Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

rhester72
Top Contributor
Posts: 1107
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 2:31 am
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 169 times

Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by rhester72 »

With the following combination:

- Mega CD 2 V2.00W BIOS
- EU region
- 50.2Hz refresh with vsync_adjust=2

I get very consistent stuttering in the introductory FMV on Syndicate for Mega CD.

I've confirmed the dump matches the hashes on redump.org.

I don't see this with other FMV-heavy games (e.g. intro to Microcosm with US 2.11 BIOS and US region/60Hz), but this is (currently) the only European title I have (I'm going to do more testing with the European release of Microcosm as soon as I have it).

Is this a known problem? Am I the only one seeing it? Does anyone else even care about Mega CD? *laughs*
rhester72
Top Contributor
Posts: 1107
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 2:31 am
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 169 times

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by rhester72 »

Upon further testing, I've also noticed that the declared internal resolution for Mega CD PAL appears to be wrong (set to the same as NTSC), so I'm not sure the Mega CD core was fully built for PAL...it looks like it tries to run PAL titles with NTSC framing and internal clocks but PAL refresh.
riblad_om
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 10:06 pm
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by riblad_om »

I went down a similar rabbit hole of switching out bios files, but after looking at some youtube vids and loading up the game in Genesis Plus GX I came to the conclusion that the game probably performed this way on original hardware. At any rate I can't find any footage on youtube of this intro running without said hitching.
retrorepair
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by retrorepair »

rhester72 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:05 pm Upon further testing, I've also noticed that the declared internal resolution for Mega CD PAL appears to be wrong (set to the same as NTSC), so I'm not sure the Mega CD core was fully built for PAL...it looks like it tries to run PAL titles with NTSC framing and internal clocks but PAL refresh.
None of the cores I've looked at really are built with PAL in mind. The Genesis core only has one master clock which is based on the NTSC crystal freq.

I don't know how receptive Sorg would be to it but I'd like to go through all the cores and add PAL master clock too so that when "PAL" is selected, correct clock timing is used.

It's especially apparent on the genesis core which is much slower in PAL mode (the screen position looks correct when I change the master clock too).
User avatar
aberu
Core Developer
Posts: 1144
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 8:34 pm
Location: Longmont, CO
Has thanked: 244 times
Been thanked: 388 times
Contact:

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by aberu »

retrorepair wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:07 am
rhester72 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:05 pm Upon further testing, I've also noticed that the declared internal resolution for Mega CD PAL appears to be wrong (set to the same as NTSC), so I'm not sure the Mega CD core was fully built for PAL...it looks like it tries to run PAL titles with NTSC framing and internal clocks but PAL refresh.
None of the cores I've looked at really are built with PAL in mind. The Genesis core only has one master clock which is based on the NTSC crystal freq.

I don't know how receptive Sorg would be to it but I'd like to go through all the cores and add PAL master clock too so that when "PAL" is selected, correct clock timing is used.

It's especially apparent on the genesis core which is much slower in PAL mode (the screen position looks correct when I change the master clock too).
Isn't the "much slower in PAL mode" effect expected though? Like if I load an NTSC game and switch to PAL, it will reduce the speed because pal is 50~hz and NTSC is 60~hz. PAL games then had to be made with this in mind, or sometimes ports were just running slower which was lazy porting.

However, yeah if the clocks aren't in there I could potentially see that being a problem for something like CRT compatibility. Maybe the CRT compatibility isn't an issue because Ascal handles that on it's own, hrm... I'd like to know what you find out! :)
birdybro~
retrorepair
Posts: 257
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by retrorepair »

I'd expect PAL copies of these games wouldn't have had skippy FMV but I also don't know how much the accurate PAL clock will help. I'll report back later.

I can confirm with the PAL clock, stuff like the "Sega" jingle on Sonic 1 is much lower in pitch and a bit slower, which instantly sounded right to my PAL abused ears.
ARCADEAGES
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun May 24, 2020 11:58 pm
Location: Toronto
Has thanked: 106 times
Been thanked: 10 times
Contact:

Re: Issue with Syndicate Mega CD FMV

Unread post by ARCADEAGES »

I've played this game on a real SEGA CD and the videos are full of pauses and stutters. Could this be an issue with the game itself, and not the core?
Post Reply