Enhance PS1 Graphics With The Best ePSXe Plugin Settings
Many hardcore retro gamers try to play most of their games on the original gaming hardware for the most authentic and enjoyable experience. However, the original Playstation is one of the consoles that most definitely prefer playing via an emulator. One of primary reasons I use ePSXe to emulate PS1 games is the amazing graphical options it provides via plugins.
What Can These Plugins Do?
Without getting too technical, most of these ePSXe plugins will make some of the PS1 games look nearly as good as an early Dreamcast or PS2 game. These improvements are usually made by enhancing the 3D model textures and using anti-aliasing techniques to smoothen the rough edges of the polygons. Here are some great examples of enhances screenshots (click to enlarge) …
What Plugin to Use?
There are a number of graphical plugins available for ePSXe, but for most modern PCs, you’ll want to go with Pete’s plugin, which has been around for quite a while, but it always being improved. Our resident emulation enhancement specialist, Mozgus, has these words of advice:
“For most 3D PS1 games, you want to use ePSXe, with the newest Pete’s OpenGL2, and Eternal’s sound plugin. From there, study each setting to better understand which ones are appropriate for which games. ” He also noted that “OpenGL2 is aimed at very good video cards like Geforce 7 or Radeon X1K series and up… Those with weaker video cards should use Pete’s OpenGL plugin (not OpenGL2). Those with no video card should seek a software mode plugin.”
What Settings Are Best?
Since the options screen on these graphical plugins are filled with lots of technical terms and can be a bit intimidating, I asked Mozgus to provide us with the following screenshot of his typical settings…
He said that he typically uses these settings for most of his games, but “there might be one or two small changes… Also, sometimes theres option you should enable under the “special game fixes …” button.”
Don’t Forget Custom Shaders
There are also some other add-ons known as shaders that can give some very interesting graphical effects. Mozgus likes the Natural Vision shader, because it strengthens colors, anti-aliases the image, and adds a nice blur that hides numerous PS1 visual flaws which high resolutions will not heal alone. Note that the Shader Level controls the blur amount for the given resolution. If the level is too high and the resolution is too low, the picture will be blurred too much. This shader arguably provides an overall pleasing look for every game out there. The set of filters and related information can be found at this phenominal thread at NGEmu.
To get your imaginations wandering, here are some samples of what other custom shaders can do…
Pretty Cool, Huh?
Of course, there are additional tweaks you can do for certain games to make them look extra special, but these settings should definitely get you started in the right direction.
If you have any other tips and would like to post screenshots of your own enhancements (Playstation or otherwise), feel free to join in on this forum topic where we started this discussion. You may also want to check out Kane’s domain, who has always made a habit of helping people tweak ePSXe just right for specific games.
104 Comments:
Holy sh*t!
It makes PSX games look like DC Games, and just a Quick question…
Can you put in your PSX games into the CD Drive and Load the game up through the Emulator? Or do you need to Rip the ISO from your PSX Games?
You can do both.
I used to do it under GNU/linux with PCSX which is using the same plugins.
I haven’t used it in a while, but as far as I recall, yes, ePSXe can run games directly from CD.
Wow, what were the odds of that happening?
Holy cammoly, the articles just keep coming. Awesome job. This site is fast becoming the best site on the net. Awesome keep it up, you guys are doing great.
Well running directly off the disc is a bad idea. It causes massive stutters in many games, at least with all the drives I’ve ever had. The drives also like to go to sleep after a minute or two of inactivity, and then when the emu requests a read, it’s delayed 3-4 seconds for the spin-up, which delays the game obviously.
That’s all true; I think it depends not only on your disc drive, but also the drivers, the plugin you’re using, your media…a lot of things could cause delays that aren’t necessarily inherent in ePSXe. Then again, maybe it is. I’m pretty sure I tried it at some point, but not for any length of time. And like I said, it was a while ago.
wow, it totally butchers the games.
Care to expand on your thoughts?
Otherwise, that comment is meaningless…
He probably glanced at the last two pictures and didn’t read a thing.
The last pictures look absolutely awesome! Looks like I have to buy a pad for the pc and download epsxe again.
