Do you play with emulation "enhancements"?

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Emulators have all sorts of settings you can tweak to make games running on them "better." Since opinions are so diverse, I'm wondering what your opinion of them is and whether or not you use them. It can be anything from save states to settings that change the way the games would play on real hardware.

One of my favorite and most used features of emulators is save states. It's cheating, but I think sometimes their use is justified. You know, like when you fight the last boss of Ninja Gaiden. Plus, save states are useful for games without save features or level select, and they let you save right before parts you like to revisit. Save states are cool with me, but of course, I would never use them during a competition.

When it comes to changing the way my games look, I take the minimalistic approach. For older consoles, I turn on 2X or 4X zoom because my monitor's resolution is too high and those zoom multiples don't mess up aspect ratio. Other than this, I tend to turn ON vsync and turn OFF sprite limiter (no flickering, yay!) I rarely mess up with filters like Super Eagle because I think that all they do is mangle pixel art. For newer consoles, I tinker with filters from time to time since 3D games sometimes look better with them. However, I'm lazy and just go for the natural look.

Last but not least is the miscellaneous settings. It's very nice to be able to speed up through unskippable cutscenes and customize controls to your liking, so I don't hesitate to take advantage of them. I don't bother with other stuff like sound settings, cheats, or online (though I'd like to try someday.) So basically, I prefer not to overdo the "enhancements," but will use them if need be.

[EPS21]

PCSX2 can make mushihimesama not look like ass with the right settings, so I sure do.

One such being analogous to that zooming feature you mentioned, except just changing the internal resolution to 1200x1600 to fit my CRT's resolution.

[Elixir]

PCSX2 can make mushihimesama not look like ass with the right settings, so I sure do.

What settings?

Anyway for me it's like this:

Zoom = yes
Filtering = no
Fixed aspect-ratio = yes
Full screen = yes
Scanlines = no

So long as no HQ2X filters or anything like that come into the picture, I'm fine.

[Ed Oscuro]

Zoom = yes
Filtering = no
Fixed aspect-ratio = yes
Full screen = yes
Scanlines = no

Gold standard for emulation.

Beyond that, the ability to view tiles or separate graphics layers is always nice; savestates are an appreciated convenience (that I have to remember not to abuse), and I like it when emulators have a region selector / Game Genie style code input (though I very rarely attempt to use it).

[ncp]

Save states are a blight upon humanity.

edit:
Also, I get an unbelievable amount of amusement from messing with sound channels (such as on ZSNES) to play with the music.

Fast-forward is wonderful for some of those long intros you don't want to read although I try not to use it too much as it kind of detracts from the experience.

Pause is absolutely wonderful for MAME.

[worstplayer]

Does autofire count?

[Ex-Cyber]

Does autofire count?

I don't think so. Autofire is widely available on real hardware, including first-party (and in at least one case, even stock) controllers.

[t0yrobo]

I do pretty much what elixir said. Beyond that fast forward and save states come in handy, mainly for rpgs. I played through a good part of Earthbound by sticking it on auto in battles and hitting fast forward.

[BIL]

I like overclocking some games. Castlevania Bloodlines has heavy slowdown when item crashes are used at busy times; getting rid of it in HazeMD makes a fast-paced CV even more intense. If Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 didn't exist, I'd definitely be playing TFIV overclocked too.

[saucykobold]

PS1 emulators are great at removing slowdown. I don't think I could play G-Darius or R-Type Delta on my console again.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Does autofire count?

I don't think so. Autofire is widely available on real hardware, including first-party (and in at least one case, even stock) controllers.

Most arcade games don't have autofire, so it could be considered a kind of cheat when you do it on an emu.

[Ganelon]

I play ST with vanilla settings and a constant 4:3 aspect ratio. What baffles me is how many folks mess up the aspect ratio. Some folks play in a full-screen window, which makes the picture unnaturally long because of the Windows bar on the bottom and the application bar at the top.

