Update 11 release! news - Dreamcast Conversion mod for Sonic Adventure DX

The biggest Dreamcast Conversion update is here!

Hi there!

It's been a year since the last major update, and today I'm happy to present you a complete overhaul of the mod, which ended up being the biggest update to Dreamcast Conversion since its initial release in December 2016.

Here's a list of ways you can get the update:

• If you update through the Mod Loader, you can get it by checking for mod updates.
• You can use the installer, which will set everything up for you automatically.
• If you want to set up the mods manually you can download the package for manual install. Note: the package contains Dreamcast Conversion only. If you use it, you'll need to get HD GUI 2, Sound Overhaul 2, Dreamcast DLCs etc. manually as well.

I don't even know where to begin with this update. I think the changelog speaks for itself (the changelog for this version is about 1/5th of the entire mod changelog since December 2016), but let's talk about some highlights of the new version:

• The mod has been reworked almost from scratch, with much better implementations of nearly all of the fixes included in it. Also, all levels and models replaced in the mod are now loaded from external files (which can now be changed by other mods).
• The mod now restores over 800 models from the Dreamcast version, which results in much improved accuracy to the original game, particularly after recent Mod Loader updates that introduced lighting changes. On top of that, almost all levels have been re-exported from the original game with new, better fixes for transparency, lighting and collision.
• This is long overdue, but you now have the option to use original SET and CAM files from the 1998 Japanese release of SA1 or SA International. Note: these files are straight from those versions of the game, so they aren't compatible with SADX Mission Mode. If you use them, make sure you've also enabled the Light Speed Dash distance hack.
• The area of the mod that had the most work done can be summarized in two words: transparency fixes. This time I really went out of my way to fix a lot of long-standing SADX transparency woes, for which I introduced a lot of dirty hacks and workarounds. The game looks a lot better now in several levels, particularly in Final Egg and Casinopolis, but there have also been a lot of fixes for other levels, cutscenes, boss battles and general objects: for example, item capsules look much better now. Also, the alpha rejection fixes for levels and objects (that were included in the mod earlier) are now finally enabled for everyone after a recent Lantern Engine update - things like shadow blobs, letters in neon signs in Casinopolis, various explosion effects in Sky Deck and many more now look a lot better.
• There have been some improvements to menus and the title screen. The transition between the title screen and file select should now be completely lag-free, and the title screen itself should load a bit faster.
• The testing for this version has been relentless. While extensive beta testing isn't unique to this version, this time there was a huge internal test with multiple iterations (material color/model accuracy test, palette selection accuracy test, general gameplay test) for each level, and there was also a public beta test in which dedicated players helped me find and fix a lot of issues that would otherwise have been overlooked. This version in particular fixes a few critical issues that were also affecting previous releases of the mod, so it should be even more stable now. Of course there may be some things still left (this is a huge mod after all) but I'm generally quite happy about the amount of effort invested into testing this version before today's release.

Note: some new fixes (which can potentially affect other areas) were introduced after the extensive beta test, so I encourage you to report any issues you run into while playing the game with this version of the mod. You can report issues on my Twitter, on the mod's GitHub issue tracker, or on the summary page.

Have fun with the biggest Dreamcast Conversion update yet!

PkR