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Sega Saturn |OT| Appreciation and Emulation Thread

Wachenroder

Member
Oct 29, 2017
207
phanboy4 said:
Check this Reddit thread for the X-Men vs SF glitch which I and others have been able to repro with multiple different AR carts, but not the official 4MB RAM carts. I also personally had trouble with all ARs I tried when playing Alpha 3 for extended periods.

Also see the the links in the comments to some people doing comparisons with Metal Slug on the official 1MB vs 4MB AR cart, seems the latter actually causes more slowdown (for some reason, since the game was designed for the 1MB).

TL;DR this cart doesn't exhibit those issues, and also supports in-game cart saves like the official backup cart, i.e. without having to boot into a menu.
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Thanks. Im definitely gonna keep that one on my radar.

Also I wonder if the one I have is the same one you guys are talking about. I dont think I ever had any issues and ive had mine for like 12 years now. I'm check and see if i can replicate the problems youre having.

i feel like mine does have a switch for exactly that. im gonna go check

Edit: checked last night and this is indeed the same as everyone elses. Now that I think about it, my main ram cart back then was a 2 in 1 that had a switch. Maybe thats why I dont remember ever having problems.
 
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tuglaw

tuglaw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19
Anyone here tried Deep Fear on SSF?

I'm getting these glitchy audio effects (that sound like knocks) from time to time, I've tried multiple configurations on all versions of the game and nothing seems to work.

Luckily there's a video of it out there that I can show:
 
Velasco

Velasco

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,096
Recent Saturn pickups

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Deleted member 7756

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,880
tugalaw said:
Anyone here tried Deep Fear on SSF?

I'm getting these glitchy audio effects (that sound like knocks) from time to time, I've tried multiple configurations on all versions of the game and nothing seems to work.

Luckily there's a video of it out there that I can show:
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Game runs perfect on Mednafen. I would honestly suggest just playing it on there.
SSF is behind now in terms of accuracy and ease of use, especially when Mednafen is used with the simple and clean Mednaffe GUI.
 
tuglaw

tuglaw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19
Ellis said:
Game runs perfect on Mednafen. I would honestly suggest just playing it on there.
SSF is behind now in terms of accuracy and ease of use, especially when Mednafen is used with the simple and clean Mednaffe GUI.
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I tried Mednafen but sound stutters constantly, while with SSF I don't have any issues at all, besides this weird sound glitch.
 
Shadow Hog

Shadow Hog

Member
Oct 26, 2017
183
One thing I'd like for Mednafen to get sometime: a way to turn dithered sprites/polygons into truly transparent ones. It's a feature SSF apparently had, although I didn't get to use it all that much.

Though I suspect BizHawk wouldn't let you toggle it anyway, given that Mednafen apparently has an option to disable the dithering for PS1 games (since the PS1 usually didn't output true 24-bit color, and instead downgraded it to 15-or-16-bit color - I forget which - before outputting the final video signal), which BizHawk conveniently lacks.
 
phanboy4

phanboy4

Member
Oct 27, 2017
413
I know it's sports games so nobody cares, but I didn't realize that World Series Baseball '98 for the Saturn is a pretty rad baseball game even by today's standards.
 
Valkerion

Valkerion

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,229
Chickened out of buying a Saturn again, I want one complete with box and all. Did grab afew games though, Dark Savior, Virtua Fighter 2, and House of the Dead. Any tips on getting emulators like Medafen working?
 
tuglaw

tuglaw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19
Ellis said:
Here are my settings for Saturn if you want to try them out.

656ExU2.png
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Thanks, most games I tried seem to work fine, but intensive stuff like Burning Rangers still gives me some audio crackling when multiple sounds are playing.

I can't seem to be able to use Wasapi exclusive mode thou, any idea why? I'm running Windows 7 64bit.
 

Deleted member 7756

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,880
tugalaw said:
Thanks, most games I tried seem to work fine, but intensive stuff like Burning Rangers still gives me some audio crackling when multiple sounds are playing.

I can't seem to be able to use Wasapi exclusive mode thou, any idea why? I'm running Windows 7 64bit.
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I don't know about that mate, sorry.

There is a general PC help thread on here. Someone might be able to help you with that.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/pc-questions-that-dont-really-deserve-their-own-thread.4962/
 
phanboy4

phanboy4

Member
Oct 27, 2017
413
tugalaw said:
Thanks, most games I tried seem to work fine, but intensive stuff like Burning Rangers still gives me some audio crackling when multiple sounds are playing.

I can't seem to be able to use Wasapi exclusive mode thou, any idea why? I'm running Windows 7 64bit.
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Mednafen Saturn emulation is pretty CPU-intensive currently, if you have an older CPU that might explain it. I can't play Thunder Force V without sound issues because my CPU is quite outdated at this point.
 

Wachenroder

Member
Oct 29, 2017
207
phanboy4 said:
Oh HoTD, nice, that's pretty uncommon IIRC.
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oh yeah. thats a pretty rare one for sure

hey btw, we were talking about ram carts i little while ago and i've been looking for the old 2 in 1 with switch i used to use but i cant find it. You got any search tips? The only ones I can find on ebay are the official ones and the 4 in 1 that I already have
 
phanboy4

phanboy4

Member
Oct 27, 2017
413
Wachenroder said:
oh yeah. thats a pretty rare one for sure

hey btw, we were talking about ram carts i little while ago and i've been looking for the old 2 in 1 with switch i used to use but i cant find it. You got any search tips? The only ones I can find on ebay are the official ones and the 4 in 1 that I already have
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This is the one I have: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sega-Pseud...521843?hash=item48ac6dcaf3:g:dP4AAOSw3UZa9HIK

It's got a switch to toggle between 4MB/1MB/Save, it's not a rebadged AR.
 

