Sega Saturn |OT| Appreciation and Emulation Thread

IrishNinja · Jan 26, 2018

oh my god ive had to redo this one battle 3x now, fuck

how do you change a general's class of troops again? i really need to switch to cavalry but forget where

Saoshyant · Jan 26, 2018

If I recall right you do it from within a castle, when you have the option to "refill" a general's soldiers.

IrishNinja · Jan 26, 2018

ah right right, thanks!

god, it's the same group with this one zombe dude & 20 minions; i handle them with a mage well enough, but he literally took out 2 people in dueling, the latter being my main (;_;)

he combos this headchomp thing 3x and it's just brutal. man i hate that dude.

No Onions · Jan 26, 2018

MadeMan said:
I'll have a look online. Thanks!
Is there an actual one I should be looking for?

I'm using a "Phantom Universal" modchip, if you google for that you should come up with some hits. Its fairly recently made so should still be available. I bought mine through a guy on Assemblergames

Piggychan · Jan 26, 2018

IrishNinja said:
ah right right, thanks!

god, it's the same group with this one zombe dude & 20 minions; i handle them with a mage well enough, but he literally took out 2 people in dueling, the latter being my main (;_;)

he combos this headchomp thing 3x and it's just brutal. man i hate that dude.

If you haven't saved over the previous save file you can always abandon the castle that's about to be stormed and return in a larger group

MadeMan · Jan 26, 2018

No Onions said:
I'm using a "Phantom Universal" modchip, if you google for that you should come up with some hits. Its fairly recently made so should still be available. I bought mine through a guy on Assemblergames

Thank you kindly! I might invest in one so I can play the Shining Trilogy in english on the system.
Is it irreversible? Soldering involved?

IrishNinja · Jan 26, 2018

Piggychan said:
If you haven't saved over the previous save file you can always abandon the castle that's about to be stormed and return in a larger group

you're right...it's just a point of pride. i really wanna take this fucker down, so this time i sent a few solid reinforcements over my way that hopefully reach before he does!

(i know i'm making this harder, but that zombe fuck cannot have this castle)

No Onions · Jan 26, 2018

MadeMan said:
Thank you kindly! I might invest in one so I can play the Shining Trilogy in english on the system.
Is it irreversible? Soldering involved?

Its reversble, you just solder one wire to power the chip and it plugs inline to the ribbon cable from the cd drive to the board.

MadeMan · Jan 26, 2018

No Onions said:
Its reversble, you just solder one wire to power the chip and it plugs inline to the ribbon cable from the cd drive to the board.

Thanks so much. It looks like it's commonly sold and affordable. Now it's just up to me to decide if I want to do it or stick with Emu for the time being. Will depend on how many games I want to play that way I guess.

Appreciate your help!

Encephalon · Jan 27, 2018

Is GOTHA considered to be a good game? I got it bundled and expected a shmup and got a clunky strategy game.

Also, is it possible to do something about a struggling disc drive? I picked up two Saturns. One new, one used. The new one was really new! It was in great condition and I'm really happy with it. But I didn't buy it to play right away, so I also picked up a Saturn that had been thoroughly cleaned, etc. But I noticed upon starting up RE ... the doors seemed to take a little longer to load than they should be. They slow down half way through the door opening animation and it really seems to struggle.

Edit: All this time and Dragon Force appears to be a Nobunaga's Ambition clone. I was reminded of this game when playing Souzou (PS4), but upon putting in Dragon Force it's really clear to what degree they're similar.

Edit again: What can I do about Zanon attacking me over and over and over again?

Piggychan · Jan 28, 2018

Beasts are good against Zanon's army

MadeMan · Jan 28, 2018

I just realised I can use my Action Replay to play PAL games on my Japanese Saturn.

There's probably no reason to have the PAL saturn not packed away at this point, since the Japanese one will play everything too, but plays the JP games at 60hz.

Unrelated, but I really want to go back and play Exhumed/Power Slave /1999 again.
Shame it doesn't work with the analogue controls like Duke or Quake though.
I ended up getting the JAP copy of 1999 and forgot there's a decent bit of dialogue. I'll try playing with a guide before splashing out on a PAL copy.

Piggychan · Jan 28, 2018

MadeMan said:
I just realised I can use my Action Replay to play PAL games on my Japanese Saturn.

There's probably no reason to have the PAL saturn not packed away at this point, since the Japanese one will play everything too, but plays the JP games at 60hz.

