Castlevaina error at level 5

[300happy]

I'm playing Castlevania, not Legacy, as I only own the original non Legacy version.

I've got up to level 5. Actually, I'm almost past level 5 as well, I've saved at the white crystal just before the last boss. This is after I've blown up the wall with Nitro and Magnawhateverthethingwas. Anyway, I now have a save where all I need to do to fight the boss is step out of the place, crystal's already activated and everything, and the game is on normal.

Here's the problem though. Every time I step out and set off the cutscene of the boss showing up, the screen fades like it's supposed to, but then shows a black screen while constantly running at 47-50 FPS(the normal for my PC). I can sit there for hours, and it still will show absolutly nothing. No sounds are playing, but that might be because it's trying to do the first few frames of the cutscene(which naturally would have all the sound fade out before going into the rest of the cutscene).

I've ran my rom through the program to check if it's bad, and it came out as a working rom. I don't know what to do to fix this, I've reset the game, run it with interpreter on, it just won't play the cutscene at all.

No cheats, no hacks, nothing but the main rom file running. Latest version of Project 64, running with the standard plugins(which worked 99% of the time on my machine). Any idea what's up? I could just play on my N64, but it's getting old and starting to act up, so I would rather play on an emulator with my controller adapter. (as it is, the emulator is more stable then my N64 is right now )

 

[Allnatural]

In cases like this, you should always attach a save.

 

[Gent]

In cases like this, you should always attach a save.

Allnatural as always is absolutley right 300happy not forgetting posting your pc specs. Could you please attach a .pj save state just before this point. Thank You.

 

[Techman]

I have already played through my Castlevania (U)(V1.2) with Project64 and experienced no problems... try downloading the latest RDB from the rdb thread. If that doesn't help it's most likely your computer.

 

[300happy]

Save attached

Ok, here is my memory pack save file. Unzip it to get the mempack file, I had to zip it to allow the upload.

Yes, I have the latest version, at least if the download for version 1.6 is the latest version of the emulator.

As for my specs, I think I added them to my profile, but if it's not visible or something then here is all I know:

Windows XP(SP2)
Intel Pentium 4 3.06 Ghz (oh yea, it rocks!)
Nvida GeForce FX 5200
512MB RAM
SB Audigy Audio [DC00] - I think that's my sound card, but I've never had to check so...take with a grain of salt.

That help any?

 

[Allnatural]

I wish I had read the original post more clearly: "while constantly running at 47-50 FPS(the normal for my PC)". Many futile attempts to load what I thought was a bunk save...until I realized it was from the (E) rom.

Anyway, I can verify that it does hang, or something. The VI counter continues, but nothing is happening. Problem unique to the pal rom? Shall have to test with older versions later...

 

[Smiff]

hmm interesting.. might be a fault in pj core.. or "good" (E) rom may be bad.. gent investigating..

ok gent seems to be allergic to emus that aren't pj64.. i tried this, and i think the ROM is bad.. hope to check with a redump.
meanwhile you'll need to use (U) region ROM sorry, which is a problem because mempacks for this game don't seem to be compatible across regions.
edit: unless its cheats, see below
edit2: turns out (U) has same problem. put (U) on protect memory to avoid game crashes.

 

[Gent]

300happy: Could you tell me what cheats you used please? dont forget to mention if you put in any other ones that wasnt originally in the released file.

I have tried to play this from the start and am now at the Castle Center, but to be honest i dont know how or where to go to get to this section. can you tell me where exatly this place is from the 1st entry piont of the Castle Center.

 

[300happy]

Re: Gent

To get to this, you need to get through almost the whole Level 5 section. That means going to the top, solving the statue riddle in the star observatory(easy since the clues are spat in your face for checking some statues along the way up), and then getting the nitro all the way down(a pain in the neck, especally with those friggin motercycles, since with the nitro you've got no jump or hit else you explode. Thank the makers for the save just before picking the nitro up, it'll be your best friend). Then you'll need the Magnawhatever for the detonation(you get it in the locked torture room after getting a key). It's about an hours worth of work and puzzle solving to get behind the wall, including a mini boss halfway through(after you deliver the nitro, don't die or you deliver it AGAIN :yucky: ). You can't skip breaking the seal either, or the nitro won't harm the wall and you'll need to start over on the delivery of the expolsive.

I didn't ever use any cheats at all, and played on the normal difficulty. Although, if you play on easy, the same glich happens, as I can personally confirm. I also didn't use save states at all, so nothing but pure N64 emulation has been running my game.

