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NeoGAF Official SEGA SATURN Community

nush

Gold Member
However, a big difference was the system selling games: not Virtua Fighter and then FFVII as in Japan, but two Dragon Ball Z games!

Years ago I informed whoever was the "Self appointed record keeper" of the master PAL Saturn list that supposedly contained all the PAL Saturn games that this particular Dragonball Z games was missing from their list. Dude refused to believe he was infallible and that I was mistaken. Even though I owned the silver disc version and had traded the boxed copy years ago. I even took pictures of the silver disc to prove it but it's really hard to photograph the product code printed in the center.

Well, look who was right.

Most Sega fans are great, but those self apponted Sega historians are fucking arrogant pricks.
 

SpiceRacz

Member
raved the joy fantastic

71O78kWYGOL._SL1500_.jpg
 
Good to see you back on the forum! Just in time for all the big Sega news :messenger_beaming:

That was probably the Official Sega Saturn Magazine. It was a top quality publication, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had a hardcore, loyal readership like that.

My current Saturn collection is equal to zero :messenger_persevering: (I had over 20 games for it back then, but gave everything to my younger cousins)
I wonder if your cousins sold them or something. Must be bad to not have anything though. :(

Hoping for some great reveals really!
 

Kazza

Member
I wonder if your cousins sold them or something. Must be bad to not have anything though. :(

Hoping for some great reveals really!

I don't regret giving it to them - they looked super happy and I'm sure they had a lot of fun with it. Hmm, I wonder what they did with it afterwards... While I would love it if they said one future family reunion "Hey, we still have that stored in our parents' loft somewhere. Oh, you're into retro gaming, why don't you take it back, we haven't used it in years!", I don't think that's going to happen (I can't even remember the last time we met).

I might start a new collection, but with Japanese games this time. They're cheaper, plus I think the cases look cool.
 

Kazza

Member
I just finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion for the first time. I was happy to see the Saturn make another cameo appearance in a Japanese show. I'm glad it was Asuka who got to play, and not that pussy
Shinji...he didn't deserve it :messenger_tears_of_joy:

QBvJG93.jpg
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Up until around episode 24, I thought "This would have been great to see back when I was a kid. The cute girls, big biomechs, city destruction etc would have been just my jam". Then I watched the last couple of episodes of the series and the movie and, well maybe it was for the best that my young and impressionable mind wasn't exposed to this after all!

Speaking of the Saturn, are any of the Evangelion games worth buying, or are they just incomprehensible visual novel-type games?

 
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Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
Huh, a cute girl who plays Sega Saturn games. That's pretty much the dream fantasy, isn't it? I'm surprised it wasn't turned into a 1980s rock video ala ZZ Top or Van Halen.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



XL2 has just unveiled his newest demo of Hellslave on Sega Saturn. This shows a single-player deathmatch against four bots. The arena is fairly basic, with a large oval space surrounded by small rooms and hallways. The action is frenetic and chaotic with weapons and bodies flying everywhere. Note the amazing lighting effects on display, including the lights on the walls and the transparent flames from your flamethrower.

XL2 promises to aim for a stable 30 frames-per-second, which is itself a remarkable feat. Heck, all the Generation Five coders by the late '90s were cutting frame rates to the bone on Playstation and Nintendo 64 in order to squeeze out performance. It only goes to show you that all computers and videogame consoles are far more versatile and powerful than even the most stubborn supporters realize. When you don't have to face mounting pressures on time and budget, you can achieve some really amazing feats.

It really is a shame that console generations didn't last ten years from the very beginning. These machines were only realizing their fullest potential just as they were being shuffled out the door. This is doubly true for Saturn, which really did deserve another two years on the market before its retirement. Be honest, you would have been more impressed to see Shenmue and Virtua Fighter 3 on this machine instead of the Dreamcast. And you would have driven a school bus full of nuns off a bridge to have a videogame that looks as good as Hellslave.

