Mini progress report for the 0.61 version of Play! (PS2 emulator)
Long time no see, huh? Once again, another huge compatibility bump praised us all since the last time I've mentioned it in a report (it was around 450 playables and now... well, hold on to your hats). This came from a long list of improvements and new features, so I'll just list the most important stuff in a "few" bullet points:
Many (and I mean many) definition files added for the arcade support, allowing for a ton of new arcade Namco System 246/256 games to boot or reach in-game
(Work In Progress) Added mouse support for the light gun arcade games
Made IOP reset handling a bit more robust, preventing crashes when games send unexpected data
Many memory card issues fixed
Improved support for games that run from regular CDs instead of DVDs
Improvements in EE and VU block caching mechanism to avoid recompilation of code blocks with same contents but located in different places in memory. Greatly improves games such as Crash Nitro Kart and X-Men Legends
File compression/decompression algorithm changed for save states, making them save/load almost instantly now
Added basic support for multi read circuit display, fixing many elements not being visible (Devil May Cry)
Disabled depth writes if depth testing is disabled (Devil May Cry, Aliens vs Predator: Extinction and Gundam Musou Special)
Added basic CdStatus DevCtl implementation, making Star Soldier playable
We now report "no multitap" to prevent games from thinking we have one (e.g. Time Crisis 3 refuses to check for memory card if a multitap is connected in slot 0)
Many visual artifacts in pre rendered videos fixed by applying inverse scan after dequantization
Added analog sensitivity configuration (Options>Controller Manager>Analog Stick Sensitivity), making some games playable since it was previously impossible to walk/run in diagonals with some specific controllers
Oh yeah, almost forgot: we also just reached 922 playable games. It’s worth noting that the arcade games (Namco System246/256) aren’t included in this list of games since most stuff arcade related is very experimental at this point and those games statuses can change at any point, so keep this in mind and don’t try to report them to the compatibility tracker until it’s said otherwise. Once the arcade emulation reaches a state where most games are playable without headaches, a new label will be added to the tracker to distinguish them from the regular console games and reports will be welcome.
You can give the developer support at his Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jpd002 You can also give me support for this (and future) reports at my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literalmente_game
Useful Links
Play!'s official site: https://purei.org/
Play!'s repository: https://github.com/jpd002/Play-
Play!'s compatibility tracker: https://github.com/jpd002/Play-Compatibility/issues