Sega Saturn

[mortal mist]

*I get a black screen when starting the core

• Make sure to rename boot.rom to boot.bin and load the BIOS in the menu. Make sure your boot1.rom and boot2.rom are renamed as well

https://vampier.net/Saturn/

[unreal belfry]

The older cores work fine (not thet unstable builds)

[mortal mist]

old is old

boot.rom crashes the system now

You can find the solution and useful information in the link I provided. It is in the pinned msg

all saturn cores are unstable

[tiny flare]

I hope that can be fixed when the next build drops, just because it's such a trap - also the whole bios not found message that now comes out of the framework no matter what

would certainly help to curb the number of confused people showing up

oh well, all in good time I'm sure

[unreal belfry]

ok cool thanks!

So now all the newer recent builds will require you to load manually the appropriate BIOS bin every time? Is there a way to automate the loading of a default BIOS like it was before?

[stiff patrol]

its an alpha core

its not complete and so even being allowed to see it is a huge plus

[unreal belfry]

Sure no worries - just curious if there was any option to set it up that way. Kudos to srg320 and all the devs out there for the massive work done in porting all the hardware to FPGA!

[stiff patrol]

at the moment you get what you see. No one can predict what will happen in the future especially given the Ukraine Situation

[unreal belfry]

Yeah I'm aware of the situation... 😕

[winter phoenix]

Working Designs made a bunch of gameplay changes to increase the challenge of the PS1 version. The Saturn version is the way the developers at Treasure intended the game to be. Also the PS1 version is missing graphical effects that are present in the Saturn original. You can read about that stuff here: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/silhouette-mirage-シルエットミラージュ-saturn-playstation-psn-1997/amp/

[burnt matrix]

Thank you Wallace and Sonic

[winter phoenix]

💪

[burnt matrix]

you are the SEGA fan I aspire to be!

❤️

[winter phoenix]

Haha

I got a request to return to my Wallace Sonic avatar so I obliged … I guess my Commander Keen one wasn’t good enough

[burnt matrix]

Commander Keen is ok, Wallace Sonic is pretty fantastic tho

[winter phoenix]

Oh and to be fair to the PS1 version of Silhouette, Treasure added a new boss with a new ending to that one, so really, there’s value to playing both versions

[mortal mist]

Japan psx version is ok

[subtle tusk]

"increase the challenge" = "make the game unappealing for rentals"

[burnt matrix]

I bought the US PS1 version sealed and now I can’t open it. I am trapped in a prison of my own design.

[subtle tusk]

Working Designs wasn't interested in tweaking things to make the game better, they just wanted it to take longer.

[burnt matrix]

Growing up I thought Japanese gamers were just hardcore because those games were always super hard. My Japanese friend though American gamers weren’t good because Western-made games were made easier for the Japanese audience lol.

[ancient surge]

Comparing PS1 and SEGA Saturn games is interesting, because it highlights how different the hardware is on the same game.

[burnt matrix]

yeah, one is good hardware and one is bad

[subtle tusk]

Yeah this was the age when porting from one console to another was a big undertaking, especially with stuff like the Saturn where you had to code with the hardware in mind to get the most out of it.

They had two SH-1 processors but it was up to programmers to figure out how to efficiently balance the load between them.

[burnt matrix]

Oh god I’m sorry it’s not like I can turn off the trolling switch, I can’t control it. I love Saturn please understand.

Saturn hardware design is super cool

[subtle tusk]

Yeah it's cool to see the amazing stuff people have squeezed out of it in Homebrew. And with modern tools and engines that have been developed recently it's easier than ever to make software that runs at its full potential.

SAGE is littered with prototype game engines that look more impressive than almost any 90s Saturn game.

[ancient surge]

I agree the PS1 is bad hardware.

[winter phoenix]

You have a long way to go to become a real Sega fan, my friend

[burnt matrix]

can do no wrong. Every game of theirs is amazing!

[winter phoenix]

Let’s not go too far. Chakan the Forever Man exists

[subtle tusk]

Sega was an amazing arcade company that made good home consoles until they killed their momentum with pointless infighting.

[burnt matrix]

I’ve never played that one 👀

[winter phoenix]

Don’t 😆

It’s a bad Genesis game

But you know what’s a bad Saturn game? Bug Virtual On. Virtually uncontrollable, more like

[burnt matrix]

WHAT

Twin Sticks!

[winter phoenix]

I tried! They didn’t help much! The control scheme just doesn’t make sense to my brain

[burnt matrix]

Yeah it takes getting used to

[thorn pagoda]

is it the same controls as cybersled?

[burnt matrix]

Every new Saturn update that’s the first game I boot to see if it’s working lol

[thorn pagoda]

or katamari demacy actually

one stick forward one stick back to turn?

[subtle tusk]

"tank controls" in the most literal sense

[thorn pagoda]

yeah

those are fun! but kind of a brain twister

[subtle tusk]

Yeah it's hard to wrap your brain around it when you're not controlling two sets of treads

[thorn pagoda]

i think i'd like virtua on more if it wasn't just like, pretty small arenas, 1vs1

its probably great 2 player but against AI its not very compelling

[subtle tusk]

Once the core supports the Sega Net Link adapter we can all play against each other online.

[thorn pagoda]

heh

[naive whale]

No need to lol

[polar geode]

The BIOS that the core wants to make this not happen has even been figured out

[burnt matrix]

@tough star LMAO

[pearl harbor]

Rip it open! It is your destiny!

[sudden tusk]

https://youtube.com/shorts/TceQ7cHIlG0?si=iYFP1z_wD9DOYj0h

Going through my day like

[tough star]

I made it to meme status - lol

[hardy lodge]

Whats the folder structure for the Saturn core? /games/Saturn? also, where can I get the latest .rbf file?

[wise brook]

don't make me post the meme again

[wooden shell]

#unstable-nightlies and yes, it's /games/Saturn

[wise brook]

lot of respect for your work

[hardy lodge]

Thanks 🙂

[wooden shell]

also check https://vampier.net/Saturn/

[hardy lodge]

Yeah I found that side and also checked on github, but somehow I managed not to find the folder path^^

[pearl harbor]

I'm pretty sure the folder structure is /games/more_cool_than_the_rest/Saturn

[hardy lodge]

Nah can't be thats the n64 path

[burnt matrix]

[pearl harbor]

Doooo it!

[burnt matrix]

I actually bought it with the intent of opening it since it was cheaper than used.

but nope! PSX CORE

I borrowed this ~15 years ago from a friend to play. He just wants me to keep it at my house until I play it.

But now SATURN CORE

[pearl harbor]

Just think of me as that little devil sitting on your shoulder telling you that it's in your best interest to open it.

[tough star]

Thanks 🙂 it’s more to keep people from asking questions that are already answered a bunch of times

[tough star]

I’ll add it if it’s not there (soon)

[frail token]

I mean did you see the Playstation ads

[frail token]

I mean that stupid texture wobble is pretty shitty

[burnt matrix]

It’s endearing!

[frail token]

It's something

First time I saw a PS1 game I noticed it lol

[burnt matrix]

Saturn has the wibble wobble too!

[tiny flare]

I don’t think the wobbling on PS1 is as distracting (or as endearing) as the warping, non perspective corrected textures

[burnt matrix]

I love them both!

[frail token]

Wait that's what I'm talking about, what are you talking about?

[burnt matrix]

Polygonal judder

There’s texture warping (lack of perspective correct texturing), polygonal overlapping (lack of z-depth), and polygonal judder (lack of floating point math).

[drowsy hull]

And that's why you should only play 2d games

[tiny flare]

Yeah I thought “wobbling” was referring to the fixed point math for vertex positions

But uh, yeah, the whole image is pretty wibbly wobbly in PS1 land for all of those reasons

[drowsy hull]

And then there is the 480i title from time to time

[polar geode]

Viva fatbaby games, get to playing

[hardy lodge]

Is there a tool to convert chd to bin/cue and vice versa?

[ripe valley]

CHDMAN.

[wise brook]

yeah, it's easily found via reddit. it's a .bat script you drag your file onto

[hardy lodge]

Thanks!

[burnt matrix]

Not a .@polar geode script but a .bat script

[polar geode]

batty scripts delete all the 3D games out of your Games folder

[hardy lodge]

Leaves only 4d games than 🤡

[polar geode]

Sorry if you wanted to play Falsion, it has 3D glasses support and has to go

[naive whale]

Open it. And I’ll open some rare old game I own

Just for shits and giggles

[burnt matrix]

[pearl harbor]

Now you have two devils on your shoulder. 😈

[frail token]

I... guess I've never noticed any issues with the polygons

Only the backgrounds warping and popping

like my joints

[burnt matrix]

lmao

[hardy lodge]

You'll never know what rare treasures are really inside if you don't look. Maybe a factory worker dropped a dollar in there by accident. Maybe it's a rare missprinted disc and worth millions! Maybe it's empty and thats why it was so cheap. Open it!