This is really going to be spectacular. Can't wait for this summer's official demo to arrive. I've already got my $60 saved for the final version, however long that takes.

Update: I know, it goes without saying, but I really do hope that XL2 would put in a bunch of Goldeneye maps for the multiplayer mode. Add in a "golden gun" mode as well, I'll never ask for anything more.
 
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These machines were only realizing their fullest potential just as they were being shuffled out the door. This is doubly true for Saturn, which really did deserve another two years on the market before its retirement.

YES.

Capcom was starting to hit its stride with almost arcade-perfect ports. That 4MB cart was truly powerful, but it came a bit "too late" in the console's cycle.

I'm not 100% sure if we would've ever gotten something like Street Fighter III* or Garou: Mark of the Wolves on the Saturn, but damn, just thinking about the extended possibilities is exciting.

* Although admittedly Capcom did release that one JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fighting game for the PS1, which was actually a CPS-3 game in its original arcade form (so, a peer to Street Fighter III). But are the same time, that game ran like pure ass on PS1, so.... Meh.
 
I just finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and End of Evangelion for the first time. I was happy to see the Saturn make another cameo appearance in a Japanese show. I'm glad it was Asuka who got to play, and not that pussy
Shinji...he didn't deserve it :messenger_tears_of_joy:

QBvJG93.jpg
zAlvH1w.jpg
sERFz6c.jpg
daNqLlZ.jpg



Up until around episode 24, I thought "This would have been great to see back when I was a kid. The cute girls, big biomechs, city destruction etc would have been just my jam". Then I watched the last couple of episodes of the series and the movie and, well maybe it was for the best that my young and impressionable mind wasn't exposed to this after all!

Speaking of the Saturn, are any of the Evangelion games worth buying, or are they just incomprehensible visual novel-type games?


She even had a SEGA TV! :LOL:

Hi-Score Girl's Second Season has the Main Character owning a SEGA Saturn and one of his Classmates a Playstation 1.

They play Virtua Fighter I think in it? A lot of love for the 90s games and Square's games only ever get a mention despite making the anime.
 

Kazza

Member
She even had a SEGA TV! :LOL:

Hi-Score Girl's Second Season has the Main Character owning a SEGA Saturn and one of his Classmates a Playstation 1.

They play Virtua Fighter I think in it? A lot of love for the 90s games and Square's games only ever get a mention despite making the anime.

Yeah, I watched that show earlier this year, it was great! Good to see the Saturn getting some love in Japan.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
uRyI5MUl.jpg

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Like many fans of classic videogames, I have had to deal with the yellowing of older consoles. There are various causes why this happens, largely a combination of ultraviolet radiation from the sun and fire-resistant material sprayed onto the machines during production (to keep your system from bursting into flames). A number of solutions have been offered over the years, most are very similar to dying your hair, and they can be rather time-consuming and challenging.

However, there is an easier solution: direct sunlight. I read one person's account of leaving their browned-out vintage console in the sun for several days, which restored the original color. My Sega Saturn was beginning to turn brown on the front side, so I thought I would put this hypothesis to the test and try it out.

I put my Saturn onto the living room windowsill where it receives lots of direct sunlight throughout the day, and just left it there for a week. I didn't take any "before" pictures and the condition wasn't terrible, but it was very noticeable and I wished to see the original light grey restored.

As you can see, the experiment was a success. I took these photos last night and everything looks great. The color is uniform across all sides and there doesn't appear to be any side effects. Fortunately, the Sega and Sega Saturn logos weren't affected, as they weren't exposed to sunlight for very long.

If you have any older computer equipment that suffers from the yellow/brown condition, I would recommend the "direct sunlight" method and see if that helps. Just place in direct sunlight and leave it there for several days or a week, and try this method before moving on to the hydrogen peroxide.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus


Here is another new video of Hellslave in action. According to developer XL2, "Since some people asked me if my engine could handle something like CTF-Face from Unreal Tournament, here is the proof."

