Homebrew Saturn emulation using Cotton/Guardian Force testing and debug

[Purple_Shyguy]

Any idea if you could replace/delete the "options" graphic that's permanently in the corner.

As for games -
2D;
Gradius G - fullspeed
Guardian Heroes - Fullspeed
Bulk Slash - Fullspeed

3D;
Burning Rangers - 50-60fps on stock clocks, overclock for fullspeed
Fighters Megamix - 50fps, needs overclock for Fullspeed
Last Bronx - 50fps, needs overclock for Fullspeed

It seems 2D works pretty much perfect while 3D games need a little OC to get optimal.

 

[alkar]

are the 3 emulators the same compatiblity from your experience?

 

[Deleted member 323844]

Yeah. With OC, Virtual Hydlide music skips gone. Not sure how much it needs, if its a GPU or CPU thing, I just used max to be sure.

I guess HUD can be hide using a transparent graphic. I'm having troubles with UnityEX Ultimate tho, it does not recognize the graphics version directly, so I can only export them as RAW.

Actua Soccer Works fine, but it has noticeable input lag.
Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku Works fine (only tested the initial Dracula fight).
Andretti Racing: Works fine, but it has crazy amount of input lag. Hardly playable.
Alien Trilogy: Works fine.
Bug!: It seems to work fine, with a bit of input lag, but it crashed for me once. I retried and I could finish three stages in a row, so.. better save every level, just in case.
Burning Rangers: Works fine. Perfect performance on the tutorial, haven't tested more.
Clockwork Knight: Works fine.
Clockwork Knight 2: Crashes after the main menu.
Crypt Killer: Crashes instantly.
Croc: A bit of input lag. Logo videos do not play, some fonts are corrupted and in the second level there's a corrupted screen you cannot bypass (it could be random, I haven't tried again). Oh, well, Argonatu's black magic right here.
Darius Gaiden: Works fine, no input lag.
Daytona USA: Works fine but sound is very low, compared to the rest of the games.
Dead or Alive: Black screen. It could have been a wrong cue file, let me re-check tomorrow.
Deep Fear (US prototype): Unplayable, it always hangs in one of the first corridors, with a corrupted screen. I haven't tested the retail EU version yet.
Die Hard Arcade: Works fine.
Die Hard Trilogy: Works fine (only tested the on rails part).
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara: 4MB games do not work.

 

[lisreal2401]

I would assume the Option window/assets are in Texture.tex

Could also be part of main, since the menu overlays everything. I don't have the standalone copies so I can't look there for how it structures assets in the first NCAs

 

[spotanjo3]

What about Mega Man 8 Sega Saturn version ?

 

[alkar]

House of the dead and Daytona USA work perfectly, had to use docked CPU clocks though, in standard handheld was laggy

 

[ploggy]

English translated version of Castlevania SOTN Works!! perfectly.. well, only got as far as Death taking my Weapons and stuff but so far so good

Apparently Castlevania for the Saturn has more Castle to explore, and added Characters compared to the PS1 version, so it's worth playing through the Saturn version if your a Castlevania fan


I just realised if you press the Right Thumb Button while playing Cotton, it goes into "Slow Mode"

 

[Levine91]

Any idea if you could replace/delete the "options" graphic that's permanently in the corner.

As for games -
2D;
Gradius G - fullspeed
Guardian Heroes - Fullspeed
Bulk Slash - Fullspeed

3D;
Burning Rangers - 50-60fps on stock clocks, overclock for fullspeed
Fighters Megamix - 50fps, needs overclock for Fullspeed
Last Bronx - 50fps, needs overclock for Fullspeed

It seems 2D works pretty much perfect while 3D games need a little OC to get optimal.

How were you able to get Bulk Slash to work?
As I stated in my compatibility list on Page 1, it hangs on a black screen when trying to start a game

 

[cucholix]

First step for full assets edition

 

[ploggy]

Yeah. With OC, Virtual Hydlide music skips gone. Not sure how much it needs, if its a GPU or CPU thing, I just used max to be sure.

I guess HUD can be hide using a transparent graphic. I'm having troubles with UnityEX Ultimate tho, it does not recognize the graphics version directly, so I can only export them as RAW.

Actua Soccer Works fine, but it has noticeable input lag.
Akumajō Dracula X: Gekka no Yasōkyoku Works fine (only tested the initial Dracula fight).
Andretti Racing: Works fine, but it has crazy amount of input lag. Hardly playable.
Alien Trilogy: Works fine.
Bug!: It seems to work fine, with a bit of input lag, but it crashed for me once. I retried and I could finish three stages in a row, so.. better save every level, just in case.
Clockwork Knight: Works fine.
Crypt Killer: Crashes instantly.
Croc: A bit of input lag. Logo videos do not play, some fonts are corrupted and in the second level there's a corrupted screen you cannot bypass (it could be random, I haven't tried again). Oh, well, Argonatu's black magic right here.
Darius Gaiden: Works fine, no input lag.
Daytona USA: Works fine but sound is very low, compared to the rest of the games.
Dead or Alive: Black screen.

