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Duckstation - General Guide

Duckstation logo

Duckstation is a Playstation 1 - PSX Emulator.

Note: Legacy Emulator

As of RetroDECK 0.9.0b Duckstation have made licensing changes and is marked as Legacy.

It will no longer receive any updates and is working as-is.

Resource Link
Duckstation - Game Compatibility Link
Duckstation - Github Link
Duckstation - Webpage Link
Duckstation - Wiki Link

Where to put the games?

PSX games should be put under the retrodeck/roms/psx/ directory.

What file formats are supported?

File Format Description
.bin + .cue Binary disc image file with cue sheet
.img Disc image file
.iso Standard ISO disc image
.chd Compressed Hunks of Data (Recommended)
.mds Media Descriptor File
.pbp PlayStation Portable Update file
.ecm ECM compressed file

Does Duckstation require BIOS or Firmware?

Yes, there exists several PSX BIOS from different regions and hardware versions.

You need at least one.

PSX BIOS Guide on Github

Here is a few:

Region BIOS File Name Description
Japan (NTSC-J) scph1000.bin First retail PSX BIOS featuring early hardware behavior.
Japan (NTSC-J) scph5500.bin Stable mid-generation Japanese BIOS revision.
Japan (NTSC-J) scph7000.bin Later Japanese BIOS, same revision as SCPH-5500.
USA (NTSC-U) scph1001.bin Most common and highly compatible North American BIOS.
USA (NTSC-U) scph5501.bin Later, more accurate BIOS for NTSC-U systems.
USA (NTSC-U) scph7001.bin Updated revision similar to SCPH-5501.
Europe (PAL-E) scph5502.bin Standard BIOS used for most PAL titles.
Europe (PAL-E) scph7002.bin Later PAL revision with improved compatibility.
PS One (Slim Model) scph101.bin BIOS for the compact PS One hardware revision.

Where to put the PSX BIOS?

Directly into the folder

retrodeck/bios/

Directory structure

Type Directory Comment
BIOS retrodeck/bios/
Config ~/.var/app/net.retrodeck.retrodeck/config/duckstation/ settings.xml, gameProfiles folder, controllerProfiles folder
Dump Audio retrodeck/storage/Duckstation/dump/audio/ duckstation/dump/audio
Dump Textures retrodeck/storage/Duckstation/dump/textures/ duckstation/dump/textures
ROMs retrodeck/roms/psx/
Saves retrodeck/saves/psx/duckstation/
Shaders retrodeck/shaders/Duckstation/ duckstation/shaders
States retrodeck/states/psx/duckstation/
Screenshots retrodeck/screenshots/Duckstation/ duckstation/screenshots
Texture Packs retrodeck/texture_packs/Duckstation/ duckstation/textures

Adding Texture Packs

The ~/retrodeck/texture_packs/duckstaiton/ represents the /duckstation/textures/ folder in Duckstation.

Note:
Some texture packs could made for a specific version or region of a game. Make sure you have the right game and textures for it.

Note:
TITLEID is different for every game.

Adding texture packs

  • Open up Duckstation inside RetroDECK Configurator by pressing Open Emulator - Duckstation.
  • Go to Settings → Advanced → Tweaks/Hacks

Enable VRAM Write Texture Replacement and set it to On.

Preload Texture Replacements and set it to On.

Texture folder

  1. Extract any texture pack files from compressed .zip or any other format into folders.
  2. Go into ~/retrodeck/texture_packs/duckstation/. The folders are all named by TITLEID.
  3. Move textures into the right ~/retrodeck/texture_packs/duckstation/<TITLEID> folder.