Once again, we see just how powerful Sega Saturn when in the hands of skilled programmers. This looks fantastic.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





Let's just take a moment to observe just how unbelievably lazy and incompetent Sega of America was in handling the Saturn. We have two videos to show. The first is the infamous 1996 Sonic Xtreme demo that uses the Nights engine. The second is the boss demo that Hellslave coder XL2 created not too long ago using the SGL.

SoA and Sega Technical Institute had two full years to put together a 3D Sonic game, and it's pretty obvious that they simply slapped something together in a single day. What the hell were they doing all this time? That crappy stage demo was all they had to show for all that time and effort?

See, kids, this is why I argue that Tom Kalinske wanted to kill the Saturn in 1995 and replace it with a 64-bit console in 1996. There wasn't a Sonic title ready to go in '95 because he simply didn't want one. He was holding that ace card for Saturn's replacement, and after passively-aggressively letting Saturn die a quick death, he would immediately go to Japan in January '96 to present his new console idea with Sonic and NFL 96 as key launch titles.

And don't kid yourself. If not for Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop and Sega Rally Championship, Saturn would have been dead by Christmas '95.
 

Deckard_7

Neo Member
uRyI5MUl.jpg

FQ0EnpYl.jpg

AP2ghJ1l.jpg



Like many fans of classic videogames, I have had to deal with the yellowing of older consoles. There are various causes why this happens, largely a combination of ultraviolet radiation from the sun and fire-resistant material sprayed onto the machines during production (to keep your system from bursting into flames). A number of solutions have been offered over the years, most are very similar to dying your hair, and they can be rather time-consuming and challenging.

However, there is an easier solution: direct sunlight. I read one person's account of leaving their browned-out vintage console in the sun for several days, which restored the original color. My Sega Saturn was beginning to turn brown on the front side, so I thought I would put this hypothesis to the test and try it out.

I put my Saturn onto the living room windowsill where it receives lots of direct sunlight throughout the day, and just left it there for a week. I didn't take any "before" pictures and the condition wasn't terrible, but it was very noticeable and I wished to see the original light grey restored.

As you can see, the experiment was a success. I took these photos last night and everything looks great. The color is uniform across all sides and there doesn't appear to be any side effects. Fortunately, the Sega and Sega Saturn logos weren't affected, as they weren't exposed to sunlight for very long.

If you have any older computer equipment that suffers from the yellow/brown condition, I would recommend the "direct sunlight" method and see if that helps. Just place in direct sunlight and leave it there for several days or a week, and try this method before moving on to the hydrogen peroxide.
I'm having the same issue with my Saturn, I was thinking about using peroxide but maybe I'll give this a try.
 

Kazza

Member
Although it's an episode about the launch of the Playstation in Japan, it inevitably has quite a bit on the Saturn too. It was fun to see the traditional DF comparisons, but with these 1994 consoles instead of PS5/XSX. 3-0 in favour of the Saturn so far.




Hopefully these videos will help dispel some Saturn myths.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
The sun technique works great. I used it on my grey Atari ST and Atari XE gear.

1040STE Before:


1040STE After:



I'm giving this a big thumbs-up just because it's an Atari 1040 STe. I'd really like to have one of those, or maybe even a Mega STe. How crazy is that?

As for the sun-bleaching trick, all you have to do is put your computer out in direct sunlight for a few days. A week should be more than enough time. Just be sure that it's direct sunlight and not just daylight through the clouds. Give it a try and see what happens.
 

Desavona

Member
So I found out about this satiator cart and decided to dig my Saturn out of the closet that I bought in 2012. It’s a brand new japanese derby stallion Saturn and I just had a look on eBay and now I don’t know if I want to plug it in. Why the hell does retro stuff cost so much? Who are these lunatics paying thousands for a Saturn.
 

