Weird bug in Crossed Swords

[Mathius]

I have Unibios ver. 2.3. When playing Crossed Swords with it set to region "U.S." and either/or "arcade" and "console-AES" the text in the game will go back and forth between Japanese and English. One scene will be in English, and then another scene will be in Japanese text. Anyone know why this is?

 

[Xian Xi]

Most likely some scenes weren't transcribed into English.

 

[Mathius]

Most likely some scenes weren't transcribed into English.

That would make sense except that some of the same scenes alternate between the two languages during multiple play-throughs. A scene will be in Japanese on one play-through, then English in another.

 

[Xian Xi]

That is strange.

 

[topher]

My MVS w/stock bios plays 100% in English. You def have something strange going on.

 

[Mathius]

My MVS w/stock bios plays 100% in English. You def have something strange going on.

I wonder if it could be my AES system, or the cartridge? Other weird things going on are:

1) In Honzo's stage in SS1 the announcer/ref's vocals are distant and scratchy.
2) Many pre-game debug setups don't work. I have to go in through the in-game menu (hitting start + select) to change settings. (This could just be inherit to the unibios, I guess)
3) Certain screens in Crossed Swords have ever-so-slightly scratchy music.

 

[Neo Alec]

I played through it on my MVS with Unibios 2.1 and had no language issues.

 

[Mathius]

I can't seem get through the game without the language changing to Japanese everytime I play. This is really starting to bug me!

 

[Razoola]

Try clearing the backupram.

 

[Mathius]

Try clearing the backupram.

Hey Raz! Nice to meet you finally!

How would I go about doing that?

 

[Neo Alec]

He's playing on an AES, so there is no backup ram.

 

[ne7]

are you using a memory card? try playing the game without it plugged in... worth a shot!

 

[aclbandit]

Perhaps this is one of those obvious things, but just to be sure: are you sure your cartridge is not a bootleg?

 

[Mathius]

Unfortunately, don't have a memory card yet. I just got the system, and the game came a few days ago. I guess it's possible that it could be a bootleg. It looks real to me though and it has the case and manual. I can post links to pics if you guys want me to. I still can't post attachments for some reason.

 

[ne7]

its pretty dang unlikely to be a boot

can u try region: European / Console or Arcade? does it do the same thing.

one thing to check is are your cart connectors clean? is the cart itself clean?

one sure fire way to make neo games go loony is having dirty carts / slots - and you have mentioned SS1 being odd on this machine too.

I'd recommend giving the cart slots a good blow over with some compressed air (make sure it's powered off - and give it time to rest after u clean it) and the the cart itself a good clean on the pcb edges (i use isopropyl alcohol which does a lovely job)

 

[Mathius]

its pretty dang unlikely to be a boot

can u try region: European / Console or Arcade? does it do the same thing.

one thing to check is are your cart connectors clean? is the cart itself clean?

one sure fire way to make neo games go loony is having dirty carts / slots - and you have mentioned SS1 being odd on this machine too.

I'd recommend giving the cart slots a good blow over with some compressed air (make sure it's powered off - and give it time to rest after u clean it) and the the cart itself a good clean on the pcb edges (i use isopropyl alcohol which does a lovely job)

They both look clean to me, but I will give them a cleaning anyway. Thanks!

 

[ne7]

also be careful cleaning these - take a look at the forum for more tips on cleaning too good luck

 

[Mathius]

also be careful cleaning these - take a look at the forum for more tips on cleaning too good luck

I gave Crossed Swords a good alcohol scrub and then I noticed something. The tips of the all contacts have this "spotted" look to them. Then further up the board the contacts get nice and shiny again. Is this just normal wear and tear from being inserted repeatedly?

 

[Mathius]

I also just did a cleaning of the slots in my AES using the "T-shirt and Alcohol" method. Pulled some dirt out, but still no fix.

 

[Mathius]

can u try region: European / Console or Arcade? does it do the same thing.

Yes, I have tried every region and Console and Arcade settings. This is just too weird.

 

[Xian Xi]

Spotted usually indicates that the previous owner sanded the contacts. In some cases it's bad because people accidentally sand too high and end up cutting traces.

 

[Mathius]

Spotted usually indicates that the previous owner sanded the contacts. In some cases it's bad because people accidentally sand too high and end up cutting traces.

I doubt that has happened here, but I can't be 100% sure.

Would this be a situation where I might want to send my AES console to someone here willing to take a peak inside? Does those here who do modding keep track of the consoles they mod via serial number, in which case I could send it to that specific member? I don't want my first Neo Geo to fall ill.

 

[systmdfect]

I doubt that has happened here, but I can't be 100% sure.

Would this be a situation where I might want to send my AES console to someone here willing to take a peak inside? Does those here who do modding keep track of the consoles they mod via serial number, in which case I could send it to that specific member? I don't want my first Neo Geo to fall ill.

Try out another game. Set it to different regions and see what happens. If other games work fine, it has to be your cart. If other games have problems then it could be your system.

 

[Mathius]

Try out another game. Set it to different regions and see what happens. If other games work fine, it has to be your cart. If other games have problems then it could be your system.

The only other problems with other games I have had are mentioned above.

1) In Honzo's stage in SS1 the announcer/ref's vocals are distant and scratchy.
2) Many pre-game debug setups don't work. I have to go in through the in-game menu (hitting start + select) to change settings. (This could just be inherit to the unibios, I guess)
3) Certain screens in Crossed Swords have ever-so-slightly scratchy music.

This is all I have noticed so far...

 

[Neo Alec]

2) Many pre-game debug setups don't work. I have to go in through the in-game menu (hitting start + select) to change settings. (This could just be inherit to the unibios, I guess)

For some games most of the soft dip options won't take effect in AES mode. As for the other problems, sounds like your AES could have some issues.