RetroArch - one for many

(reserved for future use)

Iā€™ve been playing a bunch of PS1 games through emulation, and with Touge MAX G, I completed Gymkhana mode but there was always this niggling feeling that something wasnā€™t quite right with the handling. Not lag, per se, though there was a little of thatā€¦ but more sensitivity of the analog stick.

It varies wildly between my DualShock 2 (quite slow response) and my PS1 Analog controller (very rapid reponse) being sure to set input to the correct type of controller. Itā€™s even the case with the neGcon - indeed one of the in-game controller setup screens for neGcon is where I noticed something was not quite right.

If I had to guess I would say that the response curve (eg. linear, cubic, quadratic, sinusoidal, etc) is wrong. But I donā€™t really know for sure.

What Iā€™ve tried:

  • polling behaviour: early/mid/late
  • analog deadzone:
  • analog sensitivity:
  • neGcon twist response: (BeetlePSX core option, applies to neGcon only)

What Iā€™ve seen:

  • Touge MAX G plays a little odd but I could cope; completed Gymkhana mode.
  • Touge MAX and Touge MAX 2 are so twitchy itā€™s unplayable, even with my ā€œmore sluggishā€ DualShock 2.
  • Runbabout 2 I found a tiny bit odd but could cope; completed Story mode.

What I need to try:

  • analog self-calibration:
  • some PS1/PS2 controller debug homebrew

I am using a USB adapter and putting pads into Analog mode before configuring buttons.

Does this sound familiar to anybody?

Am I missing some arcane RetroArch setting? Do I need a different USB adaptor? Should I use a different controller? HELP

This sounds really odd, and Iā€™ve never had this issue on RA (though Iā€™ve only used 360 and XB1 controllers).

Are you using a PC? Does the adapter use dinput or xinput? You could try changing the input driver either way.

Have you tried using a straight USB controller instead, like a dualshock 3?

Yes, Win 10 PC. Iā€™d have to check! Iā€™ll try changing it.

I donā€™t have any! Only wireless controllers I have are Switch Pro, Wii U Pro, Wii. But I want to play using the controller the game was designed for.

Iā€™m considering a Brook PS2 to Xbox One USB adapter.

Depending on how the controller reports I may also recommend using some sort of xinput emulation, I used to use Xpadder but Iā€™ve not had to do anything like that for a while (years) so Iā€™m not sure whatā€™s best.

Iā€™d also maybe try other games/emulators outside RA to make sure it is not the adapter itself. Brook makes good stuff, as does Raphnet.

Will try tonight!

Brook PS2

  • rumble
  • shipped from UK

Raphnet PS2

  • no rumble
  • memory card support (only writing whole memory card so not super useful to me)
  • ship from Canada so import duty

So I now realise that my dual analog grey PS1 controller is still technically a Dual Shock.

Will have to dig out my other PS1 controllers, of which there are many.

Bought a different cheap (twin) PS2 to USB. Works a lot better in a quick test.

Rumble in Windows.

No rumble in RetroArch so far!

Gave up and ordered a Brook PS2 to Xbox One (XInput) adapter, which works plug and play with my PC and RetroArch and has rumble!

Why didnā€™t I just do this originally? :laughing:

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Argh! No neGcon support with the Brook. So I still have to use a different cheap adapter just for that.

Hi folks - just popping in here to ask for some advice since Iā€™m not really well versed with all things available via RetroArch:

With a busted PC Engine Duo-R Iā€™m thinking about emulating the games I want to play on it in the meantime, but Iā€™m worried about how RGB output of PC Engine games tends to mess with the colour output of many games: Games that look better with Composite vs RGB colors | The PC Engine Software Bible Forum

Basically, I want the games to output as if I were playing them via composite/YUV, is this possible? I think Kaze no Densetsu Xanadu will look pretty bad via RGB colours, looking at the composite photos in the manual, really want to avoid that!


Edit: Solution! Improper colors | The PC Engine Software Bible Forum

Question now is whether the PC Engine Mini handled this correctly - Dungeon Explorer is looking awfully oversaturated here vs composite output on the actual system: https://youtu.be/hLCZmB9Qfug?t=368

Yes, there is a number of ways you can go about this. First of, the beetle PCE core has an option for RGB/composite palette selection in its own options right out of the gate. If you want to simulate more of the composite signal in terms of blending pixels, color bleed, crosstalk, etc. Thereā€™s a host of shader options at your disposal. You can PM me if you want some pointers, or hit me up on discord.

Thanks, Iā€™ll give it a go!

RetroArch 1.9.7 brings an optimised GBA core (gpSP) to PS2 running ROMs at full speed!

Very cool, perhaps a decent alternative to GBA Player?

Iā€™m more excited about the fixes implemented for switchres. It should finally behave like its supposed to again, and should make 15khz output to a secondary monitor/tv a very viable setup once again. Itā€™s been broken for years now.

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Secondary like in terms of not the ā€œprimary monitorā€ on Windows? I remember being able to use extended display mode and switch res if I set my CRT display as primary in windows but yeah if I didnā€™t it would never work

I have always been irked by this. If I left my main display as a hi-res one it would always mess with the switchres. Glad to see it was fixed and Iā€™ll be upgrading to try this out soon.

As a side note, whenever I upgrade RA itself, I just download the new version then move over my system, saves, and config files/folders. Is there a better/smoother upgrade process than basically copy/pasting things around?

Theyā€™re used to be in the desktop window view in the Windows version, but they removed it. :man_shrugging:

Now on Windows I grab the installer and install into the existing folder.

On Mac is easier as you just replace the app.

I only upgrade for fixes like this. Platform fixes are usually in updated cores.

Gotcha. Iā€™ve been using RA for something like 6-7 years and the evolution is staggering as far as capability and especially usability goes. I can stand to copy some folders now and then I suppose!

On a side note, what shaders does everyone use? I am a Royale Kurozumi kind of guy if Iā€™m playing on a flat panel. Iā€™ve been looking for a less involved shader for my VGA CRTs to emulate a 240p look at lower resolutions like 1280x960 or even 960x720.