Crisium

Member
My Saturn RPGs so far this year, focusing on fan translations. Shining Force 3-1, in preparation for later parts. Not much to say since it's so well known, though the tranlation changed the ending to better fit a trilogy.

Linkle Liver Story

UydQlHz.jpg


Zelta-lite game, tho very linear and short (which is fine by me).

Lunar Silver Star Story

JcPduyo.jpg


Very well known by PS1 players, but Saturn version doesn't have the Working Designs re-balancing they love to do (still uses their translation tho). That might make it better than PS1 for some players (PS1 version lowered XP per fight, and made enemies more of glass cannons).

Grandia

Bsb8tNQ.jpg


uHbfyoA.jpg


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Not done with this one yet (tho im well beyond the first town, this is just where I took my photos). Amazing visuals for the Saturn, which I'm told is better than the later PS1 port. I used to think 3D 32-bit RPGs couldn't have the detail of pre-rendered backgrounds like FF7-FF9. That may be true to an extent, but Grandia really changed my perception. There's detail, houses looked lived in with fire effects, steam/smoke, some reflections, and some objects interact. Battle system is outstanding too, especially compared to other standard turn based stuff circa 1997.
 
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Kazza

Member



The linked article is well worth a read, as it offers lots of info about the game's development. Here's the bit about the prototype:

The prototype that we were able to preserve today was compiled almost two months before the final game was meant to go gold. In the process of getting Project Deluge prepared, we’ve played through many prototypes from various stages of completion. The majority of prototypes that are dated to at most two months before the completion of the first retail release generally don’t have game changing differences. While they might be unfinished to a certain degree, a game would technically be “Beta” if the final release were just two months around the corner. Beta is usually used to describe build milestones where the actual software itself is feature complete, but some parts contain bugs or that certain parts are unrefined/unfinished. However, what’s interesting is that the game in this prototype is considered an Alpha, which indicates that the game is currently in a much more dire state. An alpha build of the game would be missing features, levels that are unimplemented, most likely has a debugger enabled, and the majority of the later segments are rudimentary at best. After playing the prototype, we can definitely see that it most certainly is in an alpha state.

For instance, despite only having four levels to implement - only the first level is entirely playable from start to finish. Despite being the first level, the first level is implemented in a way that is drastically unlike the final. In the final, sections of the first stage are broken down into segments that are loaded in RAM. This gave the developers more memory to use to load more objects, or add more detail to the maps. In the prototype, however, the entirety of the first half of stage one is one segment. That means the game loads the entire first stage into RAM, from start to finish. As a result, the stage is a bit more simplified where most rooms lack the detail that would be eventually added in the final release. However, these differences go far beyond just the aesthetics of the game, but also to the gameplay itself. For example, at one point crystals were collected using “cards” that sometimes spawn from flames when you put them out. This was removed sometime within two months before the game’s completion. The game’s overall difficulty is different as well, with heat levels rising much faster in this build in comparison to the final. The training area is another map that hadn’t even been implemented yet.

The most notable game design choice that was altered for the final was the removal of multiplayer. At this point during development, the developers were still experimenting with implementing some form of multiplayer into the game. As mentioned before, the game was initially designed to have multiplayer from the get go. It started with having network coop capabilities, which was scrapped sometime before the unveiling at TGS 97, before having some form of two player co-op that could work locally instead. How this would’ve worked in the final game is uncertain, but it’s possible it would have utilized the Taisen Cable to some degree. However, this was possibly removed again and reworked as a two player versus mode which ran on one console without split screen. This feature did get implemented to a certain degree in a prototype much later than our build, but was removed for being too buggy. Despite being available on the main menu in this build, the “battle” map (called “taisen” in one of the later builds of the game) hasn’t even been implemented yet. Given the circumstances surrounding all the differences presented in this build and what would make it for the final game, it’s very likely that this game was rushed.

