Playstation 2 Loading Times OG vs. Slim

2013-04-04 03:54:48 am

Remember your mantra.

Switching a slim made a radical change in the time I have been getting.

I didn't want to. I loved my OG PS2, but I had a funny feeling it was holding me back. After picking up the new slim, I was able to beat my previous best on MGSII, by over a minute, with a considerably worse run.

My reason for starting this topic is awareness, if any runners might unknowingly be suffering from extended loading times. I am also curious if this has been documented, and what the known differences in loading is between different PS2 versions. I am aware certain PS1 games run faster on the OG PS2, and my slim couldn't even play certain PS1 games - so the influence seems to vary.

Has anyone had this problem before? Do all PS2 fats run slower than the slims, or was mine in particular just wearing from use?

Thread title:

tape

2013-04-04 05:20:47 am

Disc drivers do get slower as they age, but I have no numbers on how large this effect can get.

puwexil

2013-04-04 07:14:01 am

Professional Second Banana

I think it's mostly due to the PS2 Slim having updated BIOS & drivers - I started saving several minutes on Kingdom Hearts II runs just from loading times after switching to a Slim.

Omnigamer

2013-04-04 08:06:03 am

All the things

The current state of your laser can also have an impact. Try cleaning it with a lens cloth and see if it doesn't help out.

Bl00dyBizkitz

2013-04-04 10:23:04 am

I actually heard about this before, but when I made the change, I didn't really notice anything. Maybe a minute or so that I never noticed, but I don't think it's as massive an impact as playing on a PS2 Emulator is. The difference between Emulator and Console for the PS2 REALLY pisses me off.

Exo

Edit history:

Exo: 2013-04-04 10:27:55 am

2013-04-04 10:26:05 am

Sandbagging

Solution: Ignore loading times in disc-based console runs.

Every ps2 I own reads games at different speeds (same for my psx consoles).
It pretty much just comes down to how good the drive/laser works.

JackintheBox333

2013-04-04 01:24:12 pm

Professional Shaq Fu Speedrunner

The PS2 fats all run slower than the slims. This is documented. As for how much faster? Well it was noticeable enough to have to pause a race during SGDQ to equalize the consoles because of the faster loading times. For insanely long RPGs the difference is huge. Tens of minutes faster on a slim just due to less load times. But what Exo said is also true, PS2's can also very due to how well the drive/laser works. Original fat PS2's had more laser problems than the slims.

MortyreR45

(user is banned)

2013-04-04 01:39:04 pm

I AM FUCKED ANGRY

I remember for the Timing on the run Syphon Filter 3. Already say it.
But someone make the 'timing' for ps1 runs with the loading screen. Roll Eyes

Alko

2013-04-04 03:05:18 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Quote from Exo:

Solution: Ignore loading times in disc-based console runs.

Difficult. Take FFIX, disc 2 just before Cleyra is destroyed. There is a music transition which causes noticeable loading time (seconds) on my (PAL … ^^') PS1, which almost disappears on a slim PS2 with fast disc speed. Poor timing guy trying to figure out the exact frame for beginning and ending of that loading time … Yes, the game freezes to a stop, but still …

Omnigamer

2013-04-04 03:19:58 pm

All the things

The Fast Disc Speed option only affects PS1 games, not PS2 games.

Things need to be kept in the perspective of SDA though:
-Game time is still the target for most SDA submissions. Especially for later generation games, they will probably be tracking your time spent playing somewhat consistently. Most of these game timers will not include loading time as part of their tally (although there are exceptions, like Nier).
-Removing loading times only helps when you can accurately define when loading starts and ends. In several games the loading is handled in the background, and thus you end up with occasionally slow transitions, but no perceivable loading screen. Figuring out what is and is not loading time on those games would be pretty hellish. Example: Suikoden II.

kakka_rot

2013-04-10 10:30:59 pm

Remember your mantra.

My slim doesn't handle PS1 games all too well, though it run PS2 games much faster than the OG version.
I usually don't mess with the disk speed.

The reason this is important to me is because I time all of my games RTA. I try to run cartridge-based games so I don't have to worry about loading time, where RTA doesn't vary as much. For games such as Fatal Frame (Project Zero) my time went from 1:27 to 1:24 with a run of similar quality. That is a difference I consider substantial.

I appreciate all the information on this topic. It is nice to know I wasn't the only one being effected by this.

Thanks everyone

ZenicReverie

2013-04-10 10:37:57 pm

Waiting hurts my soul...

I think it's important for verifiers to compare disc based runs against any outstanding runs (I think we all do this anyway), and negate any differences in loading times.

I remember trying to use fast disc speed when running Vandal Hearts, and it messed with the timing for sound effects. Probably some hard coding based on how fast a particular sound file could be loaded, but leveling up would always play before the animation. Other sound effects that might not play in any particular level (pushing boxes, hitting switches, and magic) would all have this issue.