[pearl harbor]

Too close to home for me!

Robby is going to be drowning in devil energy at this rate. The temptation!

[hardy lodge]

Is it normal to get the "cd bios not found" message when starting a game? I named the bois correctly and the game boots fine, I just get the message.

[white yoke]

I get the same thing too

if you get rid of the cd_bios

it shou;d go away

[lusty rapids]

it's fine, don't worry about that message

[white yoke]

but with older saturn cores you need it

[ancient surge]

That is a false flag with the core, so just ignore it.

[white yoke]

i agree it's a false flag

[hardy lodge]

Alright, thanks

[white yoke]

if your on the current one you don't need it sorry for any confusion

[hardy lodge]

I'm on the latest core and unstable mister file. Was just confused because I got an error and it worked anyway.

[burnt matrix]

If you get that cd bios error and you’re running a Windows machine, you need to to c:\windows\system32\ and delete that folder.

[polar geode]

Robby im seeing some text errors in your posts. Alt + f4 to fix that

[hardy lodge]

I tried and now my pc won't boot anymore

[burnt matrix]

problem solved!

[polar geode]

Time to remotely 0 fill all of Robby's hard drives

[pearl harbor]

And Robby wonders why he has so many arch nemeses.

[burnt matrix]

I am shielded by orange name. The moment that goes away I’ll be devoured by wolves.

[hardy lodge]

You'll be devoured by a bat. You know which one.

[polar geode]

https://tenor.com/view/anime-peek-hide-angry-scary-gif-16080231

[sudden tusk]

Mofuckas be seeething

Robby rules! Forget the hataz

[pearl harbor]

I love how Robby said that as if it's an inevitability that he will lose his modding privileges eventually. 🤣
If Robby loses his mod status, we riot!

[mortal mist]

Waiting for Wave Racer 😆

Rapid Racer is also ok (psx)

[burnt matrix]

Ohhhhh, this was called TurboProp Racing in the US! Blew me away as a kid being 60fps.

[mortal mist]

I don't know why this fell into the Saturn channel, it was supposed to be on the N64 🤣

[neat otter]

so I updated my single-RAM build using the script in the pinned post and now all of my games are attempting to load as music CDs—is there something I did wrong here?

(and I did rename boot.rom to boot.bin, fwiw)

[pearl harbor]

I see you're stoking the flames of rebellion.

[neat otter]

nvm, figured it out—realized that the new core is named SaturnSingleRAM specifically. oop

[naive whale]

Thanks! I’m used to it 🙂

[mortal mist]

https://tenor.com/view/sofia-evil-sofia-smile-sofia-evil-sofia-sofia-smile-evil-gif-17136867

[frozen shard]

I appreciate your stuff. You really crank them out, though. Watch that burnout. It's so messed up that the algorithm demands such a hail of videos

[naive whale]

Been working in film for 20 years

I’m used to it 🙂

[naive whale]

Man it’s quiet in here

Nobody has mentioned Hydlide today

[pearl harbor]

Virtual Hydlide! Huzzah!

[naive whale]

That’s the spirit.

[trim nimbus]

So, if virtual hydlide is a quest, and vdp1 and vdp2 are both 32bit, doing the math that makes virtual hydlide a quest of the 64bit variety…

[errant prawn]

are you part of the caves discord?

You can always pop over and just ask the devs....

I wound up selling my multisystem

Got a misteraddon and added some green and orange.. I call it the mister-lodeon

[pearl harbor]

Was playing some Virtua Racing tonight, and then went and played the 32X version after the Saturn version, and wow it's kind of crazy just how different the handling feels between them. 32X version has tighter cornering compared to the Saturn version. Then I went to the Sega Ages version on Switch from M2, and that version feels closer to the 32X handling.

[naive whale]

Sega loved to mess with handling. For better or worse

[sudden tusk]

Great now I gotta play some virtua racing !

[shrewd patrol]

My favourite way to start the weekend is to cycle through Sega Rally, Outrun, Daytona CE. Bamboozle my brain with radically different handling styles back to back

[trim nimbus]

https://youtu.be/BjhDXStrFdc

Spoiler: the dev team wasn’t given any source code so they reimplemented it from scratch on the Saturn.

And for anyone who hasn’t watched any of pandamonium’s reviews, I highly recommend.

[pearl harbor]

Yeah, Daytona also had that issue even between the two Saturn versions. The original Saturn version, while running at a lower frame rate, feels closer to the arcade game.

[pearl harbor]

On a related note, I swear the voice of the announcer in the 32X version of Virtua Racing sounds just like Ed O'Neill. Is it actually him?

[prisma wraith]

sounds more like robin williams to me (the one that shouts "Virtua Racing!" during the title/demo sequence)

RIP ❤️

[naive whale]

Al!

[ancient surge]

As far as I'm aware, the announcer is uncredited. Might just be someone trying to mimic him.

[pearl harbor]

It makes me feel like a shoe salesman every time I play that version. 👠

[ancient surge]

SEGA tends to flip flop with crediting the announcer of their games. For example we had no idea who was the announcer for the early Super Monkey Ball games until years later.

[pearl harbor]

So weird when anyone goes uncredited in a game. Even today it still happens sometimes. Like the recent Metroid Prime remaster didn't credit any of the original dev team.

[whole igloo]

Any word on CHD support?

[ancient surge]

Nothing announced.

[whole igloo]

kk ty - I didn't see anything but figured it was best to make sure I didn't miss something

[visual grove]

His massive virtua cop video is amazing and worth the time investment

[drifting frigate]

Don't get me started....

[hallow fossil]

I thought with CHD support being part of Main then it would work with all CD based cores out the box. Is something else needed to get it to work in Saturn?

[burnt matrix]

Good question!

[hallow fossil]

Maybe it just needs to allow the file extension?

That's wishful thinking on my part

@open swan any ideas?

[open swan]

chd support has to be added for each core in the support files in main explicitly

https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/commit/f412273f84f2cb2744c2c48ac4015994d92b3dda - if you look at zakk's changes when he initially added support, he needed to add code to the megacd and pcecd support files in main

he probably won't add it till the core is brought into the mister-devel org officially

[faint heron]

stupid question but how do I know if I have a Single/Dual SD-RAM setup?

[open swan]

this is with one SDRAM module

if you had a second one, it would be placed on the opposite headers at the bottom of the photo

[faint heron]

my wife got it for me from mister addons and disassembly is a bit of a thing

[open swan]

ah

[faint heron]

Is there a way to tell in the OS?

[open swan]

you can load up the PSX core

in the audio video section of the menu scroll down, see if there is an option to use dual sdram audio (i think this still works?)

if you have a VGA port in the back of your case, then you dont' ahve dual sdram

[faint heron]

Ah I do have a VGA port

Wrong channel obviously but will PS1 not work on my Mister?

[open swan]

yeah this should be greyed out in the psx core here

it will work

[faint heron]

word word

[open swan]

you will just have measurable but not perceptible sound inaccuracies that are indistinguishable to the human ear

[faint heron]

Noted, thanks for the info!

[whole igloo]

Thanks for clearing this up. I think there's been a lot of assumptions on this topic for a while with nobody to really explain how it works. Seems like a pretty trivial thing to do once the core dev decides to do it so that's good news.

[open swan]

yeah, but generally you don't want to implement it without things being more or less finalized since it can introduce more problems, especially more false positive bug reports

[whole igloo]

totally makes sense, why add more false positives when you don't have to

[faint heron]

I'm getting a black screen on booting the Saturn core, I installed it via the update script for single SDRAM, and have a file located at /media/fat/games/Saturn called bios.bin with the right shasum according to vampier's website

Using 1.01 Japanese bios, any suggestions on what to try next to fix this?

[pearl harbor]

Try naming the bios to boot.bin. That's what mine is named. Also make sure to actually load the bios through the core's OSD.

[faint heron]

yep that was the issue! thanks

[faint heron]

Do i need a seperate bios for some games? Virtua Fighter works fine but Soviet Strike and Guardian Heroes both crash in the first minute, guardian heroes goes to a black screen after the intro movie and soviet strike gets into the Crimea Mission and loops

all USA rips, with a jp bios though

[tiny flare]

you can try, but the core is unstable, for some certain games just will not boot at all, or may boot after a couple resets

[whole igloo]

the saturn core isn't techinically even in alpha yet so there may be some games that just won't play - not sure if there's a list yet

[faint heron]

That's fair, I was looking at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j7x_uX7WLA60dgOlvGVqqSdf1Gez8-rXN2MBJS7ThA8/edit?usp=sharing

this spreadsheet from the site linked in the pins

[tiny flare]

I'm not sure if that's still up to date, but yeah stability and what games boot seems to vary between builds, for example on some older builds I could get Sega Rally to boot just fine, now I get a white screen every time, while some can still play it no problems

possibly some combination of storage medium and/or ram timings varying between different people's setups, dual vs single ram - if something isn't working for you right now best not to get too hung up on it and just wait until the core matures a bit more to try again

[faint heron]

Makes sense! Its complex work I'm happy to wait a bit longer for a better baked core, thanks for the advice!

