PCSX2 is a popular open source emulation for the Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) and PCSX2 version 2.0 is now officially available with a great many changes and improvements.
There's so many changes in fact, that it's pretty difficult to give you a summary of what's new. Quite literally every part of the emulator has been improved.
For starters they've moved away from wxWidgets for the interface to the much more modern and cross-platform Qt. The developers said Qt brings with it a "slick appearance, more efficient UI backend, and provided the perfect opportunity to redo all our menus and widgets" with the addition of themes to personalise it to your liking.
Along with Qt also comes SDL2 now integrated, which gives vast improvements to controller mapping and works across different platforms. Thanks to that PCSX2 now has automatic controller mapping, so you're only a few button clicks away from being set up with your favourite gamepads.
Plugins were removed, but they've now added in Automatic Game Fixes. Using their own database of all the games, they ship pre-configured fixes to ensure games will run smoothly so you shouldn't need to go in and change various settings for different games. However, the UI also now has a section for per-game settings for any personalized changes and tweaks you do wish to make.
The list just keeps going on and on. PCSX2 even has its own Big Picture Mode now too:
There's also now support for RetroAchievements!
So many other additions like Vulkan API support, an upgraded patches system, various performance improvements, FFMPEG for video capture support, improved game compatibility, sound system improvements and much more.
See their lengthy blog post for all the details.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
StoneColdSpider Jul 13
Looking forward to seeing 2.0 come to mint in 2 years...... Joking.....
Looks really good from what ive seen so far.......
What a great month it has been for emulation as well...... Major Dolphin Emulator and PCSX2 updates....... So who needs modern games???.......
Viesta2015 Jul 13
As an avid user of PCSX2 im very excited to see the 2.0 update.......For me i only need god of war, sonic, ratchet & clank, TY the tasmanian tiger, Metal gear (rising revengeance styled), Rayman, and... i think that's it? otherwise yeah everything else i could emulate... but i do appreciate older titles being ported to pc... star wars bounty hunter being an example i hope to not regret.
Looking forward to seeing 2.0 come to mint in 2 years...... Joking.....
Looks really good from what ive seen so far.......
What a great month it has been for emulation as well...... Major Dolphin Emulator and PCSX2 updates....... So who needs modern games???.......
As an avid user of PCSX2 im very excited to see the 2.0 update.......Well of course you're joking. Maybe 3.
Looking forward to seeing 2.0 come to mint in 2 years...... Joking.....
CyborgZeta Jul 14
officernice Jul 14
legluondunet Jul 14
Hey all! I've seen some FPS on PS2 that may appeal to me. Can someone let me know if I can map the controls to play on PC FPS (Wasd + mouse) without issue?I'd imagine it'd be easy to map the WASD part, but, not being an FPS person, I have no idea about using a mouse. This might be one of those cases where it'd be quicker to just dive in and check!
Hey all! I've seen some FPS on PS2 that may appeal to me. Can someone let me know if I can map the controls to play on PC FPS (Wasd + mouse) without issue?
Unfortunately unless the game was originally intended for use with a mouse the results are not ideal relative vs absolute movement. Key remap is easy and works well tho. It's easy to map the mouse though so give it a go and see what you think. It didn't feel right to me but you may be able to live with it.
PCSX2 is excellent though plays anything I've thrown at it without a hitch, apart from some minor graphical glitches in Ridge Racer 2 I think it was.
StoneColdSpider Jul 14
I would still like to see some things added..... Like the ability to import save files from GamwFAQs would be a really handy feature.......
PS2 games... Mmm... Driver, Tony Hawk, Harvest Moon, The Sims. Those were fun.Also sports games..... The 6th gen was the golden age of sports games..... Madden, 2Ks EPSN games, NHL, MLB even NBA Live were all great games in the 6th gen...... Add in the Soccer games of PES and FIFA were all really good..... Wrestling games were fantastic with the WWE Smackdown! vs RAW series and even the ultra sexy fan service game of Rumble Roses......
Racing games were great too with the NASCAR Thunder games and NASCAR Dirt to Daytona...... Along with the best Need For Speed games and Test Drive Unlimited...... Colin McRae Rally and the WRC games were fantastic on the PS2 as well as TOCA Race Driver 3, Gran Turismo and Forza......
Then you have the amazing Tiger Woods golf games..... Even very fringe sports like Cricket, Rugby Union and Rugby League all had good and even great games on the PS2...... Hell even Boxing had great games with the Knockout Kings and Fight Night games on the 6th gen......
And of course we cant forget Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball on the OG Xbox........
I'm so damn tired of modern gaming... Setting up emulation station has been a blessing, playing so many FINISHED games and discovering tons of gold nuggets.Im the same..... I get very few "modern games" and even the ones I do get are either Boomer Shooters, Boomer Rally or Boomer Sports games......
Now all I wish for is a Cell PowerPC port so my PS3 can play wipEout fusion...
That said though.... I can't think of anything I still would play on PCSX2 that I would not rather play on Dolphin.... There was a time (oddly exiting looking back) where you had to try the same game on both to see which was the more stable experience.
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