Exhuminator wrote:Okay, great, now I have a 50hz PAL PS2 game that's not gonna run on my USA PS2 nor be compatible with my NTSC CRT TV. So I make an ISO of Everblue's CD. I use a special software tool to patch the ISO's video header to support the NTSC refresh rate, with a Y offset of -48 to compensate for screen re-centering. But now I'm stuck with a CD image that's not compatible with Free McBoot. So I had to convert the CD image into a DVD image, not a simple task, considering I had to completely reconstruct the file layouts and sector mapping, etc. But, I did it, and the CD ISO became a DVD ISO. Next, I had to patch the DVD ISO to support Free McBoot. And lastly burn the image to a DVD.
I like to consider myself tech-savvy, but ALL THAT just to get a PAL PS2 game to run on a US console?!
Why is that so difficult when all I had to do to get the PAL Shenmue II running on my US Dreamcast was use a boot disc? I didn't have to adjust for any TV refresh rate.
Xeogred wrote:The obvious answer is that it's time for the Dreamcast 2.
ExedExes wrote:Why is that so difficult when all I had to do to get the PAL Shenmue II running on my US Dreamcast was use a boot disc? I didn't have to adjust for any TV refresh rate.
Some systems handle PAL/NTSC a bit differently. Could be that Sega already had some detection software to handle whatever system it was running on correctly.
There's definitely a lot of hoop-jumping on PS2 depending on which exploits you're running. I've got an easier time of it because I use HDLoader / Open PS2 Loader, which has some patching options for PAL games. That being said, I don't think I actually have any PAL games installed, but I'm guessing the auto-patching does the same thing Exhuminator had to do.
ExedExes wrote:Why is that so difficult when all I had to do to get the PAL Shenmue II running on my US Dreamcast was use a boot disc? I didn't have to adjust for any TV refresh rate.
Were you running it over VGA?
Yeah, I played Shenmue II on my Dreamcast no problem with VGA. Does the VGA output bump the refresh rate to 60 Hz, or does the Dreamcast just handle PAL-to-NTSC better?
ExedExes wrote:Why is that so difficult when all I had to do to get the PAL Shenmue II running on my US Dreamcast was use a boot disc? I didn't have to adjust for any TV refresh rate.
Were you running it over VGA?
Yeah, I played Shenmue II on my Dreamcast no problem with VGA. Does the VGA output bump the refresh rate to 60 Hz, or does the Dreamcast just handle PAL-to-NTSC better?
VGA output is 240p/480i iirc. PAL dreamcats would output 576i or 288p over RGB/Composite, which US TVs likely don't support
As a point of reference, I had a PAL Soul Calibur disc that would do the screen roll, so I know there's nothing in software that compensates for that. I don't actually remember what it did with the VGA Box, though.
All this talk of VGA Boxes, though, reminds me of the manual for my off-brand model. Gotta love the Engrish in there: "Do not perform the dropping or misfunction may become aroused." Uh... huh.
Sarge wrote:If you're using VGA, it's 480p. No interlacing.
(Specifically, it's 640x480.)
As a point of reference, I had a PAL Soul Calibur disc that would do the screen roll, so I know there's nothing in software that compensates for that. I don't actually remember what it did with the VGA Box, though.
All this talk of VGA Boxes, though, reminds me of the manual for my off-brand model. Gotta love the Engrish in there: "Do not perform the dropping or misfunction may become aroused." Uh... huh.
I always become aroused when I'm playing my Dreamcast through VGA.
Sarge wrote:If you're using VGA, it's 480p. No interlacing.
Exactly:
"Dreamcast VGA boxes are compatible with Dreamcast systems from all regions, since all consoles are capable of producing the appropriate video signal. NTSC and PAL systems will produce images at the same resolution and horizontal scan rate when running similar compatible software." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast_VGA
So you don't have to jump through as many hoops, to play PAL Dreamcast games on a USA Dreamcast via VGA. It's a whole different world with PS2. (Although some PS2 PAL games actually have built in 50/60hz software switches.)
Trust me, I wouldn't have gone through all the craziness I did normally, but I really, really want to play Everblue. And will do so soon, maybe even tonight!
Wouldn't the really easy way to do things be to just get the Japanese version? It doesn't seem like the kind of game where you need to understand the language.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
MrPopo wrote:Wouldn't the really easy way to do things be to just get the Japanese version? It doesn't seem like the kind of game where you need to understand the language.
Well, Everblue is an adventure game with dialogue boxes and descriptions needed to be understood to progress. For example:
While you could probably mitigate the Japanese version via a walkthrough, I'd rather play the official English localization personally.
The easiest solution might have been to just emulate the PAL version on PC. But where's the fun in that?
