@“Syzygy”#p94638
Okay here we go
I love OPL. Very good use of open sourcing. It‘s the most highly (& easily) configurable interfaces for retro game console libraries whether we’re talking ODEs, flash carts, etc. This website / forum, PS2-HOME has extensive tutorials for all things imaginable, and lists of compatibility and info needed for individual games, and cheats database too. It seems highly technical at times, but even the most technically advanced stuff is accomplishable if you are capable of following step by step instructions. And while 99% of users seem to be using HDTVs, and at first glance it seems like everything is assumed to be on an HDTV, OPL is entirely configurable for use on a CRT. (often assumed you want widescreen hacks for every game, haha)
For the most part, the vast majority of the time I prefer a console-wide Japanese format Playstation button layout, in BIOS, and in games. You know, what I said above, with O for select and X for cancel. Instead of writing that out I'm just going to refer to it as "Japanese format". BIOS is the least important though, games are super important. Any loader for playstation --again flash carts or ODEs or what have you-- worth its salt should have both formats available, at least for the loader GUI.
This was easiest on the PSP, if the BIOS was Japanese format, most games would follow suit. Same with PS3. This was easy to change on a softmodded system.
For PS1, depending on your device I guess, I have not found any way to change this on a per-game basis. Though this was the beginning of this format war, and lots of games had configurable controls (FFVII) or used the Japanese format anyway (MGS). So it's less of a concern, I guess. Even the BIOS was still figuring out controls at this time. A lot of games used triangle for cancel instead of circle, which is preferable if only because I'm a punk about it. It still does bother me quite a bit for certain games, though. I put up with it in the rare few wester games I play like Spyro.
PS2 is basically the same as PS1. The BIOS is always the format of the region of the console without hard mods I guess. I have a softmodded PS2 with freemcboot and internal HDD, and all the utilities use O for select and X for cancel, but not the BIOS.
On a per-game basis, for PS2, OPL has a somewhat roundabout option for remapping controls for any game. The PS2RD cheats engine. This is a totally decrypted cheats engine, unlike the plethora of commercially available cheat devices, the cheats are in RAW format. This also means that even mastercodes for other devices will not work without converting them. There are lists of RAW mastercodes and mostly widescreen hacks, but when you're like us, interested in more obscure stuff, practically every other game we want to play is depopulated on these lists, so we have to convert the codebreakers master codes ourselves, and this is where it gets complicated and frustrating. I still haven't gotten Evergrace to work :(
[PS2RD cheats tutorial](https://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=100)
So to remap controls, you use this program, the [PS2 Controller Remapper (tutorial)](https://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1403).
This is mainly used by most people to invert right stick camera controls. This is a fair bit more effort than the solution on SWISS for Gamecube, which just has the option to invert controls in the menu. But this offers full controller remapping for all PS2 games. You have to drag the ISO into the program to do it, then it spits out a RAW code for use in PS2rd.
So, if you're doing it for an obscure game that hasn't had it's RAW mastercode catalogued, or anything else goes wrong along the way, you're SOL.
Also, at least in my case, it required I use an older version of OPL at the time I set it up a few years ago. I still use this version. OPL changes so much with each release, since I found one that is good enough, this is the one I'm sticking with so as not to break anything. There's only a couple things I'd like to change in the GUI that is possible with newer versions, but if that means breaking more important stuff like cheats, or hours and hours more toggling, I think I'm ok with the less preferable logo and text alignment of my current version, haha.
But I've been using it to swap X and O for both KH and KH2, FFX original US release, DQ8 US, and for FFXII where I remapped the O and X as well as inverted the right stick. I did complete playthroughs of all these games with it, and it feels very natural and I forget it's there, except occasionally in kingdom hearts II where there are more on screen button prompts, but it's pretty ingrained in my head that O and X are swapped and the default is always to hit O. KH2 even has mini games where the goal is to select the O and avoid X's in the action menu, but in the US version you are using the X button to select the O, clearly a leftover from the Japanese format.
I also got it working on MLB Power Pros 2008, which is the only game in that series which was ever localized and released in the west, and it feels so right children to have O for select in that game.
Sadly, I haven't gotten it to work in Evergrace yet. I need it to work in evergrace, I just do. Even though I'm totally fine with US controls for King's Field, Armored Core, and Demon's Souls. Maybe I'll change my mind on that at some point.