Gran Turismo 4 Setup Guide for PCSX2.md

Last Updated: 22-Apr-2023

Table of Contents & Introduction

This guide will go over how to set up Gran Turismo 4 on PC using a Playstation 2 emulator and maximize its graphical fidelity.

You can find my video guide here: https://youtu.be/XQz6GnifAsk

Any deviations from the video guide are highlighted with this symbol:

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Requirements

• A North American (NTSC) disc image of Gran Turismo 4 (.ISO)
• The latest PCSX2 Nightly build
• At least 10GB of free hard drive space (more if you want to use texture packs)

To start off, you need a disc image of the game.

You can download one here: https://cdromance.com/ps2-iso/gran-turismo-4-usa/

Or simply search for one using the search terms "gran turismo 4 usa iso"

Then, download the latest Nightly version of PCSX2: https://pcsx2.net/

Make sure to extract the emulator files into a new folder named PCSX2.

Create a new folder titled games in PCSX2 and extract your .ISO file of Gran Turismo 4 into it.

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Emulator Setup

• Start pcsx2-qt.exe
• Install any updates if prompted
• Click on Add Game Directory
• Navigate to games and select folder, then press Yes on the prompt window
• Download the BIOS files from here: https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Emulator_files#PlayStation_2
• Drag all BIOS files into bios
• Open Settings, then select BIOS
• Click on Refresh List
• Select the latest US BIOS version

That covers the basic setup for the emulator. You can now run all kinds of PS2 games given you have an ISO file for it.

Keep in mind some games require specific settings to work as intended. Always refer to the PCSX2 Wiki when setting up new games: https://wiki.pcsx2.net/

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Game Setup

The following settings will only affect Gran Turismo 4. If you install any other games, either reconfigure them or change your global settings. Keep your own PC specs in mind when configuring Graphics settings.

• Right click Gran Turismo 4 and select Properties
• Go to Emulation
• Tick boxes for Enable Cheats and Enable Host Filesystem
• Go to Graphics
• Set Renderer to Vulkan
• Set Fullscreen Mode to Borderless Fullscreen
• Set Aspect Ratio to Widescreen (16:9) if applicable
• Set Crop to Right: 1px and Bottom: 2px
• Go to Rendering tab
• Set Internal Resolution to fit your monitor (or higher for Super Sampling)
• Set Anisotropic Filtering to 16x
• Set Blending Accuracy to High (at the most)

The following settings will apply to every game on your PCSX2 install. For now they are for Xbox Controllers only!

• Open Settings, then select Controllers
• Tick box for Enable XInput Input Source
• Switch to Controller Port 1
• Click on Automatic Mapping and select your controller
• Click on Settings (in the Controller setup window)
• Set Analog Deadzone: 10% and Analog Sensitivity: 100%

Now just launch the game by double clicking on Gran Turismo 4 in your library. Create your save profile in the game and let the game format your memory card when prompted. Once you're in the main menu we need to adjust some settings in the game before we can get started.

• Go to the Options menu
• Go to the Screen section
• Set Aspect Ratio: 16:9 if applicable
• Set Video Output: Progressive 480p
• Press OK
• Have a look at the other sections, particularly for controls and units, until you're satisfied

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Community Enhancements

Using patches, texture packs and other modifications made by the community, we can drastically improve the experience of the original game. Let's go over them one by one.

Game Patches

These game patches introduce a movable freecam by Vyerq, as well as a looser chase camera like in older titles and adjusted trigger sensitivity for better throttle control by Silent.

• Download the patches pack: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1A7OKu5s_w4ewvAXpS-q4DHeM4djcGUv0
• Extract all included files into cheats located in your PCSX2 folder

Remastered HUD & UI

Next we will be fully remastering the low-quality HUD and UI thanks to a texture overhaul by Silentwarrior112.

• Download the texture pack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-01bIv25AQU5QwM_qPUYVV8Q6bydnbXo/view
• Go back to the Graphics tab under your Properties for Gran Turismo 4
• Go to the Texture Replacements tab
• Tick box for Load Textures
• Create folder named SCUS-97328 in your textures folder
• Drag the replacements folder from the texture pack archive into SCUS-97328
• Open both the Alternate Textures and SCUS-97328 folders
• Drag the text files [...] shared folder from the archive into replacements (under SCUS-97328)

HD Texture Overhaul

If you want to go a step further, we can also remaster all other textures in the game. The Retexture Mod by Hattersby and his team overhaules all car and environmental textures.

Many of these textures were AI upscaled, so issues may be present.

• Go to the official post of the Retexture project: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gran-turismo-4-retexture-mod-v2-2.408852/
• Download the latest "Main Pack Full" version at the bottom of the post
• Drag the replacements folder from the texture pack archive into SCUS-97328
• Enter the password found right underneath the download links

Shade Boost

This is mainly to improve the game's fairly flat color pallet which is typical for Playsation 2 games.

• Go back to the Graphics tab under your Properties for Gran Turismo 4
• Go to the Post-Processing tab
• Tick box for Shade Boost and adjust values to your liking

This next step is down to preference. I will leave a few examples here from other users over time.

• My recommended values for a vibrant look: Brightness: 55 Contrast: 55 Saturation: 55
  
• Recommended values by Rowdy for a natural brightness boost: Brightness: 56 Contrast: 53 Saturation: 50
  

Achievements

Newer versions of PCSX2 have integrated support for RetroAchievements, which allows us to add Achievments to Gran Turismo 4.

• Go to https://retroachievements.org/ and create an Account
• Go back to the Settings and select Achievements
• Click on Login... and enter your credentials you have created earlier
• Tick box for Enable Achievements

You should get a pop up notifying you of your achievement progress the next time you boot up the game.