How is SEGA SATURN emulation? Anyone?

[fishsandwich]

I never thought they would EVER get the Saturn emulated properly but someone told me that there's actually a pretty good emulator out there now.

Does anyone emulate the Saturn on their PC? Can it be done on X-Box? What are the PC specs? Does it add any kind of enhancements like Bleamcast does to PSX games?

Not that I could play them anyway... my laptop can hardly run Quake 3 as it is. I'm not much for emulation on PC's anyway but I'm curious how it runs.

[CosmicMonkey]

The way I understand it, it's cheaper and easier to go up Gamestation, get a Saturn for 20quid and stick switches on it. Rather than arse around trying to get some bad-ass super-computer computer to run the game. Badly.

Until Saturn/PSX emulation is as simple as NES/SNES emulation, I'd stick with real hardware.

[roushimsx]

I never thought they would EVER get the Saturn emulated properly but someone told me that there's actually a pretty good emulator out there now.


There's one extremely awesome one and there's one "ok" one :)

The awesome one is SSF (http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~phantasy/ssf/index.html) and just recently got another update. It's extremely compatible (not perfect, but it's progressing really well (and has been for a number of years)) but doesn't use hardware rendering. All software, baby. Requires an SSE2, so you'll need either a Pentium4 or an Athlon64 to run it.

The ok one is GiriGiri but it's a hack of a commercially released emulator that Sega was testing out and it shows. The games it was optimized for (like Panzer Dragoon) run fantastic but other games are terribly incompatible. Uses hardware acceleration so you can run games in high resolution if you so desire.

As it's a hack, it's a clusterfuck to configure and operate. IMO not worth the effort.


Does anyone emulate the Saturn on their PC?

Nope, I've got a ghetto PC. I have to use friends' PCs to test stuff out :(


Can it be done on X-Box?

Not nearly as well as it has been done on PC. You might get someone that can hack out a few game-specific, hardware-accelerated builds of a Saturn emulator, but that's about it.

No one has stepped up to the plate yet.


What are the PC specs?

~ P4 2.8-3.0ghz for full speed in SSF. Maybe a 2ghz or so for GiriGiri.


Does it add any kind of enhancements like Bleamcast does to PSX games?

Just GiriGiri with its hardware rendering.


Not that I could play them anyway... my laptop can hardly run Quake 3 as it is. I'm not much for emulation on PC's anyway but I'm curious how it runs.

Ahh yea, you're boned. SSF is actually one of the driving reasons why I'm going with a Pentium-based PC when I upgrade (alongside faster video encoding in VirtualDub). Hopefully the author adds video output at some point :)


The way I understand it, it's cheaper and easier to go up Gamestation, get a Saturn for 20quid and stick switches on it. Rather than arse around trying to get some bad-ass super-computer computer to run the game. Badly.


Many games run quite well, and even if you're sitting behind the power curve (or in my case, far behind the power curve), GiriGiri can run some of the more in demand games pretty well. The one thing that causes most people to hunt out and configure GiriGiri is to play Radiant Silvergun on their PC. *shrug*


Until Saturn/PSX emulation is as simple as NES/SNES emulation, I'd stick with real hardware.

SSF is really leading the way, there. There's some things that could be improved in the UI that'd simplify things for the end user, but it's getting there.

pSX Emulator is making some good strides for playstation emulation. You can throw a game in your cd rom, fire it up, and play. It reads discs better than any other playstation emulator, which itself is a major improvement. You also don't have to configure anything to run most games.

Its core still needs a good bit of work (major games like the Tony Hawk-engine titles don't work right now, for instance) but it's still reasonably new (just came out a few months ago) and is getting pretty frequent updates (on average about 1 every 3 weeks or so).

The Author just released a test build the other day that fixes Suikoden 2 and Wild Arms, for instance.

[fishsandwich]

The way I understand it, it's cheaper and easier to go up Gamestation, get a Saturn for 20quid and stick switches on it.

