don't click here

Sega PC Reloaded

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by Korama, Apr 2, 2015.

  1. The Game Collector

    The Game Collector

    Member
    939
    20
    18
    Washington State, USA
    Being Ted Narcotic's bass player; working on Kelly Kristjanson's tape archive; collecting video games
    Thank you very much. I just got a new PC so I'm interested in getting as many old games running on it as possible and my ROG Strix motherboard PC can't do hardware based virtual machines as there is no option to turn on the ability in the BIOS. If I ever try to do a virtual machine I will have to grab an older discontinued version of VM software that supported software emulation of the old OS's. Also my version of Windows on here is 10 Home, where I'd need Professional to access Microsoft's version of VM capability.

    I wonder if Google Drive just started requiring permissions by default all of a sudden so anyone who wants to share stuff freely has to go back in and manually change everything? That messes up things people uploaded and shared years ago. I saw the same problem recently with a Google hosted playable Chip mod for Sonic World.
     
  2. arflech

    arflech

    Member
    1
    0
    1
    Can anybody re-upload this archive with higher-quality sound effects and a new intro video for Sonic CD?
     
  3. Zilch

    Zilch

    Weet nie Member
  4. Zilch

    Zilch

    Weet nie Member
    • Like Like x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
  5. Hydra Spectre

    Hydra Spectre

    Tails Fan Member
    22
    4
    3
    I am really interested in possibly porting Sonic 3D Blast: Director's Cut to the PC and Sega Saturn versions.
    I also hope I can restore some of the missing visual effects from the Saturn version to the PC version.
    Unfortunately, I have little to no modding experience so I can't quite promise it, and I don't have enough time to study the modding between the games. Though I have great ideas, I really need to learn how to mod the games and make my ideas real.
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2022
  6. sheepytina

    sheepytina

    "Accidental" Puyo Puyo Queen Member
    It might be prudent to mirror these files on PC Gaming Wiki too, especially since it points to the dead link at the beginning of this thread. (I'd tend to suggest creating a torrent too but that can be a bit of a pain if nobody's seeding.)

    So yeah, basically due to a security vulnerability Google invalidated all public GDrive links ever made, meaning that people now have to send you an email to gain access. I have an important link over on the archived AssemblerGames forum that gets several requests per month, and since it's archived I can't go back and update. :( Let's try not to spam Korama's inbox with requests okay? Let's just share the mirrors around to other messageboards that ask about it.

    I remember when this project first came out. I was reminded of it recently because I wanted to check if this worked with the PC port of Comix Zone too, but it appears the project has been largely abandoned. It's a shame the source code wasn't made available too so we could pick it back up.
     
  7. Zilch

    Zilch

    Weet nie Member
    Fully agreed! If he'd made it available under GPL2 it could've even helped him since anyone who contributes is required to forward any changes back to him.
     
  8. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    The next addition was gonna be Bug!, there are some screenshots of it working somewhere in the thread. Don't think korama has been around for a long time now though. Still, for the 4 games it supports it's an outstanding piece of software. Particularly Ecco and Sonic CD are completely unplayable on modern windows without it.
     
  9. Graxer

    Graxer

    Member
    Has anyone had any luck getting this (particularly Sonic 3D, as it is the only Sonic game of the collection without a better PC version) working on the Steam Deck? When I try to run Sonic 3D I get a piracy message and it refuses to start. This is when using a genuine copy of the game and the same files I use on my PC without any issues. I assume it is a proton issue triggering the error and that the error is a piracy check from the original release of the game.
     
  10. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    I suspect that whatever method Sega PC Reloaded is using to inject its custom version of directdraw.dll into the game isn't compatible with Wine. It sounds like the game is just trying to start without the Sega PC Reloaded changes applied.
     
  11. MainMemory

    MainMemory

    Kate the Wolf Tech Member
    4,791
    381
    63
    SonLVL
    I think there's a way to override Wine/Proton's default handling of stuff like ddraw.dll?
     
  12. Zilch

    Zilch

    Weet nie Member
    I have tried running it in Debian with Wine, but a lot of the UI stuff and in general the way DDLs are injected seem to be completely broken!

    I'd recommend sticking to Windows (7 or newer) for this one, otherwise maybe try the decompilation for Sonic CD... ?
     
  13. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    I got Sonic 3D and Sonic CD working with Sega PC Reloaded on my Linux Mint laptop by doing the following. I'm no expert, so if these exact steps fail then you're out of luck!

