Is there a way to increase load speed?

[dragonkx]

As all of us PSOne owners and players knows one of the bigger issues is the long load time for a lot of games so when i use a emulator (ePSXe for example) i can fix thix whit a plugin but since this emu does not use plugins i don't know if this is posible and if it is can you please tell me how to do it? if it´s not implemented i really love if you guys put this feature on it because this is by far the best psx emulator that i have used, not only on the compatibility zone but also on the gameplay speed since i don't have a great video card (Only 8MB of VRAM) and it doesn't crash as some others (in my case of course), thank you for your time and for making finally an emulator that i can use so my psone can rest some time

[Ultima]

Making an image of the game helps.

[Sune]

I think pSX already loads games faster than an actual Playstation whether you use an image or not.

Also, a fast-forward function is mentioned in the what's new part for 1.4 though it doesn't say what key is fast forward (The TAB-key OSD isn't mentioned anywhere either).

[Gamesoul Master]

Am I missing some kind of joke...? Cuz in this dialog window, it mentions both of those things. They've been here in this window since v1.4...

And yes... I've noticed too that, even loading from an original game disc or burned disc, pSX loads the game faster than an actual Playstation. Loading screens, I'm pretty sure, have a set minimum time that they're supposed to stay on for, cuz if you fast forward through all the loading screens, the game still loads just fine, even though you just instantly blazed through the loading screens... Same goes for memory card loading screens. XD

[patrickp]

Agreed, pSX loads as fast or faster than a Playstation does. In, fact, it's been suggested before on the forum that since there are one or two games that a Playstation will experience slowdowns on, while pSX runs them at full speed, it's not emulating the Playstation as well as it might... Needless to say, the consensus opinion was (AIR) that, since the game manufacturers obviously intended the games to run at full speed, the pSX was emulating a Playstation _better_ than a Playstation does... ;D

What sort of box are you running pSX on, dragonkx?

It's possible, of course, that what's made you think the emulator loads slower than a Playstation is comparison with other emulators. Since most or all other Playstation emulators don't show the Playstation screens on load, they effectively load faster (or should) than pSX. But that isn't a speed issue, and, frustrating though it can be on occasion, I really like seeing that Playstation logo at the start of a game.

[dragonkx]

this is my PC configuration
AMD Athlon XP 1.53GHZ
RAM: 376MB
Video card onboard 8MB Vram
Windows XP SP2

i do really like the sony and ps logo on the star of every game what i don't like is the loooong time that takes to load in some games (kof98, 99, metal slug etc)maybe there could be a option that allows the skip of this screens as soon the load finishes for faster gameplay and other to keep things just like in the real playstation (you know, for nostalgic purposes) well it's just an idea no?

[Ultima]

No there is no way to skip loading screens, as each game may load in different ways.

[patrickp]

If you find pSX seems to run slowly, and certainly if you think it loads more slowly than a Playstation, you might try increasing the amount of RAM in your box, dragonkx. Although 384MB is enough to run XP, and should run pSX Ok, you'll probably find that more RAM will help things run better, particularly if you have much running in the background - and most people do, although they may not realise it. I'd want to have at least 512MB even for running legacy OSs (W95 or 98) really well.

RAM has been described as the best bang for the buck upgrade you can get, and that's pretty apt. Oddly enough, the fact that you've got a very basic video card makes very little difference with pSX, since it runs in software rather than making use of a videocard's hardware capabilities.

[Sune]

lol, I must be getting old. I swear I looked over all the tabs in pSX...

Maybe I've caught that same rampant disease that's been infecting people over in the translation thread...

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

I was thinking the same thing a while ago. When I was playing Resident Evil, I was wondering if there was a logical way to make the open door sequence go faster. I know my machine is powerful enough to almost skip past those screens alltogether, but it doesn't seem makes much of a difference. What GM said about the minimum load time would make sense though. Is there some type of universal code in PS games that pSX could possibly be programmed to detect in loading screens and speed past certain parts in games when its loading? It's hard to believe that there is not something similar in different games' loading procedures, Ultima. I'm no expert though so you could be right. Maybe pSX Author could shed some light on the subject a little more.

BTW: On the subject of ram. If anyone needs ram, you better look in your Black Friday sales papers before the end of this week. I'm stocking up on all I can get ;D. Each year, most stores basically give them away after rebates.

[dragonkx]

I forgot to mention that i use my PSX CD's mostly in image form on my hd because they load faster and it's more easy to change discs when i want to play another game so this is not what causes it, and the gameplay it's smoth, olny the load screens, the fast foward key kinda works a little but it has crashed 2 times already, well i hope you can add it in a future

games run as good as in the real psx and to probe it here's a screenshot:

[Ultima]

TheCloudOfSmoke: I doubt there's a universal way. Just like with texture replacements, developers are free to store data in whatever format they wish. That means there can be a bunch of different ways to (pre)load data from the disc. Even still, if it could be detected, one still couldn't skip the loading screen entirely either. Additionally, I'm not sure pSX Author would want to mess with accuracy (with regards to skipping loading screens) too much either, seeing as how he even has pSX show the PlayStation startup logo stuff.

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

Well, I guess you're right. I wouldn't expect to remove the loading screens altogether though, but it would be nice to have them load significantly faster. Some games take an unnecessary long amount of time to load regardless of the machines' specs.

It's a nice idea but it's ashame that nothing can be done about it .

[Gamesoul Master]

Think of it like this... Each actual loading screen has a pre-defined minimum time that it must be on, to ensure that nothing may cause it to disappear prematurely and continue on without the relevant portion of the game being fully loaded. Some developers being more cautious than others... the times will vary. Now, as for the loading screen itself... there wouldn't really be any extra code, because the only thing special about a loading screen is that it doesn't do much graphically, and it loads more stuff than usual.

This is, of course, only educated speculation.

TheCloudOfSmoke: You can bet I've been looking forward to getting more RAM. I'm hoping to at least be able to pick up another 512 MB... considering I'm nearly broke right now...

[TheCloudOfSmoke]

OT: I'm broke too but I've been busting my butt around the neighborhood trying to make extra money for Black Friday/Christmas shopping. Last year they were giving away free computers (after rebates of course) at Circuit City. They were Emachines computers (eww) but none the less, they're still computers.