As indicated in the title : I'm glad to announce the release of Pseudo Saturn Kai v6.374 ! It is available for download at the usual address on my homepage.
This time, there aren't any "big" feature added, but rather a streak of small fixes as well as few minor improvements too. So don't wait to upgrade your cartridge and enjoy even more your favorite games with Pseudo Saturn
What's new :
Show error message when SD card is not inserted into Rhea/Phoebe ODE.
Added RmenuKai : enjoy cheat codes on Rhea/Phoebe even without cartridge !
Improved compatibility of JHL loader-only games with Rhea/Phoebe ODEs. (Panzer Dragoon Saga can now be correctly loaded from Rhea ODE)
Improvements in automatic selection of game in cheats codes feature.
And there's also a small Easter egg hidden in some menus ... will you be able to trigger it ?
What didn't changed :
Plays games backed up on CD-R, without the need of any hardware mod.
Comes with a bunch of pre-installed cheat codes.
Provides image selection menu for Rhea and Phoebe ODE.
Available for free and for everyone : it doesn't costs any license to install, and I didn't begged any money to develop Pseudo Saturn Kai too.
This version was thoroughly tested by same beta testers who followed development from last public release, but on the other hand it was tested by ... nobody else during beta testing phase ... this is probably a fault from me (it was announced for one week on segaxtreme forums, and ... for one day on this blog), but today is the third anniversary of initial release of Pseudo Saturn Kai as well as Gamer's Cartridge so I didn't wanted to miss this occasion
So don't worry and happy playing ! I spent last 5 months in developing this version, and my favorite beta tester spent the same period in testing around twenty beta builds so it will run fine on your Saturn ! Trust me, I'm an engineer
Not my favorite PCB,
but at least it works.
It's time to pick up the kids at their Monday evening activities but I still have many tidbit stories to relate about ! So please stay tuned in future article(s)
Edit (2019/06/10) : it should be a good idea to add links for discussions on external sites :
Once upon a night, I wanted to verify Pseudo Saturn Kai products lineup and realized PRO edition was recently added !
The PRO edition itself was based on same technology as lite one, but requiring a small subscription (in one-digit dollar range) in order to allow installation. In other words, the same contents as lite (free of charge) edition, but financially supporting firmware development and maintenance costs.
Pseudo Saturn Kai PRO edition was so popular that it was attracting enough money to cover my daily personal expenses and at some point it was even enough for apartment rent as well as family's cost of fuel and light ! On the other hand, Pseudo Saturn Kai PRO edition support team was greedier and greedier about new features, visual improvements of the firmware's UI, and the longer it went the more oppressed I was to maintain Pseudo Saturn Kai code base.
And then, the poor man's alarm clock (= in simpler words, light of the morning sun) woke me covered in sweat and experiencing high heart pulsations.
I had to verify this was a nightmare ! ... But before that it was time to start the day with laundry, because procrastinating the laundry duty delays all the subsequent tasks after that until the end of the day
So during my earliest spare moment during that day (somewhere between 6:30PM and 7PM), I could verify that everything was normal regarding Pseudo Saturn Kai project : the lite version free for everybody, and the full version also free but usable only in my hardware projects.
So no deadline, no pressure, and no impatient users ! I was relieved because I have enough of that at regular work !!
On a more serious note, I'm glad to announce that release candidate version for next release of Pseudo Saturn Kai is ready !
This RC version was thoroughly tested by same beta testers who followed development from last public release, so the risk of bricking cartridge or facing bugs bigger than an elephant are quite low.
I'm however not confident about usage in unusual configuration, so that I would like it to be tested by a few more people for my peace of mind before putting it on the wild.
On the other hand, if you just want to use latest version and don't plan to give testing feedback, then please *don't* contact me and wait patiently for one week or two until RC version becomes publicly available.
What's new in upcoming next release : basically there aren't new major feature available (like cheat codes in previous v6.274 release), but enough changes and/or improvements to make everybody wanting to upgrade.
