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Games.dat help please!

gruesomegrue

New member
There was a previous request similar to this, but it wasn't reponded to, but I hope I have better luck. Does anyone know how to correctly edit the games.dat file to include another game. My games.dat has shining force 3 scenario 1 (US/C) already it it. I want to change it so the settings will be present for the (UK) version. I think the only number I need to change is the first setting after the title/comment line, but I am not sure what it is. Is it a serial number? If so, how do I look that up. I have the game, but not the original box, so I can't just look on there for something similar. Anyone know where the codes used can be found for any game?
gruesome
 

zman

New member
Yes the number after the name of the game is a serial number and it can be found by using loader.exe. Under the tab "emu tools" click on show info button for sega saturn cue+bin/iso info and then click on your "filename.cue" file and a seperate screen will apear that will show you the info. I have version loader 5 release B found seperately on the internet for girigiri. Also for easy editing of all files find the tool "Gsaturn Tool" which is a gui that will edit all files easily. The following info was given to me by PsyMan which I thank him for the info.

Well, here is an explaination of what each option does.
PriorityMode: It changes the priority of the sprites. Change it if the sprites are visible in places they should not (or vise versa). Possible options: 0-9 (maybe more).
EdsrShift: A flag, if EdsrShift=0 then false if EdsrShift=1 then true. Change it if there are compatibility problems. Possible options: 0-1 (maybe more).
VSync: It represents the vertical synchronization of the game. Changing this option affects speed. Possible options: 0-Unlimited.
MaxTexCnt: It represents the maximum number of textures per frame. Slow GFX card=low amount, Fast GFX card=high amount. Possible options: 0-Unlimited (it's recomended not to change it).
BankChck: Same explaination as EdsrShift (but it is a totally different procedure).
CDWait: The amount of time (in milliseconds) that the CD drive will wait for a CPU call. It may affect compatibility and/or sound synchronization. Possible options: 0-Unlimited.
ADXStream: It configures if there is going to be ADXStream (common music audio tracks) from the game. Possible options: 0-1.
OneSectorWait: It configures if there is going to be a one cd sector wait each time the cd drive reads. It may affect compatibility and/or sound synchronization. Possible options: 0-1.

You can configure frameskip and some other options from a file named user.ini, it is placed in the WINDOWS\profiles\saturn directory.

This might help explain the game.dat file better. Please thank him and not me for this info.
 

PsyMan

Just Another Wacko ;)
With simpler words:
You can see the code of each game by using MiC's loader. (you can find it here). Then open games.dat with a text editor (ex: notepad) and copy the settings from the US or J version of the game but change the code under the name of the game with the one shown on MiC's loader.

zman, I don't know what some options exactly do so some info may be wrong/incomplete. For example VSync also affects compatibility and synchronization if it is too low (but it is a great way to make a game faster if you have a slow CPU). Note that some options may have more or less values.

EDIT: I've updated the info regarding the options of games.dat, I added some options and modified some others, so it should be much more accurate now. The info is in this thread.
 
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gruesomegrue

New member
Thanks!

Great! Thanks. I got the shining force games now running well, and nothing makes me happier. I have a slow system (hopefully going to change that soon), but I found that lowering vsync helped a lot on the speed, thanks for that!
gruesome
 

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