But what seems to be the most sadly ignorant change brought about by emulators is when folks change aspect ratio to the internal setting. This is something you can see in the vast majority of pictures/videos taken while playing on SNES emulators. Folks check the option to use the internal aspect ratio thinking they're getting a more accurate picture without knowing what they're doing (admittedly, there's little explanation as to what the internal setting actually means). So you have these really ugly looking square 8:7 pictures where circles are now blobs and everything is too thin. All these games were drawn with a 4:3 image output in mind so if folks are going for accuracy, that's what they should leave it as and let the emulator reproduce a 4:3 monitor/TV's conversion from the 8:7 video "signal."

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Most of us would notice a game not running with the proper dimensions, speed, music quality, etc, but the average joe doesn't or at least doesn't care. For example, most people care more about the image covering their whole screen than say aspect ratio.

[Ganelon]

I think you missed my point (and are possibly in the group that I'm lamenting), which was that some folks are trying too hard to emulate accurately without understanding what they're doing. So they're using the original aspect ratio (which isn't the default in any of the SNES emulators I've tried in the past) when that's not how the game is supposed to be displayed. I remember hearing about other folks who turn up the sampling rate all the way, thinking (incorrectly) that the highest rate definitely offers more accurate sound.

But in reality, your average joe who doesn't fiddle with that stuff is actually getting more accuracy with a picture that fills his 4:3 screen and the default 32000Hz sampling. Sometimes, as is the case here, you're supposed to cover up the whole screen (although stretching to a 16:9 screen is pretty nasty).

My point also goes back to what I always say about emulation never being a fully accurate experience anyway; these folks who post wrongly proportioned images are oftentimes the same ones who also maintain that emulation is totally accurate (even though if you ask an emulator developer that question, they'll never claim that, byuu's articles excellently describing why). When not playing the original legitimate game as intended, it makes sense for players to take advantage of as many features in emulation as they can and getting the most out of it rather than worrying about settings they aren't familiar with, which is exactly what this topic is about.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

What I think you're trying to say is that I'll get a more accurate image by setting say Zsnes to 640*480 Fullscreen and stretch as opposed to 640*480 Fullscreen and keep aspect ratio? The stretch option always ends up looking very blurry on my 4:3 monitor, so I guess it would be more accurate of how it would look on a TV with composite cables.

I completely agree with you about emulators not being 100% accurate, but they're accurate enough that most people don't notice. Also, people played their SNES and older systems on old CRTs, which may account to much of the difference in experience.

[gs68]

I mainly use savestates to suspend my progress; I don't use them to practice or to BS through a game (there are people who don't think of savestates as cheating).

And I always try to have 4:3 or whatever the right ratio is. Welcome to SMB1 HD Remix! Oh wait it isn't HD it's just a 256x224 screen stretched to fill a 1280x800 screen. BUT WE CALL IT HD BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER

[Ganelon]

What I think you're trying to say is that I'll get a more accurate image by setting say Zsnes to 640*480 Fullscreen and stretch as opposed to 640*480 Fullscreen and keep aspect ratio? The stretch option always ends up looking very blurry on my 4:3 monitor, so I guess it would be more accurate of how it would look on a TV with composite cables.

Yeah, that's right on both points (fullscreen and computer monitors still not at all accurate compared to a TV output). Of course, even that assumes you have black scanlines to plug in the hole every other line and the scanlines will still look not quite the same compared to what you would see on a TV. 320x240 would give you a better image without line doubling on a monitor if you simply can't stand scanlines. I'm not sure how zsnes handles the stretching or why it would look blurry. If you're fixed on accuracy, try bsnes if you haven't already (although you'll lose plenty of features and still not have the real thing).

Really though, just don't worry about it and enjoy the game. Take advantage of save states, fast forwarding, input mapping, efficient memory scanning/changing, no battery loss, translation patches that rely on emulator hacks, and all that other goodness. That's basically the tradeoff for some more accuracy playing the real deal. But rest assured I'll be lying in ambush if anybody tries claiming emulation is "perfect."

[Ex-Cyber]

Of course emulators aren't perfect. What many people don't seem to appreciate is that the original hardware isn't perfect either. Every implementation is someone's approximation of an ideal. If we lived in a world where perfection were possible, most engineers would be out of work.

[captpain]

I only play with myself.

[JoshF]

Of course, even that assumes you have black scanlines to plug in the hole every other line and the scanlines will still look not quite the same compared to what you would see on a TV.

