Rabbit Hole

I’ve always been a Resident Evil fan… maybe that’s why Silent Hill never sparked my interest. It just simply flew under my radar waiting to be discovered at a later date. With all the hoopla about the newest Silent Hill at this years E3 I decided to try out the, world renowned, “scariest series” known to the industry. I dug up my old PSX sitting in the cubby-hole, preceded to my nearest “used video games” shop, bought Silent Hill and began to play. Unfortunately, I’m not home as much as I would like to be so I decided I would find out a way to play this game on my laptop. Read more to find out how you can do it too!

First thing I should mention is that if you own a PSX and a copy of Silent Hill this is perfectly legal.

Software needed:

• A Playstation and a copy of Silent Hill so this entire process remains legal.
• (Optional) an iso file version of Silent Hill. This is basically a CD Image copied to your computer so you don’t need to constantly insert the CD.
• WinRAR - website - If you are unfamiliar with RAR files they are similair to zip files. You needed a RAR extractor for the plugin files I host.
• ePSXe (Enhanced Playstation Emulator) - website - Download the newest edition and save it somewhere on your computer.
• PSX Bios file. Unfortunately I cannot supply you with a link to this file; because that would be illegal. You can only own this file if you own a PSX. Simply search google for a file named “scph1001.bin” and you should find it fairly easily. If you don’t know how to use google you don’t diserve to play Silent Hill. This file is fairly small should be exactly 512KBs.
• Petes D3D Driver - download - This is the video driver plugin. The link I am supplying is version 1.74 and worked flawlessly with Silent Hill 1. You could get a more recent file, but the setup may be different.
• Eternal SPU Plugin - download - This is the audio driver plugin. The link I am supplying is version 1.41 and worked flawlessly with Silent Hill 1. You could get a more recent file, but the setup may be different.

Step 1 - Installing ePSXe/Setting up ePSXe

Before we begin to configure ePSXe we must first get everything in the right directories. Simply extract the zip file you downloaded from the ePSXe site to a directory called ePSXe somewhere on your computer. I just put mine on my external drive. Next take the PSX bios file you downloaded and put it in the bios subdirectory within your ePSXe folder.

Now its time to install those two plugins you downloaded from cvirtuoso.com. Extract both Petes Video Driver and the Eternal SPU driver into the plugins subdirectory within your ePSXe folder. You should now have two files called: gpuPeteD3D.dll and spuEternal.dll in your plugins folder.

Step 2 - Configure ePSXe

Now it’s time to actually configure the ePSXe application. Run ePSXe.exe in your ePSXe folder. Click Config -> Wizard Guide and follow the instructions below:

1. Click Config >>
2. Make sure scph1001 - USA (Recommended) is highlighted and click Next >>. If you do not see this file or got an earlier warning about a bios file missing it means you did not install the bios correctly or have an invalid copy.
3. Make sure Pete’s D3D Driver 1.74 is highlighted and click Config. If Pete’s D3D Driver is not listed it means you installed it wrong or its missing/corrupted.
4. Take a look at this screenshot and make sure your settings match mine. You can obviously change the screen resolution, but changing anything else may impare Silent Hill 1. Be sure to select your video device at the very top.
5. Hit OK to close the Config and click Test. You should receive a message saying “Plugin working correctly”. If you did not redo the steps. Click Next >>
6. Make sure Eternal SPU Plugin 1.41 is selected and click Config
7. Take a look at this screenshot and make sure your settings match mine. Once again you can play around with some of them, but you may impare Silent Hill 1.
8. Hit OK to close the Config and click Next >>. The Test button didn’t do anything for me, but the sound works ingame.
9. If you are running XP/2000 make sure the WNT/W2K CD Driver is selected, if you are running 9X/ME select the other option. Once again Test/Config didn’t do anything for me so click Next >>
10. Ignore configuring the controller for now and click Next >>
11. Your ePSXe is properly configured so click done and go onto the next step.

Step 3 - Configuring controls

You could skip this step and launch Silent Hill 1, but the controls for a keyboard may be a little awkward so I have found an awesome control scheme that might make your gaming experience a bit better! From the ePSXe application click Config at the top and go down to Game Pad -> Port 1 -> Pad 1. Check out this screenshot to see how I have setup my controls. To remap a key click in the space and hit the key you wish to use. A little bug here is when you map the TAB key to Circle. You actually have to select the Triangle slot and hit the TAB key. Windows will skip to the next data input area then assign TAB to O. With those controls selected the controls for Silent Hill 1 are as follows:

Up Arrow - Walk Forward
Down Arrow - Walk Backward
Left Arrow  - Turn Left
Right Arrow - Turn Right
Spacebar - Action \ Fire Weapon \ Use
Backspace - View Map \ Exit Menu Screens
I - Access Inventory
TAB - Turn On or Off Flashlight \ Exit Menu Screens
Left Shift - Run (hold down to run, release to walk)
Left CTRL - Hold Down to Raise Weapon (then press Action to fire)
Q - Sidestep Left
E - Sidestep Right
Z - Look Around
P - Pause Game \ Skip Movie Scenes
F1 - Quick Save
F3 - Quick Load

Step 4 - Launch Silent Hill 1

You are now ready to play Silent Hill 1!!! From the ePSXe application click File -> Run CDROM, or File -> Run ISO if you have copied the CD to your computer. The game should start up and you are good to go. There is a great walkthru here if you get stuck.

Hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!!!