PTO IV won't start

[saotomefirst]

First of all, hello there! I didn't see any topic for self presentations, so i decided to do it here.

Now, to what matters. I got myself a game named PTO IV - Pacific Theater of Operations (original game, by the way). I've been searching for this game for over 5 years, so it's a pretty old game, and certainly very little known. I tried to make it run here on my pc using ePSXe 1.6, but the only thing I got is a black screen with FPS = 0.

I read ALL the FAQs available here ad at the epsxe site - including the 'unnoficial' one - and I have tried all of the ideas there posted - from checking my bios to changing the plugins themselves and their configs into the program. I even downloaded the DELTA program with dozens of configs to epsxe to try to find a config that works... but nothing here gets any different.

I know my computer can run PS games, because in the past I used a previous version of epsxe to run Chrono Cross, Metal Slurg, Digimon, and several other games, and I got no problem - it was basicaly just put the cd in and run the program. Now I simply can't get past a black screen,.

I also know that the cd works, because when I check it on my PS it works perfectly... Game loads, ask to make a save onto my memcard, loads the video an then the homescreen. I can play normaly, I even tested a battle to be sure, and everything worked perfectly.

Please, if anyone have an idea on what's going on, help me. I apreciate any thoughts.

Regards

Saotome

P.S. : Thanks for hearing the problems of a stranger, and for building up this amazing program!

[jonc2006]

can you try testing it on another emulator to see if the issue shows up in it as well? and have you tried making an image of the disc to see if there is any difference? if you need to know how to create one, read this thread.

edit- btw you mentioned you used epsxe in the past and it worked fine, are you also saying that your other games work currently as well? like is it just this one game that is giving you trouble with your current setup?

[saotomefirst]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Good points. I have tried another emulator too (PSXeven), but I'm not as familiar with it as I am with epsxe, so I'm not sure I've done everything that could be done to make it work.

As for other games, well, I hadn't thought about that I'll see if I still have some of my old games (it's been 2 years since I last saw my collection). As soon as I check it out I'll come here to report.

Thanks again.

Regards

Saotome

P.S. thanks for the link, I'll try those ideas too, but I prefer my own rippers (Nero and Alcohol 120%).

[PowerslaveLA]

[OFFTOPIC] im curius as to wether that is japanease or english? im a fan of PTO but have never found one past II. I ask because id be intrested in buying that as well if its english :P. [/OFFTOPIC]

[saotomefirst]

OK, I'm back! Sorry for the LOOONG abscense, it took me FOREVER to find out where my old collection was. And, as I said above, the 'just put the cd in and run the program' theory worked pretty well for games like Digimon world, Harvest Moon and my DBZ collection games, among others, sometimes requiring a few adjust, but nothing I couldn't figure out on my own, as in the past . However, I did noticed 1 thing: I don't have a PS, I have a PS2! I did have a PS in the past, but as soon as I bought the PS2 I forgot about it and eventually gave to my nephew as a birthday present. I haven't tested the game there, even because he lives in another state now.

As for the bios version, I do have it (spch 1001) in my computer, and it's been here ever since I bought my first PC. This bios is different from the one in PS2 (spch 77066). Would this be the reason why PTO IV won't start on the computer, but does on the PS2? And in this case, how do I make the PS2 bios work on the PS emulator (if that's possible at all)?

Regards

Saotome

P.S. Powerslave, the game I have is in English. However, I don't think I can help you much with finding another one. As I said, it took me 5 years of search in hundreads of places, from specialized stores to e-bay and similars, and in several countires - including Brazil (my home after all), Paraguai, Argentina, Uruguay (my neighbours, why not?), US, Canada, Uk, France, German, and even in Japan!! I ended up finding it on e-bay, it's a used version, has some scratches and the manual is in pieces, but so far I've been happy to play this game - though the controls are somewhat hard to master. If I ever find another game around I'll let you know via PM, but you should keep on searching on your own. Sorry I can't do more for you :\

[jonc2006]

ps2 bios do not work with any psx emulator. thats like trying to get a ps2 game to work on a psx, it just isnt possible. likewise, a psx bios would not work with a ps2 emulator and ps2 emulators like pcsx2 cannot pull off the backwards compatibility thing like real ps2's can. so you have to treat psx and ps2 emulation as two completely different types of emulation.

[saotomefirst]

Long time since last post... I wish I could say my problem is solved, but it's not. I've tried to speak with many of my friends who have epsxe to see if someone had any ideas, but everyone just kept saying 'go to their website and read the FAQs'... I also tried various configurations changes to see if something happened. I even created an ISO file to see if there was any difference. Nothing.

Jonc, thanks for the touch about the BIOS files. It's also bad that even a PS2 emulator can't run this game... This leaves me with very little time to play at all, as I only get to see my ps2 on weekends

Anywaw, thanks for everything. If anyone has any other ideas, please post them. I'd really like to see this game running on my pc.

Regards

Saotome

[jonc2006]

do you have DEP enabled? try turning it off if you do. depending on the O/S you are using you might run into some problems while using the emulator with DEP enabled. granted, it is possible for it to cause issues in both winxp and vist but it seems to happen more often in vista. i dont know what O/S you are using but keep that in mind because it might be something you would want to look into.

[Shendo]

Try to play game on the SSSPSX, PCSX, pSX or Xebra.