Emulation for Dummies - SegaSonic the hedgehog Arcade Sonic the Fighters Knuckles Chaotix 32X Written by Magnus Andersson www.knuckleschaotix.net E-mail: rubens (dot) barrichello (at) gmx (dot) de This short FAQ describes how to run the emulation games SegaSonic the Hedgehog Arcade, Sonic the Fighters and Knuckles Chaotix 32X. Feel free to copy and spread this document as you like, for non-profit purpose only. Note: ROMS must only be kept on your hard drive for 24 hours if you don't own the original game yourself. Last update August 15th, 2005 ----------------------------- ----------------------------- SegaSonic the Hedgehog Arcade ----------------------------- SegaSonic Arcade is a somewhat complicated game when it comes to emulating. Fantastic progress has been made to the emulating the game during the last three years, but still there is no absolutely perfect emulated version of the game, but it is close enough by now. Another "problem" with SegaSonic Arcade is also that there are two versions available, the full final version that hit the arcades and the prototype version which is incomplete. Except for the methods that I am describing below, there are also other possibilites to run the game, but I'm not listing the other alternatives, as those alternatives actually are worse! If you want to play the full version of SegaSonic Arcade, do steps 1-4 or 5-8 (read below). If you want to play the prototype version, do steps 9-12. If you want to play the full version of SegaSonic Arcade, you have two options. You could either play a complete version that runs perfectly playwise, but with a few graphic problems while you play. With this version, you could play the entire game from the beginning to the end, and also view the complete ending sequence. If you want to play this version, do steps 1-4. The other option is a graphic-perfect version of SegaSonic Arcade, but in this version you must do some code tricking to jump to later stages, and the ending sequence is not working properly. If you want to play this version, do steps 5-8. --------------------------------- SegaSonic Arcade - Full version 1 --------------------------------- 1) Download the ROM zip-file from this location: "http://www.knuckleschaotix.net/sonic.zip". 2) Next, you need the MAME emulator program to run the game. Goto www.mame.net, then into the "download" section, and you should find the latest version of "mame" (you need version 099 or newer. The newest version is always available). 3) Create a brand new folder on your hard-drive. To make it easier to locate on your hard-drive, I suggest that you call this folder "mame". As you have both the mame zip and the rom zip-file, put the mame.zip file into the mame catalog and unzip the file. As the mame-file has unzipped, several sub-folders will appear, one of them will automatically be called "roms". Put the ROM file (sonic.zip, which you downloaded from my page) into the "roms" folder. Do NOT unzip sonic.zip. 3b) From the START-menu in Windows, go to "run..." and type the following: c:\mame\mame.exe sonic The program will run now, if you did call the folder "mame", as I suggested. If you put the mame.zip in another folder, locate the mame.exe to that folder instead. 3c) Now, the program should be running. A black screen will appear, and you will be asked to press "OK". Simply type OK and then press any key to start the game itself. 3d) To incert coin, press 5, and to start the game, press 1 to play as Sonic, 2 to play as Ray or 3 to play as Mighty. Press TAB to make changes in the game, press P to pause, press ESC to quit the emulator. As you play the game in MAME, you won't be able to move Sonic, Mighty & Ray at full speed by default. To adjust this, press TAB to get options, then go to "Analog Controls". On this screen, set "Track X Sensitivity" and "Track Y Sensitivity" to 150% (with the arrow buttons) to give player 1 proper speed. Set "Track X 2 Sensitivity" and "Track Y 2 Sensitivity" and "Track X 3 Sensitivity" and "Track Y 3 Sensitivity" to 150% as well to fix this for player 2 and 3. When you are done, press ESC twice to resume your game. Be careful not to press ESC three times - that will exit the emulator, and you have to do it all over again. Advantages with this version of Mame: * Finally a way to access the entire SegaSonic Arcade, with all stages. * The bug in Icy Isle is finally removed. * The ending sequence is working perfectly. Problems with this version of Mame: * Still certain graphic problems, not completely arcade perfect. --------------------------------- SegaSonic Arcade - Full version 2 --------------------------------- 