Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

For the updated re-release, see Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus.

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Series	Phantasy Star
Platform(s)	GameCube
Release date(s)	JP September 12, 2002 NA October 29, 2002 EU March 7, 2003
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer (4), Online (4)
Input methods	GameCube Controller, Game Boy Advance
Compatibility	4 Playable
GameIDs	GPOP8P , GPOE8P, GPOJ8P
See also...	Dolphin Forum thread Open Issues Search Google Search Wikipedia

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II features two games in one. Episode I gives you all the hit content and gameplay from the original PSO and PSO ver.2. Episode II brings an all-new full-length adventure in which you'll face real-time combat with enemies that are more powerful than ever before. New levels, like the breath-taking mountain and beach stages, give you expanded areas of gameplay and deep, lush worlds to explore. You'll also be given all-new quests to complete, additional weapons to master, and lots more rare items to find. Choose your character from the original three classes, each with a fourth new being. For intense offline gameplay, team up or compete with up to three of your fellow Hunters on the same console for a split-screen battle.

Problems

Calendar

At the beginning of the game, when the game asks if you want to go to the Calendar Screen, choosing Yes makes the game freeze. You can avoid this by simply selecting No instead. If you need to adjust the date and time, you can do so in your computer's settings, or if that is not possible, the Advanced tab of Dolphin's configuration.

Creating Network File Crash

When configuring a provider the game will error creating the network file in a GCI folder. Configure Dolphin to use a raw memory card file.

Dual Core De-sync

PSO EP1&2 and PSO EP3 tends to easily de-sync GPU/CPU threads when Dual Core is enabled (the default setting for most games on Dolphin) and since this game is constantly writing to your memory card while playing online there's a chance these de-syncs will happen while the game is writing to the memory card. This may result in game data corruption making you lose all your progress and characters. So to avoid this it's recommended to disable Dual Core for this game.

Black Video

Scenes that play pre-rendered video appear black unless the External Frame Buffer is enabled and set to Real and Scaled EFB Copy is disabled. Setting the Internal Resolution to 1x reduces image shaking. Fixed with Hybrid XFB in 5.0-5874.

Enhancements

Widescreen Gecko Codes

To play properly in 16:9 and eliminate Object pop-in at the edges of the screen during gameplay, before booting the game, use one of the following Gecko codes. The 1.0 code has an unstretched HUD.

• Note: Start Dolphin with these settings - Disable Widescreen Hack in Graphics/Enhancements and set Aspect Ratio to Stretch to Window in Graphics/General.

NTSC-U

Check your game's Properties/Info/Revision No. for the right code, 0 = v1 and 2 = v1.02.

$16:9 Widescreen v1.0
203D30F4 FC200818
C23D3110 00000004
3C803F40 90830040
C0230040 C0030000
EC010032 D0030000
38800000 00000000
044C3D34 44280000
044C3D3C 44280000
044C3D8C 44050000
044C3DA4 432C0000
E2000001 80008000

$16:9 Widescreen (Plus) [Ralf]
203D684C FC200818
06000088 00000010
C0421138 EFBD00B2
FC40E890 483D67C0
043D6850 4BC29838
E2000001 80008000

PAL

$16:9 Widescreen
04000088 C0421128
0400008C EFBD00B2
04000090 FC40E890
04000094 483D52B0
0C3D533C FC200818
043D5340 4BC2AD48

Configuration

Only configuration options for the best compatibility where they deviate from defaults are listed.

General

Config	Setting	Notes
Enable Dual Core	Off	Avoid desyncs that can corrupt save files

Version Compatibility

The graph below charts the compatibility with Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II since Dolphin's 2.0 release, listing revisions only where a compatibility change occurred.

r3972

3.0-732

4.0-3748

5.0-5874

Δ

5.0-19552 (current)

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

Δ

2.0 (r5384)

Compatibility can be assumed to align with the indicated revisions. However, compatibility may extend to prior revisions or compatibility gaps may exist within ranges indicated as compatible due to limited testing. Please update as appropriate.

Testing

This title has been tested on the environments listed below:

Test Entries
Revision	OS	CPU	GPU	Result	Tester
r7367	Windows 7	AMD Athlon X3 @ 3 GHz	ATI Radeon HD 5770	steady 30FPS
r7623	Windows 7	Intel Core i7-920 @ 2.6 GHz	ATI Radeon HD 5770	30FPS No Issues
r7623	Windows 7	AMD Phenom X4 @ 4.5 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590	60FPS No Issues
3.0-417	Linux	AMD Athlon II 255 X2 @ 3.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 430	30FPS I have some issues with missing letters in text. I have only tested EP1 from normal to ultimate mode which ran well.
3.0-432	Windows Server 2008 R2	AMD Athlon II x2 @ 3.4 GHz	AMD Radeon HD 6570	Steady 30FPS, no problems with x2 native resolution
3.0-632	Linux	AMD Athlon II 255 X2 @ 3.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 430	30FPS I have some issues with missing letters in text. I tested all EP1 and EP2 up to Seabed level. The game slows down a lot at Gol Dragon when it splits in the 3 dragons and it slows down a little bit in the jungle level.
3.0-651	Linux	AMD Athlon II 255 X2 @ 3.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 430	30FPS I have some issues with missing letters in text and also the map at the right hand corner is not working in this version of dolphin use v.3.0-632 it still works in that version. I tested all EP1 and EP2 up to Seabed level. The game slows down a lot at Gol Dragon when it splits in the 3 dragons and it slows down a little bit in the jungle level.
3.0-753	Windows 7	Intel Core i3-2350M @ 2.3 GHz	Intel HD Graphics 3000	29-30FPS, demo videos do not display unless DX9 or DX11 selected and EFB set to Real. Some slowdown in OpenGL when in mines. DX9 does not render start button menus correctly. Intel HD 3000 & DX11 only bottom edge of copyright information to bottom of screen is visible, rest is a white screen.
3.0-776	Windows 7	AMD FX-4100 X4 @ 4.1 GHz	ATI Radeon HD 5700	30+ FPS; Videos aren't displayed; Locking frame rate to Audio solves black frames issue.
3.0-2443	Linux	AMD Athlon II 255 X2 @ 3.1 GHz	NVIDIA GeForce GT 430	30FPS I have some issues with missing letters in text. The game slows down a lot at Gol Dragon when it splits in the 3 dragons and it slows down a little bit in the jungle level.

Gameplay Videos

Dolphin Emulator 4.0-3771 - Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (1080p HD) - Nintendo GameCube

phantasy star

Phantasy Star Online EP1&2 - MINES 1 - Dolphin r7612