PS1/2 Emulator WiiStation - Another Fork of WiiSXRX released

[Disorarara]

For me the last thing this emulator would need to be flawless is PSX mouse support, games like Starblade Alpha or Galaxian3 would be amazing with wii remote controls.

Post automatically merged: Sep 26, 2023

Re-Volt (Europe) (En,Fr,De,Es,It)
this is the result

View attachment 395938

You have dithering enabled, that's why Re-Volt is running slowly. Set dithering to off and also enable frameskip (completely unnoticeable in this game since it already skips many frames) and you'll get full speed.

 

[klonoa]

a few more CHD test results with Lightrec :

Bust A Groove (USA) - plays perfect with music
Bust A Groove 2 (USA) - plays perfect with music
Bust-A-Move 2 - Arcade Edition (USA) - plays perfect with music
Bust-A-Move 4 (USA) - plays perfect with music
Bust-A-Move '99 (USA) - plays perfect with music
Castrol Honda Superbike Racing (USA) - plays perfect with music
Chocobo Racing (USA) - plays perfect with music
Inspector Gadget - Gadget's Crazy Maze (USA) (En,Fr,De,Es,It,Nl) - plays perfect with music
Street Fighter EX2 Plus (USA) - plays perfect with music
Street Sk8er 2 (USA) - plays perfect with music
Trick'n Snowboarder (USA) - plays perfect with music

 

[_47iscool]

Is it possible to add merged CD (DVD5) support?

 

[SaulFabre]

After some closer investigation and comparison, i think i finally got the cause why do the Studio 33 F1 (Formula One) games still crash even when using Lightrec (with the autoFix of unsafe OPT codes with DMA-only) and the EA Sports F1 games to refusing to load the games.

Checking the Lightrec implementation (lightrec.c) in WiiStation and comparing it to PCSX-ReARMed, i noticed that the ICache emulation isn't implemented for Lightrec.
The emu has ICache implementation but only for the Interpreter and the improved "old" PPC dynarec.

So, for aclarate which games use ICache (instruction cache) emulation for work on PCSX-ReARMed:

• Formula One Arcade
• Formula One '99
• Formula One 2000
• Formula One 2001
• EA Sports F1 2000
• EA Sports F1 Championship Season 2000

These games and possibly more games, if trying to play in Lightrec it will crash in different sequences/moments because of unimplemented ICache emulation on Lightrec.

I'd like to try implementing ICache emulation on Lightrec too, but it's kinda tricky and too hard for me to implement it adequately.
Maybe someone else can help with implementing ICache emulation on WiiStation for Lightrec? Maybe @Jokippo, @xjsxjs197 or someone else? Thanks.

EDIT: I made a PR which fixes the game MediEvil (PAL), the visualization of X2 - No Relief (PAL, not sure if JPN too) and some more PS1 games which have a large video resolution. Thanks emu_kidid and pcercuei for that!
https://github.com/xjsxjs197/WiiSXRX_2022/pull/130/files

 

[MeXen]

Shaman King Spirits of a Shaman STILL doesnt work, which makes me believe that maybe its a copy protection or something

Castlevania Rondo of the Night (SotN Hack) (current version) now works, full speed (so far), no issues!

Clock Tower - The First Fear (English patch) - Works, full speed, no issues!

Clock Tower Ghost Head - Yokubari (English Undub/Unlocalized retranslation patch of Struggle Within) v1.00 - Works, full speed no issues

JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken (Japan) - Same bottom scanline glitches as its north american counterpart.

Majokko Daisakusen - Little Witching Mischiefs (Japan) (Bizarre japanese localization of The Holy War with TOEI's magical girl characters) works, full speed, no issues!

Resident Evil - Director's Cut - works, no issues, full speed.

Beavis and Butt-Head - Virtual Aho Shoukougun (Virtual Stupidity Japanese PS1 port of the PC game + English mostly Undub Patch except for mini games) - works, full speed!

Buster Bros Collection - doesnt work well, game runs at full speed, but Buster Bros and Super Buster Bros had music issues, where music doesnt play unless you pause, then unpause, then it plays for a few seconds, and when you die and restart game, they soft lock in black screen, Buster Buddies (Pang 3) seems to be the only one working well.

Bust a Move 99 - perfect, no issues!

Advanced V.G. - perfect, no issues!