5) Download SegaSonic Arcade from my homepage at this location: http://www.knuckleschaotix.net/arcade.zip 6) Put the file into a separate folder on your hard drive and unzip the file. Run mame32p.exe. (This program is very similar to the arcade emulator Mame. It has basically the same setup, but you don't have to fiddle around with hard commands to get the program and game running. The only "problem" with this version is that the programm is in French. But once you get a hang of it (that's why I'm writing this!) it won't be any greater problems, really. It will be worth it!!) 7) Double-click on SegaSonic the Hedgehog. The program should start now. After a few seconds, you will get a message in French, asking you to type OK. Simply press O and K. Press enter to skip next message. The game itself will start now. Wait a few seconds to let the copyright logo vanish. At the title screen you incert a coin by pressing button 5, and you start player 1 by pressing button 1, player 2 with button 2. Move around with the arrow keys and press CTRL for jump/spinattack. Press ESC, then enter to exit the emulator. 8) This emulation version of SegaSonic Arcade is tons better than the previous MAME versions of the game. But still, there are a few more things you should adjust in order to make the game as enjoyable as possible. As you start playing the game, you'll notice that Sonic is moving way too slow. This is because of the trackball that was used in the arcade version, but this could be adjusted. Press TAB key to bring up the options. Scroll down with the arrow keys to: "Controles analogiques". Press enter. On this new screen you will see plenty of numbers. Wherever you can see 100% (there are totally six of them), change all of these to 150%. This will give Sonic, Mighty and Ray the correct speed. When these are set, set the following commands below to "actif". They are set to "inactif" by default. You need to change this, otherwise the characters won't move correctly. Track X Inverser Track X2 Inverser Track X3 Inverser When these commands are set, press ESC once to go back to the main menu. Here, select "entrees (ce jeu). At this screen you could set up player 2, what commands to move him around. If you want, just for the fun of it, to move player 1 and 2 at the same time, highlight "P2 Bouton 1", press enter, and press CTRL. Next, scroll down to "Voie X2" and press enter, then "arrow left" button. The next "Voie x2", press enter, then "arrow right". "Voie Y2" and press enter, then "arrow up" button. The next "Voie Y2", press enter, then "arrow down". Almost done now! The game locks up in the middle of the ice stage, but there is a possibility to skip this place and jump to the next stage. Back at the main menu, select "cheat". On the next screen you could set all stuff here to "actif" to give both players unlimited of energy and also unlimited to time from Eggman's Tower, as the self destruction begins. The stage select mode can only be used while you have an active game running. It doesn't work during the demostration or at the title screen or while the high score list is displayed. When you have highlighted the cheat mode, and pressed enter, the game will ask you what stage to warp to. You select stage with left and right arrows, and button 1 to confirm. You could warp to any stage in the entire game: 0 - Volcanic Vault Prison (Stage 1) 1 - Tutroial stage (doesn't work properly) 2 - Tutroial stage (doesn't work properly) 3 - Trap Tower (Stage 4) 4 - Landslide Limbo (Stage 5) 5 - Volcanic Vault Prison (Stage 1) 6 - Introduction 7 - Tutroial stage (doesn't work properly) 8 - Volcanic Vault (Stage 1) 9 - Icy Isle (Stage 2) 10- Wild Water Way (Stage 6) 11- Corrupt (doesn't work) 12- Corrupt (doesn't work) A - Desert Dodge (Stage 3) B - Eggman's Tower (Part 5) C - Eggman's Tower (Part 1) D - Eggman's Tower (Part 2) E - Eggman's Tower (Part 3) F - Eggman's Tower (Part 4) HAVE FUN!! Advantages with this version of Mame: * Finally a way to access the entire SegaSonic Arcade, with all stages. * Perfect graphic Arcade emulation! Problems with this version of Mame: * The Icy Isle stage still locks up the middle, and you have to cheat your way through to get pass. You also need to adjust the settings a bit to make the game completely playable. * The ending sequence doesn't work properly. * The program is in French (an obvious problem for those who do not speak French) ------------------------------------ SegaSonic Arcade - Prototype version ------------------------------------ 9) Download the ROM zip-file from my page, location: "http://www.knuckleschaotix.org/sonicp.zip". 