NetherSX2 Classic v2.2n Net Dev Build

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year everyone!

This update adds experimental Online Multiplayer to NetherSX2 along with the usual updates!
Thanks to IamLupo for adding it to ARMSX2, and zakilj3 for discovering the same settings work with NetherSX2!

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How to use Online Multiplayer

1. Go to your App Settings --> Settings and toggle on Enable DEV9 Ethernet
2. Set API to Sockets, and Device to how you want to connect online with the default being WiFi. Set this to VPN if your phone uses a VPN, and to one of the two SIM DATA options if you want to use your Mobile Data Plan instead
3. That should be enough to get you online using a guide like this by LogicalMacrochip

You can use the Official List of PlayStation 2 Online Games (2024) to figure out what games work, get their DNAS bypass codes if needed and which private server you should be using

For more advanced options (or you want to use the second method from the guide by LogicalMacrochip), you can do the following:

1. Set DNS1 Mode to Manual
2. Under DNS1 select either PS2 Online (called Cristian in the Official list) or PSRewired
   Note: This can also be changed on a Per Game Settings and more servers will be added soon
   To turn it off just set DNS1 Mode to Auto and DNS1 to 0.0.0.0

zakilj3 created a more comprehensive guide to make it easier for people

Changelog

• Bumped version to v2.2n
• Added Networking section to System Settings

GameDB (converted from PCSX2)

• All-Star Fighters - Fixed inverted or broken character textures
• Battle Gear 3 - Fixed broken splitscreen mode
• Blokus Club with Bumpy Trot - Fixed channel shuffles, menu graphics, motion blur and aligned effects
• Bomberman Kart DX - Fixed specific level infinite load screen
• Castlevania: Curse of Darkness - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Cool Girl - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Coraline - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Cy Girls - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Final Fantasy X-2 - Fixed broken FMVs
• George of the Jungle - Fixed post-processing alignment
• George of the Jungle and the Search for the Secret - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits - Fixed broken rainbow rendering, edge garbage, shadow definition and aligns post-processing
• Harley-Davidson: Race to the Rally - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Heatseeker - Fixed misalignment issues
• Iris no Atelier: Eternal Mana - Fixed horizontal lines in FMV and character portraits when upscaling
• Killzone - Fixed internal FPS detection
• Next Generation Tennis - Fixed broken pause menu graphics
• Ore no Shita de Agake - Fixed incorrect rendering and some missing text
• PachiPara 13 & 14 - Fixed channel shuffles, menu graphics, motion blur and aligned effects
• Raw Danger - Fixed menu graphics and channel shuffles
• Red Ninja: End of Honor - Fixed post-processing alignment
• Steambot Chronicles - Fixed menu graphics and channel shuffles
• TimeSplitters: Future Perfect - Aligned bloom of distant objects
• US OPEN 2002: A USTA EVENT - Fixed broken pause menu graphics

ControllerDB (from SDL_GameControllerDB)

• 8BitDo Pro 3
• 8BitDo Ultimate 2C
• icedragon.io STAC Dance Pad
• Logitech Cordless RumblePad
• PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers
• Ultimate Atari Fight Stick
• XinMo Dual Arcade
• ZhiXu GuliKit D

No interlacing and Widescreen Patches (Thanks Saramagrean!)

No Interlacing

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Hot Shots Golf 3
• Mystic Nights
• Shadow Hearts
• Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut

Widescreen

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• Jackie Chan Adventures
• Metal Gear Solid 2 - Substance
• Mystic Nights
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2014
• The Great Escape
• Tales Of The Abyss

NetherSX2 Classic v2.2b Hotfixed Dev Build

I fixed the upload of Classic that I broke -_-
Thanks Joey!

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Changelog:

• Bumped version to v2.2b
• Changed the App ID back -_-
• Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga - Aligns shadows better to prevent artefacts
  • known as Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner in some regions
• Wild Arms 5 & The Vth Vanguard - Fixed SPS on shell worm enemies
• Worms Forts: Under Siege - Fixed internal FPS detection

NetherSX2 Classic v2.2a Dev Build

Putting dev builds back on their respective repositories for ease of access

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Changelog:

• Bumped version to v2.2a
• Removed the unneeded Debug files from the APKs
• Fixed weird sun issue in Ace Combat 04
• Fixed vu separation issues for:
  • Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2
  • Ultimate Spider-Man

Via PCSX2's GameDB Updates:

• Dynasty Warriors 3 + 4 - Fixed missing graphics
• Hot Wheels: Beat That! - Fixed various car physics issues
• Jeopardy! - Fixed Menus
• Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam - Fixed tutorial crash
• UEFA Champions League 2005 - Fixed player uniform rendering

NetherSX2 Classic v2.1

This release should correct any performance loss and visual regressions found with the NetherSX2 2.0 release while coming with a nice performance boost and several bug fixes on top of that

