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# PC-FX Documentation

Last updated March 19, 2024
Valid as of 1.32.1

Table of Contents:

- Introduction
- Firmware/BIOS
- Default Key Assignments
- Settings Reference

## Introduction

- Internal backup memory and external backup memory are emulated.
- Motion decoder RLE and JPEG-like modes are emulated.
- KING Background 0 scaling+rotation mode is supported.
- Mouse emulation.
- Working CD+G playback.

## Firmware/BIOS

Place a correct BIOS image file in the correct location.

The filename listed below is per default pcfx.bios setting.

Filename: | Purpose: | SHA-256 Hash:
--- | --- | ---
pcfx.rom | PC-FX BIOS version 1.00. Recommended BIOS version. | 4b44ccf5d84cc83daa2e6a2bee00fdafa14eb58bdf5859e96d8861a891675417

## Default Key Assignments

Key(s): | Action: | Configuration String:
--- | --- | ---
ALT + SHIFT + 1 | Activate in-game input configuration process for device on virtual input port 1. | input_config1
ALT + SHIFT + 2 | Activate in-game input configuration process for device on virtual input port 2. | input_config2

Key: | Action/Button:
--- | ---
Keypad 4 | IV
Keypad 5 | V
Keypad 6 | VI
Keypad 1 | III
Keypad 2 | II
Keypad 3 | I
Keypad 8 | MODE 1
Keypad 9 | MODE 2
Enter/Return | Run
Tab | Select
W | Up
S | Down
A | Left
D | Right

## Settings Reference

Caution: Any settings that change emulation behavior as seen from the emulated game are shown with the setting name bolded in the table. One should be conscious of these settings if one has changed them from the default values when using network play or movies, as they can cause desychronizations if not set the same among hosts(or between the recording emulator and the playing emulator).

Setting: | Value Type: | Possible Values: | Default Value: | Description:
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
pcfx.adpcm.emulate_buggy_codec | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Hack that emulates the codec a buggy ADPCM encoder used for some games' ADPCM.
pcfx.adpcm.suppress_channel_reset_clicks | boolean | 0 1 | 1 | Hack to suppress clicks caused by forced channel resets.
pcfx.bios | string |  | pcfx.rom | Path to the ROM BIOS
pcfx.cdspeed | integer | 2 through 10 | 2 | Emulated CD-ROM speed. Setting the value higher than 2, the default, will decrease loading times in most games by some degree.

pcfx.cpu_emulation

enum

fast
accurate
auto

auto

CPU emulation mode.

- fast - Fast Mode
  Fast mode trades timing accuracy, cache emulation, and executing from hardware registers and RAM not intended for code use for performance.
- accurate - Accurate Mode
  Increased timing accuracy, though not perfect, along with cache emulation, at the cost of decreased performance. Additionally, even the pipeline isn't correctly and fully emulated in this mode.
- auto - Auto Mode
  Selects "fast" or "accurate" automatically based on an internal database. If the CD image is not recognized, defaults to "fast".

pcfx.disable_bram | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Disable internal and external BRAM. It is intended for viewing games' error screens that may be different from simple BRAM full and uninitialized BRAM error screens, though it can cause the game to crash outright.
pcfx.disable_softreset | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | When RUN+SEL are pressed simultaneously, disable both buttons temporarily.
pcfx.fxscsi | string |  | 0 | Path to the FX-SCSI ROM Intended for developers only.

pcfx.high_dotclock_width

enum

256
341
1024

1024

Emulated width for 7.16MHz dot-clock mode.

Lower values are faster, but will cause some degree of pixel distortion.

- 256 - 256 pixels
  This value will cause heavy pixel distortion.
- 341 - 341 pixels
  This value will cause moderate pixel distortion.
- 1024 - 1024 pixels
  This value will cause no pixel distortion as long as interpolation is enabled on the video output device and the resolution is sufficiently high, but it will use a lot of CPU time.

pcfx.input.port1

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 1

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port1.multitap | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Enable multitap on PC-FX port 1. EXPERIMENTAL emulation of the unreleased multitap. Enables ports 3 4 5.

pcfx.input.port2

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 2

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port2.multitap | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Enable multitap on PC-FX port 2. EXPERIMENTAL emulation of the unreleased multitap. Enables ports 6 7 8.

