ZSNES input delay

Edit history:

BeanBeanDude: 2014-01-18 11:03:14 pm

2014-01-18 11:01:21 pm

Within the last year I've been playing games with more of a speedrunner's mindset, and this has led me to notice that when I play a game or try to speedrun it for fun on ZSNES, there's a lot of input delay. I always set the priority on high, and I've messed with the options in the emulator countless times, but I'm unable to get the game to feel like it's responding to me 100% of the time. The game always runs smoothly and flawlessly, but when it comes to button input, I find myself unable to make precise, split-second moves because I have to account for more than usual delay (as in the slight delay you get on an actual console). Is ZSNES just a bad emulator or is there something I haven't tried?

Thread title:

Sir VG

Edit history:

Sir VG: 2014-01-18 11:05:21 pm

2014-01-18 11:05:05 pm

Fucking Weeaboo

ZSNES is a very bad emulator. You should be using SNES9X 1.51 (or higher) or BizHawk. You can get both over at TASVideos.org (go to the emulators tab).

BeanBeanDude

2014-01-18 11:10:15 pm

Thanks; I've used ZSNES for years but haven't ever been satisfied with it. It's good to know I'm not crazy. I did try SNES9X once but never stuck with it for whatever reason. I'll give it another try.

Patashu

2014-01-19 07:42:30 pm

If you want to play with low latency on an emulator, get a CRT monitor or a lagless LCD monitor. If you don't know if your LCD or lagless or not, it probably isn't. Here's an example of one that is: http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/asus-vg248qe

Quote:

Convoluted testing methodology aside, we measured just over 2ms (less than half a frame at 144Hz) of input lag on the VG248QE. Whichever way you cut it this is an absolutely miniscule amount of input lag and it won’t cause anybody problems no matter how sensitive they are to input lag.

I've also heard that using USB to connect a keyboard or controller to a computer introduces lag, but I don't have a source to back me up.

adde

2014-01-21 06:26:40 am

ZSNES is bad and doesn't emulate properly, therefore banned for speedruns

BeanBeanDude

2014-01-23 06:09:03 pm

I tried BizHawk yesterday, which seemed like a fantastic emulator except for the fact that the input lag on my controller was worse than it was on ZSNES. So I think I'm going to try SNES9X even if it isn't the definitive choice.

I have another problem though and that is the aftermath of running that "Prereq" .exe file they recommended to use before using BizHawk. While I'm normally not super-paranoid over files from the internet harming my computer, I did raise an eyebrow when it started installing and changing components in my Windows folder that were already fine. When it was running, I saw at least one file related to web sharing or something along those lines being put on my computer, and that made me want to get rid of whatever I just did by running the file. I did a system restore, but I don't think it undid much. Is there any way to undo the changes that .exe made since I don't plan on using BizHawk, or did it not make any significant changes at all?

presjpolk

2014-01-24 01:08:43 am

HELLO!

Did you try looking at the Uninstall Programs feature of your OS?

Rezard

2014-01-24 04:35:35 am

Meteor Swarm

Use Higan for snes/nes/gb emulator , acctualy its just the new version of BizHawk but with better accuracy.

Warepire

2014-01-24 06:12:13 am

Heavy Metal Powered

Quote from BeanBeanDude:

I tried BizHawk yesterday, which seemed like a fantastic emulator except for the fact that the input lag on my controller was worse than it was on ZSNES. So I think I'm going to try SNES9X even if it isn't the definitive choice.

I have another problem though and that is the aftermath of running that "Prereq" .exe file they recommended to use before using BizHawk. While I'm normally not super-paranoid over files from the internet harming my computer, I did raise an eyebrow when it started installing and changing components in my Windows folder that were already fine. When it was running, I saw at least one file related to web sharing or something along those lines being put on my computer, and that made me want to get rid of whatever I just did by running the file. I did a system restore, but I don't think it undid much. Is there any way to undo the changes that .exe made since I don't plan on using BizHawk, or did it not make any significant changes at all?

The Prereq installer is only installing the necessary windows runtime libraries to run BizHawk (.NET Framework versions etc), it should be completely safe.

I second the idea to use Higan, the GUI might feel a little awkward at first compared to other emulators, but it's well worth getting used to it. Best SNES emulator ever.

[quote="BeanBeanDude"]I tried BizHawk yesterday, which seemed like a fantastic emulator except for the fact that the input lag on my controller was worse than it was on ZSNES. So I think I'm going to try SNES9X even if it isn't the definitive choice.

I have another problem though and that is the aftermath of running that "Prereq" .exe file they recommended to use before using BizHawk. While I'm normally not super-paranoid over files from the internet harming my computer, I did raise an eyebrow when it started installing and changing components in my Windows folder that were already fine. When it was running, I saw at least one file related to web sharing or something along those lines being put on my computer, and that made me want to get rid of whatever I just did by running the file. I did a system restore, but I don't think it undid much. Is there any way to undo the changes that .exe made since I don't plan on using BizHawk, or did it not make any significant changes at all? [/quote]
The Prereq installer is only installing the necessary windows runtime libraries to run BizHawk (.NET Framework versions etc), it should be completely safe.

I second the idea to use Higan, the GUI might feel a little awkward at first compared to other emulators, but it's well worth getting used to it. Best SNES emulator ever.

BeanBeanDude

2014-01-24 11:01:03 pm

Quote from Warepire:

The Prereq installer is only installing the necessary windows runtime libraries to run BizHawk (.NET Framework versions etc), it should be completely safe.

I second the idea to use Higan, the GUI might feel a little awkward at first compared to other emulators, but it's well worth getting used to it. Best SNES emulator ever.

Ok, thanks for confirming I was running a safe .exe
Is there any easy way to remove the components of the install since I no longer use BizHawk? I looked in the uninstall programs list but nothing appeared there. (This is assuming that there's actually stuff the installer left behind that's useless without BizHawk)

Once I get that sorted out I'll look at Higan and if that fails, SNES9X.

CMiller

2014-01-28 07:47:14 pm

Turn off VSYNC in the preferences to your emulator. Usually that is what causes input delay.

Patashu

2014-01-28 08:07:26 pm

Quote from CMiller:

Turn off VSYNC in the preferences to your emulator. Usually that is what causes input delay.

In particular, this will remove 0-1 frames of visual latency (0.5 average). It won't remove it all unless you're on a lagless monitor or TV.