Once again this site kicks ass! Best retrogaming source on teh webs.
Hey, this really looks nice! Who’d have thought…
I have been doing this for years. The linux version of epsxe has slightly better opengl plugins from personal observation. But all in it, it makes replaying final fantasy’s and front mission games a ton more enjoyable.
i ve done this but the psx says no wgl extensions or something like that
please somebody help me
Does anyone know what parts are need to upgrade my ps1 to a ps2 or ps3? I don`t want to buy a new system so I figured I would try and build a ps2 or ps3 with my ps1. Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Joey
the plugin is acting up on my pc when i try to load the game Final Fantasy 9.A windows pops and says.No wgl extensions.
I do not know what that means and how can i fix it please.
I don’t know off the top of my head, but you should ask for help in the forums — somebody should be able to help there.
Which shader was used to get the shiny effect on that last FF9 screenshot? I’ve been trying various shaders, but haven’t been able to find one that looks like that.
Super Nintendo Chalmers
>>Final Fantasy IX SimoneT’s Bump Map shader<<
uhmm about the config for internal X & Y..
when i use ultra high settings..epsxe crashes…
my video card is ATIRadeon x550 (512VRAM)
intel pentium D (3.4 GHZ)
can you please help me??
add me in YM or MSN
odale_roxas@yahoo.com
really appreciate your help
good day every one…
btw even if i use the high settings…my tekken 3 looked like tekken tag…^^
If you need technical help, I would recommend posting your question in the forum. You’ll have more people to help you out quickly.
Thanks!
yo i want this ff9 grafiks, how can i make it? wery nice !
please say how i can get like such as in the Screan Shot !!
I have too bump map shader but its not that good then this picture.
Why?
wow
i got this the ova day
i noticed the graphics were smoothed out alot of digimon world 1 but i didnt no u cud do all that =O
Is there anyway to run the emulators on the PS3?
Nope, you’re stuck with the PS3s own backwards compatibility at this point….
i do everything you did but it just ends up saying missing render-texture extension. Please help!sometimes it says no buffer availible when i try somtheing else please response!
I gotta say this ff9 screenshot is freakin awesome!
Plx help Valkyrie Profile has not running for a while now….. idk the prob…. ive used all the settings possible… hmm..
ALL of it is cool but how did you get chrono cross working mine works fine till i press new game then i get a black screen and it dont load i have tred diff chrono cross torrents and i have redownloaded the emulator but i get the sme thing
It might be a setting in the emulator… possibly something that keeps the FMV cutscenes from playing.
I would dig around in there and if you still have problems, ask in the forums and copy a screenshot of your settings in there….
Do these plugins work with psX? Are there any similar filters or graphic plugins for psX? I vastly prefer it to ePSXe.
If you can’t get past the New Game and Vibration Function Menu, try turning on the Game Fixes. If that doesn’t work, activate the options one by one – or activate all if you’d like to see if at least one of the fixes works. Worked with me – though I don’t know which of them
I have rewritten my BumpMAP shader. You can download it at:
http://forums.ngemu.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=158970&d=1207050247
For ATI/AMD users: you cannot set the “Internal X resolution” more than “High”. Is a ATI/AMD driver limitation, not a plugin or emulator bug.
Very good tutorial I was looking for the configurations with the video card settings
Regards //Assassin007
dude i need help… thers a no WGL extension error appeared when i start the game using these settings… what is it?
Sounds like a question for the forum. We may need more details — maybe a screenshot of your settings and what games you are trying.
Quite impressive looking. My computer is probably a bit too slow to handle the extra bits and pieces though.
, that looks good, what is the first shader? on the ff ix screenshot
how do you fix freezing?
You’ll need to share more details than that — and it’s probably a question for the forum….
It’s awesome!
…too bad I don’t have enough ram to use it’s best settings, but I can use the next best settings (looks good, but no texture filtering).
Still, thank you a TON for this article! I deeply appreciate it! (Now I just have to get some money to upgrade my RAM so I can use the best settings ^_^)
you don’t need to use the exact settings stated above, I’m using high settings for the X and Y resolution and I’m using my crappy notebook a dv2224ea here’s ma specs;http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00848340&dlc=en
32mb dedicated video card, and it can handle this stuff with reasonably good results without any slowdown.
