Over the weekend, Playstation 2 emulator PCSX2 had its newest version uploaded to its official site, with a long list of improvements separating it from the previous build, 1.2, which had been the default version since February of 2014. Though CVS versions of a modified 1.3 were available, they were not made attainable through PCSX2’s website.

So what are the changes in this newest release? Most important is that the new Gdsx video plugin, which was made available in 1.3.1, is now bundled (and updated) with the emulator, meaning many of the interlacing and video playback issues are taken care of without needing hardware hacks. Chief among these is the removal of the mirroring glitch that made the Snowblind engine (Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath) games unplayable, with those RPGs now fully working without special settings. The only downside is the slowdown associated with walking near fires (torches, burning wood) is still present.

The best news for devoted PCSX2 players? The new memory card option:

The new Folder memory card feature allows users to easily share single game saves instead of the whole memory cards by simply sending the folder of the specific game. This method also allows easier backup of the save files and allows deletion of game saves without even going into the PS2 bios or the game. You even convert your older memory cards to a folder using the built-in convert feature!

Another neat advantage is that it provides unlimited storage capacity for save files as games will only see their own saves and the rest of the perceived 8MB memory card as free space. This allows you to create as many saves as would fit onto a whole empty memory card in a single game, without concerns about leaving enough space for other games or ever running into the problem where you start a new game and only later realize you don’t have enough free space on the memory card to save, and without the incompatibility issues of emulating bigger third party memory cards.

There is a general speedup too, with my own testing of lag-prone games like Shadow Hearts 1 and Digital Devil Saga now revealing them to be running at or very near a constant 60fps. A full list of additions can be found on the official announcement post.