HD Xploder shmup compatibility list

[SGGG2]

HD Xploder is a PS2 boot disc (available in PAL and NTSC format) that forces progressive scan output over component or VGA. It supports a variety of resolutions, but in my experience, 480p/60hz and 567p/50hz via component, are the only ones worth bothering with. 720p and 1080i are horribly squashed -- unplayable if you ask me. On my 1080p display, 576p *appears* to have 1:1 pixel mapping; the games look utterly fantastic, but there are black bars on the top and bottom as well as the sides. See the link below for specifics:

http://www.xploder.net/faqs/5/Xploder-H ... or-PS2.htm

Why would I want this?

• Double the resolution and two frames faster, i.e, games look better and feel more responsive.

Where can I get it?

• The "Xploder HDTV Player" never really caught on and is no longer in production, you'll have to check sites like ebay and Amazon. If you have the softmod exploit FreeMcBoot running, you can find a bootable .ELF file floating about. Google is your friend.

Any alternatives? What about backups?

• You can get an iScan Pro http://www.anchorbaytech.com/support/faq/pro.php a dedicated 480p/576p de-interlacer, for as low as $20 off ebay -- although, they usually go for around 50. The base signal is not progressive, so you'll still have two frames of lag. A deinterlaced picture is much better than an interlaced one, but a progressive source trumps them all.
  
  ps2force480p http://asmodean.reverse.net/pages/ps2force480p.html is an experimental tool that can patch some PS2 games to output in 480p. This method is also compatible with hdloader, etc.
  
  GS Mode Selector http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61808 A freeware Xploder, basically. More info coming.

Confirmed working 480p

• Gradius V^
  XII Stag (Unimpressive)
  Zone of the Enders 2

Confirmed working 576p

• Gradius V
  Zone of the Enders 2

^Known Issues

• Gradius V - 480p Freezes on intro. SCH-30001

Complete* list of PS2 shooters

• Cho Aniki: Sei Naru Protein Densetsu
  Dodonpachi Dai-Oujou
  Dragon Blaze
  ESPgaluda
  Gigawing generations
  Gradius 3
  Gradius 4
  Gradius V
  Gunbird I&II
  Homura
  Hudson Selection Vol. 2: Star Soldier
  Ibara
  Mushihimesama
  Psyvarier Complete Edition
  Psyvariar II
  Rez
  R-Type Final
  Sega Ages 2500 Vol. 3: Fantasy Zone 3D-Ages
  Sega Ages Vol. 32: Fantasy Zone Complete (Native 480p)
  Shienryu Explosion
  Shikigami No Shiro (aka Mobile Light Force 2/USA)
  Shikigami No Shiro II
  Silpheed: The Lost Planet
  Simple 2000 Series Vol. 37:The shooting
  Sol divide
  Skygunner
  Space Raiders
  Strikers 1945 I&II
  SuperLite 2000 Vol. 8: Psyvarier Medium Unit
  SuperLite 2000 Vol. 10: Psyvarier Revision
  Thunder Force VI (Native 480p)
  XII Stag
  Zone of the Enders
  Zone of the Enders 2
  
  *pm any additions

[SGGG2]

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[SGGG2]

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[Fudoh]

But using 576p50 output instead of 480p60 output on a NTSC game will cause the scrolling to studder.

XII Stag (japanese) is supported by a XPloder disc, but the results are not impressive. Probably because some lousy 2D scaling is applied on a code basis.

Sometime back someone posted that he got Mushimesama to work in 480p60. I never succeeded with this one.

From the list TF6 runs in 480p natively. Also does SA: Fantasy Zone Complete (Vol. 32).

PS: Thanks for starting the thread. I think we should add non-shmup games as well. At lease for some 2D games or beat'em ups the boot disc would come in quite handy.

[antron]

Mushihimesama works in 480p with HDXploder on my setup. I'll post my PS2 model.

Warning, HDxploder responds differently to different the video settings, like tate. remove your memory card to be sure.

edit:
my bad, that's for the 480p patch, not xploder.

[SGGG2]

But using 576p50 output instead of 480p60 output on a NTSC game will cause the scrolling to studder.

Whatever the cause is, I can tell you it's not from forcing NTSC games to run @ 50hz. The only time I ever get stuttering via 576p is when the signal is routed through the HD Box Pro. My PS2 SCPH-30001, and all my original games are NTSC and work just fine on my Westinghouse LVM-37w3se.

PS: Thanks for starting the thread. I think we should add non-shmup games as well. At lease for some 2D games or beat'em ups the boot disc would come in quite handy.

We can't have you do all the work. I'd like to keep first post focused on generalities and shooting games, but I think we should have a 2D sprite-based list as well as one for games that benefit greatly from the increased resolution.

Warning, HDxploder responds differently to different the video settings, like tate. remove your memory card to be sure.

What happens exactly when games are set to 240p? My shooters are backups. I'd like to add it to the first post.

[antron]

Warning, HDxploder responds differently to different the video settings, like tate. remove your memory card to be sure.

What happens exactly when games are set to 240p? My shooters are backups. I'd like to add it to the first post.

I tried 240p patching mushi, then running with xploder, but it made no difference. Tate and yoko both worked.

I got this mixed up with the 480p patch. That is the one that behaved differently depending on the screen rotation, sorry.

also, isn't there a bug with xploder, where you have to set the resolution each time, if you let it load its last state from the memory card it won't load with some games.

Also, I can't let G5 play the entro, or it locks up, with xploder.

