How do I get PS1 games to run?

[Grinnerz]

I downloaded this a while back and was able to play with few issues. Then played other games for a while before coming back. It seems in that time there were updates that made PS1 games unable to launch.

I poked around on here and it seemed that the problem was that I was using PSCX so now I downloaded Beetle. It still doesn't work. I think I have the right BIOs but I'm not sure. Do I just need the right .bin?

I'm really new to this so any tips to get this working would be appreciated. I just want to play some games I did when I was a kid and my PS isn't in working order anymore.

[Fili]

Check if the bios corresponds to the game you're trying to run. Basicaly, a US game, requires a US bios, Europe game + europe Bios and so on.

Just to make sure, you need to launch the games through the .cue file.

If all of that fails, perhaps try the "Duckstation" core. For me personally, it's the best PSX core in terms of customizability, optimization and stability.

[Grinnerz]

I think its the right bios but I can't really check as the archive I got the games from has since been deleted. I'm pretty sure it's right though.

Do I go into the files and click on the .cue? I've just been using Retroarch.

Which core is Duckstation? As far as I can tell only PSCX and Beetle are for PS1 on Steam.

[Fili]

Originally posted by Grinnerz:

I think its the right bios but I can't really check as the archive I got the games from has since been deleted. I'm pretty sure it's right though.

Do I go into the files and click on the .cue? I've just been using Retroarch.

Which core is Duckstation? As far as I can tell only PSCX and Beetle are for PS1 on Steam.

Another thing you can check is, Load core without loading the game and check core information. There, it will show if the bios is being detected or not.

Yes, but not directly. "Load content > Games directory > [Name of the game].cue. Only the .cue will run the game but don't touch the .bin files. They are also needed.

Duckstation or Swanstation as it's probably called now, is not on Steam yet, you have to get it from the repository here: https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/windows/x86_64/latest/

If you don't mind doing a bit a manual installing you can download Duckstation/Swanstation core, extract it and place it on the "Cores" folder within Retroarch instalation. After that, you will need a .info file which you can get here.
https://github.com/libretro/swanstation

Download that file there and if for some reason you are unable to, that's ok. Simply create a .txt file and copy all the contents shown there to it, rename the file to .info and place it on the "info" folder within Retroarch.

This might seem intimidating, but honestly is just a bit time consuming.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention. You need to rename the .info file to exactly this "swanstation_libretro.info".

[Grinnerz]

Originally posted by Fili:

Yes, but not directly. "Load content > Games directory > [Name of the game].cue. Only the .cue will run the game but don't touch the .bin files. They are also needed.

Thank you, this worked. It's less convenient than just clicking on the game to start but at least I can play now.

I might give Duckstation a try at some point. Thank you for your help and the recommendation.