Is Star Ocean finally playable?

barbaari · Post by **barbaari** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:04 pm

This might be a silly question (and perhaps posted on a wrong sub-forum, sorry), but is the original SNES Star Ocean finally playable with an emulator? I've been out of the scene for several years, and at those days I remember emulators still having major problems with SO (making the game as much as impossible to play).

What's the state of it today? It seems many people are in fact able to play the game (apparently better with SNES9x ?), but does it still contain many bugs? Should I bother giving it a chance? It's definitely a game I've been wanting to play for years now.

Thank you!
- barbaari

mudlord · Post by **mudlord** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:36 pm

Yes, the S-DD1 is now cracked, so those graphics packs are now no longer needed.

Post by **Agozer** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:45 pm

You might want to stick with Snes9x, until the various emulation-related issues in Star Ocean under ZSNES have been resolved.

I'm not saying that ZSNES is incapable of running Star Ocean, far from it. It's just that due to timing problems and, to a degree, bugs in the original game, you'll get music glitches and freezing mostly, plus battle speed is twice the normal speed.

Snes9x doesn't have these problems.

Clements · Post by **Clements** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:49 pm

Yep, you would be right. I would strongly suggest using bsnes or Snes9x for Star Ocean as of right now. The srm save is transferable so you can save the game virtually anywhere, so you can't really go wrong.

Star Ocean with the latest ZSNES drops sound channels, freezes randomly etc. The game does not have these particular issues in other emulators and is fully playable. You might find that ZSNES v1.42 or other previous releases work better, but you might as well use bsnes if you PC is fast enough or Snes9x if it is not.

Note that if you want to use Dejap's patch with bsnes, you will need to convert the ips patch to a ups patch (so you can soft-patch the game), or hard-patch the rom with the ips patch (keeping a backup of the original).

Post by **grinvader** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:06 pm

Unplayable ? What's that ?

</went all the way to velcrant cave without graphics packs>

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:12 am

SnesGT runs Star Ocean better (at least as far as SPC emulation is concerned). Snes9x is as good as dead. If someone has proof that the Snes9x project isn't dead, I'd like to hear it.

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:02 am

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:SnesGT runs Star Ocean better (at least as far as SPC emulation is concerned). Snes9x is as good as dead. If someone has proof that the Snes9x project isn't dead, I'd like to hear it.

Nach might have something to say about that.

creaothceann · Post by **creaothceann** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:00 am

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:If someone has proof that the Snes9x project isn't dead, I'd like to hear it.

http://tasvideos.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:03 am

Uh, that's unofficial development. If that means the official snes9x is alive, then VBA-M is proof that VBA is alive.

I should mention I'm being a Devil's Advocate here. I have no idea, nor do I even care, if snes9x is actually alive or not.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:14 am

There have been numerous mentions that SNES9x development has not halted and good progress is being made. I believe a newer video engine for the windows build is one of the new features to expect (yay adjustable refresh rates

) and other things like a new core.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:08 pm

The thing I have against Snes9x's is the fact that the SPU core doesn't like my sound card, my Realtek 5.1 HQ Audio. No other games/programs have conflicts with the card, but Snes9x is the only one that does, which makes no sense. And no matter which buffer/latency combo I set it to, there's always crackling and popping in the audio. I change the Audio Mode to "Direct sound" (everything but Snes9x default) and the Audio Sync is unusable and sounds even worse. That's why I'm sticking to SnesGT until either a new Snes9x or the long-awaited Zsnes 2.0 is released. I'm completely skeptical Snes9x is still alive. Sorry if I'm ranting or whatever, but I wish they'd release a new version with Blargg's SPC core or equivalent.

Post by **badinsults** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:09 pm

I would say that Nach is pretty involved with official Snes9x development. :p

That being said, regardless of whether or not you think it is dead, Star Ocean works better on it, so it is a moot point. If you can't get your hardware to work with it, well, tough luck?

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:47 pm

Here's a link of comparisons between SnesGT 0.230b5 and Snes9x 1.51. Game - Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. A test, to show you the Snes9x SPC core is messed up and why SnesGT's SPC core is better IMHO. Here: http://rapidshare.com/files/125644612/S ... 2.avi.html Sounds to me like a case of sound driver discrimination. Out of all of programs I have (and they all have perfect sound), Snes9x is only one that's SOL.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:18 pm

I've been suggesting you use the FMOD option or just shut up. Seriously, it's part your sound card and somewhat Snes9x's fault.

mudlord · Post by **mudlord** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:30 am

Seriously, it's part your sound card and somewhat Snes9x's fault.

From what I am aware, the Snes9x DirectSound code is the main part of the problem. It had those issues for years.

Some threading problems are causing the issues, AFAIK. Thats why FMOD sounds fine, where DSound sounds like ass. Honestly,I would love to know the real nature of the problem, but I daresay the OS specific sound output implementation is the issue, not the actual SPC emulation core itself...

leilei · Post by **leilei** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:30 pm

neo_bahamut1985 wrote:The thing I have against Snes9x's is the fact that the SPU core doesn't like my sound card, my Realtek 5.1 HQ Audio.

that's not even a card
that chipset is picky about sample rates, feed it 48000hz instead and it will sound fine.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:52 pm

If I knew how to change the sample rate (on the card, not in Snes9x), I would. But as I said before, using FMOD disallows sound sync, so it sounds like crap. Direct Sound has it, but crackles. That's why I like SnesGT more than Zsnes/Snes9x's sound. Zsnes is an exception because it's being actively worked on. Snes9x is as good dead as far as I'm concerned! How in blazes do I "feed my sound card to 48000Hz?"

funkyass · Post by **funkyass** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:15 pm

you tell the program to output audio as 48 kHz.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:14 am

That didn't work, so, until they release Zsnes 2.0 or a new Snes9x (whichever comes first), I'm using SnesGT. I'll admit I'm picky about my sound emulation accuracy.

DancemasterGlenn · Post by **DancemasterGlenn** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:28 am

You were going to do that anyway, there's no need to broadcast it across the whole forum. We get it, you have a boner for SnesGT. Congrats.

mudlord · Post by **mudlord** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:13 am

You were going to do that anyway, there's no need to broadcast it across the whole forum. We get it, you have a boner for SnesGT. Congrats.

There's nothing wrong with being passionate about something.

Snark, FitzRoy and co. are passionate about cycle accurate emulation, neo_bahamut1985 is passionate about sound accuracy, so wheres the issue?

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:24 am

Snes9x.

DancemasterGlenn · Post by **DancemasterGlenn** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:21 am

Har har.

EDIT: To respond to Mudlord, there is nothing wrong with being passionate about something, but that there is a line between helpful passion and being a broken record that I try not to cross. I find that most people on this forum do a pretty good job of not crossing that line, yourself included.

I'll try and bite my tongue more in the future. I guess it shows when I'm having a bad day.

neo_bahamut1985 · Post by **neo_bahamut1985** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:55 pm

I'll just stop.