People,People trying to play your PS1 games on a pc to obtain pc quality graphics is laudible goal- but utterly futile.With so many programing configuration variables to consider you’ll fail in trying to get those games to run right.Remember the Bleemcast on the Dreamcast that allows ps1 games to be played on it,you know how that product faired.So be content with the PS2/PS3 texture smoothing feature when playing your PS1 games.
very useful site thanks! can anybody recommend a decent game pad? tried using wificontroller avec my psp but its not really workin. cheers
LoL Yea of course u can play direct fomr the CD , is very best tham donwload roms ,i do this everytime ^^
Very nice, it’s awesome. I’ve got a question though:
When I load a game(Soul Reaver) the emulator crashes, it says “A problem ocurred and ePSXe has to close” and I configured it the same way like in the image. What do I do?
I would try, unchecking or turning off one feature at a time to see which one is causing the problem.
The other issue may be that the game image is corrupted.
How do you get the shaders to work?
just a quick question…
i dont have graphic card but is there any plugins for epsxe for computer without graphic card?
is it possible to use epsxe without graphic card?
Wow! The Tomb Raider games look just like the PC versions with these enhancements, but I am not even using everything that is listed, and it still looks good.
What I mean by the PC versions that are enhanced with glidos.
Help >.<
I’m on valkyrie profile psx, i played da game, n wen it come 2 some events with voices, da game often hang / freeze. Please let me know wat best plug-in n settings for video, sound, cd-rom, bios, etc., 2 played valkyrie profile psx.
Hmm…. I wouldn’t know personally, but you may get some good advice by asking in the forum… best of luck!
I LOVE THIS ENTIRE WEBSITE…………..LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR BEING THE ONLY SOURCE I NEED FOR GAMES
Racketboy, or someone elese!
Is it posible to play PS one games (FF7&FF9), on HP Compaq 6720S with 1,73Ghz Intel Celeron, Intel’s GMA X3100 integrated card, 1,5GB RAM and Win XP proff using ePSXe? Pls someone answer, with details posible?
it might not be able to do all the fancy stuff, but it should run ok if you Windows install isn’t too bogged down. its worth a shot
Game looks great (mgs) but is quite slow with the high settings despite my PC. X2 5000+, 4850, 4GB Any thoughts?? Seems to run the same speed on all settings.. possibly my CD rom?
Well, you could see if its your CD or not by ripping it to your hard drive and then playing it from the ISO file.
how about for intel cards that plugin is for ATI/nVIDA
and its celeron and it had an error, and changed my revolution(computer)
with NFS 5 i bet it wont work with any other games too
Can’t get any iso’s to load, ripping with Alcohol 120%, tried run iso, run cd rom (mounted image), iso plugins, CCD/IMG/MDS image files…..
Lol can someone help me…. it seems that MY “Pete’s OpenGL” is diff from this 1…. and even when i configure it 2 have regular speed theres just 1 problem…. i cant see tha actions/status board…. but i kinda cant fix it O_O
Yeah, this piece of shit emulator doesn’t work. Says “Missing Shader extentions” when I try to load a rom. Gay.
Hello peopel i just bought a geforce 84000 yea i know they have better ones out there but i have pci slots for my pc and so it was the best video card that would work. anyway the video look the same intill the next day when pluged in my my new 1GBDDRAM.SO I payed one of my old palastion games witth my borther and we were blown away by the Graphics.The only down side is that there is no 2 palyer games.is there a way to fix this. i dont wont to jump beacuse brother wants too.um mabey diferent softweare for the game pad?
LOL at “ePSXe Blows Dogs” comments about sPSXe being a piece of shit.
