PS4 Apollo Save tool (PS4 dev thread)

I don't have hacked PS4, so I never emulating anything on it (including PlayStation Store titles from which emulators came from). So, I'm not sure if this works as I thinking. I'm assuming that those games saving inside VMC which is inside PFS container like any other PS4 games saves. Am I right? So such functionality would be nice but how to implement that on user friendly side? Determining title and path by some CommID list? That's sounds like never ending task from programmer point of view (because of constantly appearing new emulated titles from PS2, PSX and PSP). Or just choosing title and Apollo trying to mount its PFS and scan to VMC (if they all have the same filename and/or extension).

Oh, yeah, PS2 version for sure would looks ok without smoothing. :D I would create such GUI with pleasure. Talk about output resolutions with @HWNJ and @TnA as last time we are able to break the 640x448/512 barrier.
 
We can render as well as output in 1080i since a few years (render since 2018 AFAIR, setting the VMode/output to 1080i since GSM's release over a decade ago).
 
Yep, but I'm still wondering how to much gfx can be used to fit VRAM, how managing it looks like in such extreme high for PS2 resolution - because I need to know the limitations on GUI side. For a reason, HWNJ decided to support max 704x480 in XEBD.
 
yes, from what I understand there are VMC virtual memcards inside the .fpkg , they get mounted when the game/emu starts, but yeah handling all that from outside would be a pain.
If the VMC files would be stored outside containers like on the ps3, that would be much easier, but its not :( .... again, I'm not sure I want to dig into that rabbit hole, so I guess I'll leave it out of Apollo PS4 and remove the code.

hahah alright I'll take your word, whenever I jump into building "Apollo PS2" I'll ask for a nice Berion design :)

but first I need to add some more stuff to Apollo ps4, then bring some updates to the ps3 version, then try if I can build a Vita version, and finally create the PS2 version. Then I'll have the apollo playstation poker hahahah :D
 
Berion said:
Yep, but I'm still wondering how to much gfx can be used to fit VRAM, how managing it looks like in such extreme high for PS2 resolution - because I need to know the limitations on GUI side. For a reason, HWNJ decided to support max 704x480 in XEBD.
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I did that because of:
1-Smoother animation
2-Less resource usage
3-Being able to use the entire screen
 
Limitarions? Not much, if it is saved in EE-RAM...
You should certainly palatize your textures, make it a "factor of 2" (in relation to each other), optimize the resolution (per "dimension") to a factor of 8 and not being under the minimum size (min. texture-size in VRAM) and then properly scale it.

The output resolution is less affected, due to "multipassing" frames (1080i uses 3 "split-frames" for one full frame). We spare VRAM, BUT have less bus-bandwidth due to this. Fortunately the bus is extremely fast. Haha...! :)

HWNJ said:
I did that because of:
1-Smoother animation
Click to expand...
I get that...
2-Less resource usage
Click to expand...
It depends... Not much on most "fronts", if properly implemented!
3-Being able to use the entire screen
Click to expand...
That should be possible on other VMode as well...!
 
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TnA said:
Just use overscan like OPL's GUI?!
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It will still have black borders at some point.

Now, look at XEB+:
No overscan, no TV adjustments, no whatever. It is pure full screen thanks to the use of 704x480 as resolution:
upload_2022-4-18_2-11-10.png
 
@bucanero Hey buddy, how to unlock trophies in Apollo PS4? I choose the trophy, select it with X but nothing happens. Is it different from Apollo for PS3? Regards!
 
Kernell said:
@bucanero Hey buddy, how to unlock trophies in Apollo PS4? I choose the trophy, select it with X but nothing happens. Is it different from Apollo for PS3? Regards!
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there's no trophy editing feature yet on Apollo PS4, so well it's normal that for the moment the buttons don't do a thing.
Trophies are not a priority right now, but might look at it for future versions.
 
bucanero said:
there's no trophy editing feature yet on Apollo PS4, so well it's normal that for the moment the buttons don't do a thing.
Trophies are not a priority right now, but might look at it for future versions.
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Ok, I understand now... Thank you for reply, regards.
 
Mostly for code creators and people that actually wants to hack save-games,
Here's a little command-line tool I made, that let's you apply Save Wizard and Bruteforce Savedata patch codes to a data file on your computer:

https://github.com/bucanero/apollo-lib/releases/tag/v0.1.0

Basically is the same patch support from Apollo Save Tool, so if you're creating codes and want to test them on your computer, this tool will save a lot of time.

You need to have or create a ".savepatch" file (like the ones included in Apollo), and then you can use the patcher.exe tool to apply those changes on your PC.
 
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What are keystone and fingerprint option in the tool.
What is the difference between both of them.
Do they help to use a save file with the original keystone and fake keystone to work with each other.
 
tungatung said:
What are keystone and fingerprint option in the tool.
What is the difference between both of them.
Do they help to use a save file with the original keystone and fake keystone to work with each other.
Click to expand...

keystone options allow you to export the current keystone and also swap keystones if you import back a different file.

The fingerprint is just a short hex text representation of the key from the keystone. With a fingerprint you can recreate a keystone binary file if wanted.
So if the community wanted to spend some time and effort, they could collect and build a big database of key fingerprints, so if anyone needs a keystone for "CUSA12345" they could just check and get it.

But nobody cares to do anything except piracy, so, it's just a feature for the future.
 
Berion said:
I have some keystones collected from the net. Or they are useless instead fingerprints?
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keystones are ok too, but fingerprint was just plain text ASCII and you could build a single .txt file with all of them, so easier to update and share. (you can get the fingerprint from Keystone binary files, or build a keystone from a fingerprint-key)
 
Does is possible "to politely ask" Orbis for open System Backup archives? If yes, then that would be cool feature of Apollo.

I wondering why sysbup with only settings checked, taking now always 2GiB minimum, while I made such backup years ago, right after setting up account stuff and system settings, and it was few MiBs. Does they changed minimum size for those PFS or just some cache crap is included which user cannot unmark before backup starts? That's secret still remains until we can crawling through those archives. ^^
 
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