[Fudoh]

SGGG2, did you confirm Mushihimesama on your setup ?

antron, please don't forget to check which PS2 model you've got, since I can't get Mushihimesama running in 480p. Have tried with the 480i original disc and the 240p patched disc.

[SGGG2]

I'm going by Antron. My cave titles are all backups. If you can decipher either of these for me

http://www.psx-scene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58531
http://imgur.com/DrOMa.png

I can check. I wonder if 480p gets rid of the weird scrolling artifacts. The 480p patcher quits on launch in both boot camp and Parallells running XP on my Macbook.

Edit: Got Mushi running at 480p with GSMode Selector. It looks terrible.

[antron]

SGGG2, did you confirm Mushihimesama on your setup ?

antron, please don't forget to check which PS2 model you've got, since I can't get Mushihimesama running in 480p. Have tried with the 480i original disc and the 240p patched disc.

30001, US, two different ones.

I forgot to mention the strange way in which I load it, as my PS2's are not modded:

HDXploder->Swap Magic->Mushi Backup

I run in VGA, It only loads about 30% of the time (backup?), so I leave it running for weeks sometimes.

I am pretty sure I have to set Xploder to 480p VGA manually (cycle through all modes), even if it comes up in this state at load. It is a bug I read about elsewhere.

The strange background effects are present in 480p. Don't know if it helps, but you can run "VGA" mode, even in component YUV, as that is really set in the PS2 menu, not Xploder.

[SGGG2]

Ahhh! I set my PS2 settings to VGA, lost all picture and had to navigate the menu blindly. I have no idea how you're getting that thing to work.

[antron]

Ahhh! I set my PS2 settings to VGA, lost all picture and had to navigate the menu blindly. I have no idea how you're getting that thing to work.

if you are using component, don't set the PS2 to RGB. you CAN set xploder to "VGA" mode though. I have no idea why xploder has separate modes for VGA/Component (offsets?)

[SGGG2]

When I select VGA via Xploder everything is shade of violet. Games still boot, but it's far from useable.

[antron]

When I select VGA via Xploder everything is shade of violet. Games still boot, but it's far from useable.

I see, I didn't think that would change the colorspace, sorry.

[SGGG2]

Don't be sorry, just trying to figure out how this thing works. What kind of monitor are you using?

[antron]

Don't be sorry, just trying to figure out how this thing works. What kind of monitor are you using?

Kortek VGA arcade monitor. The PS2 is set to RGB, and when progressive scan mode is enabled the console outputs sync-on-green VGA. I strip out the sync to make standard VGA with an old extron converter.

I guess it's possible that the Swap Magic somehow makes mushi work.

One thing you should try is always setting the video mode manually, even if it's already what you want. Scroll through all the component modes and come back to 480p, then try it.

[jfs]

Is it possible to output 480p with the rgb scart ?

[Fudoh]

You can output 480p "using" a RGB Scart cable, but both your input and the PS2 have to be set to Component instead of RGB.

[jfs]

So it's really possible to have 480p without YUV or vga cables?

[Fudoh]

The cable doesn't matter. It's the signal which matters. If you connect your PS2 to a YUV progressive-enabled display you can use whatever cable you like to make the connection. As a matter of fact the PS2's RGB cables are even better for 480p than the YUV cables in terms of picture noise.

[jfs]

But when i try to enable prog scan with jap games (ex kof2002), it's doesn't work. My ps2 is pluged to my tv with a scart cable.

[antron]

But when i try to enable prog scan with jap games (ex kof2002), it's doesn't work. My ps2 is pluged to my tv with a scart cable.

will your TV accept a component (YUV) signal via the scart plug? if so try setting the PS2 to component in the system settings.

I somehow doubt it will take SOG VGA via SCART, because that's what a PS2 does when in RGB progressive mode.

[jfs]

No, no YUV signal via scart plug.

[SGGG2]

Does anyone have any experience with the VGA modes? How's the PS2 internal scaling?

[SGGG2]

Just a head's up; there's a seller with a bunch of cheap Xploder's (PAL) on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/PS2-Xploder-PS2-HDT ... 222wt_1139

[antron]

I have an interesting addition to the HD Xploder list: 480p Gradius IV on the US Gradius III & IV compilation (III is compressed horizontally, at least in 480p)

But Gradius IV looks great! I'm curious to compare what I'm seeing to medium resolution PCB screenshots. But at least the jaggies on lines are gone.

[shinjig]

Does anyone have any experience with the VGA modes? How's the PS2 internal scaling?

Its about the same as the HD scaling. It also runs it through an array of vert hz's settings. Enabling you to speed up the game. I've tried a 480i fighter at 640x480 at 72hz, which was a noticable gain in speed with no stutter or hichups in action. But those faster hz settings are monitor dependant.

[matrigs]

mushihimesama works perfectly with GSMode Selector. used it for ages.

with GSMode i was able to run almost every game in hi-res. the only problem i encountered is in Persona 3 and 4 where the game runs double-speed for some reason.

the problem i have with GSMode is that every game is shifted and squeezed on the screen differently and i have very limited geometry controls on my tv. there are some options for shifting and changing the picture size but they are highly confusing and i never figured them out. is this the same with HD Xploder ? or does it center the game by itself ?

[shinjig]

The HD TV player (which should be the same software as HD Exploder), allows you to center the resolution prior to starting the game.

[antron]

Is it possible to launch GSMode from a harddrive using HDLoader? I haven't been keeping up with PS2 exploits lately, is there an easy way to launch this with a console that is not modded?