As most of us know, the Steam version is a port of a XBLA/PSN port, which is a port of the original PC version, which is a port of the GCN version, which is a port of the original Dreamcast game. While I own the GCN version, I'm interested in playing the game at a higher resolution and with mod support. Since this mod fixes a lot of issues the original PC release had, I definitely would like to play the game on PC but I'm not sure which version to get. I normally just get games on Steam (<3 Steam), but I've heard the newer version is harder to mod and I'd like to use a mod that forces widescreen support which sounds easier to do on the original version (though does that version support 1920x1080 resolutions?). Any help I can get on this would be very appreciated. ^_^;;
Do not by the Steam version. It runs at 640*480with borders to force 4:3. The original PC version can be modded to run at any resolution, including widescreen, and is the only version that actually get's any mods for it.
Porygon Jam nailed it. Steam version is shit, seek out the original PC release. You cannot play the Steam version in 1920x1080 or in widescreen; the original release can be modded for both of those things.
The mod W.A.C. linked to has support for the Steam version. It doesn't seem to fix the terrible resolution and borders though so yeah, go for the original PC version. The Steam version is a port of the XBLA version, which is a shitty port of the PC version. I have no idea why SEGA went this route, but there's no changing it now. Unless they'd patch the game, but that's not going to happen.
By no mods, I mean there's no actual level geometry or character mods for it. All it has is basic layout/texture edits.
It only supports the Steam version in terms of item layouts and textures. There's nothing I can do about geometry related glitches like I can in the original PC version, because I really don't have the skill to figure out the ins and outs of the newer Steam version. As everyone else has said, get the original version. It is by far the superior version. For example, the original PC release actually runs at the resolution you tell it to, but the Steam release just scales from 640x480. Here's an example of how horrible that looks (the Steam version): http://puu.sh/pCvr Although that example is widescreen, the same applies to larger 4:3 resolutions, such as 1024x768. It still just scales it up from 640x480, while the original actually outputs at that resolution, and it looks great. And of course, you can modify the original to run at various widescreen resolutions, such as 720p and 1080p, and anything in between. And if you even care about Chao, the Steam release removed several breeds. tl;dr the only thing you get out of the Steam release is achievements, proper 360 controller support, and looping ADX music. Original version is better.
I'm going to assume that Sega modified the PC source code when making the XBLA port and didn't bother to keep the original code. I'm going to assume that any future ports will probably be based on the Steam version instead of the XBLA one for the same reason...
...How the hell did they manage to half ass the Steam, XBLA, and PSN versions so badly? o_o Is the controller support good on the original PC version because that's an extremely important feature to me.
By "fine" you mean it's a ghetto-ass patch that just disables the game reading the right analog stick which means you no longer have the analog stick camera controls.
For what it's worth I've never been able to get the damn thing to read my controller (which admittedly isn't a standard 360 controller -- it's a Razer Onza TE -- but I have no idea why that would be a problem as it uses the standard Xbox 360 drivers), not even using XBCD. Where's the proper-widescreen-support patch anyway? Wouldn't mind seeing how tiny the HUD looks in 1080p.
So the controls on the original PC version suck even with an optional patch? That blows. There's no way to make the controls be good in that version?
I once had luck getting full 360 controller compatibility with XBCD drivers, but you'll have to switch drivers every time you want to play SADX and 64-bit versions of Windows don't like unsigned drivers.
The problem is with some specific controllers though, watch out. I never had issues with my PSX-wannabe controller, it worked just fine (though then again generally I'd play using the keyboard anyways...).
See, though, SADX:PC 2004 doesn't support 360 controllers out of the box. Never used MotioninJoy, but if it can work like an older/DirectInput controller, that should be fine.
If you grab SADXTweaker, you can change one of the available resolution slots (0-4) to whatever resolution you like. (Window -> Resolution Editor)
I know its a lot easier said than done (A LOT easier said than done) but somebody really should work on hacking the Steam version to fix all of the basic problems it has. It seems more straightforward to put resources into that version since its more widely available. Isn't there a patch that turns it into the 2004 version anyway? Fix the controls on that version and then we'll be good :v:
The only way that even works is basically by uploading the 2004 version of the game. Since the Steam version uses the same resources (aside from the music and sounds, being ADX and 'n all in the Steam version), simply downloading the 2004 music, sounds, and executable, and throwing it into that folder means you essentially have the 2004 version. It's hardly a patch at all. Edit: In fact, if the "patch" you're talking about was posted on the SADX Steam subforum, that's actually my mod (SADX:FE) for the 2004 version of SADX, except thrown on top of the 2010 version. Ugh x_x