Advanced V.G. 2 - perfect, no issues!

All games tested using CHD format! cause that allows more games on my USB.

 

[GustavoReis]

After some closer investigation and comparison, i think i finally got the cause why do the Studio 33 F1 (Formula One) games still crash even when using Lightrec (with the autoFix of unsafe OPT codes with DMA-only) and the EA Sports F1 games to refusing to load the games.

Checking the Lightrec implementation (lightrec.c) in WiiStation and comparing it to PCSX-ReARMed, i noticed that the ICache emulation isn't implemented for Lightrec.
The emu has ICache implementation but only for the Interpreter and the improved "old" PPC dynarec.

So, for aclarate which games use ICache (instruction cache) emulation for work on PCSX-ReARMed:

• Formula One Arcade
• Formula One '99
• Formula One 2000
• Formula One 2001
• EA Sports F1 2000
• EA Sports F1 Championship Season 2000

These games and possibly more games, if trying to play in Lightrec it will crash in different sequences/moments because of unimplemented ICache emulation on Lightrec.

I'd like to try implementing ICache emulation on Lightrec too, but it's kinda tricky and too hard for me to implement it adequately.
Maybe someone else can help with implementing ICache emulation on WiiStation for Lightrec? Maybe @Jokippo, @xjsxjs197 or someone else? Thanks.

EDIT: I made a PR which fixes the game MediEvil (PAL), the visualization of X2 - No Relief (PAL, not sure if JPN too) and some more PS1 games which have a large video resolution. Thanks emu_kidid and pcercuei for that!
https://github.com/xjsxjs197/WiiSXRX_2022/pull/130/files

Hi @SaulFabre
percuei can't help with this issue of implementing icache in lightrec??

 

[SaulFabre]

Hi @SaulFabre
percuei can't help with this issue of implementing icache in lightrec??

I really doubt if pcercuei will commit/contribute to WiiStation, cause he looks like he's more interested in maintaining WiiSX and the main project of PCSX-ReARMed.

In one of his comments, he said he wont do anything on a PS1 emulator "which is based in an old version, with lots of ugly hacks". (PS: that is my guess after reading one of his messages in GitHub)

So we would need someone really interested in backporting changes from latest Lightrec/PCSX-ReARMed to WiiStation.

 

[MeXen]

Wow, really? after what he contribuited to us?

 

[SaulFabre]

Wow, really? after what he contribuited to us?

1. First of all, dont take the message too seriously.
2. What i suppose about pcercuei not wanting to contribute to WiiStation is because he/she actually doesn't trust so much on WiiStation, with this comment to @Jokippo:

pcercuei said:

I don't really trust Wiistation as it uses a very old version of PCSX with a lot of ugly hacks added on top.

If he/she wants to contribute to WiiStation its his/her decision, but honestly i dont know. Maybe ask him in his GitHub?
3. The implementation of ICache emulation for Lightrec was not made by an single person. It was actually made by a team of people, which iirc they were pcercuei, gameblabla, and notaz (author of PCSX-ReARMed).

Maybe you can contact them on GitHub for see if they are interested in backporting these changes here to WiiStation? I really doubt of this, sincerously.

Post automatically merged: Sep 26, 2023

Buster Bros Collection - doesnt work well, game runs at full speed, but Buster Bros and Super Buster Bros had music issues, where music doesnt play unless you pause, then unpause, then it plays for a few seconds, and when you die and restart game, they soft lock in black screen, Buster Buddies (Pang 3) seems to be the only one working well.

I've seen that this game also requires the ICache to be emulated in Lightrec.

Unfortunately this isn't in WiiStation, and backporting ICache in Lightrec is pretty hard here.

Try using the PPC dynarec as it can emulate ICache?

 

[GustavoReis]

1. First of all, dont take the message too seriously.
2. What i suppose about pcercuei not wanting to contribute to WiiStation is because he/she actually doesn't trust so much on WiiStation, with this comment to @Jokippo:


If he/she wants to contribute to WiiStation its his/her decision, but honestly i dont know. Maybe ask him in his GitHub?
3. The implementation of ICache emulation for Lightrec was not made by an single person. It was actually made by a team of people, which iirc they were pcercuei, gameblabla, and notaz (author of PCSX-ReARMed).

Maybe you can contact them on GitHub for see if they are interested in backporting these changes here to WiiStation? I really doubt of this, sincerously.