pcfx.input.port3

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 3

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port4

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 4

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port5

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 5

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port6

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 6

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port7

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 7

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.input.port8

enum

none
gamepad
mouse

gamepad

Input device for Port 8

- none - none
- gamepad - Gamepad
- mouse - Mouse

pcfx.mouse_sensitivity | real | through | 1.25 | Mouse sensitivity.
pcfx.nospritelimit | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Remove 16-sprites-per-scanline hardware limit.
pcfx.rainbow.chromaip | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Enable bilinear interpolation on the chroma channel of RAINBOW YUV output. This is an enhancement-related setting. Enabling it may cause graphical glitches with some games.
pcfx.resamp_quality | integer | 0 through 5 | 3 | Sound quality. Higher values correspond to better SNR and better preservation of higher frequencies("brightness"), at the cost of increased computational complexity and a negligible increase in latency.
pcfx.resamp_rate_error | real | 0.0000001 through 0.0000350 | 0.0000009 | Output rate tolerance. Lower values correspond to better matching of the output rate of the resampler to the actual desired output rate, at the expense of increased RAM usage and poorer CPU cache utilization.
pcfx.slend | integer | 0 through 239 | 235 | Last rendered scanline.
pcfx.slstart | integer | 0 through 239 | 4 | First rendered scanline.

Setting: | Value Type: | Possible Values: | Default Value: | Description:
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---

pcfx.debugger.disfontsize

enum

5x7
6x9
6x12
6x13
9x18

5x7

Disassembly font size.

Note: Setting the font size to larger than the default may cause text overlap in the debugger.

- 5x7 - 5x7
- 6x9 - 6x9
- 6x12 - 6x12
- 6x13 - 6x13. CJK support.
- 9x18 - 9x18; CJK support.

pcfx.debugger.memcharenc | string |  | shift_jis | Character encoding for the debugger's memory editor.
pcfx.enable | boolean | 0 1 | 1 | Enable (automatic) usage of this module.
pcfx.forcemono | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Force monophonic sound output.

pcfx.scanlines

integer

-100 through 100

0

Enable scanlines with specified opacity.

Opacity is specified in %; IE a value of "100" will give entirely black scanlines.
Negative values are the same as positive values for non-interlaced video, but for interlaced video will cause the scanlines to be overlaid over the previous(if the "video.deinterlacer" setting is set to "weave", the default) field's lines.

pcfx.shader

enum

none
autoip
autoipsharper
scale2x
sabr
ipsharper
ipxnoty
ipynotx
ipxnotysharper
ipynotxsharper
goat

none

Enable specified OpenGL shader.

Obviously, this will only work with the OpenGL "video.driver" setting, and only on cards and OpenGL implementations that support shaders, otherwise you will get a black screen, or Mednafen may display an error message when starting up. When a shader is enabled, the "pcfx.videoip" setting is ignored.

- none - None/Disabled
- autoip - Auto Interpolation
  Will automatically interpolate on each axis if the corresponding effective scaling factor is not an integer.
- autoipsharper - Sharper Auto Interpolation
  Same as "autoip", but when interpolation is done, it is done in a manner that will reduce blurriness if possible.
- scale2x - Scale2x
- sabr - SABR v3.0
  GPU-intensive.
- ipsharper - Sharper bilinear interpolation.
- ipxnoty - Linear interpolation on X axis only.
- ipynotx - Linear interpolation on Y axis only.
- ipxnotysharper - Sharper version of "ipxnoty".
- ipynotxsharper - Sharper version of "ipynotx".
- goat - Simple approximation of a color TV CRT look.
  Intended for fullscreen modes with a vertical resolution of around 1000 to 1500 pixels. Doesn't simulate halation and electron beam energy distribution nuances.

pcfx.shader.goat.fprog

boolean

0
1

0

Force interlaced video to be treated as progressive.

When disabled, the default, the "video.deinterlacer" setting is effectively ignored with respect to what appears on the screen, unless it's set to "blend" or "blend_rg". When enabled, it may be prudent to disable the scanlines effect controlled by the "pcfx.shader.goat.slen" setting, or else the scanline effect may look objectionable.

pcfx.shader.goat.hdiv | real | -2.00 through 2.00 | 0.50 | Constant RGB horizontal divergence.

pcfx.shader.goat.pat

enum

goatron
borg
slenderman

goatron

Mask pattern.

