Baldurs Gate and Similar Games

[Cryotech]

Hey all,

First off, I want to give a huge hats off to the developers of this amazing software! As a medic, I've efficiently wasted many priceless life hours in front of my computer using your software when waiting to be dispatched lol.

I realize this is probably going to be a dumb question but I've searched the boards and around the net and cannot find a solution so I'm hoping someone can provide some sort of insight. Though too be honest, I think I may know what the issue is. I'm kinda hoping there's a configuration setting I'm not using to hack around it if what I'm thinking is correct.

My system specs: (Model: I7352-4433SLV / SKU 2604048 if you want to view what I have on Best Buy's online store)

--------------------

Dell Inspiron 2 in 1
Processor 4 core Intel® Core™ i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz  2.40GHz (online it says 3.0 but it's actually 2.40 per specs)
Installed Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Hard Drive: 1TB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System x64-based processor
Graphics Card: Intel® HD Graphics 5500
Games stored on 1TB External HD
Emulator installed on system.
------------------------

Now, I can run approximately 95% of all my ps2 games without any issues on this amazing little 2 in 1 I have. This Dell is seriously a little beast. It handles pretty much everything I throw at it without issue and with a higher than expected performance. Even for it being a notebook / tablet convertible. It handles the Kingdom Hearts, Champions series (Norrath & Return to Arms) and other rendering intense games without any real issue and all those games play so well I tend to forget they're being emulated.

Sadly, this isn't true for all games but that's to be expected. The games I tend to have serious issues with are Baldur's Gate (DA 1 & 2), Bard's Tale, and a few action games not of the RPG genre. These games in particular cause significant drop in FPS to the point they pretty much slow down to a crawl and are unplayable.

Is there a way tweek the configuration of PCSX2 to boost those particular games (primarily Baldur's Gate and Bard's Tale) to avoid this issue or is the issue the fact that I'm running those games on the Dell Inspiron 2 in 1 with the 4 Core 2.40Ghz processors?

I've experimented around with the configurations already and here's what I currently have everything set as:
------------------------------------------------------
Emulator version: 1.3.1 (Git build)

Video Settings:
-----------
Adapter: Intel HD 5500
Renderer: Direct3D11 (Software)
Interlacing: None
Internal Resolution (grayed out but this is what's selected when not using software rendering) Native PS2 Resolution / Custom Scaling / Resolution 1024 x 1024
Shade Boost enabled
3 set for Extra Rendering Threads (I realize PCSX2 only uses 2 cores but this was advised in the official configuration guide so I set it to this)

Emulator Settings:
-----------------
Pretty much left everything as default except I did Enable Speedhacks and set the following:

EE Cyclerate = 2
VU Stealing Cycle = 2
INTC Spin Detection is enabled
Wait Loop is enabled
mVU Flag Hack is enabled
MTVU is ticked (enabled)

*NOTE* - There have been no manual game fixes ticked or enabled. I do have "Automatic game fixes" enabled though under "System".

Plugin Settings:
-----------------
Everything was left as default but I'll list what they are. Should I change any of these?

GS: GSdx MSVC 18.00 AVX2 (supported)
Pad: Lilypad 0.11.0
SPU: SPU2-X 2.0.0
CDVD: cdvdGigaherz 0.9.0
USB: USBnull Driver 0.7.0
FW: FWnull Driver 0.7.0
DEV9: DEV9null Driver 0.5.0



Any and all help, advice, suggestions or pointers to too further boost the emulator's ability are very much appreciated and welcomed!

Thanks in advance to all those who help!

[willkuer]

Please disable ee cycle rate hack and vu cycle stealing hack and post fps/ee%/gs%/vu% during a typical slowdown for one of the games.

[Cryotech]

Hi willkuer,

The values kept rapidly changing of course but I managed to obtain the following values:

FPS: 27.72
EE: 72%
GPS: 51%
UI: 0%
STATE: 0

(I didn't see any VU value at the top. Is it displayed somewhere else?)


They were obtained when trying to play Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. It occurred at the beginning of the game during the PC being mugged by the thieves scene.

[dogen]

Hi willkuer,

The values kept rapidly changing of course but I managed to obtain the following values:

FPS: 27.72
EE: 72%
GPS: 51%
UI: 0%
STATE: 0

(I didn't see any VU value at the top. Is it displayed somewhere else?)


They were obtained when trying to play Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. It occurred at the beginning of the game during the PC being mugged by the thieves scene.

I'm not sure what the best settings are for this game, but VU% will only appear if you have MTVU enabled.

