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I need to play the Shenmue games - what are my options?
- Thread starter bananafactory
- Start date
Not really that much of a hassle, you swap it once then you basically forget it. It takes maybe 10 or so seconds at start up.
Bioshocker
Member
Good for you! Of course the games won't give you the same experience as they would have 15 years ago. They have aged in many ways. But the story is still there to enjoy, as well as the gameplay and the beautiful environments. I hope you'll still like Shenmue.
bananafactory
Banned
That's cool. I'm in Canada and I'll be playing PAL copies of Shenmue 1 and 2 on this NTSC system. So it should all be good. On the plus side now I don't need to worry about a plug adapter or power transformer to step up the voltage for the system (I assume PAL systems take 220v)
They usually do, a few european countries use 110v I believe. I have a fleet of 220v-110v converters myself because I play with lots of european hardware. I have an Atlona CDM-660m that converts PAL-NTSC no problem, but the 220v converter is usually pretty pricey. I always make sure to buy something quality that won't burn up.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
It's so good to see new people experiencing these two masterpieces.
bananafactory
Banned
I can't wait
I just finished Witcher 3 and Arkham Knight and my body is ready to play some Shenmue. The wait is killing me
Cave Johnson
Member
NullDC 1.4 works very well on me. For some reason the Demul emulator cancels/speeds up the undub version erratically.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
I can't wait
I just finished Witcher 3 and Arkham Knight and my body is ready to play some Shenmue. The wait is killing me
I'm excited for you. Please keep us updated!
One thing to remember, bananafactory - the dreamcast is LOUD. It is a loud little machine. Its CD drive sounds like grinding gears.
Despite that, enjoy all of Shenmue (Especially Shenmue II, which is by far my favorite of the two). Try to remember how old it is, and that it was the last time Sega was producing industry defining titles.
If I can make one other suggestion - I recommend playing this game with a Sega Saturn controller using a Saturn->Dreamcast adapter. You use the D-pad to play shenmue and never have to touch the analog stick to play. The Dreamcast's d-pad is pretty uncomfortable IMO.
If you do grab one, try to look for the innovation branded adapters, as the ones called "total control" don't map L and R to any buttons. You can play Shenmue like this, but that means you can't run (which drastically changes the experience lol). The ones from innovation map L and R to C and Z.
Despite that, enjoy all of Shenmue (Especially Shenmue II, which is by far my favorite of the two). Try to remember how old it is, and that it was the last time Sega was producing industry defining titles.
If I can make one other suggestion - I recommend playing this game with a Sega Saturn controller using a Saturn->Dreamcast adapter. You use the D-pad to play shenmue and never have to touch the analog stick to play. The Dreamcast's d-pad is pretty uncomfortable IMO.
If you do grab one, try to look for the innovation branded adapters, as the ones called "total control" don't map L and R to any buttons. You can play Shenmue like this, but that means you can't run (which drastically changes the experience lol). The ones from innovation map L and R to C and Z.
SuperCambot
Banned
It ran fine for me and I finished it on the 360. There were a couple spots where part of the audio would drop out, but it didn't affect gameplay and was usually short-lived.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
If the audio drops out I'm pretty sure all you have to do is pause the game, then un-pause it and the audio will come back.
bananafactory
Banned
My copy of Shenmue has arrived in Canada! With any luck I may have it next week
No clue where my VGA adapter is though lol
Last update was June 22 and it was in China
No clue where my VGA adapter is though lol
Last update was June 22 and it was in China
My copy of Shenmue has arrived in Canada! With any luck I may have it next week
No clue where my VGA adapter is though lol
Last update was June 22 and it was in China
Might be coming by boat, in which case it'll take a while.
bananafactory
Banned
OH MY GODDDDDD ITS HERE
Just waiting on the stupid VGA adapter which is the first thing I even ordered >.<
Just waiting on the stupid VGA adapter which is the first thing I even ordered >.<
bananafactory
Banned
Do I just start playing with the RF adapter then until the VGA gets here?
Or should wait
Help me GAF
Or should wait
Help me GAF
I posted this elsewhere but I don't think anyone was interested in talking emulation:
I've been playing around with Demul and the framerate in Shenmue is choppier than I'd expect. It's certainly lower than 30 FPS, even at 640x480 and 1x internal resolution*. There are a few annoying graphics glitches as well, like how I see polygon seams all over Ryo's face. Screwing around with the settings can fix the seams but then I see other problems.
