Homebrew Saturn emulation using Cotton/Guardian Force testing and debug

[ZER-O]

Thanks you for your time, but it doesn't work as well. Maybe it is size related? I have an idea...hmm

lower it to be less then 900KB
the Background graphic is too much
i can make smaller size, i need time as i have gone to Eat Dinner

convert it to Webp and then Back to PNG it will destroy and resize it to the smallest size possible

 

[EddieRiggs]

lower it to be less then 900KB
the Background graphic is too much
i can make smaller size, i need time as i have gone to Eat Dinner

convert it to Webp and then Back to PNG it will destroy and resize it to the smallest size possible

Yeah, I can confirm, that's size issue. Mostly black image's loading fine. But yesterday I've already tried to decrease size and ~850KB was still too much...
Anyway, the problem is solved. No need to worry, take your time and enjoy your meal=) Thanks!

EDIT: I've made it "The Saturn Way" via dithering. One step closer to real "no alpha channel" experience=)
Anyway, I'll leave this GF_00.tex here. Maybe someone will like it.

 

[shadow256]

yes i noticed if the font
is AKUMAJOU DRACULA X (TRACK 1).BIN
AKUMAJOU DRACULA X (TRACK 1).CUE
or inside .cue text

you must change all to small letters, nothing will work in CAPS on switch

No, I've tested just now with files in cap and no problem, the game launched. I think the binary(ies) filename(s) must be the exact same as indicated in the cue file, respecting lower and uper case letters etc...

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

the issue is they both love to freeze randomly for no reason at all. its an issue thats been known for a long time but never fixed. I have to use Lakka to avoid the issue.

Didn't people find that was caused by the sound driver. Like 'switch_audren_thread' or something. You just change it to whatever the other option is and it fixed the freezing?

 

[simbin]

What files and folders do we need inside LayeredFS titleID location?

Edit: ended up looking something like this

• merged into single bin/cue with CDMage (saved as Cotton2)
• renamed ini to reflect donor game (Cotton2)

\sxos\titles\0100A18015268002\romfs
\atmosphere\contents\0100A18015268002\romfs

Cotton2.cue
Cotton2.bin
Cotton2_Switch.ini
Texture.tex

 

[ZER-O]

No, I've tested just now with files in cap and no problem, the game launched. I think the binary(ies) filename(s) must be the exact same as indicated in the cue file, respecting lower and uper case letters etc...

i always rename files to be shorter
including inside the .cue

always have all 3 matched
.bin
.cue
contents of .cue

i only run into black screen or error with long file names and a CAPS .BIN file name

 

[SpaceJump]

The .bin files CD games have that go along with a .cue file.

I got it to work. However there are small black borders on top and bottom. Is there a way to get rid of these?

 

[deathblade200]

Didn't people find that was caused by the sound driver. Like 'switch_audren_thread' or something. You just change it to whatever the other option is and it fixed the freezing?

never heard of this myself

 

[lingbergh]

Is the DOS-format okay for the CUE file? Or do we need to convert it to LF only?

 

[bahgee]

Yeah, I can confirm, that's size issue. Mostly black image's loading fine. But yesterday I've already tried to decrease size and ~850KB was still too much...
Anyway, the problem is solved. No need to worry, take your time and enjoy your meal=) Thanks!

EDIT: I've made it "The Saturn Way" via dithering. One step closer to real "no alpha channel" experience=)
Anyway, I'll leave this GF_00.tex here. Maybe someone will like it.
View attachment 280451

Does this go in wallpaper or playing guide folder?

 

[ZER-O]

Does this go in wallpaper or playing guide folder?

images as .tex can be placed anywhere you want, can be placed in Playing Guide, Credits, Wallpaper
just rename it to match whatever you are going to replace

if you want it to be the first image you see when you boot up the game, put it in PlayingGuide as first .tex

wallpaper is for backgrounds behind your game

 

[chobochobo]

I've made some tests and sometime a game image could cause problem even if it's a .cue and .bin format witch work on PC. For my test I try with Baku Baku Animal and my first launch was a big fail, two errors and black screen after the first screen to pass. So I've rewrite the file with Cdmage and the game has been finaly launched, audio is realy awful (I've tried to modify some settings in the ini but no change) but the game work. After this I look into the files differences and in the .cue file the path to my binary wasn't good because in the Switch it is case sensitive so be careful with this.

