Sega Saturn Piracy

>>4012102
>endanger my laser as little
Bull unless someones comes with proof (that's isn't in word alone)

anyway, you really have 2 choices
1. modchip it
2. use Pseudosaturn Kai

>>4012102
three options, in order of desirability:
>rhea/phoebe (expensive, very hard-to-get due to moderately high demand for such a low production product)
replaces the disc drive completely with an SD slot
>modchip
directly boots burned games, leaves the cart slot open
>pseudosaturn (cheapest, easiest, doesn't work with a small handful of games)
replaces the firmware on an Action Replay, boots burned games

>>4012170
>>4012178
Jeez, even piracy of the Saturn is expensive. Thanks for the suggestions- I may be able to afford Pseudosaturn.

What's the state of Saturn emulation these days? I have a nice CRT VGA monitor to minimise lag but are there any glaring flaws I should be aware of?

>>4012202
You can get a pre-flashed Pseudo-saturn cart from China on eBay for $23.

>>4012202
Pseudosaturn isn't that expensive, escpecially if you use an AR cart
>supports 1 - 4 MB RAM games

That reminds me does anyone know if it works different on a model 2?

>>4012170
Burned discs have lower contrast than (clean) pressed discs. This is common knowledge. Anything that lowers the readability of a disc, whether it's damage or lower contrast, can occasionally require an area to be read multiple times. This increases wear on the laser.
So a clean pressed disc will always be best, but if you're using scratched-up originals you might as well use burned discs.
But every brand of disc and burner is different too, so there are too many variables for most people.

>>4012202
>What's the state of Saturn emulation these days?
mednafen is considered pretty good for Saturn, but I haven't used it
ssf is fast and runs on nearly remotely decent computer made in the last 7 years just fine, although it's rumored to be hacky (no one knows what it's doing because we don't have the source) and it has a ton of input lag
yabause still sucks, it's both slow and inaccurate

PsuedoSaturn is good and updated quite often, very likely it'll be 100% compatible in time. You also probably need the extra save space so it doesn't hurt to buy an Action Replay or two.

I've been using Yabause for Saturn emulation and I never noticed any "slow" or "innacuracy".

And that includes playing with a game I have made a speedrun of on real hardware.
So, I'd have noticed.

I have went the pseudo saturn route and I am quite happy.

Though when I play for over 2 hours the saturn stops reading disks for some reason. But to make it work I just punch it on the side while pressing the power button on and off till it lights up and it works.

I've been looking for PseudoSaturns on eBay but I can't find any currently that are cheap. I'll probably end up waiting until a cheap one comes up because they're all around £50 right now.

I'm gonna give Mednafen a go and see how it is for now.

Thanks fellas. Such a shame that it's so difficult to pirate the Saturn.

>>4012503
http://www.ebay.com/itm/152552308637

Guy is legit, I bought one of his PC Engine RGB adapters.

>>4012503

EMS Action Replay goes for £20-£30, buy that. The flashing takes like 10 minutes max and is piss-easy.

The rhea is the way to go
It takes time and effort,
But once you have it
Your in paradise

>>4012616

Some of us have lives to live, buddy. I'd happily get one if the seller could get his shit together but half an hour of open orders at 5am every three to four months is fucking ridiculous.

>>4012350
A laser emitters lifespan is about total hours lit not about passes performed. I suppose if load times are longer the laser might be lit for fractions of a percent longer in the grand lifespan of the console but it's not like the lasers burn brighter or something when they re-read. It probably puts a bit more stress on the worm gear but I've yet to see a Saturn or Dreamcast with one of those burned up. On Playstation I've always just replaced the whole assembly.

Is model 2 better for pseudosaturn?

>>4012350
Can't you show me a source?

>>4012202
Mednafen Saturn, although still technically in an early stage, is very good. Many people are reporting outstanding compatibility and personally it has run everything I threw at it flawlessly. Also very easy to set up compared to ssf, specially if you run it through retroarch. Only downside is that you need a pretty good rig, official requirements are an haswell i5 at >3Ghz

>>4012668
I agree. I doubt it makes a huge difference, but I imagine it can make a small one, especially on lower-quality burns or discs.

Can you replace Saturn lasers? How much does it cost?

