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Sega Saturn Appreciation and Emulation Thread

ShowDog

Member
I feel like the Saturn as an unlocked thing is still fairly new, and it's notoriously difficult to make stuff for. I bet it'll be a while.

Well mod chips have existed for over a decade, so that's not the case. If there were anything interesting to run, this just opens it up to more people. I don't think the Saturn homebrew scene will get any kind of boost ever, it really just becomes less useful for the purpose every year it gets older. Example: an mp3 player would have been a somewhat cool novelty homebrew 6 years ago, but today with subscription based services it's even less appealing than it was then. Like going from 5% appealing to 2%, lol.
 

Khaz

Member
Is there any decent Saturn homebrew that is worth looking into? Someone just figured out how to boot unlicensed software sans mod chip using a flashed Action Replay, which is generally considered a must-have Saturn peripheral anyway. Problem is right now it replaces all AR functionality aside from memory expansion and I haven't seen a use case outside of playing backups. The guy boots a backup as his proof-of-concept, you can check the video on Youtube if you want. It's called Pseudo-Saturn.

Fake-edit: I'm unable to find any interesting homebrew. Chime in if you know of any.

There is nothing really interesting. You could already launch homebrew by loading it via the parallel port of the Action Replay, and modchips and swaps bypass the authentification process entirely.

The Saturn is just a bitch to program on. I think you had a half-finished Master System emulator, and the usual proof of concept games like tic-tac-toe or sokoban. No one really cared and people just went Megadrive or Dreamcast instead.
 

JLynn

Member
Finally got my two Saturn games

Fire Pro Wrestling S 6 Man Scramble. Looks great.

LDzeJEIl.jpg


And a complete Resident Evil. The game plays no problem. The packaging though...

I7Rvob1l.jpg


The case was more scratched than my original Saturn Bomberman! the back has a hairline crack and the too fragile for its own good bottom lid tab arm is barely hanging. Okay. I knew it was in less than pristine condition. The front cover was expected

sQzjssJl.jpg


YyLJPXQl.jpg


acHt88ll.jpg


The inside is a whole different story.

Gvt1SgCl.jpg


Nw6eFN2l.jpg


How in the hell could this happen? paper eating insects?! Luckily an ebay seller is selling a better condition instructions and back panel that I quickly snapped up. I'll be on the lookout for more unneeded Sega CD/Saturn cases. I wish the custom cases were long enough to support the instructions or else I'd toss all the cases.
 
How in the hell could this happen? paper eating insects?! Luckily an ebay seller is selling a better condition instructions and back panel that I quickly snapped up. I'll be on the lookout for more unneeded Sega CD/Saturn cases. I wish the custom cases were long enough to support the instructions or else I'd toss all the cases.

Looks like silverfish damage to me.
 

Wereroku

Member
Well mod chips have existed for over a decade, so that's not the case. If there were anything interesting to run, this just opens it up to more people. I don't think the Saturn homebrew scene will get any kind of boost ever, it really just becomes less useful for the purpose every year it gets older. Example: an mp3 player would have been a somewhat cool novelty homebrew 6 years ago, but today with subscription based services it's even less appealing than it was then. Like going from 5% appealing to 2%, lol.
Apparently the Saturn was so difficult to program for only a few companies ever got really good at it. It has a super esoteric design and I think most homebrew folks jumped to something more powerful and easier to code for like the Dreamcast. Hell even the emulators that are not abandoned are still having trouble running a lot of stuff.

Edit:

The Resident Evil saturn version has the battle mode right? I still need to get that so I can have every version of Resident Evil 1.
 

ShowDog

Member
Apparently the Saturn was so difficult to program for only a few companies ever got really good at it. It has a super esoteric design and I think most homebrew folks jumped to something more powerful and easier to code for like the Dreamcast. Hell even the emulators that are not abandoned are still having trouble running a lot of stuff.

Edit:

The Resident Evil saturn version has the battle mode right? I still need to get that so I can have every version of Resident Evil 1.

