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Post by Anthaemia. on Sept 19, 2019 1:10:42 GMT
I didn't even notice this problem until just now, but if none other than Ezra Dreisbach can't help solve the mystery of where to possibly find that one last enemy you need for a 100% ranking in E3M6, I'd suggest getting in touch with a homebrew programmer known only as XL2 - they've recently been showing off a first person shooter developed using their own engine with assets ported from Saturn Quake, so it's likely they know how to check anything produced in Lobotomy's original tools, which I believe were called SlaveDriver and Brew.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Aug 2, 2019 19:16:54 GMT
Of the games mentioned in that leaflet, I've never seen any evidence of Sentient or Dual Force prototypes being out in the wild. However, it's claimed that a review copy for Adidas Power Soccer is in the hands of at least one collector, while early builds of Ninja and Micro Machines V3 are also believed to exist - at the very least, staff working on both of those have confirmed they were in the preliminary stages of development.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jul 29, 2019 0:47:26 GMT
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Post by Anthaemia. on Apr 20, 2019 13:07:48 GMT
You're definitely not alone in having problems when it comes to emulating the original Panzer Dragoon trilogy!
For one, most versions of SSF are notorious when it comes to reproducing Saga... I've had some of the later builds work fine until the end credit sequence, which meant I wasn't quite able to record a full playthrough. Then, others will randomly crash or display minor graphical issues (the latter of these flaws is supposedly due to how the PAL edition wasn't optimised).
In terms of the first game running at 15fps, that seems about correct, though I believe the in-engine cutscenes are 60fps if you're playing either of the NTSC variations. Also, the elements handled by VDP2 don't always display correctly, but I've yet to check this game using Mednafen because I rarely get full speed with anything in this emulator.
Thankfully, there are enough different revisions of SSF that I'm able to find at least one to support most of the titles I'd ever want to play. Virtua Cop is another I can think of that's proved to be something of a compatibility nightmare, while I'm resigned to not having sound effects in Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers or Fighters Megamix. What's with that?
At the very least, I desperately need a faster system to enjoy Mednafen at a higher frame rate.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Apr 7, 2019 12:52:22 GMT
I tried repeating the conditions listed on that site many times, and I still couldn't get the training opponent to switch from Balls to Deku with any consistency. This did eventually happen, but I'm not sure what exactly caused it (for the sake of accuracy, I'd like to know how it's really done). Also, there appears to be some confusion about how to enable the Survival Mode stage select - I saw a few other sources describe this as only requiring you to complete Survival Mode ten times, which worked for me!
P.S. While it's only a minor detail, Mr. Meat definitely becomes available once you've booted the game 29 times and not 30 as documented in a few places.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Feb 17, 2019 19:37:20 GMT
, and do you know if the planned US version of the main game was used to help produce the eventual PS translation? Anthaemia which US effort are you referring to. The most I was ever told was by Vic on the WD forums about how they were expecting to translate it with the help of Sega securing the rights fees. Frankly I think just about everyone assumed WD would have brought it over because of their relationship with GA. Vic always gets a lot of the same questions on his forum. People always ask why they did Albert Odyssey instead of Grandia and as he always puts it, it wasn't like behind door 1 was AO and behind door 2 was Grandia. The games were actually spread out more from each other. It seemed like GA knew what they had in Grandia and were holding it a bit ransom even despite WD having brought over their Lunar games. I've long since forgotten where I read this, but one of the Sega news sites I followed back in the late '90s once mentioned that an English version of Grandia was likely still on the cards for Saturn, as they specified how many pages of text were being translated for this project. Soon after, the same source elaborated on its previous story by claiming this information was now proving helpful to staff at Sony Computer Entertainment America, which secured the rights over Working Designs to publish the localised PlayStation edition.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Feb 9, 2019 21:26:14 GMT
Of course there's a world of difference between Grandia and the Digital Museum - I completely forgot the latter never received an English translation, official or otherwise (to my knowledge, at least)!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Feb 9, 2019 16:30:15 GMT
I'm absolutely stunned by the quality of this project - it really is great to know that one of the Saturn's best RPGs will no longer be hidden away behind a language barrier, and I'm sure you'll get plenty of coverage in online retro gaming circles for your efforts! This might seem like a strange request, but would you also consider tackling the Digital Museum disc, and do you know if the planned US version of the main game was used to help produce the eventual PS translation?
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 10, 2019 19:00:21 GMT
At the very least, I'm guessing the cartridge will have a custom case and not just be a flashed stock Action Replay 4-in-1 or some equivalent model. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the firmware isn't Pseudo, but rather some proprietary solution based around the same idea (presumably through reverse engineering the options already doing the rounds). On the other hand, if this does turn out to be little more than what can already be purchased separately, it will bring greater attention to the fact Saturn's copy protection has finally been bypassed, plus it sets a precedent that may lead to more developers looking at the console - as a retro platform, there's a lot of untapped potential... This is very much a win-win situation, and I congratulate JoshProd for taking a chance on what remains my favourite platform. Here's to plenty more in the future!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 5, 2019 17:59:52 GMT
From what I recall of past attempts to bypass or at least document the Saturn's copy protection, there appears to be some type of holographic area the laser checks for at the boot stage, only this was supposedly pressed with a "wobble" of sorts in the track that makes it impossible for conventional disc burners to replicate. The only real alternative to this would be to circumvent such a test by tricking the BIOS into thinking the verification process had already been completed, which is how devices like Pseudo seem to work. Of course, this is only a very basic version of what's happening - I'm sure someone else will be able to provide much greater detail.