>>4012713
Look up how burned discs and pressed discs work. Pressed discs have pits literally cut or pressed into them and are extremely high contrast. Disc drivves read this patterns of pits to read the data.
Burned discs come in many different varieties, but they all work by having a reactive chemical layer that can be burned by a laser to become darker. This creates dark spots that your disc drive will read as pits, but they're not as sharp, high-contrast, or long-lasting as actual pits. There are many different kinds of burnable discs (and disc burners), and some are much better than others, but it can be hard to get ahold of the good stuff these days as discs are becoming less common.

File: 69930fe7-47a4-4362-9280-b59832261a35_zps83cc0753.jpg (138KB, 587x494px) Image search: [Google]

138KB, 587x494px

>>4012202
You can buy super cheap saturn phantom modchips from zero2k11 and bad_ad84 for 30 dollars
https://www.obscuregamers.com/

>>4012662
Somethings are worth waiting for

>>4012662
And there's this guy on here who got three of them so it can't be that hard

>>4012616
I just paid for mine :E

>>4012662
>Some of us have lives to live, buddy. I'd happily get one if the seller could get his shit together but half an hour of open orders at 5am every three to four months is fucking ridiculous.

You can get them on ebay almost constantly.

>>4012102
Best options are modchip from that canadian guy or pseudosaturn

I say go with modchip because you have to take your saturn apart anyway to do pseudosaturn, they both cost the same (assuming you need to buy a new AR) and you don't lose the AR functionality from Pseudosaturn

I say this as someone who did Pseudosaturn because I thought it would be easier.

>>4013415
Welcome to the club. It's a nice club to be in

>>4013430
that, and modchip allows you to boot games directly, instead of going through some retarded menu that doesn't even work half the time.

>>4013448
The rhea menu works perfectly

you can buy preflashed AR carts from china?

does that mean they're using Saturns to flash them? do they have a big room full of Saturs, all right next to each other, no ventilation space, all working 24/7 , suffering swap after swap until they die?

>>4013740
they almost certainly just program the flash rom directly

>>4013740
>swap after swap
You don't have to swap to flash AR.

>>4012102
Just swap it bruh, I highly doubt you'll be playing games on the thing enough to harm it. It ain't like you're playing the thing every night after school anymore.

>>4013740
Would it matter which model you have for Pseudosaturn? Can just plug it in?

Any of the Japanese games translates yet?

>>4013397
>And there's this guy on here who got three of them so it can't be that hard

Those are prototype boards, not retail ones.

>>4012503
>looking for PseudoSaturns on eBay
You wot? Mate, you buy an action replay new off Amazon for like 40 quid and flash it yourself.

>>4014005
At least one guy (I linked earlier) is selling what are essentially pre-flashed newly fabricated Pseudo-Saturns. Actually cheaper than buying an AR, not by much, but cheaper and pre-flashed. I'm waiting on AV cables to see if my $13 goodwill Saturn works, but I might pick one up if it does.

>>4014063
it's running an outdated version of pseudo saturn and not even running kai. don't waste your money.

>>4014005
>You wot? Mate, you buy an action replay new off Amazon for like 40 quid and flash it yourself.

Action Replay doesn't allow me to have 120 games built in to the unit with improved loading times, and not needing to worry about whether the laser is reading fine or not.

>>4014065
Listing says he'll put whatever you want on it

>>4013865
>Would it matter which model you have for Pseudosaturn?
No
>Can just plug it in?
Yes

>>4014975
okay, I thought it said somewhere you had to do something with a model 2 before you can use a Pseudosaturn

>>4012239
ebay is hard on piracy. I cannot find any copier/dumper
Have a link to share?

>>4015016
>http://www.ebay.com/itm/152552308637
read the damn thread

>>4015007
People say loads of shit regarding which model is better, but it's all BS because the model number only really defines the aesthetics. The hardware inside can be anything ranging from identical to each other, to 15 revisions apart from each other. Model 2s alone may use 10+ different boards.

Most "guides" and comparisons are completely irrelevant either because they don't mention which board type is inside the unit, or because they were written 10-20 years ago with so limited knowledge of electronics that they can't even do a simple continuity test to determine that no, you do not need that extra wire for the modchip.

As for reliability, both models have their own issues as of this decade.

Picture quality is the same on both, if you bother recapping them - one model may have better or worse quality otherwise.

There is one picture quality issue that only affects model 2s (a rippling on the screen), but iirc this can be remedied by installing some extra bypass caps.

>>4015016
They have Saturn modchips and modded units for sale all the time.

