Translating Grandia 1.1.1

[qjkxbmwvz]

Can you be more specific about what part of the game you're at?

This is where it consistently hangs on my system. (Please excuse the picture quality, as photos of CRTs will tend to look this way.) The audio endlessly repeats the last fraction of a second.

As it might matter, I'll mention that I'm using a prepatched image, as the patching instructions involve the Windows-only ISOBuster, and I've found Windows programs to be really dodgy on Linux. I could try borrowing a Windows machine to patch it myself, but it did play all the way up to this point... Strange that anything should go wrong so late in the game. I've had loading issues happen before with the Fenrir, but never at a consistent point.

 

[qjkxbmwvz]

Addendum: I tried it again (for like the fifth time), this time getting into a fight after loading my save and then facing Baal and not using the stash after beating him. Under these conditions, the hang did not occur. Now I'm watching the credits roll, so I'm not in any personal need of a fix for this.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Ok, I tried it in Mednafen with a save I had and it didn't happen, even when I checked the stash. I'll try it on real hardware to be sure, but it could be the Fenrir acting up. That particular instance is where the Music changes and new graphics load in.

EDIT: Tested on real hardware with a modchip + CD-R and it didn't happen either. I'd reach out to the Fenrir team.

 

[SpaceCoyote]

I encountered a couple of bugs today that may or may not be patch related. When breaking out of prison, when you leave your cell and go to the cell next door where the others should be, at first you only see Sue. Then when you enter the cell and the dialogue sequence begins, Feena suddenly appears but there are two of her! And when you leave the cell, the duplicate Feena remains behind.

Also, right after escaping by train, when the airship cutscene begins, after a second or two, the game completely freezes and needs a hard reset. When I reloaded and got to this cutscene a second time, it played just fine and I was able to continue the game.

Playing on MODE.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

The Feena Bug is one that's in the original game. It's documented in the Saturn, PS1, and HD versions. As for the other one I think Digital Museum has a save around that spot so I'll try it out a few times.

EDIT: Tested the train scene a few times with both a CD-R + Mod chip and the Satiator and I wasn't able to get it to crash. I'd reach out to the MODE team, it could be an issue on their end.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I've been doing some tinkering with the Save/Load code and I've been able to update the comment that shows up in the Memory Manager. Before it just wrote ゲームアーツ which is just Game Arts in Katakana. I've since updated it to write the name of the area you're saving at into the comment. So up to 10 characters of that will be written there now, which should make understanding what saves are what in the Memory Manager a little nicer:

 

[meathane]

I've been doing some tinkering with the Save/Load code and I've been able to update the comment that shows up in the Memory Manager. Before it just wrote ゲームアーツ which is just Game Arts in Katakana. I've since updated it to write the name of the area you're saving at into the comment. So up to 10 characters of that will be written there now, which should make understanding what saves are what in the Memory Manager a little nicer:

the guy's a frickin wizard genius, love it

 

[SpaceCoyote]

The Feena Bug is one that's in the original game. It's documented in the Saturn, PS1, and HD versions. As for the other one I think Digital Museum has a save around that spot so I'll try it out a few times.

EDIT: Tested the train scene a few times with both a CD-R + Mod chip and the Satiator and I wasn't able to get it to crash. I'd reach out to the MODE team, it could be an issue on their end.

Oh, hah. That's a funny bug. Thanks for the explanation - I'm going into this game blind. 😀
And thanks for trying out the airship cutscene. At least on my second attempt I was able to get through it with no problem.

 

[Tsukino]

Does anyone have any more tips on getting a CD-R to work on actual hardware?

I have both the modern CMC "Taiyo Yuden" discs and real-deal JVC ones, and they exhibit the same problems in my Saturn - most of the time when going into the load menu, the menu in game, or the save menu in game, there's a bunch of read/load noises from the system but the screen remains black. Every once in a while the load menu does work, and if so the game always loads, at which point it will then eventually fail to load one of the other menus.

All other games I have using these CD-Rs work fine, as does the original copy of Grandia, and of course the checksums of the files all match. I feel like it's so close but I'm afraid to make more Taiyo Yuden coasters.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I don't know what to tell you. All I do is burn it using IMGBurn at 16x speed (slowest my drive can do) to a JVC Taiyo Yuden. It works fine for me in every Saturn I own that has a mod chip. Are you using a modded system or some other way to bypass the security check?

 

[Tsukino]

Dang, I'm also using ImgBurn at 16x because it's the slowest my drive will do. Was hoping a difference there might be a good lead.

I only use a "Pseudo Saturn" cart to start games, no mods.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

What kind of Pseudo Saturn cart?