Show error message when SD card is not inserted into Rhea/Phoebe ODE.
Added RmenuKai : enjoy cheat codes on Rhea/Phoebe even without cartridge !
Improved compatibility of JHL loader-only games with Rhea/Phoebe ODEs. (Panzer Dragoon Saga can now be correctly loaded from Rhea ODE)
Improvements in automatic selection of game in cheats codes feature.
And there's also a small Easter egg hidden in some menus ... will you be able to trigger it ?
To shortly sum up the changelog, Rhea/Phoebe ODE users will be happy to find that this release will allow usage of cheat codes without the need of any cartridge And some Rhea users shall also appreciate Pseudo Saturn Kai finally loading Panzer Dragoon Saga correctly.
There are also some fixes and improvements around cheat codes (available for everybody, not requiring ODE or any special cartridge) and I sincerely hope theses will contribute to make more people enjoying playing Saturn
Rare footage of Pseudo Saturn Kai development room.
Good news : this month, I took my last chemo pills
Last chemo pills (white & orange capsules), and medicine in order to cover chemo side effects. Yes, I took a picture of my last chemo pills in order to celebrate this event
And even better news, the physician in charge of me told me that it should be OK not to continue chemo treatment
PET/CT results. Basically, it says "both PET and CT didn't shown anything weird". I'm so glad of theses results that I hesitate to frame this test report ^^
Of course, it doesn't means my cancer is completely cured - 5 years without cancer relapse are needed to say everything is OK -, but at least last month's PET/CT scan didn't shown anything, so this is comforting for the next few months ...
Here is a "one page" timeline of the treatment of my cancer (= stage 4 tongue cancer). April 2014 : Small mouth ulcer + pain in left ear : consult Otolaryngologist doctor. On first consultation, I get medical prescription of mouthwash liquid. No improvement after 2~3 weeks of treatment, so I return to Otolaryngologist doctor, and I was told that I should get "a test of my cells" (doctor didn't wanted to say "biopsy" keyword ...), so I receive a "letter of introduction " to a bigger hospital. May 2014 (first half) : Biopsy, one week after, I was told "you got cancer". I ask the stage : "maybe second stage or so". I ask a "letter of introduction " to a even bigger hospital. May 2014 (second half) : First consultation to the "even bigger hospital" + PET, CT, etc tests. Cancer stage was diagnosed to 4a. One week after first consultation, I am hospitalized during 10 days in order to receive intravenous chemo (5FU + Nedaplatin). June 2014 : Commute to hospital (twice a week) in order to follow up chemo side effects. July~August 2014 : Hospitalization for surgery (tongue resection, neck lymph node dissection, tongue reconstruction). Around 9 hours for surgery, 7 weeks for hospitalization, it was really hell ... October 2014 : Start of oral chemo (TS-1). Blood test every 3 weeks. If everything is fine (= blood test don't show bad results), I take this chemo for a year. Winter 2014~2015 : PET scan show abscess in chin ... one week after PET results, it was visually visible. Tried A LOT of antibiotics, none worked, so the physician who operated my tongue and neck manually removed meat around the abscess ... as a result, there is a small cavity on my chin, but at least abscess is cured 2015 (first half) : Blood test every 6 weeks, plus CT scan every 3 months. Basically, everything is fine (I just skipped 2 weeks of TS-1, because of chemo side effect) End of September 2015 : Annual PET scan. Was nervous about results, but everything was fine It's safe to stop TS-1, and next blood test is scheduled 3 months later. It was a long time I go out from hospital without medical prescription sheet ^^; October 2015 : I take some few TS-1 capsules I skipped during 2015 first half. Don't tell this to my doctor Normally I must trash chemo drug I couldn't take during prescription period, but it's really a waste IMHO.
And some Rhea users shall also appreciate Pseudo Saturn Kai finally loading Panzer Dragoon Saga correctly.