[Cryotech]

Thanks for letting me know dogen.

Here's updated values with VU now included:

FPS: 23.10
EE: 28%
GS: 68%
VU: 27%
UI: 0
STATE: 0

[willkuer]

Are you running from iso or disk?
Can you please post the full emulog after you observed the slowdown?

What happens if you press f9 during the slowdown?

[Cryotech]

At first, I was running from disks but read here that running from iso's were a lot faster so I changed it up and have been using the iso images I created. However, running both instances of Baldur's Gate (disk and iso) have the same issue of lagging to a crawl.

When I press f9, it resets the GS but that doesn't fix the lag issue. In fact, I think it made it worse at one point by making it even slower.


Here's my EmuLog:

Code:

PCSX2 1.3.1-20150815200634 - compiled on Aug 15 2015
Savestate version: 0x9a0b0000

Host Machine Init:
    Operating System =  Microsoft  (build 9200), 64-bit
    Physical RAM     =  8107 MB
    CPU name         =  Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz
    Vendor/Model     =  GenuineIntel (stepping 04)
    CPU speed        =  2.393 ghz (4 logical threads)
    x86PType         =  Standard OEM
    x86Flags         =  bfebfbff 7ffafbbf
    x86EFlags        =  2c100000

x86 Features Detected:
    SSE2.. SSE3.. SSSE3.. SSE4.1.. SSE4.2.. AVX.. FMA

Reserving memory for recompilers...

Loading plugins...
    Binding   GS: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\GSdx32-AVX2.dll Windows 6.2.9200
    Binding  PAD: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\LilyPad.dll
    Binding SPU2: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\SPU2-X.dll
    Binding CDVD: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\cdvdGigaherz.dll
    Binding  USB: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\USBnull.dll
    Binding   FW: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\FWnull.dll
(GameDB) 9690 games on record (loaded in 193ms)
    Binding DEV9: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\plugins\DEV9null.dll
Plugins loaded successfully.

HLE Notice: ELF does not have a path.


Initializing plugins...
    Init GS
Windows 6.2.9200
    Init PAD
    Init SPU2
    Init CDVD
    Init USB
    Init FW
    Init DEV9
Plugins initialized successfully.

Opening plugins...
    Opening GS
    Opening PAD

Current Renderer: Direct3D11(Software mode)
    Opening SPU2
    Opening CDVD
isoFile open ok: D:\Gaming\Games\PS2\BaldursGateDarkAlliance
\BaldursGateDA.iso
    Image type  = DVD
* CDVD Disk Open: DVD, Single layer or unknown:
* * Track 1: Data (Mode 1) (1827472 sectors)
    Opening USB
    Opening FW
    Opening DEV9
McdSlot 0 [File]: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\memcards\Mcd001.ps2
McdSlot 1 [File]: C:\Users\Trauma1\Desktop\Games\
\PCSX21.31.1\memcards\Mcd002.ps2
Plugins opened successfully.
EE/iR5900-32 Recompiler Reset
    Bios Found: USA     v02.20(08/17/2011)  Console
    BIOS rom1 module not found, skipping...
    BIOS rom2 module not found, skipping...
    BIOS erom module not found, skipping...
(UpdateVSyncRate) Mode Changed to NTSC.
(UpdateVSyncRate) FPS Limit Changed : 59.94 fps
# Initialize memory (rev:3.70, ctm:392Mhz, cpuclk:294Mhz detected)

PlayStation 2 ======== Hard reset boot
ROMGEN=2006-0210, IOP info (CPUID=1f, CACH_CONFIG=14000200, 2MB, IOP mode)
<20060210-142424,ROMconf,PS20220WC20060210.bin:11824>
# Total accessable memory size: 32 MB (B:2:8:0) (370:2:7c30)
# TLB spad=0 kernel=1:12 default=13:30 extended=31:38
# Initialize Start.
# Initialize GS ...
# Initialize INTC ...
# Initialize TIMER ...
# Initialize DMAC ...
# Initialize VU1 ...
# Initialize VIF1 ...
# Initialize GIF ...
# Initialize VU0 ...
# Initialize VIF0 ...
# Initialize IPU ...
# Initialize FPU ...
# Initialize User Memory ...
# Initialize Scratch Pad ...
# Initialize Done.