10) Download the emulator Modeler from this location: http://emustatus.rainemu.com/data/modeler093a.zip In case the link is not working, contact me, and I'll look up another location. 11a) Create a brand new folder on your hard-drive. To make it easier to locate on your hard-drive, I suggest that you call this folder "modeler". As you have both the modeler zip and the rom zip-file, put the modeler093a.zip file into the modeler catalog and unzip the file. As the mame-file has unzipped, several sub-folders will appear, one of them will automatically be called "roms". Put the ROM file (sonicp.zip, which you downloaded from my page) into the "roms" folder. 11b) Rename sonicp.zip and give it the name "sonicarcade.zip", but Do NOT unzip the zip-file. 11c) Now, run the emulator program, (modeler.exe) from the catalog where you put the program. Click on "Sonic (prototype)", then "Play (local)". 12) To incert a coin, press 5, and use buttons 1, 2 and 3 to activate Sonic, Ray or Mighty. For more information about the keys, read "modeler.txt", which is included to the emulator program. Advantages with Modeler: * You could play through entire Icy Isle without having the game to lockup. Problems with Modeler: * The music will be slowed down, and the soundeffects will screw up a bit. * It will be difficult to move the characters around. * The game ends when Desert Dodge is completed. The ending sequence is not available. ------------------ Sonic the Fighters ------------------ Similar, but the program works slightly different. 1) Download the Nebula emulator, either from my homepage, www.knuckleschaotix.com/nebulam_v01.9b.zip or from the Nebula Homepage (http://nebula.emulatronia.com/) if the previous version doesn't work. Put the nebula zip file into a brand new folder (I suggest you call it "nebula" to make it easier). Unzip it into the folder. I am unsure wether any setup is required (it was a long time ago I did it in my computer), but if there is, there is nothing complicated about it. 2) As the program is unzipped/gone through setup, there is one sub-folder called "eeprom". Put the zip-file, schamp.zip (http://www.knuckleschaotix.org/schamp.zip) into this folder. Do NOT unzip schamp.zip. 3) Run the nebula program, I think the exe-file simply is called nebula.exe. As the program is running, click "emulation" and then "rom directories". Now, you will see some empty spaces to locate the roms in your computer. In the first white spaces (Alternate Directory 1), type: c:\nebula\EEPROM If you chose another name for the folder where you put the nebula program, replace nebula with the name of the folder. When you are done, click CLOSE. 4) Back on the NEBULA logo page, click "Emulation" and then "Load ROM...". Down in the list that appear, you will find "Sonic Championship". Doubleclick on this name, and VIOLA, the game will start!! 5) You only have to do step 4 from now on as you want to play the game. Like in MAME, press 5 to incert coin, press 1 to start player 1 and 2 to start player 2. Note that Sonic the Fighters is a very complex game, and needs a *very fast* computer!! My computer has 2,4Ghz speed, but even so, I must use a high frame-skip to make the game work reasonable. 3,0 or above is suggested. Lower than 2,4 is hardly any fun to play as the game will crawl at dreadful speed. To move the frame-skip up and down, use + and - on the far right on your keyboard (the other + and - keys won't work). I use frameskip 7, as the game works at reasonable speed without too much loss of graphics. But with a faster computer, the game would run perfectly! --------------------- Knuckles Chaotix 32X --------------------- 1a) Download the ROM for Knuckles Chaotix from my homepage, (http://www.knuckleschaotix.org/Chaotix_PAL.zip) and save it in a brand new folder on your computer. Do NOT unzip the file. 1b) Then, download Wgen 211 from my page: http://www.knuckleschaotix.org/wgens211.zip 1c) And finally download the 32X Bios file: http://www.knuckleschaotix.org/bios32x.zip 2) Unzip the wgen211 file into the same folder as you put Chaotix_Pal.zip. Unzip the 32X bios into the same folder. Simply click on the gens.exe file in Microsoft explorer and the program itself will start. 3) Click "options", then "bios/Misc Files". Under "Configure 32X Bios files", simply locate the files for the 32X bios-files that you unzipped in step two. You will easily see which file to put where. Click OK when all three files are put in. 4) Click "file", then "open ROM" and click on Chaotix_PAL.zip. The game is on!! Have fun!! Magnus Andersson www.knuckleschaotix.net