Final Fantasy IX Compatibility & Config

[onemptyhorizon]

This is just a post to help any other users you may be having problems with getting Final Fantasy IX working with a minimum of slowdowns with sound and video. This IS NOT a config that will work on all machines, but just a list of the settings on my laptop. I figure if I can get it to run pretty smoothly on my machine, anyone else can to with similar hardware.

Here is the rig first:

HP Pavilion dv6405us

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core TK-53 (1.70GHz)
1GB PC2700 SODIMM
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 (up to 287MB memory)
15.4" Widescreen Monitor (1200x800 native)
8x DVD SuperDrive (some generic Asian model)


I ran into 2 problems when I first started. The first one was the lack of a battle menu. Easily fixed after looking through the forums and the Help Guide within ePSXe 1.7.0. After I got the battle menus working, I noticed the yellow boxes around Zidane's health, even with the "fix" on. I left the fix on and changed the framebuffer access under compatibility. Problem solved.

For sound, I used Eternal SPU 1.41 with Default settings, but with the Final Fantasy IX fix checked("Update before accessing register" option). For CD settings, I believe that is up to you to find the most suitable one. I use CDSapu right now, only because I can tweak it to my liking more and it reads my friends borrowed disc better. Up to you.

Now I enjoy the game with sharper character sprites, as the background makes it feel like a PSX game at a hgiher resolution. So feel free to tinker with the settings to your liking. Hope this helps, and I also included some screens at the bottom.


Plugin: Pete's OpenGL Driver 1.1.77
Author: Pete Bernert
Card vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
GFX card: GeForce Go 6150/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!
OGL version: 2.1.2

Resolution/Color:
- 1280x800 Fullscreen - NO desktop changing
- Keep psx aspect ratio: on

Textures:
- R8G8A8A8
- Filtering: 4
- Hi-Res textures: 0
- VRam size: 0 MBytes

Framerate:
- FPS limitation: on
- Frame skipping: off
- FPS limit: Auto

Compatibility:
- Offscreen drawing: 3
- Framebuffer texture: 2
- Framebuffer access: 1
- Alpha multipass: on
- Mask bit: on
- Advanced blending: on

Misc:
- Scanlines: off
- Line mode: off
- Unfiltered FB: off
- 15 bit FB: off
- Dithering: off
- Screen smoothing: off
- Game fixes: off [00000200]

[Lord Zedeck]

I saw your link to this post in the other thread.

I know this is a configuration to just getting it working, but I want to comment because I think P.E.Op.S. software would look better for such machines that lack 3-D power.

No offense, but that looks between poor and basic. The standard settings for Pete's OpenGL don't look that great in this game, especially higher than 640x480. However, don't take it harshly, because I'm very critical of running this game (or any with a good amount of small resolution 2-D backdrops) at a very high resolution (that 2-D looks ridiculous). I know you have an LCD, so you're sort of forced to run it native, but that is just one reason they fail but you can always run it windowed (if you can't stand that, see the strikethrough text).

Compared to what this game can look like, the text is very poor, the background has been trashed, and the 3-D looks no better than Pete's OpenGL at standard (although I realize that's pretty much what it is), and this is why I'd honestly just run it with a software plug-in if I were you, and for anyone who lacks GPU power. I know my opinion is likely in the minority to those who just say "GPU accelerated plug-in equals better!", but while the 3-D will look worse in software mode, but the other 75% of the game will look infinitely better.

Here's an example of how I run my game.



Yes, you do need some respectable power, but nothing out of this world. My old Pentium 4 2.8GHz and GeForce 6800GS AGP with 1GB of DDR RAM was what that configuration originated on, so it might even work on less. A 7600GT/8600GTS/9500GT (all roughly the same level) are stronger and are pretty low end for dedicated GPUs nowadays.

The 2-D looks almost, but not quite, perfect at even twice the native resolution of the game (which is 320x224, by the way), while still having great 3-D, 3-D that even looks anti-aliased. Yes, it's somewhat blurry, but A) I like the smooth look, and B) you can't get this game to look ultra sharp and HD since the backdrops and 2-D are all a mere 320x224, and trying to make it HD (even 1024x768 is HD compared to that) just makes the 2-D look like garbage. Add in widescreen for the ignorant people who do that, and you have a mess.