- goatron - Goatron
  Brightest.
- borg - Borg
  Darkest.
- slenderman - Slenderman
  Spookiest?

pcfx.shader.goat.slen | boolean | 0 1 | 1 | Enable scanlines effect.
pcfx.shader.goat.tp | real | 0.00 through 1.00 | 0.50 | Transparency of otherwise-opaque mask areas.
pcfx.shader.goat.vdiv | real | -2.00 through 2.00 | 0.50 | Constant RGB vertical divergence.

pcfx.special

enum

none
hq2x
hq3x
hq4x
scale2x
scale3x
scale4x
2xsai
super2xsai
supereagle
nn2x
nn3x
nn4x
nny2x
nny3x
nny4x

none

Enable specified special video scaler.

The destination rectangle is NOT altered by this setting, so if you have xscale and yscale set to "2", and try to use a 3x scaling filter like hq3x, the image is not going to look that great. The nearest-neighbor scalers are intended for use with bilinear interpolation enabled, for a sharper image, though the "autoipsharper" shader may provide better results.

- none - None/Disabled
- hq2x - hq2x
- hq3x - hq3x
- hq4x - hq4x
- scale2x - scale2x
- scale3x - scale3x
- scale4x - scale4x
- 2xsai - 2xSaI
- super2xsai - Super 2xSaI
- supereagle - Super Eagle
- nn2x - Nearest-neighbor 2x
- nn3x - Nearest-neighbor 3x
- nn4x - Nearest-neighbor 4x
- nny2x - Nearest-neighbor 2x, y axis only
- nny3x - Nearest-neighbor 3x, y axis only
- nny4x - Nearest-neighbor 4x, y axis only

pcfx.stretch

enum

0
full
aspect
aspect_int
aspect_mult2

aspect_mult2

Stretch to fill screen.

- 0 - Disabled
- full - Full
  Full-screen stretch, disregarding aspect ratio.
- aspect - Aspect Preserve
  Full-screen stretch as far as the aspect ratio(in this sense, the equivalent xscalefs == yscalefs) can be maintained.
- aspect_int - Aspect Preserve + Integer Scale
  Full-screen stretch, same as "aspect" except that the equivalent xscalefs and yscalefs are rounded down to the nearest integer.
- aspect_mult2 - Aspect Preserve + Integer Multiple-of-2 Scale
  Full-screen stretch, same as "aspect_int", but rounds down to the nearest multiple of 2.

pcfx.tblur | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Enable video temporal blur(50/50 previous/current frame by default).
pcfx.tblur.accum | boolean | 0 1 | 0 | Accumulate color data rather than discarding it.
pcfx.tblur.accum.amount | real | 0 through 100 | 50 | Blur amount in accumulation mode, specified in percentage of accumulation buffer to mix with the current frame.

pcfx.videoip

enum

0
1
x
y

1

Enable (bi)linear interpolation.

- 0 - Disabled
- 1 - Bilinear
- x - Linear (X)
  Interpolation only on the X axis.
- y - Linear (Y)
  Interpolation only on the Y axis.

pcfx.xres | integer | 0 through 65536 | 0 | Full-screen horizontal resolution. A value of "0" will cause the current desktop horizontal resolution to be used.
pcfx.xscale | real | 0.01 through 256 | 3.000000 | Scaling factor for the X axis in windowed mode.
pcfx.xscalefs | real | 0.01 through 256 | 1.000000 | Scaling factor for the X axis in fullscreen mode. For this setting to have any effect, the "pcfx.stretch" setting must be set to "0".
pcfx.yres | integer | 0 through 65536 | 0 | Full-screen vertical resolution. A value of "0" will cause the current desktop vertical resolution to be used.
pcfx.yscale | real | 0.01 through 256 | 3.000000 | Scaling factor for the Y axis in windowed mode.
pcfx.yscalefs | real | 0.01 through 256 | 1.000000 | Scaling factor for the Y axis in fullscreen mode. For this setting to have any effect, the "pcfx.stretch" setting must be set to "0".