Saturn proof-of-concept bootloader Pseudo Saturn

Flasher detects if cartridge is likely to be flashable or not, but it's not 100% accurate.
As ynoS XSP said, the only way to verify if your cartridge can be flashed or not is to ... try to flash it ^^;

Version 0.832 may have some incompatibilities with several Saturn revisions, but if it works, you get a better game compatibility.
Next version of Pseudo Saturn will allow to select (which 0.831 or 0.832) loader to use, so that old loader can be used in the case new one don't work correctly.

 

Good news for those that have been waiting
Panzer Dragoon Saga now works all the way into game play, I'm sure that it also bypasses the anti action replay code the game uses also (I patched CD1 though anyway to bypass the Anti Action Replay code but I never patched CD2 and that also boots fine)
Panzer Dragoon 2 will also work that had the same issues as Saga did though I have not tested that one just yet

Not so good news

Bubble Bobble inc Rainbow Islands still does not work though

P.S. results are from Pseudo patched CD's if that makes a difference with the above games I'm not sure yet

Skeleton Warriors ... must be Pseudo patched to get past the first basic Sega Logo?? the game still does not work though and will stop on a black screen after hitting start at any point

 

Great news about P.D.S.

However..., zorlon, how exactly is a CD patched to work with Pseudo?
Could you throw us some basic guidelines or a quick tutorial, please?

Hang on, did I understand right?
Is it possible to patch a game CD with Action Replay Codes so that the game starts everytime with cheats active?

 

Nope you did not understand in the slightest

The game Panzer Dragoon Saga has code in it that prevents the game working with Action Replay carts and would hang before the game even starts with a message saying you have an action replay inserted and you should remove it to play the game (that is not a quote as I can't remember what the exact message was), I simply patched the disc originally to prevent that from happening (look back in this thread it was talking about a lot during the early days of Pseudo)

Pseudo patching you just change a simple string right at the beginning of the disc from SEGA SEGASATURN to read PSEUDO SATURN instead and use hex 20 to replace the last few letters (20 in hex is just a space)

do not use replace all as some games do have more than one instance of that string and I have no idea what effect that may have on those games you only need to replace the first instance of the string

Will do a better guide soon when I have more time on my hands, but just about any hex editing software should do HxD is a nice free one though that is more than capable of doing this just open the bin file directly with it

After you may want to fix the header checksum with CDMage another free prog (rebuild sector fields after first scanning it)

Again will do a full guide later with pictures if you must

I don't do video guides though feel like a @#!!?# talking to a machine

P.S. anyone that is clever enough or rather has the know how (and understanding) can patch a game with cheats anyway, I am not one of those people though before you ask, though have some idea how, I am not a programmer and my way is a very hacky way to do it and not all that easy to explain but emulators with debug features can be used as a tool to figure out what needs to be changed on the disc to make things happen like health that never goes down by changing the games code so instead of lowering health from a hit instead will either do nothing or reverse it so you actually gain health from a hit, basically you need to trace where the value changes come from then change what that does after you have found the source of the change

The above is not the same as Action replay code hacking that is much easier because all you are doing is freezing a memory address but what I maybe failed to explain above does not change the same memory address but changes the instruction to write to that address when hit by something

I am not in anyway going to go into that any more though

 

Thanks for the insight.
Sure, no problem.
You have already pointed me into the right direction.

All this Pseudo-affair as made me look a little deeper into AR codes and games that I completely missed back in the day.
For example, only now have I realised (duh!) there are some cheats (more of a mod really) for Doom and Sega Rally Championship - but USA versions only? - which are really cool. In the first game its possible to shoot faster and on the second the cars can go faster and stick better to the tracks.
Since Doom and Sega Rally Championship Plus (Japanese versions) are regarded as the best versions (on the Saturn) I thought it would be possible to replicate the same effects just by patching the games. Or maybe discover the necessary codes for those versions, but since I dont have the ems comms link card I'm on a dead end for the time being.

 

For cart reading issues and ID changes that just means that cart is not detected and the code would be the same as if there is not cart there at all

You can try rubbing alcohol on the connections and/or reseating the cart slightly but that tends to be for those carts that have a slighty thicker board than what the Saturn expects to be in there

I'm not going to recommend it really but last cart I had reading issues with I used nail varnish remover and it now fully works again (that was a EMS Memory card though not an Action Replay)

The Action Replay I use is an EMS AR4M+ though the same as most of you

Even with new carts try rubbing alcohol as the cart can be dirty from the first few uses from dirty connections on the Saturn side

Yet to get errors but not used it alot yet anyway, still not had time to do any lengthy tests

 

I could possibly convert codes over if they convert ok

Not sure what would be added to either game in the Jap versions though, DooM that is a reasonably basic game, think the Saturn port has a couple of Saturn only levels like most console ports of DooM/DooM II there are reports of it being a smoother version but little evidence to back that up

https://www.doomworld.com/vb/doom-general/51505-saturn-doom-regional-differences/ you may find that an interesting read or maybe I can do some tests myself with DooM and record those directly via a Capture device I pull out from time to time

Not into Rally games myself but I would look at Sega Rally Championship NetLink Edition that has a later release date to the Jap Plus version that had slighty improved visuals from the original SRC and adds Network play but as there is a version after this called NetLink Edition I would look at that version not the older Jap version that I would imagine adds the improvements of the Jap version to it anyway as well as NetLink support

 

I find that playing Saturn version of Doom with the 'Mega Rapid Fire' cheat to be a total blast!
It makes things a little easier to the player and, just like you pointed out, if it's true that the jap version benefits from a slight improvement in the frames-per-second rate, then the combination of those two features would make, IMHO, the definitve version of Doom on the Saturn.