    1. Install 'Bottles' (it's a wrapper that handles installing Wine prefixes and makes it reasonably idiot proof!)
    2. In Bottles, create a new Wine prefix using the 'Gaming' profile
    3. Once your prefix is created, go to Settings and find the DLL Overrides option and add an entry for 'ddraw.dll'
    4. Install the games via Sega PC Reloaded on a Windows machine (including adding bass.dll and the Music folder with your ogg cd music).
    5. Copy SegaPCReloaded.exe and your newly created game folders over to your wine prefix.
    6. Tell Bottles to run SegaPCReloaded.exe in your new prefix, then install the games by using the 'find existing installation' option.
    7. Play!

    Switching to full screen using alt+tab crashed every game but maximizing the window (or resizing with alt+1, alt+2 etc) worked.
    For some reason, Sonic & Knuckles Collection doesn't work at all, but 3D and CD do. I wonder if there's something about it using MIDI that my setup doesn't like. I'll tinker some more and see if I can work that out.
    upload_2022-12-16_16-41-51.png

    I need to try it with Ecco as well!
     
  14. Wolfington

    Wolfington

    Python Dev Member
    11
    10
    3
    From the midi thing, if that is the problem, there is probably a package your are missing, Linux doesn't have midi decoding by default.
     
  15. MainMemory

    MainMemory

    Kate the Wolf Tech Member
    4,791
    381
    63
    SonLVL
    I mean, if it's MIDI-related, installing the S&KC Mod Loader might fix it right up, as it uses an SMPS player by default, with option for BASS-backed MIDI or streamed audio formats.
     
  16. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    Ecco works fine using the same trick (install on a Windows box, copy over to Wine prefix, override ddraw.dll, run Sega PC Reloaded in Wine and 'find existing installation' to install). Again, needs to be in a window.

    Still haven't managed to find a way to get S3KC going yet, with the mod loader or otherwise. I guess MIDI was a red herring. Although, there's plenty of other ways to play Sonic 3 & Knuckles on a Linux box so it's not the end of the world. Saturn style Sonic 3D with zero loading times (and a unique not as good special stage) and Windows 95 Ecco are the real gems here. Although I'll always have a soft spot for this version of Sonic CD, it's one of the first PC games I ever owned!

    EDIT - Ecco doesn't let you change the window size using alt+1, alt+2 etc, it only works using the default size (about 640x480) which is a pity.

    upload_2022-12-19_8-43-48.png upload_2022-12-19_8-43-41.png
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2022
    • Informative Informative x 1
    • List
  17. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    Sonic & Knuckles Collection does indeed work using the mod loader but NOT Sega PC Reloaded (it's Sega PC Reloaded's ddraw.dll which Wine doesn't like for some reason). You can use the same prefix as the Sega PC Reloaded stuff above, the Bottles 'Gaming' prefix.

    1. Install S&KC on a Windows machine, install the mod loader as well and configure it as appropriate
    2. Copy the game folder over to your Bottles Wine prefix
    3. In the prefix, create an S3K.ini in c:\windows to override the cd check. Just use the settings in our hidden content page. Without Sega PC Reloaded, we have to do this 'properly'!
    Sonic & Knuckles Collection/Hidden content - Sonic Retro
    4. Tell Bottles to run Sonic3K.EXE and you're away.

    Again it's window only, full screen is broken. I had to drag the corner of the window to get a 640x480 display instead of the 320x200 default (or whatever it is). I've only tried it so far with the mod loader providing SMPS music, not midi.

    @MainMemory, thanks for the tip of using the mod loader. Does the GUI have a dependency like DotNet or something? It'd be nice to be able to run it directly in Wine instead of preparing it all in Windows then copying it over. I'm sure it's just my general Linux/Wine config ineptness rather than the loader itself!

    upload_2022-12-19_13-57-57.png
     
  18. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    Installing DotNet 4 did the trick and I can report that MIDI works fine via Wine
     
  19. Bobblen

    Bobblen

    Member
    429
    216
    43
    @Graxer Using Bottles worked on my Steam Deck as well. It even let me full screen Sonic 3D & Sonic CD! (Ecco still only works in a window and S&KC still won't work with Sega PC Reloaded at all). I did not attempt to add it as a Steam game and customize the controls to map appropriately (which you'd have to do to play these in Game Mode), I just plugged into a hub and used mouse and keyboard in desktop mode.

    upload_2022-12-20_10-32-1.png
     
  20. Ch1pper

    Ch1pper

    Fighting the Battle of Who Could Care Less Member
    854
    107
    43
    Life.
    So a little bug for 3D Blast:
    despite the .ini saying Motion Smoothing is enabled, I still have to manually turn it on from the toolbar every time I boot it up.
    (ie Game > Desired speed > Motion smoothing)

    I thought there was an option for it in the PC Reloaded configuration menu for it, but I don't see it. Is there a hotkey for it?