News/Angels with Burning Hearts: Burning Rangers Prototype - Hidden Palace
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
My Saturn RPGs so far this year, focusing on fan translations. Shining Force 3-1, in preparation for later parts. Not much to say since it's so well known, though the tranlation changed the ending to better fit a trilogy.

Linkle Liver Story

UydQlHz.jpg


Zelta-lite game, tho very linear and short (which is fine by me).

Lunar Silver Star Story

JcPduyo.jpg


Very well known by PS1 players, but Saturn version doesn't have the Working Designs re-balancing they love to do (still uses their translation tho). That might make it better than PS1 for some players (PS1 version lowered XP per fight, and made enemies more of glass cannons).

Grandia

Bsb8tNQ.jpg


uHbfyoA.jpg


iJbD338.jpg


Not done with this one yet (tho im well beyond the first town, this is just where I took my photos). Amazing visuals for the Saturn, which I'm told is better than the later PS1 port. I used to think 3D 32-bit RPGs couldn't have the detail of pre-rendered backgrounds like FF7-FF9. That may be true to an extent, but Grandia really changed my perception. There's detail, houses looked lived in with fire effects, steam/smoke, some reflections, and some objects interact. Battle system is outstanding too, especially compared to other standard turn based stuff circa 1997.
Is the fan translation of Lunar Silver Star Story the MPEG version? I've always wanted to try out these games in English, since I'm super bad at Japanese lol
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
Another Saturn classic finally gets a port/remaster:

“Powerslave Exhumed” Officially Announced | NeoGAF

They say it's based on both the PS and Saturn versions, so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. I have to admit that I kind of like the more pixelated look of the originals, but the widescreen and uncapped framerate will be a great improvement.
I'm hoping it actually is based on both! The Grandia HD collection said the same thing, but was basically the PlayStation version :(
 

Kazza

Member
Any thoughts on Astal here? I just played through it for the first time last weekend. Although the the import version got a terrible review in Mean Machines Sega, and adding in the rumour that it apparently sold terribly in the US, not bother to releasing it at all in Europe is still a strange decision to me. Since it was a Sega first party game, they could at least have thrown a basic CD copy of the game for free as part of a 1995 Christmas bundle. It makes no sense to have done nothing with it in PAL territories.

25+ years later and retrospectives on the game have been much kinder, and most yutubers seem to give it a positive review. Although I would personally put Rayman a little above it in terms of graphics and art style, it's still a gorgeous game, even today. While the gameplay is a little linear (basic left-to-right gameplay), there are some nice gameplay innovations over the typical 16-bit platformer (the zooming and scaling etc).

I played it in Mednafen, and it does a good job of emulating the game (screenshots below). The only error I noticed was one effect during the final boss battle, where the screen goes white for a second.


pdW1ngd.png
BL3Jc7t.png
 

Kazza

Member
I'm hoping it actually is based on both! The Grandia HD collection said the same thing, but was basically the PlayStation version :(

The team making this have a good reputation, so hopefully we'll get a good port. It seems from the DF Retro episode on the game that some areas of the Playstation game were simplified in order to aim for a 60 fps frame rate. Since that is no longer an issue, we should get the more complex Saturn level design.
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
Any thoughts on Astal here? I just played through it for the first time last weekend. Although the the import version got a terrible review in Mean Machines Sega, and adding in the rumour that it apparently sold terribly in the US, not bother to releasing it at all in Europe is still a strange decision to me. Since it was a Sega first party game, they could at least have thrown a basic CD copy of the game for free as part of a 1995 Christmas bundle. It makes no sense to have done nothing with it in PAL territories.

25+ years later and retrospectives on the game have been much kinder, and most yutubers seem to give it a positive review. Although I would personally put Rayman a little above it in terms of graphics and art style, it's still a gorgeous game, even today. While the gameplay is a little linear (basic left-to-right gameplay), there are some nice gameplay innovations over the typical 16-bit platformer (the zooming and scaling etc).

