Chrono Cross lag?!

[TheMaister]

When i play Chrono Cross sometimes when lots of 3D-models (4-5 or so) come into the picture, the game starts to lag!! I feels like it is 20 FPS or so, but the emu says that it is running at a constant 59.9 FPS?!

I tried all plugins, and all of them have the same problem..
So I wonder, is it the PlayStaion itself that is lagging? The music doesn't lag though..

Here is my comp, if it helps:

CPU: P4 2,8 GHz HT 800 MHz
GPU: ATI 9800 Pro
RAM: 512 MB RAM 400 MHz
EMu: ePSXe 1.52


And current Plugin settings:

Plugin: Pete's OpenGL2 Driver 2.7
Author: Pete Bernert
Card vendor: ATI Technologies Inc.
GFX card: RADEON 9800 Pro x86/SSE2

Resolution/Color:
- 1280x1024 Fullscreen - NO desktop changing
- Internal X resolution: 1
- Internal Y resolution: 2
- Keep psx aspect ratio: on
- No render-to-texture: off

- Filtering: 4
- Hi-Res textures: 2
- TexWin pixel shader: on
- VRam size: 128 MBytes

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

Compatibility:
- Offscreen drawing: 1
- Framebuffer effects: 3
- Framebuffer uploads: 2

Misc:
- Scanlines: off
- Mdec filter: on
- Screen filtering: on
- Shader effects: 3/3
- Flicker-fix border size: 2
- GF4/XP crash fix: off
- Game fixes: on [00001000]

[hushypushy]

interesting, does it still do it if you turn off shader effects?

oh yeah, on a side note, turn off "keep PSX aspect ratio"

[TheMaister]

Nah. I like PSX aspect ratio.. *me likes widescreen*

Yes. Even if I set graphics to crap, it will still lag. ;_;
Heck, even the software plugin lags..

[dbhankins]

I've had similar problems with a couple of games - action slows but framerate stays at 60. In these cases it seems that the engine has timing problems.

In each of these cases (FF7, WipEout) switching to a different emulator fixed the problem. The emulator I switched to was sssPSX.


Dan

P.S. I have Chrono Cross (NTSC). If that's the version you've got, send me a memcard or savestate that's just before a slowdown and I'll try to reproduce and fix the problem.

[TheMaister]

Thanks, but it happens everywhere there's lot of things happening.
And yes, it is NTSC. It may be timing problems, but I think it is just internal lag, that the PSX itself lags.. I don't know, but I hope there's a solution..
The action doesn't slow down, but it looks like frameskipper.. ^_^

Well.. It's not really a problem, but it is annoying indeed..

[dbhankins]

Did you try sssPSX?

Will you send me that memcard or savestate? You can do it this way:

• Send the file to yourself using YouSendIt.com
• Compose a PM to me
• Cut the file link YouSendIt.com gives you and paste it into the PM
• Send the PM

Dan

[TheMaister]

Ok. I will try sssPSX. I'll report back.

Report: No difference as I could see.. Plus, battles were glitchy.. ;_;

[TheMaister]

Ok. Here is my memcard..

[dbhankins]

I ran up into the mountain and had a battle. I didn't see any slowdowns.

I went back and looked at the config I posted a while ago. Slowdowns, especially in battle intros, were one of the problems I'd had and solved. You can find that config >>>HERE<<<.

If that config doesn't fix it for you, perhaps it's a hyperthreading timing issue - I've modified my ePSXe 1.6.0 executable to run on only one of the two virtual processors. Search the PSX emulation forums for dual core and you'll find an earlier post of mine where I give a link to a site with instructions on doing the modification.


Dan

[TheMaister]

Sorry, but I don't get battle slowdowns.. Well. Sometimes, but I don't care about them.
(I happens when lots of stuff happen. I feels laggy but it isn't the framerate, it's most likely the emu or plugin..)
I get those on the field... I have checked your configs and I actually use them to a certain degree. ^^

Well. As I said, I get problems on the field or in battles when many 3D-models gather, no matter which plugin I'm using.. When I'm running around with Serge, it just feels laggy... But most of the time it's perfect..

Thanks for all help so far.
And another question... Is sssPSX's memcards compatible with ePSXe? If so, I will troubleshoot more..

[TheMaister]

Originally Posted by dbhankins

I ran up into the mountain and had a battle. I didn't see any slowdowns.

I went back and looked at the config I posted a while ago. Slowdowns, especially in battle intros, were one of the problems I'd had and solved. You can find that config >>>HERE<<<.

If that config doesn't fix it for you, perhaps it's a hyperthreading timing issue - I've modified my ePSXe 1.6.0 executable to run on only one of the two virtual processors. Search the PSX emulation forums for dual core and you'll find an earlier post of mine where I give a link to a site with instructions on doing the modification.


Dan

Which emu did you use? sssPSX or ePSXe 1.6?!

[DeathPenalty]

Try Using PSXeven, it fixed my FF7 lag COMPLETELTY, try it out.
Do you play it off an ISO or directly from the cd? try doing an iso, mount it on a virtual dive and use Pete CDR plugin.
If you don't have a virtual drive you can download Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120%, but if you don't want it just load the iso with the "Run ISO" command in the 'File' menu.

-DeathPenalty

[dbhankins]

For Chrono Cross, I'm using ePSXe 1.6.0. I never needed to try another emulator to cure any slowdowns I had with it.

You said you're using my config "to a certain degree". Are you using OGL2 2.7, with the framebuffer settings I posted? Because those were what fixed my slowdowns. Also, IIRC, you get much better performance making an image and running that rather than running from the original CDROM.

I ran the party up and down the peninsula for a good minute before entering the mountain, and around in the fire caves for another 10-15 seconds before triggering a battle. I didn't see any slowdowns.

Your system appears to be plenty powerful enough to run the game with no slowdowns, so I doubt it's a performance problem - unless you you've got other stuff running on your system eating up your CPU and memory. What does Task Manager tell you?

The only thing left I can suggest, if none of the above works for you, is to pin your ePSXe.exe to a single processor and see if that helps.


Dan

[TheMaister]

Yes, I have a powerful enough system. FF7,8,9 run perfectly...
I don't have any unneccesary things running in the task manager..

So, for Chrono Cross, ePSXe 1.6.0 is better than ePSXe 1.5.2?!

[dbhankins]

I haven't yet needed to pull out 1.5.2 for any of my 50+ games. sssPSX for several. PSXeven once. We'll see; I'm told I'll eventually come to grief trying to run FFIX on 1.6.0.


Dan

[TheMaister]

OK.. I will start using ePSXe 1.6.
Thanks for all your help.. I fixed my slowdown a little. ^_^
And in fact, FF IX works with 1.6.0.

When I got to the Dali scene, I just pressed F7 and F4 frantically and I got past it..

[hushypushy]

Raziel beat FF9 with ePSXe 1.6.0.