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Sega Saturn games in 4K resolution.
- Thread starter Xbudz
- Start date
I don't think it matters. Saturn games were designed to run at 4:3 regardless of their internal resolution.
Those old Lucasarts adventure games did the same thing. They were rendered at 320x200, a 16:10 ratio, but intended for 4:3 displays. The pixels would stretch vertically by design.
cireza
Member
Virtua Fighter 2 on Saturn runs at 640x480@60FPS. No wonder it looked way better than anything else at the time. One of the most amazing arcade ports period.
They look stretched out as they weren't designed for widescreen and thus don't even look proper to their native aspect ratio. Plus black bars never bother me at all as the games are meant to be displayed in that when on something that isn't a CRT.
cireza
Member
Fighters Megamix runs only at 320x240. It uses the Fighting Vipers engine. Character models are much better in Virtua Fighter 2.
FM didn't have high res models, only VF2 did. FM did have 3D elements in the background (cage) and also feature gouraud shading (light sourcing), both missing from VF2.
LOL at stretching Saturn games to widescreen. It's like you were thinking "these look pretty bad already, but how can I make them even worse?"
Aside from that, I didn't actually realize that any Saturn emulators had the option to increase the rendering resolution, so at least this thread is informative if nothing else.
Aside from that, I didn't actually realize that any Saturn emulators had the option to increase the rendering resolution, so at least this thread is informative if nothing else.
VF2 ran at 704x480 but outputs at 480i (720x480i).
Not in my case as I just played the game recently, it's 480i during gameplay, only the menus and certain scenes were in 240p. It's also funny you mention Fighting Vipers as that's yet another 480i game during gameplay.
I got pics and a video for proof.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
I get a little sad when devs start working on emulators for modern systems (PS3, 3DS, etc.) while the emulation of older systems like the Saturn and N64 leave much to be desired.
I know, I meant in emulation. That, because the arenas are rendered with different parts of the Saturn hardware than the fighters, Yabause doesn't render them at higher resolutions.
It's the same case on the actual hardware with VF2: arena floors are clearly rendered at a lower resolution than the fighters iirc
it's meant to be read as just 'panzer dragoon zwei.' having 'zwei' in the logo is treated as a reading aid like furigana so you know how the 2 is supposed to be pronounced.
unfortunately that kind of thing doesn't really work outside of japan so the rest of the world interpreted the name in a really silly way.
JAV Actress
Banned
I always wondered why Sega doesn't release a genesis/saturn/dreamcast/etc little 100 dollar console like they do with those outsourced genesis consoles you see for like 30 bucks. Even if it most just emulation it'd still be down.
cireza
Member
In any case, Virtua Fighter 2 on a CRT looks high resolution, and Fighters Megamix looks low res. And character models are a lot less detailed in Fighters Megamix. You can have 480i or 480p, if your models are low (internal) res, you will never feel that it is 480i/p because you are not using the full measure of the resolution.
Fighters Megamix uses the Fighting Vipers engine, no wonder you see the same resolution.
Because Genesis emulation is cheap and easy on any basic hardware now. The other two not so much.
Extra Sauce
Member
I prefer the original look. The low resolution helps to hide the crudeness of the models and textures.
Love how the car tires actually look circular in the low res shots compared to the high res octagons in that Virtua Cop shot.
NinjamicWZ
Banned
Because of this:
Those are some sharp polygons on the unstretched model
NinjamicWZ
Banned
MILFs look better on CRT
IronicSonic
Member
Where are Panzer Dragoon Saga pics!
AM2 late games looks great in HD
AM2 late games looks great in HD
Extra Sauce
Member
What is so hard to understand about picture accuracy?
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Man the Mac version seems sketchy.
Tried running both VF1 and 2 and um...yeah.
Tried running both VF1 and 2 and um...yeah.
capylikesgames
Banned
I, for one, think the Saturn games shown upscale really nicely! They look better than a lot of PS1 games do when upscaled, IMO.
Thank you! I'm going to have to give this one a look.
cireza
Member
Don't worry, I believe you.
Simply put, I only play on the original hardware, and by looking at those games run on a CRT, Fighters Megamix felt like it was only 240p when compared to VF2. That's why I made a false assumption.
Ok, fair enough. I do play on the original hardware as well, definitely when it comes to Sega Saturn.
MrCunningham
Member
Here you are:
But I should point out that the game is incredibly buggy under OpenGL. Most of the polygon environments will just vanish 70% of the time during game play. I was lucky enough to get at least one good screenshot.
