Postby Kayann » Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:16 am
Just adding my 10c to the discussion.
Software GPU
- Definitely seems to be running speedier/smoother.
- Menus don't seem to be causing me crashes and settings like special screen size seem to be sticking now. Admittedly I did have a crash everytime I opened the set buttons menu for the overlay pad, but reinstalling fpse seemed to fix that.
- I can confirm the flipped button values (at least for R1/R2). I was wondering why I could no longer trigger Squall's gunblade!
- Some ongoing compatibility issues, at least with FF8, where 3D models are superimposed over background video when they should be covered by the background video (at this point they should be behind that grey column - see attached image file). Haven't got far enough in game to check if this issue crops up later as there are a number of points where 3D models and FMV's are combined on screen in FF8.
- Screen blurriness. I am sure that many versions previously the screen in software mode wasn't so blurry (ie. looked more pixelated) but I am running from memory... I'd prefer the option to turn this blur off (I presume its some form of hard-coded screen filtering). This blur is not present in OpenGL. Happy to provide comparison screenies if wanted.
OpenGL
- Not too much to say here as you seem to be in the process of changing to a new form of OpenGL with better compatiblity. So you probably don't need to hear me go on about the lack of compatibility (eg. garbage PS logo/text on startup, FF8 battle transition), duplicated imagery to the sides of the 4:3 main screen (apparently only on 2D screens, 3D world map displays nicely in 4:3 with black vertical borders)...
- I will point out, however, that the latest versions (since 11.29) do seem to have introduced some lag and freezes into OpenGL. eg. At the start of a battle in FF8 (after the transition scene) it will zoom into the battle field - freeze for a few seconds - continue playing - freeze again briefly - the continue on as per normal (which is quite slow and variable unfortunately).
- Oh yeah, Alpha blending. Horrible black boxes instead of transparency. Don't normally have this enabled but was trying options like this and Mask bit to see if it helped with the garbage on the sides of the screen (it didn't).
- Antialiasing doesn't seem to do much ie. unforunately I am not one of the luck ones where this setting magically makes things better. Frameskip throws a minor life line, but not enough to make things anywhere near playable.
- Looking foward to increased compatibility with OpenGL ES 2 plugin, though without significant speed boosts OpenGL is going to remain unplayable for many people. Still, appreciate the work being done here.
Suggestions
- Fullscreen mode. This helps to avoid accidental button presses, however this would required some onscreen way of activating Fpse's own menu without using the android back button... which of course leads to:
- Improved menu system, as mentioned by others before me. It'd also be nice if the emulator had a way of fully rebooting itself so settings could be enabled and applied in app without having to then completely exit the app and restart the app to get them to apply.
- Handling memory card storage differently. In reinstalling Fpse I discovered the hard way that this wipes all user data such as memcards... Android gives no warning about such things when uninstalling an app so Fpse needs to take the initiative and come up with an in-your-face force you to set a directory for saving memcards where they are preserved after uninstall... A bit like it does with the BIOS. I presume options like back-up and restore all files handles this, but these are not exactly the first things people go looking for I imagine...
- Improved documentation. What does each option do... etc. Should some options be enabled/disabled for certain games?
- Option to increase internal resolution for Software gpu. Seriously, it looks all kinds of ugly at the moment. Your speed increases are defininatly creating room to enable such options for many people. Perhaps you think OpenGL is the way foward, but it looks like it will be a long time coming for the majority of users. Some love for the Software gpu would probably be more compatible across the board at this stage... Increased internal resolution is one of the key ways emulators improve open the (typically) low resolution consoles the emulate, whether it is PSX, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, etc...
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Attachments
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- Screenshot_2012-08-27-21-25-19[1].png (723.13 KiB) Viewed 13164 times