The case for Duckstation
2 years ago
Washington, USA

The emulator discussion thread is a few years old at this point, so I figured I would just go ahead and make a new thread for this. This thread will explain why I think Duckstation should allowed for runs of this game, and other Twisted Metal games.

Most importantly, the load times are no faster than console or any other emulator, they are actually observably slower in most cases. Here are some times (in seconds, from character selection to when you gain control in game)

Duckstation (native CD speed): 19.9, 20, 20 Duckstation (6x CD speed): 16.6, 16.5, 16.4 PSX HW Core (native): 19.2, 19, 18.8 PSX HW Core (6x): 14.9, 15.2, 15

In terms of gameplay, Duckstation does not provide any advantages over console or other emulators (provided you aren't using overclocking settings). You will still experience the classic Twisted Metal 4 lag, the same as you would on console. I've done a side-by-side gameplay comparison between Duckstation and the PSX HW core. available here:

The following settings should be used for Duckstation runs to be considered valid:

Console Settings:

CPU Execution Mode: Interpreter (Slowest) Enable Clock Speed Control must be unchecked Async readahead disabled Read Speedup: No more than 3x(6x Speed) Seek Speedup Disabled (any level of this makes the game load faster than a PS2 using fast disc) Preload Image to RAM must be unchecked

Emulation Settings:

Emulation Speed: 100% Rewinding disabled (recommended)

Display Settings:

Sync to Host Refresh Rate must be unchecked Optimal Frame Pacing must be unchecked

Enhancement Settings:

Force NTSC Timings must be unchecked

Post Processing Settings:

No post-processing allowed

Advanced Settings:

Preferred if "Show Enhancement Settings" is enabled

I think as long as these settings are used, then Duckstation runs should be okay.

Florida, USA

This is alright with me, the main reason we had to do something in the first place was someone posting runs on an emulator that gave clear obvious advantages lol

witchdust likes this