Classic Ys games on the PSP

[Mejilan]

Hello folks.

Please note, that I am not requesting ROMs or anything here. However, if this topic is inappropriate, please chastise me appropriately and close the thread, accepting my apologies! (I was looking for a link somewhere to the Terms of Service agreement, but couldn't find one...)

Anywho, I own Ys I&II (USA), Ys III (USA), and Ys IV (Jp), on Turbo CD/PCE CD, all original discs.

I guess I'd like to know if anyone here has managed to get them running via memory stick emulation, on a PSP. Currently, there are two emulators capable of playing Turbo CD games, PCEP 0.7 and HuE 0.60. I got Ys I-III working via both emulators, but am encountering some severe sound glitches, and wanted to confirm if the problem was with the emulators themselves, or with my rips (I've tried reripping, no luck.)

I'm running them as ISO/MP3 sets off the memory stick. I took my original discs and ripped them to BIN/CUEs using the Nightwolve's Turbo CD Ripping guide on RIGG (meanining, I've used CDRWin to rip these.) Then, I use CDMage to extract the ISOs and Waves from the BIN file. Then, I convert the Waves into MP3s using CDMage. I use a special utility called TOCReader to scan my original CD and create TOC files (which I then have to slightly edit in order to make it emu compatible.

Once I have the ISOs, MP3s, and properly edited TOC, I dump them all within a properly named subfolder, and load up the TOC, then the appropriate Super CDROM boot up ROM via my preferred emulator, and voila, it's working.

HUE does not have MP3 support, but it does have better game emulation support. The PCM music plays, but the MP3 music does not. So obviously, if I wanted to take up a lot let space on my 1gb mem stick, I could just leave the MP3s out, and load up only the TOC and ISOs. However, PCEP DOES have MP3 support, and Ys I-III aren't really so demanding that the less capable PCEP emulator stutters along or anything. The games run fine on either emu, but PCEP's MP3 support is abysmal. Both Ys I and Ys III are riddled with audio glitches (MP3 only, PCM is fine), and worst yet, the CD music will NOT loop. Also, the voices in Ys III (PCM voices?) aren't played in PCEP.

I cannot get Ys IV to run at ALL. Could be because of RIGG's translation patch, so I'm now doing a brand new rip of the Original JP disc (not my home-made translated CD Burn.)

I've also used Nightwolve's TOCVerifier to make sure that my ISO/Wave sets are perfect good rips.

Has anyone else attempted this? Are they getting similar results as me? Any help would be appreciated. And, as I said above, if this discussion is not appropriate, please close, and accept my humble apologies...

[Mejilan]

Thank you. I knew I was skirting the very limits of the line between legit and not, but that line tends to vary from forum to forum. As I said, getting the games isn't my problem... getting them to run properly, however.

Alright, I've determined that the non-looping music and CD-audio music glitches are standard for PCEP 0.7, as is the lack of MP3 support in HuE 0.60 beta. I confirmed that Ys I&II CD-audio voices are supposed to be glitchy too, since PCEP's mp3 playback is still early and flawed. Ys III seems to feature both CD-audio voices and PCM voices. CD-audio voices are also glitchy in PCEP, as in Ys I&II. Not sure why the PCM voices won't play, as the PCM voices are fine, but I'm assuming it's because the emus are still quite early.

So, for all intents and purposes, it seems like I'm doing everything right. As for Ys IV, I cannot get a clean rip of either the original Jp disc to work, nor a patched disc. I'm assuming it's because, unlike Ys I-III, there are TWO ISOs in the Ys IV game, two data tracks, versus the 1 data track/ISO in Ys I-III, each.

Ah well. It's still all too early to be really playable. Still, if anyone else is brave enough to experiment, I'd be happy to see this topic continue.

[Mejilan]

Nice. I fixed the horrible audio glitches.

Apparently, PCEP has not been coded for stereo MP3s. I re-encoded all of the cd-audio mp3s to mono, and BOOM, all of a sudden they sound great... music and voices. Still some SLIGHT static occasionally, but the music is mostly clear, and more importantly, all of the voices are now understandable.

MP3s still will not loop, which is crushingly disappointing, especially in an Ys game. So, for every new area or dungeon that you enter, you'll get 2 - 3 minutes of music, then nothing until you enter the next area or find a boss or something (unless, of course, the bgm there is of the PCM variety, which loops without a problem.)

Man, I wish the author of this emu would continue working on it... it's been over a month since his last update. :/

Gave up on Ys IV until the next emu release (whenever that is.)

[Mejilan]

Tis a mostly one-man thread. However, I did manage to get Ys I, Ys II, Ys III, Dracula X - Rondo of Blood, and The Dynastic Hero all running off a mem stick with good (though non-looping) CD sound.

[LordDarm]

Wow....very interesting.....I think i might get a PSP now ... I also see you can play SNES, SMS, NES, and other games on a PSP.

[zeomare]

yea i almost updated my firmware thank god i did not, i have snes, nes, genesis and Pc engine on mine i however did not know you could play the cd games the thought of a portable Ys, spriggan and dracula x are awesome.

chris

[Mejilan]

Keep in mind that most new PSPs in the US and ALL Euro PSPs come with firmware 1.51 or above. You absolutely need 1.50 for homebrew, for now.