HELLSLAVE : Project Z-Treme 0.361

[dibz]

I believe I just added music tracks per the instructions, and adjusting the cue was just regarding the track names. I could be wrong though since it was a bit ago, I don't believe it took much so let me know if that doesn't work for you and I'll take another look.

I see the problem, I downloaded the latest version which apparently includes music tracks now and it turns out they're in WAV format. As far as I know Fenrir doesn't support WAV format tracks, so that'd be the problem. Use something like CDmage to convert it to bin and it'll probably work fine I'd wager.

Right so, I was curious and actually tried opening it with CDmage and received an error about sector size not matching the length of a track, so I guess that won't work. I'll play with it later.

Luckily this is SegaXtreme, and the answer to the issue is in this 17 year old thread! So the WAV files actually needed to be fixed before being loaded into CDmage, apparently most burning programs fix the sector boundary problem automagically, while CDmage/Isobuster/similar do not. Luckily, I use linux as my primary desktop, which had a package for doing exactly that:

$ shntool fix *.WAV
Fixing [TRACK01.WAV] (4:12.73) --> [TRACK01.WAV-fixed.wav] : 100% OK
Fixing [TRACK02.WAV] (3:06.36) --> [TRACK02.WAV-fixed.wav] : 100% OK
Fixing [TRACK03.WAV] (4:58.01) --> [TRACK03.WAV-fixed.wav] : 100% OK
Fixing [TRACK04.WAV] (4:25.04) --> [TRACK04.WAV-fixed.wav] : 100% OK
Fixing [TRACK05.WAV] (2:14.33) --> [TRACK05.WAV-fixed.wav] : 100% OK
Padded last file with 1832 zero-bytes

After this I was able to load the image into CDmage, and "Save as" to BIN/CUE. CDmage does this as a single bin, but it by no means has to be. This also converted the ISO to bin, but Fenrir does actually support ISO, so don't let that mislead you, it's just irrelevant to "why it's broken" here -- the WAV files are the problem. The converted image worked fine in my Fenrir.

 

[XL2]

Fenrir compatible build made by dibz :

http://content.segaxtreme.net/HELLSLAVE%20-%20SAGE%200.204_FixedTracks.zip

 

[rorirub]

Am I seeing right that you are using VDP1 transparency too, and not just for small objects like the lens flare but also larger things like the flare of the torches? How did you optimize that so it doesn't tank the framerate?

 

[XL2]

Am I seeing right that you are using VDP1 transparency too, and not just for small objects like the lens flare but also larger things like the flare of the torches? How did you optimize that so it doesn't tank the framerate?

It's done by transfering a part of the framebuffer to a VDP2 bitmap layer. The VDP1 half-transparency is only used for the flames on the flame thrower and on the enemies' shadows.

 

[fafling]

So I burned v0.204 with fixed tracks to try it on the console (PAL switched to 60Hz with red all-in-one PS 1M/4M set to 4M, Taiyo Yuden CD), and it freezed at roughly the same spot as @EmeraldNova on v0.196 one month ago

The reset button wasn't operating, I had to power cycle the console. I couldn't reproduce the freeze and finished all levels after that. I played on nightmare difficulty.

Screenshot of the freeze (elevator that goes down to this corridor is on the left, passage to the outside is around the corner on the right) :

 

[XL2]

So I burned v0.204 with fixed tracks to try it on the console (PAL switched to 60Hz with red all-in-one PS 1M/4M set to 4M, Taiyo Yuden CD), and it freezed at roughly the same spot as @EmeraldNova on v0.196 one month ago

The reset button wasn't operating, I had to power cycle the console. I couldn't reproduce the freeze and finished all levels after that. I played on nightmare difficulty.

Screenshot of the freeze (elevator that goes down to this corridor is on the left, passage to the outside is around the corner on the right) :
View attachment 5482

Thanks for reporting it. I also experienced that freeze there once. The cause here is unknown, but I managed to "fix" crashes in other situations by pushing the near clip plane forward in my newer version, which means smaller 1/z values for projection. Perhaps one quad is overflowing? I hope that's the case, else I am clueless as of why it happens

 

[DeezTits]

On MODE. I get a black screen after the loading textures screen. Am I missing something?

 

[XL2]

On MODE. I get a black screen after the loading textures screen. Am I missing something?

Which version?

 

[DeezTits]

Which version?

Hellslave v. 0.25
Saturn Model 2 MODE firmware v 1.04_R2.

 

[mario64]

On MODE. I get a black screen after the loading textures screen. Am I missing something?

Same here. Game doesn't work at all on MODE for me.

 

[XL2]

Same here. Game doesn't work at all on MODE for me.

I think the MODE has issues with disc images at 2048 kb/sector. I don't have a MODE so I can't test it, but you could patch the image I think. The other possible culprit is the audio. Does the version 0.204 ODE compatible version works?

 

[DeezTits]

I think the MODE has issues with disc images at 2048 kb/sector. I don't have a MODE so I can't test it, but you could patch the image I think...

Forgive my ignorance, but how does one go about patching the game image?

Nevermind. I discovered the patcher. Will see if creating a single 2352 BIN where all tracks are appended will work.

Update: Patching did not work. Immediately to black screen.

 

[DeezTits]

Same here. Game doesn't work at all on MODE for me.

It is indeed a bummer.

 

[mario64]

I think the MODE has issues with disc images at 2048 kb/sector. I don't have a MODE so I can't test it, but you could patch the image I think. The other possible culprit is the audio. Does the version 0.204 ODE compatible version works?

I see a 0.204 for download but it doesn't say anything about ODE compatible. Is this the one you're referring to?

 

[Ponut]

It is unusual for the game to not work through an ODE. Patching the ISO with Sega Saturn Patcher should have solved that issue. The issue we face with MODE is that it cannot keep up regenerating the ECC data at the rate we load data. So if you patch using that tool, the ECC data is included in the ROM (thereby converting it to MODE 1/2352).

 

[DeezTits]

It is unusual for the game to not work through an ODE. Patching the ISO with Sega Saturn Patcher should have solved that issue. The issue we face with MODE is that it cannot keep up regenerating the ECC data at the rate we load data. So if you patch using that tool, the ECC data is included in the ROM (thereby converting it to MODE 1/2352).

Thank you. Unfortunately, patching the iso didn't work. It blips the image of Segata and then immediately to a black screen. Unlike before where you got Segata for a moment and then the texture loading screen before going to black.

 

[dibz]

I see a 0.204 for download but it doesn't say anything about ODE compatible. Is this the one you're referring to?

You can find older versions of the download on the history tab, here.

 

[mario64]

You can find older versions of the download on the history tab, here.

Thank you. Sorry I missed that. Will try it out and report back.

 

[DeezTits]

You can find older versions of the download on the history tab, here.

Thanks, but IDK if I want to go backwards. I only see notes for the 0.25 update. So I'm assuming the older version(s) would be lacking newer features and map details. I'll just wait for a potential update. Similarly I've been waiting for Terraonion to release newer firmware for MODE. There are bugs on Saturn that need to be addressed.

 

[dibz]

Thanks, but IDK if I want to go backwards. I only see notes for the 0.25 update. So I'm assuming the older version(s) would be lacking newer features and map details. I'll just wait for a potential update. Similarly I've been waiting for Terraonion to release newer firmware for MODE. There are bugs on Saturn that need to be addressed.

I think you probably misunderstood.

Trying older versions is simple troubleshooting, if it works for you then we'll know more about potential causes of the problem reported w/ MODE since we don't have MODEs ourselves to test with.