Homebrew Saturn emulation using Cotton/Guardian Force testing and debug

[belary]

IIRC you back up the save, and inject disc 2 with the same title ID as you had for disc 1. Or can Checkpoint force import a save into a non-matching game? That would be more convenient as you wouldn’t need to delete disc 1 from your Switch.

thank you i'll try

 

[IllusionMaster17]

Hi! And greetings.
I've been pretty interested in the emulation power on Switch for a good time, from NES to Dreamcast and beyond, and now I am very intrigued with the Saturn emulation.
I have understood that the main method is using the Cotton game using the ZebraEngine. I've seen some videos about how to try it and honestly the results are impressive.
But I ran into some questions that I really need answers.
1. With the first method (placing the Saturn game's .bin file in "atmosphere/contents/romfs" and replacing the Cotton2.cue with the Saturn game's .cue but renamed as Cotton2.cue) working fine, I've seen another way to run multiple games without going with the renaming and moving method, using SimpleModManager-I tried it following a tutorial but it doesn't work. Has someone tried with that method?
2. I have understood that using the Cotton files, now it is possible to convert Saturn games as .nsp files with some configuration process. Does this affects the games' performance or is simply the first method but easier to access?
On a side note, the spreadsheet with the Saturn compatibility list seems to have been deleted/taken down.
Those are my doubts. Hope someone can give me an answer.
Goodnight and see ya!

 

[dragonz]

Does anyone know if The new English patched Princess Crown works?

I'm a bit rusty and I think I couldn't create a workable NSP of it.

 

[hotcofe]

Hi! And greetings.
I've been pretty interested in the emulation power on Switch for a good time, from NES to Dreamcast and beyond, and now I am very intrigued with the Saturn emulation.
I have understood that the main method is using the Cotton game using the ZebraEngine. I've seen some videos about how to try it and honestly the results are impressive.
But I ran into some questions that I really need answers.
1. With the first method (placing the Saturn game's .bin file in "atmosphere/contents/romfs" and replacing the Cotton2.cue with the Saturn game's .cue but renamed as Cotton2.cue) working fine, I've seen another way to run multiple games without going with the renaming and moving method, using SimpleModManager-I tried it following a tutorial but it doesn't work. Has someone tried with that method?
2. I have understood that using the Cotton files, now it is possible to convert Saturn games as .nsp files with some configuration process. Does this affects the games' performance or is simply the first method but easier to access?
On a side note, the spreadsheet with the Saturn compatibility list seems to have been deleted/taken down.
Those are my doubts. Hope someone can give me an answer.
Goodnight and see ya!

I have used SimpleModManager for game integration, and it works very well. All you need to do is put the bin files of other games into romfs, and rename the remaining cues into the mod folder. But it should be noted that because each game may have slightly different settings, it is recommended to put not only the "cue" files but also the "ini" files in the mod folder of each game to replace them.
In addition, because the Saturn emulator has only a few save locations, this method is not suitable for integrating multiple "RPG" type games. I hope it helps you.

Post automatically merged: Apr 22, 2025

Does anyone know if The new English patched Princess Crown works?

I'm a bit rusty and I think I couldn't create a workable NSP of it.

I tried making it, and it worked perfectly.

 

[dragonz]

I have used SimpleModManager for game integration, and it works very well. All you need to do is put the bin files of other games into romfs, and rename the remaining cues into the mod folder. But it should be noted that because each game may have slightly different settings, it is recommended to put not only the "cue" files but also the "ini" files in the mod folder of each game to replace them.
In addition, because the Saturn emulator has only a few save locations, this method is not suitable for integrating multiple "RPG" type games. I hope it helps you.

Post automatically merged: Apr 22, 2025

I tried making it, and it worked perfectly.

Awesome, mind letting us know how you got it working and what tools did you use?

 

[hotcofe]

Awesome, mind letting us know how you got it working and what tools did you use?

First, have you confirmed whether the rom can run normally after the patch is applied? If it can run, then proceed with the integration. Secondly, the integration method is actually the same. You can still put the "bin" and the renamed "cue" files into the romfs folder and then package them. You can double-check whether there is a problem in any step. As for the packaging tool, I use hacbrewpack-v3.05. Finally, I will provide you with a copy of my own settings file. You can also try to replace it, then re-package and run. Remember to change the suffix "zip" to "ini".

 

[dragonz]

First, have you confirmed whether the rom can run normally after the patch is applied? If it can run, then proceed with the integration. Secondly, the integration method is actually the same. You can still put the "bin" and the renamed "cue" files into the romfs folder and then package them. You can double-check whether there is a problem in any step. As for the packaging tool, I use hacbrewpack-v3.05. Finally, I will provide you with a copy of my own settings file. You can also try to replace it, then re-package and run. Remember to change the suffix "zip" to "ini".

Got it working , Thanks

 

[HimJow]

did anyone manage to run sakura taisen and transfer the save file from disc 1 and disc 2?

