NextGPU mini configuration guide 1.1
6/29/2002
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For a detailed guide (with pictures) check out the configuration guides
at psxfanatics.com's support section!
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This guide is supposed to explain some ambiguous terms used in the
configuration and is not a full guide! Check out the plugin guides at
PSXFanatics.com's support section, or you can ask for help either at
emuforums.com or by e-mailing me.

1.) Screen settings
  -> Scanlines:
        1.) Normal - Puts scanlines over the entire screen before displaying
                     it.
        2.) Double - Like the normal mode, only the scanlines are twice as
                     thick.
        3.) Screen writes only - Only puts scanlines over MDECs, etc.

  -> Screen shot format: Selects the format that will be used when writing
                         screen shots.

        1.) TGA - (Targa Truevision) This is the default. Supports 16 and 24
                  bit formats as well as RLE compression.
        2.) BMP - (Windows Bitmap) Doesn't use any RLE compression, but
                  supports 16 and 24 bit color formats.
        3.) PCX - (ZSoft Paintbrush) Uses RLE compression, but only supports
                  24 bit color formats.

3.) Emulation options -
  -> DMA chain fix - The long DMA chain fix is enabled by default. This will
                     fix problems in games like Tekken 3 or Metal Slug X.
                     (Usually the short DMA chain fix is recommended.)
  -> Data access - This feature will be explained once it's enabled.
  -> Emulate mask bit - Enabled by default. Masks are used in games like
                        Silent Hill or Chrono Cross. There's no noticable
                        performance loss when this is enabled.

4.) Texture cache - The texture cache is enabled by default and the texture
                    type is set to palettized by default.
  -> Cache size - There will be one or more options in the list that will
                  allow you to adjust the size of the cache. The amount of
                  memory required is displayed under the list box. It's
                  recommended that you use a setting that's in between the
                  lowest and the highest options that are available. Using the
                  lowest cache size can sometimes result in poor performance,
                  but you should experiment to see what gives you the best
                  results.
  -> Texture page depth - It's recommended that you use palettized textures
                          if you video card supports them. These are the most
                          compatiable, and in the case of games like Spyro
                          which make heavy use of palettized textures,
                          palettized textures can also be the fastest and
                          easiest on your memory.

                          32-bit page depth - This appears to give the best
                                performance for non palettized textures, but
                                it also eats up memory a lot faster than using
                                a 16-bit page depth.

                          16-bit and 2xSaI - This is a special texture mode
                                which will smooth out the images through means
                                of a special filtering process. Be aware that
                                this mode is not as fast as regular 16-bit
                                textures and uses up a bit more memory. This
                                mode also doesn't currently support any of the
                                more advanced semi transparency modes that
                                the other texturing modes do.

                          16-bit page depth - This is similiar to using a
                                32-bit page depth, only it doesn't use as
                                much memory :)

                          8-bit page depth - This is similiar to using a
                                16-bit page depth, only it doesn't use as
                                much memory, doesn't have an alpha channel,
                                and ususally doesn't look so great.

                          Palettized - This is the most compatiable texture
                                type that's available. It supports CLUT
                                palette cycling unlike the true color textures
                                and is almost essential in games like Spyro
                                for good performance.

  -> Disable update on move - This is enabled by default. When this option
           is not enabled, everytime there's a VRAM to VRAM data move, the
           texture cache will check to see if anything has changed and update
           textures if needed. Enabling this option will give a noticable
           performance boost on lower end systems, but it will also disable
           some game features like "blinking" in Chrono Cross battles
           or Tekken 3.

  -> Texture filter mode - Turning this on will make the textures appear
           smoother than they would by default. Just keep in mind that by
           turning this feature on, although somethings will look nicer,
           you might still encounter some minor graphical errors. Also note
           that for all texture modes besides 2xSaI and palettized both
           "Bilinear" and "High quality bilinear" have different effects.
           For example, high quality bilinear will remove more black borders
           than bilinear but may take more time to process. For palettized and
           2xSaI using either filtering option besides "none" will give plain
           bilinear filtering without any extra adjustments. In the future
           this will change so that all texture modes can benefit from less of
           the black border problem.

  -> Texture alignment mode - This only affects how textures look when either
           a filtering mode other than "none" is selected or 2xSaI textures
           are being used. The default option is "fast," but I have noticed
           that for polygon texture alignment in most cases, "best" seems to
           fix a lot of alignment problems that often occur when texture
           filtering is enabled. You should experiment to see which alignment
           mode gives the best results!

5.) Screen filtration - Disabled by default.
  In order to use this feature, your video card must support textures larger
  than 256x256. This excludes earlier VooDoos (such as the VooDoo 2.)

  -> Post bilinear filtering - This will apply bilinear filtering to every
                               frame before it's displayed. Not as good as
                               bilinear filtering per texture in some cases,
                               but it can look better (no texture misalignment
                               for example.)
  -> Fast motion blur - This will apply a motion blur effect to everything
                        that's displayed when this is enabled.
  -> Slow motion blur - This is like fast motion blur, only it leaves longer
                        trails and more artifacts.
