How to get Skies Of Arcadia (echelon) working properly!!!!

[aika-san]

good to hear it worked. DOS can be a pain sometimes. If I could avoid using it I would, but in SOAPatcher's case there's no other way it can be done without DOS.

be warned that the tal version is not complete. it also has the black screen inventory bug. however, i may have a look at why the tal version has better music. i have both echelon and tal versions. maybe i can make a hybrid of the 2 and build a patch for the echelon version that improves the music compatability without inducing the inventory bug. I think most of the crashes/locks in the echelon version are due to the music problems. I have heard that the music in the echelon version is compressed and that it's this compression which causes the problems. maybe the tal music is not compressed, and that's why it has fewer crashes/locks and plays faster. It may be possible to take the music from tal and integrate it with the echelon version therefore reducing or eliminating the crashes/locks and improving the speed. This is a long-shot with a lot of maybe's that probably won't work, but I'll give it a try anyway.

 

[jareg]

good to hear it worked. DOS can be a pain sometimes. If I could avoid using it I would, but in SOAPatcher's case there's no other way it can be done without DOS.

be warned that the tal version is not complete. it also has the black screen inventory bug. however, i may have a look at why the tal version has better music. i have both echelon and tal versions. maybe i can make a hybrid of the 2 and build a patch for the echelon version that improves the music compatability without inducing the inventory bug. I think most of the crashes/locks in the echelon version are due to the music problems. I have heard that the music in the echelon version is compressed and that it's this compression which causes the problems. maybe the tal music is not compressed, and that's why it has fewer crashes/locks and plays faster. It may be possible to take the music from tal and integrate it with the echelon version therefore reducing or eliminating the crashes/locks and improving the speed. This is a long-shot with a lot of maybe's that probably won't work, but I'll give it a try anyway.

Yeah that would be cool idea
Well right now i am in the Shrine where the moonstone fell and there have been only one crash (hang)and weirdly it was a inventory bug (usually the inventory works fine)but i think i just pushed too fast to get out of the inventory

PS:Now i am playng more slower

 

[blaiser15]

[No message]

 

[blaiser15]

I ran the patcher on the two CDI fiels and it said it was complete but i can't find any filesSo where are the fiels after i burn them i have serached all over my computer or did I not do something right.

 

[aika-san]

I ran the patcher on the two CDI fiels and it said it was complete but i can't find any filesSo where are the fiels after i burn them i have serached all over my computer or did I not do something right.

Nope. If it said patching complete then everything should have worked. The patched files should be in the same folder where you have run SOAPatcher from. If they aren't could you please browse to the c:\soatp\ folder (if it exists) and you may find them there.

The patched files are named:

SkiesOfArcadia-CD1.cdi
SkiesOfArcadia-CD2.cdi

If you can't find them and the patch has completed sucessfully, then I'm not sure what's going on and you will need to give me more info, like this:

1) What version of Windows are u running?
2) What version of Daemon Tools are u running?
3) Approximately how long does the patching take before it completes?
4) How much free hard drive space do you have?
5) When the patching completes, is there a c:\soatp\ folder left behind? If there is, could you please upload the contents of this folder so I can view them.

Also, it is extremely important that you have followed all of the the instructions contained in the "How To Patch The Game" section in the Manual correctly.

Hope this helps.

 

[diablo2121]

What's better? Using the patch, or running the .cdi through fast boot and replacing the 1st_read.bin?

 

[aika-san]

What's better? Using the patch, or running the .cdi through fast boot and replacing the 1st_read.bin?

SOAPatcher does exactly what you said (replace 1st_read.bin and rebuild using FastBoot) except it automates the process so newbies don't need to learn FastBoot. There's no advantage of doing it manually because you'd just be doing the same thing.

 

[diablo2121]

Oh, I see. Thanks.

I have a question, is it true that the echelon rip has compressed sound as opposed to the other SoA rip? If yes, does this compression lower the quality of the sound [if say Chankast didn't mess up the sound emulation in the first place]?

 

[jareg]

Oh, I see. Thanks.

I have a question, is it true that the echelon rip has compressed sound as opposed to the other SoA rip? If yes, does this compression lower the quality of the sound [if say Chankast didn't mess up the sound emulation in the first place]?

Yes it has compressed sound but i dont think it has lower sound quality

 

[blaiser15]

Thanks for the help
I am running on Windows XP porfessional, I have Daemon 3.29, usualy it takes about 10 minutes to patch. I have 40 gigs free.When its finished though i can't find any soatp\ folder though.

