PlayStation emulators

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Revision as of 10:28, 17 July 2013 by 98.232.142.40 (talk)
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The PlayStation (known shorthand as PS1 or PSX) is a video games console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc in 1994. It used CD media. It was a commercial success in part to being relatively easy to program for compared to others at the time.

Emulators

Chart

Name Operating System(s) Latest Version Plugins Enhancements Recommended
PCSX-R Windows, Linux, OS X SVN
XEBRA Windows 04/25/2011 Build
Mednafen Multiplatform 0.9.28
RetroArch (Mednafen) Multiplatform 0.9.28
ePSXe Windows, Android 1.8.0 (Windows), 1.9.4 (Android)
pSX Windows, Linux 1.13

Comparisons

PCSX-R is actively developed and open source. Also a plugin based emulator similar to ePSXe, but is active and has more features. It has a widescreen hack, fewer glitches, proper multitrack CUE support, and support for superior plugins, such as LilyPad. No known reason to not use it over ePSXe. Though please do note if you actually find one, as whatever it is could likely be implemented into PCSX-R anyways through their issue tracker.

XEBRA has very high compatibility. Games that require subchannel data are not supported, but most other games run flawlessly. Last release was in mid-2011. User interface is often complained about by people who can't work technology.

Mednafen psx (RetroArch) is an emulator focused on accuracy. It seems fully compatible since 0.9.28WIP. Do note if that's not the case though. Supposedly requires a minimum of a Core 2 Duo at 2 GHz clock.

PSXfin is simple and has a "standard" interface, which is easy to get into. It would be the best[citation needed] if it was actively developed. It has a lot of compatibility issues. Dead development, closed source, no hope. Despite this, it has many hangers-on that continue to praise it as the best Playstation emulator.

ePSXe is a fairly standard plugin based emulator, and since it's closed source it gets only updates from the main developers. And only a few minor updates once every few years. Though 1.8.0's biggest addition was the Android version's advertisement. Jew development, closed source, no hope.

It's generally recommended to use Mednafen or PCSX-R. Many use Mednafen for 2D games, and PCSX-R for 3D games.

Emulation issues

Left: native resolution with dithering. Right: High internal resolution without dithering.

Several problems occur when running PS1 games. And they become more noticeable at resolutions higher than the internal native resolution when using HLE, hardware-accelerated plugins such as Pete's OpenGL. Though they're still apparent at native, the low resolution's aliasing kills much visibility, hiding the issues.

Jittering polygons are caused by low-precision fixed-point (to the native res, essentially) math. And more accurate math where relevant helps, i.e. GTE Accuracy. Though it can often create holes in the seams.

The PS1 hardware didn't have a z-buffer. The lack of a z-buffer causes things like polygons popping over others. Tekken character limbs is a good example to see that.

No texture perspective correction causes distortion to texture angles at certain viewing angles. Notably at the bottom near the camera.