 

[privateye]

Dang, I'm also using ImgBurn at 16x because it's the slowest my drive will do. Was hoping a difference there might be a good lead.

I only use a "Pseudo Saturn" cart to start games, no mods.

Grandia has problems with the Chinese Pseudo Saturn carts that are popular these days. If you are using one of these carts, apply some shielding and the game should work correctly. Instructions here: PPCenter :: Pseudo Saturn Kai Compatibility List

 

[SpaceBooger]

Side note, I usually sue Verbatim with no problem, but am looking into the -CMC "Taiyo Yuden"
Are these discs good for this and other games or do I need to pay 3-4 times as much for the JVC ones?

I ask because I think this is relevant to the conversation since many of the issues are with burning.

 

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I know the ones in my one older stack are JVC, I haven't looked at my unopened ones to know what they are. Basically anything that's professional grade or higher should work. So that should include verbatim data life plus (not normal verbatim) and a few others if those are easier/more affordable to get a hold of.

After burning flip the disc over, on good quality CD-Rs you should be able to see distinct lines separating regions of the disc that represent the tracks.

 

[Tsukino]

Today I realized I hadn't tried one of the simplest steps; I cleaned the lens in my Saturn and now it all seems to work great! I guess it hadn't occurred to me because everything else works fine, but it ended up being a kind of perfect storm situation between the Grandia CD-R and the lens.

Thanks for keeping up with this and helping troubleshoot even when the issues have nothing to do with your patch. Very excited to play the best version of the game all over again.

Grandia has problems with the Chinese Pseudo Saturn carts that are popular these days. If you are using one of these carts, apply some shielding and the game should work correctly. Instructions here: PPCenter :: Pseudo Saturn Kai Compatibility List

I had no idea this was an issue and will definitely take a look at trying to make this change soon even if it wasn't strictly necessary for now.

Side note, I usually sue Verbatim with no problem, but am looking into the -CMC "Taiyo Yuden"
Are these discs good for this and other games or do I need to pay 3-4 times as much for the JVC ones?

I ask because I think this is relevant to the conversation since many of the issues are with burning.

I went ahead and threw in one of my CMC discs that I had made before after cleaning the lens and it also worked fine. So if you wanted to buy them next you should be good.

 

[whitezombie]

Out of all the games I added to my Fenrir - Grandia is the ONLY one I get the occasional Audio issue [and I ripped/patched my original discs]
@TrekkiesUnite118 isn't kidding when he says it streams a crazy amount of ADX audio (granted that the issues I have are very slight...sometimes the Audio will skip/stop and then resume)

Yeah I think it's an issue with Fenrir because I have the same issue with Grandia using Fenrir. The music skips alot and starts over for me. I convert all my images to clone cd format via this method. I use CD Manipulator version 2.70 fix-7.

The Iso Zone Forums • View topic - Sega Saturn RHEA/PHOEBE-Diskjuggler CDI Replacement!

I have a Phobe and a Rhea and the music does not skip when I use the conversion method above.

 

[DragonmasterDan]

Side note, I usually sue Verbatim with no problem, but am looking into the -CMC "Taiyo Yuden"
Are these discs good for this and other games or do I need to pay 3-4 times as much for the JVC ones?

I ask because I think this is relevant to the conversation since many of the issues are with burning.

The CMC Taiyo Yuden discs have their flaws, they're heavier than most other CDRs and was a result some drives with weaker motors have trouble with them, they're also a bit thicker and can get stuck in some car CD players. I personally like Verbatim Datalife plus but I have stacks of the Taiyo Yuden discs too.,

 

[dibz]

Yeah I think it's an issue with Fenrir because I have the same issue with Grandia using Fenrir. The music skips alot and starts over for me. I convert all my images to clone cd format via this method. I use CD Manipulator version 2.70 fix-7.

The Iso Zone Forums • View topic - Sega Saturn RHEA/PHOEBE-Diskjuggler CDI Replacement!

I have a Phobe and a Rhea and the music does not skip when I use the conversion method above.

Haven't really played more then a few minutes on my Fenrir. Is there a particular area/time or would I be able to run into this "immediately" per-say? Maybe I'll check it out later and see if it happens for me too.

 

[whitezombie]

Haven't really played more then a few minutes on my Fenrir. Is there a particular area/time or would I be able to run into this "immediately" per-say? Maybe I'll check it out later and see if it happens for me too.

It happened to me as soon as I started a new game during the intro, the music was cutting out. Then when I got control in the first town I just let the music play and it kept cutting out and starting over.