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RetroArch Emulator Setup:
Go to https://www.retroarch.com site and choose which device you want to install the emulator for. Once you have RetroArch installed you will need to put the bios files in the system folder found in your RetroArch main installation folder. Although, you’ll have to find the Bios files yourself, if you do a google search there is a pack on http://archive.org Once you have the emulator installed go to main menu and select the "Online Updater". Update everything in here. Then in RetroArch settings go to settings: Video/Scaling/Aspect Ratio/and set the aspect ratio to 16:9. Next you will need to download the Sega Saturn cores. A core is the emulator itself of which you install within the Retroarch user interface. You will have a choice between 4 different Saturn emulators or cores. Go to main menu and select download core and select the Sega Saturn Kronos core. As of 12/26/23 the Kronos core has been completely fixed. The issues with having a black screen and missing text have all been resolved. For the Kronos core to work properly make sure the main RetroArch installation is updated to 1.16.0 and if the Kronos core had been installed previously make sure to update that as well. Note: the only Saturn core that works 100% in RetroArch as of now is the Kronos Core. The other cores like Yabause might have slight issues that impair their use. But if you want to use Yabause or Mednafen as standalone emulators, separate from RetroArch, they work fairly well. For more information on those standalone emulators see their respective sections further down in this guide. Note: (This is very important) For a game with multiple discs like Panzer Dragoon Saga and all single games as well, make sure you test out each individual game file in Retroarch Kronos, by itself, to see if it works properly before playing. Concerning a game with multiple discs, If one of the discs/iso are corrupted when you go to switch discs, the disc won't load and you will just be stuck in the Saturn internal menu. As long as each individual disc works you will be fine. RetroArch Kronos will load any .cue file of a game but it has to have the .bin file to go along with it or the game won't load at all.
Setup for multiple discs:
Once your Sega Saturn Kronos core is downloaded and you've tested and verified that each individual game iso works, you need to set up your game files for multiple discs. If you have no multiple disc games or don't intent to play any, you can skip this step. Assuming you do, the instructions are as follows: RetroArch will scan and play any .cue file of a specific game. Again just make sure to have the .bin file to go along with it. For a multi disc games like Panzer Dragoon Saga you need to go through an additional step. You need to set up a .m3u text document containing all of your game files. Each game multi disc or not, should have its own separate folder. So concerning a multiple disc game like Panzer Dragoon Saga, make a folder and put all 4 iso .cue and all 4 .bin files into it. Once everything is in one folder and organized we need to make the m3u file. So, open up notebook or notebook++ and copy the name of each of your .cue game files exactly, for each disc as shown bellow and in the visual guide.
Visual Guide https://docs.retroachievements.org/Multi-Disc-Games-Tutorial/
Panzer Dragoon Saga (Disc 1 of 4) (NTSC).cue Panzer Dragoon Saga (Disc 2 of 4) (NTSC).cue Panzer Dragoon Saga (Disc 3 of 4) (NTSC).cue Panzer Dragoon Saga (Disc 4 of 4) (NTSC).cue
Then go to file and save as. You can save this file whatever you want so I saved mine as: Panzer Dragoon Saga.m3u. But the ending extension is very important and it needs to be .m3u NOTE: If you can't see the .txt extension at the end of your text document title you need to change your settings to show known file extensions. In Windows 10 it's very simple, you can find that on your folder under 'View' and a checkbox reading 'File name extensions'. Once you create this file put it in the same directory as your game files. Then when in Retroarch use this file to load your game. Go to main menu/load content and select your game folder location and load that m3u file. Your game should boot up and you can select which core you want to use. I suggest the Kronos core as you can upscale the graphics. When you actually have to switch discs you will need to press F1 and go into the quick menu and perform these steps:
Play until the "Please insert disc 2" prompt. Quick Menu > Disc Control > Eject Disc. QUICK MENU > RESUME, just for a second. Quick Menu > Disc Control > Current Disc Index, change for disc 2. And finally: Insert Disc. Note: After you switch discs, within the Saturn menu, the button on the upper left will change to a curved "S". You can then select it to start the disc up. For all other single disc games you can just go to main menu/load content and just load the .cue game file as is. Just make sure the .bin file is in the same folder as the .cue game file.
Kronos Game Settings:
While a game is running if you press F1 you will be presented with a number of emulator options. Unlike Mednafen, Kronos actually upscales the game all the way up to 8K resolution! Within this options menu, you can fine tune your graphics settings or make any save states. For the Kronos Sega Saturn core I suggest these settings:
SH-2 cpu core: Kronos ("Old" setting not supported any longer.) Resolution: 1080p or 720p (If you experience slowdown stick with 720p.) Polygon Mode: gpu-tesselation Improved Mesh: on
Using the New Retro-bit Saturn PC Controller: You can also use the new Retro-bit Analog PC Saturn Controller. If you press start and B held down on the controller you switch between D-input and X-input. Make sure the controller has 2 lights indicated. Then just go to settings/input/port 1 controlls to map your buttons.
Making Save States:
While a game is running press F1 to go into the menu and select "Save State". Note: this feature was recently fixed, so be sure before starting the game you "update installed cores" with the "Online Updater" found in the main RetroArch menu.
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