Skies of Arcadia uncensored version

[Newtype06]

There is a texture pack for the GameCube version here
https://forums.dolphin-emu.org/Thread-skies-of-arcadia-hd-v0-06-june-27-2020
How hard would it be to convert it for use in Reicast which supports custom textures?

Also, would it be possible to reduce the encounter rate like the GameCube version?

Legends is ok but the music got butchered, so these would be huge improvements.

[fafadou]

The issue is not only the textures, there are also models, secrets etc...
I need to unzip the whole files of gamecube version.

[Newtype06]

I'm gonna spend the time dumping and converting and editing textures. I'll report back with progress.

How about encounter rate? The dreamcast version is absurd with encounter rate.

[arcadia88]

Hello, I just got myself a second Dreamcast with a GDEMU (5.2 which is supposed to run Skies of Arcadia flawlessly), when I learned about this undub/uncensored version of my all time favorite JRPG, a nice excuse for a second Dreamcast and to play that game again

I just ran now into the problem mentioned here before that the intro is running to fast for the music, probably since the patched game I got from here is based on the PAL version:

https://1fichier.com/?j3f1imk8rdaozcn0x42e

Some people mentioned here, that „it runs now fine over VGA“ and I am using a cable that that outputs the VGA signal by an HDMI connector, other (NTSC) games run fine with it. I didn‘t really find any explanations or steps I can take to fix the problem with the intro (and I LOVE watching the intro always before starting/continuing the game ), so could someone give me here some hints? Or is there are by now a version of the patch for the NTSC version, so far everywhere I only find links to this PAL version?

Thanks in advance

[fafadou]

Thanks to @pitito the music run has the same speed than 60hz intro.

[arcadia88]

Thanks to @pitito the music run has the same speed than 60hz intro.

Is this a patch I still have to apply manually to the game? Right now the visual part of the opening is clearly running to fast, the music sounds good but is out of sync quickly with what you see on the screen.

Here is a video on YouTube where it is running as it is supposed to, the logo with the sound effect can be seen after 35 seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHtgMKbAJvc

And here a video I just took with my phone running the undubbed/uncensored PAL version on my NTSC-U Dreamcast, the moment where the logo appears is after about 14 seconds, with the sound effect coming a little later:

https://youtu.be/H6mEpfGxi9U

Since the visual part of the video is running too fast, the delay of the music is getting bigger and bigger and some nice scenes where the mood of the music changes come too late to fit what you see on the screen.

So how can I fix this, are there patches I need to apply? Or has this uncensor/undub patch been applied to a NTSC version of the game too I can download somewhere?

Thanks

[fafadou]

I tried it and the new music was at good speed (@pitito still doing an incredible job).
it looks it's the same music as original 50Hz version that you showed in your youtube video...
What version did you have donwload ? The link you gave me doesn't match with mines on first page of this topic.

Please use the links on the first page of this topic.

[arcadia88]

I tried it and the new music was at good speed (@pitito still doing an incredible job).
it looks it's the same music as original 50Hz version that you showed in your youtube video...
What version did you have donwload ? The link you gave me doesn't match with mines on first page of this topic.

Please use the links on the first page of this topic.

I first learned about this undub/uncensor project by reading this article where the have links to two versions of the game (Japanese and English voices):

https://segaxtreme.net/threads/skies-of ... dou.25058/

From there I downloaded the one with Japanese voices which generally runs great on my Dreamcast, only the (wonderful) intro has some issues since being the PAL version of the game it seems to have been optimised for 50 Hz and runs too fast now on a NTSC Dreamcast while the music playing at normal speed.

I tried now the version from the first post here with two discs from this link:

https://1fichier.com/?hxgja8l3nu9a3sadrniz

However I don't really want to sound ungrateful and I am sure people put a lot of work into this with the goal to make the game better. But in the end I am not sure if this could really be called a fix since at least on my machine the music in the intro was now also sped up and short moments of silence has been cut out which for me, who watched the intro ans listened to the soundtrack many times, makes this not really a good experience.

I made another video of the intro from the newer version running on my tv. If you first watch again the intro running normally here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHtgMKbAJvc

And compare it to the version with the sped up music here, I think also people who are less sensitive to music can tell, that this just isn't a good solution:

https://youtu.be/OmPWOw4rI6c

Also the game has been stretched out from 4:3 to 16:9 which to me personally also is not an improvement and makes all the characters look like they need to work out more

I have absolutely no idea making these undubbed or uncensored versions of games but since this was now done for the PAL version of the game, shouldn't it be possible to apply the same changes to the NTSC version to have a proper version of an undubbed and uncensored Skies of Arcadia where the intro runs fine too?

This would be all I am looking for, the normal game in 4:3 with no other changes beside the voices and uncensored graphics

[SMiTH]

arcadia88,

(disclaimer)not to be rude...but,

you could make a 99min cdr version, an sdiso, a .gdi, and of course an 80min version of the soa mod you desire.

but who knows some1 else will respond to your version saying it is not to their liking as well.

next you make another mod to please them, rinse and repeat.

it never ends.

[arcadia88]

arcadia88,

(disclaimer)not to be rude...but,

you could make a 99min cdr version, an sdiso, a .gdi, and of course an 80min version of the soa mod you desire.

but who knows some1 else will respond to your version saying it is not to their liking as well.

next you make another mod to please them, rinse and repeat.

it never ends.

I get what you mean, but what I am looking for is in the end nothing really new or special I think.

There is this great uncensored and (for me more important) undub mod of Skies or Arcadia for the Dreamcast, what is what I had been looking and waiting for a long time

Now the only problem is, that it is based on the PAL version of the game, which has the consequence, that the visual part of the opening runs too fast on NTSC machines. In the end that doesn't effect the gameplay, but since I really love the opening and always liked watching it before playing to get into the mood of the SoA world, I would like to see a version of this mod which leaves the opening intact on NTSC consoles.

There have been now attempts to fix this by speeding up the music too, but at least for me this is not really a fix and makes watching the opening not more enjoyable, especially if as I said you have seen it so many times and love it as much as I do. (And I again, I also don't want to be rude and appreciate the work people put into this fix attempt and if it is acceptable for some other people I am happy for them.)

I just think now, that the most straightforward way to allow people with a NTSC Dreamcast having the same "perfect" undub/uncensored version of the game would be to simply apply the same changes to the NTSC version of the game, which would leave the intro intact. And I am wondering and a little surprised actually why this hasn't happened yet, but than again I have no idea how this works and maybe this is still not as easy as one might think (and again, thanks to everyone who puts hours and hours of work into those mods).

But in the end, of course you can't always make everyone happy, but since at least half of all Dreamcast consoles in the world are NTSC machines (if not the majority), I am sure that a port of just the basic early mods (uncensored and optional undub, no need for any other changes) with the great intro running at normal speed including the music, would be something appreciated by many and not just me