File: 1494257595877.jpg (825KB, 1936x1936px) Image search: [Google]

825KB, 1936x1936px

>>4015047
Seeing how you know a thing or 2 about Saturns, do you possibly now what ails mine? for some reason everytime I try to turn it on now, it makes this buzzing noise, on a HDTV I can't see anything but on a CRT all I get to see is pic related pulsating. Any ideas?

>>4015057
>everytime I try to turn it on now, it makes this buzzing noise

Power supply problem, if you are lucky.

>>4015086
Of the Saturn itself? Anyway to fix this?

>>4015097
Get a new power supply. You can get surplus parts from ebay.

>>4016249
You mean I have to make my own? I'm sure that would cost more than buying another.

>>4016665
He means you should buy a busted Saturn on eBay and rip out the power supply. Or you can make your own if you're feeling brave.

>>4016754
No, I mean exactly what I said: you can get surplus parts on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/142367324813
http://www.ebay.com/itm/142367324906
http://www.ebay.com/itm/142367324818
http://www.ebay.com/itm/142367324710
http://www.ebay.com/itm/172648928994
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182549650548

Do not fucking make your own power supply if you can't even diagnose whether one is bad or not.

>>4017170
I'd like to make a battery pack for my Sega Nomad that plugs into the AC port. How would I learn to make this? What would I need to know and where could I learn it?

I'm aware that it's potentially dangerous and that I would need to do research and practice before trying it.

>>4017409
Go to a school and take some lessons on electrical engineering.

File: rhea shipped.png (4KB, 390x166px) Image search: [Google]

4KB, 390x166px

who else is excited?

>>4017409
It's easy. Just build a nomad that runs of AC and then plug wires from the mains into that "AC port".

>>4017658
don't tell people to play with mains power
someone might kill themselves

>>4017170
>http://www.ebay.com/itm/182549650548
this one seems to be the same with what I have, but is there a way I can test/say for sure it's the Power Supply that causes this problem?

you have five seconds to name five sega saturn exclusives that are worth buying

>>4018437
>is there a way I can test/say for sure it's the Power Supply that causes this problem?

Use an oscilloscope to measure the output voltages and check if they are stable and have no noise on them.

>>4018457
jabanese-xclusive

>>4018457
four copies of saturn bomberman and one copy of burning rangers

>>4012102
I don't know anything about the guy who makes the SD card mod.

Any chance he'd be willing to share how to make it as long as he gets credit, or that he's maybe be interested in selling it to an outfit like Krikzz who would actually be willing to make enough to meet demand?

I'd love for someone to make a version for every disc based system if possible, every ps1 and 2 I've ever owned always crapped out because of the laser. The SD card solution woukd provide a boost in the lifespan of a vidya console on par with curing cancer in humans, this shit deserves to be widespread

>>4018457
Panzer dragoon zwei II
Panzer dragoon zwei II
Panzer dragoon zwei II
Panzer dragoon zwei II
Panzer dragoon zwei II

>>4019143
It's not that simple to make it for other systems because you do not always have a separate drive to replace. Sega CD, PSX, and rev 2 Dreamcasts all have the drive controller logic on the main board, and the only thing you can "plug in" is the lasers ribbon cable.

For those you either have to solder a bunch of cables to the board to tap the data signal, or make a sd loader that "emulates" not the drive logic but the analog signal coming from the laser diode (considerably harder and more limiting).

Saturn and DC had it easy because the drives were completely separate and the data they sent to the system was already digital.

anyone else waiting on the Saturn Satiator?
its just going to be a card you plug into an unused port in the back that will be able to boot from sd/flash drive or whatever.
homebrew will be able to become a thing too.

>>4019239
>anyone else waiting on the Saturn Satiator?

Good luck waiting for that, it's been under "development" for half a decade.

>homebrew will be able to become a thing too.

Homebrew will never become a thing because no one is interested in making Saturn games.

>>4019248
>Saturn Satiator
> Good luck waiting for that, it's been under "development" for half a decade.

The dude is assembling some prototypes right now that will be sent out to kickstarter backers for testing. He also has a pretty good track record of delivering products. It's happening.

>>4012202
Saturn emulation is good, has been since around 2005. SSF and Mednafen are the good emulators. Yabause is utter garbage.

>>4019390
>It's happening.

Sure it does.

Meanwhile, I got a Rhea for a year now, PseudoSaturn for two years now, and modchips for 20 years now. Have fun waiting for "the happening", while everyone else is playing games.

>>4019541
I'm not waiting, friendo. I'm playing games the same way you are. I'm still excited about the Satiator though, because it's good to have options, especially ones that pose fewer risks to the original components. More options won't hurt anyone.