That missing shader extentions error you are talking about means you pointed the directory to a folder with NO SHADERS in it.
ePSXe is amazing but technical. My advice to you would be to read up on configuration actually set the emulator up before making stupid comments.
plssssssss
help me!!!!~
why opengl2 have many errors like missing shader extension and missing frame buffer object extensions
how could i fix it plssss
help me
dudes check if u can put a setting for open gl1 i have because for unknown reason i cant put open gl2 in my epsxe
Well. I also am having issues with this “no WGL Extensions” error. I dunno quite why it’s doing it, but I’ll try out that other video plugin. I would go to the forums to post or read about some help, but it’s blocked by my school. I cannot access it to check up on it, so I thought I’d post here instead. If you have any ideas, please email me at: YuKitsuneYoukai@yahoo.com
Please include “WGL error” as the subject. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Hi maybe I’m not the first who ask this question but what shader do you use for Chrono Cross?
hey man i was playing crash bandicoot and it ran an error and closed out the program when i reached %38 or heavy machinery. can u help man?
I have epsxe on my 2008 E-machines computer and I have been trying to congfigure Soul Reaver properly. Now, I know it works in the emulator but, tiny details have me reconfiguring constantly. Each time I do so I seem to screw it up even worse. What I want to know is, what are the proper settings for this game? Does anyone know?
When i try to run my Final Fantasy 9 ISO (which i downloaded 2 different ones) everything is fine except for big colored squares coming across the screen, it mainly only does it during short movies of the game like the intro, and i have a great graphics card, Nvidia GeForce 8 series, 512 Mb. can someone hel me plz.
Why is it Rp?
then what game is that?
i wanna try!
hi
please can you help me im playing resident evil 1 but the game is too fast and resident evil 2 is too slow
please help me …….
yo im having problems with the sound when im emulating final fantasy 7 it runs perfect but the sound is kinda wierd the music is acceptable but when im in battle it sounds like im playing some cheesy atari gun commando game or something help will be much appreciated
help me guys!!!!
why opengl2… have many errors like missing shader extension and missing frame buffer and reender ext..object extensions
how could i fix it plis
when i do these settings it says missing render-texture extension. no pixel format available,shader effects:missing custom file! and then doesnt work, what should i do
I’m shocked at the versatility of this emulator. I own the Worlds worst PC and can still enjoy all the classics I’ve never had any trouble setting up the config or anything…. every game i try plays great from the CD i was wondering how do i rip an ISO off my discs i would like to put all my disks away forever and I hear they play a lil faster….. also ^^^^ those ^^^^ FF9 screenshots look great i wich i could use OGL2 or do i even need them for the bumpmaps? im no sure
help me plzzz…. i can play my epsxe downloaded in nitroroms i cant play because it said no WGL extensions… HELP ME..! I WANT TO PLAY MY FAVORITE GAME IN PS1 DIGIMON WORLD,CHRONO CROSS, etc.
I notice that quite a few of you are getting missing shader extension type errors, and since it seems that no one else has answered, I’ll try to explain.
It seems that most of you are using ePSXe, I assume with Pete’s drivers. This plugin supports multiple shader formats, the two main ones being “ARB programs (.vp/fv)” and “GLSlang Files (.slv/slf). The packages linked to include some of both formats, so you have to reselect the appropriate type when changing shaders.
For simplicity’s sake, I recommend you create a folder named “Shaders” in your ePSXe folder and extract them there. After that, navigate to your desired shader’s folder and note the file extension. From there, reconfigure Pete’s plugin to use you intended type.
Let’s say you want to use the storybook shaders; by navigating to their folder, you can see that they have .slf and .slv extentions, so you would choose the GLSlang option. The bump map option has .fp an .vp extensions, so you would use the ARB Program option.
Hope that clears everything up
Hey love your site! I stumbled onto it last night trying to configure my epsxe. The first thing I noticed was your shader effects and I gotta say…DAMN sexy! Im currently trying to make mine the same way. I have a geforce 8500 so im pretty sure it can handle it. I followed your link and the above screenshot from Mozgus’ settings but currently am having a “Shader Effects:Missing Custom File” problem. It says that before my game starts after I begin it. If you have any suggestions, awesome. Anyway as I said, dig the site, ill be around. Take care!