In other words, thanks to my skills, it will be a royal pain in the neck to repeat what I did. Good Luck, and have fun! :bouncy:

EDIT: Just want to add something. I just ran the U version of the game, and keep getting crashes every couple of save points. The E version that I have seems to work much better in the emulator, it's much more stable then the U version in the 4 hours I had to test them both. (E 1.0 version ran for 2 hours, no crash except of course for the level 5 crash out, U 1.0 version rom I got ran for about 5 to 15 minuites before PJ64 totally crashed out with various errors, sometimes more then one, and always different errors at random points in the game.)

Odd, I also tried using the second charecter for both versions, and it crashed right around the first boss battle both times. For a game that works perfectly according to PJ64, this sure is quite broken. :huh:

 

[Gent]

Ok Thank you very much for this excellent infromation 300happy. this is definatly being looked into. Could you also supply us with a Mpak save for the U version also where the Crashes/Hangs happen too please?

Edit: Rad said Protect mem should help your probs on the U and could you also make Mpak save the same place as the E one if possible please.

 

[300happy]

Crashes on U version

The crashes on the U version I mentioned are just random crashes that both versions occasionally spit out. By random I mean there is no particular point where it will break, if it breaks at all, and when it does this is usually caused by anything from a footstep on a new surface all the way to simply standing in a hall. Basically, the emulator will eventually spit out some error and crash while playing. It's odd though, because sometimes I can play for 4 hours till it crashes, and sometimes I can only play for 30-60 seconds. Once it even crashed while displaying the logos when the game starts, and all these times are from a fresh restart of my system and a fresh boot up of the emulator with only Castlevania(U or E) loaded. However, the U rom is more likely to crash in my limited hours of testing.

I haven't made it to the first white jewel(save point) on the U version yet(due to crashes and general instability), so I can't confirm that level 5 will be broken(yet).

Oh, one other thing, all these tests have been using the Belmont fellow. The levels get different in places for the charecters, so to get the crash you might need to be using him as well.

Anyway, I'll give the U version another go, perhaps I can get to the save before it dies and work my way through the game from there to where it broke in the E version. I'll give mem protect a go this time, hopefully it will work better so I can at least run it for the five to twenty minutes each section takes. Wish me luck. :bouncy:

 

[RadeonUser]

I'm still giving the U 1.0 a run but it seems stable if you change Self Modifying Core Method (will call this SMCM from here on) to Protect Memory.

You may also want to turn off Advanced Block Linking. I found this helps ease the hiccupts / stuttering caused by switching SMCM to Protect Memory.

From the initial testing I did this helps all regions except for the E. The E might be a bad rom or it might be a core issue all other emulators experience as well (We gave your save a try on other emulators).

I havent gotten to that level yet so I cant tell you if the issue you had is gone in the U version or if it's there as well. Judging by what Techman said the U *should* have no problems but Techman must have played the game on an older version of PJ64 since it wasnt stable on 1.6's default settings.

 

[300happy]

New save. I think.

Ok, I think the emulator is using the same Mempack file for both versions of Castlevania, it's just either cart of course only reads it's own copy of the save from the mempack. The main reason I think it's working this way is because I can't find a seperate save for my U version, and when I try to erase data (from in the game) there are two castlevania entries listed in the controller pack. Oh well, it works, and since Castlevania doesn't take much room to save it should be fine.

Anyway, attached is the new save, with a U version saved at the white crystal just before the same boss. Simply turn on the magic crystal, and then watch the emulator do a whole lot of nothing when you leave. :yucky:

Hope it helps, I'm getting tired of delivering Nitro.

 

[Gent]

Anyway, attached is the new save, with a U version saved at the white crystal just before the same boss. Simply turn on the magic crystal, and then watch the emulator do a whole lot of nothing when you leave. :yucky: Hope it helps, I'm getting tired of delivering Nitro.

Yep many Thanks 300happy. Confirmed that the (U) 1.0, and 1.2 also have this Hang once you turn on the magic crystal and attempt to exit the area. We will assume the (J) also has this problem and this hang will definitely be investigated as to where this is happening. respect to your fantastic gaming and superb reporting. Excellent work.

 

[300happy]

One last word

Say, if it isn't too much trouble, could you email me when/if you get a fix for the problem? Thanks.

Glad I could be of some help. If I find any other problems with my other games, I'll let you guys know(and hopefully will bring my save file first thing next time). :happy: You're all the coolest!

 

[Smiff]

er check back here and for updated rdb in a few days, we might have something.

 

[Gent]

Say, if it isn't too much trouble, could you email me when/if you get a fix for the problem? Thanks.

Glad I could be of some help. If I find any other problems with my other games, I'll let you guys know(and hopefully will bring my save file first thing next time). :happy: You're all the coolest!

