<!-- PDF METADATA STARTS ---
title: "PCSX2 - GameDB Documentation"
date: "2022"
footer-left: "[Document Source](https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/blob/{LATEST-GIT-TAG}/pcsx2/Docs/GameIndex.md)"
urlcolor: "cyan"
... PDF METADATA ENDS -->

# GameDB Documentation

## YAML Game Format

The following is an annotated and comprehensive example of everything that can be defined for a single Game entry.

```yaml
SERIAL-12345: # !required! Serial number for the game, this is how games are looked up.  Case insensitive
  name: "A Sample Game" # !required!
  region: "NTSC-U" # !required!
  compat: 0
  roundModes:
    eeRoundMode: 0
    vuRoundMode: 3
  clampModes:
    eeClampMode: 0
    vuClampMode: 3
   # If a GameFix is included in the list, it will be enabled.
   # If you'd like to temporarily disable it, either comment out the line, or remove it!
  gameFixes:
    - VuAddSubHack
    - FpuMulHack
    - FpuNegDivHack
    - XGKickHack
    - EETimingHack
    - SkipMPEGHack
    - OPHFlagHack
    - DMABusyHack
    - VIFFIFOHack
    - VIF1StallHack
    - GIFFIFOHack
    - GoemonTlbHack
    - IbitHack
    - FullVU0SyncHack
    - VUSyncHack
    - VUOverflowHack
    - SoftwareRendererFMVHack
  # The value of the GS Fixes is assumed to be an integer
  gsHWFixes:
    mipmap: 1
    preloadFrameData: 1
  # The value of the speedhacks is assumed to be an integer,
  # but at the time of writing speedhacks are effectively booleans (0/1)
  speedHacks:
    mvuFlagSpeedHack: 0
    InstantVU1SpeedHack: 0
  memcardFilters:
    - "SERIAL-123"
    - "SERIAL-456"
  # You can define multiple patches, but they are identified by the CRC.
  patches:
    default: # Default CRC!
      content: |- # !required! This allows for multi-line strings in YAML, this type preserves new-line characters
        comment=Sample Patch
        patch=1,EE,00000002,word,00000000
    crc123: # Specific CRC Patch!
      content: |-
        comment=Another Sample
        patch=1,EE,00000001,word,00000000
```

> Note that quoting strings in YAML is optional, but certain characters are reserved like '\*' and require the string to be quoted, be aware / use a YAML linter to avoid confusion.

## A Note on Case Sensitivity

Both the serial numbers for the games, and the CRC patches are at the moment not case-sensitive and will be looked up with their lowercase representations.  **However, stylistically, uppercase is preferred and may be enforced and migrated to in the future**.

For example:

*   `SLUS-123` will be stored and looked up in the GameDB as `slus-123`
*   Likewise, a CRC with upper-case hex `23AF6876` will be stored and looked up as `23af6876`

However, YAML is case-sensitive and will allow multiple serials that only differ on casing.  To prevent mistakes, this will also throw a validation error and the first entry will be the one that wins.

**Everything else can be safely assumed to be case sensitive!**

## Compatibility

`compat` can be set to the following values:

*   `0` = Unknown Compatibility Status
*   `1` = Nothing
*   `2` = Intro
*   `3` = Menu
*   `4` = In-game
*   `5` = Playable
*   `6` = Perfect

## Rounding Modes

The rounding modes are numerically based.

These modes can be specified either on the **EE** (`eeRoundMode`) or **VU** (`vuRoundMode`)

### Options for rounding

*   `0` = **Nearest**
*   `1` = **Negative Infinity**
*   `2` = **Positive Infinity**
*   `3` = **Chop (Zero)**
*   The is the common default

## Clamping Modes

The clamp modes are also numerically based.

*   `eeClampMode` refers to the EE's FPU co-processor and COP2
*   `vuClampMode` refers to the VU's in micro mode

### eeClampMode

*   `0` = **Disables** clamping completely
*   `1` = Clamp **Normally** (only clamp results)
*   `2` = Clamp **Extra+Preserve Sign** (clamp results as well as operands)
*   `3` = **Full Clamping** for FPU

### vuClampMode

*   `0` = **Disables** clamping completely
*   `1` = Clamp **Normally** (only clamp results)
*   `2` = Clamp **Extra** (clamp results as well as operands)
*   `3` = Clamp **Extra+Preserve Sign**

## GS Hardware Fixes

[ ] = GameDB values
{ } = GUI options
( ) = Default values

### GS Hardware Mipmap Fixes

*   mipmap                     [`0` or `1` or `2`]    {Off, Basic, Full}                    Default: Automatic (No value, looks up GameDB)
*   trilinearFiltering         [`0` or `1` or `2`]    {None, Trilinear, Trilinear Ultra}    Default: None (`0`)

### GS Hardware General Fixes

*   conservativeFramebuffer
        [`0` or `1`]
        {Off or On}
        Default: On (`1`)
*   texturePreloading
        [`0` or `1` or `2`]
        {None, Partial or Full Hash Cache}
        Default: None (`0`)
*   deinterlace
        [Value between `0` to `9`]
        {Automatic, Off, WeaveTFF, WeaveBFF, BobTFF, BobBFF, BlendTFF, BlendBFF, AdaptiveTFF, AdaptiveBFF}
        Default: Automatic (No value, looks up GameDB)