EE DECI2 Manager version 0.06 Apr  7 2005 21:09:14
 CPUID=2e20, BoardID=0, ROMGEN=2006-0210, 32M

(SYSTEM.CNF) Detected PS2 Disc = cdrom0:\SLUS_200.35;1
(SYSTEM.CNF) Software version = 1.01
(SYSTEM.CNF) Disc region type = NTSC
ELF (cdrom0:\SLUS_200.35;1) Game CRC = 0x773A8DAB, EntryPoint =
0x00100008
(SYSTEM.CNF) Detected PS2 Disc = cdrom0:\SLUS_200.35;1
(SYSTEM.CNF) Software version = 1.01
(SYSTEM.CNF) Disc region type = NTSC


IOP Realtime Kernel Ver.0.9.1

   Copyright 1999 (C) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Reboot service module.(99/11/10)
cdvd driver module version 0.1.1 (C)SCEI
Load File service.(99/11/05)
Multi Threaded Fileio module.(99/11/15)
iop heap service (99/11/03)
loadelf: fname cdrom0:¥SLUS_200.35;1 secname all
loadelf version 3.30
Input ELF format filename = cdrom0:¥SLUS_200.35;1
0 00100000 00224780 ...................................
1 01800000 001181e0 ..................
Loaded, cdrom0:¥SLUS_200.35;1
start address 0x100008
gp address 00000000
# Restart Without Memory Clear.
# Initialize GS ...
# Initialize INTC ...
# Initialize TIMER ...
# Initialize DMAC ...
# Initialize VU1 ...
# Initialize VIF1 ...
# Initialize GIF ...
# Initialize VU0 ...
# Initialize VIF0 ...
# Initialize IPU ...
# Initialize FPU ...
# Initialize Scratch Pad ...
# Restart Without Memory Clear Done.
Get Reboot Request From EE
ROM directory not found

PlayStation 2 ======== Update rebooting..

PlayStation 2 ======== Update reboot complete
cdvdman Init


IOP Realtime Kernel Ver.0.9.1

   Copyright 1999 (C) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Reboot service module.(99/11/10)
cdvd driver module version 0.1.1 (C)SCEI
Load File service.(99/11/05)
Multi Threaded Fileio module.(99/11/15)
iop heap service (99/11/03)
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥SIO2MAN.IRX;1 args 0 arg
loadmodule: id 25, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥PADMAN.IRX;1 args 0 arg
loadmodule: id 26, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥LIBSD.IRX;1 args 0 arg
loadmodule: id 27, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥SDRDRV.IRX;1 args 0 arg
SDR driver version 2.0.0 (C)SCEI
Exit rsd_main
loadmodule: id 28, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥MCMAN.IRX;1 args 0 arg
loadmodule: id 29, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥MCSERV.IRX;1 args 0 arg
loadmodule: id 30, ret 0
loadmodule: fname cdrom0:¥BG¥0MOD¥HELLO.IRX;1 args 0 arg
starto
loadmodule: id 31, ret 0
Stream Buffer 1Bank 32768byte 5banks 163840byte used
Closing plugins...
    Closing DEV9
    Closing FW
    Closing USB
    Closing CDVD
    Closing SPU2
    Closing PAD
    Closing GS
Plugins closed successfully.
Decommitting host memory for virtual systems...
EE/iR5900-32 Recompiler Reset

[Carsomyr]

DirectX hardware is horrible for those games (worse than software), and toggling f9 just switches it to hardware. That won't do a thing for you. Honestly I'm shocked that you said champions runs well on that little thing, and I'm not sure you'll be able to do much to improve your gameplay on that hardware. You are already doing everything you are supposed to to make it run smooth. Have you tried OpenGL hardware/software on the latest GIT? (Although idk if that would help either from what I hear OpenGL on integrated intel chips is lacking).

[Cryotech]

Hey Carsomyr,

I love how well Champions run. I'm not going to complain about that little blessing but it is odd that Champions will run and not Baldurs Gate or Bards Tale. They must need more push and apparently my Dell Inspiron graphics card can't handle it sadly.

I can always take my PS2 to the station and use that but I was trying to keep from having to do that because I use my computer for more tasks than just game playing and that's just one more thing to pack around and worry about.

I have tried OpenGL and it isn't compatible. PCSX doesn't even load.

Is there a way to increase the FPS rate maximum? Would that help any? I saw there's an adjuster for it and I increased it to 150% and 200% just to see what it'd do but I didn't notice any changes.

[Cryotech]

Just updating this post to say I am now a happy camper and am able to play Baldur's Gate with some minor slow down during game play and videos on my Dell Inspiron. I did was disable all speed hacks and have been running on hardware mode (slight differences in running software mode).