Frequently asked questions about Dreamcast mods
Q: What's the point of porting Dreamcast assets? The Dreamcast is an old console, and SADX received a visual upgrade during the Gamecube conversion. The PC version is basically the same as the Gamecube version. Why would you want to make the game uglier?
A: SADX introduces a lot of questionable design changes and downgrades related to lighting, texture and sound quality, loss of sounds and special effects etc. On top of that, the PC version is heavily downgraded from the Gamecube version. The Dreamcast version is far superior in most areas. I set up a blog with detailed comparisons between SA1 and its ports, check it out.
Q: How do I get this mod?
A: If you haven't used SADX Mod Loader before, you can use my installer for an easy and quick way to get started. If you have experience with SADX mods, you can download the mod from this page and install it manually. If there are any updates beyond the latest ModDB release, they will be pushed to you through the Mod Loader whenever you check for updates.
Q: How do I change keyboard controls?
A: If you use the installer, there is an easy to use configuration tool that lets you configure keyboard keys. Otherwise use use the Input Mod and configure keys manually.
Q: Is it possible to have Dreamcast character models?
A: You can use ItsEasyActually's Dreamcast Characters Pack to get SA1 character models.
Q: Can you make Dreamcast mods for Sonic Adventure 2?
A: I am not interested in making mods for SA2.
Q: Is this mod compatible with the Steam version of SADX?
A: No, but you can convert the Steam version into the 2004 version, which is supported. You can do that by using my installer or installing BetterSADX, which includes DC Conversion as of November 2017. Note that I don't provide support for BetterSADX, please report issues to the authors of BetterSADX instead.
Q: Can I play this mod on the Gamecube/PS3/Xbox360 version?
A: This mod is made for SADX Mod Loader, which requires the 2004 PC version specifically. Recreating it on other platforms is unrealistic.
Q: What about other mod compatibility?
A: This modpack is compatible with SADXFE if you list SADXFE first in the Mod Manager. Gameplay mods (such as Super Sonic) should be compatible. As for mods that modify levels or textures, those are likely to be incompatible. Ideally you should disable all other mods before enabling any of the DC mods, or at least load the DC mods after them. That's simply because the DC mods change a lot of things in the game, including, but not limited to, custom code, level and object textures, level models (landtables), level fog data, object placement (SET files), textures, some object models and camera (CAM) files.
Q: Can you make a "Dreamcast Chao" mod?
A: As of Update 7, I've restored some Chao stuff, including the gardens themselves, the Chao Stadium lobby and almost all missing objects in Chao Race. There are still quite a few things that are different (sounds and some code-related things), but those are more difficult to restore, and I doubt I will be able to restore them anytime soon.
Q: Can you make some textures (sky etc.) better?
A: I'm only interested in GUI items (menus etc.), which are handled in the HD GUI 2 mod. There are mods that introduce AI-upscaled textures such as this one, check it out.
Q: Why don't you /insert your idea here/?
A: When reporting issues or requesting new content, please understand that with this mod and SADX mods in general, I only do: 1) Things that I myself am interested in, and 2) things that I know how to do.
A lot of people seem to think that this mod is supposed to be "the ultimate fixed version of SA1" that takes the best of SA1 and SADX and improves on it, the "Sonic Adventure the way it was meant to be played", or something like that. That isn't true. The goal of this mod pack is to simply replicate Dreamcast SA1 graphics and sound as much as currently possible within the limits of SADX, SADX Mod Loader and my modding skills. If you want the "definitive" experience, play the original game on a real Dreamcast.
There are several issues with the SADX engine that limit my capability to restore things, particularly when it comes to transparent objects and textures with alpha channels. I believe those engine limitations were the original reason behind most changes in SADX visuals, but due to the porting team's lack of time, effort or competence those changes were carried out poorly. While I do my best to introduce workarounds, fixing some of the transparency issues is impossible at this point. So if you see transparent things not looking as they should, it probably means I have already tried to fix them but couldn't. For a list of transparency issues that aren't currently fixable please refer to this issue.
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