Unrelated, but I really want to go back and play Exhumed/Power Slave /1999 again.
Shame it doesn't work with the analogue controls like Duke or Quake though.
I ended up getting the JAP copy of 1999 and forgot there's a decent bit of dialogue. I'll try playing with a guide before splashing out on a PAL copy.

Exhumed should be ok. But there are a few PAL games that are optimised to run full screen on PAL systems so playing them on a 60hz system will stretch the screen or give you graphical errors..

Hopefully this list is correct
http://randomisedgaming.tumblr.com/post/146372446412/the-complete-european-sega-saturn-60hz-guide-to

MadeMan · Jan 28, 2018

Wow, I didn't realise there was so much variation on Saturn. To be honest, I thought a PAL disc running on any NTSC machine with an AR cartridge would just run at 50hz in the standard PAL windowed mode.

Thanks for the link, that's really great.

Saoshyant · Jan 28, 2018

Certain PAL releases, regardless of console, would be optimized as best as the developers could do. Generally, though, 80% of the time nobody gave a shit, which is why I quickly had a 50/60 hz selector installed on my Saturn back in the day since it was such an easy mod to do. I have it in 60hz constantly to the point I forgot it would cause issues with the optimized PAL releases and only remembered when I put in a copy of Sega Touring Car a few days ago and half the screen was garbled.

The Dreamcast with its 60hz selector in most games was a massive game changer. Most PS2 developers didn't adopt it, but Nintendo did with the Gamecube and Microsoft with the Xbox, meaning that while still a problem occasionally it no longer was the issue it used to be.

Deleted member 1162 · Jan 28, 2018

does anyone know which outrun doesn't work on model 2 systems?

Piggychan · Jan 28, 2018

Sadly I don't I've only ever owned the UK Sega AGES release of 3 games in 1 but digging up some old threads I can't confirm if any of this is accurrate

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/574279-sega-ages-outrun/64404559

https://assemblergames.com/threads/sega-saturn-newer-model-compatibility-issues.26072/

IrishNinja · Jan 29, 2018

oh my god why did i bother fighting this dude zanon he can't even die right

Encephalon · Jan 29, 2018

IrishNinja said:
oh my god why did i bother fighting this dude zanon he can't even die right

No and if you take whatever castle it is that he occupies, he seems to come back over and over and over again even in the same turn. Might be great for gaining experience points, but otherwise leave it alone and thus far he's left me alone. At least as far as I can tell - I started up again an ancient playthrough recently.

Saoshyant · Jan 29, 2018

IrishNinja said:
oh my god why did i bother fighting this dude zanon he can't even die right

You weren't meant to go and kick that hornet's nest. Kind of my bad, I forgot to mention it. But now that you did, he will be heading straight for your monarch constantly. I think you can field some of your best units in the castle right between the path between both characters and just endure him. Keep progressing through the story and a few weeks later you will get a cutscene that will allow you to fight him for the last time (as the main character).

MadeMan · Jan 29, 2018

Thought I'd go find my box where I kept my copies of PDS and Dragon Force since I'm hoping to play them again soon-ish (this year at least).
I'm so glad I bought these years ago when I did. In a nice touch, I found the original note that came with the copy of Dragon Force from the seller.

Good ol' Troy.

IrishNinja · Jan 29, 2018

^nice! i love my copy of PDS but y'all got the better box, hands down

Saoshyant said:
You weren't meant to go and kick that hornet's nest. Kind of my bad, I forgot to mention it. But now that you did, he will be heading straight for your monarch constantly. I think you can field some of your best units in the castle right between the path between both characters and just endure him. Keep progressing through the story and a few weeks later you will get a cutscene that will allow you to fight him for the last time (as the main character).

yeah...i let him retake his castle and he seems content for the moment, fortunately

is there a better way to capture enemy generals? i feel like i get them down to about the red and they always dip, then heal/reup their soldiers at the next outpost id not yet captured. even when they dont, they join up with others and whittle down my men...unless someone has ensare, what all can i do (or not do) to increase my odds of them staying & fighting it out? might just be me, but ive noticed a few times that they bounce when surrounded & i call in melee, wonder if that's just a coincidence

Saoshyant · Jan 29, 2018

One trick I loved was 1) beating the crap out of an enemy outpost, 2) just as the generals were fleeing, pause the game immediately, get your own generals out of the castle as they are, for their MP will be healed, 3) use powers to defeat instantly any of the generals with red health, done, you've captured nearly everyone without much issue.

IrishNinja · Jan 29, 2018

yeah, that worked!

i'm towards the end of Wein's campaign, but damn, if its like 20-30 hours per campaign this game is no slouch! i think i'll pepper in a few other titles in between doing them, but i would like to see whatever ending brings em all together too.