I played it in Mednafen, and it does a good job of emulating the game (screenshots below). The only error I noticed was one effect during the final boss battle, where the screen goes white for a second.


pdW1ngd.png
BL3Jc7t.png
I love Astal! I play through it here and there, love the art and music. It isn't the most complicated game, but it's great! I wish the NTSC version had the lyrics in the intro song, but at least you can still listen to it in a CD player!



I'd always show the transparencies in the first screenshot you shared to my PlayStation buddies lol
 
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Kazza

Member
I love Astal! I play through it here and there, love the art and music. It isn't the most complicated game, but it's great! I wish the NTSC version had the lyrics in the intro song, but at least you can still listen to it in a CD player!



I'd always show the transparencies in the first screenshot you shared to my PlayStation buddies lol


Yeah, that's a nice opening, really gets you hyped for the game. Especially for anyone new to CD-based hardware (like those jumping straight from the SNES/MD), I imagine that all that voice, music and FMV would have been pretty mind-blowing.

I started with the US version, but then switched to the Jap one, primarily due to the extra life (5 hitpoints instead of 3). While I think the unlimited continues made the Jap version too easy, I think they should have kept the 5 hitpoints and just limited the continues to 1 or 2. Having the attack with your fists means that it can be a little frustrating sometimes, and the two extra hitpoints helps to alleviate that. Oh, and they shouldn't have cut the lyrics from the opening of course.

Those transparencies are pretty sweet (hence that snapshot). Makes me wonder what a 2D Saturn Sonic Ice Cap Zone would have looked like.

Next up for the Saturn for me will be another platformer that I have never played before - Clockwork Knight.
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
Yeah, that's a nice opening, really gets you hyped for the game. Especially for anyone new to CD-based hardware (like those jumping straight from the SNES/MD), I imagine that all that voice, music and FMV would have been pretty mind-blowing.

I started with the US version, but then switched to the Jap one, primarily due to the extra life (5 hitpoints instead of 3). While I think the unlimited continues made the Jap version too easy, I think they should have kept the 5 hitpoints and just limited the continues to 1 or 2. Having the attack with your fists means that it can be a little frustrating sometimes, and the two extra hitpoints helps to alleviate that. Oh, and they shouldn't have cut the lyrics from the opening of course.

Those transparencies are pretty sweet (hence that snapshot). Makes me wonder what a 2D Saturn Sonic Ice Cap Zone would have looked like.

Next up for the Saturn for me will be another platformer that I have never played before - Clockwork Knight.
I really enjoyed the boss battles in the Clockwork Knight games! But I played these all when they were new, so I'm wondering if that leap from the 16 bit era that you mentioned has anything to do with my opinion! (I guess I technically went from the 32x, but you get what I mean!)
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus



Here it is, kids: the long anticipated trailer for the modern remake of Powerslave/Exhumed. I think it looks fantastic and if it plays on a Mac, I'll grab it immediately. Ideally, I would like to see it appear on consoles like Nintendo Switch. Even better would be a "Criterion Collection" box set that would include all home versions of the videogame, including the Saturn, PSX and PC.

Looking through this video, it does show that some elements like the red spiders, have been retained from Saturn. The lighting effects, unfortunately, follow after the Playstation edition. The enemies appear to be drawn in pixel art, which is a very welcome surprise. The developers aren't aiming for a "modern" look, but one that captures the original 1996 style.

I think this is going to be a fantastic update of Powerslave. The software team clearly have their hearts in this project and want to do a bang-up job, and unless there are some shocking surprises, it's going to be much better than the disappointing Grandia HD remake.