Hint: playing Doom with run button pressed (default X) also helps most of the times to compensate for the low fps rate.

Your're probably right, SRC Netlink Edition must already have the slightly improved visuals as the japanese Plus version. I just mentioned the japanese Plus version in the first place because it adds support for the 3D pad. I find it nice but not that great, really. SRC seems to me like a game with perfectly tuned digital controls rather than analog.
But the 'Super Road Grip' and 'Max Speed 150 MPH' cheats transfigure the gameplay into a more pleasing experience, well, at least for me.

Do have a go at both games and see if it would be worth the trouble of attempting to port (?) the cheats over to Jap/Usa versions.

http://www.codetwink.com/view-cheats-4875-title-doom.html

http://www.codetwink.com/view-cheats-4957-title-sega+rally.html


BTW, I have been following EP forum also;

http://www.epforums.org/showthread....n-a-new-Saturn-mod-via-an-Action-Replay/page8

and I must say I have found exactly the same problem reported there with Alien Trilogy, both versions, europe (emuparadise isos) and usa (darkwater rip).
Maybe patching is still necessary, as soon as I get more CD-Rs I think I will have a go at it.

Oh, and since this seems to be of some importance, just one last info, I have been using regular Verbatim CD-R (extra protection, not the AZO Crystal), but I have found these to come in two flavours, some are made by "Moser Baer India" and others by "CMC Magnetics Corp". The latter seem to be much better, while the former gives some stuttering in intros or no reading at all...

 

I've got a stalker

If you need more info on patching let me know as I only gave vague info so far

Will have to wait before I can do fresh Code tests with games I don't already have burned due to lack of burning hardware though may be able to create and test those via emulation anyway

My laptop is with my Mam at the moment and my desktop does not even have a CD drive

EP is my real home and where my real activity goes but don't mind this place either so enjoy popping in and doing a few posts

 

I don't know if is it possible, but I have an action replay whit 4mb of ram, with 0.831 everything worked, ram and pseudo saturn, now with 0.832 the ram is no more recognized.
Anyone has the same problem?

 

Odd issue will test when I get time

Odd because the Ram is hardware and nothing to do with what is flashed to the cart

~EDIT:- still works just fine for me



The game requires the 4M of Ram, the error I get in Japanese is because I have no save data space, mostly due to game testing

As I said it is hardware not software that takes control of Ram, not tested it out but I would guess that even if the cart was bricked software wise then it would still work as a ram cart

Edit the video is real time so takes a little while for this one to load as it has a slow load time

Edit if that was my cart I would give the contacts on it a good clean with rubbing alcohol.

 

I'm having a bit of a problem performing the swap trick I'm hoping somebody will be able to help me with. I'm using a Model 1 Saturn, but the console simply resets itself if I touch the disc at all, making it impossible to perform the swap trick. I haven't screwed the lid back on, but I understand it's possible to perform this with the lid off, so I can't see why that would make a difference. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

 

Make sure the lid censor is secure, sounds like it's not if it takes you back to the bios as soon as the disc is touched

I have two model 1 EU Saturn's and neither has the same lid censer switch so can't give you exacts there, but one I used blue tack on the other I used tape

Only big difference between the top of the console on or off is shock therapy

 

Hi Zorlon, it's your stalker speaking.

Would you be so kind to explain how to pseudo-patch a CD, please?

I have tried the dreaded Alien Trilogy but still doesn't work for me.
I changed the string like you said and then used CDMage but I must be doing something wrong...

 

Depends what you are doing with CDMage

You need to use the rebuild option rather than the repair option after you scan the first few sectors

if you use repair the hex edit just gets reverted but if you use the rebuild sector fields option it fixes the header checksum and keeps the hex changes

1. Open the image in a Hex editor (HxD works just fine for this)
if the CD image comes as a single image file just open that
if the CD image file and descriptor just open the image file
if the CD image comes with more image files (usually bin) or sound files and a cue just open the first image file

2. replace
53 45 47 41 20 53 45 47 41 53 41 54 55 52 4E 20 SEGA SEGASATURN
with
50 53 45 55 44 4F 20 53 41 54 55 52 4E 20 20 20 PSEUDO SATURN
20 = a space (so PSEUDO SATURN is followed by 3 spaces)
you only need to do this with the first instance

3. save the changes and close it

4. Open the CD image with CDMage
Make sure you open this via the descriptor file like a cue file or a ccd file usually a tiny file

5. in CDMage hit the spy glass over a CD icon
hit select range and change the last number to 000151
hit Scan
It will show sector 150 has issues
right click on the sector and hit rebuild sector fields
Hit OK
close CDMage

it should be ready for burning now
if you wanted you can double check in HxD to make sure your changes have remained

 

You could also use this i believe:

http://amurderofcrows.net/saturn-pseudo-patcher/

 

Thanks to both Zorlon and A Murder of crows.

Finally I got it to work!

Yes, I was doing wrong the CDMage part by repairing the corrupted sectors instead of rebuiding.

At last I can play Alien Trilogy without the awful color dithering that plagues the PSX version.

 

Thanks was looking for that as a guide to using it though, it does not seem to like multi bin images opened via a cue, it will just fail to patch anything but to get round that in the open prompt put *.* as the file name then you can open the first binary image file *.bin file directly and then it will work

I'm sure it was failing to work regardless last time I tried it but I may of been missing something else outside of the prog on my PC at the time though (dll drivers ect) or maybe I was just trying to open what the prog was limited to *.iso and *.cue files

 

supposedly we shouldn't be using bin/cue anyway. I've been switching to ccd

 

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