[naive whale]

Saturn vid uploaded for Thursday. I’ve missed Saturn

My true fav console of that gen

[drifting frigate]

Yeah, it's basically impossible to keep up with the library. But Guardian Heroes used to work and then stopped. Lots of games like that. Some stuff gets better, other things regress as timings tighten and whatnot. Most people get a black screen with music for Guardian Heroes after the intro video, just like you're seeing. It's very organic progress and no list is really possible because there are TONS of variables that impact game stability.

I think poor Kuba tried to keep up for a bit and it is just so all over the map it's too hard to make a definitive list. (Edit: Fuzz, not Kuba)

[drifting frigate]

Can't wait!

[pearl harbor]

It used to have its own pin, but was taken down recently due to being out of date and the core just not producing the same results for everyone. As it gets closer to finished, we may put a new doc that only lists the games that don't work, so it's more easy to digest.

[lavish wadi]

The last update was incredible. Obviously saves, but it seems even more stable across everything I had previously tested. Just waiting for Shinobi…

[stiff patrol]

Not exactly true. That option is only available in the Dual Ram build. The Single ram build , which is what is grabbed by Update all will ahve that greyed out all the time. You have to install the dual ram build manually

[open swan]

either way, the user had a vga port

[undone oyster]

Yeah I haven't updated that sheet in a long time because of how random the core is for different people

[leaden dagger]

Has anyone tested Deep Fear, specifically the NTSC build?

[drifting frigate]

Loads fine. I'll check gameplay in a sec.

Yep, playing great!

Tom Haverford is playing tricks on me with a kid.... looks great, no audio breakup. The voice acting is a whole ass mood. Definitely gonna keep playing this one. Thanks for the rec!

[errant prawn]

1 game matters for Saturn... Enemy Zero, when that fully works.. the core is complete

[pearl harbor]

But Dragon Force already works. So the core is already complete!

[naive whale]

As good as RE. There I said it

[burnt matrix]

woah really?

[naive whale]

Thematically no, mechanically yes

[pearl harbor]

Robby is going to have his mind blown by how many incredible Saturn games there are to play once the core is finished.

[leaden dagger]

I agree with you on this one

[wise brook]

all Nintendo fans when they finally play the Saturn's remarkable library.

[drifting frigate]

Yeah, mechanically I actually like it MORE already. It's more responsive. I'm having a good time with it.

[thorn pagoda]

it like, superficially looks like a RE game, and the story is kind of interesting, but the controls are really bad

and i don't just mean because they're tank controls, because i kinda like those

[burnt matrix]

DUDE 100%, Saturn rocks I am a fool for missing it!

[wise brook]

do ya like light gun games?

[leaden dagger]

And if you have analog controls set up it has 2d controls as opposed to tank

[thorn pagoda]

tbh very few games that have similar controls to resident evil actually get them right, there's a layer of polish in RE that other games don't have, the exact turning speeds, the acceleration from walk to run, the way you turn harder the longer you hold turn, the layer of collision mesh they put over the scenery to let you kind of skate off edges instead of coming to a full stop

[drifting frigate]

I'll have to try that. I quite enjoyed my 20 minutes with it today. And now that we have saves, I feel comfortable going back. It's got a touch of arcade with the air management system that I kind of like.

[tall radish]

hey quick question, i grabbed a saturn nightly build and it just gives me a black screen when i go to launch it

anyone run into that?

[leaden dagger]

The only thing I wish is there was an undub romhack of the game

[pearl harbor]

You need to rename the bios file to boot.bin and then manually load it from the core's OSD.

And make sure the boot.rom file is no longer in the games folder. That will still crash it.

[tall radish]

where would you put the boot.rom file?

[pearl harbor]

Just remove it. Save a copy of it on your computer.

As long as it is renamed boot.bin, and you manually load that file, you should be golden.

If there's a file named boot.rom still in the games folder, the core will crash with the current build.

[tall radish]

and i just put the boot.bin file in the games folder?

[pearl harbor]

Yup! And then in the core's OSD menu, load that file from the load bios option.

[tall radish]

alright gonna try that now, thank you!

[pearl harbor]

No problem! Let us know if it worked on your end!

[tall radish]

is there a way to get a multi region bios?

nevermind, got it up and running, thank you!

[tall radish]

one quick question, guardian heroes usa version doesnt load past the into cinematic and just gets a black screen - anyone else experience that too? music plays but no game

[ancient surge]

That is a known issue at the moment. Just wait until a new build eventually fixes it.

[tall radish]

ok cool thats what i thought, thank you!

[tidal raptor]

ehhh, maybe I just played too much RE over the years but, after one playthrough of Deep Fear I had enough. I felt like it was kinda bloated and some of the latter backtracking was really annoying. But, it's still at least an interesting take on what RE was doing at that point in time

the kind of game I'd mostly recommend to survival horror fans over just saturn fans, but it is an exclusive so I guess it doesn't hurt to see if it strikes your fancy

[edgy hollow]

besides netlink modem and midi, were there other devices that used the communication port.

Thinking if I could find a cheap one, I could build a midi adapter since it seems to be a straight connection but the other site with documentation does not have much info since he was only trying midi out and it failed

[naive whale]

It’s RE with diff vibes IMO. Good puzzles, fun environment, solid story for its era

[naive whale]

https://youtu.be/2S2PI1gMRVw

Happy Saturnday

[polar geode]

I shall watch.

The only thing better than Saturnday is Trio the Punch Day. Its too early for puns in my time zone

[naive whale]

wait till September

[polar geode]

Sigh, okay

[naive whale]

there is a suprise trailer this weekend for a special September series. Trio the Punch adjacent

[polar geode]

So much love for Bug! Super Tempo is so much more fun in the insect genre though ^_^

[polar geode]

Decoge is a thing and I am always pleased to hear about it

[polar geode]

Speaking of which the Chelnov prototype for Saturn seems to run well on the core

[naive whale]

ooh interesting

[polar geode]

YMMV, you know how the core is right now lol

Im on single sdram

[sudden tusk]

It’s a literal crime that princess crown still has no English translation patch …

[polar geode]

That patch has been in development for a really long time hasnt it

[naive whale]

I hope the Bulk Slash / Stellar Assault people do it next

It needs a patch

[polar geode]

Checked the original translation thread on RHDN.. its over 10 years old lol

Safe to say its not happening from this person

[burnt matrix]

@winter phoenix you heard the man, where is our Princess Crown translation? That game deserves the best translation team out there!

[winter phoenix]

I appreciate the love, but someone’s already working on a Princess Crown translation and have been at it for years

People usually try not to step on each other’s toes with fan translations…

[winter phoenix]

I’ve heard they’re still active, actually

[polar geode]

Well, thats good news

[burnt matrix]

@winter phoenix what if you invite them to be part of your translation team and then it’s technically not stepping on their toes

I am a genius!!

[polar geode]

🤯

[winter phoenix]

lmao 4D chess

[sudden tusk]

Did you just refer to me as a lady?

[burnt matrix]

Nah @polar geode

[sudden tusk]

Ahh my bad ..

[burnt matrix]

Oh my god

[sudden tusk]

I got confooosed

[burnt matrix]

No I’m an idiot

This is my fault

[polar geode]

Everyone is an idiot. Now no one can feel bad. Or something.

[burnt matrix]

I was reading batty’s comments while replying to @naive whale

fml

I need to stop posting in the morning

We are awash with riches with Saturn translations

[drowsy hull]

25 years too late

[burnt matrix]

Also complete tangent but what’s up with the argument that Japanese Saturn is vastly superior? US Saturn is pretty great!

[polar geode]

The hardware or software?

[drowsy hull]

It plays japanese games which are a larger library

Though it were the good old days where 5 minutes of soldering fixed a non jp saturn

[polar geode]

region was just a little header where you bridged pins IIRC?

[drowsy hull]

So.... grey with blue accents look nicer than black?

Region and ntsc/pal were just jumpers on the board

Though the fancy boys got switchless mods

But I prefer feeling like a pilot having to throw those switches into the correct positions

[burnt matrix]

The software library

[drowsy hull]

How many us exclusives were released?

[burnt matrix]

In terms of curation my US folder is much bigger than my Japanese folder

And the US library has a ton of cool games

[burnt matrix]

No idea, maybe just a handful?

[drowsy hull]

Then bigger = better

Alone the larger fighting game library wpuld be enough for that

(at least back in the days)

[burnt matrix]

Oh yeah definitely, but my point is subjective. I felt like I heard how much better the Japanese library is all this time and now when I’m experiencing it myself it’s like, this isn’t that massive gulf of difference I was led to believe:

Maybe my expectations were wrong!