I feel that flying from Atlanta to London to buy a PAL Saturn at Gamestation for 20quid would be more expensive that sitting at home playing my own modified Saturn. ;)

I'm just surprised that someone may have emulated the complicated Saturn innards and made a working emulator. Giri Giri or Casiopeia or something maybe? I forget what it was called. I'd be curious to try it on a really hot computer (which I do not own) just to see it in action with some graphic enhancements. Seeing Tobol 2 (for PSone) running on the Dreamcast is a thiong of beauty... it almost looks like a Dreamcast-specific game. Too bad about the crap frame rate.

[smork]

Can't wait to try that SSF -- too bad it won't run under Linux. :(

I'm stuck without my Saturn for the moment, though I got alot of games with me. THis could be a good solution, plus the Saturn pad for Windows....

[roushimsx]

Borisz from EmuTalk hosts a shit load of screenshots for Saturn games (taken from playing SSF) on his website, here (http://evilboris.sonic-cult.net/SSF/).

some shots:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6271/000001727xw.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001727xw.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2589/000002254id.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000002254id.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5836/000000442nt.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000442nt.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8143/000000263vg.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000263vg.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5447/000000206uh.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000206uh.png)
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/940/000000133sl.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000133sl.png)http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1121/000001331ik.th.png (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001331ik.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6694/arkham171md.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=arkham171md.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9804/000000833vz.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000833vz.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9089/000001308kb.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001308kb.png)

There's a whole thread here (http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=13850) that has shots from various Saturn emulators (SSF, GiriGiri, Satroune, Yabuse, etc). It starts off back in 2003, so it's fun to check out how various emulators have grown and matured throughout the lifetime of the thread.

[Snapple]

I haven't messed around with Saturn emulators in a while. Last I checked, it was extremely spotty across the board, but I hear great strides have been made since then by a few people.

Unfortunately, Zophar's Domain hasn't updated their emulator list in probably about 9 months.

I'd keep an eye on Yabause. They seem to have a decently compatible emulator compared to most of the other Saturn emulators, and it's one of the few emulators that's still in active development. Their website is pretty good, and they have a compatibility list for the games they've tested.

http://yabause.sourceforge.net/

Another emulator that seems to be way ahead of the pack is SSF. The downside is that the website is in Japanese, so I haven't really attempted to navigate it. You can read more about it on Wikipedia, or maybe find some more information elsewhere. I've heard people on emulation forums GUSH over SSF, so it must be pretty good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSF_%28emulator%29

Official website:
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Ephantasy/ssf/index.html


Another emulator that's still in active development is Saturnin. The website is in both French and English, and it's been updated as recently as a couple days ago. It can also play commercial games, but is still slow. Still, one to keep an eye on for later.

http://saturnin.consollection.com/

As I said, those emulators are still in active development, having released files this year, so more improvements are probably on the way.

Don't bother with Cassini. It's no longer considered as one of the better Saturn emulators. It's just a hacked version of an old commercial Saturn emulator, and as such, won't ever exceed the limited compatibility and power it has now.

That's about all I know. I used to follow emulator development for many systems very closely, but not for a couple of years now. At that time, Saturn emulation was putrid, but apparently things are getting better now.

[Anthony1]

Until Saturn/PSX emulation is as simple as NES/SNES emulation, I'd stick with real hardware.



I agree with this statement when it comes to the Saturn, but I think PSX emulation is relatively decent. As far as I'm concerned, emulators just aren't worth it, unless you can almost forget that you happen to be using one. With NES, SNES, Genesis and other systems, the emulation is so perfect that if you get a USB controller for the actual system, you can practically forget you are even playing a emulator. Those are emulators that I can actually deal with.