Default internal rendering:
OpenGL high resolution:
Buggy environments:
I also tried PowerSlave, and sadly the game just doesn't work at all under OpenGL. Compatibility is really hit and miss on Yabause.
This is the case for so many of Sega's 3D fighters that came out after Virtua Fighter 1. The arena's in Virtua Fighter 1 were actually constructed out of polygons, if you look at the earlier screenshots I've posted they are at the same resolution as the character models. But from Virtua Fighter Remix onwards, the arenas were constructed out of the Saturns Mode 7-like playing fields. Which I guess are constructed out of sprite based tiles that are being manipulated in 3D. They aren't polygon so they do not scale up in resolution with the character models. They remain at the same resolution as the background layers and the text and fonts.
Here's a few screenshots of Virtua Fighter Remix:
The areas here are higher resolution than in Virtua Fighter 2. But VF Remix does only run at 30FPS. This game is also very broken under OpenGL in Yabause. Yabause is running the game at 60FPS, but the game is timed at 30, so things like the timer, AI and game physics become really messed up.
If you're distorting the intended aspect ratio, you're destroying the image. I understand not wanting black bars, but not at that expense.
I created a thread about MS-DOS games and aspect ratio a while back.
Incorrect
Correct
Yeah, one of those situations where rendering in such a high resolution is detrimental.
sixteen-bit
Member
What does Bulk Slash look like?
MrCunningham
Member
Here you go....
Default internal resolution:
OpenGL:
Default:
OpenGL:
The only things that are getting a resolution bump are the polygon objects. The rest of the 2D sprites and the ground tiles remain unchanged.
Also, here's a few more comparisons...
Nights:
OpenGL:
Cyber Speedyway. I couldn't get Wipeout to work at all, so you'll all get this instead:
OpenGL:
jasminlovesyoux
Banned
I never heard of Bulk Slash so I looked up a video. Wtf I wish I knew about it back in the day cause I would've bought the import in a heart beat!!!!!
I was all about buying Japanese games for that console too but never heard about this one. Looks like a kick ass mech game!!! It's like Zone of the Enders for the Saturn lol
I was all about buying Japanese games for that console too but never heard about this one. Looks like a kick ass mech game!!! It's like Zone of the Enders for the Saturn lol
daninthemix
Member
Yeah I agree. The low-res CRT just looked 'right' with these rough early games. N64 games when upscaled look better, and some of PS1 can be okay.
MrCunningham
Member
Sonic Jam
How did you get the Sonic World in Sonic Jam to work?
Nice screenshots, BTW, and these are actually 4K.
Xbudz
Member
Thanks man! I'm loving the pictures you posted. I really appreciate that you took time to post them here!
I'm not sure why I didn't have the missing floor in Sonic Jam.. That's strange eh.
I also couldn't get the first Wipeout to boot, but 2097 is awesome, not a bad port is the PS1 version.
Graphics are generally pretty glitchy when you increase the internal resolution but overall I'm having fun playing with these settings!
MrCunningham
Member
What emulator and videocard are you using?
I'm using Yabause 0.9.14 64bit windows binaries, which seems to be a pretty old release. But I can only assume it is the most current one even though it was released in 2014. I'm not seeing anything newer on the official webpage.
Tempest 2K looks great at 4K. So simple, yet so smooth.
It's a pretty cool exclusive for the Saturn. Plays pretty well too.
MrCunningham
Member
Never mind, I just solved my own question. There is a version of Yabause floating around from 2015/10/15. Not sure if this is a fork or what? But it does address some issues with the 2014 build. Compatibility is still very flaky though.
Virtua Cop from the October 2015 build:
A lot of rendering bugs from the previous screenshots I posted have been fixed. Though oddly the models for the tires on the cars are not rendering, They are just diamonds now due to the square black textures for the wheels. The shadows are also absent too, as well as the polygons inside the wheel wells.
Screenshot from Croc:
This one doesn't look too bad in HD.
Sonic R:
The stages in Sonic R are incredibly broken though. This is both with and without OpenGL rendering. They cause Yabause to crash after a couple minutes.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
Those Panzer Dragoon shots are marvelous. That series has one of the best art styles in gaming, hands down. Definitely in the Top 5 for me in that aspect.
ratio.
Ivan Amiibo
Banned
someone do Batman Forever: The Arcade Game