see the emulation running along at 97-100% (small dips are normal). If you are getting huge spikes here then yes you could probably improve your system to make it run better, but all the CPU parts in the world will not stop all the slowdown in this game, because its by design period.

My settings:

CD-Rom: using Linuz ISO-CD (by far the fastest)

Default sound (SPU-X2)except turn interpolation down to None(fastest)
Graphics: GSDX SSE2, DX9, Blend TFF, All checked except Wait Vsync
CPU: Everything checked, Limit mode for FPS
Speedhacks: 2x cycle, Everything middle checked, Nothing checked on right
Advanced: Clamp Mode: NONE for both. Everything else default

Ibara: More like Iblura. It looks bad on my TV, and looks worse on the HD monitor. It runs perfect, but I personally do not enjoy the game

DDP DOJ: Perfect

Mushihimesama: Again the slowdown is 99% usually by design if you are running the other games flawlessly.

Espgaluda: Small glitching and slowdowns. I'm positive this is an emulation problem and 99% sure it has to do with sound after reading debugs and experimenting. Its just too consistent and happens when certain things are triggered (ie: boss triggers music change). Its still very playable, but I'd rather play it on the PS2

I'm very close to not needing the PS2 anymore...

[null1024]

DOJ is awesome [kind of] on my machine [which is a very cheap laptop, mostly 60fps, sometimes drops like a rock for a while for no real reason though, usually happens when there's a lot on screen, but sometimes it gets through those parts just fine], but Mushi is garbage here [total slowdown ingame, runs at 60% full speed].

My machine:
Intel video, 2.3GHz Pentium Dual Core, 3GB RAM [~1GB taken for video].

Hacks: 1.5x cycle [tried bumping it up to 2.0 for Mushi, tiny speed increase noticed], INTC Sync, IOP x2 rate.
Video: windowed, DX9 hardware, 2.0 shaders, native internal res.

Running 0.9.6.

Also, I noticed the tiniest bit of input lag in DOJ [and I don't really feel things like that normally], but I don't seem to notice it anymore. I dunno what happened.



EDIT:
Did some more testing, Ibara runs like shit at 22FPS w/ hardware rendering, and displays garbage if I'm using software rendering [and goes slower].
DOJ is flawless now with software rendering. Also, runs awesome in beta 1888, even with no speed hacks on [it's almost as good as normal], but I'm still going to use 0.9.6 for it to keep it separate from Galuda's needed settings.
In beta 1888, Galuda runs at 20-50fps, haven't tried it in 0.9.6, but I don't think anything good would come out of it. Frameskip is useless and causes the screen to black out at random.

[1up]

My settings:

CD-Rom: using Linuz ISO-CD (by far the fastest)

Default sound (SPU-X2)except turn interpolation down to None(fastest)
Graphics: GSDX SSE2, DX9, Blend TFF, All checked except Wait Vsync
CPU: Everything checked, Limit mode for FPS
Speedhacks: 2x cycle, Everything middle checked, Nothing checked on right
Advanced: Clamp Mode: NONE for both. Everything else default

those settings worked wonder for me. I havent had 1 game that ran more than 50% and that was Ibara. ESP Galuda, DOJ and Mushihime Sama all ran at 25%

Now Ive just tried DOJ in windowed mode = 100% and no dips. Ibare windowed also ran 100% but dipped down into 75% on big explosions. Running Ibare in full screen 640x480 60hz with native checked it ran better. 100% and only a slight hickup when a big building exploded on level 1.

My laptop (HP HDX 16):
vista home premium 64bit
5.0 windows experience index

Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 @ 2.26ghz , 2.26ghz
4gb ram, DDR3

nvidia geforce 9600m gt
- 512 dedicated, total available 1792

PCSX2 v.0.9.6

anyone know if running vista or 64bit works against the emulation of PS2? Any suggestions how to make it run even faster for me? Might hunt down that Beta 1888 version, as its possibly newer than mine and have been updated/improved

edit:
tried beta 1888. DOJ still runs 100%. Ibara runs worse = 60 - 69%. Mushihime Sama runs 100%. Havent tried Mushi in 0.9.6.

[lemonade]

I am running Core i7 @ 3.33ghz with 6GB of memory. Also using Vista 64 Business. All Cave shmups play at 100% using the latest beta.

I just wish something could be done about the terrible shaking and blurry de-interlacing in PCSX2. If they could somehow force progressive scan for all games played using PCSX2 it would be great.

Real PS2 is still the best way to play these games, but unfortunately my stick only works with Xbox360 and PC..

[Neon]

Can PCSX2 run non-pirated games?

How much are the Cave PS2 ports these days? Looks like I should have bought Mushihimewhateverthefuck new, every copy on ebay is over a hundred bucks. Might as well get the PCB

[pixeljunkie]

Might as well get the PCB

QFT

[Castor Krieg]

Did anyone successfully used an Arcade Stick in PCSX2? I have Hori EX2 I use for X360 and I would love to use it to play my PS2 games on PC.

[lemonade]

Did anyone successfully used an Arcade Stick in PCSX2? I have Hori EX2 I use for X360 and I would love to use it to play my PS2 games on PC.

I have a custom made arcade stick (using xbox360 pcb) and it works very nicely in PCSX2.

[Casey120]

Can PCSX2 run non-pirated games?

It does , directly from the Disc but ripped to HD the games tend to run a lot smoother .

[null1024]

Quick tip:
If anyone has specs like mine [cheap video card/integrated video], running with software mode for rendering *really* helps, by the way. Found that out just now, thought it'd be slower, but now, I'm almost always at 100%, no emulation caused slowdown [although it frameskips like hell in some spots], and it Just Works (tm).

Also, note that I only tried DOJ to see if it sped up.

EDIT: it only helps DOJ and Galuda, the others are even worse than before.

[mdsfx]

Boy am I glad I stumbled upon this thread. I haven't given PCSX2 a shot in a while. Mushi, Espgaluda, DOJ, Ibara... they all work perfectly now. My specs:

XP 32 Pro
Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16 GHz
4GB (3.25GB) RAM
Radeon HD4870 card

[BPzeBanshee]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, thought to let yous know I got ESPGaluda working with mostly no worries. Unfortunately I didn't have much luck with any other proper 3D game, oh well.
The FPS seems a bit erratic (not staying to a specific number, flickering a bit) but it is around the 60 FPS it should be, only real problem I have is with the sound but I think I've got it as good as I can with this machine.
Specs:
PCSX2 0.9.7.r3113
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8235 @ 2.80GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT, 256 MB DDR3
2 GB RAM
I used my Xbox 360 Controller (wired) for playing, using the XBCD drivers.

[AliceMargatroid]

Bumping year old thread

PCSX2 0.98 is out and it makes everything run much better.
Mushi had 40~45 fps with the last beta and now I have 55 on Ultra, still need a better system though.

Just wanted to say this for people that still had some problems running some Caves.
Haven't tried Ibara or Galuda though yet. Too focused on Mushi Maniac.