Deleted member 1162 · Jan 29, 2018

Piggychan said:
Sadly I don't I've only ever owned the UK Sega AGES release of 3 games in 1 but digging up some old threads I can't confirm if any of this is accurrate

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/574279-sega-ages-outrun/64404559

https://assemblergames.com/threads/sega-saturn-newer-model-compatibility-issues.26072/

thanks man!

MadeMan said:
Thought I'd go find my box where I kept my copies of PDS and Dragon Force since I'm hoping to play them again soon-ish (this year at least).
I'm so glad I bought these years ago when I did. In a nice touch, I found the original note that came with the copy of Dragon Force from the seller.

Good ol' Troy.

what beautiful boxes

MadeMan · Jan 31, 2018

davidwhangchoi said:
thanks man!

what beautiful boxes

While they aren't as practical as the Japanese jewel cases, the PAL boxes are so unique, I do love them.

Piggychan · Jan 31, 2018

MadeMan said:
While they aren't as practical as the Japanese jewel cases, the PAL boxes are so unique, I do love them.

The older ones with the stuck on paper card to 2 separate plastic shells were awful

MadeMan · Jan 31, 2018

Piggychan said:
The older ones with the stuck on paper card to 2 separate plastic shells were awful

They really were!
The later ones were a big improvement. They even had that satisfying snap sound when opening or closing.

Saoshyant · Feb 1, 2018

The later ones were basically DVD cases before there were DVDs. Sega was always ahead of everyone.

drtomoe123 · Feb 4, 2018

I haven't touched my Saturn in a long time but last night I felt the urge to set it up and now I've found myself trying to get through the original Panzer Dragoon. Honestly, I'm not very good at games but I'm really trying to keep at this one. Practice makes perfect, right? I've made it up to Episode 5 before running out of credits on Normal lol.

kidnemo · Feb 4, 2018

Fun thread. Ill post up a pic of my saturn stuff soon.

Whats the state of saturn emulation these days?

MadeMan · Feb 4, 2018

kidnemo said:
Fun thread. Ill post up a pic of my saturn stuff soon.

Whats the state of saturn emulation these days?

Pretty good for the most part. It's playable if imperfect. Some games can still be difficult, but generally I've had good experiences with SSF.

Encephalon · Feb 5, 2018

So, Dragon Force. I got to the final battle and the second to last boss just started spamming attacks that took out about 10-20% of my health each (which is at its max), so by the time it was dead I only had about 20% left. Then I was sent into the next fight with that health unchanged, and although I started doing real damage to the boss, it threw a dragon head at me and I died instantly.

Like, what ...? What am I supposed to do?

Edit: Maybe the spell spamming was a bug?

Saoshyant · Feb 5, 2018

It's mostly about speed. One important thing to know about is that soldiers do damage while special powers are animating, so the more MP you have the more you can cancel the enemies own powers while your soldiers do their thing.

Gelf · Feb 5, 2018

Collin Skeen said:
I haven't touched my Saturn in a long time but last night I felt the urge to set it up and now I've found myself trying to get through the original Panzer Dragoon. Honestly, I'm not very good at games but I'm really trying to keep at this one. Practice makes perfect, right? I've made it up to Episode 5 before running out of credits on Normal lol.

Time for me to admit that despite playing it since the 90s I don't think I've ever beaten PD1 without using either cheats or emulator save states, I've never been good at shooters but I love the series anyway.

Encephalon · Feb 5, 2018

Saoshyant said:
It's mostly about speed. One important thing to know about is that soldiers do damage while special powers are animating, so the more MP you have the more you can cancel the enemies own powers while your soldiers do their thing.

I didn't even use all of my MP (because it takes time to recast). :x It just started doing it over and over and over (one directly after the next). I'm going to make a second attempt tonight and see how it goes.

Edit: Okay, this is for sure a bug. I went to the castle to initiate the end game and what I was met with was one of my generals vs. himself. I retreated and everything had disappeared.

Saoshyant · Feb 5, 2018

What the— did you activate the debug mode and messed with event ids? That's the only time I remember having those sort of issues.

Encephalon · Feb 5, 2018

Saoshyant said:
What the— did you activate the debug mode and messed with event ids? That's the only time I remember having those sort of issues.

