FF8/9 on PS2 or emulator?

[alexholker]

Hey guys, a while back I tried playing Final Fantasy 8 on my PS2, and on a Playstation emulator. Neither of these worked, but I assumed this was because the disks weren't in a very healthy state... Well today I bought Final Fantasy 9 brand new, and it doesn't work on either of these either! On the emulator it doesn't seem to run at all, and on the PS2 I can get audio, but not video. I use the PS2 attached to a TV tuner for my computer, and I can get individual frames if I switch to a different input, then back to the composite input from the PS2. I have not had these problems with any other old games, either for the emulator or for the PS2. Does anyone know what would cause these problems for these specific games?

[crono_logical]

FF8 runs perfectly in the ePSXe emulator. The PAL version of FF9 has some funny protection in it though that makes it slightly harder to emulate - you either need to patch it, or use a more advanced CD driver in that emulator for reading the disc, or rip the disc with subchannels, but it's possible to get that working in the end too. NTSC FF9 should run fine.

As for running on a PS2, I don't know much, other than maybe are you trying to use an NTSC game in a PAL console or vice-versa? Might be something you need to change in the PS2's config thing, dunno. You'd need a PS1 memory card too even though you're playing in a PS2, since it's a PS1 game.

[alexholker]

Both the PS2 and the game are PAL, so that isn't it. I haven't tried it with the PS1 memory card in the machine, but I think it is safe to say that wouldn't be stopping video being shown. I might try your idea of ripping the CD to the hard drive, and see if that works.

[Killy]

If you are using a PSX emulator, you must make sure to use the right plugins if you want it to work.

[NM]

Do you have "Disc Speed" set to fast in the PS2's options for the Playstation Driver?

I've had problems with PS1 game's loading, with that option turned on before.

[alexholker]

Do you have "Disc Speed" set to fast in the PS2's options for the Playstation Driver?

I've had problems with PS1 game's loading, with that option turned on before.

How would I go about changing that setting, or finding out if that is selected in the first place?

[NM]

Turn on your PS2 without a disc in the drive. When the main menu comes on press Triangle. Move down to were it says Playstation Driver and press Triangle again. There should be two options for Texture Smoothing and Disc Speed. By default both should be set to Standard. if not select each one, press X, and change it to Standard.

Then just press O until your back at the main screen and try loading the game again.

[alexholker]

Thanks for trying to help NM, but that wasn't the problem - they were already set up as you suggested.

[Strawberry Gashes]

FF8 runs perfectly in the ePSXe emulator. The PAL version of FF9 has some funny protection in it though that makes it slightly harder to emulate - you either need to patch it, or use a more advanced CD driver in that emulator for reading the disc, or rip the disc with subchannels, but it's possible to get that working in the end too. NTSC FF9 should run fine.

I wouldn't say FFVIII runs perfectly in ePSXe. There's a lot of noticeable slow down, but that seems to happen with all my 3-D games on that emulator.

FFIX works perfectly fine, other than the fact that none of the CG cutscenes will show any visuals.

[crono_logical]

FF8 was fine for me, so it could be whatever plugins you used, their settings, or your computer maybe not having powerful enough hardware, seeing as it happens for more than one game for you

CGs not showing visuals is again a plugin misconfiguration.

[Strawberry Gashes]

Eh..I think visuals not showing had something to do with FFIX alone, since it ONLY happened with that game, and I tried each plug in with the game.

[crono_logical]

You have to adjust the plugin settings on a per game basis - you'll never find one configuration that works with all games.

[alexholker]

I returned the game today - I hadn't managed to get it working and it seemed like it was being more trouble than it was worth. I only bought it in the first place because I couldn't get FFVII rather than really being that enthusiastic about FFIX itself, so it was no big loss. Thanks to everyone who tried to help.