Shadow of the Colossus: Difference between revisions

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*'''Affected Game Versions:''' All
*'''Affected Game Versions:''' All
*'''Problem:''' In this case, scenes within the Shrine of Worship don't emulate at full speed, and as a result, the audio/video during the ending cutscenes (which mostly take place within the Shrine) become unsynchronized by several seconds because the video is unable to keep up with the audio.
*'''Problem:''' In this case, scenes within the Shrine of Worship don't emulate at full speed, and as a result, the audio/video during the ending cutscenes (which mostly take place within the Shrine) become unsynchronized by several seconds because the video is unable to keep up with the audio.
*'''Solution:''' This problem only occurs if your CPU is not efficient enough at Floating-point operations to run the scenes at full speed, even with the appropriate Speedhacks enabled. This happened to me when I was using an AMD FX-8120, due to it's clock rate. and mediocre FPU efficiency. As a result, the solution to this problem is to have either of the recommended CPUs above, or to have a CPU with the sufficient architecture and clock rate for decent emulation.
*'''Solution:''' This problem only occurs if your CPU is not efficient enough at Floating-point operations to run the scenes at full speed, even with the appropriate Speedhacks enabled. This happened to me when I was using an AMD FX-8120 due to it's clock rate and mediocre FPU efficiency. As a result, the solution to this problem is to have either of the recommended CPUs above, or to have a CPU with the sufficient architecture and clock rate for decent emulation.

Revision as of 02:52, 22 October 2013


Shadow of the Colossus

Region NTSC-U:
Serial numbers: SCUS-97472
Release date: October 18, 2005
CRCs: C19A374E
Windows Status: Playable
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?
Region PAL:
Serial numbers: SCES-53326
Release date: February 16, 2006
CRCs: 0F0C4A9C
Windows Status: Playable
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?
Region NTSC-J:
Serial numbers: SCPS-15097
Release date: October 27. 2005
CRCs: 877F3436
Windows Status: Ingame
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?

Developer(s): Team Ico
Genre: Action-Adventure
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: Link
Game review score: Metacritic: 91/100
Game description: Also known as "Wander to Kyozou" in Japan, Shadow of the Colossus is one of PCSX2's most popular games, but it is one of the most complicated to emulate due to the fact that the original Playstation 2 release pushed the limits of the console and often suffered from frame-rate losses. This game is very CPU intensive, even for PCSX2.

Test configuration on Windows:

PCSX2 version: 1.1.0
Graphics by GSDX SSE41: r5622
Sound by SPU2-X: r5559
Pad plugin is Lilypad: r5403
BIOS version: USA v2.20

Comments:

  • Test Config: Works great with r5559 SSE41;
  • DX VERSION = 11;
  • EE Cycles = 2;
  • VU Cycles = 2;
  • MTVU = DISABLE;
  • Rest as default.

Hack comments: Aggressive-CRC, Half-pixel Offset

Test configuration on Linux:

PCSX2 version: untested
Graphics by ZZogl: untested
Sound by SPU2-X: untested


PC specs used to test the game:

CPU: Intel i5-3210M
GPU: Geforce 660M

Comments: Because of not very good CPU & GPU (Notebook), I've had to use some VU & EE improvements. I typed my settings in the comments above. This game is extremely CPU and GPU intensive, it was running between 20 and 30 FPS even on the original Playstation 2. Setting VU Cycle Stealing to 2 or even 3 helps the game tremendously.

  • Offical PCSX2 1.1.0 gameplay video: Link

CPU Requirements

The game's performance varies significantly depending on the CPU being used to run it. PCSX2 runs better on Intel CPU's than their AMD equivalents, and so does Shadow of the Colossus. However, AMD CPUs are more appropriately designed for gaming PC's and often represent good value for money when it comes to price vs performance in general.

Standards for Maximum Performance

To achieve 60 frames-per-second, your CPU must meet all of the following requirements and have the necessary speedhacks enabled.