The US library is really good!

[drowsy hull]

Well if you only play football und western developed games...

[burnt matrix]

That’s the thing, there’s plenty of Japanese games too

[polar geode]

The US library is more .. 3D focused I guess? Im more of a 2D person

[burnt matrix]

Ah yeah that makes sense

[drowsy hull]

It is missing grandia, suikoden and part 2/3

Albert is not enough ro replave those

[burnt matrix]

What’s part 2/3

[drowsy hull]

Shining force 3

[burnt matrix]

Ohhh

You know, I think I’m subconsciously having my PS1 ownership cloud my judgement. My immediate reaction was “I can play those on my PS1 though”

[drowsy hull]

It like having lotr ending with frodo throwing the ring into a pond

[burnt matrix]

The RPG and 2D comments made a ton of sense

Thank you!

[polar geode]

PSX is underrated for 2D IMO.. its just mostly import

[drowsy hull]

Also shmups that were not released in tje west

And yes psx is underrated as well

All failing at the us centric void that norhing exists outside the us

[burnt matrix]

Yeah I’m glad we got over that. Video game executives were extremely myopic and terrible at understanding what resonated with gamers in the 90s

[drowsy hull]

I always liked the us centric fighting games are dead rethoric of the mid 2000s

[winter phoenix]

thing: 😴
thing but in Japan: 😱

[polar geode]

PSX has great 2D games. Adventures of Little Ralph, Harmful Park, Adventures of Lomax, Gradius Gaiden, The Firemen 2, Tomba!, Umihara Kawase Shun...

[winter phoenix]

geez you didn't even name Gex

one of the best 2D games on whatever platform it finds itself on

[drowsy hull]

Except 3do

Fuck that low fps shit

Or was that cdi?

[polar geode]

Gex huh lol

Its allright I guess

[burnt matrix]

honestly, that probably has a bit to do with it

[ancient surge]

The SEGA Saturn is a great console if you're one of those types that wants to dig through the library and find weird Japanese exclusives.

[full shore]

Nice to finally hear the JPN boot up sound before a game loads.

[wooden dew]

The PS1/Saturn era makes me lament the fact that I learned Chinese instead of Japanese. So many games that never saw a translation.

[pearl harbor]

Seriously. I know someone has been working on it for like over a decade, but that feels like a pipe dream at this point.

[sudden tusk]

That’s a damn shame…

[burnt matrix]

It’s a subjective opinion but honestly I really enjoy the same outside of the weird Japanese exclusives

[compact marlin]

which saturn pad is best, retro-bit, 8bitdo, or the 3D pad?

3d pad is most different and looks like a dreamcast prototype, also like 50 bucks on ebay

already have a regular genesis 6 button and the krikzz 6 button, but sadly no L and R buttons, though I dont know how many games actually use the shoulder buttons

[tidal raptor]

you can probably get by just fine with the retro-bit ones. they're pretty close to OEM, but feel a bit cheaper. The d-pad feels a little off to me as well but, I don't think it's that bad overall

the m30 is also a really good feeling pad too

I'd say which ever fits your budget better or if one has more useful features over the other for you, that's what I'd go with but I don't think you'd be dissapointed with either

and plenty of games make use of L & R

[polar geode]

Ive had good luck with my retrobit one. The shoulder buttons dont click..thats about it imo. But people seem to have different experiences and i suspect build quality varies

[tidal raptor]

I can't remember if mine was from the initial batch or after some corrections, but yeah, I think it's gonna be just like any controller you buy these days, some are probably gonna feel worse than others

[polar geode]

Im switching to an original pad and daemonbite adapter anyway, i already had it so figured i may as well

[compact marlin]

is it the same port as genesis for oem version?

[tiny flare]

No, it’s got it’s own port

[sharp dove]

The Retrobit-ones tend to have brittle actuators on their D-Pad if bought from stores. Renders D-Pad unusable.

You should contact Retro-bit's support to get a functioning replacement just in case (I did for 2 of my pads)

[thorn pagoda]

the brittle ones may of all sold through by now

i've actually never had one break on 3 different pads

[sharp dove]

Possibly

Just talking about the Saturn Arcade Pad Bluetooth-ones I bought long time ago

[tidal raptor]

Retro-Bit Official Sega Saturn USB Controller Pad (Model 2) bought in 2020. I'm gonna assume Model 2 is referring to it being fixed

but yeah I bought this a while back lol

[sharp dove]

Tried supergluing but it just broke again later

[thorn pagoda]

it was definitely super common on the early ones

[pearl harbor]

I looked into those Retro-Bit Saturn controllers about a year ago, and decided to skip it in favor of the M30. I saw too many complaints online about the Retro-Bit controllers.

[naive whale]

I see so many complaints too. Mine works like a champ. There must be good/bad batches

So I don’t recommend people buy them but I also love using mine

[zinc vine]

i have retro-bit pretty decent i like the dpad of m30

[pearl harbor]

I did buy one of their 6 button Genesis controllers. It's okay. The d-pad is raised too high though.

[hardy lodge]

I also got the m30, as it was recommended here. Playing lunar silverstar with it right now, it's fine so far.

[compact marlin]

may just get an m30

[burnt matrix]

Ok but if you do only the white one that looks like the Japanese Saturn controller counts

[tiny flare]

I had to get a second one on that colour, because I am an idiot

[burnt matrix]

Fashion is never idiocy my friend

[rustic stream]

For some reason with the latest Saturn core rbf file, my MiSTer simply freezes and I can't open the menu. Does anyone know of a fix?

[naive whale]

Gotta rename bios to boot.bin

@burnt matrix do we have a tutorial for that pinned?

[mortal mist]

https://vampier.net/Saturn/

[burnt matrix]

What @mortal mist posted should cover it I hope.

[compact marlin]

thats the one I would do since i have a white mister case

[naive whale]

I forgot you had both that and 64

[rustic stream]

I renamed it to boot.bin from boot.rom and the script seems to think it's not there. Does that imply that my bios isn't a valid one?

[pearl harbor]

Same. It's a sickness. A wonderful sickness.

[pearl harbor]

You need to manually load it from the OSD.

[naive whale]

Did you get a menu in core where you could load the bios?

[rustic stream]

I figured it out. I had to put it in the default folder for it to boot (I.e the sd card everything is stored on) instead of the external hard drive I have my games on.

[naive whale]

Glad you got it

[edgy hollow]

i've gone crazy and decided to try to make my own midi in for the saturn.
Will solder on the back of the port and see if it will work with the game on my backup saturn

So:
midi 1 - midi pin4
midi 2 - midi pin 5
Gnd - Midi pin 3 (in theory)

hopefully it works lol since no one's made a schematic for midi in (someone did try for midi out for some reason).

Then I'll add a usb c port if it works on my real saturn

[old pasture]

I bought a Retro Bit SNES RF controller. It was crap and I had to return it. It kept losing connection and dropping inputs, even though I was close to the MiSTer and made sure the controller was fully charged

I bought a wired N64 controller today, I'm hoping it plays good in the MiSTer

I was being recommended the RF version, but
A - it was £35
B - the SNES RF was crap

So I thought I'd give their wired one a try

Edit - typo

Whoops , I just realized I'm not in the N64 room, where I've been hanging out mostly.

[drifting frigate]

No problem.... use that thing on Bug!

[old pasture]

Haha

[naive whale]

Lmk how it is. I need to buy something soon

[old pasture]

Will do, hopefully, it'll be with me tomorrow

[dire tree]

SEGA

[sudden tusk]

Poser

[dire tree]

I was playing SEGA before you were born, shut your mouth

[sudden tusk]

Yeah right , I’m older than you dawg .. you wuz playing Nintendo shut up

I am the authority when it comes to sega knowledge and skill

[dire tree]

impressive

[sudden tusk]

Bow down before me

[tiny flare]

I fully admit to being a Sega poser, I didn't really get into their games until after they left the hardware biz and I was able to play their new games/ports to GC and Xbox

[visual grove]

Sonic sucks

[sudden tusk]

Why are you even here Doyle?

[visual grove]

That’s why the Saturn rules

No Sonic

[sudden tusk]

Fair point

[visual grove]

I love Saturn

[sudden tusk]

Me 2

[sudden tusk]

I am so grateful we have a place were we can all proclaim our love for sega .. specially the sega Saturn

Thanks you SRG

[edgy hollow]

Saturn > N64

[polar geode]

My favorite Saturn game is Harmful Park

[pearl harbor]

We are the legion of Saturn.

[polar geode]

My second favorite is Adventures of Little Ralph though, super nice 2D game

[pearl harbor]

Dragon Force is my favorite.

[polar geode]

Can't recommend Zanac x Zanac on Saturn enough either

[amber lichen]

My favorite is Mario

[polar geode]

But have you played Starfox 32

[sudden tusk]

Fuck you

He who shall not be named

[sudden tusk]

Goddang do I love me some dragon force .. it so cool bro

@naive whale where’s my dragon force coverage bro ?

