How to Play Playstation 1 (PSX) Games on Your Computer (ePSXe)

There were a lot of gamers who were entering the once-uncommon world of 3D console gaming If you didn’t consider yourself an N64 gamer, then you likely were an PSX (Playstation 1) gamer. This guide will explain how to play Playstation 1 games from your PC using the emulator, the ePSXe.

PSX Emulation makes use of CD images instead of the ROM image This is very different from other consoles of the era. This is simply because Playstation 1 games came on CDs rather than the standard game cartridge. Emulation of Playstation 1 has one problem. It’s easy and requires some assembly. The complexity is comparable to 16-bit PC/DOS emulators. The guide will start with the basics before moving into more advanced scenarios in the following guides.

First, we require the emulator. It is available for download from the official ePSXe download page.

Next, find a place on your hard disk in which your PSX games are. I recommend creating a folder for every one of your PSX requirements in that spot and then opening that new folder. Then, create one that houses the emulator. Next, create an entire folder with all of your CD files. Include all of your CD images inside the folder.

Then, open your emulator folder. The entire ZIP archive you downloaded must be extracted into the folder. This emulator doesn’t require installation, however it will require some initial configuration before you can open it up. Before you can start the emulator, it is crucial to locate the Playstation 1 bios. These aren’t part of the emulator.by link psxeven bios download website We also cannot talk about how to get them. They are still available files quite easily, but you’d prefer to get the complete set together. Once you’ve found the BIOS files and saved them, move them to your emulators directory.

After that and we’re ready to search for the GPU plugin. The most recommended GPU plug-in that I’ve found is Pete’s GPU plugin. It is available here. Download the GPU plug-in most suitable for the operating system you are using. Once you have finished downloading the file, extract it to the plugins directory on your emulator.

Once you have downloaded the BIOS files and the GPU plugin, you are able to start the ePSXe Emulator by double-clicking the epsxe.exe. It will prompt you to use the Wizard. It is recommended that you ensure that all settings are correct before proceeding using the wizard. There’s not much need for configuration. Use only the recommended BIOS files (the wizard will inform you which one is the most recommended). Pete’s GPU plugin that you’ve downloaded can be used.

After you’ve finished your screen of the emulator will look like this:

You can run the emulator wizard for setup again when you click on “Config”, drop-down menu, then click on “Wizard Guide”.

Next, we must configure the controller’s setup. You can find this option by clicking “Config” menu, then hovering over “Game Pad” and then choosing “Port 1”, and then selecting “Pad 1”.

This pop-up will pop up when you click it. It looks like the following:

To change any controls to change any controls, just click on one of the grey boxes then type in the new key. After configuring your controller in digital form then click the OK button. Controllers are not able to be set up while a running game is playing. This is an unfortunate aspect of the emulator, however, once you have a half good setup, it is less and less of a problem.

The next step is to locate the settings for the video. The settings are available within the “Config” drop-down menu and clicking on “Video”:

This will likely open the pop-up window.

Click on the “Configure button” located below the dropdown menu which displays your plugin name. This is the screen that I got:

My sole experiment to date was to switch between full-screen mode and windowed mode. I prefer windowed mode because it lets me quickly access other applications in the event of need. Full screen mode offers the advantages of not having to deal with distractions, and also allows gamers to make use of all your screen for playing. It’s also a matter of personal preference. These settings can be adjusted to suit any game that you play.

The second option is the standard save state/load state option. This is located in the “Rundrop-down menu. For fast saving and loading I recommend using the speed-keys (F1 for save , and F3 for load):

There are a few things you need to know before we start loading our first game. One of them is that the game needs to be stored in a common disc image format. Formats that work are the ISO format, or CUE/BIN. The emulator will tell you which format it can play when you browse an image. If the file is CUE/BIN format, then it will load the.cue.

Another reason is that games will hide the window currently open to create another one. To close the program you have to hit the “Esc” key on your keyboard (typically at the top of your keyboard).

Additionally, I will show you how to run single-disc games. This guide can be used to play multi-disc format games. If you choose this method for running multi-disc format games, you won’t have the ability to switch between discs.

Okay. That’s cool. Just click on the drop-down menu “File” Then select “Run ISO”.

Navigate to the folder you have created for CD images , and then include all images. Then, you click on the image you wish to use and click on “Open”. The game will start.

Important: Once you’ve finished playing the game, click on the “File” drop-down menu and click on the “Exit” button. If you are looking to quit your emulator, click on the “File” drop-down menu, then click on “Exit”:

Simply clicking on the “X” button can shut out of the emulator, however, it will leave the emulator process running in the task manager running. If you’d like to restart the ePSXe emulator, this could be a problem. If you wish to stop the process, press CTRL+Alt+Delete. You can also open the task manager by clicking on “Processes” tab. Find the ePSXe file and then click “End Process”. Or restart your system. To safely end the process you can make use of the emulator’s “exit” button.

This guide is a fantastic way to emulate PSX games. But it doesn’t stop there. We will be covering more advanced topics in future guides, so keep an eye out.

Enjoy gaming!