It's not as bad as I was expecting but it's nowhere near flawless.
* Bumping up the resolution and internal rendering resolution doesn't affect the framerate either. Seems to be an issue with the emulator itself. Unless Shenmue ran like this from the beginning? I don't want to drag out my Dreamcast to check.
I've been playing around with Demul and the framerate in Shenmue is choppier than I'd expect. It's certainly lower than 30 FPS, even at 640x480 and 1x internal resolution*. There are a few annoying graphics glitches as well, like how I see polygon seams all over Ryo's face. Screwing around with the settings can fix the seams but then I see other problems.
It's not as bad as I was expecting but it's nowhere near flawless.
* Bumping up the resolution and internal rendering resolution doesn't affect the framerate either. Seems to be an issue with the emulator itself. Unless Shenmue ran like this from the beginning? I don't want to drag out my Dreamcast to check.
bananafactory
Banned
xenorevlis seemed to have good success with emulation - you may want to ask hiim
Cave Johnson
Member
Try NullDC 1.4. Currently playing it now at day 3 of Ryo's life
I've heard that NullDC is even worse when it comes to graphics glitches. I suppose there's no harm in trying it out this weekend.
I'd appreciate any advice from someone that managed to get the game running with performance at least on par with the DC version in VGA! Emulator, config settings, whatever!
I'd hook up my Dreamcast but I no longer have a monitor that supports 640x480 VGA without scaling/blurring it to hell and back.
bananafactory
Banned
Well.
I have my Dreamcast and my copy of Shenmue, but can't get it to work.
RIP dreams
I have my Dreamcast and my copy of Shenmue, but can't get it to work.
RIP dreams
Are they both from the same region? Looks like you have PAL Shenmue discs.
bananafactory
Banned
Yeah, I have an NTSC Dreamcast and a PAL disc. Trying to use a bootdisc to play it, no luck so far.
Edit:
OH MY GOD
Cave Johnson
Member
Playing it smoothly with only a shadow glitch which you can turn off. Options can be compressed to 4:3, stretch and full 16:9 widescreen (it renders extra data but the hud position doesn't change.
I've tried both Chankast and Demul. Demul is almost on par if not for the wonky audio issue for the undub version. But pound for pound this is a better experience than the dreamcast as it eliminates the nefarious loading times. Arcade machines still bugs out though. But all around crisp textures highlights the detail unlike any before.
bananafactory
Banned
Tried a different bootdisc. Worked first try.
Nightengale
Member
I expect a LTTDreams thread later, bananafactory.
And thus the saga... BEGINS.
Acquiescence
Member
I hope you enjoy the games man, and that they live up to your expectations. I'll never forget popping disc 1 of Shenmue into my Dreamcast and delving into Ryo Hazuki's world for the first time; it was magical. And on Christmas Day no less.
After screwing around with Demul for a while and being unsatisfied with the results, I took the advice of the people in this thread and tried nullDC. I ran into a lot of trouble with the GDROM plugin until I ran across this thread: http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=46995
It links to a nullDC build that works particularly well with Shenmue. And oh god, it's so much better than Demul. The big thing is that the framerate is a smooth 30. I was getting choppy video no matter what I did in Demul even though I have a good CPU and GPU. I no longer get polygon seams on Ryo's face either! Audio seems pretty good aside from a pop here and there.
My only complaint is that there are some transparency issues, particularly with Ryo's hair and the undub's subtitle font. I think I'll keep going though. I doubt it'll get much better than this unless Sega ports the games for real.
It links to a nullDC build that works particularly well with Shenmue. And oh god, it's so much better than Demul. The big thing is that the framerate is a smooth 30. I was getting choppy video no matter what I did in Demul even though I have a good CPU and GPU. I no longer get polygon seams on Ryo's face either! Audio seems pretty good aside from a pop here and there.
My only complaint is that there are some transparency issues, particularly with Ryo's hair and the undub's subtitle font. I think I'll keep going though. I doubt it'll get much better than this unless Sega ports the games for real.
bananafactory
Banned
I just spent 10 minutes talking to and feeding a kitty
This fucking game man
This fucking game man
flipswitch
Member
So there's no perfect DC emu that plays Shenmue correctly, or without glitches?