Sega Saturn fans should rejoice, and more importantly, they need to show up and buy this videogame when it arrives. There are so many Saturn classics that deserve HD remakes, and the only way that happens is if Powerslave Exhumed becomes a hit.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
The latest news from the highly anticipated Bulk Slash translation project, courtesy of SegaXtreme:

Things have been a bit slower than usual over the last couple weeks for the Bulk Slash English fan localization project, but we have made some progress to report. Firstly, we cast Ucial as King Flair for Metical's ending and Greg worked with him to record his lines.

Greg also finished mastering and inserting the English voice lines for Kina, as performed by CrouchingMouse. They turned out awesome and we can't wait for everyone to hear them, but it's still going to be a bit — we have a couple other navigators to debut first!

Greg and Mampfus finished recording the lines for our final navigator, Colòn, as performed by Saskia, but audio mastering has yet to be begun. Mampfus and Saskia worked with an audio professional who Mampfus needs to get back with (hopefully tomorrow) to get the recorded lines.

We do have a new debut coming up, though! The English voice of Lira, as performed by Erin, will be heard publicly for the first time this Friday on the Shiro Show at 5:30 p.m. EDT! We also might have a little surprise in store if Patrick is able to beat the game and watch the ending...

In other news, I started Photoshopping the Japanese text off of the physical game's original fold-out manual to put an English translation onto it. It's gonna take a while, though... We plan on distributing translated images of the front and back of the fold-out manual along with the patch so everyone can get that full Bulk Slash experience.

Lastly, Jiggle's brother was on vacation so their work on recreating the endings' music was put on hold until this week.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus





The English translation for Fire Pro Wrestling: 6 Man Scramble is nearly complete. This has been a long and laborious project and it's fantastic to see the results of all that hard work. I can't wait for the final patch to be released.

Oh, and what's this? It turns out that Fire Pro Wrestling: Blazing Tornado, the previous entry in the series, is also being translated into English. Talk about a nice surprise!
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
8LEsjRpl.jpg

PQkbYhhl.jpg



Here is a fantastic update on the continuing translation work for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on Sega Saturn. A number of ambitious ideas are currently being planned, including English audio ripped from the PSX and PSP versions, changing the map screen to an in-game overlay, and even new sprite work. Pay especially close attention to the second half of his post, where KnightOfDragon reveals several other upcoming Saturn translation projects.

Here are the complete remarks from KnightOfDragon as posted to the SegaXtreme forums on August 9:


I am not forcing voices on anybody. The only way I would force it is if I was commissioning my own retranslation (and to all my nay-sayers claiming original scripts from other games are not considered translations, they are. To do it again is called a retranslation,) with voice actors, which I currently have zero interest in doing.

Right now, here is my current outline with this project.

1) All of the bugs mentioned, have been fixed, with the exception of item text length. This will be released when the SS Patcher goes to version 2.0.

2) After this, I want to work on allowing the game scripts to be of any size.

3) Design a different program to rip out the PSX audio text into a format I can use.

4) Produce the PSP variant text

5) Update the audio program to rip out PSP audio.

From this point on, order is likely to change.

6) Release the program I am using to translate out to allow for other patches like those of the Gemini project. I am not going to rip off anymore than I have to,.

7) Work on getting the map screen to appear as an overlay in game.

8) Clean up the routine handled during VBlank to improve performance.

9) Introduce new sprite work, or at the very least, the ability to.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just so people are curious, here is why things seem slow:

I am also working on improving SS Patcher.
I just released V23 of Shining Force 3 Patch.
I am working on a program that can edit almost all of SF3 assets, (which I am trying to further work for all Saturn games)
I am working on adding proper Twin Sticks support for Bulk Slash.
I recently finished helping Trekkies recompress images for Mickey and Donald.
I am working on getting US XBand drivers into the Japanese games.
Also working on getting Netlink games to play well over VoIP.
I have a start in FEDA Remake translation.
I have a start in Black Matrix translation.
I am assisting in the Deathmask translation.

Along with all of these, I help the other projects when I can because I know those guys would do the same for me.