A huge thank you to Retro Handheld Guides, Alexwpi Game, reddit and the bug testers for pointing out these issues

Update Notice

I've updated the APK to fix the following bugs:

• Several visual glitches in GTA: SA
• Broken FMVs and blue filter issue in MGS3: Subsistence
• Slow downs caused by not properly using vu separation
• Slow downs caused by the experimental gpuTargetCLUT to cpuCLUTRender conversion

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Changelog:

Classic

• Using cpuCLUTRender as a replacement for gpuTargetCLUT - this should get us a slight performance boost and better visual quality
• Added experimental support for estimateTextureRegion's features by using disablePartialInvalidation. This should have the performance benefits for Snowblind games

General

• Bumped version to v2.1
• Hardcore RetroAchievements support has been fixed - it was temporarily broken with the v2.0.6 test build
• Setting inheritance doesn't transfer over autoFlush and cpuSpriteRenderBW since they break more than they fix
  • This fixes the fog wall in Wrath of Cortex and the black eye textures in the Jak games
• Restored the FullVU0SyncHack setting since it DOES exist in both versions
  • Should fix the performance loss with the games that use it
• Fixed the issue where the Cover Downloader didn't download the link provided by the user
• Removed InstantDMAHack from inheritance and we prefer DMABusyHack over it. This should fix the MGS games
• Implemented common fixes into the conversion script, which fixes:
  • The Atelier Iris games' FMVs
  • The Godfather's broken fullscreen colour filter
  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' performance
  • The Jak games' shadow issues using Vulkan
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence's performance drop when camouflaged
  • The Digital Devil Saga games issue with texture alignment and lights shining through walls
  • The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers' FMVs
  • Timesplitters' light shining through walls
• Implemented an inheritance exclusion feature that can exclude games from being changed. This avoids over-tuning games (like Driv3r) that has had a lot of settings changes over the years
• Added a fix for Hitman Blood Money
• The Conversion script now output files with more descriptive names
• Implemented the ability to insert multiple hardware fixes using the game's serial
• Implemented the ability to insert multiple game fixes using the game's serial
• Better Resolution Scaling list values to help pick the best resolution for your device without sacrificing performance
• Updated widescreen and no-interlacing patches to latest provided by Saramagrean
• Updated the Controller DB to latest from SDL_GameControllerDB

Known Issues

• Google Play Protect may give you a warning when installing the APK due to us using test keys to sign the application
• SAVE STATES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE BETWEEN 3668 AND 4248! Please use memcard/in-game saves if you plan to jump between Patch and Classic
• Black, Ace Combat, the Jak games and various other games have graphical issues. Many of them have been fixed in 4248
• Snowblind engine games (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions games and Justice League Heroes) has several issues with 3668. For better performance and less issues, use 4248
• CHD files made with createdvd will not work with the emulator unless you use the flag -c zlib. Since createcd chd files are generally smaller, it may be preferable to use them when space is a concern
• Newer texture packs (made in or after 2024) will not work. This is due to PCSX2 changing how dumped textures are named. PCSX2 will also automatically rename the files to the new naming scheme when older packs are used with it - breaking their compatibility with NetherSX2 in the process. Hopefully the ability to dump textures with NetherSX2 will help mitigate this issue
• Newer RetroAchievements that uses the Remember and Recall functions within RA - so achievement sets made in the last year and half may not work with NetherSX2

Special Thanks

• A Huge Thank You to Miguel, WZi, McThor, protokoul, PrinceP14 and two private sponsors for their support on my Ko-fi and Github Sponsors pages! Your combined generosity makes it possible for me to work on this and many other projects!
• MrSujano, Retro Game Corps, Joey's Retro Handhelds, TechDweed, Retro Ryan, Adin Walls, Alexwpi Game, Retro Handheld Guides and many other YouTube channels for spreading awareness of and creating guides for NetherSX2

Test Devices & Huge Thanks to

• AYANEO for providing me with the powerhouse known as the AYANEO Pocket S2 Pro
• Retroid for providing me with a RP Mini and RP5

NetherSX2 Classic 2.0

First full release of the year and several major improvements to Classic!
NetherSX2 1.9a, NetherSX2-Classic 2.0a and the new NetherSX2-Patch 2.0 releases can be updated with this file

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Changelog:

NetherSX2 Changes

• Bumped version to 2.0
• Added Texture Dumping - thanks Saramagrean!
• Updated the Widescreen & No-Interlacing patches - thanks again Saramagrean!
• Updated the Russian translation - thanks b1ack_mage!
• Covers now appear larger in the Game List Grid View - thanks b1ack_mage
• New On-Screen Controls:
  
  Credits:
  AetherSX2/Duckstation basis by Stenzek
  Better L2 and R2 buttons by k6stor
  Colored face buttons by b1ack_mage
  Reworked for better consistency by me

