FF7: Locks on Startup

[jabb]

Hi,
I have a problem with Final Fantasy 7...
I've got the original PAL edition, but when I start the emulation, it goes ok, I can get to the video (new game obviously), but when it gets to the point in which the guards overlap with the video, the fps rate goes down to 2-1 fps and the sound loops... I can even wait until the camera gets close to the guards (at 1 fps), but nothing happens.... That's it...

I've tried with lots of different plugins and and everytime it's the same!

I am using ePSXe 1.60, with Pete's OpenGL2 2.60 (tried Pete's Direct3D7 v1.75 too) and P.E.O.P.S. Sound Plugin (I've tried the internal one too) and the Internal Win2000 cd plugin (should I try others?)
Here are Pete's settings:

Plugin: Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.6
Author: Pete Bernert
Card vendor: ATI Technologies Inc.
GFX card: RADEON 9600 x86/MMX/3DNow!/SSE

Resolution/Color:
- 800x600 Fullscreen - NO desktop changing
- Internal X resolution: 1
- Internal Y resolution: 1
- Keep psx aspect ratio: off
- No render-to-texture: off

- Filtering: 0
- Hi-Res textures: 1
- TexWin pixel shader: off
- VRam size: 128 MBytes

Framerate:
- FPS limitation: on
- Frame skipping: off
- FPS limit: 50

Compatibility:
- Offscreen drawing: 1
- Framebuffer effects: 2
- Framebuffer uploads: 1

Misc:
- Scanlines: off
- Mdec filter: on
- Screen filtering: on
- Shader effects: 0/1
- Flicker-fix border size: 0
- GF4/XP crash fix: off
- Game fixes: on [00000002]

Here it is...

Could you help me?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I Have Windows 2000 PRO SP4

[hushypushy]

probably your CD plugin. try Peops, in IOCTL mode.

[jabb]

Originally Posted by hushypushy

probably your CD plugin. try Peops, in IOCTL mode.

You're great...
It does work FLAWLESSLY with the Peops one! I've created an SBI subchannel info from the cd and works great...

The graphics is very good... just i get little stripes of random color (green, purple, red, yellow, etc) on sprite edges (i don't know if that's the correct name.... I'll probably post a screenshot, might be useful ) .... Is that because I activated screen filterìng or 2xSAL textures??

Thanks.... You were really helpful.... I've also switched to the Eternal SPU since I see you recommend it everywere here In fact the sound's very good.

[n_w95482]

I tried your settings and 2xSaI is what's causing the green lines. FF7 doesn't seem to like any 2D filtering. You can set texture filtering to 3 or 4 without having the green lines.

[jabb]

Originally Posted by n_w95482

I tried your settings and 2xSaI is what's causing the green lines. FF7 doesn't seem to like any 2D filtering. You can set texture filtering to 3 or 4 without having the green lines.

Ok that's solved....

But now maybe I've got to put it to None, because i can't see, in battle, the enemy indicator (you know when you battle and select magic or attack, i can't see what enemy i'm attacking...)

That's probably the last problem I'll have

Thanks!

[Kane]

Set Off-screen drawing to max

[jabb]

Originally Posted by Kane-Sama

Set Off-screen drawing to max

Nothing changes.... i've tried maxing everything under Compatibility except Framebuffer Upload but I get the same result...

Have you got any other ideas?

[hushypushy]

this is an old thread (i need to update it) but, check it out for settings anyway: http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45533

[jabb]

Tried the settings... Ok I put High resolution because it crashes with Ultra-high, but even so i don't get the arrow pointing the character i'm attacking... i get a little window in the bottom left corner with a sort of small copy of what i'm about to hit... But it's no good...

Are there any other work-arounds?

Thanks again!

[Kane]

Have you tried setting FPS limitation to auto? Have you tried the fake-sub blending fix?

[jabb]

Originally Posted by Kane-Sama

Have you tried setting FPS limitation to auto? Have you tried the fake-sub blending fix?

Solved it... sorry, was that stupid Frame Skipping on!

And i found out that i can use filtered sprites without any glitches!! Looks AWESOME!!! Looks better than the game on the normal PSX...

Only thing I've allready seen is that it takes a little to get to the battles...
Could I Solve that by creating an ISO?

[GSDragoon]

Originally Posted by jabb

Only thing I've allready seen is that it takes a little to get to the battles...
Could I Solve that by creating an ISO?

If your running from the CD, yes. Your hard driver is much faster than a CD-ROM drive.

[jabb]

Do I just create a CloneCD image with alcohol o do I have to do anything speciale?

[GSDragoon]

Originally Posted by jabb

Do I just create a CloneCD image with alcohol o do I have to do anything speciale?

I've never used Alcohol 120%, but here's a guide for Clone CD, http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34515

I'm not totally sure, but the black color on PSX CD's is supposed to fake bad sectors. Basicly, you want some sort of RAW copy. If you do some searching, I'm sure there's directions somewhere.

[jabb]

Ok thanks...


One more question: are the "shader effects" in pete's plugin useful and working? Do they improve quality?

[hushypushy]

shader effects are kind of goofy; there are black and white and smoothing ones, but there are cool ones like scale2x and others. some work with Geforce FX but they are incredibly slow so i wouldnt even bother. only try them if you have a Radeon 9500 and above, and you want to experiment. personally i dont think they enhahce much, but try em out and see what you like

[I-Chan]

a 9500/9600 will have its own share of problems with them, though they can be tested . I think you shouldn't raise compatibility settings to the max, that's probably causing the slowdown on battle swirls. 1-2-1 will be probably enough. About internal resolution, you can safely raise internal Y to 2, it's only internal X wich will hang with an ATI card.

[jabb]

Originally Posted by I-Chan

a 9500/9600 will have its own share of problems with them, though they can be tested . I think you shouldn't raise compatibility settings to the max, that's probably causing the slowdown on battle swirls. 1-2-1 will be probably enough. About internal resolution, you can safely raise internal Y to 2, it's only internal X wich will hang with an ATI card.

Wow internal Y 2 looks really good.

I think I've resolved nearly everything.... I mean, the game's flowing great


Just a minor problem:
I get a sort drum beat instead of the sound if I press ESC to pause the game and then go back in... this stops in about 30 seconds, sometimes 45, sometimes 5 or 10....

[fireblaster_lyz]

Try changing the Etheral SPU Plugin buffer rate to about 8...

[GSDragoon]

Originally Posted by I-Chan

a 9500/9600 will have its own share of problems with them, though they can be tested . I think you shouldn't raise compatibility settings to the max, that's probably causing the slowdown on battle swirls. 1-2-1 will be probably enough. About internal resolution, you can safely raise internal Y to 2, it's only internal X wich will hang with an ATI card.

Using Full VRam Primatives is sometimes the only way to get such effects to work at all. Lowering them will just give you a black screen for a second before a battle.