On the other hand, I once remember there being suggestions that it may be possible to create a self-booting disc by burning data to a smaller 8cm CDR then inserting this into the middle of an original Saturn disc with its middle section cut out. I've no idea whether anybody was crazy enough to try out this method, though I'm highly sceptical of this for various reasons. First of all, it would require a perfectly good disc to be sacrificed, not to mention you'd be limited to burning games with smaller amounts of data than a standard disc allows. Furthermore, this would surely put considerable strain on the drive motor. Even if it is achievable, I can't possibly recommend this as a solution. More than installing a mod chip, replacement SD card port or even flashing a compatible cartridge, such a necessary level of precise engineering is likely beyond the reach of your average gaming enthusiast.
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 4, 2019 17:11:54 GMT
Between SSF, Yabause and newcomer Mednafen, there are now very few Saturn games that can't be played via emulation to a degree of accuracy most would consider acceptable. I'm sure somebody out there could put together a standalone box containing just one of these emulators and the best supported titles, but the necessary power remains beyond most alternatives currently on the market, and I don't see anyone taking the financial hit to sell such a machine while keeping it relatively competitive price-wise. If anything, you're probably better off coming up with your own PC-based solution. Saying that, it would be interesting to see how Sega might approach a theoretical Saturn Mini/Classic type system. As with the devices sold by Nintendo and now Sony, it's unlikely there will be much software from third parties, so let's rule them out. You're left with a disproportionate number of AM conversions, many being significantly downgraded in contrast with their original coin-op counterparts, plus a few high profile CS efforts including NiGHTS, Burning Rangers and the Panzer Dragoon trilogy. Sure, I'd love to see BUG! or Clockwork Knight especially introduced to a wider audience, though it's difficult to compile a decent sample of the Saturn's library that doesn't clash with any of the criteria I've already mentioned. Getting developers like Treasure and Capcom on board would surely help, plus there's the possibility of Sega dusting off something from their vaults that was completed yet never released, or perhaps limited to a single region in the Saturn's life. Wouldn't it be great if they could finish Sonic Xtreme with the help of the fan community? That alone would give any new Saturn console the unique selling point it desperately needs outside die hard Sega forums!
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 4, 2019 16:51:22 GMT
Without going into specifics, that "plug 'n' play" comment might indeed be a clue that we're looking at a cartridge only game...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Jan 3, 2019 22:18:49 GMT
Having thought about this for a while longer, I'm now convinced we're looking at one of two possible solutions... Either JoshProd has achieved something previously considered impossible and found a way to burn CDRs with the same security features as official factory pressed discs (which haven't been produced for years), or we're looking at a game that will include some form of protection bypass cartridge. If the latter option is what we can expect, I similarly predict copies will be quickly snapped up by Saturn enthusiasts looking for a cheap way to play copies without more invasive hardware modifications or the few alternatives that are now rising in price as demand for these grows. Then again, I remember the team behind the ill-fated Police Officer Smith once claiming their cart would be somehow locked to the game disc, so maybe JoshProd found a manufacturer able to do the same thing - perhaps even using technology from The Rockin' B himself?
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Post by Anthaemia. on Dec 22, 2018 22:27:02 GMT
I suspect this project will be similar to the ill-fated Police Officer Smith from a few years ago, which was intended to be released with its own proprietary cartridge that would bypass the Saturn's copy protection system, allowing you to run the CD on stock hardware. Once a major name in the homebrew programming scene, The Rockin' B appears to have since disappeared, which is a shame when you consider that his concept was a precursor of sorts to the Pseudo approach that's now becoming more readily available (not to mention it's equally a predecessor to Professor Abrasive's upcoming Satiator solution). Of course, it's also possible that JoshProd has finally embraced the Saturn rather than just the Dreamcast because of how many fans of the earlier console now have access to various ways of playing games without the security ring featured on original factory-pressed discs. We'll see soon enough, I guess...
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Post by Anthaemia. on Dec 11, 2018 13:47:29 GMT
The source code for Panzer Dragoon Saga was indeed lost along with that of several other games from around the same period, though I forget the full list of confirmed titles. At the very least, it was once claimed the first House Of The Dead wasn't included with its two immediate sequels on a compilation for the Wii because it also suffered from missing data. Naturally, the Saturn conversion wasn't considered good enough to use, and even the PC edition didn't offer enough of an improvement to compare with the Model 2 original. Also, the most recent console releases of Virtua Fighter 2 and Daytona USA have relied on partial emulation for similar reasons. Speaking of this as a possible option for the classic Panzer Dragoon trilogy, M2 recently hinted that it's now perfected recreating the Saturn's hardware, which suggests its own in-house solution independent of more advanced PC alternatives such as SSF, Yabause or Mednafen. With the previous era's biggest examples now mostly exhausted, I'd love to see the powers that be at Sega look into revisiting the company's Model 2, Saturn and perhaps even Model 3 catalogues... ElSemi's Model 2 Emulator was previously licensed for official use, so it would be great if the programmers behind SSF and Supermodel were similarly approached due to these having the highest compatibility of the respective platforms they aim to reproduce.
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