GameDB Changes

• Updated the GameDB via the upgraded conversion script (see below)

The conversion script has been overhauled and now produces GameDB files that has the original settings dynamically mixed with the latest fixes provided by PCSX2, with an option to override any of them for better Android or core compatibility. This gives us the stability provided by the original settings with the added benefits that come with the newer ones - which include better performance for several games

Controller DB Changes

• Updated to the latest ControllerDB from SDL_GameControllerDB

Known Issues

• Google Play Protect may give you a warning when installing the APK due to us using test keys to sign the application
• SAVE STATES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE BETWEEN 3668 AND 4248! Please use memcard/ingame saves if you plan to jump between them
• Black, Ace Combat, the Jak games and various other games have graphical issues. Many of them have been fixed in 4248
• Snowblind engine games (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions games and Justice League Heroes) has several issues with 3668. For better performance and less issues, use 4248
• CHD files made with createdvd will not work with the emulator unless you use the flag -c zlib. Since createcd chd files are generally smaller, it may be preferable to use them when space is a concern
• Newer texture packs (made in or after 2024) will not work. This is due to PCSX2 changing how dumped textures are named. PCSX2 will also automatically rename the files to the new naming scheme when older packs are used with it - breaking their compatibility with NetherSX2 in the process. Hopefully the ability to dump textures with NetherSX2 will help mitigate this issue
• Newer RetroAchievements that uses the Remember and Recall functions within RA (generally achievement sets made in the last year and half) will not work with NetherSX2. Some efforts are being made to fix this

Special Thanks

• A Huge Thank You to Miguel, WZi, McThor and protokoul for their support on my Ko-fi and Github Sponsors pages! Your combined generosity helped me more than any of you'll ever know and makes it possible for me to work on NetherSX2 and EtherealSX2!
• EZOnTheEyes and the Ozone Modification Group Community for giving us a home, and providing support and bug testing for NetherSX2
• MrSujano, Retro Game Corps, Joey's Retro Handhelds, TechDweed, Retro Ryan, Adin Walls (a fellow South African) and countless other YouTube channels for spreading awareness and creating guides for NetherSX2
• Retroid for providing an unknown developer like me with a RP Mini and RP5 that gave me the ability to test NetherSX2 and EtherealSX2 with Snapdragon devices when no other company was interested. You guys actively helped make both emulators better!

NetherSX2 Classic 2.0 Experimental

This is a build designed to test how accurate the GameDB Conversion script is and how well an unaltered copy of the converted GameDB works with the current builds of NetherSX2 that lacks many of the features it's expecting to be there

This will break several games, but may also provide fixes and better performance for others
Use at your own risk, but if you are testing this, please provide feedback about what works, what doesn't and what works better overall since those will be ported back into the current modified GameDB as we move to a full 2.0 release

This version also includes:

• The PS3/4 trophy unlock sound for RetroAchievements
• Updated ControllerDB
• The resolution scale with the multiplier (NTSC/PAL)

NetherSX2 Classic v2.0a

Considering that it's been over a year since AetherSX2 got delisted from the Google Play Store and it's site was taken down, I'm going to attempt releasing an apk of the latest build. I doubt anyone will come along and try to enforce the license at this point, but if trouble arises from this, I will revert to the old methods

Huge thanks to Retroid for sending me a Retroid Pocket 5! It makes testing changes to EtherealSX2 and NetherSX2 a lot easier!

Changelog:

• This version should block the Play Store from installing 3064 over it
• Bumped the internal version to enable Hardcore RetroAchievements support
• Rebuilt the GameDB - based on the original 3668 with a few select fixes from NetherSX2-patch ported over
• Updated the ControllerDB, Widescreen and No-Interlacing patches to their latest versions
• Ported the majority of custom features from 4248 to 3668. More are in the works

This is an alpha release, so please test your games on it and give me feedback so I can add specific game fixes where possible
Edit: Now Including an old controller layout version in the form of the -OL builds

Also Russ, you can stop sending the ninjas after me now. I'm running out of places to hide their bodies

NetherSX2-classic 1.0

This is the initial release with a custom GameDB, updated files and the New UI Theme from NetherSX2-patch. There should still be bug fixes in the future as more of 3668's GameDB is readded in for compatibility

This release contains the following files:

NetherSX2-classic.zip - This contains the files in the repository and can be used to build, patch and update a copy of NetherSX2-classic

nethersx2-classic.xdelta - The xdelta that ccan be used with UniPatcher (on Android), YADP or Delta Patcher to apply the patch changes to a copy of AetherSX2 3668 on systems others than Windows

Note: No APK is provided in any of these files. Due to licensing issues, you need to build NetherSX2 for yourself using the various methods provided

NetherSX2-Classic Resources

Resources files required to use NetherSX2-Classic