Duckstation improvements over original hardware

[Mopeybloke]

This is a comparison video between Duckstation with visual and performance enhancements vs real hardware captured via an upscaler.

 

[Boofytan]

Can't really go back tbh

 

[hi4all]

Pointless comparison. Upscaler only upscales the video resolution, not the game itself.

 

[Moreno909]

PPSSPP have nice upscaling too

 

[oliwek]

Pointless comparison. Upscaler only upscales the video resolution, not the game itself.

well, if you use a modern 4K screen with your playstation console, and don't use a hardware uspscaler (such as a Retrotink 4K Pro costing USD $750) , everyone except the trolls see the point... not to mention everything else an emulator brings, such as save states.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Modded Duckstation with Geo-11 to play in stereoscopic 3D with a VR headset is up to par with modern days VR games for standalone headsets.

 

[Mopeybloke]

Pointless comparison. Upscaler only upscales the video resolution, not the game itself.

The point is to showcase the enhancements. However, most of the videos comparisons use an emulated basis to begin with, not original hardware like this. That's why I see this video as more valuable. Also there can never be enough direct capture from old consoles in video. It's nice to have it preserved.

We had John Linneman on the job before DF Retro became a bi-annual event.

 

[Xeno]

Can't really go back tbh

PS1 just never looked good on a LCD compared to a CRT.

 

[Mopeybloke]

I play my PSX games on Duckstation at native res most of the time. Ducky includes CRT shaders now, which helps a lot, but Idk I can't bring myself to play a full PSX game at high res. I always end up reverting back to the old 240p.
Also, Ridge Racer Type 4 looks great at high resolution.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

PGXP is more than basic upscaling. There's also an option to downscale to native resolution while still using 4X or 8X the resolution for 3D elements. Works great with CRT-Lottes and acts as supersampling AA. I also think it really integrates 3D elements nicely in 2D backgrounds that way.

I'm amazed that today we can get the best of both worlds. CRT-shaders and PGXP/Supersampling. Looks on par with today's neoretro aesthetics, and better than remasters.

 

[Felipe]

Played parasite eve 1 and legend of dragoon on duckstation, the upscaling is nice indeed. The only downside is on legend of dragoon where the transition to battle screen is a bit slower than on real hardware, at least several months ago when i played it.

 

[secreto7]

Played parasite eve 1 and legend of dragoon on duckstation, the upscaling is nice indeed. The only downside is on legend of dragoon where the transition to battle screen is a bit slower than on real hardware, at least several months ago when i played it.

I think I saw some comparisons between Duckstation and original hardware and other emulators on different games, and the conclusion was that Duckstation takes much longer on loading screens.

Post automatically merged: May 13, 2025

Games takes much longer to boot compared to other PSX emulators · Issue #132 · unofficial-issue-tracker/duckstation

Some, like Need for Speed V-Rally, can take up to thrice as long to get to the initial loading screen after displaying the BIOS screen compared to other PSX emulators like Beetle PSX, Swanstation a...

github.com

Magical Drop III (Europe) (Disc 1) - The game takes over 1 minute to get past the first loading screen · Issue #19 · unofficial-issue-tracker/duckstation

Duckstation version 0.1-5325-ga6a52b31 (master) http://redump.org/disc/26578/ Tested with all enhancements disabled. The first loading screen in the game takes 1 minute, 22 seconds. In Mednafen and...

github.com

NCAA GameBreaker 2001 (USA) - The game takes significantly longer to get past the first loading screen than it does in Mednafen and on real hardware · Issue #65 · unofficial-issue-tracker/duckstation

Duckstation 0.1 - 5415 - g3f5552d6 (master) http://redump.org/disc/14374/ Tested with all enhancements disabled and all CPU modes. On real hardware and in Mednafen the first loading screen takes th...

github.com

I was looking at other bug reports and it seems that Duckstation has several problems on loading in general, bugs, hangs and glitches on loading screens in various games.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Played parasite eve 1 and legend of dragoon on duckstation, the upscaling is nice indeed. The only downside is on legend of dragoon where the transition to battle screen is a bit slower than on real hardware, at least several months ago when i played it.

You can tweak virtual CD-ROM speed depending on the game. I've also mapped PS-Button+R2 combo to toggle "Fast-Forward" and boost through loading times. Played Legacy of Kain in full like that.

I use FastForward a lot. Couldnt play jRPGs without.

 

[Felipe]

You can tweak virtual CD-ROM speed depending on the game. I've also mapped PS-Button+R2 combo to toggle "Fast-Forward" and boost through loading times. Played Legacy of Kain in full like that.

I use FastForward a lot. Couldnt play jRPGs without.

The problem with these configurations is that the game becomes faster than the normal and might be not fun to play.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

The problem with these configurations is that the game becomes faster than the normal and might be not fun to play.

No it's not a constant overclock.

With fast-forward the game is only accelerated while maintaining PS+R2, or you can set it as a toggle. Think of it as a shortcut to overclocking manually when you get a loading screen or a lengthy transition you couldn't skip otherwise.

With increasing CD drive speed it only affect loading from CD, but some games don't support high speeds and will show glitches.

There are similar settings in PCSX2 and NeoCD I also use often.

 

[Felipe]

No it's not a constant overclock.

With fast-forward the game is only accelerated while maintaining PS+R2, or you can set it as a toggle. Think of it as a shortcut to overclocking manually when you get a loading screen or a lengthy transition you couldn't skip otherwise.

With increasing CD drive speed it only affect loading from CD, but some games don't support high speeds and will show glitches.

There are similar settings in PCSX2 and NeoCD I also use often.

I see, personally i'm not a fan of those modifications but it's good you wrote this. Someone will probably try those.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

I see, personally i'm not a fan of those modifications but it's good you wrote this. Someone will probably try those.

I hope so. Legacy of Kain aged really poorly when considering the long loading times (that would pop just using the inventory). Same for a lot of NeoGeo CD games. Emulation is fixing them.