Official Rhea Discussion

It would make the "directories" IE the duplicate Rmenu.iso files for each directory load a second faster, but it is a minor inconvenience to me for the payoff of having nice directories of games sorted by type. It is still an ultimate dream to be able to remove that so it goes to the next Rmenu.iso instantly. I'm going to play with using older Rmenus to bypass the extra press to "fast load" the next "directory."

 

VCD works on Rhea and Phoebe.

For encoding, I have successfully done that after many hours of tests.
The encoder software I recommend is Tmpgenc.
I found 2500kbps video bitrate(CBR or VBR are all ok but VBR may cause problem) and 128/192/224kbps audio bitrate(64kbps would cause decoding problem) are the best value for playback.Value over this would cause graphic lags.

I tried ffmpeg but failed to get smooth video playback in any parameter setting.I suspect that the parameter "g" "bufsize" "packetsize" may require special setting values, but I failed to get a correct value to do that.I provide my parameter here for reference,if anyone has interests on using ffmpeg, this may help you a bit for point out the problem:
PAL:

Code:

ffmpeg -i <input.avi> -c:v mpeg1video -c:a mp2 -f vcd -s 352x288 -r 25 -g 15 -b:v 1150000 -maxrate:v 1150000 -minrate:v 1150000 -bufsize:v 327680 -b:a 224000 -ar 44100 -ac 2 -packetsize 2324 -muxrate 1411200 output.mpg

NTSC:

Code:

ffmpeg -i <input.avi> -c:v mpeg1video -c:a mp2 -f vcd -s 352x240 -r 30000/1001 -g 18 -b:v 1150000 -maxrate:v 1150000 -minrate:v 1150000 -bufsize:v 327680 -b:a 224000 -ar 44100 -ac 2 -packetsize 2324 -muxrate 1411200 output.mpg

FILM(Same as NTSC but with different framerate):

Code:

ffmpeg -i <input.avi> -c:v mpeg1video -c:a mp2 -f vcd -s 352x240 -r 24000/1001 -g 18 -b:v 1150000 -maxrate:v 1150000 -minrate:v 1150000 -bufsize:v 327680 -b:a 224000 -ar 44100 -ac 2 -packetsize 2324 -muxrate 1411200 output.mpg

 

@SONIC3D currently I do not have a VCD card. I had one years ago but sold it off since there wasn't much we could do with it anymore. Does it matter if I buy a European or Japanese card for my USA system?

 

AFAIK VCD cards need to match the system region, alternatively you can install a region free bios chip to use any.
European cards will only play PAL encoded discs, as for japanese ones there is various models with most only supporting NTSC but some capable of both formats

 

But does it really matter if you are only using it with Rhea / Phoebe and encoding the backup yourself with the above methods?

 

It won't matter because neither will work, unless you have a way to get around the region protection.

 

The VCD card checks for system region, the discs are essentially region free other than being encoded in different formats.

 

Unable to get Golden Axe the Duel to load. Have verified my copy has no missing sectors and loads on an unmodified machine. I've ripped it twice, and tried the one on emuprds. website. It just reboots the system after a second of black on fast load. Full load shows 25 tracks, and using the action replay has the same result as fast load. Going to try another region. Anybody have this title working?

UPDATE: Still no luck. The EU version also does the same things. This is the first game in 156 titles I've not be able to load. (not bad) Just wish I knew why.

 

Golden Axe does not work with the analog pad.

 

I'd be interested in trying out nested folders. Would appreciate if you could post instructions as to how you did it.

I've been using 128GB cards using folder names to sort by genre. I posted how i did it in post #259 of this thread.

 

Mind blown. Do you know of any others like this? We have bluetooth wireless skeleton pads and they must be detected as 3d pads. Worked as soon as I unplugged the controller. Well it's a stick game anyway. At least it works.

 

Our family needs to get a capture card over here. I can describe it, but it may be easier to just create a file when I'm done (without roms) and upload it.

At first I was thinking like you did, and made it like "SHOOTER - Game Name" so it would at least group them together. Then I got the wacky idea of trying to make 02 contain another Rmenu. It worked, but then game 02 within it looks in the main directory, causing and infinite loop. The eureka moment was when I figured out I could trick it. The first Rmenu will only list any files that are continuous from 02 - ##. But if you leave out a number say 02 - 12, but then put a game in 14, the root Rmenu will not detect the game. If one of your directory Rmenu lists a game in position 14 it will play 14 from the root. All of your other numbers in the sub directory can be dummy files. I just created a text file with nothing written in it, and named it not.a.iso. Putting that in position 02 - 13 in the sub directory and then running that Rmenu will create an iso that you can have blanks on the first 12 games, and then a title on the only one that leads to the root directory 14 position. You do have to name the hidden dummy files, so I used ALT+0175 to put a single character that the saturn does not display. Since there are no names on 02 - 13 they will still be select-able all at the bottom of the list, but don't do anything but reload the menu. Your way may be quicker, since there is no Produced by screen between directories. However if you catagory list is more than a page it could be a be a bit annoying. Not sure if any catagory is going to have more than a page though I'm at 157 game thus far. Still going. Will probably finish in October at this pace.

 

Having difficulty on Formula Karts. Crashes on the logo, no matter what rip or source, or loading method I try. Using it on a USA Saturn. Is there a work around like with Golden Axe the Duel, or is it another sadly not happening EU game for me like the Discworld sync issue?

 

I think Thunderhawk 2 is like that, but I never personally checked (doesn't like the analog pad), I only remember someone mentioning it. I could be wrong.

Formula Karts is PAL optimized, I think, so it is not unlikely to think that it wouldn't work on NTSC machines. But I wouldn't be surprised if you get a lot of sync or other issues running PAL games on NTSC consoles. Discworld got a Japanese release, though.

 

Kind of sad there isn't more people chatting about these wonderful ODEs. Whatcha all busy playing?

 

As with all of these self produced products - it seems to be a miracle to be able to get one in the first place. I'm lucky I eventually got a GDEMU and I managed after many attempts to get on the list for a PSIO. I have given up trying for the Rhea.
I agree the GDEMU is fantastic, and this would likely be just as great (there's more Saturn games I'd like to play than Dreamcast TBH), but perhaps it's just down to availability that people aren't singing from the rooftops?

 

I agree. I was interested in the PS-IO and similar other projects but their non-existent availability made me lose interest.

 

i own gdemu-rhea and psio,its fantastic devices,but to get 1 it aint simple.
i already own them a couple of years now.

 

PS-IO is harder to obtain than any other devices. Last proper sales order that went live was ruined by scalpers last year ordering multiple quantities, yet I managed to secure a pre-order this year in June after being on their waiting list.

Even then, the shipping is estimated at around November this year, plus up to 3-4 weeks for delivery to the UK and it probably won't be until December that I will receive it. DC and Saturns ODE's are not that hard to obtain imo, as long as you follow the site updates and set timers on an alarm or something so you don't forget. I have 2 GDE's and both a Rhea and Phoebe every time the orders went live.

 

I'm surprised that another product (maybe a better solution) like PS-IO hasn't appeared yet.