PCSX2 is an open-source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator for the Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X operating systems. In its latest stable release, many PS2 games are playable, and several games have full functionality.[1] The main bottleneck in PS2 emulation is emulating the multi-processor PS2 on a PC x86 architecture. Although each CPU can be emulated well, accurately synchronizing the CPUs is very difficult.
PCSX2, like its predecessor project PCSX, is based on a plug-in architecture, separating several functions from the core emulator. These are the graphics, audio, input controls, CD/DVD drive, and USB and FireWire (i.LINK) ports. Different plug-ins may produce different results in both compatibility and performance. Additionally, PCSX2 requires a copy of the PS2 BIOS, which is not available for download from the developers, due to the copyright concerns and legal issues associated with it. The emulator is incompatible with PlayStation games.
Plug-ins
Several plug-ins are currently being further developed, for performance and compatibility enhancements.Video
- GSdx: A Direct3D 9/10/11 graphics plugin developed by Gabest and is the fastest and most compatible graphics plug-in for PCSX2. The plug-in comes in four versions, SSE2, SSSE3, SSE4.1 (SSE3 and SSE4A are not supported) and AVX. Using newer versions of SSE/AVX results in better performance and compatibility. There is a hardware and a software renderer. The hardware render allows the emulator to use a GPU, which greatly boosts emulation speed, but can result in graphical bugs in certain games. The hardware renderer is capable of texture filtering, using logarithmic Z, 8-bit textures, and alpha correction. The software renderer uses the CPU instead of the GPU to perform all graphics emulation, which negates the speed boost benefit of the hardware render but gives maximum compatibility. The software render can utilizing multiple rendering threads and adding edge anti-aliasing. Each renderer has a Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 10/11 render mode. The Direct3D 10/11 mode is the fastest and most compatible mode and requires Windows Vista along with a DirectX 10 graphics card in order to run. The speed and compatibility of Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11 modes are exactly the same. The plug-in is capable of running games at the PS2's native resolution, scaling them to a multiple of the PS2's native resolution, or at a user-defined resolution. The plug-in also features multiple hacks for speed, compatibility, or better visuals. In November 2011 work began on an OpenGL fork of the plugin, giving Linux users an alternative to ZZogl.
- ZZogl: An OpenGL plugin developed by Zeydlitz and is a rewrite on the older Zero GS plug-in. It is used by Linux users as GSdx doesn't work in Linux due to DirectX being exclusive to Windows. However, ZZogl is compatible with Windows. Due to the presence of code from the outdated Zero GS plug-in, the ZZogl plug-in isn't as fast, accurate, or compatible as the GSdx plug-in as ZZogl isn't able to offload enough tasks to the GPU. The OpenGL graphics plug-in has been integrated into the PCSX2 source code project hosted at Google Code, labeled as "zzogl-pg". Many fixes are being made that will allow it to function properly and receive updates for performance, hopefully bringing it closer to the level of the GSdx counterpart.
Audio
- SPU2-X: The most accurate sound plug-in for PCSX2. It was first based on GiGaHeRz's SPU2GHz plug-in and then modified by Jake Stine (Air) of the PCSX2 team. The plug-in has five interpolation options, can enable/disable effects processing and debug options, can select different sound output modes, can intensify re-verb effects and use different latency when playing sound.
Input
- SSSPSX Pad: A simple input plug-in that profiles that assigns whatever key is pressed to the selected button.
- LilyPad: An advanced input plug-in developed by Chickenliver that supports keyboard, mice, Xbox 360 controllers and DualShock 3 controllers. LilyPad also includes hacks.
- Nuvee: A plug-in developed by Shalma that supports lightguns and USB mice.
- TwinPad: Another keyboard and mouse plug-in developed by Rebel_X.
Optical media
- CDVD: A simple optical media plug-in developed by GiGaHeRz that directly runs the game from the optical disc in the optical drive. It is the only plug-in that partially supports disc changing.
- Linuz ISO CDVD: This plug-in has the ability to compress ISO images.
Hard disk drive
- Dev9: Handles PS2 hard disk drive and ethernet emulation.
- MegaDev9: A more advanced version of Dev9 in development by Luigi_. It only partially emulates the PS2's hard disk drive for the time being
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