The Saturn version of RE is pretty excellent, I had it at release. It has the uncensored video intro, a couple of costumes, and the battle mode you mentioned. I can't think of any weaknesses except perhaps slightly longer loading through doorways and such, nothing anyone would really care about anymore. Too bad RE2 never made it to the system.
 

JLynn

Member
The Resident Evil is a replacement from a copy I had that was destroyed in a fire over ten years ago. I can say the intro is cut.
 

Mercutio

Member
Well mod chips have existed for over a decade, so that's not the case. If there were anything interesting to run, this just opens it up to more people. I don't think the Saturn homebrew scene will get any kind of boost ever, it really just becomes less useful for the purpose every year it gets older. Example: an mp3 player would have been a somewhat cool novelty homebrew 6 years ago, but today with subscription based services it's even less appealing than it was then. Like going from 5% appealing to 2%, lol.

But isn't the ability to run CDRs on it fairly new? And PC Emulation really only just seems to have figured it out. Maybe I'm wrong about that.
 

Khaz

Member
But isn't the ability to run CDRs on it fairly new? And PC Emulation really only just seems to have figured it out. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

Yes, even without any mod chip you could swap trick to run unofficial code. You just need to lock the CD door sensor somehow.

Well mod chips have existed for over a decade, so that's not the case. If there were anything interesting to run, this just opens it up to more people. I don't think the Saturn homebrew scene will get any kind of boost ever, it really just becomes less useful for the purpose every year it gets older. Example: an mp3 player would have been a somewhat cool novelty homebrew 6 years ago, but today with subscription based services it's even less appealing than it was then. Like going from 5% appealing to 2%, lol.

Actually, since the Saturn is a potentially connected device, you could make a player for these subscription based services. I wish someone would make a modem or something wired/wifi to put in the expansion bay and devise a way to play the internet-based games in an easier way. Bringing the Saturn to the 21st century!
 

AmyS

Member
A bit off-topic, but didn't want to make a thread just for it.

If you ever wanted to play Model 2 Daytona USA with Model 3-ish looking textures (more detailed textures than the 2011 HD release on Xbox 360 / PS3) then I highly recommend Nuexx's Daytona USA ++ patch for ElSemi's SEGA Model 2 Emulator.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137497.0.html

It has a number of new graphic options including easy 1920 x 1080, widescreen, AA and Textures HD among others.

The new HD textures only *seem* to be able to work with Daytona USA Special Edition (thus, the daytonase ROM).

My laptop does not even have an Nvidia or AMD GPU, merely Intel HD 3000 graphics and I get 60 FPS with the new HD textures in 1080p, although without AA.

When you enable Textures HD, it will take a minute or so to load, so don't think the Emu has crashed, just be patient.

Daytona USA ++ Patch - Modding and Hacks by Nuexzz (c) 2013
-----------------------------------------------------------
Features
-----------------------------------------------------------
*Patch* (settings available in the user interface)
-Fullscreen
-Antialiasing
-Sound
-Enable support for Xbox360 compatible devices
-Enable/Disable force feedback
-custom screen resolution (recommend using same as desktop)
-Enable/Disable HD textures (the emulator does not respond for 1 minute because the HD textures take longer to load.)
-works with all romsets and versions of Daytona USA
-ESC key now closes emulator
-Maximize button now switches to fullscreen

*Hacks*
-add 20 cars to choose from (CPU cars)
-add the twin panoramic attract mode (originally for 4 linked cabs) now you can have it in single mode (also all cab types - deluxe, twin, uplight,special)
-add four new points of view + options are zoom out/ - options are zoom in
-add interactive selection of tracks and cars
-add night mode (makes the sky black for now)
-add enabled/disabled widesreen (16:9) in windowed mode and also in fullscreen
-add infinite time on all tracks
-add enabled/disabled tilemaps (movie mode)

1080p videos with HD Textures

Beginner Course (777 Speedway)

Advanced Course (Dinosaur Canyon)

*Still looking for a good video of Expert Course (Seaside Street Galaxy) with the new textures.

ElSemi's SEGA Model 2 Emulator home page
http://nebula.emulatronia.com/

Arcadecontrols thread with Daytona USA ++ patch download link
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137497.0.html


ROMS? You're on your own, damnnit! ;)
 

JLynn

Member
They got rid of the Sonic on the mountain.

