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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

So dark10x do you get the 'screen jump' when a game does a sync effect - like with throws in Street Fighter games? Because that's the same converter I use.
 

bob_arctor

Tough_Smooth
Good to know about the Euro Scart. Looks like I have a pet project for the New Year. Television is beautiful btw. My wife wants me to part with my monster but I'll cling to it till either it's dead or I am. I'm half-tempted to scoop another off craigslist as back-up just in case.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
So dark10x do you get the 'screen jump' when a game does a sync effect - like with throws in Street Fighter games? Because that's the same converter I use.
Nope, never on my Sony.

However, it does occur on SOME displays in my experience. It's definitely not the transcoder at fault.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Must be an issue with the TV then because it occurs on my Genesis/CD/32x as well (Sonic 3 title screen).
Yeah, this happened a lot with a buddy's Phillips arcade monitor (ripped out of an MK2 cab).

We had a Genny running through it and this issue cropped up fairly often.
 
I managed to get Saturn Bomberman to work with SSF, despite all the various sites listing it as being incompatible due to the Net-Link feature not being emulated..

1 mount iso as normal
2 start ssf, and wait for 'Sega' screen to go black
3 select 'CD Open' from ssf menu
4 select 'hardware reset'
5 wait for main saturn menu to appear
6 from main saturn menu select 'close cd'
7 wait for 'checking disc' message to go
8 select 'start application' from menu
9 game will now boot.

Capture-41.jpg


Bit of a hassle, but otherwise, your not going to play THE best version of Bomberman during the 32bit console era..
 
How do you guys break the audio out of the SCART cable with that converter? I bought a breakout adapter but it took audio from the wrong end so I had to mod it.
 
That could be handy. I wonder if it would reduce buzzing the audio channels as well during bright/white screens (SCART video/audio interference).
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
How do you guys break the audio out of the SCART cable with that converter? I bought a breakout adapter but it took audio from the wrong end so I had to mod it.
I use the SCART switcher to break out the audio. I plug my consoles into the switcher (which has RCA output) and the switchers output into the transcoder which then runs into the component switcher. It's a bit convoluted but it works.

That could be handy. I wonder if it would reduce buzzing the audio channels as well during bright/white screens (SCART video/audio interference).
Ha ha, buzzing, the enemy of SCART in such setups. This is a problem that, based on research and work from my friend and I, is virtually impossible to eliminate. RCA output does not solve this.

One of the most important things to note is that it does vary per cable. I bought two SNES leads, for instance, and one of them buzzes super loudly all the time while the other is much quieter. In all cases it is dependent on the video signal (brighter screen = louder buzzing).

We actually popped open a couple systems and ran audio lead directly from the mainboard into RCA jacks completely bypassing the multi-out used for SCART. By itself, it sounds great (no noise). Plug in a composite cable? No problem, sounds awesome. However, the second you plug a SCART cable into the socket, the buzzing returns even when completely avoiding the cables own wiring. Not really sure exactly what is causing it, but the problem remains. The best you can do is stick to higher quality cables which reduce the problem.

One system that remains difficult to handle is the NES. Getting RGB out the NES is almost impossible, it seems. What you have to do is pull components from the Nintendo Play Choice 10 arcade board and combine them into a hacked together monstrosity.
 

Seik

Banned
I bought my SCART/component box for a HDTV, its a 47' LG 1080p. I really was taking a bet buying this, since some HDTVs are able to work with it properly, I had hope. the only CRT-tv I have doesn't have component, nor s-video, so I'm stuck with these cables and I can't do jack shit with these. Its my main reason for going with SSF in the first place, kinda. XD

Dark, this gaming setup of yours looks great! Looks like mine except you got the TV. :p

OP has a perfectly capable crt tv next to his computer. I keep telling him to play his Saturn games on it (the way it's meant to be played) but he won't listen to me. Such a stubborn kid.

Oh, OH.......hai Seik ^_^ what's up ?

That TV sucks, plus it does some fucking pink noise after a while, CAN'T STAND IT! >_<
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I managed to get Saturn Bomberman to work with SSF, despite all the various sites listing it as being incompatible due to the Net-Link feature not being emulated..

1 mount iso as normal
2 start ssf, and wait for 'Sega' screen to go black
3 select 'CD Open' from ssf menu
4 select 'hardware reset'
5 wait for main saturn menu to appear
6 from main saturn menu select 'close cd'
7 wait for 'checking disc' message to go
8 select 'start application' from menu
9 game will now boot.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a164/TheOriginalCooper/Capture-41.jpg

Bit of a hassle, but otherwise, your not going to play THE best version of Bomberman during the 32bit console era..
Fantastic. I'll have to give this a try later. I think I was resorting to using the JP version in the past since it didn't have the Netlink stuff that screwed things up in the first place.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I made this video a while back after my buddy left his original copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga with me.

