by VoidKeeper » Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:25 am
Good morning!
So I've been doing a lot of testing of this release and I'd like to post everything that went wrong and right with all of it.
First things first, the method of burning, I tried 2 different burners, with 2 types of media and 2 different Dreamcasts, so as to try and pinpoint problems, I've been using 80Min media because my 900MB discs haven't arrived yet (although if what has been said is true mediarange sucks for DC, but I'll confirm when they arrive).
So that is Dreamcast 1 and 2, burner 1 and 2 and media type TDK or Verbatim. All of it SAO/DAO, but I'm currently trying a RAW/DAO because all else failed.
Disc 1 80Min - Worked fine, few problems, but nothing major, mostly just the 3% missing translation as far as I could tell. I finished disc 1 without much hassle. So I didn't burn any other copy.
Disc 2 80Min, here's where I start having problems, I get just about the same results with ANY of the media I've used and ANY combination of burning method:
Problem 1, the docks, the first disc I used (Verbatim) didn't show any problems at first, in fact, I got pretty far without any problems at all, that is until I got to the dream sequence where you see both mirrors while it's snowing and there's an eagle flying, after I wake up, the game automatically opens the journal, after I close it, it just goes to a black screen, it wouldn't load, it just would sit there, not even trying to read the disc.
This is where the TDK copy I burnt comes into play, I burned that second copy, boots fine and I try to get past the same sequence, it still fails.
So now I'm desperate and I try to do a disc swap with a regular version of the game (Although, I'm not sure if it's and EU release or a US copy, because it came with the console when I bought it and it came with a bunch of burnt CDs so I don't know if most of them are any good), it doesn't work, it just locks up the game after the swap. Loading doesn't work either, that is why I suspect it's a US copy, I may try to find the regular EU ISO and see if that works.
So, with all failing, I just try and load up an older save, get through the game again, figure it's some saving glitch (since this sequence happens JUST as you are saving the game and go to bed), this, is where more problems start to pop up.
The biggest problem are the docks, one of the problems is that no NPCs load, at all, but I can't figure out why this happens, it seems to occur randomly, if I try to go through any gate which should have a guard on it, the game just freezes, it tries to load the sequence but since the NPC isn't there, Ryo just gets stuck in cinematic sequence loading Limbo. Sometimes going into a building fixes this, sometimes it freezes as it loads the convenience store (for instance).
Had a weird problem with a dialog sequence as well, after kicking two school girl asses, trying to help the lady that sells lunches educate her little sister, I go to tell her how it went and the game just freaks out for some reason, the dialog starts normal, but then they just start spewing random lines from any other conversation these two characters could have, the camera pans as it normally does on some dialogs sequences, while nobody's talking, it was weird and suddenly the dialog ends and I'm carrying two bags with food without any context at all, ofc I understood what happened, but now I don't know what she said xD.
Long story short anyway, I got to the dream sequence again and surprise surprise, it locks up... I'm beginning to give up hope, I have no clue what the problem is except for the image itself, it COULD be one of my burners, they suck honestly, thinking of getting a plextor, but still, I don't usually have any problems with them, given the nature of this beast, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a burner related issue, rather than the image itself, although someone else mentioned having problems with the number 8 warehouse.
Right now, I'm trying a RAW/DAO copy, it failed with the save file just before the dream, but I wanna try to load an older save with this copy (started from a jump to disk 2 save), see if something is up, still have problems at the docks, but it's manageable for the most part. It's actually the first time I'm playing this game, if I wasn't enjoying it so much, I wouldn't go through so many replays XD, I just can't stand the english dub =X it's soooo baaaad, I'd rather play this version with bugs than a normal version without bugs, ofc if I can't fix the problem, I may just have to give up, even if it means starting over cause the save doesn't work.
I'll keep posting as I try new things, specially once my 900MB come in, also gotta try finding a normal EU version, see if the save files are compatible then, but I have some doubts =X
EDIT: Good news! After redoing disc 2 for the second time, 1st time with the SAO/DAO which didn't work, this time with the RAW/DAO, it worked!!!!!! I got past the dream sequence and no black screen.
Of course, I still need to use this new save to test out the previous SAO/DAO copies, just to see if the problem was actually the save file, or really the burning method, I'll try to post results later, but for now, I just want to get back to the game!!! =D