I'll stick with the PSN version for my HD Daytona, thanks.


The PS3/360 version of Daytona HD makes all the other ports, well, unnecessary.

EDIT: I just checked a video of the hack. OMG the pop-up! I didn't think the original Model 2 version had that much pop-up
 

AmyS

Member
They got rid of the Sonic on the mountain.

I'll stick with the PSN version for my HD Daytona, thanks.

Holy shit, I did not notice that.

Still, it's neat to see the upgraded textures.

For almost everyone though, the PS3-PSN or XBLA-360 HD port is the one to play.
 

AmyS

Member
I heard the handling was better in the Japanese version.

I dunno, I only have the US one.

The handling and especially the way the A.I. cars react is different in the Japanese '93 version. If either is "better", is subjective. Different, yes. There are no options for 'Grand Prix' or 'Endurance' modes though.

One thing is, I don't understand why the '93 ROM is not selectable / playable in the ++ patch, unless I am missing something.
It's certainly playable in the normal Model 2 Emulator though, always has been, AFAIK.

The attract sequences for each course are also different with the Japanese '93 version, and very fun to watch. There's some on Youtube.
Here's one (only 480p): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8PWoNzapkg

Also, correction, the HD textures do in fact work on most of Daytona USA hacks, I just can't get them to work on the standard daytonausa ROM.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
The handling and especially the way the A.I. cars react is different in the Japanese '93 version. If either is "better", is subjective. Different, yes. There are no options for 'Grand Prix' or 'Endurance' modes though.
He's talking about CCE vs Japanese CE.
 

Khaz

Member
Do you feel the heartbeat of the night?

Hey guys, I figured we could have a sort of permanent ladder for the most common/popular games on the console, something that could be shown in the first post. Not a limited-time competition, more like a GAF All Time World Records. What do you think?

I'll start with my personal best on Sega Rally Championship:
Time Attack: Desert 3 laps 2'42"30 with a fastest lap of 0'53"49
Arcade, 1 lap: 3'27"27 (haven't even beat the default fastest time)
[edit] Done with the Celica Automatic, not a cheating car like the Stratos ;) [/edit]

These are fastest times done years ago on automatic that I just recovered from my memory card. I'm sure I could beat them with a manual car but my handling is not what it used to be :(

What's your times, GAF?
 

Khaz

Member
Sega Rally is my go to game when I'm bored or I don't know what to play. I got it soon after my Saturn back in the day and it never left me. It's so good. Also dat intro music, slap the bass!

I don't even like driving games usually.
 

djlr181

Member
I have never played a Daytona or Sega Rally game (outside of the demo for Revo). Are they worth revisiting today?

Sega Rally is still awesome. I think it's aged very well for an arcade racer and worth checking out especially for how cheap it goes for. Daytona is also cheap, but the Saturn versions aren't exactly the best. You've never payed Daytona in the arcade? At a Dave & Busters? That is where I would play Daytona or download it on PSN/Xbox LIve.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Daytona USA might literally be my favorite video game of all-time. I know I wouldn't need more than one hand to count everything else that would be in contention. I think it's literally impossible to convey how much of a presence that game had on its release. Witnessing the attract demo spanning across 8 big screen cabinets and literally claiming an entire wall of a building is a quintessential mid-90s arcade experience. In the pre-Saturn/PS1 era (and beyond, really), this was an event.

No console port will ever recapture the full experience, either. Some ports have janky handling; others don't translate well to standard gamepads. Head-to-head play (and even the distinctively aggressive and threatening and at-times reckless AI in solo play) was a huge part of the appeal, and the force-feedback and sound design of the cabinet brought that to life; that just can't be replicated to the same degree at home.

It was the main reason I saved up money for a Saturn. Even though that port was rushed, 1-player only, and poor on most technical metrics, it at least controlled well enough to serve as practice for "the real thing," so I was satisfied with it for that reason alone. Championship Circuit Edition fucked with the handling and neutered the AI so much that I can barely call it a Daytona game. Daytona 2001 on Dreamcast was a competent enough effort, but I was always disappointed that it was made in lieu of a proper Daytona 2 port.