We demand it

@drifting frigate broh hook it up with some sweet dragon force footie ..

[naive whale]

I think it’s on my hard drive. Just didn’t make the vid

This was more “fan game” focused

[sudden tusk]

Without a doubt it would get mad views

That game doesn’t even run proper on current emulators .. yet the core does a great job already

[sudden tusk]

I just saw this … and I am truly disappointed..

But it’s ok because srg will fix this wrong

[tiny flare]

I did go and buy a used Dreamcast after that, if it makes you feel better, mostly just so I could play Shenmue 1

and yeah I inherited a Saturn not too long ago

[polar geode]

Dreamcast and Neo Geo Pocket, the fighting game combo that kept me happy for several years

[sudden tusk]

I played some much mvc2 and sol cal back in the day it ain’t even funny

[polar geode]

the snk releases were great at the time. I think KOF 99 Evo still has special strikers that no other version has

[sudden tusk]

I always been all about the capcom , only cvs2 for me

[polar geode]

CVS2 was great. When CVS1 was announced it was such a bombshell, I used to have the big shop poster with all the characters facing off

[drifting frigate]

I sent both over a few hours ago!

[sudden tusk]

https://tenor.com/view/huzzah-frazzled-gif-5544331

Thanks for taking the time and for just plain ol listening

[drifting frigate]

No problem! The Eng translation patch works great on 2 btw.

On the core.

[next bronze]

I love the DC. I got lucky and found a JP Ascii controller (It's a blue controller. It think it was made to promote CvS2) at a yard sale not knowing what it was. I like it, but the feel is different from a Saturn controller, despite looking like it.

and definitely the best home version of CvS2!

[lyric badger]

Can I jump in here and say that I love CVS2 too as well, the Saturn and the Dreamcast meant so much to me

[sudden tusk]

I know already have it loaded as soon as I’m done with the first one 2 is next

[pearl harbor]

My biggest fighting game series in the 90s were Street Fighter (both the II and Alpha games), Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Virtua Fighter. That said, I also played a lot of SNK stuff like Samurai Shodown and KoF.

[mortal mist]

i love Street Fighter, KoF, Tekken 1-2 , MK

[wise brook]

Tekken 2's fmv intro track is 🔥

[mortal mist]

oh and Soul Blade !!!

love it

masterpiece intro

[tall radish]

To love! To shine!

[burnt matrix]

** 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞 **

WIP Core Downloader - [LINK]
-# ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎↳ follow instructions in link to automate downloading all work-in-progress cores

Manual Install (Single SDRAM):

• Saturn - [LINK]
• ST-V - [LINK]

Manual Install (Dual SDRAM):

• Saturn - [LINK]
• ST-V - [LINK]

(Last Updated - May 8th, 2026)

[naive whale]

I’ll look in a bit when I walk back into my office

[edgy hollow]

Annoyingly, my experiment to connect pin 2,3 and gnd of com port didnt work with midi in and music school

Game looks awful though so maybe for the best

[naive whale]

I have it @sudden tusk buts its from an older core. WIll have to revisit

[sudden tusk]

No worries homie !

[sudden tusk]

https://youtu.be/sK9rYi9TTNo?si=r-guBwn5utZ_qn4e

This mofo must be stopped !

@burnt matrix wtf lol

[burnt matrix]

I need to be a better mod sorry

[sudden tusk]

Never apologize to me

[burnt matrix]

I sent it to you lol

[ancient surge]

This is Death Crimson erasure.

[naive whale]

The worst???

[mortal mist]

https://tenor.com/view/yankees-thumbs-down-not-good-gif-13886850

[sudden tusk]

Get on dem comments and let him have it

[sudden tusk]

ATACK!

[tiny flare]

*in a respectful manner

[sudden tusk]

Of course, im only joking

[tiny flare]

As I always say, attack the content, not the content creator - unless it’s @naive whale , then just really let him have it, don’t hold anything back

[sudden tusk]

I’m talking about saying stuff like “without virtual hylide there be no skyrims “

[naive whale]

Your mom said the same thing to me last. If he “attack. Don’t hold anything back”

[tiny flare]

Got ‘em

[naive whale]

I love the Saturn and N64 channels “half meaningful content, half jokes” vibe lol

[burnt matrix]

MULLET CHANNELS - business up front for testing new builds and party in the back while waiting for new builds

[naive whale]

It really is a “bursts of progress reports followed by days of shenanigans”

[sudden tusk]

Luv it !

Future generations of MISTer users will read these posts and wish they had lived what we live

[naive whale]

It is fun being in the “now”…part of all the developments

[polar geode]

Its all essentially a rehash of old emulation scene when a system first got a decent emulator.. and I love it XD

[frail token]

Same!

[burnt matrix]

I don't, this sucks. Where's my PS2 core?

[polar geode]

Its inside of the PS2, open it up and look

[vernal sun]

The hori pads these are based off of are great!

[cunning citrus]

Where is Mister II (the second)?

[polar geode]

Apparently it is called "MARS"

[tiny flare]

calling it MiSTer II is totally uncontroversial, yep lol

[polar geode]

😏

[quaint dove]

MiSTer++

[polar geode]

Gah, a Sonic CD reference

[harsh dew]

where do we get the most recent saturn build these days, unstable-nightlies?

[polar geode]

Yep

[unique coyote]

Call it Mister Mr.

[naive whale]

I own the rights to that. Sorry 🤣

[unique coyote]

LOL

The first thing that came through my mind was "Broken Wings".

[vernal sun]

Go the Pacman route. Mrs MiSTer

[pearl harbor]

Monsieur MiSTer

[polar geode]

Herr Herr

[old pasture]

I like hori stuff. Do you have a link?

[vernal sun]

I know nothing of this site but here is one: https://retrogamesjapan.com/shop/n64/n64-controller/hori-pad-mini-nintendo-64-controller-blue-n64-b/

[old pasture]

Thanks

[old pasture]

Lol, I'm a hacker lol

[old pasture]

Found em, a bit in the pricey side

[vernal sun]

Aye, they aren't cheap

[tidal raptor]

Yeah, they're definitely more expensive than regular used controllers

[unique coyote]

What about the Brawler64 from Retro Fighters?

[burnt matrix]

Not great. The Tribute64 is better.

[polar geode]

N64, inescapable even in it's antithesis channel

[vernal sun]

Anyone know of a Saturn game that shows full smpte color bars?

[drifting frigate]

The 240p test suite would rock on Saturn, but unfortunately it can't happen until there's an open source SDK. However if you just need bars it might not be too much to load a bitmap from disk using the jo-engine test code project. I haven't poked around with it much. Hopefully there's a better/easier solution in some existent game out there someone knows of....

[vernal sun]

That's what I was hoping for. Some random game having them in its options menu or something.

I do have a VCD card and someone mentioned maybe a photo disk.

[drifting frigate]

Yeah, that would probably do it. I mean, unless you're an absolute stickler since the compression could introduce some shift. But for basic dialing in? It should work fine.

[vernal sun]

Yeah, it's mostly to dial in better.

[polar geode]

If there are any arcade ports that bring up the service test options maybe they would

[drifting frigate]

That's a good point

[polar geode]

Maybe the Chelnov prototype?

[drifting frigate]

OK, I built the color bars and they seem to work fine. I am not sure what the policy is about sharing your own homebrew here.

So @vernal sun I'll send it to you over DM

[ivory kindle]

Wait you just like, on the spot, made a Saturn rom?

[drifting frigate]

Yeah

It's all pretty much done for me.

Using the jo-engine project. I literally just created a TGA file of the bars from the official ones and replaced the background demo's asset.

[vernal sun]

Andy, that'd be awesome. I suspect those over in the RetroTink discord would be interested in it as well

[ivory kindle]

What a boss

[vernal sun]

I'll be able to try it tonight on the Fenrir. It just boot straight to bars?

[drifting frigate]

Yeah, Sega logo, then bars.

My laptp display is way out of calibration and I don't have a TV at the hotel I'm at right now, so hopefully it looks OK. It matches input at least. But everything is massively crushed on this Razer. So until I see it on an actual TV I have no idea how accurate it is. Hehe.

[drifting frigate]

Feel free to share. And let me know if there are any issues. I'll look into inputs and see if I can add a cycle through of some common ones.

*ones being common test patterns.

[vernal sun]

Awesome. I'll let you know how this looks tonight once I get some free time from the kids. I suspect it'll be just fine. I don't really have a way to test how accurate or not it is other than maybe loading up 240p test suite on the SNES core or something to compare. Maybe I'll try that

[acoustic sable]

Policy is we love that stuff and will happily pin it/a link to it as a handy tool if you want

[vernal sun]

@drifting frigate that worked wonderfully! I was able to dial in my RT5x perfectly. I really appreciate it!

