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Sega to upgrade Megadrive / Genesis Steam game hub. Adds Mod Support!

hodgy100

Member
I thought something was really off about this hack until I finally noticed that sonic had a bunch of additional frames of animation added. That, and it seems to be really pushing the genesis hardware a lot harder than most genesis games did. I wonder if it could run full speed on the real thing.

It gets much more impressive than that later on ;)
I'll give it a shot on hardware when i get the chance. I have An Everdrive :)

Also I decided to put the emulator through its paces using the Titan Overdrive rom...
ImFsir.png

Quite a bit of graphical corruption, and by far the worst version of that scene I've seen on any emulator :p My guess would be that the timing for HBlank is off, but thats just a guess. Its supposed to look like this:


Not only that the audio emulation is off.

I hope someone works out how to replace the emulator :p
 
I'd love some more artwork or details about the games, especially the ability to unlock additional posters or figures on a shelf once a game is completed.

Anyway, I'm about to break my Shining Force cherry and was wondering if there are any mods I should know of beforehand?
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Wow, having the translated text adventures from Phantasy Star II in such a convenient little package is a very cool thing.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
I'm tempted in buying the full works of games for £26 but how good are they? Any performance issues or are they 100% faithful?

These aren't ports that is what you are asking. They are literally Genesis rom rips in a special container format for the Steam Genesis emulator.

Now if you are asking if the Emulator is cycle accurate. No, it's not, but playing actual Genesis games on your PC legally. There isn't many better alternatives outside of having your own cart copier and dumping your library yourself.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
you can even just load the roms into your own emulator if you really insist on it being accurate emulation :)

True, but then it becomes a matter of a trade off having the necessary hardware to run a cycle accurate emulator at 100% speed without performance issues or slowdown.

For the typical person who just wants to play a few Genesis games the speed hacks and fixes that make most games run on a typical emulator might be sufficient for most. For the stringent individuals wanting their Genesis games to run 1:1 as close as it possibly can be like it was as if on the actual hardware, it's few and far between.

The option does exist however for those that want to do this. One would just need to extract the roms that come with the Genesis collection to be able to load them on an alternative emulator of their choice.
 
Any word on them fixing the xbox one controller bug?

They are aware of it, and you can install an older driver to resolve it now if you like. No ETA on an actual fix yet that I have seen, but it looks like they are working on it.

My question is does anyone have a saturn style fightpad and does that work? Because it would be perfect.

edit: screw it, just impulse bought a HORI fightpad. Been wanting one anyway and I'll write my own damn custom driver if needs be.

 

Awakened

Member
True, but then it becomes a matter of a trade off having the necessary hardware to run a cycle accurate emulator at 100% speed without performance issues or slowdown.

For the typical person who just wants to play a few Genesis games the speed hacks and fixes that make most games run on a typical emulator might be sufficient for most. For the stringent individuals wanting their Genesis games to run 1:1 as close as it possibly can be like it was as if on the actual hardware, it's few and far between.
Two of the most accurate Genesis emulators are really fast though. Kega Fusion can run on a toaster these days and Genesis Plus GX was designed to run on the Wii and can emulate the full Genesis/SCD/SMS/GG libraries flawlessly.

Exodus is supposed to be even more accurate and is pretty slow even on modern processors, but you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference between it and GPGX.
 
edit: screw it, just impulse bought a HORI fightpad. Been wanting one anyway and I'll write my own damn custom driver if needs be.

Would be so kind as to update us on how this controller works with the game?

I was planning to get one of these later when Street Fighter V adds DINPUT support.
 

TI82

Banned

SOLDIER

Member
Some of the mods I've subscribed to have disappeared in my in-game mod list.

Can mods be removed even after you've installed them through the Workshop? I'm still missing some that do still show up in the Workshop though (like the Alien Soldier speed fix).
 
Some of the mods I've subscribed to have disappeared in my in-game mod list.

Can mods be removed even after you've installed them through the Workshop? I'm still missing some that do still show up in the Workshop though (like the Alien Soldier speed fix).

Mods can be removed from the workshop, but they can't be uninstalled from your hard drive when you do install them.

clrEhvd.png


The top mod in this list was removed from the workshop as you can see by the "waiting for data" message, but it is still playable.
 

SOLDIER

Member
That's weird, because not only do the mods no longer show up, unsubscribing and resubscribing doesn't work either. Not sure what the problem is.
 
Would be so kind as to update us on how this controller works with the game?

I was planning to get one of these later when Street Fighter V adds DINPUT support.

Will do. Should be here tomorrow. The actual name is HORI Fighting Commander 4, for anyone wanting to track it down.
 

BiggNife

Member
Really surprised Sega hasn't been better about policing the workshop

Seems like it's only gotten worse in the past day or two with people just putting up ROMs of games not owned by Sega.
 