Now one question for you 300happy. I put together a dev level and character save switch for the dev cycle and from that point we can get to this section and theres no issue in the arena after enabling the crystal. Now what we need to know is: in your save there is no Bull in the middle of the Arena but in ours on all regions there is. can you let us know why theres no bull? and what you did to have it not there? See pics below

Your Save and then Ours

 

[300happy]

About that

On my save, when I delivered the Nitro to the wall, I didn't have the detonator(magnathing). When I step back and proceed across without blowing the wall(basically visiting with the Nitro and then leaving, without blasting the wall), the bull in the middle gets up and fights. It's a sort of middle of the level boss, ending with him mysteriously "exploding" at about 1/3 of his health left. This removes him from the arena, and then later the true boss attacks after the crystal is activated.

Not sure how you got the save with it still there. :huh:

But yea, all I did was do the level normally, first bringing the Nitro without detonator(thus having to fight the bull upon leaving the area the first time) and then getting the detonator to blast the wall(after removing the seal, with the bull gone from the arena). I'm not sure if you can normally get there with both Nitro and detonator and not wake up the bull till after the crystal is lit, I never tried that before.

It seems the only way to really test with the same situation is to do the level normally, with no cheats. Not sure what you mean by a dev level, but I'm guessing the save you got is a hacked together one of some sort, which would explain the difference since you never fought the bull halfway through the level to get rid of it.

 

[RadeonUser]

I've ran my rom through the program to check if it's bad, and it came out as a working rom. I don't know what to do to fix this, I've reset the game, run it with interpreter on, it just won't play the cutscene at all.

No cheats, no hacks, nothing but the main rom file running. Latest version of Project 64, running with the standard plugins(which worked 99% of the time on my machine). Any idea what's up? I could just play on my N64, but it's getting old and starting to act up, so I would rather play on an emulator with my controller adapter. (as it is, the emulator is more stable then my N64 is right now )

Ok... I'm going to have to ask for more info here. I just compared the crc1 and crc2 of all 3 castlevania (E) roms (one good, one bad, one trainer) archived in goodn64 and found them to all be the same.

This means you could've been using the bad rom (the trained one fails to load on default settings) depending on how you scanned the rom with goodn64. If possible re-scan your roms and tell us the names that were reported.

I played through the 1.2 U version to confirm Techman's findings. I was able to get through that level just fine without probs. I used the same save to confirm the 1.0 U was the same. I got a tad lazy after this and had Gent create a cheat that would allow me to start off near the beginning of level 5 for the good E region. I played this through and found it working fine as well.

What really perplexes me is how your save has things that didnt appear in my gameplay.
1) The dead bull is clearly missing in your saves (A good sign that something bad has happened since it's in every walkthrough I read)
2) You somehow have a contract there next to the giant gem in both native saves. I dont know how to explain this one but in the U I played through and the E version Gent provided for me there was no contract.

If you're using bad roms you might be able to patch them to good versions but you will still have to play through again since the saves have already recorded bad data. Since its the same region the saves would still load for us and give us the same problems regardless of the rom being good or bad.

 

[RadeonUser]

On my save, when I delivered the Nitro to the wall, I didn't have the detonator(magnathing). When I step back and proceed across without blowing the wall(basically visiting with the Nitro and then leaving, without blasting the wall), the bull in the middle gets up and fights. It's a sort of middle of the level boss, ending with him mysteriously "exploding" at about 1/3 of his health left. This removes him from the arena, and then later the true boss attacks after the crystal is activated.

Not sure how you got the save with it still there. :huh:

But yea, all I did was do the level normally, first bringing the Nitro without detonator(thus having to fight the bull upon leaving the area the first time) and then getting the detonator to blast the wall(after removing the seal, with the bull gone from the arena). I'm not sure if you can normally get there with both Nitro and detonator and not wake up the bull till after the crystal is lit, I never tried that before.

It seems the only way to really test with the same situation is to do the level normally, with no cheats. Not sure what you mean by a dev level, but I'm guessing the save you got is a hacked together one of some sort, which would explain the difference since you never fought the bull halfway through the level to get rid of it.

I mostly followed this walkthrough: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/file/castlevania_e.txt

This is the last paragraph of the 5th level walkthrough:

Once done, the crest in the bull room is magically removed.
Now, get more Mandragora and blow up the other wall now that the seal is gone. Inside is a save crystal and a clear white jewel look-alike. Examine
that after saving to activate the crystal. Exit and you fight the Undead Bull,
see boss descriptions. Once it is vanquished head back to the room where the
vampires were and fight a boss. Carrie faces the Unnamed Fernandez and
Reinhardt faces Rosa. See boss descriptions. Thwart the evil being and leave the room. Walk around the central structure and look for an orange square with a blinking purple light. Examine it and head on into the elevator. Save the game and head over whichever bridge is intact. Carrie's next level is under Stage 6b, Reinhardt's is next. If you have been playing the easy difficulty, you're finished here. Play again on normal to continue on.


I found that to be true no matter what I did. That bull never got up until I activated the crystal in both regions.