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RIPPCSX2

A PlayStation 2 emulator for homebrew testing and development, made to be driven by you or by an AI agent.

RIPPCSX2 is PCSX2 v2.9.96 with the changes a PS2 homebrew developer needs to see the real thing: HD video modes shown, captured and screenshotted the way an HDTV shows them, and the EE's hardware data breakpoint, so in-game menus and video mode tools that hook the GS registers (Open PS2 Loader's GSM, RIPPS2's in-game menu) work as they do on a console. Everything else is plain PCSX2. It began as the test lab of the RIPPS2 front end and is meant for anyone building PS2 homebrew, themes or tools.

Download RIPPCSX2 (Windows zip)

Windows 10 or 11, x64, a CPU with AVX2. Unzip it anywhere, start pcsx2-qtx64-avx2.exe, point it at your own BIOS dump. The zip carries an empty portable.txt beside the exe, so RIPPCSX2 keeps all its settings and files in its own folder: a PCSX2 you already have installed keeps its own settings, untouched. The release always holds the newest build (its page); the clips below are in docs/videos.

It runs .elf programs for testing: System > Start File, or pcsx2-qtx64-avx2.exe -fastboot -elf <your.elf>, and the program boots as it would from a memory card or USB stick on a PS2. It behaves like real hardware: an ELF that launches another ELF hands the machine over and is gone, an in-game menu that hooks the GS draws over the game's real frame, and a power off closes the VM like a console switching off.

See it work

Each clip is a real lab run on this build, cut to under 12 seconds.

An AI agent testing an ELF. Recorded from the bottom right of the user's screen (taskbar, part of the Claude session): Claude starts RIPPS2.elf in RIPPCSX2 on a hidden desktop, launches Aqua Teen Hunger Force from the HDD image and opens RIPPS2's in-game menu over it. The small panel is the only thing on screen; the user keeps the keyboard and mouse.

The in-game menu, every function. L1+L2+R1+R2+SELECT+START over a running game: ACHIEVEMENTS, RESUME (the game plays on), the menu again over a later frame, then POWER OFF, which closes the VM. The menu knows which frame to draw over because RIPPCSX2 emulates the EE's data write breakpoint.

An ELF launching an ELF, like a real PS2. RIPPS2's Memory Files opens mc0:/RIPPS2/RIPPS2.ELF (the newest build, copied to the card) and runs it. The running RIPPS2 hands over and is gone; the new one loads from the card and boots to its game list.

What you get over vanilla PCSX2 v2.9.96

• HD modes look right. 720p and 1080i are shown 16:9 (stock draws them 4:3), in every aspect setting except Stretch.
• HD captures and screenshots. F11 records 720p at 1280 x 720 and 1080i at 1920 x 1080 (or that times the upscale), tagged 16:9; F8 saves screenshots at the same sizes. Stock gives 640 x 480 or the raw 640-wide buffer.
• A mode switch mid-recording carries on in a new file at the new size, instead of squeezing into the first.
• 1080i in the right place. Stock moves a 1080i picture up 42 lines (top cut off, black band below); RIPPCSX2 starts it at line 40, where the console's own timing does.
• EE data write breakpoint (new in rippcsx2.2). COP0 $24 (MTBPC, MTDAB, MTDABM ...) works: a store to a watched address raises the level 2 debug exception at 0x80000100 before it executes, in the interpreter and the recompiler. OPL GSM and RIPPS2's in-game menu need it to learn which frame a game shows.
• Video mode log lines. Every mode change logs the sync timing and display registers (RIPPCSX2: video mode ... in logs/emulog.txt).
• No auto updater offers. Release tags keep PCSX2's updater off, so it never "updates" you back to stock.
• Standard definition is untouched: 480i screenshots are byte for byte the same as stock's. HDTVOutput = false under [EmuCore/GS] in inis/PCSX2.ini brings back stock HD behaviour for a side by side.

What it is for

• Theme makers (Open PS2 Loader, RiptOPL, RIPPS2): judge a theme in 720p and 1080i as a TV shows it, and make true-size previews and walkthrough videos.
• Homebrew developers: test ELFs that switch video modes, hook the GS or use the EE's debug registers, and read the log for the exact display registers a mode sets.
• In-game menus and GS tools: OPL GSM, RIPPS2's in-game menu and anything else built on the data write breakpoint run in the emulator instead of only on hardware.
• Automated and AI-assisted testing: scripted runs on a hidden desktop with screenshots, captures, save states and PINE memory reads, without taking over your PC.

For AI agents, LLMs and their users

This repo is written so an agent can set a user up from the link alone. Give your assistant https://github.com/akilluminati47/RIPPCSX2 and ask it to install RIPPCSX2; everything it needs is here:

1. Get the build: RIPPCSX2-windows-x64-avx2.zip from the rolling release (direct link, or gh release download rolling -R akilluminati47/RIPPCSX2 -p "*.zip"). Unzip it into a folder of its own; its portable.txt is already beside the exe, so it never touches an installed PCSX2's settings.
2. BIOS: the user supplies their own console's BIOS dump (never download one): put it in the bios folder beside the exe (or point [Folders] Bios in inis/PCSX2.ini at it) and pick it in the first-run wizard ([Filenames] BIOS).
3. Run something: pcsx2-qtx64-avx2.exe -fastboot -elf <homebrew.elf>, or -- <game.iso>. Settings are plain INI in inis/PCSX2.ini; logs go to logs/emulog.txt ([Logging] EnableEEConsole = true adds the EE's printf).
4. Drive and observe it: F8 screenshot (snaps/), F11 capture (videos/), F1 save state (sstates/), PINE ([EmuCore] EnablePINE, PINESlot) to read and write PS2 memory from a script.
5. Test without stealing the screen: ripps2-lab/ describes a lab install (install-lab.ps1 puts a build in a portable folder and keeps its cards, settings and captures), and the RIPPS2 repo's tools/dev/ps2bg.ps1 runs step lists (buttons, waits, shots, recordings) on a hidden desktop with a taskbar panel the user can watch, stop or take over.

What changed and why, file by file: RIPPCSX2.md. Agents working on this fork's code: never open pull requests, issues or comments on the PCSX2 project (its AGENTS.md forbids AI-made contributions); RIPPCSX2 stays a fork.

Not affiliated with the PCSX2 team. GPL-3.0 like PCSX2. Report RIPPCSX2 problems to RIPPS2 (issues), never to PCSX2. PCSX2's own README follows.

PCSX2

PCSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator. Its purpose is to emulate the PS2's hardware, using a combination of MIPS CPU Interpreters, Recompilers and a Virtual Machine which manages hardware states and PS2 system memory. This allows you to play PS2 games on your PC, with many additional features and benefits.

Project Details

PCSX2 has been in development for more than 20 years. Past versions could only run a few public domain game demos, but newer versions can run most games at full speed, including popular titles such as Final Fantasy X and Devil May Cry 3. Visit the PCSX2 compatibility list to check the latest compatibility status of games (with more than 2500 titles tested).

Installers and binaries for both stable and nightly builds are available from our website.

System Requirements

PCSX2 supports Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. Our setup documentation page contains additional details on software and hardware requirements.

Please note that a BIOS dump from a legitimately-owned PS2 console is required to use the emulator. For more information, visit this page.

Contributing / Building

PCSX2 supports translation into other languages using Crowdin.

See the Contribution Guide for more info on how to contribute.

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