Really surprised Sega hasn't been better about policing the workshop

Seems like it's only gotten worse in the past day or two with people just putting up ROMs of games not owned by Sega.

Does Sega (or any dev/pub, for that matter) have complete control over Valve's Steam Workshop for their own titles? I wonder if a Sega rep needs to find a problem, submit it to Valve, and let them handle it.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
I wish it was possible to play SoRR :)

Technically, isn't that possible? I mean SoRR is just SoR/BK1-3 and a few added things. I'm sure they could probably cram all of that into one of the carts of SoR, but it would probably be a hassle to get the OK from Sega on that.

Does Sega (or any dev/pub, for that matter) have complete control over Valve's Steam Workshop for their own titles? I wonder if a Sega rep needs to find a problem, submit it to Valve, and let them handle it.

They do. Sega is able to police their workshop. The problem is it's a size of community versus moderation staff problem. 1 moderator for every.... 1,000 submitters means the moderators are overwhelmed.
 

TimmiT

Member
They do. Sega is able to police their workshop. The problem is it's a size of community versus moderation staff problem. 1 moderator for every.... 1,000 submitters means the moderators are overwhelmed.

There aren't nearly 1,000 submitters though. Right now there are 286 items on the Mega Drive Workshop. Only about ten pages to go through right now.
 

Psxphile

Member
Technically, isn't that possible? I mean SoRR is just SoR/BK1-3 and a few added things. I'm sure they could probably cram all of that into one of the carts of SoR, but it would probably be a hassle to get the OK from Sega on that.

SoRR isn't a romhack. The engine is made from scratch and PC-native.

It'd be interesting to see someone attempt to backport it to Mega Drive, but I'm not sure it's possible.
 

SOLDIER

Member
Seems like the d-pad on Xbone controllers don't work. :|

The analog sticks do, but that's just not good enough.

You can remap directions to the d-pad, but you can't have both it seems.

Anyone else have the problem of missing mods? Again, I've tried unsubbing and resubbing and verifying the game cache, but they still won't appear for their respective games.
 

Shaneus

Member
Yeah, I noticed that too. Unfortunate.
Any way of fixing it? Or could it just be an emulation issue that's unlikely to get resolved?

They are aware of it, and you can install an older driver to resolve it now if you like. No ETA on an actual fix yet that I have seen, but it looks like they are working on it.

My question is does anyone have a saturn style fightpad and does that work? Because it would be perfect.

edit: screw it, just impulse bought a HORI fightpad. Been wanting one anyway and I'll write my own damn custom driver if needs be.
Sega released a Saturn USB pad for PC (actually think it might've been specifically for PS2 or PS3). I have two, one grey with the purple buttons, and a white Jap-styled one with coloured buttons :) And yeah, it works great, except the button prompts are confusing because they stay the 360-themed letters and aren't controller-specific (nor just call them ABCXYZ like the MD/Saturn pad) :/
 

Tain

Member
Any way of fixing it? Or could it just be an emulation issue that's unlikely to get resolved?

I haven't altered AS in any way, so it's sadly an emulator issue. Does anybody know what they're using to power the emulation side of this?
 

Shaneus

Member
I haven't altered AS in any way, so it's sadly an emulator issue. Does anybody know what they're using to power the emulation side of this?
So it works fine in other emulators? Damn shame :(

Oh, and I guess whatever emulator they're using, it's packed/encapsulated in both "GenesisEmuWrapper64.dll" and "GenesisEmuWrapper.dll".
 
I haven't altered AS in any way, so it's sadly an emulator issue. Does anybody know what they're using to power the emulation side of this?

I have a feeling that it might be based on this emulator: JEnesis. Stephan Dittrich is credited as the original programmer in the credits, so this new update might be derivative of his work.
 

SOLDIER

Member
So I figured out at least what was causing the missing mods: it seems certain mods will cause other mods to disappear from your mod list, even if they come from different games. Deleting the conflicting mod and restarting the hub will have the other mods show up.

The problem is sorting through them and finding out which mod is conflicting with the other. I still haven't found which one is keeping Sonic 3 Complete from showing up on my list.
 

Shaneus

Member
I have a feeling that it might be based on this emulator: JEnesis. Stephan Dittrich is credited as the original programmer in the credits, so this new update might be derivative of his work.
You might be right. I can't test it out at work, but if you look at the list of games on the PlaySEGA portal thing that apparently uses jEnesis, they're identical to those offered in the first few packs.

It also has a tiny footprint as well, so that would make sense too. Well done!
 

Shaneus

Member
Copied the existing Alien Soldier ROM that was posted to another folder with a "mod" installed (and renamed appropriately) and it came up with an error saying it's the wrong region.

Very confusing (for me).
 