Thanks for confirming my experience. This is the only game that I wanted to play. The sound distortion seems less obvious when docked but I prefer to play it as a handheld.

 

[timewarpgamer]

First off, awesome work to everyone who discovered this and continues to contribute new insights, this is so freaking cool, and I'm really into it even though I already have two Saturns.

I'm dreaming on a 3-Game shmup-fest with the 3-in-one Cotton Guardian collection, Radiant Silvergun is a no-brainer, but what to do with the next two slots? So I turned my testing to some games not already available by other means (i.e. Retroarch), and hopefully some people will find this helpful:

• Blast Wind (JP) - Can't get it to boot, prompts you for "RAM Backup" with two options in Japanese, tried both, and also tried amending the config file cartridge ID with "21" for RAM Backup, but still can't get past the TechnoSoft logo
• Hyper Duel (JP) - Seemed to run fine at least initially, but the input lag was pretty terrible so I stopped playing
• Shienryuu (JP) - Starts off ok, but starts to lag and then a rectangular graphical anomaly (like the graphics are freezing in spot) appears on the right side of the screen

 

[Thorhax]

I got an error at the time of injection, everything seemed to be going ok up until I hit start.
Note: I'm using my title.keys generated in March of 2020, Could this be the problem?

Log attached.

 

[Levine91]

I got it to work. However there are small black borders on top and bottom. Is there a way to get rid of these?

That is literally how it plays on real hardware.
Unless you do a widescreen patch for it, there isn't a way to remove them, no.

 

[MatheusStaffa]

Just finished Mega Man 8 anniversary edition on Cotton 2 injection. I finished 100% with only 2 minor bugs (maybe it's the game bug, not the emulator). The first one is 2 spikes just disappeared suddenly at search man stage and the second one when you defeat bass he has a slight graphical glitch. The game runs great on portable mode with no overclock.
I had to edit the cue file to make it work since it was searching for a iso file but the game was a bin file.

 

[shadow256]

I got an error at the time of injection, everything seemed to be going ok up until I hit start.
Note: I'm using my title.keys generated in March of 2020, Could this be the problem?

Log attached.

I've explained how to inject a game in one of my previous messages, yes your title.keys is the problem and the Hactoolnet error message is clear.

 

[Thorhax]

ok, thank you, French isn't my native language so I'm relying a lot on google to lend a hand in the process, I think some things aren't translating well.

Again, I want to reiterate my many thanks for all the assistance you provide to the community.
I'm sure it must be frustrating to get the same questions over and over again. I'll try to be more diligent with research before asking again. Since I can see in your post a couple pages back explaining that the keys need to be generated from whichever nand the tribute emulator game is currently installed on.

 

[helvetinperkeles]

Wierd. Now that i try again injection i got error check your sourcefiles and hard drive space. What this means? I do have plenty of free space on my hard drive. I have my guardian force nsp file stored in my switch sd card and it is installed in my Switch that i use as source. Have i missed some step or steps here? I tested in other gamefiles also and same result.

 

[shadow256]

ok, thank you, French isn't my native language so I'm relying a lot on google to lend a hand in the process, I think some things aren't translating well.

Again, I want to reiterate my many thanks for all the assistance you provide to the community.
I'm sure it must be frustrating to get the same questions over and over again. I'll try to be more diligent with research before asking again. Since I can see in your post a couple pages back explaining that the keys need to be generated from whichever nand the tribute emulator game is currently installed on.

You don't have made the update of the function in the script? Normaly with this you shouldn't have the force french language problem.

Wierd. Now that i try again injection i got error check your sourcefiles and hard drive space. What this means? I do have plenty of free space on my hard drive. I have my guardian force nsp file stored in my switch sd card and it is installed in my Switch that i use as source. Have i missed some step or steps here? I tested in other gamefiles also and same result.

Without full log file I'll not helping.