 

[jareg]

The new patched image files are in the path where your soapatcher is

 

[JTBob]

I would just like to say that I'm enjoying SOA a lot thanks to this patch. However some of the bugs have gotten to the point where it's nearly unplayable or at least unenjoyable. Is there anyway for me to fix the transparant menus bug? I'm fighting the red giga/lynx right now and all of the menus are transparant. It's impossible to make the right decisions. I've written down the necessary key strokes but it's maddening. I don't mean to complain it's just frustrating.

I'm also unable to see the results after battles, I noticed someone else brought that up earlier.

 

[Fina]

Select both of the Alpha Z options under the video menu. This causes sprites to look glitchy, but makes almost everything else look TONS better.

And just a note for everyone, I have played through the entire game on the emulator. It is possible to finish the game, though many areas are so unstable that it seems almost impossible. One problem is that the last boss is quirky and seems to crash within the first few seconds of the battle. But, I was able to finish it once with level 99 characters, so speed may be the key.

 

[JTBob]

Thanks for the tip Fina. I did manage to get passed the Lynx. As soon as I did I knew it was going to freeze or something so I saved right away. Good luck too because literally 5 seconds after I saved my power went out.

 

[Dark Mits]

Ok, maybe this has been already answered but I got a bit lazy to read all this stuff in the previous 14 pages. The game works good but it hangs (the emulator crashes 95% of the time and 5% freezes i a black screen) when I fly above the nasr area in disc 1 (about 2 hours of gameplay from the beginning, 45 minutes according to in-game clock). According to a guide this is where the first ship battle occurs. I have the echelon version patched with SOApatcher 3.0.1. My computer is a Pentium4 2.0GHz, 512MiB DDR, GeForce FX 5200 (128MiB), and I use Windows XP Professional SP2, Daemon Tools 3.29, Chankast 0.25 (what else?). I tried playing from scratch 3 times but the problem persists whatever the configuration of the emulator. Help is appreciated. Thank you.

By the way, the CD title of the patched version (as viewed from My Computer) is "link". Is this normal?

 

[aika-san]

I'm probably not the best person to answer this question because although I programmed SOAPatcher, I have not played the game up to the point you mention. It sounds like you may be rushing the game and this explanation of the problem is taken from the SOAPatcher manual:

- The probability of crashes and locks can be reduced by pushing only the buttons you need to play the game, and not just bashing them all the time. You will also get crashes by pressing the START button to skip an S. Move. Take it a bit more slowly, and you will experience fewer problems. Lots of things happening at once tend to make the game more prone to lock.

If this does not help then maybe someone who has played through this part can give you more assistance. I'm sure it is passable because some people have managed to complete CD1.

 

[Fina]

Hmm. I never got any crashes from skipping S-Moves.

 

[Dark Mits]

No. I do not rush. I haven't a skipped a single frame at all. I load the game which I have attached here. Just fly straight. The screen fades out because a scene occurs here (obviously). But when it completetly fades out then the emulator crashes. It happens whatever the CPU setting (tried all values manually from 50 to 150).

[EDIT]

How did you manage to get far into the game without even playing this part of the game?!

 

[aika-san]

No. I do not rush. I haven't a skipped a single frame at all. I load the game which I have attached here. Just fly straight. The screen fades out because a scene occurs here (obviously). But when it completetly fades out then the emulator crashes. It happens whatever the CPU setting (tried all values manually from 50 to 150).

[EDIT]

How did you manage to get far into the game without even playing this part of the game?!

Nope. I have programmed the patch. Other people have been kind enough to test it and play the game and report any bugs so that I could include their reports with the patch.

About your save. I loaded it, flew straight ahead and the cut-scene with Blackbeard starts fine. Here's a few more important things that may help:

- Try switching to wireframe mode using the Chankast menu options before you enter the cutscene. Now enter the cutscene. If the cutscene starts then turn wireframe off. You can do this while the game is playing.

- Your original image file may be corrupted. To check this download a program called CDCheck. Mount the original unpatched version of your CD1 with Daemon Tools and use CDCheck to check the mounted CD. If there are any corrupt files, then that's your problem.

I also understand that Chankast has problems when using SP2. You may be having problems because of this. I only have SP1 installed for this very reason. Would it be possible for you to try your patched CD on someone elses computer?

 

[diablo2121]

I have a question:

I've been playing through SoA [retail] on my Dreamcast for tthe 4th time. Everytime, it seems Final Cupil becomes more and more tempting, but I have no current way to download Hamachou Island, for I don't have a compatible dial-up ISP [I use BB] to download and I don't have a Nexus card either. My question is: Is there a way for me to get the Hamachou download? For example, is it possible to get it on a CD-R and transfer it to your VMU via Dreamcast?

Thanks for any help.