Clockwork Knight works for you? Clockwork Knight 2 work for you too?

 

[Deleted member 323844]

Clockwork Knight works for you? Clockwork Knight 2 work for you too?

I haven't tried CK2 yet, but the first one works fine, at least the first 2 levels.

How were you able to get Bulk Slash to work?
As I stated in my compatibility list on Page 1, it hangs on a black screen when trying to start a game

It works for me, thankfully, since it is among my top 3 Saturn games :-)

 

[ploggy]

I haven't tried CK2 yet, but the first one works fine, at least the first 2 levels.

I cant even get to the Main Menu on Clockwork Knight 2, only to the Part 2 selection screen :/

 

[Levine91]

I cant even get to the Main Menu on Clockwork Knight 2, only to the Part 2 selection screen :/

I still on testing out "Clockwork Knight - Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro" which is the version Japan later received that has both games on a single disc. Curious how it holds up.

 

[ZER-O]

I've been doing some heavy testing of games and boy oh boy the results have been AWESOME!!!
Honestly blew me away with the results... everything listed was tested in HANDHELD mode, NO Overclocking.
Unless noted, I tried to play the first level/tutorial/race/etc to see how things held up.
I really look forward to other people testing more games out and hopefully someone can crack this emulator!

EDIT: Not sure if it'll matter much but every game I tested had all of it's bin files combined via CDmage (so 1 bin, 1 cue)



Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean (USA) (RE) - Perfect

Astal (USA) - Perfect

Burning Rangers (USA) - Almost Perfect (Minor audio cracks at random times, I was able to complete the tutorial no problem)

Bug! (USA) - Perfect

Bug Too! (USA) - Perfect

Bulk Slash (Japan) - Unplayable (Game hangs on black screen after start screen)

Clockwork Knight 2 (USA) - Unplayable (Crashes after main menu)

Die Hard Arcade (USA) - Perfect

Dragon Force (USA) - Perfect

Guardian Heroes (USA) - Perfect

Keio Flying Squadron 2 (Europe) - Perfect

Legend of Oasis (USA) - Perfect

Magic Knight Rayearth (USA) - Perfect

NiGHTS into Dreams... (USA) (RE) - Almost Perfect (Often there is a very minor frame drop, but the only reason I even noticed is due to the audio. Otherwise, you can't even tell.)

Noon (Japan) (Rev A) - Perfect

Panzer Dragoon (USA) - Perfect

Panzer Dragoon Zwei (USA) - Perfect

Panzer Dragoon Saga (USA) (Disc 1) - Almost Perfect (Minor audio cracks at random times, I was able to play on foot & riding on the dragon without issue)

Powerslave (USA) - Perfect

Sega Ages: Power Drift - Almost Perfect (Minor Graphical issues: vehicle disappears when you're on/under a bridge)

Saturn Bomberman (USA) - Perfect

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru (Japan) - Perfect

Sonic Jam (USA) - Unplayable (Crashes at "Press Start" screen)

Sonic R (USA) - Almost Perfect (Minor audio cracks at random times, I was able to finish a race with no issues.)

Virtua Fighter 2 (USA) (RE) - Somewhat Playable (The game has a consistent amount of slowdown it seems, I would say it's in the 40-50fps range if I had to guess)

Virtual On: Cyber Troopers (USA) - Perfect? (For some reason the game initially makes you confirm 2 controllers before the start screen. However you can progress as normal in single player after this. No other issues)

shame on you for not testing Radiant SilverGun

 

[ploggy]

I still on testing out "Clockwork Knight - Pepperouchau no Fukubukuro" which is the version Japan later received that has both games on a single disc. Curious how it holds up.

Oh? didnt know there was a 2-in-1 version out there.

 

[Deleted member 323844]

thank you for the valuable info, could you test out 3 games and see if they run, try and finish a whole level
Nights into Dreams
Panzer Dragoon II
Panzer Dragoon Saga (try and walk out of the cave and mount your dragon and do one battle)

I haven't tested them. But Levine91 already reported that those games work.

 

[Levine91]

Oh? didnt know there was a 2-in-1 version out there.

Yup!! It has additional content IIRC, bug fixes, and supposedly CK1 is running on CK2's engine on this version.

 

[ploggy]

Yup!! It has additional content IIRC, bug fixes, and supposedly CK1 is running on CK2's engine on this version.

Thank you, I'll have to check it out

 

[Deleted member 323844]

Clockwork Knight 2 definitely crashes after the main menu :-(

US version.

 

[ZER-O]

View attachment 278761
First step for full assets edition

expect a handsome donation if you manage to run it in forced widescreen

ill try and finish Panzer Dragoon Saga Disc 1 and see what happens when i am asked to switch the Disc