Who knows. But I tried again, the same thing with the move spamming didn't happen, and I managed to beat the game. The credits are running now. And, ofc there is a very 90s ending theme (that sounds a little early 90s to me?). I probably won't play it anytime soon, but Dragon Force II is in the mail. It sounds like it might have had a mixed reception (and its own share of bugs - a review on amazon recommends keeping an alternate file), but it also appears to have some welcome quality of life improvements - and a smaller map (which is actually welcome, for me).

drtomoe123 · Feb 5, 2018

Gelf said:
Time for me to admit that despite playing it since the 90s I don't think I've ever beaten PD1 without using either cheats or emulator save states, I've never been good at shooters but I love the series anyway.

I'm just jealous that you were cool enough to play it back then! I'm gonna keep trying for a few days and hope that it clicks. I'll let you know if I get frustrated and enable infinite credits. :3

IrishNinja · Feb 5, 2018

yeah, i'm at the shrines and scythe & co are handing this one team of archers their asses

Saoshyant said:
It's mostly about speed. One important thing to know about is that soldiers do damage while special powers are animating, so the more MP you have the more you can cancel the enemies own powers while your soldiers do their thing.

well, shit

IrishNinja · Feb 6, 2018

maaan, these shrines are some ol' bullshit

gongos, reinhart & teiris gotta deal with 2 dragons and a zombie, none of which a mage or archer survive for long against. i have items to give teiris zombie abilities too (let's see how that goes) but have yet to find anything related to a samurai crest, do i need to put more people in izumo (sp?) castle or what? they just keep getting slaughtered

the other group is fairing a bit better but still losing

Encephalon · Feb 6, 2018

The forest shrine wasn't easy, but I surprised myself and managed to beat during an attempt to level up my characters. I don't think I've ever found a samurai crest.

IrishNinja · Feb 6, 2018

damn...okay, i'm just fucking up then! gonna try again now that Leon's healed

Saoshyant · Feb 6, 2018

I think you get samurai from one of the castles near Izumo. You don't need it though: dragons everyday.

IrishNinja · Feb 6, 2018

Saoshyant said:
I think you get samurai from one of the castles near Izumo. You don't need it though: dragons everyday.

okay, then: how to get dragon crests? cause man, this elf archer queen just gets stomped out with a quickness, and her watery tart spell thing thins out the herd but by the time it's gongos vs scythe, he's practically got no one left after cleanup

reinhart at least catches a draw

IrishNinja · Feb 6, 2018

...okay, Leon & crew took the east shrine at least

oh good, a UFO just fell down

Saoshyant · Feb 6, 2018

IrishNinja said:
okay, then: how to get dragon crests?

I told you how in my mega effort post when you started playing. Crystal castle near Palemoon, it's the only item you can find there.

Additionally, I also mentioned never to bother with archers, they are the worst unit in the game, only good against harpies, which you won't find in the wild or against Marduk's troops.

Oh, and spirit users like Teiris, their powers are hard to use. You have to know the right timings to use them to kill as many troops as possible or, in alternative, only use them when there are no troops left and it just hits the general.

IrishNinja · Feb 6, 2018

Saoshyant said:
I told you how in my mega effort post when you started playing. Crystal castle near Palemoon, it's the only item you can find there.

Additionally, I also mentioned never to bother with archers, they are the worst unit in the game, only good against harpies, which you won't find in the wild or against Marduk's troops.

Oh, and spirit users like Teiris, their powers are hard to use. You have to know the right timings to use them to kill as many troops as possible or, in alternative, only use them when there are no troops left and it just hits the general.

ahh my bad, i used that post early on but should've gone back! and i remembered (and saw) the uselessness of archers,haha. okay, i'm gonna put a unit at that castle with high enough intel and keep farming then! i really think i can handle that battle if she can carry her weight...i guess we'll need to grind a few awards out of somewhere too

Saoshyant · Feb 6, 2018

IrishNinja said:
ahh my bad, i used that post early on but should've gone back! and i remembered (and saw) the uselessness of archers,haha. okay, i'm gonna put a unit at that castle with high enough intel and keep farming then! i really think i can handle that battle if she can carry her weight...i guess we'll need to grind a few awards out of somewhere too

Place several searchers. The only monarchs who don't need dragons honestly are Junon and Mikhail.

You can also grind awards easily with all of your non-vital generals. A couple may take offense on not getting awarded at the end of the week if I remember right but you are at a point it doesn't matter anymore. Put all your good things on the monarchs; HP/MP expanders, awards, best equipment, etc.

Dragonyeuw · Feb 6, 2018

Some recent pickups, $10 a pop:

Sega Saturn |OT| Appreciation and Emulation Thread

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