On top of all of this, I still have a life. My work varies from 37 hours to 50 hours a week, and I do have a girlfriend that also expects my attention.

Now I know what I listed does seem like a lot for 1 person, but juggling these things around prevents me from getting bored and burning out.
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
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Here is a fantastic update on the continuing translation work for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on Sega Saturn. A number of ambitious ideas are currently being planned, including English audio ripped from the PSX and PSP versions, changing the map screen to an in-game overlay, and even new sprite work. Pay especially close attention to the second half of his post, where KnightOfDragon reveals several other upcoming Saturn translation projects.

Here are the complete remarks from KnightOfDragon as posted to the SegaXtreme forums on August 9:
I'm kind of out of the loop, but how do you play these updated versions? I just have the JPN Akumajou Dracula X Saturn game.
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
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There is a really fantastic website devoted to everybody's favorite Roguelike horror videogame, Baroque, which first appeared on Sega Saturn before migrating to Sony Playstation, mobile phones, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii and Switch. One particular article titled "Generational Decay" compares the various home versions and makes a full-throated defense for the supremacy of the Saturn original. It's well worth reading if you're curious to learn a little something about the various ports and spin-offs. Just keep in mind that what you're reading is from a partisan fan and not an objective scholar (the author really doesn't like the Playstation Baroques) and you'll be fine.

Also, don't forget to check out the site's comprehensive examination of all things Baroque, which is immensely helpful to anyone who isn't fluent in Japanese. Not that being able to read the storyline makes it any more comprehensible, mind you, but I've always argued that just adds to the sense of bewilderment and surrealism that remains Baroque's greatest strengths. Just turn out the lights, play late at night and enjoy being seriously creeped out.

The Nerve Tower - Generational Decay
 
A CR 2032 battery is used to store system settings such as time, date and default language, as well as storing saved game data. This is an advantage over PSX, which requires additional memory cards (and lots of them) to save games.
I love the Saturn, but this is it's worst weakness, I'd pay a million dollars per memory card if I had to, if only they did not depend on batteries to hold their data.

The Dreamcast had the same problem but they combined that with the need to buy VMUs (I had a third party one with flash memory in it, best third-party add on ever, it allowed me to keep my saves for nearly 20years!).

Anyway, I don't have a lot of Saturn games I play... But I take out layer section out for a spin from time to time.
 

ShinobiWan1

Member
I love the Saturn, but this is it's worst weakness, I'd pay a million dollars per memory card if I had to, if only they did not depend on batteries to hold their data.

The Dreamcast had the same problem but they combined that with the need to buy VMUs (I had a third party one with flash memory in it, best third-party add on ever, it allowed me to keep my saves for nearly 20years!).

Anyway, I don't have a lot of Saturn games I play... But I take out layer section out for a spin from time to time.
Also, there isn't much space on the Saturn anyways, so a nice sized memory cart was an upgrade. Especially if you're using the action replay!
 

Daniel Thomas MacInnes

GAF's Resident Saturn Omnibus
Also, there isn't much space on the Saturn anyways, so a nice sized memory cart was an upgrade. Especially if you're using the action replay!

The great thing about the Saturn memory cartridge was that you never needed to buy another one. There was enough storage space for everything. Compare that to the Playstation, where you needed a separate memory card for literally every sports game you played. It was irritating as hell, and don't get me started on those cheap third-party memory cards that claimed to store 4x the memory but would completely wipe out everything at the drop of a hat.

The issue of save game data was a win for Sega, and the fact that they never hammered that point home every single day remains a damning indictment of the Tom Kalinske era.
 
Pay especially close attention to the second half of his post, where KnightOfDragon reveals several other upcoming Saturn translation projects.
I can't believe we'll have translations for Black/Matrix and Baroque in the near future! I'm super excited!

I hope Tactics Ogre comes next, and then, some day, some very obscure titles like Fantastep and Mahoutsukai ni Naru Houhou also get some love.
 
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