confirmed working with

USA:

Code:


Database match: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: 5CFF70F8313A5EA9058E53CE933C02175E1275CB
File CRC32: 38E82FAB
ROM SHA-1: 2447D6133573F7ED2CC49DC95B3130427BD4DC35
ROM CRC32: C471E42D

Europe:

Code:

Database match: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest (Europe)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: 609129ABF15CAB23F456EB51009B8E592528299F
File CRC32: BB441910
ROM SHA-1: D3F455A15A5B21EA663A1E48AF352E55818FE89D
ROM CRC32: D6F7383E

World:

Code:

Database match: Castlevania II - Simon's Quest (USA) (Castlevania Anniversary Collection)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: ECFB2186427503A041CD807E07A90F680DD1BC33
File CRC32: C18F5C1D
ROM SHA-1: FEB9CF4973FC1268B078E333589082FD2E36E266
ROM CRC32: 3D16979B

It may work on other ROMs, but the IPS may need to be applied manually. If the SHA-1 does not match, Mesen will not apply the IPS to the ROM.

I've tried two of the confirmed working versions on the Mesen core of Retroarch. I've tried patching and attempting to let Mesen patch for me and I never get any music (original or HD). Is it possible that this patch only works on the standalone version of Mesen?

it might be the way this patch has been distributed: Mesen generally expects all the files in one zip.

try this:

Code:

https://mega.nz/file/vCwGCRJR#TPRSiJfPxxyW5UdiLlkcbCVoieKyJus761c8WOd_oXY

Last edited by Cubear on Sat 16 Dec 2023 - 0:39; edited 3 times in total

I had tried that and I tried the new link, but neither work. Thanks for the help though. I'll keep messing with it to see if I can figure out what's up.

I've updated the link, that version didn't have the right hires.txt in it. could you try this new one?

That one doesn't work either. It's very likely because it's the Retroarch version of Mesen and not the standalone. Now patching results in no music and attempting to let Mesen do the patching in the background results in the original music. I appreciate your help Cubear, but you don't need to feel obligated to mess with this.

StratosVX wrote:That one doesn't work either. It's very likely because it's the Retroarch version of Mesen and not the standalone. Now patching results in no music and attempting to let Mesen do the patching in the background results in the original music. I appreciate your help Cubear, but you don't need to feel obligated to mess with this.

Maybe try patching the rom with flips?

It is likely just some weird incompatibility caused by the differing version of mesen between retroarch and standalone at this point.

I'll see about making a good version to use in retroarch, just need to ask around about what I might be doing wrong.

Cubear wrote:It is likely just some weird incompatibility caused by the differing version of mesen between retroarch and standalone at this point.

I played around with your patch and know what is going on. Got it working. Seems you are encountering the same issue when I first started my MesenHD journey. What I found out since playing around with all these different Mesen versions is that it always all boils down to the hires.txt file.

You have your Castlevania II hires.txt set to...

Code:

<ver>108

This setting will only work on Mesen 2.0.0 (stand-alone).

For compatibility between mesen 2.0.0 (stand-alone) and 0.9.9 (retroarch), set this to ...

Code:

<ver>106

(see image example for better illustration)


This will not be a problem as long as it is music only patch. If graphic enhancements are involved, they may not render properly say on Mesen 0.9.9 (retroarch) if the pack was developed exclusively for Mesen 2.0.0 (stand-alone).

Another thing I forgot to mention is that, to my knowledge, there at least 4 variants of Mesen floating around.

Mesen 0.9.9 (stand-alone, maintained by mkwong)
Mesen 2.0.0 (stand-alone, maintained by sour)
Retroarch Mesen 0.9.9 (two variants of this floating around).

This is definitely a problem when it comes to developing patches. I see this affecting graphic enhancements more than music replacement. Other thing to bring to light is that the audio levels between 0.9.9 and 2.0.0 are way different.

That did it! Thanks pev! That seems like that little detail would have been aggravating to figure out. I'll remember this fix for the future. I appreciate everyone's help!

StratosVX wrote:That did it! Thanks pev! That seems like that little detail would have been aggravating to figure out. I'll remember this fix for the future. I appreciate everyone's help!

Oh believe me, it was a pain to figure out when I started making audio patches. It is aggravating dealing with multiple versions of Mesen and picking which ones to support. But it seems, most people prefer Retroarch Mesen 0.9.9.

UPDATE: If you are having issues with seamless looping using Retroarch's latest Mesen 0.9.9 core. Use the one in the download link below.

Code:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/z0trbmx0f80qunw/mesen_libretro_b1a457fb
84beb49ba2318a6e1b8f061d_42bddb7c.rar/file

SHA-1: 0bcecf39654b4535dec56d5ad6b6a2847e6381ac
Files MD5: b1a457fb84beb49ba2318a6e1b8f061d
CRC32: 42bddb7c

Copy the core into Retroarch's cores folder. This build is much older and, so far, it has been working with seamless audio loops and GFX based patches.