Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria [PAL-E] - A/V desyncs, hard lock during FMV playback

[trostboot]

_PCSX2 version:_ PCSX2 1.5.0-20161020041703

_PCSX2 options:_ Defaults, no speedhacks

_Plugins used:_ GSdx AVX2 D3D11 SW, Pokopom, SPU2-X (also tested with ZeroSPU2)

_Description of the issue:_ PAL versions of Valkyrie Profile 2 (version tested is PAL-E, SLES-54644, CRC 04CCB600, image md5 bb2e4fe43daae8b85bcbe4e69e11a9e2) suffer from severe audio/video desync during FMV playback. Audio is played back at normal speeds, video is played back faster and suffers from additional heavy stuttering. Furthermore, if the intro FMV cinematic isn't skipped, the game will lock up at the end.

_How to reproduce the issue:_

1. Boot up a PAL version of Valkyrie Profile 2

_Last known version to work:_ None. As far as I can tell, this never worked. There's the odd thread on the forums mentioning it going back many years, but usually alongside other issues so it got sidelined or classified as PEBKAC.

_PC specifications:_ Intel i5-4690k, AMD R9 270X, 16GB RAM, Win10 x64 14393)

emuLog.txt

[FlatOutPS2]

Go to Config > Audio (SPU2) > Plugin Settings, and set Synchronizing Mode to "Async Mix". Then try the FMVs again.

[trostboot]

Already did. Sorry, should have been more clear. Changing sync modes does nothing. And as I stated, it also happens with ZeroSPU2.

[willkuer]

Maybe try different delaycycle in spu2-x.ini. Something like 0-10. But probably unrelated if sound is working correctly.

[trostboot]

Yeah, that doesn't change anything. I tried a few other settings just to be sure (EE/IOP interpreters, EE timing hack), but it doesn't make any difference.

[jcdenton2k]

Try regular memory card files instead of memory card folders. Also make sure you are using Safe or Safest presets and see what happens. I'll see about getting someone with the game to help me test something on my end here.

Which country is the game exactly? There were several 'Europe' releases (UK, France, Greece, Germany, Spain) and even one in the Russian territory. http://www.mobygames.com/game/ps2/valkyrie-profile-2-silmeria/release-info

Although it may be the exact same game, there may be subtle regional differences that may be affecting things. Best to make sure.

[trostboot]

The issue predates memory card folders by years and years. I tried it anyway to be sure, it has no effect.

It's the English version, aka UK. Relevant serial and hashes are already in the first post. The German version (SLES-54646) has the same issue, however, so I would suspect it's very likely affecting all PAL versions, until proven otherwise.

[jcdenton2k]

So here's the redump link: http://redump.org/disc/4110 I'm gonna do some quick testing now.

Ok so after some extensive testing, the game works fine. Play the FMVs and there's desync between the audio & visuals but there's no freezing/crashing to be found. I'm also happy to report that apparently (at least on PAL version) the Lost Forest isn't garbage anymore (though there are lines on screen) and even the FMVs within the Lost Forest seem to work fine.

Considering my completely potato computer & setup (AMD Phenom II X4 840 and Nvidia GTX 560Ti); I'm surprised I was able to get the game to run at all. I've been holding off playing it until I upgrade.

So TLDR: Focus on the desync because the crashing happens for other reasons. I got no hard locks anywhere despite fully viewing all the cutscenes. They stuttered and experienced slowdown at times but didn't cause locks/crashes.

[trostboot]

There's a difference between real-time in-game cutscenes and FMVs. There are no FMVs in the Lost Forest. I'm talking specifically about FMVs, and the hard lock that occurs happens at the very end of the opening cinematic (i.e., the one that plays right after you boot up the game, not the one that starts after you hit New Game).

Are you saying the game did not lock up after that FMV? Because it reliably 100% of the time did for me.

[jcdenton2k]

No it didn't lock up for me for any FMVs or in-game cutscenes. Not the intro and not afterwards either.

[ramapcsx2]

The problem is probably the H/V Sync timings. If so, it can probably be made to work better by switching to PAL60 mode (hold X and Triangle on bootup).

