Last Updated: March 23, 2005
**** Saturn Programming FAQ v0.12 (HTML) ****
| Q: | Whats New in version v0.1? |
| A: |
Added PCXToSat (version 0.1) to the 'What do I need...' section. |
| Q: | What do I need to develop for the Saturn? |
| A: |
Only a few items are actually required: 1. Action Replay / Game Shark 2. PC Comms Link Card and cable 3. SSFEXE program by Yasushi Tanaka. It can be downloaded from http://saturndev.emuvibes.com or SSLINK program by Free Wing. It can be downloaded from http://saturndev.emuvibes.com 4. Demos. You will need to know the start address of the demos. The above items will allow you to view programs written. 5. Saturn compiler. 6. SATDEMO.ZIP. This is some simple source code and makefiles to start programming. It can be downloaded from http://saturndev.emuvibes.com 7. Graphics converter (SSCONV.ZIP), if you would like to use sprites. 8. To Sega Saturn (TOSS version 0.3), if you would like to use tiles. 9. PCX to Saturn (PCXToSat version 0.1), if you would like to use bitmap scroll planes. Numbers 5 - 9 are only needed if you actually want to program the Saturn. |
| Q: | How do I use SSFEXE? (Windows version 1.3 Beta - SSFEXE.ZIP) |
| A: |
The name (upper box) is used to specify the file to load and run.
(ie x:\sub-directory\sl.bin) The I/O port (lower left box) is used to specify the port of the PC Comms Link card. (ie 330) The starting address (lower right box) is used to specify the starting address of the program. (ie 06004000) The upper button sends the file to the Saturn. The middle button exits the program. The lower buttons selects a file to load. To use 'SSFEXE': 1. Turn off the Saturn 2. Start 'SSFEXE' 3. Enter information (file name and start address) 4. Press top button 5. Turn on the Saturn SSFEXE is a bit slow, so it will take a while to transfer files. |
| Q: | How do I use SSLINK. |
| A: |
SSLINK is a dos utility. Type 'SSLINK /pPAR_PORT 09 filename.ext start_address [mode] [length]' Example: 'SSLINK /p330 09 sl.bin 06004000 1' If mode is set to 1 the file is automatically ran. The length is optional, and will be based on file size, if not supplied. To actually upload the code, type the command above without return, reset the Saturn, wait until the Game Shark menu appears, then execute the SSLINK program. This works most of the time, but appears to fail sometimes. The SSLINK program is faster than SSFEXE, but isn't as reliable. |
| Q: | Where can I find documentation on programming the Saturn? |
| A: |
Locate '237-R1.PDF', '238-R1.PDF', and 'SGL302J.ZIP'. The PDF files contain documentation on the SGL library. 'SGL302J.ZIP' contains sample code. |
| Q: | What is the starting address of a demo? |
| A: | Demos written in C/C++ are usually 06004000. The files written by Yasushi Tanaka (ytanaka@ipc-tokai.or.jp) are usually 06002000. If you recompile the demo it will tell you the starting address. |
