ePSXe

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ePSXe
EPSXe.png
Developer(s) Calb, Galtor, and _Demo_
Latest version 2.0.5 (Desktop)
2.0.16 [+] (Android)
Active Yes (Android)
No (Desktop)
Platform(s) Windows
Linux
macOS
Android
Emulates PlayStation
Website www.ePSXe.com
License Closed-source

ePSXe (an acronym for enhanced PSX emulator) is a closed-source, plugin-based PlayStation emulator for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

Download[edit]

Windows Linux macOS ePSXe

Android Play store
Payware $4
Android ePSXe OpenGL Plugin
Windows ePSXe Shark
Adds additional features to older ePSXe builds, e.g. pad plugin support

Review[edit]

ePSXe is a plugin-based PlayStation emulator, though it comes with internal plugins for everything in addition to being able to use the same plugins as other emulators. It supports multiple CD-ROM formats (.bin/.cue, multi-bin/cue, .mdf/.mds, .ccd/.bin/.sub, .pbp, etc), including sub-channel support and PPF patching on the fly. Multi-tap up to 8 players are supported.

There are versions for Windows, Linux, and Android.

A real PlayStation BIOS is recommended but not required. ePSXe can run games without an official PS1 BIOS via HLE, but compatibility will be lower and memory card support limited. Compared to other emulators such as the PlayStation core for Mednafen, it has poor accuracy to the original hardware.

VERY IMPORTANT: Save states done with official PS1 BIOSes are NOT compatible with save states done with ePSXe HLE BIOS (Besides it uses a different namespace).

Netplay[edit]

ePSXe uses Kaillera clients.

Downloads[edit]

Review
PROS
  • Support for up to 8 simultaneous people playing
  • No fiddling with router settings and port forwarding
  • Netplay traffic is handled by a central dedicated server that helps keep things synced
  • Private game chat support and public chat to speak people outside your game room
  • Being able to drop out of a game at any time without disrupting (much) your teammate(s)
  • Kicking/banning/muting people from your room
  • It's a matchmaking service where you can join other people's rooms, too
CONS
  • It's slightly (significantly still) prone to freezing/crashing/BSOD (in that order)
  • Random, inconsistent FPS drops due to the server trying to keep everyone synced, sometimes stuttering. It's annoying, but rarely does it make it unplayable
  • The emulator is based upon (ePSXe 1.60, a 10-year-old version) lacks a lot of options, and emulation accuracy is low
  • Everyone needs to have the exact same ROM version or netplay won't work (if it somehow does, it'll desync rather quickly)
  • Everyone needs to have the exact same save file or no save file at all, or else it desyncs
  • You need to constantly switch focus back and forth between chat and emulator window in order to chat
  • You will hear no sound while the window is unfocused
  • The emulator is extremely sensitive and desyncs if you focus on another window, move the window around or minimize it
  • Not long after the game desync, the entire emulator will freeze
  • Dropping from a game or trying to exit Kaillera will freeze or crash the game
How to
  1. Unpack the emulator wherever you want.
  2. Replace the stock kailleraclient.dll inside the emulator folder with the multiplayer version (Jul-2011) IF you want to play with more than 2 players, OR you have horrible ping while using the P2P version.
  3. Replace the stock kailleraclient.dll with the P2P version (v0r7) IF you just want to play with 2 players AND you have a >100ms (>150ms tops).
  4. Place SCPH7502 (unzipped) inside the "BIOS" folder inside your emulator folder
  5. Place your video plugin, Eternal SPU, and Cyberpad in the "plugins" inside your emulator folder
  6. Configure your emulator: map buttons (physical controller preferred!), change resolutions (no fullscreen supported), apply filters (if you want them). Make sure you ONLY pick Digital or Analog, no rumble on, Multi-tap disabled and a blank profile for Controller 2
  7. Go to Config, then click Sound
  8. Click Configure
  9. Make the following configuration changes:
    • Audio device - Wave Mapper; Buffer size: 64
    • Audio Out Method - SPUasync; Async mode: Simple
    • Misc - Show realtime config window: blank; Cache VAG decode: blank
    • Fine tune: 0; Reverb: Off
    • Special game fix - Update before accessing register: checked
  10. Click OK to close this window and again to close Config Sound
  11. Go to Config, click Netplay. A window will popup
  12. In Select Netplay Plugin, choose CyberPad 1.4, then click OK
  13. Load a game
Helpful tips, solutions & common stuff you should know
  • Useful Hotkeys
    • F1 - Save a state.
    • F2 - Change slot (5 slots are available).
    • F3 - Load a state.
    • F4 - Toggles between limited and unlimited FPS.
    • F5 - Toggles analog on/off.
    • F6 - Select what pad will be affected by key F5.
    • F7 - Toggles between primary and secondary GPU plugin while playing a game.
  • To make your life easier and to save game-specific configurations use the front-end ePSXeCutor.
  • GameFAQs saves are in the dexdrive format (.gme), ePSXe can read those files, just select it as a memory card. If you plan to use the files in some other emulator use MemcardRex to convert it to .mcr or any filetype that is required by that emulator.
  • To delete settings
    1. If you ever need to delete ePSXe's settings go to Start -> Run -> Type: "regedit", find and delete this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\epsxe
    2. If you need to delete the settings of plugins then delete this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Vision Thing\PSEmu Pro
    3. If you are using Blade's plugins delete .ini files in the "configs" directory.

External links[edit]