>> COPYING SEGA CD
GAMES
It's ridiculously easy to copy Sega
CD games. The CD copy feature of any burning software can easily
create a working copy (I recommend
Nero Burning Rom, Easy CD Creator, or FireBurner).
Beforehand you should first make sure your computer can successfully emulate Sega CD games via
Gens. If Gens can successfully play Sega CD games, then your burning software can successfully read the games for its CD copy feature.
And you should burn the copy at a slow speed, like around 4x-12x. This'll
increase the probability of a successful copy.
>> COPYING TURBOGRAFX16-CD
GAMES
You may or may not have a hard time copying TG16-CD
games. They're put together in a non-standard way, resulting in many CD-ROM
drives having trouble reading and copying them.
Attempt #1: Beforehand make sure your computer can play TG16-CD games
via MagicEngine. Then try to copy the game(s) with the CD copy of your
favorite burning software. Burn at a slow speed (4x-12x). If it doesn't work
and/or the copy comes out defective...
Attempt #2: Try to copy them with
Nero Burning Rom (if
you haven't in attempt #1). Burn at a slow speed (4x-12x). Nero Burning Rom
is considered by many to be the best burning software Windows has to offer,
and it works for me when copying TG16-CD games. If it doesn't work and/or
the copy comes out defective...
Attempt #3: In this case, use Nightwolve's TurboRip. It's a command line driven program. Nightwolve is renowned for his excellent utilities and translations for the Turbo Duo. If his TurboRip can't rip your game, nothing can.
>> BURNING SEGA CD & TG16-CD GAMES FROM
ISO/MP3
If an ISO/MP3 archive you downloaded comes with a CUE file, then you have the option of burning the game as a valid CD game for play with emulators or the real thing. ISO/MP3 archives come with an ISO file and a bunch of MP3s.
*If the ISO/MP3 archive you downloaded does not include a CUE file, you can use
Sega CUE Maker to generate one.
I. Convert MP3s to WAV
First you need to convert the MP3s to WAV. You can do so quickly and efficiently with an awesome free program known as WinLAME; you can download WinLAME
here (1.5 MB). Here are directions to convert MP3s to WAV with WinLAME:
1. Open WinLAME. Click on the  button, look for the folder where the MP3s are, select them all, then click on Open. You should see the MP3s you selected listed on the white box. Click Next to go to the next screen.
2. You'll arrive at the "Output Settings" screen. Under "Output Module", choose Wave Output, as shown here. Click Next to go to the next screen.
3. You'll arrive at the "Presets" screen. The default is fine, just click Next to go to the next screen.
4. You'll arrive at the "Encoding" screen. Click  to begin the converting.
II. The CUE File
With the MP3s of your ISO/MP3 archive all converted to WAV, you're now ready to burn it as a valid Sega CD/TG16-CD game. To do so, you'll be needing that CUE file I talked about. Without the CUE file you cannot properly burn the game. What's a CUE file? The CUE file is a set of directions that tells the burning software how to properly burn the CD game's ISOs and audio tracks. There's one important thing you need to check for with the CUE file. Open it up in notepad and check if the files listed have an MP3 or WAV file extension.
• If they have an MP3 file extension then you need to change all of them to WAV.
• If they're already with WAV then do nothing.
III. Burning with the CUE file
Burning a CUE file is tad different than regular burns. Instead of going to "Burn data CD" as you normally would, you need to use the "Burn Image" option. Most mainstream burning software has such a feature. Software like Nero Burning Rom, Easy CD Creator, FireBurner. If you're too poor (like me) for the good burning software, there's Imgburn, a 100% free burning program; you can download Imgburn here (2 MB). So to burn the game with these programs:
• Burning with Imgburn: Click "Write image file to disk", then click the magnifying glass to select the cue sheet. Lower write speed to around 4x-12x. Then click the large pretty picture of the CD to burn.
• Burning with Nero Burning Rom: Go to the Recorder menu then Burn Image (but first make sure you're in normal mode instead of Express mode). If you're given the option to burn the game as "Track-at-once" or "Disc-at-once", choose "Disc-at-once". Make sure to burn the game at a slow speed (like around 4x-12x speed).
>> MAC USERS
I've been told the CD copy feature
of Toast can easily copy Sega CD and TG16-CD games on a Mac. As with copying on Windows, I still recommend burning at a slower speed, like around 4x-12x. Since Mac does not yet have emulators for Sega CD/TG16-CD you would need to own the actual systems to test your copies, or you can jump into Windows if you have Virtual PC. Although with Virtual PC you would probably need a G4 or above to run the emulators at a desirable speed. |
