Chrono Compendium
Guru Workshop - Project Forums - Need One? Ask In Kajar Labs => Chrono Cross HD Edition => Topic started by: Kodokami on June 04, 2020, 07:08:36 pm
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Since Tirion's mod works off of RetroArch, I figured I'd write a short tutorial on how to get it set up. Fortunately, the RetroArch developers are already pretty good at that: Their webpage (https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms) has downloads and installation videos and instructions for just about every system you can imagine.
RetroArch itself is not an emulator but instead runs off plugins called "cores". Once you start RetroArch, you'll need to go from the Main Menu to "Online Updater" -> "Core Updater", then find the PlayStation cores. There are two: "Sony - PlayStation (Beetle PSX HW)" and "Sony - PlayStation (Beetle PSX)". The only difference, I believe, is that HW offers more features. Select and update one of those (or both!).
To get Chrono Cross (or any PSX game) to work, however, I believe you also need some of the PSX's bios files. Specifically, SCPH 5500, 5501, and 5502. Find these online and toss them into RetroArch's "system" folder. You can then Import Content from inside RetroArch to find your game.
I'm not quite sure how to use Tirion's mod (https://github.com/stoofin/beetle-psx-libretro/tree/texture-wip) that will enable us to play Cross in upscaled textures, so I'll give the floor to them.
All other discussions specifically related to RetroArch and this project can be had here.
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I'll put this here too.
I uploaded a zip file with built cores to the releases page here https://github.com/stoofin/beetle-psx-libretro/releases (https://github.com/stoofin/beetle-psx-libretro/releases)
In that zip (mednafen_psx_hw_libretro_cc_upscale.zip) are core binaries for windows (.dll) and linux (.so) as well as a readme with some instructions on how to set everything up. Let me know if you have any questions about it.
Also, if you're using the single disc version you can skip the m3u stuff, but when I tried it I ran into a few issues: - the .cue was hardcoding the .bin path, so that required tweaking (use a relative path in .cue to the .bin, and also make sure the name of the texture replacements folder also matches <whatever>.cue)
- loading a disc 2 save created by the multi-disc version still prompted for a disc change, which I assume is just some kind of save incompatibility
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Awesome! Thanks, Tirion. I'll be working on this today and see what results I can get.
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Slightly related question: I just tried out the Playstation Classic mod with RetroArch - will this mod work inside RetroArch on the classic, or does it require more processing power then it can provide?
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Sorry, but it seems the ps classic can't even handle the unmodified version of the beetle core. You'd definitely want a dedicated GPU (>= a gtx 760) paired with a CPU with good single core performance.
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Sorry, but it seems the ps classic can't even handle the unmodified version of the beetle core. You'd definitely want a dedicated GPU (>= a gtx 760) paired with a CPU with good single core performance.
That's a bummer, but not unexpected. I've got a good set up on my work computer that could handle it well. (5GHz single core speed with GTX 1070ti)
I'm not big into gaming on my computer, but Cross could be an exception.
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Adding attachments for archival purposes.
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The "all-in-one" package now linked to in the master post includes a Read Me for setting up RetroArch settings, but I will include it here as well.
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my Mac Mini 2012 Server and Thinkpad W500 both cannot run The HW ver. of the core... am i right?
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my Mac Mini 2012 Server and Thinkpad W500 both cannot run The HW ver. of the core... am i right?
I honestly do not know the answer to that, having only tried this on Windows 10. Testing RetroArch on those devices without the texture pack would be simple enough, I think.
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Hey. I decided to replay Chrono Cross for the first time since I traded in my PS3 for a PS4 and lost access to my PSN version and stumbled onto your project. I've never used Retroarch before but I set it up according to the instructions in your folder and the game seems to be working great except element use freezes the game (sound and charging animation still playing) without any recourse to unfreeze it. Element use by the party always freezes the game, while element use by enemies sometimes freezes the game, if that matters. I'm unsure how to best troubleshoot it and googling hasn't done much to help me out. Does any of the tech folks on the project have any ideas?
Thanks for your efforts- I've always loved Cross and am very bummed out that I have no standard recourse to play it at this time.
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Hey. I decided to replay Chrono Cross for the first time since I traded in my PS3 for a PS4 and lost access to my PSN version and stumbled onto your project. I've never used Retroarch before but I set it up according to the instructions in your folder and the game seems to be working great except element use freezes the game (sound and charging animation still playing) without any recourse to unfreeze it. Element use by the party always freezes the game, while element use by enemies sometimes freezes the game, if that matters. I'm unsure how to best troubleshoot it and googling hasn't done much to help me out. Does any of the tech folks on the project have any ideas?
Thanks for your efforts- I've always loved Cross and am very bummed out that I have no standard recourse to play it at this time.
Hey, thanks for dropping by!
