LIST - PAL Format Games that Work Better

[psalmsamuel]

Just as the title says, but I only identified two games on the PS2 Phat console (using open ps2 loader), where PAL runs slightly better:

Aeon Flux (slightly better frame rate, and image quality, with pal signal)
Spyro the Dragonfly (from usb stick using modes 2,3,5 ..........or game errors out when not using usb to play) (better frame rate, with pal signal)
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(which is interesting to note about "spyro dragonfly", its not the damaged goods everyone totes it to be)
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Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 2, has minor hitches in game when enemies appear sometimes, this is not related to the pal/ntsc signal.
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Spyro A Hero's Tale - Works better from PAL, sometimes you loose from FPS, in game for no reason, just run and jump around the first level for example, doesn't happen on the PAL release (ps2 phat from internal hdd, open ps2 loader)
(RC Revenge Pro PAL, same modes 2,3,5 as spyro dragon fly from usb stick, using ultra iso, open file, properties UDF, and DOS3.8 then saving, to change cd to dvd for "DVD" folder on usb stick )
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Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 2, works better in NTSC, the render fix still leaves some artifacts when scroll the camera on the right joystick sometimes on the PAL version (like with the colums when you start out)
-mode 2 + MDMA0 read speed, did fix the screen jitter and micro pause when some enemies appear or engage for battle
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I suspect the reports of game bugs on the ps2 game "stolen" are probably related to the ntsc signal, but, "wild arms 5" that game has bad programming, finished what i wanted to test out, just a mention.
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Altered Beast PAL 50/60, smooth framerate in PAL 60 (ntsc mode), this is with widescreen patch (mode 2 and mdma0)
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Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 PAL, has a better frame rate, its noticeable especially on the turns

Additional Notes

Balder's Gate 1 and 2, Champions of Norrath 1 and 2..............these games has poorly implemented "interlacing" period..........Open PS2 Loader 0.8 shows title screen and most in game small rooms with no issues on PAL Version, but outside it a mess of frame drops and in large areas..............a current Open PS2 Loader, same, with bad title screen and less fps drops outside............this means the icons will jitter
(the number reason for this was low frames per second will cause interlacing issues and frame jumps/jitters..............the real reason is bad programming, not because the game is "field rendered", I think this is fixed in the pc emulator and the ps3, haven't checked)

Onimusha 2 has interlacing issues, less on PAL, but the screen jumps and jitters on the in game cutscenes, it is less on the PAL............even on original game disk, it had this problem...............regardless of open ps2 loader version.................the good news is that the PAL versions of onimusha for the ps2 seem be just be smoother, like some of the issues were from trying to use the ntsc signal, maybe some final tweaks to make things speed up or something

all the onimusha games are completely playable no real disturbances, but the balder's gate and champions are just broken on the ps2 (real game disk or not).
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At least the ntsc versions of Baldur Gate 1 and 2, and Champions of Norrath 1 and 2, the available iso's are considered fragmented, "auslogics-disk-defrag", can fix that, along with Onimusha2, i doubt that means anything in relation to the bad programming (for those games, which makes the PAL versions preferred), but its worth noting, a "fragmented iso" won't play from usb stick.

[psalmsamuel]

Balder's Gate 1 and 2, Champions of Norrath 1 and 2 (PHAT OR SLIM PS2)

Fix

Without Widescreen Patch, using usb stick with Open PS2 Loader current or 1866, by adding "game.iso" to "DVD".

With Modes 2,3,5 .......... the fmvs and title screen hiccups, but in game is fine, you will see very small screen jitter in some areas, but its not annoying.  The real problem is caused by playing from harddrive (or possibly retail game disk), the data transfer speed is slower from usb.  The game itself plays the same.  This is with the NTSC version, I suspect the PAL is the same or better..............there was a big difference in performance between PAL and NTSC for this games on the HDD, I don't think there is much of a difference on usb stick.

When adding these images to a usb stick, its reports "fragmented" if you use the open ps2 loader option, but the .iso's packed are not themselves fragmented, so you have to a defragment program on the usb stick, like "auslogics", or the default windows defragmenter may work.

In a few, i'll add a note about the pal version.

