Update 7 and wrapping up the Dreamcast project news

Update 7 for Dreamcast Conversion is now available!

I had no idea it would happen so soon, but a few important things were added recently to the DC mods, so here's Update 7. Much like with Update 6, there are 3 ways to get it:

1) If you are getting mod updates through the Mod Loader, you already have it!

2) If you are installing DC Conversion for the first time, you can use my installer to set up the Mod Loader, SADXFE, DC Conversion, DC character models and other mods. There's also an offline version* of the installer, which includes all mods and tools necessary to set up the DC mods on any version of SADX without downloading anything.

3) If you want to install the mods manually, you can still download the full package here. Be sure to install the mods in the correct order! Check the install guide for more details.

*The offline version of the installer is the same as the online version but it includes an "instdata" folder with all the necessary files to work offline. The regular installer can work offline if it has the necessary files in the instdata folder.

Having issues? Check out the troubleshooting guide.

This update addresses several long-standing issues and introduces some more Dreamcast restorations. Here's a list of highlights for this version:

• Several SADX cutscene camera angles were updated to resolve issues with SA1 assets or make the cutscenes look more like the original game. This makes Dreamcast Conversion the first SADX mod to edit cutscenes. This has been made possible thanks to ItsEasyActually, who identified cutscene data in the disassembly.
• SADX engine has a feature called alpha rejection, which is used on textures with an alpha channel to make some of the transparency issues look slightly less awful. While it helps in some cases, often it isn't necessary and breaks more than it fixes. Disabling alpha rejection in all except some areas made it possible to bring back Perfect Chaos effects (the waterfalls and the mist around Chaos' location). It also improved the quality of special effects that use sprites (fire, explosions, smog, dust etc.). As a result, the game looks a bit better overall and the effects no longer appear as low-res as they did before.
• A major highlight of this update is sound restorations in the Sound Overhaul mod. I've fixed quite a few of SADX-specific sound bugs that have been plaguing the game for years, from the spindash sound being cut off with the Light Speed Dash upgrade to missing sound effects when Sonic goes through rings in NiGHTS' pinball stage. I've also fixed timing issues in some cutscenes where certain sound effects played too early or too late. More details in the changelog.
• The interactive Chao Race Entry room from the Dreamcast version has been restored, complete with animations and objects! You can walk around the room like in the original game, and the SADX menu for Chao Race will be loaded when you push the button in the center of the room.
• Some minor effect tweaks/restorations: for example, the "goal" emeralds now have glow like in the original game, and the glow of the Master Emerald is now a bit more green.
• Final Egg 1-2 and Ice Cap 3 now have dynamic fog that makes those levels look closer to the original game and improves visuals.
• The HD GUI 2 mod has been updated with contributions from Jmtshaw and now includes the Mission Mode stat screen and even the Mission Mode tutorial backgrounds that use SA1 levels and character models!
• As usual, there were some lighting, transparency and material color fixes for various levels.

Wrapping up?

Is the Dreamcast Conversion project over? Yes, sort of. You can still report bugs on the issue tracker, and I'll upload updates if there is anything critical, but on the whole I consider this project done. There are a few things remaining, but I have little interest in restoring them. As you can see from the changelog, I've stayed committed to this project almost daily for about a year (actually longer than a year because the development began last summer, before I set up GitHub and started keeping track of changes). For now, I want to take a break from Sonic and SADX modding. I'll return whenever I think more updates/restorations are possible. Whether it will happen in a month or in several years, I don't know. So let's say the project is done, for now.

Thank you for playing SADX with my mods all this time, and I hope you enjoy this final update. With so many things fixed and restored in a few months, we've come a long way to bring SADX closer to being a proper port of the original game, which it should have been.

Bye for now. See you next time!

PkR