Sony PlayStation
The original PS1 was a game changer! It wasn't just that it had more power than previous consoles. Every console ever released was more powerful in some way than the ones that came before it. The jump to CD media gave them the ability to include way more data than could ever fit on any cart or disk.
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This system would normally be a pretty quick setup. I will be using RA of course! But one of the benefits of using the BEETLE HW core is that it can play .chd files directly. Yes, the very same chd files that MAME uses! In fact, we will be using CHDMAN.exe to convert our PS1 games. CHD files have around the same compression as ZIP files so they won't take up much more room. This will have the effect of games loading fairly quickly compared to waiting for zip files to extract.
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DOWNLOAD: Convert to CHD
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R:\ARCADE\convert to CHD\
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Extract from "ARCADE" and it will create that folder. Also place all games (extracted, no zips) into that folder... in folders of their own! It does take a little time to convert so I suggest only doing a couple at a time.
It will create single CHD's for each disc. Place these here:
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R:\ARCADE\RetroArch-1.9.1-Win64\system\GAMES\Sony PlayStation\
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Again, if the folders aren't there yet, just create them. Fire up RA and load the Beetle PSX HW core. Try a couple of these games and make sure they work.
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After that, we will simply tell RA where our roms are, what emulator we want to use, and what core in RA we will be using.
You can now run an audit in RLUI and try running a few games through there. There are 1713 entries in the default XML included with HS. Some game names may be slightly off. I had "Breath of Fire III (USA).chd" for example and the database wanted "Breath of Fire III (USA) (v1.1).chd"
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You can either rename the CHD or edit the XML with "notepad++". Of course, I will eventually upload my own USA XML for those that are interested.
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Another thing that needs to be mentioned about PS1 are the in-game controls. The system was originally released with "digital" gamepads. A couple of years into it's existence, the "dual analog" gamepads were released.
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If you wanted to use ePSXe, then you will want to set "Dual Analog" in the "Edit Global Module Settings" and then for each game that requires a "Digital" joypad, set it in the "Rom Settings" tab.
You can find a list of which games require "Digital" here:
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Sony-PlayStation-Controller-Compatibility-Matrix-and-List-of-Special-Settings
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Using RA isn't any easier either. The RA module doesn't have any options for controls so you will have to use "Overrides" right in RA to achieve this. You'll need to load the core, load a game, set the controls to "digital" and then save a "game override" for every game that requires it.
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You could possibly split your CHD's into two folders, "Analog" and "Digital". Then save a "content override". Might save you some time, I have yet to test this fully though.
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