△ no idea with this one but I know some emulators will have options for enforcing regions for various reasons. You can usually change it or have it try to auto-select. Auto-selection could be failing, as well.


Just waiting impatiently for my 6 button video game input device to be delivered...
 
HORI Fighting Commander 4 - ~$30

412ypY7GgpL._SX425_.jpg


The controller seems to work best set to PS3 mode. In PS4 mode one of the buttons registers doubly as stick input which was causing some grief. That said most everything worked better than expected. No mapping utility required. Plugged in, recognized immediately and go.

The biggest problem, as Shaneus pointed out, is the front end interface really wants it to be an X360 controller. Showing the 360 buttons isn't a big deal to me, the bigger problem is that even after you've remapped the inputs, the front end itself ignores them. They only apply in game, in emulator. So you have to know which button maps to which 360 button (not as straight forward as that might sound, for example the 'A' 360 button maps to Square on this controller. Everything is out of whack.)

Hard to navigate and mildly annoying but not the end of the world. Switching to keyboard input and using gamepad to keyboard mapping software may be the way to go just for sanity sake, until hopefully gamepad support improves. < (Later) Or you can just use a mouse and it isn't an issue at all. Still an issue for couch play.

BUT... On to what matters.

Hori are still gods and holy shit does this controller feel great, top to bottom. D-pad is solid. Layout is perfect for Sega games. Sega should make a deal with Hori and make a branded version of this controller. It is fucking perfection. I'll need to spend more time with it, but this may be my go to for anything 2d action. Layout works fine as well for SNES, for example. Being able to fine tune the d-pad for angle and diagonal sensitivity is so good.
 

Parsnip

Member
For anyone who might be wondering, there's also a more "normal" looking version of Fighting Commander 4 with two handle bars that also has a PC switch in addition to PS3 and PS4 switches.
It doesn't have the dpad tweaking functionality though, but it feels and works great in everything I've thrown at it including this Mega Drive classic thing. I think it registers as a 360 controller, so it doesn't have those xbox one controller issues on Win10.

 

finley83

Banned
Played through Streets of Rage 2. Forgot about when the carnival stage goes all Giger/Alien.

(It has been awhile)

364847-streets-of-rage-2-genesis-screenshot-stage-3-max-delivers.gif

Yeah this part is really strange and I think the only time in the series when really weird shit happens.

Man, what a game though! My favourite soundtrack of all time probably.
 
I initially had trouble with the d-pad bug with my Logitech F710, but since you can switch between direct input or x input my problem was solved. I use 360 drivers for this controller anyway since Logitech no longer supports this controller with current drivers. I just put it into X input mode and my problem was solved. This pad has a very serviceable d-pad as well. It works great with these old school games.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Have they still not fixed the xinput controller issues? I can't really mess around with this otherwise, and don't see any updates.
 

Baleoce

Member
Would love for them to do a master system version of this one day. But really enjoying this so far. fight commander 4 works brilliantly with it also.
 

Saoshyant

Member

On PC this one registers as XInput, so no need to tweak anything.

The older version, though, this one:

iRQ1nsO.jpg


..doesn't do that, but will instead register as DirectInput when using PS3 mode and XInput when using PS4 mode with the DS4Windows driver installed. Most modern PC games don't support DirectInput, but they do support XInput. For example, the Skullgirls fighting game will support both, while Bastion only supports the latter.

Basically, the later model of the Hori FC4 is the better option, but if you find the older version on a fire sale you don't have to give it a miss because it will do everything with a bit of tweaking.
 

Dizzy-4U

Member
New patch is out:

New input system:

-Supports all modern console controllers and possibly some less modern ones such as PC remakes of megadrive pads (untested)

Xbox One
Steam Controller
PS4 (Using the custom DS4Windows drivers available online)

-Allows for simultaneous controller, mouse and keyboard assignment and control
-New input manager, far more customizable than the original allowing two mappings for the same function for both keyboards and controllers.


Performance:

-Mod data is now cached correctly, giving major performance increase for users subscribed to a large number of mods
-Small misc performance fixes to do with UI animation
-Vsync now defaults to off, we recommend leaving it that way if you're having trouble with emulator performance

-Mods now appear in menus correctly when the user is subscribed to > 50 workshop files

"Stretched fullscreen" option implemented

-Off by default
-This setting stretches the fullscreen video output to 16:9

-Capped FPS at 120 when vsync is disabled

-Prevents excessive framerates in fullscreen play mode
-Some users with powerful machines were running in excess of 600 FPS, causing overheating

-Added "fastest" graphics setting for even lower graphics

-This disables the time of day sun/moon lights and realtime shadows, and sets all textures to lowest LOD

I won't have to choose between analog and dpad anymore. Both work at the same time.

Loving it, these guys are doing it right.
 
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