Dracula X Extended mod patch by paul_met

[TrekkiesUnite118]

If it was all about the patch, then such a bug at the very beginning of the game would be immediately noticed by everyone. It seems that the game does not find any files.

I noticed he said he's playing it on the MODE optical drive emulator. Does the extended patch go beyond 650MBs in size? I remember there was an issue with MODE returning the Security Ring for any read beyond that size which impacted things like the Lunar Silver Star Story patch. So that could be what's going on here.

 

[rowindincht]

oh my, I have never seen this myself. Can you provide Paul more info on your setup?

• Sega Saturn Model 2 MK-80000A
• Terraonion MODE 1.05 R2
• Action Replay Pro Flashed with Pseudo Saturn Kai's latest revision (I have tried the game with the cart in, and out of the Saturn.)

I don't know what other information might be needed, but whatever it is just let me know and I'll post it.

If it was all about the patch, then such a bug at the very beginning of the game would be immediately noticed by everyone. It seems that the game does not find any files.

I just tried my copy on Yabause 0.9.15 and the issue I showed on video didn't replicate itself there. I'm assuming it's either my MODE or something else might be the issue.

 

[paul_met]

I noticed he said he's playing it on the MODE optical drive emulator. Does the extended patch go beyond 650MBs in size? I remember there was an issue with MODE returning the Security Ring for any read beyond that size which impacted things like the Lunar Silver Star Story patch. So that could be what's going on here.

The final size after patching is somewhere around 470 mb.

 

[rowindincht]

The final size after patching is somewhere around 470 mb.

Checking the properties of it, it's about 469 MB (492,440,592 bytes). Later on I'll try seeing if I can get past the Bloodlines intro via emulation, then later see if it loads up on official hardware.

 

[Nemu]

I just tried your hack and loaded one of my saves. The ability to load the map directly and fast is the best feature of this version. It changes everything! Thanks a lot

 

[bobrocks95]

Hi I'm getting a crash on real hardware when entering a save room as Richter... So I have two related questions if paul or anyone else can answer them:

1) Is save room data cached to the 4MB cart in any way?
2) Has anyone else used this with Pseudo Saturn Kai Lite v. 6.408 or v. 6.483 and a gray 4-in-1 Action Replay cart? (Not one of the red all-in-one units that need the shielding (unless older ones do too??))

On 6.408 I was crashing before Richter even loaded in, happened twice in a row. Then I updated to 6.483 and the intro was fine, up until crashing on a save room load, where music keeps playing in the background for a bit with a black screen.

Burn appears good (Taiyo Yuden disc; very good 0.19 average C1 errors per my testing which is better than some factory pressed Saturn discs I own; disc works on emulator) and was patched from a verified Redump rip. I figure Pseudo Saturn Kai has a problem since it was crashing even sooner before updating it, but it could be my replacement disc drive from Aliexpress, or if the save room is cached, something wrong with the always shoddy Action Replay. Dunno!

EDIT: CWX Loader seems to be working. I will post over in the Pseudo Saturn Kai thread about it. JHL presumably works on the original disc according to the compatibility list so that's interesting.

 

[paul_met]

1) Is save room data cached to the 4MB cart in any way?

No. As far as I remember, the save rooms are part of the entire location and are not loaded separately.

 

[bobrocks95]

No. As far as I remember, the save rooms are part of the entire location and are not loaded separately.

Interesting, maybe it just locks up trying to load that heartbeat sound effect or switching the music track off. I'll keep playing with the CWX Loader and see if anything else comes up, but guess it's just a Pseudo Saturn Kai problem. Thanks!

EDIT: Things are getting glitchy as I play more with the CWX Loader as well. Corruption on character sprites and loading hallways, and I know both are cached in the 4MB cart. Maybe Action Replay's RAM extension is just really spotty and I should get a Phantom chip and a real 4MB cart.

 

[Mario445]

Interesting, maybe it just locks up trying to load that heartbeat sound effect or switching the music track off. I'll keep playing with the CWX Loader and see if anything else comes up, but guess it's just a Pseudo Saturn Kai problem. Thanks!

EDIT: Things are getting glitchy as I play more with the CWX Loader as well. Corruption on character sprites and loading hallways, and I know both are cached in the 4MB cart. Maybe Action Replay's RAM extension is just really spotty and I should get a Phantom chip and a real 4MB cart.

I stopped using Action Replay and Pseudo Saturn Kai. The menu screens cause glitches in games. And copying saves back and forth to the Action Replay causes memory corruption. You need to clear your memory.

 

[bobrocks95]

I stopped using Action Replay and Pseudo Saturn Kai. The menu screens cause glitches in games. And copying saves back and forth to the Action Replay causes memory corruption. You need to clear your memory.

Save backup is supposed to be removed after flashing Pseudo Saturn Kai, I'm surprised you were able to do it at all (unless you mean stock firmware also caused problems).

I have a Phantom chip and BIOS replacement installed now. I haven't tried reflashing the Action Replay to stock to see if the 4MB expansion works any better yet. I don't really play fighting games so I'll probably sell it preflashed later- I'm guessing the 4MB will be just as glitchy stock.

 

[privateye]

I stopped using Action Replay and Pseudo Saturn Kai. The menu screens cause glitches in games.

This was addressed in Pseudo Saturn Kai v6.483; see "Game and Saturn hardware compatibility improved" section in the following link: https://ppcenter.webou.net/devblog/article145/v6-483-the-long-awaited-one