Hello to everyone! I’ve recently begun experimenting with the possibility of playing some of my PAL PS1 games in NTSC through the Mednafen core in Retroarch.
The advantage in achieving this conversion lies in the specific difference between the two video modes (PAL is 17.5% slower than NTSC). One could indeed opt for the corresponding NTSC versions in order to obtain a properly smooth experience, however some European localizations were only available in their respective PAL editions and thus they remain confined in a slower rendition of the game. Such is the case with the Italian translation of Final Fantasy VIII, which I’m particularly fond of and that I would love to play as intended by the original developer.
I’ve tried patching the ISO files that I had ripped from my original PAL discs with several utilities available around the internet: namely PAL4U2K and P4UPatch, but these patches do not seem to produce any discernible effect when launched through Mednafen.
Another option I have attempted is using some Bootdisks, such as Import Light Adapter, Breaker Pro and others which are likewise freely available to this day. When booted on an actual (albeit modded) PS1, these bootdisks allow you to select a specific video mode (either PAL or NTSC) that you may want to run your game in. Then you eject the disc tray, you put the disc in, press X and the game is consequently booted with the video mode of choice. I can confirm this works magnificently with my PAL PS1 and my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII, which is perfectly reproduced in NTSC mode with this method.
Unfortunately the aforementioned functionality does not seem to work with Mednafen yet: you can launch the bootdisks themselves, the UI appears and everything seems exactly as it is on the real hardware, but when you follow the whole process detailed above by appending the necessary ISO file through the menu, the emulation hangs right after pressing X.
Looking forward to any possible insight on this! Thanks in advance.