>>4017701
>don't darwin
Why not?

>>4019239
No
>unused port
Get a load of this kid

>>4019667
you saying you use that port?

>>4012102
>Sega Saturn Piracy

That's illegal don't do it.

>>4018457
Panzer Dragoon 1 and 2
Pretty much every 2D multiplat save for SoTN
Fighters Megamix
Fighting Vipers
Saturn Bomberman
Deep Fear
Death Crimson

>>4019802
Yes I am. In fact I have a version of the Saturn that came with something in that port. You saying you don't use that google?

>>4019987
which one, hisaturn, or one of those Asian models? I'm looking for info on the latter.

>>4019992
You can still buy the VCD expansions without buying a new system y'know.

>>4018457
Saturn Bomberman
Saturn Bomberman FIGHT!
Sakura Taisen
Sakura Taisen 2
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Wachenröder
Guardian Heroes
Uno DX
Roommate Inoue Ryoko
That list took more than five seconds but it's also more than five and doesn't include any arcade ports.

>>4019992
I have a hisaturn and a VCD saturn. What do you want to know? AFAIK there was only one VCD model.

>>4013576
We weren't talking about Rhea which is clearly outside of OP's budget.

>>4019987
I know what goes in that port. I had no idea anyone would actually want to use it.

>>4020079
>you can still buy fries without buying a happy meal y'know
>captain irrelevant

>>4020079
>Sakura Taisen
>Sakura Taisen 2
>Panzer Dragoon
Not exclusives.

>>4020223
>i just found out
Happy to have learned you something sport

>>4020231
They were exclusive at release. By that logic Sonic was never a Sega exclusive since they were released on Windows as well.

>>4020103
>I have a hisaturn and a VCD saturn. What do you want to know? AFAIK there was only one VCD model.

Any chance you could open up the mpeg cards and post pics with the chip labels visible? I'm trying to find all the different mpeg cards, and the asia vcd one and the hitachi ones had multiple revisions that you can only identify from the chip labels.

If they are a revision I don't have, I'd be willing to either buy them, or trade for a different card.

>>4020490
I mean some people still prefer VHS and antique bikes and wax cylinders. I should have guessed there were hipsters for VCDs too.

>>4020919
I personally find VHS a "charming" format for older movies. There's something nostalgic about the imperfections of tape. VCD doesn't really have any of that. That being said, I would never consider either a serious medium for watching movies on modern hardware, except for Star Wars

>>4018457
Panzer Dragoon Series
Shinobi X
Shining the Holy Ark
Magic Knight Rayearth
Albert Odyssey
+ Guardian Heroes (nowadays available on X360 as well)

>>4015029

Fucking bought. I just wanted a way to play translations, mainly Shining Force III Scenario 2 and 3 for now. Thanks anon.

>>4020696
Which chips? IIRC the VCD version I have has the same chips as the Sega PAL card except one is in a different package and there's an additional RAM chip on the back side. I know I have pictures of that and I'll see if I can find them. Is there any point though if I'm not interested in selling?

>>4020919
Damn you're retarded kid. First off, there are people who still prefer antique TV games, which is why we have this board. Second there are games that use the card. In fact there's a version of Lunar that requires it. Care to triple down on your ignorance and prove exactly how retarded and autistic you are?

>>4021515
>Is there any point though if I'm not interested in selling?

Yes, it may be able to confirm the existence of previously unknown versions. For example, last year one guy found a prototype USA card that way.

The one I'm interested in is the PLCC chip (which is a SOIC one on the other card). But if you have a pic of the entire board where each chip is visible, that would be equally helpful.

>>4021515
I'm just enjoying seeing how easily baited you are. It's pretty great.

File: i troll you.png (41KB, 755x627px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 755x627px

>>4021530
I'll have a look around for the pic

>>4021536
You're not fooling anyone kiddo

>>4021639
bumping for this

>tfw bought three AR4Ms and flashed one with PsudeoSaturn and use the other as a RAM cart for the games I have that need it
Best decision of my life

>>4012102
You could buy a Saturn USB controller and emulate it all. That'd be the cheapest option

>>4021530
No luck with the pic. It's not an unknown version. It's no longer and undumped version.

>>4023908
>It's not an unknown version. It's no longer and undumped version.

um, what do you mean by that?

My saturn has trouble reading CDs after an hour of gaming. It just stops reading them but works fine if I let it rest a bit.

Is my baby dying ?

