Homebrew Saturn emulation using Cotton/Guardian Force testing and debug

iLL wiLL

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2013
Messages
367
Trophies
1
Age
43
XP
571
Country
United States
you should be on fat32 exfat is no good if you like emulation
is there a site were I can download these xci versions??? someone should upload these to Google drive or mediafire. appreciate the info also.is there a noob guide on how to do this and create an xci instead of nsp??? I rather use xcis.direct boot.I miss playing saturn.I loved my saturn I think it was even better then dreamcast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tatundria

Levine91

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2011
Messages
182
Trophies
1
XP
1,014
Country
United States
is guardian force another saturn release??? everybody seems to be using cotton as the base.I have no idea how to inject a game!!! never did this before.can you explain how to do this with guardian force?? I really wanna play the English translated version of castlevania SOTN.thanks

Guardian Force is indeed one of the Saturn releases.
For no particular reason, it's been my base for every single game.
It'll work, both Cottons, and the 3 pack all will work.
 

iLL wiLL

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2013
Messages
367
Trophies
1
Age
43
XP
571
Country
United States
I have no clue on what to do.I've read every tutorial in here.I've never injected a game before.I got both games and the castlevania sotn which I want to replace with .I got the image to.I just wanna make that game for now.also can I make it into a xci instead??? what's the easiest way to do this???? I even watched the youtube video and I'm totally lost but the guy did say ppl are uploading them somewhere.any help appreciated thanks.
 

Thorhax

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
472
Trophies
0
Age
43
XP
2,110
Country
Canada
Does anyone have a good program or write up on how I can create my own custom NSPs with icon artwork? Thanks!
Check back a few pages for the "Switch-ultimate-hack-script"
This is the program you're looking for.
Remember you'll need to 1. Install the basic cotton/guardian force nsps to your switch 2. dump your switch's up to date console keys and copy them to your pc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: fst312

Rikua

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
204
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
2,094
Country
United States
Check back a few pages for the "Switch-ultimate-hack-script"
This is the program you're looking for.
Remember you'll need to 1. Install the basic cotton/guardian force nsps to your switch 2. dump your switch's up to date console keys and copy them to your pc.
I have the script up and running, however, NSC_builder is giving me the business lol After launching it through the script, i go through the steps to make my ncaDecrypted folder an NSP, however, when it says all process' are complete, this text shows up: "nsc_builder the system cannot find the file list.txt" and no files are created in the output folder. I even went ahead and moved everything to the root of another drive just in case, nope same error. Which keys should I be using? Prod, title, keys.dat, or my keys.txt?

EDIT: Ignore all of that, I went back a ton of pages and found some good info, however, I go through the "Saturn steps" and when it gets to an output folder I select, the whole thing closes and there is no output, wondering what I'm doing wrong lol

DOUBLE EDIT: Forgot my log like a dumb dumb lol
 

Attachments

  • Ultimate-Switch-Hack-Script-LOG.rar
    8.4 KB · Views: 102
Last edited by Rikua,

shadow256

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Messages
180
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
1,293
Country
France
I have the script up and running, however, NSC_builder is giving me the business lol After launching it through the script, i go through the steps to make my ncaDecrypted folder an NSP, however, when it says all process' are complete, this text shows up: "nsc_builder the system cannot find the file list.txt" and no files are created in the output folder. I even went ahead and moved everything to the root of another drive just in case, nope same error. Which keys should I be using? Prod, title, keys.dat, or my keys.txt?

EDIT: Ignore all of that, I went back a ton of pages and found some good info, however, I go through the "Saturn steps" and when it gets to an output folder I select, the whole thing closes and there is no output, wondering what I'm doing wrong lol

DOUBLE EDIT: Forgot my log like a dumb dumb lol
The problem was the parentheses on your icon's path but with the new update released juste now it should be fixed. Also, title.keys is not required anymore, just need the prod.keys. And normaly now the three standalone games should work properly, files that are copied are verified but I have not tested it extensively so I will need some error reports if you encounter some problems.