(THE REPORTS of these games online are largely false, its not the performance of the PS2, or low FPS that is the root cause, it was just bad programming, the usb port has a slower data transfer rate, so its not really the PAL OR NTSC signal, or the difference in performance, that was also a false positive for this discussion, and these results prove this) (there as publication, of shadowman 2 for PS2 a patch that fixed an IOP error when the data transfer exceeded a specific limit causing overflow............and the same situation is here, more or less, this is a common issue with ps2 emulation, but in reality, these games were also bad performance in retail disks on unmodified PS2, so you get really BETTER PERFORMANCE NOW)

(so that makes, spyro dragonfly pal, RC revenge pro PAL, and balder gate 1 and 2 and champions 1 and 2 - ntsc or pal..........from usb stick with modes 2,3,5 the best option for gameplay) (because the ingame cinema scenes of onimusha are not gameplay, and the in game fmv on those games baldur etc, have some jitter, i just disregarded testing further on onimusha2 it wasn't a gameplay issue , and PAL version of onimusha 2 clearly has better performance with HDD)

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OPLUtil 1.2.1.0

When you add a game to a usb stick from the operating system, that seems to add fragmentation to certain images, the suggestion is to use a program to add the ps2 .iso files to usb stick, i'll test this out tomorrow.

DOUBLE CHECKED

(the ntsc version of baldur 1 and 2, champions 1 and 2, run better on usb stick using mode 2,3,5 on opl, versus the PAL, although almost the same (less jitter outside in large crowded areas), which is odd considering, the ntsc version had really bad performance on the harddrive) (checked baldur 1, assume the rest is true, but will check later)

[yeshuachrist]

(Testing out VPN Service, Got banned)

using external 2.5 inch hdd (powered from usb port on ps2, no external power supply)

formatted to "fat32" using "paragon partition manager"

added games using "OPLUtil 1.2.1.0" (avoids adding fragmentation to the game image files)
(a usb stick 3.0 will not work on ps2, a usb stick 2.0 will work, on the ps2's usb1.1...........and its slower then the external usb hdd, to install or delete games)
(its a generic 60gb hdd connected from a sata to usb port that was taken from a 1 terabyte hdd from bestbuy (seagate external drive enclosure), so its just the wire with sata to usb connections) (which was purchased about 2 or 3 years ago so its not super old, if your wondering about the usb 1.1 backwards issue, usb hdd connectors for the harddrive have better compatibility then usb sticks)


(the NTSC versions of baldur gate 1 and 2, and Champions of Norrath 1 and 2, i did find from google a statement, they were better performing then the PAL versions on original hardware from game disk) the NTSC versions from USB perform better using Open PS2 Loader, so comparable to retail in game.  The usb port has a slower data transfer speed, that is the main issue, you can see some minor jitter when in open large spaces or lots of action but its nothing really, compared to the disaster of playing from the HDD port.

ntsc version work great, in game........some minor hiccups in fmvs, in game cinema appear fine.............however outside of these games, some pal games play better, or the same as ntsc versions. (the only pal game i've seen look a tiny bit better was "aeon flux", everything else seems to be opinion............another reason the pal games for baldur gate 1 and 2 and champions 1 and 2, play so badly is, they have a further zoomed out image to try to imitate a widescreen effect in game, when you use the widescreen patch, that makes things a lot worse..........consider that from the hdd, its not playable due to screen jitters)

Second Test

We use a "SSD-Solid State Drive (western digital BLUE)", "sata to usb" connector ON THE (western digital sata 2.5 inch hdd, that has ps2 game on it)...............and it identifies and reads the games fine from the ps2 usb 1.1 port................this was purchased only a few weeks/months ago, this year so not very long ago.............

(i'm pretty sure the PS2 can read a sata SSD drive, using "gamestar internal hdd adaptor or from usb port", just don't have any drives i'm not using for something else free) (everything seems fine enough)

(there is a lot of misinformation floating around online)

[yeshuachrist]

Update (OPL 1866 from usb extenal games installed oplutil)

Onimusha NTSC, modes 2,3,5 ........ works perfect no jitter with in game cutscenes, (the pal version had less jitter when played from hdd, but it still had jitter)

Onimusha PAL, modes 2,3,5......(with 50 hertz selection), black screen after opening FMV
Onimusha PAL, modes 2,3,5......(with 60 hertz selection), boots like normal in game, same good quality of the ntsc version from usb)


(even from a retail disk on a retail ntsc ps2, onimusha 2 had the jitter issue)
(the Onimusha PAL 50/60 version, works a little with screen transitions, you can see its smoother in game)