[trostboot]

I'm fairly certain VP2 PAL doesn't support that (or progressive scan for that matter, unlike the NTSC releases). Triangle + X just brings up an aspect ratio choice. I'll double-check when I get home from work, maybe I'm misremembering.

[trostboot]

Yeah, it doesn't have support for any other video modes.

Also, WRT the lock up, I re-tested the opening FMV again with fresh, untouched portable installs of 1.4.0 and 1.0.0 with default configs, and it froze again on both. Just be to super extra clear, it happens after that FMV plays, right where it normally loads into the title screen. I.e., boot up the game and then never touch a single button. @jcdenton2k Could you re-test it with a fresh 1.4.0 install?

[trostboot]

(using 1.5.0-dev-1764, but also seems to apply to 1.4.0) EE cyclerate -1 fixes the freeze. EE cyclerate -2 or lower fixes both timing and the freeze. Not very practical of course, but maybe it's helpful to know.

[MrCK1]

Anybody like to test this again? EE cyclerate could be added to GameDB later if necessary.

[trostboot]

Freeze and desync still happen on latest git. I don't see how this can be closed, the EE cyclerate changes are not a practical workaround, and most certainly shouldn't be added to the GameDB entry. For one, it's not been tested outside of the opening cutscene, and for another, VP2 already pushes the hardware.

[MrCK1]

OK, thanks for re-testing.

[ramapcsx2]

Getting better with each tick towards a slower EE hints at this being a stalling problem. Real hardware will probably stall for a few EE cycles on some conditions (possibly in IPU DMA?) and we do not.

[mikazl57]

Hello !

Any news about this bug ? I have the same A/V issues in FMV with the PAL French Version.

Thks

Build :pcsx2-v1.5.0-dev-3039-g1414d64b1-windows-x86

[ramapcsx2]

I think this improved with the WiP VSync timing fix, at least for progressive mode. Real hardware has issues with the FMV cutscenes as well, by the way.

[trostboot]

There is no progressive mode in the PAL release. And could you elaborate on issues on real hardware? I loaded up the English PAL version just now to have a look, and the opening FMV plays fine, it's in sync and the game doesn't blackscreen and freeze at the end like on PCSX2. Only noticed what seemed to be two very short audio dropouts that don't happen using emulation.

[ramapcsx2]

Yeah, the audio tends to be skippy on real hardware. It's not a lot but you notice it when looking for it. I only tested the NTSC release, where timings are different and the progressive mode is available.

So I'm thinking this might be related to the VSync timing fix, even if yours is the PAL version. The game's code base is surely the same, and is known to be borderline for the NTSC release.

[trostboot]

Let's put it this way, I've played through the NTSC release at least once fully on PCSX2 a good while ago, and even before that it's a game I mucked around in through the years. I never noticed any issues with the FMVs, despite using the EE cyclerate increases to smooth out in-game performance. I haven't noticed anything borderline about it. It never occured to me to check how it plays in interlaced mode, but I did that just now and it works fine.

That's why I made sure to mention it's the PAL version that suffers from this issue, because as far as I can tell and remember throughout the years, the NTSC version was fine.

[ramapcsx2]

Well, if you've still got the NTSC version, try running the intro. Watch and listen carefully, the glitches will happen even before they first speak. Try it in 480p as well, and see if you can spot any jerky motion or audio oddities.

I get reliable skipping in the first few seconds here (both modes), and iirc, this is fixed with the new VS timing.

The same skipping can be observed on a SCPH-90002 machine, though less pronounced and further into the FMV.

[trostboot]

I'm more inclined to believe those audio glitches are in the source audio. It only happens on the original US disc, not with the undub patch applied. They're also in the exact same spot when using real hardware (SCPH-39004 for me). Either way, it would be weird if those changes would do anything about these glitches, because as it is, they're replicated accurately. Here, take a look: The top one is the US release on PCSX2, captured using the internal recording function. The middle is the same version running on my PS2, captured using the S/PDIF out. The bottom is the English PAL release, also captured from my PS2.