Solution for “Shader Effect:Missing Custom File” problem. go to pete’s home page (pbernet.com). select “psx GPU plugins”, search for “pete’s pixel shader files” section. download slf/slv or fv/fp files (many choices, each has different effect, “scale2x” shader is the best i think). After download, create folders named “shaders” in “epsx” directory, paste the slf/slv or fv/fp files there. Configure the epsxe video setting “shader effect”. Play the game (sorry for my english).
I want to fix up Digimon world 1 to work like this! Can someone help me out? I have all the plugins, all shaders and im running off a laptop. Can someone please help me out? Email me the best config or just post it.
ive been getting the missing shader type errors too, ive tried what JOHN said and it still has the same problems
anyone help?
ePSXe owns! It makes the old PS1 games look absolutely stunning! I used to own the original Playstation and I can see and hear a huge difference in quality. Pete’s OpenGL2 GPU and Eternal SPU are the best I have found. Have to try some of those custom shaders. Unfortunately, I get lag in ePSXe on my P4 HT but I hope to upgrade to a Core i7 930 to remedy this.
pSX is a great emulator is the best choice for those with systems older than mine. I wish Saturn emulation was on this level but SSF runs with a lot more lag for me than ePSXe by far. Dreamcast emulates better than Saturn because of Saturn’s dual CPU architecture. Excellent article Racketboy, I reference your website a lot when hunting for games to emulate. Keep up the great work!
Man i was struggling forever to make Legend of Dragoons to look right, thank you for posting a visual of the OpenGL2 configurations, it helped a ton.
The only thing i ask is to explain how to install some of these special shaders after i have downloaded them. Ex: AA+Bloom shader.
hey ive played Xenogears on my playstation1 and was impressed by the graphics considering how old the game is but i really want 2 play it at a higher level in terms of graphics. so what i was wondering is if i can just put the game disc into my computer to upload it and what site i should use to increase the graphics
thanks in advance, Jake
I used some settings that ran FF7 pretty good, but Chrono Cross was running really sluggish, till a battle, then it sped up, I have tried these settings, and FF7 looks 10x better. and Chrono Cross seems to be better now. many thanks for posting this they work pretty well with a ATI 4850
Fails to mention that the gameplay’s speed dramatically reduces. So I hope you like the graphics because you will be looking at the forever doing one battle!
You do realize that totally depends on what hardware you’re running it on…
My system specs are:
32 bit Genuine Intel CPU 575 @ 2.00 GHz
With 2GB Ram memory.
I don’t think I have any special graphics card, this is a Toshiba Laptop.
What do you think the best settings for my Video Plugin would be? Most of them that I have tried have actually made the emulation experience worse. Like certainly blotchy areas on the FFVII worldmap. And it takes a bit long to enter a battle when battles occur(or at least it seems that way).
I’ve tried the settings, it rocks! i’m currently playing The legends of dragoon, it looked like the early PS2 RPG games.
I got my own setting’s, butt what i dont get. Mutch people here are asking about a good controller to use, didnt any off you ever considerd PS3-controller? (USB)
i have a problem in final fantasy 7…
the screen gets blured image on the menus and the text AFTER ENTERING CHOCOBO RANCH…
someone help me!
I have been having lots of fun with ePSXe and I just saw this site today. It seems really awesome and I look forward to testing these out.
Hey there,
Does anyone know where I can get a WGL Extensions Files for my emulator. I could really use some help.
Great job!
Could You please send me a copy of Your customized epsxe ?
I have difficulties with running FFIX… I’ve already tried lots of combinations ( of epsxe v + video plugins).
I would be really greatful.
Looking forward to hearing from U.
Greetings from Poland.
Kamil
what game is that (which final fantasy) is shown in the pictures above?
some help for digimon world 3, its lagging and skipping and im not sure what to do
hey, every time i try and run epsxe using openGL2 GPU it just says missing fbo extention. im new to configuring the plugins, any suggestions plz??
thx for the info,
but i can’t play FF IX, when zidane and the others going to lindblum for the first time the video can’t play correctly and stop at the same place.. my plugin is “Pete’s openGl2 driver 2.9″ please i need your help!
thx
and i’m sorry for my bad english
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