Wachenroder

Member
Oct 29, 2017
207
Encephalon

Encephalon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,851
Japan
I took a look at Mednafen and noticed you have to rip discs to play games, as disc support was removed before 1.0 (iirc)? What a pain.

Is anyone ripping Saturn games, and if so, what do you use?
 

Deleted member 7756

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,880
Encephalon said:
I took a look at Mednafen and noticed you have to rip discs to play games, as disc support was removed before 1.0 (iirc)? What a pain.

Is anyone ripping Saturn games, and if so, what do you use?
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Use ImgBurn. Not only is it free, it is better than most other software doing the same thing because you don't have to mess around with any settings beforehand.

A lot of people have trouble with their ripped games because they save in ISO format. This is fine when working with DVD discs, But you should ALWAYS use BIN/CUE when ripping CD games.
 

Shinriji

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
185
Now that I am spending some time with the saturn, my impression thus far is that the image quality is pretty crisp using Svideo, but the colors are somewhat dark and low contrast. I calibrated the svideo input using my Neogeo CD, and that one produces a crisp and colorful image, but the saturn aren't like that. I already tested with composite cable, same results. Is that the way it's suppose to be?
 

Deleted member 7756

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,880
Shinriji said:
Now that I am spending some time with the saturn, my impression thus far is that the image quality is pretty crisp using Svideo, but the colors are somewhat dark and low contrast. I calibrated the svideo input using my Neogeo CD, and that one produces a crisp and colorful image, but the saturn aren't like that. I already tested with composite cable, same results. Is that the way it's suppose to be?
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If you can, use RGB SCART. It's the only way to achieve the maximum image quality that the system and many others are capable of.
S-Video is better than Composhit and RF, but it's still way behind RGB SCART in my opinion.
 
colonyoo

colonyoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
52
I forgot to post these a while back, but my gf picked up some stuff from me at retro shops and acted as a middleman for me. The books in question are only sorta Saturn related so they're here if you're curious.

tumblr_p56eiqi7wF1rn8um6o2_1280.jpg
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I asked for the leftmost column of games, while the rest of them were titles she picked out of bargain bins, purposefully trying to find stuff that seemed really weird. A really fun haul!
 

Deleted member 1162

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
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Hey Saturn peeps,
i just won Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 and just realized it comes with an entire saturn system as well. lol
 
Piggychan

Piggychan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,847
colonyoo said:
I forgot to post these a while back, but my gf picked up some stuff from me at retro shops and acted as a middleman for me. The books in question are only sorta Saturn related so they're here if you're curious.
I asked for the leftmost column of games, while the rest of them were titles she picked out of bargain bins, purposefully trying to find stuff that seemed really weird. A really fun haul!
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That Arton Senna I'm not sure if it's an actual game or game related.. just an interview with the man himself..

davidwhangchoi I guess having a spare sega Saturn won't hurt :D
 
colonyoo

colonyoo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
52
it's totally just an interview, the bits of text in red/white on the spine card mention that it's a sports documentary and not a video game
 
khaz

khaz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
274
While one could think that Digital Dance Mix to be third-party showelware trash, designed to extort a quick buck from obsessed fans of a Japanese singer, it was in fact made internally at SEGA (supposedly) as an excuse to see how much polygons they could push on a model and how they could use facial expressions alongside animations. And also take money from otakus.
 
Piggychan

Piggychan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,847
khaz said:
While one could think that Digital Dance Mix to be third-party showelware trash, designed to extort a quick buck from obsessed fans of a Japanese singer, it was in fact made internally at SEGA (supposedly) as an excuse to see how much polygons they could push on a model and how they could use facial expressions alongside animations. And also take money from otakus.
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I read many a year ago that it was Yu Suzuki who was a fan of her soooooo he and AM2 made it
 
Piggychan

Piggychan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,847
If you folks don't own a copy of Sonic R yet I suggest you do if you can get it for a decent price. Although whether you can see this as a fun game is debatable, however I will always point out that it's a technical showpiece for the Saturn.

Gonna post this vid here too till everyone gets sick of seeing it :P

 
Encephalon

Encephalon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,851
Japan
The PSP version of Nobunaga's Ambition Tenshouki appears to be based on the Saturn version, rather than the playstation one. Huh.
 

Deleted member 2102

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
692
Recently picked up a Saturn while I was in Japan after wanting one for a while. I'm loving the system so far, but I was wondering if there were any decent extension cords for the controller? It's just slightly too short to be comfortable.
 
Laevateinn

Laevateinn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,137
Chicago
I have used a Saturn extension cable in the past and had no complaints with it. It's some off brand thing I bought off ebay 5 years ago. I doubt it really matters. Probably all extension cables work roughly the same.

My current retro setup has me sitting less than a meter away from my PVM so I no longer use it so I could be wrong or misremembering how well it worked. If you see one cheap on ebay or elsewhere, it wouldn't hurt to try it out.
 

Wachenroder

Member
Oct 29, 2017
207
in my experience, Saturn extension cables (cheap or otherwise) are great. I havent had problems with any of them.

I have however, had issues with cheap Genesis extension cables. The connections go bad pretty easily on the cheap ones.
 

Deleted member 2102

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
692
Sounds good, thanks for the input! Went ahead and ordered a couple. I've seen some poor reviews, but I'm hoping at least one of them works well.

I'm running it through a Framemeister that I picked up on the trip as well. Love the setup barring this small issue.
 
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