Sega Saturn/PS1 Interesting finds

[Betaman]

I was bored and I decided to rip some stuff from the Sega Saturn version of Rayman, particularly the FMV sequences. (Mostly because I don't have access to the PS1 version, which I'm sure has better quality FMVS.) Upon ripping the files, I was pleasantly surprised that my video converter program can not only play, but also convert files made in 1995 perfectly. It was then that I decided to rip some other games I had in the same CD case. I ripped Sonic Jam, 3D Blast, and Sonic R one after the other. From what I can tell, the most interesting was Sonic R, because it has vastly different names for specific things internally than their in-game counterparts. While Rayman had a similar thing going for it, it was less of a surprise to me due to previous experience with the Rayman 1 designer and the inner file-names.

As for the rest, it's not really that big a deal. In Sonic 3D Blast I found 2 pictures that might be the same as the unused Tails and Knuckles pictures from the PC version. Unfortunately, I don't have the proper software to view the files, so it's just a guess on my end. Snooping around the BIN files of some of the games with TLP reveals bits and pieces of things, though I'm sure the program was never meant to look at Sega Saturn files and is trying to display the data correctly. I realized this the minute I tried to open a supposed "Sound" file with TLP and it gave me raw data for the Pause Menu in the MegaDrive Emulations in Sonic Jam. Later, I was able to discover Sonic's sprite from Sonic the Hedgehog 1 with spindash frames. What's strange though, is that he seems to also have his odd beta spindash-esque frames slightly above the newly added spindash frames in the file. Pictures can be seen below.

Sonic Jam's Pause menu with incorrect colors:

Sonic Jam's Sonic 1 Sprite, with correct pallet and spindash frames in shot:

Sonic R's strange internal file naming:

So yeah, I've got a couple more Sega Saturn games that I haven't checked out yet. I suppose I'll be posting more stuff here as I find it, so I guess this will be an ongoing topic on my part.

Feel free to share what you think about this. I apologize that I cannot share the game files with you guys, as I'm afraid that it's against the forum's rules.

Anywho, Betaman out. I've got a long week ahead of me.

[Epon]

I always loved searching for things like this back in the day. I suggest dicking around with those weird files in Paint Shop Pro. You had the ability to open RAW files in all crazy ways to see sprites and textures. I had lots of luck with Sonic R back in the day.

Also, unsure if you remember when Rlan maintained SOST, which was basically a website full of stuff like this. Check it out (although its not maintained anymore)

sost.emulationzone.org

[Betaman]

Actually, SoST was one of the reasons I became interested in Beta stuff and game ripping. Just looking at all the strange and cool stuff that was left out of games, possibly waiting to be found was simply alluring to me. I'll check out Paint Shop Pro and see if I can do anything with the files I've got. I'm personally interested in seeing the textures for Sonic Jam and Sonic R though.

On a side note,

I've noticed that though at first I thought the spindash frames looked different to the Sonic 2 spindash frames, they are identical save for Sonic's pallet between the two.

Also a side note,

Sonic Jam's files seem to have a different file extension based on what game they represent. For example: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is named ".SN3" internally, while Sonic and Knuckles is strangely called ".SN4" internally, despite being in a folder titled "Sonic3K". Knuckles in Sonic 2 is also named similarly as ".SK2", though it's only the mappings and sprite data, just like the cartridge counterpart.

[Epon]

Here's what I found (funny it's the same site I used to use back in the day)

Http://sonicology.fateback.com/hacks/sonicrpc/index.html

Not sure of the Saturn structure. Probably completely different and without a boot disc I doubt you could burn the edited textures to a CD and play it.

[Betaman]

Just looking at Resort Island's files (BEACH in the disk's data), 3 types of files make up the structure for the level:

.BIN files, which Paint Shop will not open

.ENV files, which Paint Shop will also not open

.SFX files, which I'm positive are the level's ambient sound effects, Paint shop will also not open it.

There's one other file, but that's the hidden data for Metal Sonic, unfortunately.

EDIT:

Attempted to open a .ENV file with a PCX editor, but it didn't work.

I'm at a loss on whether I should do NiGHTS into Dreams next or MYST. I should also start messing around with Sonic 3D Blast and see what's up with it. And I suppose that after I get done with my Sega Saturn games, I'm going to try out my PS1 collection.

[XeroNazoBlaze]

Try using PSound to check which files are sound effects containers. The program was designed to work with PS games but since it looks for uncompressed PCM data, it should work for other games too. If that doesn't work try opening them in any audio editor that allows you to open files as raw data.

This way I was able to extract all SFX and instruments from Sonic the Fighters/Championship.

[Betaman]

I'll have to try that tomorrow. I've been documenting all that I can of Sonic Jam's files. From what I can tell, they're simply using the original graphics for the Sega Genesis games. (Durr Hurr, of course they used the original graphics; it's a porting of the Genesis games.) What I mean is that they didn't allocate anything differently, they just threw the files together to be loaded up in the engine. Nothing was really added, other than the spindash frames for Sonic 1.

Anywho, I'd like to post my findings here, but that's obviously against the Warez/Roms rule of the forums. I could go to Sonic Retro, but I'd have to make an account and I really don't feel like going through their account process.

[Betaman]

Update:

Sorry to double post, but I remembered that I had a Sonic Retro account attached to my email that had never been verified, and now I'm a trial member. You can check out the topic here:

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=30680

[Betaman]

NEW UPDATE:

Really, really sorry to not only TRIPLE post, but also bring this back from the dead. I have something interesting to show.

I've been working with Andrew75/Tuxmask75 on Jam. (Yes, the guy that's doing ASXS.)

He had a cache of most of Sonic World's models and I was the guy running the show, so we kind of got together and teamed up. We are currently sifting through Sonic Adventure along with Sonic Jam to match up some unused/barely used content and see how it fits in with its counterpart. (Jam to Adventure and Vice Versa.)

The first of these objects? The newly found hidden spring from Sonic Adventure that resembles not only a Classic styled spring, but also the spring object from Sonic World.

I think this image speaks for itself.

From Left to Right:

Adventure Spring, Unused Spring, Jam Spring.

As it is, that particular model uses a texture that's (possibly) unused in Adventure. I at first though it was used for the wide springs, but that model uses the same detailed star that's used by the regular spring. The unused model uses a less detailed star and tiles it where the texture normally ends.

I'm going to do a re-texture and see if I can get the original Jam textures on the unused spring.

[TailsSena]

I think I've seen this before, but it's still pretty interesting. I do love how much SEGA loved to re-use things back in the day.

[Betaman]

Well I thought my work was done with that model. Case Closed, time to pack up, any relations are pure coincidence.

and I was absolutely wrong.

I took the model into Unity, where I can manually re-texture models. After that, I simply swapped out the textures for Jam's spring texture and I got this:

Note, I did not do anything to the model beforehand. I only swapped out the Adventure Textures for the Sonic Jam textures. Perfect fit, matches up correctly, everything. It's not super astounding, but it's still pretty cool how it matches up with the Jam Textures. Compare it to the spring below it, which has messed up formatting due to a file change or something.

[GamerZ1]

Cool! XD

so, you retextured that model all by yourself! =D

cool!