Is there a comparability list of which games work? I want to try street fighter alpha 2.
Work on compatibility list is in progress but not ready to be public yet. For your game I think you will have no problem, try and you will see.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rikua

Rikua

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
204
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
2,094
Country
United States
The problem was the parentheses on your icon's path but with the new update released juste now it should be fixed. Also, title.keys is not required anymore, just need the prod.keys. And normaly now the three standalone games should work properly, files that are copied are verified but I have not tested it extensively so I will need some error reports if you encounter some problems.


Work on compatibility list is in progress but not ready to be public yet. For your game I think you will have no problem, try and you will see.
Thanks! Can I just update via the script? Or should I just grab it from github and overwrite? Thanks a ton for this script!
 

Prb

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2020
Messages
1,031
Trophies
1
XP
3,849
Country
United Kingdom
Thanks! Can I just update via the script? Or should I just grab it from github and overwrite? Thanks a ton for this script!
You can do it via script or just download from github
As I said to you on another site that we can't speak about on gbatemp I'll take you through it just busy this morning
 

Rikua

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
204
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
2,094
Country
United States
The problem was the parentheses on your icon's path but with the new update released juste now it should be fixed. Also, title.keys is not required anymore, just need the prod.keys. And normaly now the three standalone games should work properly, files that are copied are verified but I have not tested it extensively so I will need some error reports if you encounter some problems.


Work on compatibility list is in progress but not ready to be public yet. For your game I think you will have no problem, try and you will see.
Just updated and tried it with everything in the same location, no dice. Same thing happens chief. I'm going to attach my log for that and move some files around and try it.

EDIT: Moved all of my files around and got the same result, attached is Log 3 which is the most recent with the moved files.
 

Attachments

  • Ultimate-Switch-Hack-Script-LOG2.rar
    12.9 KB · Views: 103
  • Ultimate-Switch-Hack-Script-LOG3.rar
    9.1 KB · Views: 109
Last edited by Rikua,

MDashK

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
281
Trophies
1
Location
Internetus Exploratis
Website
www.mixwaves.net
XP
746
Country
I see a BIOS option in the .ini has anyone explored running a BIOS?
Setting the BIOS doesn't work, as mentioned in previous posts. Still no one found how to activate that.

Check back a few pages for the "Switch-ultimate-hack-script"
This is the program you're looking for.
Remember you'll need to 1. Install the basic cotton/guardian force nsps to your switch 2. dump your switch's up to date console keys and copy them to your pc.
Use Guardian Force as base. Cotton doesn't work correctly with the SUHS script, as mentioned by shadow previously.
Also, the wallpapers always fail to replace with me, you might need to replace them manually during conversion.

Make sure to use the script in a directly the smallest name possible, without any special characters in-name. Something like "D:\SUHS\" is best.
 

Rikua

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
204
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
2,094
Country
United States
Setting the BIOS doesn't work, as mentioned in previous posts. Still no one found how to activate that.


Use Guardian Force as base. Cotton doesn't work correctly with the SUHS script, as mentioned by shadow previously.
Also, the wallpapers always fail to replace with me, you might need to replace them manually during conversion.

Make sure to use the script in a directly the smallest name possible, without any special characters in-name. Something like "D:\SUHS\" is best.
I'm using GF nsp as a base and I decided to take your advice and shorten all paths. Still the same result as my previous attempts. Attached is Log 4 with the shortened paths for those interested.
 

Attachments

  • Ultimate-Switch-Hack-Script-LOG4.rar
    11.9 KB · Views: 97
  • Like
Reactions: Thorhax

ganons

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
3,289
Trophies
1
XP
3,086
Country
The problem was the parentheses on your icon's path but with the new update released juste now it should be fixed. Also, title.keys is not required anymore, just need the prod.keys. And normaly now the three standalone games should work properly, files that are copied are verified but I have not tested it extensively so I will need some error reports if you encounter some problems.


Work on compatibility list is in progress but not ready to be public yet. For your game I think you will have no problem, try and you will see.

Is there a simple guide to follow?
 

PhyChris

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
368
Trophies
1
XP
2,060
Country
Canada
Setting the BIOS doesn't work, as mentioned in previous posts. Still no one found how to activate that.
Cool, I have been looking over this .ini and the 'official' SSF.ini seems the setting should be (SaturnBIOS="BIOS.BIN")
SSF_PC tries to store the Full/Directory/Name of your bios choice there but will load a straight file name from its same directory.

