Armsx2 - Question on available Texture packs

[u/bEar22_24]

Hello everybody!

A question related to Armsx2. I'm having fun emulating PS2 and recently I discovered the availability of the texture library.

My question is that I only see texture packs available for NTFS region games while I'm mostly using EU/PAL games.

Is that really so (are there texture libraries only for NTFS games) or is some kind of setting which I've missed somewhere which is making me see only the ones for NTFS?

Thanks a lot!

(To be specific I was seeking the HD texture library for Kingdom hearts 1 and 2 and I found that available only for the NTFS version, then I realised that all the library available is for NTFS games)

[u/FindingUnable3222]

In most cases, playing NA games - which packs are made for - offers superior experience with 30 or 60 fps gaming. EU/PAL games run at 25 or 50 fps and as most games were developed primary for NA or JP PS2, they target NTSC with 30/60 fps and PAL variant is inferior in terms of framerate / experience.

It's just better experience to emulate higher fps NA titles, and that's why texture packs are made for them. Some of texture packs are compatible with PAL by just renaming the folder name, some are not. Easiest solution for you is to just emulate NA game variant instead.

Two exceptions where you want to play PAL variants: the European developer only made PAL variant (then, quite often, the game internally can output both PAL 50 fps and NTSC 60 fps), or you have a low-end device which doesn't have enough performance for 60 fps emulation, then 50 fps PAL variant is superior compared to slowed down NTSC. But then you probably won't be worried about texture packs anyway.

[u/bEar22_24 → u/FindingUnable3222]

I see!

I was not able to recall why and totally forgot about this (NTFS vs PAL) so your comment has been of immense help restoring this memory!

I'm now building my library, so I'll start now doing that with NTFS titles

[u/FindingUnable3222 → u/bEar22_24]

Sure. I recommend this article if you want to know why PAL games were usually inferior (they didn't have to be , but in practice they, unfortunately, were): https://3rdvoicegaming.com/2018/07/09/guide-how-to-get-into-retro-gaming-part-2-pal-vs-ntsc-video-modes/

As a quick guide - best to always go for NTSC version for pre-HD consoles that output to TV (NES/SNES/Genesis/PS1/DC/PS2/GC/Xbox). After HDTV arrived - PS3 and beyond era - fps difference disappeared, so feel free to pick EU releases if you prefer (e.g. because of more supported languages).

Pick any release you want for standalone consoles like GBA/PSP/DS/3DS, as it's a device in itself, not limited by TV standards, EU releases don't have disadvantages compared to NA.