The HD re-release is the definitive version, although finding competition for that is an unfortunate hassle, and it probably takes some time to come to grips with how it handles on an analog stick if you're not already accustomed to the game.
 

Celine

Member
I heard the handling was better in the Japanese version.

I dunno, I only have the US one.
I never played the original Saturn release but CE is one of my favorite game on Saturn.

I have never played a Daytona or Sega Rally game (outside of the demo for Revo). Are they worth revisiting today?
Yes, among the best Saturn games IMO (Only played to Daytona CE though).

Yeah that cover is great. I like a lot of the Japanese cover art more than the Western releases actually.
Never forget:

tumblr_inline_mo1bego7bk1qaxp70.jpg


box_front.jpg
 

flohen95

Member
I have never played a Daytona or Sega Rally game (outside of the demo for Revo). Are they worth revisiting today?

The first games I got after getting my Saturn were Sega Rally and Daytona USA CE (my Saturn is a Japanese model). I play both games almost daily for 10 - 30 minutes. Really good fun. I never got to experience their hayday (being born in Germany in 1995 and starting gaming at the age of 9 on a GBA), so I was experiencing these games for the first time just a few months ago, and it was absolutely awesome.

I prefer both games to many modern racing games. Not because of their looks, not necessarily because of the gameplay (though Sega Rally controls like a bliss), but because of their soundtracks. Oh god the sountracks. They absolutely make the games for me, which is why, should you want to play Daytona USA on the Saturn, you have, and I stress absolutely HAVE to play the Circuit Edition (which seems to be better than the American/European Championship Circuit Edition it is derived from). It's just a fantastic experience and I've been listening to both soundtracks regularly while driving on the Autobahn or playing any racing games on PC or those that feature custom sondtracks on consoles. Feels so good, and that alone made buying a Saturn worth it for me. So my response would be a resounding yes. Helps that both games still control really well. They just feel right.

Edit: Might post my times for those games later, though I think they're worse than those already posted by you guys. :p
 

Khaz

Member
I have a mysterious Ghost data for Daytona named DAYTONA96_1 . Yet I can't find a way to play it in CE. I suspect it may come from my old copy of CCE and they may share their save name. And I can't play CCE (PAL), the console hangs at the Daytona trademark screen, neither opening the CD door nor pressing reset do anything, I have to hard reboot it. Could it be because of conflicting name saves with incompatible data?

People with only CE or CCE, can you tell me how your data is called?

Edit: Might post my times for those games later, though I think they're worse than those already posted by you guys. :p

You should, everybody should give it a try :)

On that note, can we combine times for CE,CCE and classic? Or is the engine different enough to give one some advantage?
 

flohen95

Member
People with only CE or CCE, can you tell me how your data is called?

Mine, from CE, is DAYTONA96_0. I'd guess it counts up if you have more than one save with the same base name (DAYTONA96), but I don't even know if that's possible.

Edit: And yeah, you should try saving the data on a memory card and then try to start CCE. It might want to load DAYTONA69_0, but freezes since that data belongs to CE. Should be worth giving it a try at least.

Also, here are my times:

Daytona USA CE:
Three Seven Speedway: 2'31''02, Lap: 0'18''18
Dinosaur Canyon: 3'21''41, Lap: 0'47''91
Seaside Street Galaxy: 4'05''13, Lap: 1'59''79
National Park Speedway: Too bad to be shown in the ingame records list (lol), Lap: 0'38''96
Desert City: 3'50''29, Lap: 0'53''89

All of these times are in Arcade mode and with normal round settings.

Sega Rally Championship:
Arcade Championship Mode:
1 Lap: 3'31''42
3 Laps: 10'26''43
Time Attack:
Desert: 2'47''62, Lap: 0'54''35
I have no times for the other tracks unfortunately.
 