Might be some hidden options as well!

# CardridgeID
# ff = none
# 21 = Backup RAM Cartridge
# 5a = 1MBytes RAM Cartridge
# 5c = 4MBytes RAM Cartridge
#
# Areacode
# 1 = Japan
# 2 = Taiwan, Korea, Philippines
# 4 = America, Canada, Brazil
# c = Europe, Australia, South Africa

[Peripheral]
Areacode="1"
AutoAreacode="1"
CDDrive="0"
CDImage=""
CDImageEnable="0"
CartridgeID="5c"
DataCartridge=""
DataCartridgeEnable="0"
STVBIOS=""
SaturnBIOS="BIOS.BIN"
 
  • Like
Reactions: anon730

MDashK

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
281
Trophies
1
Location
Internetus Exploratis
Website
www.mixwaves.net
XP
746
Country
Cool, I have been looking over this .ini and the 'official' SSF.ini seems the setting should be (SaturnBIOS="BIOS.BIN")
SSF_PC tries to store the Full/Directory/Name of your bios choice there but will load a straight file name from its same directory.

Might be some hidden options as well!

# CardridgeID
# ff = none
# 21 = Backup RAM Cartridge
# 5a = 1MBytes RAM Cartridge
# 5c = 4MBytes RAM Cartridge
#
# Areacode
# 1 = Japan
# 2 = Taiwan, Korea, Philippines
# 4 = America, Canada, Brazil
# c = Europe, Australia, South Africa

[Peripheral]
Areacode="1"
AutoAreacode="1"
CDDrive="0"
CDImage=""
CDImageEnable="0"
CartridgeID="5c"
DataCartridge=""
DataCartridgeEnable="0"
STVBIOS=""
SaturnBIOS="BIOS.BIN"
It was tried before, didn't work.
Or rather, let me rephrase this:
The emulator SEEMS to be using BIOS, but since they can't show the BIOS intro itself due probably to copyright reasons, it is hidden.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PhyChris

shadow256

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Messages
180
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
1,293
Country
France
I'm using GF nsp as a base and I decided to take your advice and shorten all paths. Still the same result as my previous attempts. Attached is Log 4 with the shortened paths for those interested.
New version that should fix bugs, this parentheses problems are realy difficult to manage.

If someone could send me a pack containing all tex customized I'll make some test on that, I see someone witch have problem with copying these with the script but I have nothing to make my tests and I don't want to search in the whole topic to find the ressources that I need.
 
Last edited by shadow256,

ZER-O

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2021
Messages
876
Trophies
1
XP
2,725
Country
United Kingdom
New version that should fix bugs, this parentheses problems are realy difficult to manage.

If someone could send me a pack containing all tex customized I'll make some test on that, I see someone witch have problem with copying these with the script but I have nothing to make my tests and I don't want to search in the whole topic to find the ressources that I need.
ill give you one with full swap of Sega Saturn Plain wallpapers, and generic 8 images player guide as a template placeholder tomorrow, its not ready

the Texture .Tex now we have several versions of it with various names for what the player folder contains
example
Cucholix made one with Game Manual, Image Gallery, Extras
helps customize what kind of content you are adding in those 8 images
credits folder can hold 3 or 8 images, not tested yet

i cant share it now until i make a base template for each folder in Guardian Force RomFS
 
  • Like
Reactions: shadow256

shadow256

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Messages
180
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
1,293
Country
France
ill give you one with full swap of Sega Saturn Plain wallpapers, and generic 8 images player guide as a template placeholder tomorrow, its not ready

the Texture .Tex now we have several versions of it with various names for what the player folder contains
example
Cucholix made one with Game Manual, Image Gallery, Extras
helps customize what kind of content you are adding in those 8 images
credits folder can hold 3 or 8 images, not tested yet

i cant share it now until i make a base template for each folder in Guardian Force RomFS
No problem, you'll send me that when it's ready, personnaly it's not realy important against ini config files and injecting my games easily.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zomorph

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    Veho @ Veho: Mkay.