### GS Hardware Renderer Fixes

*   autoFlush                   [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   disableDepthSupport         [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   disablePartialInvalidation  [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   cpuFramebufferConversion    [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   preloadFrameData            [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   textureInsideRT             [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)
*   halfBottomOverride          [`0` or `1`]   {Force-Disabled or Force-Enabled}    Default: Automatic (No value, looks up GameDB)
*   pointListPalette            [`0` or `1`]   {Off or On}                          Default: Off (`0`)

### GS Hardware Upscaling Fixes

*   alignSprite              [`0` or `1`]                      {Off or On}       Default: Off (`0`)
*   mergeSprite              [`0` or `1`]                      {Off or On}       Default: Off (`0`)
*   wildArmsHack             [`0` or `1`]                      {Off or On}       Default: Off (`0`)
*   bilinearUpscale          [`0` or `1`]                      {Off or On}       Default: Off (`0`)
*   skipDrawStart            [Value between `0` to `10000`]    {0-10000}         Default: Off (`0`)
*   skipDrawEnd              [Value between `0` to `10000`]    {0-10000}         Default: Off (`0`)
*   halfPixelOffset          [`0` or `1` or `2` or `3`]   {Off, Normal Vertex, Special Texture or Special Texture Aggressive}    Default: Off (`0`)
*   roundSprite              [`0` or `1` or `2`]          {Off, Half or Full}    Default: Off (`0`)

## Game Fixes

These values are case-sensitive so take care.  If you incorrectly specify a GameFix, you will get a validation error on startup.  Any invalid game-fixes will be dropped from the game's list of fixes.

### Options for Game Fixes

*   `VuAddSubHack`
    *   Tri-ace games, they use an encryption algorithm that requires VU ADDI opcode to be bit-accurate.

-   `FpuMulHack`
    -   Tales of Destiny hangs.

*   `FpuNegDivHack`
    *   Gundam games messed up camera-view. Dakar 2's sky showing over 3D. Others...

*   `XGKickHack`
    *   Use accurate timing for VU XGKicks (Slower). Fixes graphical errors on WRC, Erementar Gerad, Tennis Court Smash and others.

*   `EETimingHack`
    *   General purpose timing hack.

*   `SkipMPEGHack`
    *   Finds sceMpegIsEnd pattern in games and then recompiles code to say the videos are finished.

*   `OPHFlagHack`
    *   Bleach Bankais and others.

*   `DMABusyHack`
    *   Mana Khemia, Metal Saga. Denies writes to the DMAC when it's busy.

*   `VIFFIFOHack`
    *   Transformers Armada, Test Drive Unlimited. Fixes slow booting issue.

*   `VIF1StallHack`
    *   SOCOM II HUD and Spy Hunter loading hang.

*   `GIFFIFOHack`
    *   Enables the GIF FIFO. Needed for Wallace & Grommit, Hot Wheels, DJ Hero.

*   `GoemonTlbHack`
    *   Preload TLB hack to avoid tlb miss on Goemon.

*   `IbitHack`
    *   VU I bit Hack avoid constant recompilation in some games (Scarface The World Is Yours, Crash Tag Team Racing).

*   `FullVU0SyncHack`
    *   Increase the synchronisation points between COP2 and VU0.

*   `VUSyncHack`
    *   Make the VU's run behind/in sync with the EE to fix some timing issues.

*   `VUOverflowHack`
    *   VU Overflow hack to check for possible float overflows (Superman Returns).

*   `SoftwareRendererFMVHack`
    *   Forces rendering into software mode during FMVs.

## SpeedHacks

These values are in a key-value format, where the value is assumed to be an integer.

### Options for SpeedHacks

*   `mvuFlagSpeedHack`
*   Accepted Values - `0` / `1`
*   Katamari Damacy have weird speed bug when this speed hack is enabled (and it is by default)
*   `MTVUSpeedHack`
*   Accepted Values - `0` / `1`
*   T-bit games dislike MTVU and some games are incompatible with MTVU.
*   `InstantVU1SpeedHack`
*   Accepted Values - `0` / `1`
*   Games such as Parappa the Rapper 2 need VU1 to sync, so you can force sync with this parameter.

## Memory Card Filter Override

By default, the FolderMemoryCard filters save games based on the game's serial, which means that only saves whose folder names containthe game's serial are loaded.

This works fine for the vast majority of games, but fails in some cases, for which this override is for. Examples include multi-disc games, where later games often reuse the serial of the previous disc(s), and games that allow transfer of savedata between different games, such as importing data from a prequel.

> Values should be specified as a list of strings, example shown above.

## Patches

The patch that corresponds to the running game's CRC will take precedence over the `default`.  Multiple patches using the same CRC cannot be defined and this will throw a validation error.

> CRCs are case-insensitive, however uppercase is preferred stylistically!

Patches should be defined as multi-line string blocks, where each line would correspond with a line in a conventional `*.pnach` file

For more information on how to write a patch, see the following [forum post](https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-How-PNACH-files-work-2-0)

## Editor Tooling

We provide a [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) for the GameDB's format.  You can use this to validate the file, and assist in writing it properly.

### VSCode Integration

If you use VSCode and you want it to properly lint the GameIndex.yaml file you should:

1. Download the YAML extension - https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.vscode-yaml
2. Add the following to your settings:

```json
"yaml.schemas": {
  "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/master/pcsx2/Docs/gamedb-schema.json": "**/GameIndex.yaml",
},
```
