Dreamcast memory card wont work right?

[kyle]

Ok so the dreamcast memory cards i picked up used at eb games dont seem to be working right?? I'll save my game to them or atleast try to and when i go back to play there will be no saved game data? It will save settings but not actual gameplay. Like TNN Hardcore Heat i'll save my game after a race and go back to to start were i was in championship mode and there will be no previously saved game data?? Is it the batteries in the two memory cards i have?? Or something wrong with the dreamcast it self??

Edited March 17, 2006 by kyle

[JB]

It sounds like the game to me.

It's saving settings, which means it IS saving. The game just isn't creating a game save for whatever reason.

...

Maybe there's not enough space? You're rather light on details, so I can't guess at what(if any) errors you're getting.

 

 

And Dreamcast memory cards(at least, Sega-brand ones) don't need the batteries for saving. They use flash RAM, and the battery only powers the computer inside it. When they die you can't use the clock, inter-VMU trade, or "game machine" functionality, but they continue to work as a memory card.

[kyle]

It wont save any games??? I dont really know what else to say. I'll get done playing something like daytona usa and save it. I'll go back the next day and try to load the saved file so i can start over from the point i saved from and NOTHING. The game reads no game files from the card. If i save settings they load and save just fine but not gameplay.

[kyle]

And yes there is file space.

[JB]

If it's saving settings, the memory card is working fine. It's not really possible to have a failure that only allows SOME types of files to be written, because they're all just files from the memcard's point of view.

 

Either you're assuming a game save function where none exists or it's some form of user error.

I don't have either of the game's you've named, so I don't know the specifics of their save systems.

[Artlover]

Does the VMU format and setup ok under the DC's dash? Have you tried copying a save from another VMU to it?

[kyle]

Nevermind i'm a F'N idiot and thats all i'll say about that .

[JB]

Nevermind i'm a F'N idiot and thats all i'll say about that .

So it's working now? Congratulations.

 

*attempts to pry an explanation out*

[kyle]

Yeah its working. I was just trying to save two racing games on the card. And on these two games TNN Hardcore Heat and Daytona USA you can't save after each race you have to finish a level of competetion such as normal then you can save and move on to hard. I was trying to save after each race. Like say i would run one race then try to save it and start over on the next race a few hours later.

[JB]

Ah.

Understandable mistake.

[SteveW]

I think the real question is: why are you playing TNN Hardcore Heat in the first place? Yuck! I picked that one up early on in the DC's life, and I felt a little cheated. I eventually picked up Hydro Thunder, and never played TNN Hardcore Heat ever again.

[kyle]

I dunno i like TNN?? It's not a bad raceing game. I mean there are better ones on the dreamcast but it's a pretty fun game.

[Ze_ro]

Since we're on the topic, I should point out that there ARE compatibility issues between some games and some third-party memory cards. Back in the days, I bought a Nexus Massive Memory Card Plus, and Wild Metal was never able to save to it properly... a number of homebrew games and emulators also had trouble with it. Wild Metal played nice with a real VMU though. That's the only game I remember ever giving me any problems though. Luckily, when it did fail, it gave me a nice error message letting me know that it didn't save properly, and giving me a chance to try again with a different card.

 

--Zero

[JB]

Ah yeah...

Some software requires the full VMU, and won't play well with just FlashRAM.