[Borisz]

Borisz from EmuTalk hosts a shit load of screenshots for Saturn games (taken from playing SSF) on his website, here (http://evilboris.sonic-cult.net/SSF/).

some shots:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6271/000001727xw.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001727xw.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2589/000002254id.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000002254id.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5836/000000442nt.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000442nt.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8143/000000263vg.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000263vg.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5447/000000206uh.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000206uh.png)
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/940/000000133sl.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000133sl.png)http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/1121/000001331ik.th.png (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001331ik.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6694/arkham171md.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=arkham171md.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9804/000000833vz.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000000833vz.png)http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9089/000001308kb.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=000001308kb.png)

There's a whole thread here (http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=13850) that has shots from various Saturn emulators (SSF, GiriGiri, Satroune, Yabuse, etc). It starts off back in 2003, so it's fun to check out how various emulators have grown and matured throughout the lifetime of the thread.

It's nice to see that word gots around, heh.

I plan on writing some kind of basic faq for the emulator, seeing that its in japanese, it would surely help people. I already manage a compatibility list anyway.

[Snapple]

A FAQ would be fantastic. :) Look forward to it.

Also, I agree with Anthony that you can't compare Saturn emulation to PSX emulation. I am a total noob when it comes to computers, and I figured out PS1 emulation on my own easily. You can run anything just about perfectly, and there are many computer joysticks that are modelled after PS1 controllers to complete the experience.

In fact, I think I run PS1 games more often on my computer now than on my actual PS1 or PS2.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Unfortunately, Zophar's Domain hasn't updated their emulator list in probably about 9 months.

I think it's closer to three years now. x_x

If you want a great emulator list, you can go to emulation9.com. It's Japanese, but most of the names are in English. :)

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Oddly enough, I've found that ST-V games through MAME run at about 8fps on my 700MHz P3 laptop, of course, that's nothing playable, but it means that something like 2.0GHz would probably be enough to run them fine. I can only assume that the ST-V driver for MAME is cutting lots of corners in emulating the chipset, which is of course okay since most ST-V games (hell, most Saturn games for that matter) don't use the Saturn's architecture fully at all.

Of course, I haven't even tried setting up any of the Saturn emulators on my computer to compare, but from the sounds of them, MAME actually seems to run games better. Only a tiny fraction of Saturn games were ever released for ST-V, of course, but there is the always fanboy-woody-inducing Radiant Silvergun. Plus some other nice stuff like Steep Slope Sliders and Baku Baku.


...word is bondage...

[Borisz]

nah, the STV driver is pretty crap in Mame. It runs games and thats about it, it has tons of missing graphics and the sound is totally craptacular.

SSF runs some games at fullspeed on an athlon64 3200+, and it appears that it can run anything at fullspeed on an Athlon X2 4400+ (yea, the emu supports dual and more cores, up to like 8 cpu PCs or so).

other emulators can barely run games to begin with - Yabause seems to be the most powerful newcomer, but so far you can't even do something as simple as configuring your keys on it.

[chaoticjelly]

The way I understand it, it's cheaper and easier to go up Gamestation, get a Saturn for 20quid and stick switches on it. Rather than arse around trying to get some bad-ass super-computer computer to run the game. Badly.

Until Saturn/PSX emulation is as simple as NES/SNES emulation, I'd stick with real hardware.

They are 16 quid 99 pence actually, with no games..

But other than that, I agree with this fellow completely!

Even better, get yourself a sexy WHITE JPN Saturn!

[Synergy]

Ressurection time. :) I just came across this thread, and played Radiant Silvergun in SSF. This emulator is AMAZING. :eek 2: It's so awesome to see Saturn emulation being worked on so well. I hope it keeps improving!

[ClassicGameTrader]

Oddly enough, I've found that ST-V games through MAME run at about 8fps on my 700MHz P3 laptop, of course, that's nothing playable, but it means that something like 2.0GHz would probably be enough to run them fine. I can only assume that the ST-V driver for MAME is cutting lots of corners in emulating the chipset, which is of course okay since most ST-V games (hell, most Saturn games for that matter) don't use the Saturn's architecture fully at all.

Of course, I haven't even tried setting up any of the Saturn emulators on my computer to compare, but from the sounds of them, MAME actually seems to run games better. Only a tiny fraction of Saturn games were ever released for ST-V, of course, but there is the always fanboy-woody-inducing Radiant Silvergun. Plus some other nice stuff like Steep Slope Sliders and Baku Baku.