Yeah, when you enlarge past 2X the scanlines are too small and it just looks like the Paintshop blinds effect. I'd kill for an accurate 3/4X plugin.

[Ganelon]

Of course emulators aren't perfect. What many people don't seem to appreciate is that the original hardware isn't perfect either. Every implementation is someone's approximation of an ideal. If we lived in a world where perfection were possible, most engineers would be out of work.

Well, then you're getting into metaphysical elements like what is "perfection" in the first place and whether it's applicable in real world applications, the conclusion of which would vary depending on definitions. And then you have practical issues of who the definitive audience is, where questions like "is it more perfect to hack RGB into systems that originally didn't support it" blur the line. I'm not sure this is the time and place to be discussing that though...

[Ex-Cyber]

Most arcade games don't have autofire, so it could be considered a kind of cheat when you do it on an emu.

Sure, but my point isn't that it's not a kind of cheat, it's that it's not an emulator-specific kind of cheat. Sort of like Game Genie codes or ROM hacks.

Well, then you're getting into metaphysical elements like what is "perfection" in the first place and whether it's applicable in real world applications, the conclusion of which would vary depending on definitions

Right. It's subjective to begin with, and it frequently goes beyond the scope of what was defined in the hardware's design. As such, it doesn't really convey any information to say that an emulator isn't "perfect".

Anyway, to get back on topic a bit, I do use a variety of "enhancements", although I try not to abuse them. Mostly I start leaning on them if a game is getting to the point where it's actually tedious to play and I just want to finish the damn thing. I usually don't use them on arcade games unless I'm fooling around with cheats just for grins, because arcade games generally don't follow that kind of pattern.

[Ed Oscuro]

I only play with myself.

Duke Nukem's on vacation?

[njiska]

I sometimes use the emulator to speed up or slow down games that run at the wrong speed. For example Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Because the US release was only through Sega Channel, you pretty much need the PAL rom if you want to play in English. Unfortunately the pal version runs at 50Hz, not 60Hz as it was designed for. The music sounds awful and my timing is completely off. Fortunately with an emulator I can force the game to run at 60Hz and everything becomes much better.

[RoninBuddha]

i use a composite/NTSC filter if possible for that grimey old-tv look... not to mention, this is 'NEEDED' on accurate depiction of a lot of Genesis games (lol, color interlacing cheats)



other than that , up the audio sampling rate? for 'better' sound fidelity, but if i get crackles, i stay on the defaults

[null1024]

For gameplay:
I use savestates only if I suck really badly or if I really need to save right then and there.
I use fast forward a lot, rolling right past intros and crap, using it to make me not tear my hair out in Pokemon games from how slow you walk [this was especially bad when I played Pearl, the entire game is way too slow, 200% speed brought it back up to Gold levels, and in Yellow, running at 3000% made leveling up easier, battles flew by like nothing], and if I want to restart a level.
If I have rewind, I'll use it [SNES only, because I don't have any other emulators with it].

For video:
I usually don't bother with much other than bilinear filtering/TV mode + 25% scanlines [I do all 3 at the same time in Kega, looks great thanks to the fact that it boosts the amount of colors like crazy and looks silky smooth] for video enhancement, unless it's a 3d system [and if there are options for this], in which I'll always run at 640x480, regardless of native res [unless my games end up looking like shit with gaps between polygons that aren't nearly as visible at 320x240].
If the system's resolution is REALLY low [GBC/GBA], I'll use 2xSai or something. I'll usually play at 4:3 ratio [or if it's a portable, whatever the ratio is supposed to be], but sometimes I don't care [usually on SNES, GBC and GBA games].

For sound:
48 kHz, linear interpolation for newer systems unless I can barely run the system at 100% full speed. Never cared about perfect sound, just as long as it wasn't 8 kHz garbage.


I never cared about accuracy in terms of little details, just as long as the game didn't fluctuate speed, and played at mostly the same speed to the original unless I set it up not to.

[Ed Oscuro]

Savestates are a lifesaver when playing shit old NES RPG-ish games like, say, Star Tropics or whatever. Don't know of many games (of that vintage anyway) where you miss out on much by skipping the visits to the password / load screen.