A couple questions before I try emulation.

[Nehvar]

1.) Do I need to purchase a converter to connect a gamepad to my machine, or can I use the keyboard/mouse to play games?

2.) BIOS. I don't need to flash a new BIOS to my mainboard or video card, do I? What I mean is... Will the BIOS I need to run the emulator impact my computer beyond the emulation program itself?

3.) What risks to my computer, if any, do I run the risk of while using ePSXe?

Thanks,
Nehvar

[Aided Onslaught]

1. no, but it's much better.
2. no the bios come in a file format, it has nothing to do with your system bios, but don't ask for the, you have to get them off your own game system. but I will say one word, and that's google.
3. you'll crash the full internet if you do...in other words, none.

[hushypushy]

1. you can also use PC gamepads.
2. you're confusing multiple BIOSes. you're going to need to dump your own BIOS from your PS, other than that though, you can leave your videocard/motherboard BIOS alone ('course, it wouldnt hurt to update those)
3. have you ever seen that movie Videodrome? yeah, that's what ePSXe does to you. i wasnt supposed to tell you but...the cat is out of the bag i guess no but really, if you have a poorly ventilated computer or something like that, ePSXe's high CPU usage could overheat it. but, as long as you have a normal setup, you'll be ok.

[Aided Onslaught]

good point about the heat thing, I was thinking I should say that...

[hushypushy]

its not really a big problem, only laptop users and users that have a lottttt of dust clogging up their fans really need to worry about it.

[ackmondual]

1- u can use keyboard. Never heard of using a mouse for any ePSXe games, but then again, I've never checked

Some games just work better with an actual PS controller complete with force feedback tho. Your budget, your preference, your choice.

2- ePSXe requires a specific BIOS to run. It's required, but not supplied due to legal reasons. Just poke around this forum for more info on this

3- Worst case scenario, it crashes your system. Seriously. But that oughtta be VERY RARE however. Average case is it doesn't run some games, so u simply close ePSXe. Best case is the games actually work perfectly.

[hushypushy]

you can use a mouse for PSX games like medal of honor or whatever, FPS games...

ePSXe doesnt require a specific bios. just slap any old PSX bios in there

[ackmondual]

well not any BIOS. AFAIK, only SCPH1001 and scph7005 will work

[galson]

I've been playing on SCPH101 (from PSOne) and encountered none problems so far

[hushypushy]

Originally Posted by ackmondual

well not any BIOS. AFAIK, only SCPH1001 and scph7005 will work

nope, that's wrong.

i know that 101, 102, 1001, 7502 work because i have used those or know someone who has used those. the DHTL or whatever they're called (the Net Yaroze) BIOS works as well. any PSX bios should work.

[Black-x]

try then ask, thats the way how things work.
you need to start epsxe and you will see all what you need, where to load bios etc..

i know that 101, 102, 1001, 7502 work because i have used those or know someone who has used those

[dbhankins]

Originally Posted by hushypushy

you can use a mouse for PSX games like medal of honor or whatever, FPS games...

Unfortunately, ePSXe's pad support only seems to work with mapping the mouse to the left analog stick, which is used in PS1 FPS games for move, not look. For real FPS support it would have to map to the right-hand one.

I have a SmartJoy Frag, so it's not a big issue for me any more (keyboard+mouse -> smartjoyfrag -> usb adapter -> PC), but before I got that I was quite annoyed that mapping the mouse to the right-hand stick didn't work.


Dan

[hushypushy]

cant you just switch the control of the sticks in game? i.e. make a "lefty" config for the actual game?

[dbhankins]

I wish.

None of the PS1 FPS games I have (Delta Force Urban Warfare, Medal of Honor, Medal of Honor Underground) allow you to switch the functions of the left and right sticks.

The MoH games allow you to change what functions are assigned to the sticks (i.e. move/turn on one stick, strafe/vertical-look on the other), but not look on the left and move on the right.


Dan

[hushypushy]

ah, that sucks. i wonder how difficult that'd be to implement into a pad plugin..

[dbhankins]

Shouldn't be hard at all...just take the existing mouse support and add another one where it maps to the other stick. No biggie. If ePSXe were open-source I'd probably give it a shot myself.


Dan

[hushypushy]

PCSX is open source

[dbhankins]

In the context of mouse support for FPS games, the only reason I brought up ePSXe's non-open-sourceness is that its pad support is built-in.

If, like other emulators, PCSX uses PS Emu Pro standard plugins, then what I'd need to modify would be pad plugin code, not the code for the emulator itself.

For all I know there may already be pad plugins out there that do proper FPS mouse/keyboard support. Next time I go to play one of my FPS games, I'll probably try it with a different emulator so I can experiment with other plugins.

Or I'll just use the SmartJoy Frag and save myself the hassle.


Dan

[hushypushy]

you could always program your own pad plugin

[dbhankins]

I could.

Lessee...

Major software development effort with substantial learning curve, probably weeks if not months to finish

vs.

5 minutes to plug in and set up the SmartJoy Frag I've already got.

You do the math.


Dan