  • The CPU must be an Intel-brand; not AMD
  • Due to architectural improvements, the CPU should utilize the latest Micro-architecture in the series
  • There should be at least 3 cores, with the MTVU hack enabled
  • The Clock speed must be over 4.0 GHz (However, no available Intel CPU has a base clock rate that high, so you will need the skill and equipment necessary to safely overclock it.)
  • VU Cycle Stealing should be set to level 1 or 2

Intel Processors

If you can't overclock a processor, my recommendation for achieving 30 frames-per-second is the i7-4820K Quad-Core 3.7 GHz, which sells for about $323 USD. There will still be a few slowdowns at some points, but they are very minor, and have little effect on the immersion.

AMD Processors

AMD processors are generally cheaper than their Intel equivalents, but they don't perform as well with PCSX2 because of their architecture, even with an extremely high clock speed. (In most AMD Processors, the number of Floating-Point-Units is half the number of total CPU cores. This means that each Floating-Point-Unit is shared between two cores. If one core is currently using the FPU, the other core sharing it must wait to do the same. PCSX2 makes heavy use of Floating-Point operations, something that clock speed cannot compensate for.) Thus, AMD processors should only be a last resort, if low price is a serious matter for you.

If that's the case, I'd recommend the FX-4350 Quad-Core 4.2 GHz, which sells for $122 USD. However, the performance will be inconsistent and negatively affect the immersion. Most cutscenes and traversing of the landscape will run at about 20-30 frames-per-second, but the ending cutscenes and most colossus battles will drop to 12-20 frames-per-second. On few specific occasions, there will be some serious slowdowns, albeit not unplayable.

Known Issues:

Over-bloom

  • Affected Game Versions: All
  • Problem: An emulation error causes the bloom lighting too be high, making it difficult to see much of the screen when out in bright locations.
  • Solution 1: Enable the "Aggressive CRC" hack in the GSdx plugin settings. This will significantly reduce the amount of bloom.
  • Solution 2: Use Software Rendering mode for perfect fix.
  • Solution 3: Modified GSdx plugins (r4893 or higher) are available for download and are designed specifically for the game. Download these plugins and unzip the files into the plugin settings for PCSX2. The over-bloom will be significantly reduced if this is used in GSdx.

Texture Misalignment

  • Affected Game Versions: All
  • Problem: Raising the internal resolution causes certain textures to become misaligned. This largely consists of the bloom on Shadow Creatures, Pigeons, Wander's Sword, and Mono's Dress to be placed to the upper-left of their proper position.
  • Solution 1: Enable the "Half-Pixel Offset" hack in the GSdx plugins menu. This will re-align the texture.
  • Solution 2: Use Software Rendering mode.
  • Comment: This problem only occurs if the player doesn't use the Native resolution.

Flickering Borders

  • Affected Game Versions: All
  • Problem: Enabling the "Half-Pixel Offset" hack to realign the textures results in flickering white lines along the top and left borders of the screen.
  • Solution: Adjust the Zoom in the main emulation settings to 102.80%, and set the screen display to "Fit to Screen/Window". This will cause the game to take up the full computer screen with just enough zoom to bypass the flickering borders. You can then adjust the display in-game in the options menu to your liking (4:3 or 16:9).

Weird Shadows

  • Affected Game Versions: All
  • Problem: All characters in the game, including Agro cast bizarre, outlined shadows.
  • Solution: Use the latest version of PCSX2.
  • Comment: This problem only exists if the player uses older versions of PCSX2.

Audio/Video Mis-Synchronization

  • Affected Game Versions: All
  • Problem: In this case, scenes within the Shrine of Worship don't emulate at full speed, and as a result, the audio/video during the ending cutscenes (which mostly take place within the Shrine) become unsynchronized by several seconds because the video is unable to keep up with the audio.
  • Solution: This problem only occurs if your CPU is not efficient enough at Floating-point operations to run the scenes at full speed, even with the appropriate Speedhacks enabled. This happened to me when I was using an AMD FX-8120 due to it's clock rate and mediocre FPU efficiency. As a result, the solution to this problem is to have either of the recommended CPUs above, or to have a CPU with the sufficient architecture and clock rate for decent emulation.