WATCH HERE

It was recorded through SSF merely to show how it runs so don't expect something grand. I also never made it public until just now. I did it to show to one particular friend who was curious at the time.
 
So I have been trying all night to get this to work. I have tried 4 games and only one works for me, Radiant Silvergun works perfect. I cant get Christmas Nights or Nights into Dreams to work at all. I have tried ripping both games with img burn, and even downloading several different roms, I have tried playing both games off the disk even. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? My computer has an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz, and the video card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, with over a gig of RAM. I made sure that my DirectX was up to date. This is driving me crazy.
 

Seik

Banned
So I have been trying all night to get this to work. I have tried 4 games and only one works for me, Radiant Silvergun works perfect. I cant get Christmas Nights or Nights into Dreams to work at all. I have tried ripping both games with img burn, and even downloading several different roms, I have tried playing both games off the disk even. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? My computer has an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz, and the video card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, with over a gig of RAM. I made sure that my DirectX was up to date. This is driving me crazy.

When I'm ripping my games with imgburn I choose the ISO format, imgburn warns me with some yoda quote but I continue, and it works perfectly when everything is set on the virtual drive. Make sure that your emulator is set to work with your virtual drive and not the physical drive, check your BIOS and region settings too. Don't give up, when it'll be set you won't have to touch anything again! ;)

Btw, downloading roms is illegal, don't do it.
 

Zee-Row

Banned
Was there any difference between the Saturn and PS1 versions of Mega Man X4 , like Mega Man 8? Any extra bosses?
 

Zee-Row

Banned
I'm probably the luckiest man on earth BTW. i bought a mint copy of Magic Knight Rayearth off of craigslist for $30 a few months ago. That site is just awesome sometimes.
 

Seik

Banned
Was there any difference between the Saturn and PS1 versions of Mega Man X4 , like Mega Man 8? Any extra bosses?

X4 is exactly the same than PSX version, The Sega Saturn version of MM8 have two extra bosses, Cutman and Woodman.

I'm probably the luckiest man on earth BTW. i bought a mint copy of Magic Knight Rayearth off of craigslist for $30 a few months ago. That site is just awesome sometimes.

US version? If yes that's badass! :D
 
I'm probably the luckiest man on earth BTW. i bought a mint copy of Magic Knight Rayearth off of craigslist for $30 a few months ago. That site is just awesome sometimes.

I got lucky like this as well. Bought MKR in a big lot with a bunch of other stuff, sold what I didn't want, turned a profit.
 

loosus

Banned
I know it sounds weird, but I always thought of the Saturn like a super-duper SNES, I guess because of its 2D capabilities. I always wondered what the Nintendo of 1995 (i.e., not the one of today) could've done with Mario on a Saturn. I know we have New Super Mario Bros. today -- which is great in its own right -- but the art style is completely different, and I bet few of the Mario team artists from 1995 worked on NSMB.
 
I know it sounds weird, but I always thought of the Saturn like a super-duper SNES, I guess because of its 2D capabilities.

I didn't.

Namely because unlike Saturn, SNES could do transparencies.

Saturn felt to me like bizarro Neo Geo with some 3D capability.
 

dave_d

Member
I got lucky like this as well. Bought MKR in a big lot with a bunch of other stuff, sold what I didn't want, turned a profit.

Where do you sell that kind of stuff? I mean the last time I tried to sell something on Ebay it ended up not selling. (I think it was Shining the Holy Ark for what it's worth.)
 

Teknoman

Member
I have a US and Japanese Saturn and am using European SCART cables. The transcoder is expecting the pin-out from a Euro cable.

The original system has nothing to do with this in most cases. One of the annoying exceptions is the N64 which, despite using the same type of cable as the SNES and GC, does not actually work properly with SCART if using a US unit.

I've posted this before, but here's my current retro setup upstairs.

photo1-1.jpg


You can see the SCART and component switchers below the PS2 and the JP and US Saturn's on the other side (bottom row).

Simply amazing. I miss my Saturn...while emulation is great, there is nothing like actually putting the media in the system and using the controller it was made for.
 

Seik

Banned
I just tried Shining The Holy Ark. HUGE improvement over playing on an original Saturn. It has absolutely no lags while running on SSF. Huge slowdowns are happening on Saturn during a spell or while sending a bunch of dwarves/fairies in the beginning of a fight.

yX9GD.png


Man its been a while since I played, its so good, dat battle theme!

Fair warning, it's quite a bit pricier than the PS1 version second hand.

