best setup for Saturn emulation?

spruce_m00se

@buzz are there any good tutorials about on how to rip a rom image from a megadrive cart? I think that shoudl be made a sticky if the admin dont want people downloading roms or encouraging piracy. After all, im sure that everyone on here owns legal copies of all the games that they use retropie to play right?

BuZz

@spruce_m00se there are some threads on obtaining legal games. There is a difference between what someone does on their own and instructing others. What people do at home with RetroPie is their own business, but what happens on this forum is mine.

spruce_m00se

@buzz Really? I would genuinely love to get pointed toward a thread to allow me to learn to rom dump my carts and CD's.

BuZz

@spruce_m00se It doesn't cover that but it has some sources for obtaining games legally - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/10918/where-to-legally-acquire-content-to-play-on-retropie (including homebrew, plus buying some games through steam etc - I believe you can purchase many of SEGA's old games)

There are other sites that deal with dumping roms and so on. BTW note that in the UK (where this site is hosted), it is actually not legal to even rip audio CDs. The law was made sensible then overturned later.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/33566933/ripping-music-and-films-illegal-again-after-high-court-overturns-new-law

spruce_m00se

I read the above link to the legal content. Im not massivly interested in that for the moment.
However it is interesting that the UK has now outlawed backups fo personal use. I understood that ever since recording was possible that making a copy for personal use was fine.
I was raised copying c64 tapes on my parents tape to tape hifi system. Thankyou commodore for making it so easy.

BuZz

@spruce_m00se Historically it was always illegal - it was made legal for a short time, then overturned. The UK music industry is happy of course - as it means you are supposed to buy the same tune multiple times for each of your devices. Seems daft to me.

I don't know if this applies to ROM dumping.

The thread I linked mentions you can get some commercial stuff via Steam (Sega roms for example).

spruce_m00se

@buzz I need to look into steam, the last time I looked at it, it was a multiplayer platform for counterstrike. I literally havent paid it any attention since.

I was more than likely misled by hearsay back in the day. But it set me in good stead for the future. I had a hallejuliah moment in 2002 when I had to buy a cd-writer for a school project, "hold on a moment" I thought. The rest I leave up to the internet to interpret as it wants, but I have to add for future legal defence that I wouldnt consider piracy.

since you are from the UK, do you remember the "video piracy is a crime" video that was on all the rentals and in the cinema?

BuZz

@spruce_m00se Steam is a game store / content distribution service. I use it for installing / playing lots of games on Linux etc.

I do remember the advert - I read about it some time ago about them basically pirating the music for it as they didn't licence/pay the musician.

BuZz

If it's the same one - I might be thinking of another.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/01/29/3678851.htm?site=galileo/newsanalysis&

spruce_m00se

@buzz

this one

BuZz

@spruce_m00se Yep. That's the one they didn't pay for the music for. In their own words - They STOLE it.

spruce_m00se

@buzz thats brilliant! I wish I had known that back in the day. the first question that is asked in that video was always a good one for me, one which my sister will never forgive me for. Oh those were the days.

drake999

@spruce_m00se In short, An i7 based PC and Mednafen. Right now, Pi is out of the question because Saturn emulation is very difficult. I don't really understand why myself though because the 32X shares a similar architecture and it's worked fine for years. I'm guessing emulating the two GPU's in the Saturn must cause most of the headaches. I would love to be educated as to why Saturn emulation is so difficult if any developers out there would care to add their two cents.

edmaul69

@drake999 there is a guy who cracked it. He has made a usb card for the saturn that allows the saturn to run roms. There is a chip that was not fully understood as there wasnt documentation on it. He ended up x-raying the chip and figured out how it works. He did this last year. Then he sent the info to saturn emulator programmers. So hopefully soon emulation will start to improve. He had a really long cool video on him doing this.

spruce_m00se

@edmaul69 I found a video on his gear and looked at his website, unfortunately its not in stock right now, when its in stock I may get one to use with my saturn, ((only once i learn to rip my own roms of course, )(added for buzz' peace of mind))
hopefully emulation can improve soon, I saw another guy who had hacked the video CD card port on the back and was playing daytona USA through the interface. Hopefully the saturn can live again soon.

undeadbobop

Saturn emulation on any of the the pis is actually not good at all, emulation on a pc is actually quite legal so long as you own a physical copy of the game, back it up, and destroy the backup within 24/hr. But some emulators like the SSF Emulator allows you to play the physical games without even any bios, and I've played and tested all of my physical games, only 1 of them required a US bios backup out of 30 or so none of them on that list. Which entirely avoids any legal repercussions.

mediamogul

@undeadbobop said in best setup for Saturn emulation?:

emulation on a pc is actually quite legal so long as you own a physical copy of the game, back it up, and destroy the backup within 24/hr.

The legality of copying a protected work is different from region to region. While it may be acceptable where you're located, it should be noted that the method of copy you describe is considered illegal in both the United States, the UK and most other places. Even when you find a region that is a little more open-minded, you usually have considerable limits as to what is allowed. For example, Australia allows 'Format Shifting' where you are free to make a copy of a protected work that would allow the work to be consumed in another fashion, such as ripping a console game to be played on a computer emulator. However, you are only allowed to make one copy for private use and the copy must have been made by yourself from the original that you own. If staying legally clear is something that's important to a user, it's always best to first research the particular laws that apply where they reside.

Beldar

@mediamogul

You are definitely correct in that laws and regulations vary from location to location. There is also a lot of misinformation that is frequently spread.

For example, the 24 hour trial/backup rule in the USA is a hoax. It doesn't exist or cover you legally. It can be a civil offense if the holder of the IP decides to sue you for making unauthorized copies and therefore harming their profits. If you are selling those items, well, that's a different story as that can definitely be a criminal offense and not just a civil lawsuit.

So, basically there's no way to legally harvest and distribute owned IP without an agreement from the owner. There is no clause or rule that makes downloading a Mario ROM legally okay in the USA. All this was hashed out during the late 90's and early 00's during the Napster craze. However, Nintendo would have to decide that filing a lawsuit against you for damages was worth paying their IP lawyers to bring the case to court. They have much bigger fish to fry, but it is technically a possibility that they could sue you.

While a few individual citizens are probably not worth Nintendo's time and money, organizations and websites are not so obscure. IP holders (especially hyper defensive Nintendo) can and do send legal notices to websites. The Retropie project is very wise in keeping their collective noses clean.

There is also the humorous fact that Nintendo has downloaded ROMs from the internet to use for their virtual console systems. I read that one of the games on their store had a custom header on the ROM.