>>4023973
ESL? It's a known version and it's been dumped.

>>4021639
No no please go on about the virtues of VCD and how that port isn't totally useless for most Saturn owners. I'm all ears.

>>4024120
Unfortunately yes.
Turn the console upside down when playing it. This will work for a while, but death is inevitable. The sad reality of disc based consoles. Dying lasers, and slipping laser assembly motors.

>>4012102

>>4018457
er, shit
>bulk slash
>panzer dragoon 2
>nights (going to ignore the later PS2 port)
>burning rangers
can't think of another (also, this list is in order)

>>4021120
Is Shinobi X actually good?
It looks super fucking jank.

>>4019541
Anon, something had to happen eventually. Lasers don't last forever and emulation is ass, though it's gotten better over the years. I've got a couple saturns myself and I have a pseudosaturn cart on one of them but I have no delusion that it'll last forever

File: 54466-Shining_Force_3_1st_Scenario_(J)-1.jpg (243KB, 709x709px) Image search: [Google]

243KB, 709x709px

play this game
you won't regret it trust me
best strategy rpg for the system 10/10
music is god tier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiG9cte5FaA

I'm retarded, and can't figure out what kind of fucking wire i need for soldering the phantom universal mod chip to the disc drive

Help would be greatly appreciated.

>>4026241
Well there's some other games you nothing about. That use the card you know nothing about. That uses the port you know nothing about.
>ears
That's not how you spell summer faggot

>>4026628
>I'm retarded, and can't figure out what kind of fucking wire i need for soldering the phantom universal mod chip to the disc drive

You need the kind of wire that conducts electricity.

>>4026906

but i mean like specifically what voltage and gauge and shit like that

>>4027728
doesn't really matter as long as you use something that isn't some shitty single wire cable that breaks if it gets bent 1 degrees.

>>4027732

i just don't want to fuck anything up i guess, i dropped like $150 getting everything ready to mod it

>>4027752
For $150 I could've sent you a premodded unit.

>>4027762

meh.

overpriced local shitty game stores fault. Wanted $50 dollars for a model 1 controller, i told them just give me the system and power chords, that was $55, and then i just got everything else online.

I'd like to try it myself, but if I fuck up i'll just ask on here for a premodded one.

>>4027776
not really overpriced, even if you get it from ebay or from japan, a full system tends to cost $100 or so.

>>4027923
Not really. You can get consoles for 30-35 shipped without cords from Japan, I've done it a couple times. Cords might cost you 10-15 + a contoller, you're way under 100, probably around 70

>>4027971
>You can get consoles for 30-35 shipped without cords from Japan, I've done it a couple times. Cords might cost you 10-15 + a contoller, you're way under 100, probably around 70

+ Action Replay $30 for your Japanese unit.

>>4028043
I didn't know if you were including that

>>4028070
If you buy a jap Saturn then you kind of have to.

>>4028104
I mean, I guess. Most of my games are Japanese though, I have maybe 5-10 US games

Is using a mod chip and action replay overkill if i have an NA version?

I want to play the Jap games I never got the chance to.

>>4028265
If you use a mdochip only, you still need to region patch games prior to burning them.

But, even if you don't need region unlocking, AR is semi-useful for backing up saves and as a 4mb expansion.

I'd use a region free bios for region unlock, modchip for games, and backup cart for saving (directly from ingame).

>>4028286
>semi-usefu
You mean it will be semi-long before the AR eats your save. kek

If you're going to put in a mod chip you might as well put in fram as well.

>>4028431

So they are not reliable for saving to then?

Do internal memories still work on Saturns now a days?

>>4028431
>You mean it will be semi-long before the AR eats your save. kek

So do normal memory carts. The cart slot is shit, everyone knows.

>>4029743
They're not. Internal memory has always been shit. FRAM is your friend.

>>4029789
>everyone has read this on the internet
Never had a problem with any of my saturns. Might be a swartse problem.

>>4029972
>Never had a problem with any of my saturns. Might be a swartse problem.

I had 2 backup carts die on me with all my saves, as well as one AR that bricked itself.

>They're not. Internal memory has always been shit. FRAM is your friend.

Internal memory is too slow to be useful for anything, so there is fuck all point in modding it for FRAM.

>>4030003
Well ARs will do that. Never heard about the internal memory being slow. Sauce?

>>4018616
I don't have a oscilloscope so I couldn't test it, but I got another power supply today, and while the buzzing is gone. It still does nothing.

>>4030141
sorry, I meant small, not slow.