Thanks to Pcsx2 by Blog Rocks! Plus, I need your suggestions!

[emalord]

Hi guys,
I have to thank all the staff here at pcsx2.

My name is emalord and I'm the webmaster of
Electric Blue Skies

My blog is devoted to videogame photography and thanks to your project I was able to begin (and end) two of my most successfull collections:
Shadow of The Colossus
and
Final Fantasy X

Both the collection have a hundred pages visited a day, and this, it's also thanks to your devotion to this project.

What is REALLY interesting about Pcsx2 is not only the emulation di-per-se, but all the hacks and mods it allows.

I was able to portray SOTC thanks to OFFSET HACK and ELIOTCOUGAR'S HACK,
and I was able to portray FFX thanks to the memory card hack that allowed me to by-pass the most boring parts of the game and evolve my characters as I needed. With no effort.

So, again, congratulations and thanks.

I have some questions for your audience and staff. I have already looked in this forum but I wasn't able to find all the answers, so I'll ask them all here:

1) is there any other FF game with hacked memory card/coordinates? I'd like to make a portfolio also of FFXIII
2) is there any free-camera hack as on the dolphin? For a photographer like me, it would be awesome to leave the action and doing some safari in the virtual landscapes
3) I saw that indeed, something already exist. And for one of my beloved games: SOTC
This guy hacked the camera and is free to go around the maps, far from the action/colossi. is it a public-domain hack or it's only his and for him (so I'll try ask him to lend me the software...)
4) Which games to you suggest me to emulate? Which grant me an amazing emulation as FFX and SOTC, almost perfect?

Thanks for your attention and answers and feedback and suggestions.
Ciao!

[Bositman]

Wow this is some nice work It really does not look like a PS2 game anymore Maybe we could add some of your screenshots to our website to show off what PCSX2 can do if you consent.

1) http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-FFXII-FFX...y-XII-IZJS
2)Nope not as far as I know
4) Try this thread: http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PERFECT-games-list I'd suggest Okami which looks amazing upscaled (although we are missing the post processing effects), Kingdom Hearts, Fatal Frame series, Silent Hill 3 and 4 and the Shadow Hearts series

[Ambient_Malice]

I'd personally recommend Silent Hill 2, which is critically regarded as better than 3 and 4; I'd also recommend Persona 3, FES, or 4 if you like RPGs.

If you want some action, try Metal Gear Solid 2/3.

[emalord]

Wow this is some nice work It really does not look like a PS2 game anymore Maybe we could add some of your screenshots to our website to show off what PCSX2 can do if you consent.

1) http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-FFXII-FFX...y-XII-IZJS
2)Nope not as far as I know
4) Try this thread: http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-PERFECT-games-list I'd suggest Okami which looks amazing upscaled (although we are missing the post processing effects), Kingdom Hearts, Fatal Frame series, Silent Hill 3 and 4 and the Shadow Hearts series

Thanks Bositman,
I grabbed the screenshots via FRAPS during gameplay both for FFX and SOTC and then I had to work a little on gamma and brightness, but in general what you see is what I got from Pcsx2.

Of course it would be flattering for me if you'll use some of my pics as a 'benchmark' screenshots of what your emulation can do. No problems at all. It would be a fair exchange of favours

I'll check your links as I'm back from work.
Have a nice day!
Emalord

[avih]

Very very nice site, photos, and compositions/cuts!

I was wondering though, on SoTC, did you not like the "Team ICO bloom"? or did you remove it for artistic reasons? or did you just remove it because PCSX2 generates too much of it? If it's the latter, then using higher resolution (x3, x4, ...) reduces it to a level similar to the original. Also, recent PCSX2 builds remove this bloom by default without specially built GSdx (but can still be disabled).

Also, to reduce pixelation/aliasing, you could either:
- Choose very high resolution.
- Enable anti aliasing from GSdx hacks.
- Enable FXAA by pressing Page-Down.

And, I'm assuming you know of slow-motion using SHIFT-TAB? (speed is configurable).

For Phaedra, I miss a long-shot from side/diagonal which shows it's silhouette.

But this is nitpicking I really love your site. Keep up the good work!

[emalord]

Very very nice site, photos, and compositions/cuts!

I was wondering though, on SoTC, did you not like the "Team ICO bloom"? or did you remove it for artistic reasons? or did you just remove it because PCSX2 generates too much of it? If it's the latter, then using higher resolution (x3, x4, ...) reduces it to a level similar to the original. Also, recent PCSX2 builds remove this bloom by default without specially built GSdx (but can still be disabled).

Also, to reduce pixelation/aliasing, you could either:
- Choose very high resolution.
- Enable anti aliasing from GSdx hacks.
- Enable FXAA by pressing Page-Down.

And, I'm assuming you know of slow-motion using SHIFT-TAB? (speed is configurable).

For Phaedra, I miss a long-shot from side/diagonal which shows it's silhouette.

But this is nitpicking I really love your site. Keep up the good work!

Ciao Avih.
Great work you too.

Well, about Team Ico bloom it happened that by the time I started the collection (begin 2011) there was this issue with the Colossis' eyes. There was this 'echo' / shadow in the eyes that ruined the pics. So someone told me that using Offset hack I would remove that issue.
And it worked fine! With just one problem: Offset hack transformed Team ico bloom in a Supernova!!! The ambient light could burn someone's eyes!
So someone else told me to mix Offset hack and Eliotcougar's hack to eliminate all the bloom. And it worked again.
To tell the truth, I like the violet skies without the Bloom, it makes my pics look "different"

And concerning anti-aliasing hacks and slomo feature... I was completely ignorant about that )
Some pics would be a little better If I knew before
But, to tell the truth, I love what I achieved nonetheless.

I'm talking right know with the boy that hacked SOTC. If he will lend me his code to freely govern the camera, maybe I'll be back once again on my colossi and this time I'll ask you all the possible tricks to make the best SOTC collection on the net!!

Thanks for now and thanks for your appreciate my website
Emalord