Would it be possible to play it super sampled at 60fps with minimal glitches?
Which emu would I need?
My system is:
Win 8
i7 3770k
670 GTX
16 ram.
Would it be possible to play it super sampled at 60fps with minimal glitches?
Which emu would I need?
My system is:
Win 8
i7 3770k
670 GTX
16 ram.
Been having a good experience playing the Undub with NullDC. I prefer having the borders as the extra geometry option looked really distracting.
Really been an interesting experience, I've never played anything quite like this. I knew this game was an ambitious undertaking, but now that I'm actually playing through it I can't believe this game was created. The attention to detail is crazy.
Really been an interesting experience, I've never played anything quite like this. I knew this game was an ambitious undertaking, but now that I'm actually playing through it I can't believe this game was created. The attention to detail is crazy.
bananafactory
Banned
The voice acting is atrocious yet charming
Its also impressive that every NPC is voiced.
Its also impressive that every NPC is voiced.
Tell me about it. And this is coming from someone that just finished the Order 1886.
So happy so many new people are being exposed to the series.
Cave Johnson
Member
It will be locked at 30fps. But Chankast allows you to push the CPU cycle higher to get 60fps but the game instead will speed up rather than add frames. Stick with NullDC. I'm using it RIGHT now and the only glitch here are the shadows.
The Spoony Hou
Member
As I remember, Shenmue 1 for DC is dubbed in English, but Shemue 2 is in Japanese, so there's that to worry about.
I played Shenmue 1 back in the day, but never played 2 because of that dubbing mess.
I played Shenmue 1 back in the day, but never played 2 because of that dubbing mess.
Ha! I just realised that Tom sounds african on the Japanese version of the game.
MrCunningham
Member
I was just looking at this video for Shenmue II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujCPPNLc-5o
It has a four way comparison between Dreamcast PAL vs. Xbox vs. Demul vs. Xbox 360 emulation. Unsurprisingly the Xbox port is the best looking version of the game, it has the least aliasing present as well as a few additional effects, slightly better textures and a better freamerate. The DC version still holds up remarkably well though. The 360 emulated port appears to be missing shadows in areas. Demul seems to have a few small artifacts, but it looks really clean with improved AA.
It has a four way comparison between Dreamcast PAL vs. Xbox vs. Demul vs. Xbox 360 emulation. Unsurprisingly the Xbox port is the best looking version of the game, it has the least aliasing present as well as a few additional effects, slightly better textures and a better freamerate. The DC version still holds up remarkably well though. The 360 emulated port appears to be missing shadows in areas. Demul seems to have a few small artifacts, but it looks really clean with improved AA.
I linked a great emulator build just two posts above yours. As far as I know, it's the best way to play the game. You will run into some bugs no matter which emulator you choose, unfortunately.
By the way, emulators almost never increase a game's framerate. Not without simultaneously speeding up the game. The best you can hope for is better image quality.
The real reason to emulate Shenmue 1 is the undub.
They did that with a few of the foreigners in Shenmue II also.
AFAIK the only english releases of Shenmue 2 available are for the original Xbox (NTSC/US) and Dreamcast (PAL).
The Xbox version includes a movie DVD with a playthrough of the first game. IIRC, the game's backwards compatible on Xbox 360. (I still have the game, somewhere but no console try it on).
Not sure what's the status on Dreamcast emulation, nowadays...
The Xbox version includes a movie DVD with a playthrough of the first game. IIRC, the game's backwards compatible on Xbox 360. (I still have the game, somewhere but no console try it on).
Not sure what's the status on Dreamcast emulation, nowadays...
bananafactory
Banned
I've only played a couple of hours. Am trying to wait until my VGA adapter arrives so I can experience most of it that way, the RF cable I have hooked up looks like shit.
That said, I've quite enjoyed what I have seen so far. The town is really impressive, most of my time has just been spent roaming around checking stuff out. Some guys tried to start with with me outside the Tomato store and I beat their asses down
Ryo is a badass
bananafactory
Banned
So on the day that Shenmue 3 is officially funded, my VGA adapter I ordered over a month ago arrives
I can finally truly begin my Shenmue journey
I can finally truly begin my Shenmue journey