Anybody Use Sega Saturn Emulators?

[Ivo]

I find it odd, frustrating and hilarious all simultaneously that I've had an easier time successfully emulating Dreamcast titles then I have Saturn ones. The explanation as to why completely escapes my grasp of logic.

Well, the saturn's multiple processors completely escaped the developers' grasp of logic as well. It's a complicated system. But with a high end system, SSF is becoming better and better lately. Guardian Heroes is PERFECT on my system. I just wish he'd add in some more scaling options. I just want a little filtering.

Can you share details on your system? Granted, MY system is a bit old, it really works VERY sluggishly. I vaguely remember something of SSF is actually very good on different types of machines compared to others with similar capacities (e.g. it would be good with Intel machines but not with AMDs or vice-versa).

Ivo.

[Mozgus]

Can you share details on your system? Granted, MY system is a bit old, it really works VERY sluggishly. I vaguely remember something of SSF is actually very good on different types of machines compared to others with similar capacities (e.g. it would be good with Intel machines but not with AMDs or vice-versa).

Ivo.

All that matters for SSF is your CPU really. Get the absolute best possible. I have an AMD 64 3700+ because thats all I can afford, but it easily overclocks to 4000+ without issues.

SSF requires SSE2 on your CPU, which means an AMD64 or better. My specs are on my site, in the "About" section.

Also note that SSF is built for accuracy, not enhancement. It always runs in the native resolution of the game. It does not use opengl or direct3d for any texture filtering or stuff like that.

Edit: I'd love to see racketboy do a feature on saturn emulation here. And maybe one on dreamcast too, even though it has only one usable emu.

[Prozium]

Are there any saturn emulators the work on non-SSE3 processors? I'm stuck on my athlonXP 2600+ for another couple months and wanna try out some saturn emulators.

[Mozgus]

Are there any saturn emulators the work on non-SSE3 processors? I'm stuck on my athlonXP 2600+ for another couple months and wanna try out some saturn emulators.

http://www.panzerdragoon.net/screenshot ... ots_01.php

GiriGiri was used to take those shots. A buncha saturn emu's to study up on here:

http://www.ngemu.com/saturn

I know nothing other then SSF. Everyone seems to say it's the best, unless you want high resolution.

[solidunit]

Currently SSF is the best.

I made a Compatibility list for the USA releases. I'm working on the PAL exclusives before attempting the Japanese games.


http://www.segasaturn.org/index.htm


You must have a 3Ghz (or 3000+) processor with SSE2 (required) to get decent frame rates.

How's the sound emulation? Is it fairly accurate? Back in the early days of PSX emulation, many games were playable, but the sound/music was a mess (especially on the square games).

[Mozgus]

Currently SSF is the best.

I made a Compatibility list for the USA releases. I'm working on the PAL exclusives before attempting the Japanese games.


http://www.segasaturn.org/index.htm


You must have a 3Ghz (or 3000+) processor with SSE2 (required) to get decent frame rates.

How's the sound emulation? Is it fairly accurate? Back in the early days of PSX emulation, many games were playable, but the sound/music was a mess (especially on the square games).

Well, in terms of sequenced music, like in Panzer Dragoon 2 and Saga, it's pretty decent. It doesn't sound as good as a real saturn, but it can seem close, especially if you are using poor speakers. But some games that use streamed audio still don't work right. Fighters Megamix uses regular CDDA audio, but it's extremely quiet in the game, and it's not due to my Windows Mixer's settings.

[scott21]

i used to run this site with a friend way back when -> http://saturn.emulation64.com/

for testing emu's.. i'd only worry about ssf if you wanted max compatibility and to show off emulator progress, but of course theres a few others you could include.

ssf (requires sse2)
giri giri repack (comes with giri giri and gentoc 1.02 update, requires messing with the .dat for compatability)
satourne

those are the big three and to note, satourne is quite a bitch to get working properly ,

but there are a few up and comers as well

yabause
satournin (still pretty primitive last time i checked)

if you want to do a USA compat list i've just about finished things up ripping the set, or will in a week or two hopefully.

pm me about it.

[lordofduct]

Hrmmm... I just got me a Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 with 2GB of DDR2. I might have to try SSF now and see what I can get out of it! heh.


Ok... this is my first time using any Saturn emulator in my life. I never really had a computer all that strong so I never bothered testing (my last machine was a 2.8ghz Celeron D with a Geforce Ti4200).

So first my machine I just tested this bad boy on.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.67 Ghz
2 GB DDR2 667
Geforce 7950 GX2
30 inch Dell LCD display at 2560X1600

I tested a couple games.
Earthworm Jim 2
Dark Savior
Thunderforce 5

the first two were legite and Thunderforce 5 was mounted via Daemon Toolz (older version).

EWJ2 ran smooth and beautiful. It was small in the middle of the screen as my resolution was very high.
Dark Savior loaded, lagged at the Climax promo screen. The Title screen played but once I entered the game there was only sound and a black screen.
Thunderforce 5 played amazingly! I was surprised as it was also 3D like Dark Savior. Sound was crisp. I even lowered the res so I could get a nice large screen view of it! Here's a screenshot.



Awesome thing is I just got that JoyPad USB dongle that lets me use my Saturn controller on my PC! YEY!!!!!

I also mounted Panzer Dragoon and took a screenshot at full resolution with my task manager open... dude I'm very happy with my computer!!!!




Wow... that guide up there is nice. I'm gonna go through that.

[Lan-Di]

I use Giri Giri.. it seems to run pretty good..

I can upload it somewhere if anyone wants to try it !

[racketboy]

Anybody have more thoughts on this topic?