PCSX2 2.0 Major Update of Sony PS2 Emulator with New Features and Enhancements
TapTechNews July 14th news, the Sony PS2 game console emulator PCSX2 released a stable version 2.0 again after four years. During these four years, PCSX2 has received more than 6000 improvements and the download count has exceeded 100 million times.
PCSX2 2.0 officially switched the GUI framework from wxWidgets completely to Qt, bringing interface improvements, enhanced UI back-end efficiency, and added a theme function.
In addition, PCSX2 2.0 also made a tough decision: removed the plugin function. The team got in touch with the plugin authors and integrated their codes into the PCSX2 core project, and the plugins no longer need to be compiled and dynamically linked separately.
Furthermore, this update also brings the AutomaticGameFixes function, and the new gameindex game index contains a complete list of all known games, and the development team will provide pre-configured fixes to ensure that the games can run smoothly automatically.
While switching to Qt, PCSX2 adjusted the game settings interface, including game settings independent of the global settings, supporting setting resolution and other parameters independently for each game.
PCSX2 2.0 stable version also brings a large number of compatibility improvements, and currently only one game cannot be started on Windows.
The new BigPicture big-screen mode supports using the gamepad to browse the menu of the PCSX2 emulator.
TapTechNews noticed that the PCSX2Patches patch function has also been updated, introducing Pnach2.0 format to facilitate players to enable or disable individual cheats or patches in the game settings without directly touching the pnach file.
PCSX2 2.0 also brings a large number of improvements in the emulator k ernel:
Introduced Fastmem to speed up the host memory access speed without affecting the accuracy
Some scarce CPU instructions of the EmotionEngine have received the support of the recompiler
The recompiler performance of EE and VU has been optimized
Corrected some long-standing floating-point operation errors to improve the game experience of Gran Turismo 4
In the graphics aspect, PCSX2 2.0 newly supports Vulkan, introduces an automatic renderer mechanism, and automatically selects the best plan that prioritizes compatibility for the user's GPU architecture, and the Blending performance has also been greatly improved.
PCSX2 now has a cross-platform input system that is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms, and has also added a automatic key mapping function.
In terms of platform support, PCSX2 2.0 has no longer supported Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems, and the minimum requirement is Windows 10 1809 version; the macOS version has also returned, supporting native running on Intel Mac and running through Rosetta simulation on Apple Silicon Mac, and the minimum requirement is macOS 11 Big Sur system.