...word is bondage...

I wish that were true, they all still run pretty slow on my P4 3.0 w 2ghz or ram.

[MarioMania]

Can you use Saturn Disc's on SSF or just ISO's

[Ed Oscuro]

You can use saturn discs. I didn't have any luck with ISOs, even using Daemon Tools.

I recently wrote about this in my Blog, and I took shots of Biohazard and Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG (Saga). Good stuff.

[6502]

SSF is pretty nice. Certainly the most compatible out of the Saturn emulators I've tried. I just recently upgraded my ancient PC to a (still ancient) P4 2.8GHz, so upon seeing this thread I thought I'd give SSF a whirl again. :) I tried out about two dozen games, and the ones that worked ran full speed. According to SSF's homepage the VDP2 and CD block still need some work. I did notice a few glitches, like artifacts on the text in Shining Force III, and some games didn't work at all (Suchie-Pai Adventure being one). SSF still ran some rather obscure stuff I tried like Doukyusei 2 and Wizardry VI & VII Complete, which is cool. Personally, I hardly ever use emulators so I doubt I'd ever fool around with SSF much, but it's a convenient way to take screenshots if nothing else. :)

[Ed Oscuro]

I did notice a few glitches, like artifacts on the text in Shining Force III
Did you turn off the scanline mode? I hate it when emulators have that crap on by default.

[Arasoi]

Hm. Not that this adds a terrible lot to the thread overall, but I run an old Athlon 64 1.8 ghz and an old Radeon 9200 with 128 MB of RAM, on XP and I get quicker than full speed on some games with full screen, one of them being Dracula X. It also ran fine for me off Daemon tools and a bin/cue rip I made from my Dracula X disc.

I actually own a Saturn, but the socket for the 2032 battery for the internal memory is shot. So this is quite convenient for me.

Naturally the emu wont run anything, it chokes a bit on a decent number of Konami shooters, including Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius. When I get around to it, I should try running the Darius ports or Thunderforce on it..

[dj898]

one factor people seem to forgot is by using the console it's matter of hooking it into RGB/S-video into the PDP on the wall and play from the couch using the cordless Sega pad... ^ ^

Sure you could do the same using PC but the convenience of simply hooking up the console and when finished just store under the cabinet cannot be beaten - which is important when you have 2 years old running around pulling/pushing everything in sight...

Back to the topic I've heard good things about the SSX but I don't have the powerful enough PC to run it on - last time I did the upgrade was some three years ago and I have no plan to upgrade any time soon...

[linlhutz]

...I did notice a few glitches, like artifacts on the text in Shining Force III, and some games didn't work at all (Suchie-Pai Adventure being one). SSF still ran some rather obscure stuff I tried like Doukyusei 2 and Wizardry VI & VII Complete, which is cool....

I've been quietly working on an SSF Compatibility list for all your obscure Japanese Saturn needs :)

www.segasaturn.org

Also the latest release (0.07 Beta R9) was to fix the text errors in Shining Force III (untested) and I have Suchi-Pai Adventure working fine (as of 0.07 Beta R7).

Sometimes games are broken in newer releases (Such as Sonic R) but work in prior SSF releases. So check my site often as I update it nearly every day.

Oh and unlike other lists, I test all the games myself rather than being lazy and copying other people's work. :roll:


linlhutz

[Jorpho]

Do you still have to hunt down a Sega Saturn BIOS ROM to make it go? (Or have those so far been quietly distributed without Sega objecting strenuously?)

[6502]

Suchi-Pai Adventure wouldn't boot for me at all. Just a black screen. But I didn't mess with it much.

[linlhutz]

Do you still have to hunt down a Sega Saturn BIOS ROM to make it go? (Or have those so far been quietly distributed without Sega objecting strenuously?)

Since version 0.07 Beta R3 you no longer need a Bios. It just boots the game directly.