Post automatically merged: Sep 26, 2023

I've seen that this game also requires the ICache to be emulated in Lightrec.

Unfortunately this isn't in WiiStation, and backporting ICache in Lightrec is pretty hard here.

Try using the PPC dynarec as it can emulate ICache?

I also think he is not interested in WiiStation, the focus is on Emukidid's wiisx because it uses all the code from rearmed and lightrec
I also read the comments on Github

 

[MeXen]

I also think he is not interested in WiiStation, the focus is on Emukidid's wiisx because it uses all the code from rearmed and lightrec
I also read the comments on Github

what can we do then?

 

[GustavoReis]

what can we do then?

Unfortunately my knowledge in programming is very little.
If I understood better, I would try to contribute to this issue and also to the covers mod for the emulator

 

[retrodern]

I tried the new build with various games in CHD and the emulator reads them without problems, but out of 6 games, 5 have problems and they are related to the use of Lightrec:
Diablo - the game has large frame drops every 4/5 seconds in the game
Donald Duck: Going Quakers H after selecting the level to play, the game crashes and gives code dump
Quake 2 - once you reach the third stage the game freezes and code dumps
T'ai Fu Wrath Tiger - after the introductory level the game freezes
V- Rally 2 - shortly after starting a race the game crashes
In Dynarec the games work but are quite slower than in previous versions of WiiStation without Lightrec (for example I tried Diablo's PBP on v1.0 and it works perfect between 58 and 60 FPS)
I'm happy with the CHD support to save space and in my case it would be perfect to have it on previous versions of WiiStation (for now the Lightrec has only served me for Oddworld Abe's and all those games with graphic glitches, as well as EA's F1 games)
EDIT: Wipeout 3 and Rollcage works perfectly without any problems, great

 

[_47iscool]

Gran Turismo (USA, v1.1) CHD freezes with Lightrec shortly after starting a race. It also stutters once for about one frame when going into the pre-race menu.

Silent Bomber seems to be broken as CHD on Lightrec as well, it freezes after playing a level a more and seems random. I did use GS codes, but I tried it with the old Dynamic Recompiler as CHD even with GS codes and didn't run into any lockups.

 

[retrodern]

I tested quite a few games, all in Lightrec and CHD only and here are the results
Games that works well (Gameplay - Audio/Video)
Air Combat / Ace Combat 3 / Bugriders / Criticom / Formula 1 / Harry Potter - Chamber Of Secret / Mobil 1 Rally / Olympic Soccer / Rally Cross / Return Fire / Rollcage / Shadow Man / Warcraft 2 / Wipeout 3 / Wu-Tang Shaolin / Disruptor
Games that don't work:
Need For Speed High Stakes - crashes and code dumps at the start of a race
Need For Speed Porsche - freezes at the screen before a race
Andretti Racing - when entering the race the joystick no longer works
Legacy Of Kain Soul Reaver - crashes after a few minutes of gameplay
Italian Job - crashes during the speech before the first mission
Uprising X - crashes and code dumps when starting a game
Vanishing Point - crashes and gives a black screen immediately after the screen before the menu
WCW Backstage - crashes and code dumps just before starting a match
Also having the previous builds, the problem with these games using Lightrec took over with the latest improved builds for the F1 / Formula One games (requested by me by the way ) playing them on the v2.4 15 build (in which it had been fixed the interpreter situation that no longer worked) I don't have any of these problems

 

[Disorarara]

what can we do then?

It doesn't mean Wiistation will never get the lightrec icache implementation, it just means he personally isn't interested in it. Other people can still take up the challenge if they want.

 

[MeXen]

Gran Turismo (USA, v1.1) CHD freezes with Lightrec shortly after starting a race. It also stutters once for about one frame when going into the pre-race menu.

Silent Bomber seems to be broken as CHD on Lightrec as well. I did use GS codes, but I tried it with the old Dynamic Recompiler as CHD even with GS codes and didn't run into any lockups.