Unfortunately, I have not heard of that issue. My guess is that it is due to some incompatibility between the RetroArch settings I suggested and your computer (different hardware is going to require different settings). Play around with the settings a bit, starting with putting CD Access Method and CD Loading Speed back to default and GPU Resolution to 2x. Let me know if that works.
I've had one other person have issues getting RetroArch to work as well, though for different a reason (which we never figured out!). In the end, I simply gave them a copy of my entire RetroArch folder as I have it set up, and it worked. So we can certainly try that for you as well.
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If it would be fairly painless to download your copy/set up I'd like to give it a try. I have an RX580 so I'm pretty sure I can handle the settings- maybe I goofed some little thing and didn't catch it.
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Here ya go. (https://mega.nz/file/AK5GQbgC#AjEAPlgitZlmXFBRHFakO-rtI98YlHQsusf0yKIw55o) It's my exact stuff for RetroArch. You'll still need the PROJECT KID folder with the texture pack, .bin, and .cue files.
If that doesn't work, we'll have to play with the settings to see what's causing the problem.
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Still unsure what I messed up, but that folder worked perfectly. :)
I'm experiencing some occasional hiccups (momentary lag) in the area map to battle map transition (not always, seems to mostly disappear after the first half dozen battles or so) but otherwise, it is butter. Thanks for your help and the awesome mod. Looking forward to when you get all the work ahead of you guys done.
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:o Maybe I messed up something in the ReadMe then?
In any case, I'm glad it's working for you now!
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I'm curious if anyone has gotten the texture pack working with Android perhaps?
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Theoretically, since RetroArch has an Android app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retroarch), it should be possible. I foresee it running into problems with inadequate specs however, since even some computers can't take advantage of all its features.
If you have any luck with it, please let me know!
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I am following your read me instruction but retroarch doesnt show me the core "mednafen_psx_hw_libretro_cc_upscale."
the software is still showing my the "suggested cores"
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Try this (https://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php?topic=13325.msg232769#msg232769). It's worked in the past when others have had problems, problems I don't yet understand.
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Hey. I decided to replay Chrono Cross for the first time since I traded in my PS3 for a PS4 and lost access to my PSN version and stumbled onto your project. I've never used Retroarch before but I set it up according to the instructions in your folder and the game seems to be working great except element use freezes the game (sound and charging animation still playing) without any recourse to unfreeze it. Element use by the party always freezes the game, while element use by enemies sometimes freezes the game, if that matters. I'm unsure how to best troubleshoot it and googling hasn't done much to help me out. Does any of the tech folks on the project have any ideas?
Thanks for your efforts- I've always loved Cross and am very bummed out that I have no standard recourse to play it at this time.
Hey, thanks for dropping by!
Unfortunately, I have not heard of that issue. My guess is that it is due to some incompatibility between the RetroArch settings I suggested and your computer (different hardware is going to require different settings). Play around with the settings a bit, starting with putting CD Access Method and CD Loading Speed back to default and GPU Resolution to 2x. Let me know if that works.
I've had one other person have issues getting RetroArch to work as well, though for different a reason (which we never figured out!). In the end, I simply gave them a copy of my entire RetroArch folder as I have it set up, and it worked. So we can certainly try that for you as well.
Hey all. I was having the exact same problem as VoShay, where I would cast an element and get stuck in the cast animation. I tried all sorts of things including downloading Kodokami's RetroArch file. Downloading this mostly worked, the bug still happened but it happened much less frequently. However, I could not get the Widescreen Mode Hack to work properly. The displayed world was not aligning with the collision and geometry properly, and forcing 16:9 without the Widescreen Mode Hack turned on just stretched the 4:3 image which was ugly.
Aside from the "casting crash" of the more modern RetroArch, it displays everything perfectly in widescreen without having to turn on the Widescreen Mode Hack, which misaligns the world. The game is just gorgeous this way, so I really wanted to figure out the "casting crash". I was about to post here asking for some ideas when I saw Kodokami's suggestion quoted above about testing switching back to the defaults of CD Access Mode and CD Loading Speed. I decided to test it before I posted asking for help. Changing the CD Access Mode didn't work, so I set it back to the recommended Pre-Cache, but switching the CD Loading Speed back to the native default of 2x DID work. I have been trying for an hour to reproduce the bug but cannot.
I just wanted to post here to help anyone who was having this same issue. I will edit this if the bug isn't truly gone and I have just been lucky. I also wanted to thank Kodokami and everyone who has worked on this amazing project. The game looks so gorgeous I still cannot believe it. I was doing a ePSXe setup and it looked like total trash compared to this, even on the best settings with shaders and all that. Thank you!
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Thanks so much for documenting this! So it sounds like defaulting the CD Loading Speed to 2x did the trick. I'm glad it did.
I haven't actually tried out the Widescreen Mode Hack extensively. I remember it not working well. Are you saying a newer version of RetroArch fixed this? If so, I'd love to see before-and-after pics to compare, if you're willing.