 

[belary]

I tried Princess Crown , game sound is not working perfect

 

[princessvini]

Hi guys just beat Princess Crown on switch ! fully working with sound (even run better than on my pc)
Here is how I did:

1-use Cave to create a NSP of your game
1.5- If you stop here sometime the game dosent run or you can't open the - menu (and princess crown button NEED to be remap or your action button gonna be R
2-During the port note the Generated ID somewhere
3-Now you have "YOURGAMENAME-GENERATEDID.nsp" install it on your switch
4-Create a folder with "YOURGAMEID/Romfs" and put the base files from Allinoneswitchtool (background pictures and .Ini files)
5-Now you can enjoy your game !

Now for save transfert that work when you migrate from princess crown english patch ver to another one
1-Make a real save ingame (no savestate)
2-Use jskv and dump the same
3-Inject the save on the other version
4-Run the game and load the save (you can now use savestate again)
This may work for multiple CD games (haven't try yet)

 

[HimJow]

Hi guys just beat Princess Crown on switch ! fully working with sound (even run better than on my pc)
Here is how I did:

1-use Cave to create a NSP of your game
1.5- If you stop here sometime the game dosent run or you can't open the - menu (and princess crown button NEED to be remap or your action button gonna be R
2-During the port note the Generated ID somewhere
3-Now you have "YOURGAMENAME-GENERATEDID.nsp" install it on your switch
4-Create a folder with "YOURGAMEID/Romfs" and put the base files from Allinoneswitchtool (background pictures and .Ini files)
5-Now you can enjoy your game !

Now for save transfert that work when you migrate from princess crown english patch ver to another one
1-Make a real save ingame (no savestate)
2-Use jskv and dump the same
3-Inject the save on the other version
4-Run the game and load the save (you can now use savestate again)
This may work for multiple CD games (haven't try yet)

can you tell me how to switch discs and keep the same save file using this NSP technic

 

[princessvini]

Make a NSP for the game CD1 play and save
Make a NSP for the game CD2 run it once and quit
Use jksv and dump the save from game cd1 and game cd2
Import the save from game cd1 on game cd2
I haven't tested it but maybe that should work

 

[GoonKing6000]

Quick Question, does anyone have the INI for nights into dreams???

 

[princessvini]

Reply I used the one from switchAllinOne thing it work great BUT when loading the game I had a black screen and had tio press + and wait maybe 30 sec before the game run

 

[GoonKing6000]

Alrighty sounds good. Thank you so much!

 

[GoonKing6000]

Chat one question (Sorry for asking too much questions I am new to all this homebrew stuff), but how would I be able to change the title of my game??? As it still shows up as Cotton Boomerang Saturn-tribute

 

[princessvini]

Create a custom nsp using cave manager for your game ! you gonna have a new custom game with a random id

 

[GoonKing6000]

Create a custom nsp using cave manager for your game ! you gonna have a new custom game with a random id

It worked! Thank you so much man!!

 

[IllusionMaster17]

I have used SimpleModManager for game integration, and it works very well. All you need to do is put the bin files of other games into romfs, and rename the remaining cues into the mod folder. But it should be noted that because each game may have slightly different settings, it is recommended to put not only the "cue" files but also the "ini" files in the mod folder of each game to replace them.
In addition, because the Saturn emulator has only a few save locations, this method is not suitable for integrating multiple "RPG" type games. I hope it helps you.

Greetings! It has been a good while since I posted here.
I followed your method with SMM and afte some tweaking I got it working perfectly. Thanks!.
And so far I've tried a lot of Saturn games, some with excellent results (Megaman X4, Saturn Bomberman, Christmas NIGHTS), some with mixed results such as slowness or audio stuttering (Fighters Megamix, Sonic R) and some simply doesn't boot up or freeze (NIGHTS, Sonic Jam).
I get it's some kind of compatibility issue and for that some .ini files are needed for those specific games and some games are simply uncompatible. If there's a source to address all these problems please let me know.
And about RPGs like Shining Force, Grandia or Lunar, which method should I use to play them and keep progress?
That's all for now. See ya!

 

[hotcofe]

Greetings! It has been a good while since I posted here.
I followed your method with SMM and afte some tweaking I got it working perfectly. Thanks!.
And so far I've tried a lot of Saturn games, some with excellent results (Megaman X4, Saturn Bomberman, Christmas NIGHTS), some with mixed results such as slowness or audio stuttering (Fighters Megamix, Sonic R) and some simply doesn't boot up or freeze (NIGHTS, Sonic Jam).
I get it's some kind of compatibility issue and for that some .ini files are needed for those specific games and some games are simply uncompatible. If there's a source to address all these problems please let me know.
And about RPGs like Shining Force, Grandia or Lunar, which method should I use to play them and keep progress?
That's all for now. See ya!

Essentially, "COTTON2" is not a perfect Saturn game emulator, but a defective version of "SSF" emulator. For example, there are problems such as "bios" files cannot be called and compatibility is too poor. As for the many games you mentioned that cannot be perfectly emulated, most of them are still problems with settings. But because the settings of each game are different, I should not be able to give you a perfect solution. But I may be able to provide some game "ini" configuration files if you need it.