The state of Saturn ripping?

[Barack Obama]

Collected every info in this post while I was browsing:

Yabause (regular version)

Source code, no .exe file here:
https://github.com/Yabause/yabause/

Latest version is v.0.9.14 from Nov. 2014:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/yabause/files/yabause/

Latest version is v.0.9.15 from Aug. 2016, but the download link ist dead:
http://yabause.org/download/

Working download for v.0.9.15
https://yabause.en.uptodown.com/windows/download

Setup

Spoiler

Yabause 0.9.15 Emulator Setup:

Panzer Dragoon Saga Emulation Notes:

With the Kronos core and Yabause, there is only a small graphical texture glitch at the beginning of the game on the underside of the Excavation site and a minor graphical texture issue in the void of Sestren at the end of the game. There may also be some slight sound issues in the Garil Desert. Otherwise the emulation of Yabause and Kronos is great. I had one issue where the sound got very loud so I un-selected "Enable higher quality sound", found in settings/sound options and that fixed the issue. And make sure SDL Sound Interface is selected.

Note: This emulator can also upscale and smooth out the graphics

Main Site: https://yabause.en.uptodown.com/windows

Go to settings and General:
First, select a folder for your Saturn BIOS. You will have to find them online. Do a search in Google for “Sega Saturn BIOS v1.00a (1995)(Sega)(US)(M6)” . These are the ones I used. Put them in the same folder as the Yaubause 0.9.15 installation folder. Next, CD-Rom should be set to *ISO-File Virtual Drive* . uncheck *Enable Built in HLE Bios* . Translation option should be set to *use system locale* . Lastly, make sure *Enable Frame Limiter* is checked. If not, the framerate will be way too high. And check off *Enable Multithreading* .

Next, go to Video:
Select *OpenGL* as the video interface. Select *Bilinear Filtering* . Also, for OSD Core use *Software OSD Interface* . Fullscreen Resolution should be 1920X1080. Also set *Integer Pixel Scaling* to 4. Apparently Bilinear Filtering will smooth out the graphics.

Next, go to Sound:
The best option here is *SDL Sound Interface* . You may experience slight sound issues in the Garil Desert, so if the sound gets louder than normal try un-selecting 'Enable higher quality sound', that fixed the issue for me.

Next, go to Input:
I was able to get the L and R buttons mapped with the pad option only. The 3D control pad option would not map the L and R buttons. Select the controller for *Pad* . You’ll have to map the movement to the d-pad because for some reason Yabause has issues with controller input settings. But the pad option will ensure you at least have all of your buttons mapped, just without analog movement. And the L and R have to be mapped to the top L and R buttons, doesn’t map to any back triggers of a 360 controller for some reason… But ironically for some odd reason the 3D controller option works with NiGHTS into Dreams just fine though, just without L button input, but you don't need L and R for that game anyways.

Retrobit Saturn PC 3D Controller Setup:
You can also use the new Retro-bit Analog PC Saturn Controller. If you press start and B held down on the controller you switch between D-input and X-input. Make sure the controller has 2 lights indicated. The pad option with (Dpad only) works perfectly. But like with all the other controllers the 3D control pad option lets you use analog but still won't let you map the L and R buttons. NiGHTS into Dreams works perfectly except for L and R camera controlls when walking around with the kids.

Lastly, go to View:
Select hide on fullscreen. This will keep the top menu invisible when you go into fullscreen. You can go into fullscreen by going to the top menu, view, and select fullscreen. Once in fullscreen you can exit by pressing the command alt+Enter on your keyboard.
To load a game/ISO go to file and Open ISO. You will need to open a .cue file of the game you want to play. You also need to make sure that the .cue file has its other .bin file to go along with it, or the game won't load. And to save go to file, save state, or load state.

https://pdsoasis.github.io/emulation6.html

Yabause-RR (speedrunner / sprite rip version)

0.9.9 seems to be build 2363, while 0.9.10 should be build 2541, both can be found here:
https://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/Yabause

0.9.10 is also mentioned here and seems to be around since at least July 2015, since this was the last date when the info page was edited:
https://tasvideos.org/EmulatorResources/Yabause/YMV

The one from Zophar which I've downloaded is build 2363, aka the older version:
https://www.zophar.net/saturn/yabuse-rr.html

Tutorial on sprite database was made with build 2541:
https://spritedatabase.net/tutorial/saturn

The master file for Yabause-RR on github is even older than the latest version of the regular Yabause, from 2009:
https://github.com/adelikat/yabause-rr/tree/master

Libretro - Yabause (Core)

Can't see anything about pause and frame advance:
https://docs.libretro.com/library/yabause/#

Others (Kronos / Beetle Saturn Core in Retroarch / Mednafen + Frontend Mednaffe)

Kronos Emulator v.2.7.0
https://segaretro.org/Kronos

Reddit debate - which Saturn emulator is best:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SegaSaturn/comm..._emulator/

Beetle Saturn (Libretro):
https://docs.libretro.com/library/beetle_saturn/

Mednaffe v.0.9.3, a Frontend (GUI) for the emulator Mednafen:
https://github.com/AmatCoder/mednaffe
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If Yabause RR v.0.9.10 / build 2541 don't work for you, maybe try another emulator like Kronos or Mednafen (tried Mednafen for Princess Minerva on TurboGrafX, my experience was positive so far).
Or try the GLIntercept method for Yabause-RR from the sprite database tutorial (it's right below the regular tutorial).
Years ago GLIntercept worked fine for me in terms of background ripping when I was doing stuff from PSP, for sprites not so much but I guess that depends on game and system you're ripping from (others were able to rip sprites with it, but for other games than mine).