BIOS, Disc Boot Data, and Startup Splash
Polygon Engine creates homebrew games. It does not supply or download a Sony BIOS, Sony disc boot data, or a Sony development license.
Which file do I need?
| Resource | Where you configure it | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Emulator BIOS | In DuckStation's BIOS settings | Console firmware used by the emulator. Supply your own lawful BIOS. |
| Disc boot data (optional, advanced) | Build > Tool Paths... in Polygon Engine | Raw system-area data embedded in your exported disc images. Leave empty unless your deployment method requires it and you have the necessary rights. |
| Sony development license | Outside Polygon Engine | Legal authorization from Sony. Selecting a file in the engine does not grant this. |
The default export includes no Sony disc boot data. Your emulator settings and homebrew loader determine whether and how an image starts. The optional field does not replace the BIOS, unlock a retail console, authenticate a burned disc, or guarantee that the Sony boot logo will appear. Use a compatible homebrew deployment method and test the finished image on your target.
Optional user-supplied disc boot data
- Open your project and choose Build > Tool Paths....
- Find Optional disc boot data (advanced).
- Use Browse File... to select a file you are authorized to use and include in distributed game images. The supported format is 28,032 bytes, made of twelve raw 2336-byte sectors. This is not a BIOS file.
- Keep the source outside
Build/ps1/package, which is regenerated by builds. - Click Save Tool Paths, then build the project normally.
The path is private to this project on this computer. It is not added to the shared project file, copied to other machines, or found automatically. On another computer, select your own authorized file again. Use Clear and Save Tool Paths to return to the default export.
If the selected file is missing, unreadable, or the wrong size, the build fails with an error instead of quietly omitting it. The format check cannot verify ownership, redistribution rights, region, or boot compatibility. NTSC/PAL video selection does not convert or choose regional boot data for you.
When selected, the data becomes part of the .bin and .iso images. You need
the necessary distribution rights before sharing those images. The temporary
USERBOOT.DAT copy is removed after packaging; rebuild through the engine
instead of rerunning the generated XML directly.
Command-line builds use the same saved local Tool Paths. An explicit one-build override is available:
.\PolygonEditor.exe --build-project "C:\Games\MyGame" --disc-boot-data "C:\Private\authorized-boot.dat"
This is consistent with mkpsxiso's user-supplied boot-data workflow. Polygon Engine does not provide downloads or extraction instructions for Sony material.
Polygon Engine startup splash
Every exported PS1 executable displays the Polygon Engine logo on a black background before the first scene and its scripts start. It lasts four seconds: one second fading in, two seconds visible, and one second fading out. NTSC and PAL builds use the same duration.
The logo and wordmark are centered on a temporary 640 × 480 interlaced screen. Their bounding rectangle occupies approximately 20% of the screen area, with black space around the artwork. The runtime restores the normal game video mode before the loading screen and first scene.
The splash follows the console or emulator's boot process when that process is shown. It is independent of the optional disc boot data and also appears when the executable is started directly by a compatible loader. It cannot be skipped with input or disabled through project settings or Lua. Distributed games must retain it under the Polygon Engine license.
The splash runs once per executable start, not on scene changes. Editor Play Mode starts directly for iteration; test startup presentation with an exported build. The normal loading screen can follow the splash while the first scene loads.