!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IMPORTANT !!!
THIS RELEASE DOES NOT READ IN RAW MODE FROM PSX CDS !!!
THIS MEANS THAT SOME MOVIES WILL HAVE DISTORTED SOUND AND PLAY FASTER.
SOME MOVIES MAY RUN WITHOUT PROBLEMS (LIKE FF8, FF9, LEGEND OF MANA, ...), BECAUSE THEY DON'T 
STORE DATA OUTSIDE THE NORMAL 2048 BYTES SECTOR.
MOVIE FILES SOMETIMES USE THE EXTRA SPACE OF A XA CD SECTOR (2352 BYTES IN TOTAL).
IF YOU WANT TO PLAY FILE MOVIES WITHOUT PROBLEMS, YOU WILL HAVE TO COPY THE MOVIE
FILES TO YOUR HARDDISK (WITH A SPECIAL PROGRAM) AND PLAY THEM FROM THERE.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                    PsxTulz 
                           Version 0.02 (Beta Release)
                              Second Public Release
                              ======================
                              http://come.to/t_chan/
                              ======================
                        RUN THIS PROGRAM AT YOUR OWN RISK !!
                            NO GUARANTEE AT ALL IS MADE !!!
             THIS IS A FREE PROGRAM, WITH LOTS OF UNIMPLEMENTED FEATURES. 
    IT COULD CRASH YOUR COMPUTER AND/OR DAMAGE FILES AND/OR DAMAGE YOUR SPEAKERS.




1) What is PsxTulz ?
2) System Required
3) Recognized Movie Formats 
4) Known Problems
5) Running the program
6) Thanks to
7) Help me !!!



1) What is PsxTulz ? 
--------------------
PsxTulz is a program for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 (only tested on Win98).
Actually, it combines 
- a File Manager
- a Playstation movie player, and
- a Playstation memory card manager

I know there a lots of PSX (Playstation) movieplayers, but I made this program because:
- I hate Windows Explorer (I hate to use the mouse, creating a directory takes an eternity, ...)
- I wanted to program something with DirectX, sound-image synchronisation,SCSI commands,...
- I wanted to see the Final Fantasy 9 & the Ridge Racer Type 4 intro movies on my PC
- I wanted to have a faithful movie-sound synchronisation for all the movies
- I wanted a Playstation Memory Card manager with Japanese display & animated icons
- I wanted to regroup different file utilities I use in one program

2) System Required
------------------
DirectX 7. (Required for playing movies)
A sound card if you want sound & a correct movie speed. (optional)
The Japanese TrueType font 'MSMincho' if you want to see Japanese characters. (optional)

CPU: It works perfectly on my K6-2-400... but not on my Pentium 120...
I guess it should work with a Pentium MMX 200 or something like that...
but I didn't test it. Tell me if you have a Pentium (or Pentium MMX)-class CPU
and it works on your system.




3) Recognized Movie Formats 
---------------------------
- Normal             .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01)
- Ridge Racer Type 4 .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01 - corrected in 0.02)
- Final Fantasy 7    .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01 - corrected in 0.02)
- Final Fantasy 8    .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01)
- Final Fantasy 9    .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01) (sound: 90% complete -> with distortions) 
- Legend Of Mana     .str File Format (implemented in version 0.01)
- Metal Gear Solid   .str File Format (implemented in version 0.02)

  Not yet: GT2 (crashes the application)

Tell me if you find a movie you can't read !! 
I really don't see what the solution is for GT2... Ridge Racer Type 4 and the Final Fantasy
series were quite easy to disassemble... but GT2...hmmm...
(Ace Combat 3 = same format as GT2 I think)



4) Known Problems
-----------------
- To be able to read as many formats as possible, I don't check too much data.
  This means that the program will try to play the file, even if it's not a pure .STR
  movie file. If you don't know what kind of file you are playing, be sure to minimize
  the sound volume !!
- This program doesn't read in RAW-mode (2352 bytes/sector). 
  I'm reading only 2048 bytes/sector, which can be enough for some PSX movies.
  If the sound is distorted, and the movie plays too fast, use a CDXA extractor like 
  PSmplay to put your files on your harddisk and play them from there.
  Some Tips:
  - Ridge Racer 4: with PSmplay, analyse the CD, and you will find (amongst others),
                   a .xa file with the music from the intro. Save this file on your harddisk,
                   and play it with PsxTulz. It's the opening movie.
  - Final Fantasy 9: You can play the movies from the PSX CD if you have a good CD-ROM drive
                   I usually read my cds with my ASUS 40x IDE drive... and I get a lot of 
                   problems (crashes,...) but I tested it with a SCSI-drive, and got no errors
                   at all. I also tested it with an ACTIMA 36x IDE drive, with practically no
                   errors... so... I hope you don't have an ASUS IDE cd drive like me... ^_^
                   (If you have, you can slow down the speed of the drive, but it doesn't work
                    all the time...)
- If you don't have sound, or if you select 'no sound', the movie will play as fast as
  possible, regardless of the normal playtime. This is actually used to benchmark the computer
  (select 'no sound', play the movie, and look at 'File - Properties')
- Frameskipping is not used in this program. If your computer is too slow, you will have
  problems with the sound (just disable it... but it still will be slow)
- Double-monitor Systems: black window for windowed mode on 2nd screen. (Fullscreen mode is OK now)

5) Running the program
----------------------
Just execute the program.



6) Thanks to
------------
- Segu for his marvelous movie player PSmplay
  I used his player to compare the results I got with my program. Thanks a lot !
- Pete Bernert for his info and his plugins ! Thanks a lot !
- Morpheus Dreamlord for telling me that the 'Lame Mode' was working... Until then, I had
  only tested it on my f****** ASUS drive, without good results... so I was planning to
  remove it... ^_^; but now, I won't... ^_^;
- All other people who put info on the PSX on the net ! Thanks a lot !
- Sony for their Playstation
- All the companies who made games for the Playstation
- Square for realising that the FF8-way was a bad one... FF9 is fabulous !
- Enix for Dragon Quest 5... still my all-time favorite !



7) Help me !!
-------------
You can help me by 
- if you have a (Plextor Ultra 40) SCSI CD-ROM drive you don't use anymore, or if you want
  to donate a DVD-ROM reader, I would be very happy to receive it ! ^_^
  (A PS2 would be nice too... ^_^ or a DVD-RAM writer... ^_^;;;;;;;;;; )
- sending me info on SCSI programming, PSemu plugin SDK (not the info on Pete Bernert's page),
                     non-recognized movie formats, unzip.dll, (is there an unrar.dll, unarj.dll, ... ?)
- comments on features to be implemented
- sending me benchmark results with a description of your system
  (to see the differences in CPU speeds && to see what the minimum required system is)
- sending me bug reports about unknown bugs
- ...



Mails can be sent in English, French, Dutch and Japanese !

Thierry.Vermeylen@advalvas.be

1st November 2000