[drifting frigate]

I'm going to see if I can at least make it do a few test patterns when I get back to my computer and then I'll share it. Thank you!

[naive whale]

I got your dragon force captures @sudden tusk thanks to @drifting frigate who played them

[sudden tusk]

It’s gonna be a banger bro

[pearl harbor]

Dragon Force hype! I'm just going to leech off of Taco's happiness.

[half hound]

Hi everyone! I'm trying to setup the Saturn core on the MisTer, I have the most recent unstable file copied in the Sdcard, and also the most recent rbf file for the sega saturn, I tried using different bios but everytime I tried to open a .cue game it takes me back to the loading screen, additionally.. the autosave options appears grayed out on the menu did you have this issue before?

[pearl harbor]

The autosave will appear grayed out until you save in a game. It's a little weird, but that's just how it is in the current build. As for games not booting, are you sure you have the correct region selected for the games you're loading?

The bios is loading at least correct?

[half hound]

Hi Mario, thank you for your prompt response, and yes, I actually tried using different regions, I tried all these bios

And also confiugred the region on the core menu

[pearl harbor]

Has the bios at least been loading? You need to manually load it through the core OSD menu.

[half hound]

Yes Mario, whenever the core loads, I load the bios and it seems to be loading ok, but when I select the .cue file it takes me back to the main saturn screen I don't know if I need to convert the games into a different format

[ancient surge]

Did you manually load the game on the BIOS menu?

[polar geode]

Pinned links has a good general overview

https://vampier.net/Saturn/

@tough star actually found the exact BIOS the core wants to have it set as the default boot file

[ancient surge]

Did you manually load the game on the BIOS menu?

[tight zinc]

I think the Japanese BIOS defaults to the menu even with a game inserted

[waxen vortex]

RG BullshiT 85

[polar geode]

Brotubers provide little of value content wise on average

[waxen vortex]

He is shocking. Clickbait Titles. No substance.

Its the same as these other YouTube'rs "Nintendo's Lawyers Won't Like This".. and they show some cheap, garbage emulation box...

[polar geode]

Some people like turning surface level hobbying into a grift I guess

[waxen vortex]

Yep a lot of them do, there are a few from the UK that somehow have a following. I despise them.

[polar geode]

The entire process of being successful on youtube seems kind of demeaning to me, at least personally.

[sudden tusk]

Is this the face you loath! ?

[waxen vortex]

Loathe is a strong word 🙂

"I sold my WHOLE Collection!!" except you didn't....

[burnt matrix]

I don’t find just shtick entertaining but he’s alright. He’s clearly figured out how to generate interesting YouTube content and he’s done a good job building up a character.

[waxen vortex]

Its the Clickbait BS that bothers me as it does with a number of other YouTube'rs

[sudden tusk]

Even hate watching is watching

[polar geode]

https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExM202YjU5NWwwb3I0dWNlemsyczg3YXZwd2phb2E0dzVxbGxudWIwcSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/QDIQsHjIapjzDWXNOX/giphy.gif

[waxen vortex]

Apologies 🙂 I am taking SEGA Saturn Core discussion way off the tracks.

[sudden tusk]

Shinning force 3 freezes on the current core as soon as you try to do a healing spell..

I would be asking for it as well if it wasn’t for that

[polar geode]

Fucking saturn doesnt have shins

How am I supposed to kick this freeze away

[burnt matrix]

Yeah I hear that, the reason why I stopped watching lol. I’m also not a fan of complaining videos.

[sudden tusk]

Literally the first comment on one of his vids

[burnt matrix]

lmao that’s hilarious, I can’t get mad at that

[sudden tusk]

Yep that’s why I still watch

[hollow plover]

Lol that rtg guy is such a bum.

How far is Saturn core coming along btw? I really wanna try some Saturn games.

[burnt matrix]

Many games very playable!

[hollow plover]

Awesome.

I had Sonic R on pc as a kid, really wanna play that again alongside Saturn Symphony of the Night.

[waxen vortex]

I feel vindicated.

[naive whale]

What about my character? It’s carefully crafted!

[half hound]

Yes sir I do. What I'm gonna try is to setup a different microSD and test it, probably something is corrupted

[limpid wharf]

Am I crazy or should Daytona and Sega Rally be working on the Saturn unstable?

Daytona hangs after Sega logo on black screen and Sega Rally does the same with a white screen

[tiny flare]

Nah it’s the same for me, some have reported that it works if you reset a couple times, but it never worked for me

[elfin snow]

I'm having the same issues

[tiny flare]

Seems to be some sort of timing issues in the core, I think it’s just accidentally working by fluke for some with some combination of the right memory timings and or storage medium

[elfin snow]

I just went back to the unstable Mister from before the last Core release and Daytona is working now

[limpid wharf]

Ahh, thanks for confirming fam ❤️

[elfin snow]

We are literally doing the same thing 🙂

[drifting frigate]

For me on the same MiSTer:
CIFS Saturn folder - both boot and are playable
SD - Daytona doesn't boot past the Daytona trademark screen, Rally plays the intro video, but white screens after selecting the mode.

The storage medium is the only change. But I know some people who have 145 or lower testing RAM have issues regardless of storage.

[tiny flare]

Interesting, I guess I should try running the memory test as a data point because I can’t remember what my module came back with, but yeah those games consistently won’t boot for me even via CIFS

[mortal mist]

that's right my two sdramas 2.9 have below 145 and core saturn works worse than with the one that has above 145

but I'm not going to buy another 10 now to find ones that work close to 150

have to wait , we will see what future updates bring us 🙂

[fiery kindle]

What does the Dual RAM core add over Single? Or must they simply be implemented differently?

[mortal mist]

at the moment it's hard to say what gives , because sometimes the game runs better on single than on dual 😛

in theory better compatibility

[faint flicker]

can confirm, i have dual ram and sometimes i try games that people here claim work well and they dont work with dual ram then, only with the single ram build 😄 Guess we have to wait and see what setup will get us the perfect Saturn experience in the end.

[ancient surge]

The core obviously lacks optimization with the RAM, since the results between users is so inconsistent.

I wouldn't be surprised if srg is aware of the problem and will find a way to optimize it in a future build.

[tiny flare]

Checks out, my ram is at 142mhz apparently. I’m certain that yeah things will improve, especially given that 130mhz is considered within spec, as I understand it

[mortal mist]

all in all , no one told us to test anything , I treat it as fun 😄

[tall radish]

Can you run the single ram core on a dual ram mister?

[mortal mist]

yes

[waxen vortex]

I have had zero issues with both games?

[mortal mist]

You are lucky

[limpid wharf]

Yeah seems all over the place at the moment, which is fine, it’s super unfinished core.

[wise brook]

what ram ya got?

[sudden tusk]

Try Daytona championship edition

[tall radish]

it should yes

[tall radish]

my too with single RAM

[mortal mist]

I am also one of the lucky ones

[polar geode]

The upgrade to dual ram for Mortal Kombat is going to be a reluctant one for me

[mortal mist]

But for several core releases, I also had problems with some games

Also with sega rally

(Dual ram)

[frail heath]

Some interesting new commits on the Saturn github

[pearl harbor]

Don't get my hopes up!

[frail heath]

https://github.com/srg320/Saturn/commits?author=srg320&since=2023-08-01&until=2023-08-29

[brisk ice]

😍

[wise brook]

glad to see him about

[pearl harbor]

Any sign of activity is always a good thing considering his situation.

[wise brook]

scu improvements will potentially get more games booting, not freezing and improve the quadrilateral geometry

[mortal mist]

Great news!

[wise brook]

SMPC is similar in importance

it's what initializes the SH-2's and sets their Master/Slave configuration.

as well as handling the peripherals and rtc

[wet hull]

This is a big one

Might fix some looping background sprites in gekirindran

[naive whale]

Good to know he’s “good”

[undone oyster]

You building it?

[ripe valley]

https://tenor.com/view/sheit-well-damn-shoot-gif-14886314

When I saw the recent GIT updates.

[pearl harbor]

Has it actually been posted yet, or just the changes noted?

[mortal mist]

I am not at home at the moment

[undone oyster]

No change to Saturn_MiSTer, but the changes to Saturn repo seems to have been commited

[pearl harbor]

The previous Saturn update was monumental with save support. It's getting really exciting.

[ancient surge]

Hoping this means Shinobi Legions will finally boot.

[waxen vortex]

Saweeeeet! 🙂

[undone oyster]

I wonder if the changes are gonna make all games that are known to work for some will work for all now??

[pearl harbor]

Lack of consistency is definitely one of the biggest issues.

[undone oyster]

It is true

[pearl harbor]

Once that is addressed, trouble shooting becomes much easier.

[undone oyster]

I know I made the Google sheet back when we had a first working build, then a few builds later we had reports of games booting for some and not for others

So I stopped updating the sheet until it got to the point where things were mostly consistent with everyone reporting

[pearl harbor]

Yeah, I remember using it back then. Good stuff, but it just didn't make sense after awhile when so many people had different results.