Either way, it sounds like you haven't had a chance to see the issues in the PAL version for yourself, but they're much more severe than this. Audio and video are completely out of sync (several seconds at the best of times), the video jitters heavily, and of course it blackscreens and freezes at the end.

I tried to have a look at it with the vsync timing changes, but VS made a fuss and it's too late now to try and wrestle with that particular beast right now. If you have a build of that branch somewhere, I'd be glad to take a look.

[ramapcsx2]

To make sure: You disabled all cycle speedhacks, right? I see just one dropout in your NTSC capture, but here I get several right from the beginning.

Yeah, I need to check the PAL disk. But finding one.. :p

[trostboot]

Of course, all speedhacks disabled, software rendering, default EE/IOP/VU settings.

You're right in that you can't see all of the dropouts up there, the timeline ended up being a bit too long. But there's more and they are identical between real hardware and emulation. Listen for yourself: vp2audio.zip

I think they screwed up the English audio in the NTSC release and fixed it for the PAL conversion. Either way, I don't think it's related to this issue here.

Edit: Well, I've whipped VisualStudio back into submission and had a look at the PAL release using the alternative--vsynctiming branch. No difference. Video playback is still too fast, eventually the FMV will have reached its end, but the audio has not, and the game just throws its hands in the air and silently dies. At least for the intro FMV, after the opening credits FMV that plays after selecting New Game the game will continue on, but the actual FMV playback is still just as broken.

[ramapcsx2]

The desync is something to look into. I just need the VP2 PAL intro but that game is huge and expensive to buy these days ><

[trostboot]

Would a blockdump work for you? Would come in at around 220mb, FMV and all.

[ramapcsx2]

Would help, yep :p It should include the entire intro and also the main menu music is streamed from disk. I think it'll loop to the FMV automatically. If you test it and there are no missing blocks notices, that'd be perfect!

[trostboot]

Here you go. Entire intro + main menu.

[ramapcsx2]

Great, this works well. I can see how it screws up badly right away.

[ramapcsx2]

And yea, I'm almost sure this is the same timing calculations issue as with the NTSC version. I think they're doing some kind of synchronization within VBlank, and that this is a tight fit even on real hardware. The video gets fixed by underlocking the EE, introducing the same audio glitches as on NTSC but fixing the sync. The code is the same, but our PAL cycles are different enough to shift the problem from audio skips to video descync. It'll all be in the VBlank handler anyway.

[mikazl57]

I made a video some time ago with this problem if it can help with the real DVD PAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFkQ8YZKwlk&feature=youtu.be

[mikazl57]

Same bug on new version of PCSX 1.6.0

[refractionpcsx2]

Since some vsync and spu2 stuff has been changed since 1.6, can you confirm if this still happens and is there and easy way to replicate this? like does the intro movie do it?

[trostboot]

Yeah, same issue still on PCSX2 1.7.0-20201211105624. Intro movie does it, yeah (the blockdump up above includes it). Hardcoded subs, so it's very easy to tell right from the start. Letting it play out in full will then cause the game to lock up.

[refractionpcsx2]

ok thanks for the update :)

[refractionpcsx2]

Okay I looked in to this and from what I can tell when comparing to my PS2, our counters, HSYNC and VSYNC counters are accurate, however the game wants HSYNC to be counted 5% slower, which would be an incorrect value. I'm not sure if the problem is this or something else causing the timing to be out, since slowing down the EE (setting the slider to -1, or -2, i forget) seems to also fix the sync and all that does is makes the EE instructions take longer.

so it's possible they have timed something on the EE and it's not matching up, so this could be a real pig to fix correctly, but I'm pretty confident it isn't a counter issue.

[refractionpcsx2]

According to #6545 this also happens in 1080i mode.

[Uzarkis]

@trostboot - Can you tell me if this game works good now?

[trostboot]

@Uzarkis PAL version still suffers from the issues described here. I suggest procuring a copy of the US version if you want to play it.

[Uzarkis]

@Uzarkis PAL version still suffers from the issues described here. I suggest procuring a copy of the US version if you want to play it.

That sucks... at least usa works, thanks for teh tip.