AmyS

Member
Daytona USA might literally be my favorite video game of all-time. I know I wouldn't need more than one hand to count everything else that would be in contention. I think it's literally impossible to convey how much of a presence that game had on its release. Witnessing the attract demo spanning across 8 big screen cabinets and literally claiming an entire wall of a building is a quintessential mid-90s arcade experience. In the pre-Saturn/PS1 era (and beyond, really), this was an event.

Sweet ^

I remember when Cyber Station arcade in the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles, IL. just outside of Chicago got a single player Daytona USA Deluxe cab w/ 50 inch projection TV like this one. It was spring of '94, there were crowds around the game, people watching, they were just awestruck at what they were seeing--And seeing being played. They were amazed and in disbelief at the same time.

The Ridge Racer cab nearby had been there since fall '93, and it was from then on ignored, sitting empty. Mind you, that was before that arcade got 2 twin-cabs for 4-players. That setup was there for years, constantly raking in quarters.

Daytona USA was arguably the highest profiting coin-op game of all time, not merely Sega's most successful arcade game.

No console port will ever recapture the full experience, either. Some ports have janky handling; others don't translate well to standard gamepads. Head-to-head play (and even the distinctively aggressive and threatening and at-times reckless AI in solo play) was a huge part of the appeal, and the force-feedback and sound design of the cabinet brought that to life; that just can't be replicated to the same degree at home.

So true. Nothing can re-create that experience, or the memories.

It was the main reason I saved up money for a Saturn. Even though that port was rushed, 1-player only, and poor on most technical metrics, it at least controlled well enough to serve as practice for "the real thing," so I was satisfied with it for that reason alone.

First game I played on Saturn was that port of Daytona, and that was within days of the limited and early May '95 launch.

Championship Circuit Edition fucked with the handling and neutered the AI so much that I can barely call it a Daytona game. Daytona 2001 on Dreamcast was a competent enough effort, but I was always disappointed that it was made in lieu of a proper Daytona 2 port.

I know, and I would have rather had at least the Daytona 2 courses in Daytona 2001 instead of the 3 new ones they made exclusively for the Dreamcast game.

The HD re-release is the definitive version, although finding competition for that is an unfortunate hassle, and it probably takes some time to come to grips with how it handles on an analog stick if you're not already accustomed to the game.

Finding competition is indeed a time consuming proposition, although the controls on Dual Shock 3 are very well implemented, it controls so very well. I just don't know if I should invest in the G27 for PS3 now, for one game, or wait until I have PC capable of running Supermodel for Scud Race/Sega Super GT and Daytona 2.
 
I'll cop that when I pick up a point card. Between XBLA and PSN, is there a clear preference?

grab it on XBLA, only because I have it on that platform =D we should organize some online games on 360. the game did have online play right? I don't remember...

edit: yo that pseudo-Saturn breakthrough is awesome
 

Mikhal

Member
Daytona USA might literally be my favorite video game of all-time. I know I wouldn't need more than one hand to count everything else that would be in contention. I think it's literally impossible to convey how much of a presence that game had on its release. Witnessing the attract demo spanning across 8 big screen cabinets and literally claiming an entire wall of a building is a quintessential mid-90s arcade experience. In the pre-Saturn/PS1 era (and beyond, really), this was an event.

Damn. I feel poverty as fuck! I've only seen 4-player setups of Daytona USA.
 

Khaz

Member
Edit: And yeah, you should try saving the data on a memory card and then try to start CCE. It might want to load DAYTONA69_0, but freezes since that data belongs to CE. Should be worth giving it a try at least.

Yeah I did that, and CCE have the same name DAYTONA96_0 for its records, except the size is 59 blocks instead of 64 for CE. You can't have both on one console, it doesn't bother CE who will write over it but CCE just hangs.



And keep them records going! I'm compiling them now, will give a recap in an hour or so for our American friends who just get home. I'm quite open to any game, as long as there are more than one person willing to participate lol
 

flohen95

Member
Damn. I feel poverty as fuck! I've only seen 4-player setups of Daytona USA.

Heh. I've never even seen a normal one. And I already freaked out when I came across a twin cabinet of Sega Rally two months ago while on a trip in Vienna. I'd love to have that arcade feeling one time. Will probably never happen though.
 
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