my best config, OGL2, FF9

[Elrundir]

I was using a disk, and I'm attempting to make the ISO now, so I'll see if that helps when it's finished. The game is indeed NTSC.

[industrian]

If you want my advice on making an ISO, use ISO producer.

Make a perfect ISO by:

Get ISO Producer from here:

http://www.aldostools.com/isoproducer.html

Get Pete's CDR Plugin from here:

http://www.pbernert.com/html/cdr.htm

Now unzip them into the same directory.

Insert a PSX CD into your drive. (For this demonstration I am using the game 40 Winks.)

Now run ISO Producer.

PLEASE NOTE!
If you are using the above plugin for the first time, the following error will appear:



Just click ok and ignore it. It just means that the plugin hasn't been configured.

It will then display this prompt (since the plugin has not been configured):



Ignore this and click ok. Now you will be brought to the main screen of ISO Producer.



Click on Configure Plugin and you'll get a window like this:



Configure the plugin as shown here:



Now return to the main screen again by clicking Ok. It should now read your disk and come up something like this. Please note that what is displayed changes from disk to disk.



Now click on Make ISO and you'll get this familiar prompt:



Enter in a filename and click Save, you know the drill.

Now ISO Producer will rip the CD to your selected ISO file. Progress will be shown (as seen below). Don't be afraid if the program stops responding, as it does this sometimes. Just be patient.



After a while, it will reach 99.9% or 100% (doesn't matter) and this alert will appear:



As you can see, your game has been ripped to the ISO file. Close down ISO Producer and load up ePSXe. Choose the following option:



That will bring up this familiar prompt. Direct it to where you saved your ISO file earlier, and it should look similar to this:



There's the ISO we just made! Click on it, and then click Open to run the ISO.

Now enjoy your game!!



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And there it is. The initial download is quite light (around 150k) and it only takes a few minutes for you to rip the CD.

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Last edited by industrian; May 16th, 2006 at 03:49..

[Elrundir]

Alright, progress! ^^

Making the ISO definitely did help. I used your method and the game started up fine. No errors, no super-fast-speed, no blank screens. A definite improvement.

The main trouble now is that if I press ESC to get out of the game and back to the ePSXe menu, I get a message that ePSXe.exe has encountered an error and needs to close. It's one of those errors that gives you the choice to submit an error report. Is there some way to fix this? I figure it must not be normal, so it might end up causing problems, particularly with saving the game (especially if I want to use a save state).

[industrian]

Originally Posted by Elrundir

Alright, progress! ^^

Making the ISO definitely did help. I used your method and the game started up fine. No errors, no super-fast-speed, no blank screens. A definite improvement.

The main trouble now is that if I press ESC to get out of the game and back to the ePSXe menu, I get a message that ePSXe.exe has encountered an error and needs to close. It's one of those errors that gives you the choice to submit an error report. Is there some way to fix this? I figure it must not be normal, so it might end up causing problems, particularly with saving the game (especially if I want to use a save state).

It's nice to see one of your problems has went away.

As for the illegal operation, I don't know wtf is going on. Try downloading it again.

[Elrundir]

Ah, I think I got it. I set that Render Texture thing to 1 instead of 0 and that seems to have fixed the problem. I don't have a clue as to why, but I thought I'd just randomly change settings one at a time and see if that helped. ^^;; I guess I got lucky this time!

Thanks so much for your help!

[industrian]

Originally Posted by Elrundir

Thanks so much for your help!

No problem.

Enjoy the game.

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Last edited by industrian; May 16th, 2006 at 03:49..

[Elrundir]

Heh, I guess I spoke a bit too soon. The game runs fine, and I can exit it as normal... until I get past the very first fight. You beat the crew's boss and he leads them into the next room to brief them about the mission, but during the scene transition, the screen just fades to black, and the music continues playing, but nothing else happens. Does anyone know of a way to fix this? Maybe it's happened at other points in the game as well? I've tried with both 1.5.2 and 1.6.0 and both have given the same problem at the same point.

[hushypushy]

have you tried other emulators? does it pass that with other plugins?

[Elrundir]

I tried a few different video plugins, on ePSXe 1.5.2, 1.6.0, and PSXeven so far. Both of Pete's OpenGL ones as well as P.E.Op.S. Soft Driver. I'll continue to try other combinations and see if that clears it up.

EDIT: K, I've tried just about every video, sound, and CDR plugin I have. I've made a few random tweaks as well and that hasn't seemed to clear anything up, so I figure it might be a problem with the ISO. I'ma try and make another one right now.

EDIT2: Well, I got past *that* part anyway... then I get the same problem a couple of scenes later. v_v

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Last edited by Elrundir; May 16th, 2006 at 05:43..