That being said, I'm glad it's working for you, and don't take it too seriously. I'm just really critical of making it look that bad (this game is my baby). I'm just offering up the alternative of using a software plug-in with why i think that's a better choice. Keep tinkering with those settings though, though I'm sure your PC won't let you get away with a whole lot.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

[onemptyhorizon]

Thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it. I know I could probably tweak the settings more with another GPU plugin, but I was just happy to see the game work without lagging. I was running windowed for a while at 640x480, but I started playing around with fullscreen and I didn't have any further complaints. When I get a desktop built for heavier 3D graphics and CAD work on the side, Im sure it wont look anything like this. But I will definitely try PEOPS as I have it downloaded already. Thanks!

[Erzesel]

I've seen your scrennies and your setings.

@Youre setings somethings Wrong.

Some setings are not optimal.

so:
Filtering: 2 is much beter the Backrouns are even filtert.

Framebuffer
-texture : 0 the Batlewirl dont Breaks crashes the framerate
-access : 4

an 1700 processor kann handle this well.

Don't use Framerate 53 for NTSC its only for PAL

with high quality.

special for NVidiacards you can set special setings for the epsxe.exe :
NVidia advance setings !!!
Anti Aliasing 2x (set off if the youre maschine not so fast)
Anistrophe Filter off
Mipmap Trilinear (Makes beter backround )
Trilinear optimising on (optimisngs mak it a little faster)
anisotroph mip filter opti. on
optim. anisotroph.... on


@ sound
SPU Peops 1.9 (mode: 2 |reveb:1|interpolation:2 XA: all off) (faster)
better is Ethernal 1.41 (directsound|Buffer 64|SPUasync |smuth or simple|reverb neills) but needs more power

as referece:
Final Fantasy IX

To play with Peops soft plugin an 1700 not fast enough or all is pixelated

__________________
"Beauty lies in the eye of the viewer"

Probieren geht über studieren.
Sorry for my english,an old Donkey learnd it never more!
Thanks to Santa:specs:ASUS-M3A78/Phenom X4-9950@3200/Muggen2/4GBDDR2/NV9500-1GB /NEC4540/2TB HDD/USB80GB/SMC WLan+17dB YAGI-antenne Erzesel

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Last edited by Erzesel; July 24th, 2009 at 18:46..

[onemptyhorizon]

*Zedeck - Can you send me a message with your suggested settings? What do you mean by using a software plugin to run the game? Am I not using one?

*Erzesel - Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out

[Lord Zedeck]

No, Pete's OpenGL drivers are hardware plug-ins. they use the GPU to render most of the stuff. A software plug-in uses uses the CPU to render most of the stuff.

My settings will not work as well for you, since you need respectable of GPU power.

They can be found here (note that the screenshot of the settings is a bit incorrect, as what Squall-Leonhart mentions needs to be changed).

My Authentic Enhanced Guide

By the way, the nVidia trilinear optimization nets you better speed by reducing the quality (ala, what the GeForce FX cards did in their day). I'm also not sure if forcing mipmaps increases quality, but I never tried.

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

[bobhacket]

I installed the updated catalyst and it helped with a couple minor problems I was having and ended the triangle problem, it also fixed a horrible problem I was having with the sims2. THank you very much

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Last edited by bobhacket; August 13th, 2009 at 06:18..

[Parivir]

Mr. Lord what will be the best settings for me? I'm using the ePSXe 1.7. And would like to get most of my system for FF IX. Thanks in advance.

Attached Files

DxDiag.txt (41.4 KB, 2 views)

[Lord Zedeck]

That appears to be a laptop from the CPU model (though I didn't know many modern laptops still used 1024x768?). The CPU and RAM (though 512MB is low these days) are good, but the GPU won't let you get away with the better hardware plug-ins, so my simplest suggestion would be to try Pete's OpenGL plug-in (make sure it's just regular OpenGL version1.x, not OpenGL2) and go with something similar to the first post in this thread (though alter the resolution to whatever fits you). The PC in the opening post is somewhat close to yours (it just has more RAM and a better IGP), so start there.

If worse comes to worse, use P.E.Op.S plug-in.

P.S. If you'd like to refer to me by a shortened name, could you refer to me as simply Zedeck instead?

__________________

"Without forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation."
"Judge people not of their mistakes, but on how they handle those mistakes."

Core 2 Duo E8600 @4.0GHz- ASUS Maximus Formula (Rampage Formula BIOS 0701) - 8GB (4x 2GB) Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800
MSI nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB - 4x Western Digital Caviar 6400AAKS (2,560GB total) - PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
IBM P275 21" CRT (1600x1200 @100Hz) - Logitech Z-2300 2.1 Sound System - Windows 7 64-bit & Windows XP SP3

[Parivir]

Ok, i will try w/ the openGL only, hmmm, anyway, what is better? The Latest, or the 1.5.2?

Ok Zedeck ^^