[undone oyster]

When it starts to work properly for everyone I will start to move the games around again

[waxen vortex]

NTSC-J version of SEGA Rally working consistently fine for me.

[undone oyster]

Did you build the core with the new changes Dave?

[waxen vortex]

Nope this is from the last update we had and I have never experienced an issue with SEGA Rally.

I wouldn't know how to build the core with latest changes, wish I did.

[pearl harbor]

I also haven't had any issues getting Sega Rally to work. Same with Daytona. Just one of those examples of inconsistency.

[waxen vortex]

I use the NTSC-J versions of both games and never have issues.

[undone oyster]

I am downloading Quartus now, I will try and build it and see what happens

[waxen vortex]

If you can build it 🙂 they will come.

[mortal mist]

ok to some it works to some it doesn't

I have been testing this core from the beginning, I know how to test and also had problems with Sega Rally with some versions of core

[waxen vortex]

Odd that is, I use REDUMP images (plus I have the Original Japanese Copy of both games in my collection of Saturn Discs).

I had the White screen issue maybe once.

But like I say, 90% of the time, I have got that and Daytona to boot with no issues.

[mortal mist]

single or dual ?

[undone oyster]

I will do single first then test it and if the core works I will build dual

[mortal mist]

I'm back home, I can start compiling

ok so i do dual

[hollow pier]

was going to say i started single if someone wants to do dual

[undone oyster]

ok you do dual, the quartus download itself is pretty slow chances are someone will have it all done before I get everything setup

ohh nice terminator

I will still set everything up incase I need to build the next one

[naive whale]

Someone @ me if there is a new build pls 🙂

[white yoke]

which version of Quartus do u have installed?

[undone oyster]

there are definite changes to the Saturn repo but nothing to Saturn_MiSTer repo yet so the auto build won't do anything until there is a change to that

[white yoke]

brb

[naive whale]

Noted. Organizing spices with wife at same time

[hollow pier]

saturn is a big one

[undone oyster]

terminator post single here when it is done

[pearl harbor]

I also use single ram.

[sacred goblet]

Can't wait to test this new version !

[mortal mist]

ok it compiles

DS

30min i think

[sacred goblet]

it will be available with saturn_update?

[mortal mist]

no

[undone oyster]

I am curious to know how long it takes me on my new PC, I haven't built a core on it yet

but the CPU has 16 Threads

[undone oyster]

nice Zet

[ripe valley]

Live testing on my Mister, some games are booting and nothing seems to be broke.

[undone oyster]

anything new booting or any noticable changes yet?

[stiff patrol]

well Quest 6 4 boots !

[ripe valley]

SEGA Rally, no changes on my side - the game was booting before on my system and boots even now, no changes on the music (cuting after some seconds).

[undone oyster]

lol

[sacred goblet]

is possible to have the single ram version?

[ripe valley]

I will do some tests later today when I found some time.
I'm sharing the build with some others here who are adamant to test it too.

[undone oyster]

terminator is currently building it

[hollow pier]

https://tenor.com/view/desmondpacito-cooking-chef-gif-12378159

[undone oyster]

how long does it estimate?

[mortal mist]

nice!

[undone oyster]

thank you 🙂

[mortal mist]

thanks @ripe valley and @hollow pier

[ripe valley]

Shinobi-X works!

Warning, warning.

[sacred goblet]

On dual version sega rally is running but i don't have any sound

I have a message each time : "cd bios not foun". You know what is it? The games are running anyway

[mortal mist]

don't worry aobut that

[stiff patrol]

its irrelevent

[mortal mist]

yeah , same here

[undone oyster]

Still no joy with Radiant Silvergun on Single

[ripe valley]

Thunderforce V works now, without sound.

[mortal mist]

Guardian heroes works!!!!!!

yes at least

my beloved game 🙂

[ripe valley]

Same here.

[mortal mist]

great sound, gfx

[hearty carbon]

Guardian Heroes is such a great game.

[undone oyster]

Testing on Single

Confirmed!!

[stiff patrol]

I think rather than saying single or Dual you should say Dual Primary Memtest speed was 150

My 2.9 does 150

my 2.5 only does 140ish

[undone oyster]

Shining The Holy Ark is now just a black screen

Don't even get the initial now loading

[mortal mist]

Virtual On works better ! @burnt matrix haha

[undone oyster]

Bug! Still broken after initial FMV

[mortal mist]

you can at least see the characters now

haha

[naive whale]

Ok I’m gonna try to hit this up tomorrow PM. Probably by 4 to 5 pm

Now I’m motivated lol

[stiff patrol]

Pixel cherry said he would have it out tonight

you slack !

[sudden tusk]

Crap where’s the single ram build?

[stiff patrol]

read up

[sudden tusk]

Omg I love you

[naive whale]

Day off today. I’m not working. Wife and I are doing shit lol

[sudden tusk]

Take this Nintendo nerds

We back on baby!

[mortal mist]

hmmm i think sound in Wipoeut XL is broken

[sudden tusk]

Crap I’ll have to hold off on testing 😦

[mortal mist]

At the beginning of the race I hear a distorted voice, crackles

[polar geode]

Outrun is running extremely well

60fps Outrun on MiSTer achieved

[sudden tusk]

That’s been the case since last build I thought

[stiff patrol]

That's SRG320 saying hes being held in a toothpaste factory

[burnt matrix]

YESSS!!!!

[sudden tusk]

https://tenor.com/view/mr-bison-street-fighter-yes-gif-3718772

[burnt matrix]

Pins updated

[polar geode]

Vampire Saviour is booting now, wouldnt before for me

[wise brook]

the news of Guardian Heroes warrants a good gif

https://tenor.com/view/isekai-ojisan-uncle-from-another-world-gif-25986472

[naive whale]

Everyone; to help me get this video out tomorrow please DM me games that work

[stiff patrol]

Quest 6 4 works on the Saturn core

see even the puny Saturn can have a Quest !

[old pasture]

https://twitter.com/srg320_/status/1696213491718172756?t=qE5y0KHY68BCFvcms2_n_Q&s=19

Sergiy Dvodnenko (@srg320_)

Saturn FPGA progress update.
SCU:
-rework interrupt status bits reset
-correct Timer0 comparison, fix Timer1 sync mode (SimCity 2000)
-fix unaligned DMA write to BBUS (Contra)

VDP1:
-fix CEF/BEF flag (Cyber Troopers,Thunder Force V)
-fix Color table load (NHL 98)

Twitter · Aug 28, 2023, 5:29 PM

[stiff patrol]

yep you are slow

builds are above for both dual and single

[old pasture]

Lol

Always late to the party

[pearl harbor]

Is this the single ram build?

[stiff patrol]

and you missed the N64 build that just got deleted

[hollow pier]

@pearl harbor yes should be

[tulip urchin]

sound working?

[old pasture]

I saw test builds highlighted, and then it wasn't lol

[stiff patrol]

It had issues and was generating spurious reports

so Robert pulled it

[old pasture]

Well, back at work, so less vids lol

Cool

[pearl harbor]

I just love how Robert gives us a couple days off, and srg320 is like "Nah man, it's Saturn time $%#^es!"

Bug! is back in action!

[sacred goblet]

good!

[pearl harbor]

Sega Rally is still working on my end.

Still the same audio issues though.

Can't get Shinobi to load still...

[ancient surge]

Shinobi Legions still fails to boot...

[winter phoenix]

heavens to Betsy, a new core update!

[pearl harbor]

Still can't get In the Hunt to load. It used to load in older builds, but in the last couple builds it no longer works for me.

[ripe valley]

Did you tried to remove the player 1 pad after the BIOS loads ?

The game have a bug found on the retail version where we need to remove all pads before entering into the game, otherwise it will do a black screen.

[ancient surge]

Oh hey Madou Monogatari is now moving at normal speeds!

[ripe valley]

Still no chance on Gokujou Parodius Da! and Salamander 2...

[sudden tusk]

Well at least guardian heroes works now

[pearl harbor]

Portraits in Grandia are still messed up.

[sudden tusk]

I’m gonna see if shinning force IiI is fixed

[wanton elk]

Can you get past the opening cinematic?

[ancient surge]

Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon also runs at normal speed, except for the title for some reason. Maybe the interlacing on the title screen trips it up still?

[sudden tusk]

Shinning force IiI still crashing when you try to use a healing spell

Let’s see if sonic R still has messed up sky

[sacred goblet]

Another comit from sgr320 37 minutes ago!

[ancient surge]

Gussun Oyoyo S runs at normal speed now.

Seems this update fixed the games that were running at half speed.

[sudden tusk]

Sweet!

Dudes cranking em out!

[pearl harbor]

I was in previous builds. Just loaded my save this time though.