Better buy it sooner than later, prices will raise with time since...*gasp* *sob, manly tear, etc* MM is dead.
 
I just picked this bad boy up for 100 yen. Its immaculate and it works perfectly. My new Toshiba Regza 40 inch handles the s-video signal flawlessly. I am very impressed. I'd be really happy if I could find a USB adapter for saturn controllers. Or even a DC-Saturn converter so I can use this thing on VOOT.

DSCF0003.jpg


I was tempted to grab the other twin stick they had but it was 300 yen and not in as good shape. I am sure another good deal like this will come around eventually. I am still kicking myself for not buying the netlink and the wireless IR control pad set I saw a couple years back. My Saturn periphrial collection would have been nearly complete in my eyes. XD
 

dave_d

Member
I just picked this bad boy up for 100 yen. Its immaculate and it works perfectly. My new Toshiba Regza 40 inch handles the s-video signal flawlessly. I am very impressed. I'd be really happy if I could find a USB adapter for saturn controllers. Or even a DC-Saturn converter so I can use this thing on VOOT.

DSCF0003.jpg


I was tempted to grab the other twin stick they had but it was 300 yen and not in as good shape. I am sure another good deal like this will come around eventually. I am still kicking myself for not buying the netlink and the wireless IR control pad set I saw a couple years back. My Saturn periphrial collection would have been nearly complete in my eyes. XD

Oh, I've got one I'd be willing to part with :)
 
Namely because unlike Saturn, SNES could do transparencies.

I don't get it. Are you not counting Burning Rangers, Astal, Guardian Heroes, NiGHTS, Keio 2, PDZwei, Cotton 2 and Boomerang, Sonic R, Pandemonium? Saturn could do transparency.

Where do you sell that kind of stuff? I mean the last time I tried to sell something on Ebay it ended up not selling. (I think it was Shining the Holy Ark for what it's worth.)

Just eBay and forums like Sega-16.com, Racketboy.com, and so on. Did you BIN or auction Holy Ark?

Sadly, that's the most common one. Hikaru and Fuu are pretty rare, I think.

Mine is Fuu (green hair). Didn't know it was rare.
 

Teknoman

Member
When I'm ripping my games with imgburn I choose the ISO format, imgburn warns me with some yoda quote but I continue, and it works perfectly when everything is set on the virtual drive. Make sure that your emulator is set to work with your virtual drive and not the physical drive, check your BIOS and region settings too. Don't give up, when it'll be set you won't have to touch anything again! ;)

Btw, downloading roms is illegal, don't do it.

I thought SSF didnt require BIOS? Also what the emulator refers to as Area Code is basically the region settings right?
 

Aeana

Member
I thought SSF didnt require BIOS? Also what the emulator refers to as Area Code is basically the region settings right?

Unless it's changed in the last year or so since I tried it, SSF not only requires a BIOS but it also requires the correct BIOS for the region of the game you're trying to play.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Unless it's changed in the last year or so since I tried it, SSF not only requires a BIOS but it also requires the correct BIOS for the region of the game you're trying to play.
Neither of these things have been correct for a long time.

It's best to use the official BIOS anyway though, as you can run into some compatibility problems and bugs without it.
 

Aeana

Member
Neither of these things have been correct for a long time.

It's best to use the official BIOS anyway though, as you can run into some compatibility problems and bugs without it.

Well, that's good to hear. Juggling BIOS files for NA and JP games was a pain in the butt.
 

Teknoman

Member
So I have been trying all night to get this to work. I have tried 4 games and only one works for me, Radiant Silvergun works perfect. I cant get Christmas Nights or Nights into Dreams to work at all. I have tried ripping both games with img burn, and even downloading several different roms, I have tried playing both games off the disk even. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? My computer has an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz, and the video card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, with over a gig of RAM. I made sure that my DirectX was up to date. This is driving me crazy.

EDIT: Never mind about the SH2 cache option, its probably just a bios issue.

Well, that's good to hear. Juggling BIOS files for NA and JP games was a pain in the butt.

Yeah Dragon Force was the first game I tried with it, and it booted immediately without bios or changing region.
 
Thanks for the replies. I will try to see if it is the BIOS. I read the SSF guide and it said not to worry about the BIOS but hopefully that will fix things.
 
That TV sucks, plus it does some fucking pink noise after a while, CAN'T STAND IT! >_<

wpi6T.jpg


This TV certainly does not suck. Pink noise ? Don't you mean high pitched noise ? Even so, I've played on that tv for numerous hours (when we were playing FFVII together) and it certainly didn't bother anyone in the room.

I know the real reason. ADMIT IT. YOU FEAR T3H EX RAY.
 
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