At this point its safe to say that most likely, the CHD format aint causing real issues to the games themselves (by its own its what i mean), but rather lightrec

 

[Disorarara]

I tried the new build with various games in CHD and the emulator reads them without problems, but out of 6 games, 5 have problems and they are related to the use of Lightrec:
Diablo - the game has large frame drops every 4/5 seconds in the game
Donald Duck: Going Quakers H after selecting the level to play, the game crashes and gives code dump
Quake 2 - once you reach the third stage the game freezes and code dumps
T'ai Fu Wrath Tiger - after the introductory level the game freezes
V- Rally 2 - shortly after starting a race the game crashes
In Dynarec the games work but are quite slower than in previous versions of WiiStation without Lightrec (for example I tried Diablo's PBP on v1.0 and it works perfect between 58 and 60 FPS)
I'm happy with the CHD support to save space and in my case it would be perfect to have it on previous versions of WiiStation (for now the Lightrec has only served me for Oddworld Abe's and all those games with graphic glitches, as well as EA's F1 games)
EDIT: Wipeout 3 and Rollcage works perfectly without any problems, great

I can confirm Diablo has an insistent frame drop problem which is a regression (can be mitigated somewhat with frameskip if you don't mind mildly jumpy movement), I cannot confirm V-Rally 2 has a crashing issue at least on the NTSC version which is renamed Need For Speed - V-Rally 2, it runs fine for me.

At this point its safe to say that most likely, the CHD format aint causing real issues to the games themselves (by its own its what i mean), but rather lightrec

Not true at all. The more features you add, the more random issues you will come across. For compatibility purposes we should be really be testing with bin/cue first before confirming CHD works too and isn't the issue. It's only just been added and to declare it as completely stable is jumping the gun.

Post automatically merged: Sep 27, 2023

Is it possible to add merged CD (DVD5) support?

Not sure if this is relevant to your question but the Gran Turismo 2 combined disc mod which is 800 or 900MB or so works fine on WiiSX and Wiistation if you load directly from .bin, so I don't think filesize matters at all.

 

[GustavoReis]

@retrodern @_47iscool

I tested Gran turismo (1.1) bin/cue and need for speed high stakes (usa) bin/cue and works very well.
Not tested .chd files

 

[_47iscool]

At this point its safe to say that most likely, the CHD format aint causing real issues to the games themselves (by its own its what i mean), but rather lightrec

I agree.

Not sure if this is relevant to your question but the Gran Turismo 2 combined disc mod which is 800 or 900MB or so works fine on WiiSX and Wiistation if you load directly from .bin, so I don't think filesize matters at all.

I tried a merged Metal Gear Solid V1.1 (ripped and merged from my own personal copy with a disc combining kit), and it freezes after going in the vent right before Liquid pretending to be Master contacts Snake. It works and is fully playable on POPStarter, so the issue is not with the merger.

@retrodern @_47iscool

I tested Gran turismo (1.1) bin/cue and need for speed high stakes (usa) bin/cue and works very well.
Not tested .chd files

CHD seems to work fine on Dynarec, it is just a Lightrec issue with CHD.

I think I remember @SaulFabre saying something about a memory leak, and that is probably what is going on here with CHD stutters and crashes with some games.

I have to say though, it is quite impressive that CHD runs as good as it does with most games as in FPS speed, considering it is basically 7-zip's LZMA while compressing CDDA to flac (I wonder what compression level the flac encoding is using). I also wonder if CHDMAN takes into account the RAW 2352 sectors simlar to the ECM format.

I was hesitant to drop PBP at first, but it is well worth it, even though CHDMAN compressing ISO's is very slow and only supports one core.

I also converted my Sega CD games to CHD and Genesis Plus GX works great with it.

I also wanted to share something else you all might find useful as I did a few years ago. Though I don't think these plugins are available for Linux 7-zip but I could be wrong.

As you may know the best compression for bin/cue images was WinRAR, espcially for games with CDDA.
However, with 7-zip and these plugins, you can get even better compression:

1. Smart7z (a must have, as it uses other plugins in conjunction with itself, and also uses 7-zip's various compression methods for various files types to get the best compresion.

2. Iso7z (a must have, as it takes into account RAW 2352 bin/cue sectors, inlcuding support for DreamCast GDI)

3. WavPack

4. MFilter (Not sure if this one helps but I have it anyway)

And after installing these plugins, use 'Smart 7z' as the 'Archive Format' to compress the disc images, as it uses the other plugins to compress data even better.

They are all free and you can get them here: https://www.tc4shell.com/en/7zip/

(It would be awesome if 7-zip had a CHDMAN plugin for bin/cue disc images.)