[mortal mist]

ddram: remove unused ports

[ancient surge]

I can confirm Guardian Heroes is working now.

[pearl harbor]

It crashed for me once when an enemy attacked me.

[mortal mist]

autobuild now

[pearl harbor]

Wait, yet another build?

[grim pewter]

will the new commit always upload to unstable nightlies or do I have to build on my own?

[ivory kindle]

gh actions should build a new build

is my understanding

[mortal mist]

yes autobiuld now

[sudden tusk]

Saweeeet!

Happy Monday everyone.

[sudden tusk]

Push that shizzz

[pearl harbor]

So what do we expect to change with that update? Not sure what it means.

[sacred goblet]

When i try to compile i have these messages :

[grim pewter]

Curious too. Some fixes in there. We'll see.

[stiff patrol]

you need the SH repo too

[sudden tusk]

Seems like we ourselves a double rainbow situation and we just don’t quite know what it means yet it’s wonderful

[stiff patrol]

this one

https://github.com/srg320/SH

[sacred goblet]

Ok i try. For the pll _q22 too?

[ivory kindle]

you need all 3 repos to be at the same root level,

saturn_mister, saturn, and sh

[old pasture]

I could call in sick and do videos, but my line manager is a subscriber 😕

[stiff patrol]

just tell him your flight was delayed by the Crash in ATC

[pearl harbor]

You doomed yourself!

[old pasture]

But my Laptop and Mister are with me, so I made some emergency vids

[old pasture]

I know, lol

[sudden tusk]

OMG THUNDERFORCE V IS WORKING!

[old pasture]

Darn

[sudden tusk]

We got full visuals and sound now

[ripe valley]

The game crashes later in-game.
Must be my system, I will reboot completely.

[mortal mist]

ufff 😄

[pearl harbor]

I've only ever played the PS1 version of Thunderforce V. I assume the Saturn version runs better? Anything else different?

[ripe valley]

I was ecstatic too when I saw the game booting and... crash after 1 minute or 2.

[sudden tusk]

Just a little choppy when stuff gets busy but working great otherwise

[sudden tusk]

I just beat the first boss

Single ram

[mortal mist]

don't lie Taco!!!!

you use three ram version core!!!!

😄

[sudden tusk]

Exclusive to me ! How did you know ?

[mortal mist]

is my sixth sense

[sudden tusk]

Level 2

Aside from some minor stutters the game runs great

[ancient surge]

Shining Wisdom now gets past the Sonic Software Planning screen

[sudden tusk]

I love that jingle

“Sonic Software Planning”

I’m gonna see if the textures are fixed in astal level 2

[sacred goblet]

I try in SH2 to compile SH7604 but i have this :

[ancient surge]

Yeah seems like Shining Wisdom works pretty flawlessly now.

[sacred goblet]

I try in SH2 to compile SH7604 but i have this :

[stiff patrol]

you dont compile the SH2 on it own

you chose the dual or single ram in the Saturn_mister repo

and that auto builds all the rest

[sudden tusk]

Might as well for the auto compiler now

[pearl harbor]

Sadly, music still dropps out early in Cotton 2.

[mortal mist]

from auto

[sacred goblet]

I have to copy all file in SH2-master into Saturn_mister directory?

[stiff patrol]

are all at the same level

[sacred goblet]

ah ok

[stiff patrol]

then you go into Saturn_Mister

choose the correct project file and start the compile

[ripe valley]

Thanks for your test, I've completely power-cycled my MiSTer system and redo a playthrough on my side.
Works now.
Too much N64/Saturn tests today.

[ancient surge]

Sonic R is always two steps forward, two steps back.

The sky box is back, but now there's missing sounds.

[pearl harbor]

But the sound is the best part of Sonic R!

Has anyone tested if we still need to do the whole boot.bin/manual load bios thing with this build?

[sacred goblet]

I always have this message when i open project :

[sudden tusk]

Glad it worked out bro

[sudden tusk]

I don’t thinks that’s the case anymore

[stiff patrol]

you are opening Saturn_DS.qpf or Saturn.qpf

[sacred goblet]

saturn.qpf

[stiff patrol]

and you checked out the 3 repos to their own directories

all at the same level

I use github desktop and the clone feature

[sacred goblet]

and at the end :

[stiff patrol]

dont know then but maybe you installed quartus incorrectly

[pearl harbor]

No changes with Radiant Silvergun on my end. Still loads, but no audio when playing.

[zealous karma]

Nights is black screen now

[ripe valley]

Do you use Quartus 17.01 ?

[sacred goblet]

22.1 std

[ripe valley]

You can't compile cores correctly with the last versions of Quartus.
For the Mister environment, it is better to use the 17.01 version of the compiler.

Otherwise, it will ask for files that don't exist on current cores source codes and some PLL definitions that aren't present.

[pearl harbor]

Just tested it, and it sadly still doesn't work. So boot.bin and manual load is still needed.

[sacred goblet]

ok thanks i will try

[pearl harbor]

I'm surprised the bios issues has persisted for three builds now.

[sudden tusk]

Fighting vipers running a bit smoother

[ivory veldt]

Radiant silvergun on dual ram runs but still no sound

[kind stump]

This, and remember to remove the -master when you download it (if you're download it)

[shadow merlin]

Wow, Virtual-On working really well on dual ram!

[polar geode]

Yes, it appears to be fully working

[ancient surge]

Huh, weird that the builds weren't posted on unstable nightlies yet.

[junior oar]

Hi! after version 20230510_16ee8d i only get a black screen. Have dual ram. have tested singel too

no menu... nothing

[mortal mist]

https://vampier.net/Saturn/

• I get a black screen when starting the core
• Make sure to rename boot.rom to boot.bin and load the BIOS in the menu. Make sure your boot1.rom and boot2.rom are renamed as well

[junior oar]

Thank you so mutch 🙂

i only had one bios

[mortal mist]

than it's ok

you can have more

🙂

[polar geode]

A region hacked BIOS is handy for this core, in its current state of development. The core specifically wants one of the Japanese BIOS files to work automatically, but switching regions is kind of annoying so I stick with my hacked one

[mortal mist]

in truth you can call your bios whatever you want, the important thing is that it is in bin format

[mortal mist]

yeah, is the best choice

[polar geode]

Its reasonable to assume when the core reaches a more advanced state this feature will be implemented in

[tawny forge]

@mortal mist any SDRAM metastability improvements in your side with the new core?

[mortal mist]

Sega Rally still works hehe

[tawny forge]

Whoa! Though you're having issues with that previously

Will test in a couple of hours and report back

[mortal mist]

in the previous one was also ok already

But in the earlier ones I had a white screen

it's all changing dynamically 😄

[shadow merlin]

DoDonPachi is running faster on this build, had a lot of slow down before IIRC

[mortal mist]

not europe version haha

ntsc is ok

[tiny flare]

ooh, this is exciting, previosuly would crash on trying to start level or even listen to audio tracks in options menu

[shadow merlin]

Didn't realise there was a PAL version, tbh 😅 . While I grew up with PAL I tend to play NTSC these days

[mortal mist]

yeah , mainly i test ntsc game for Saturn

[ivory kindle]

as you should, PAL is nobodys PAL

[mortal mist]

but have eur ver of Vitual On and NTSC

on the PSX I only use the PAL version 🙂

[shadow merlin]

a PAL copy of Virtual-On is one of the only Saturn games I own physically

[mortal mist]

Guardian Heroes is rock solid for me

gameplay and music

[shadow merlin]

Awesome! Didn't work for me on the last release.

Need to try it out

[tiny flare]

boo, looks like Virtual On is still a hang in the same place

for me at least

and yep, Sega Rally still a white screen

so I guess those memory timing issues are still there

[mortal mist]

for sure

[naive whale]

So what’s working now? Thunder force?

[worthy helm]

is the new rbf up yet?

[polar geode]

TFV seems to work a little more smoothly, but there is a large delay between stage select and gameplay and no sound

[hard reef]

Main difference for me was Guardian Heroes working again

[naive whale]

Awesome

[sudden tusk]

Try rebooting and resetting

[mortal mist]

#1046941029296779344 message

[sudden tusk]

Fixed my white screen

You guys should be playing thunder force v

Cinco

[tiny flare]

yeah, I've tried a few times, very consistent for me

[sudden tusk]

Ooofff my condolences

[mortal mist]

yeah I am playing right now on psx 🙂

[sudden tusk]

A dude in the jotego discord is reporting very slow loading times

[cursive ravine]

the sky is back in Nights!

[sudden tusk]

Also in sonic R

[mortal mist]

don't get used to it, in the next one it will disappear again 😛

[tiny flare]

how is the audio in Sonic R? Last time I tried the music doesn't play or cuts out

well to answer my own question, about the same, although it looks and runs amazingly well

[tawny forge]

Same here

[sudden tusk]

Was distracted trying to help a homie get the core working

[sudden tusk]

Sonic r music is stable for me