[industrian]

It's not an ISO problem. I made one myself with those above settings just to make sure.

What exact problem have you run into? A screen transition just stays black?

You've probably heard this before, but please post your exact plugin settings (open up the plugin, hold Alt+Print Screen and then paste it into Paint/PSP/whatever you use for graphics).

[Elrundir]

Yeah, the screen transition just stays black but the music continues playing. I don't know if this is important, but it happens right after Vivi helps that kid steal the ladder and becomes his slave.

Here are my plugin settings. I think this is everything, but if I forgot something, just let me know.

Attached Images

	gpusettings.jpg (214.3 KB, 70 views)
	spusettings1.jpg (48.3 KB, 26 views)
	spusettings2.jpg (77.0 KB, 28 views)
	cdrsettings.jpg (103.0 KB, 27 views)

[industrian]

Try putting the Compatibility settings of your plugin to what is displayed below.

Also: don't you need to Enable XA sound to get audio from the FMV sequences?

Since you're using a laptop as well I think there are some issues to take into account: as in have it plugged in and have power saving schemes turned off (or something like that, I may be mistaken.)

Attached Images

compat.jpg (17.7 KB, 42 views)

[Elrundir]

Well, I heard the sound in the FMVs so far without having that option turned on... but I've turned it on anyway, just in case. Those compatibility settings didn't seem to fix the problem, either, nor did plugging in the laptop. My power saving schemes are always turned off anyway.

Also, something strange happened. Just now when I was about to load the ISO, my finger slipped and I accidentally hit "Run CD-ROM" instead. The strange thing is, the game started (it wouldn't before), and it got past that point where the screen transition was just blacking out (I had made a save-state just before that to save time). I dunno if that's important, but I thought I'd bring it up. I should note, though, that running it from the CD still isn't perfect. I don't get the black-out as often, but it does still happen.

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Last edited by Elrundir; May 16th, 2006 at 20:33..

[ViperXtreme]

some more FF9 screenies, using "Natural Vision" shader by ShadX (set at max level)

Attached Images

	FF9_1.JPG (44.8 KB, 237 views)
	FF9_2.JPG (38.6 KB, 216 views)
	FF9_3.JPG (42.4 KB, 202 views)
	FF9_4.JPG (52.7 KB, 223 views)
	FF9_5.JPG (52.8 KB, 152 views)

__________________
System Specs? what "system specs?" are those edible?
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http://viperxtreme.deviantart.com

[hushypushy]

nice fps all of the white effects look overbrightened...do you have any overworld screenies?

[Elrundir]

I wonder... is it important that Alcohol 120% doesn't seem to be able to make an image of my disc? I mean, I've already made the image with ISO producer just fine, but I'm wondering if this still means there's some problem. I know the disc is in good working condition (as I tried it on my actual system to be absolutely sure), but whenever I try to make the image with Alcohol 120%, the progress gets to about 2% and then it gives me some error.

Heh, I'm clearly getting quite desperate so I'm just bringing up anything and everything that comes to mind. :P

Attached Images

ff9readerror.jpg (128.2 KB, 31 views)

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Last edited by Elrundir; May 17th, 2006 at 18:02..

[hushypushy]

do you have another drive you can try it on?

and im not really sure what your problem is...im kind of at a loss. if you've been through all this stuff, then its either the game, some software/hardware problem, or your bad luck.

[ViperXtreme]

@hushypushy: hehe, the emulator is running at 100% (60/59.xx "fps" on Pete's OpenGL2 plugin), afaik, fraps is showing the true framerate the real PlayStation hardware is capable of, its usually 15, 30 and 60 fps depending on the location. Will post overworld shots later.

here's my plugin config btw.I only play at 800x600 since i only have a 15" monitor and playing at 1024x768 @ 60Hz hurts my eyes.
(edited the config, that was a config for another game hehe)

Setup:
AMD AthlonXP 2500+ @ 2Ghz
1GB Ram
GeForce 6600GT 128MB @ stock speeds
ForceWare 84.43 Beta

Attached Images

ff9_config.JPG (102.1 KB, 124 views)

__________________
System Specs? what "system specs?" are those edible?
My Deviantart:
http://viperxtreme.deviantart.com

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Last edited by ViperXtreme; May 20th, 2006 at 12:47..

[ViperXtreme]

more stuff...

Attached Images

	EPSXE 2006-05-18 22-07-23-98.jpg (153.0 KB, 240 views)
	EPSXE 2006-05-18 22-36-56-39.jpg (167.0 KB, 225 views)

__________________
System Specs? what "system specs?" are those edible?
My Deviantart:
http://viperxtreme.deviantart.com

[hushypushy]

lots of screenshots in this thread...someone needs to make a FF9 screenshot thread over here