Games in need of translation?

[Arjak]

I've noticed that many consoles have a thriving translation community, all except the Turbo/PCE. 

The purpose of this thread is to discuss what games you believe are in need of a translation to english.

My picks would have to be Xak I & II, and Legend of Heroes II. I have heard good things about both of these series, but only Xak III and LOH I have been translated into English. I am interested in these games, and want to be able to play!

What games would you like to see translated?

[CrackTiger]

There are actually a ton of games already translated and in the process of being translated to english.

Its my bedtime, so I can't make a list, but I'm sure someone else will.

[termis]

LOH2 sucks IMO -- not the story, but the gameplay just seriously drags on compared to LOH1. 

Just my 2 cents.

I certainly would like to see Xak I & II, since part III is done.

[Tatsujin]

the original Snatcher CD-ROMantic of course. but for sure it's a hard work

[ParanoiaDragon]

Hands down, Alien Crush needs to be translated!

Seriously, I'd love LOH2, both LOX's, both Startling Odyssey's, Star Breaker, Anearth, Neo Metal Fantasy, the Far East of Eden's, the Tenshi no Uta's, I'm sure there's more, but these come to mind first. Oh, Sorcerian, Brandish, Popful Mail!

[turbofan1]

LOH2 sucks IMO -- not the story, but the gameplay just seriously drags on compared to LOH1.

You mean LOH2 is actually worse than the first one? .Well I no that DOB and Snatcher are being worked on.I seen in another forum that Cosmic Fantasy 1 was being worked on.Does anybody no of any others?

[terrormask]

We shoulda got Altered Beast translated to English and sold for the TG-16. The game is a hard, but also a fun and addictive arcade game.

[nat]

We shoulda got Altered Beast translated to English and sold for the TG-16. The game is a hard, but also a fun and addictive arcade game.

What is there to translate?

I own the Japanese Altered Beast cart and I play it on my Turbo via a region converter. The only text in the game that isn't already in English is the title on the title screen.

Speaking of, the Turbo port is probably my favorite console port of the game.

[runinruder]

There are so many great PCE RPGs, too many to list.

So I won't list them.  Instead, I'll say Burai and Burai II.  Those are pretty much the only JRPGs I own that I haven't played through.  They're so awful, but I might be willing to endure the awfulness if I didn't also have to contend with a language barrier.   

So yes, I say Burai and Burai II should be translated.

[_Paul]

How about something easier like Momotaro Katsugeki. Would save remembering what all those menus are.

[SNKNostalgia]

Blood Gear is by far one of the best ones to do in my list.

Popful Mail shouldn't be all too hard since the Sega CD Version is done. BTW, the game has really good color and detail on the Sega CD. It somehow used 2x the colors of what most games could do on that system. It would be better just to get that version since it is translated by Working Designs already. I wonder what the later Cosmic Fantasy games are like compared to part 2.

[TurboXray]

Popful Mail shouldn't be all too hard since the Sega CD Version is done. BTW, the game has really good color and detail on the Sega CD. It somehow used 2x the colors of what most games could do on that system. It would be better just to get that version since it is translated by Working Designs already. I wonder what the later Cosmic Fantasy games are like compared to part 2.

The Sega version is a very cool port, but I really like the PCE version as well (maybe more 'cause I'm biased  ). It's cute - kinda like Legacy of the Wizard style.

Seriously, I'd love LOH2, both LOX's, both Startling Odyssey's, Star Breaker, Anearth, Neo Metal Fantasy, the Far East of Eden's, the Tenshi no Uta's, I'm sure there's more, but these come to mind first.

I've been busy cracking compression schemes and routines for PCE games. Dave and I just cracked the LZ scheme for Seiya Monogatari (compressed script). Previously I did Downtown Nekketsu (compressed font) - someone posted over at RHDN that they had started this project. An just yesterday did Gate of Thunder GFX compression scheme. Oh and Bonk's Adventure (tile compression and all sorts of game editing info  )


 Games that I know are in the works:

 Dead of the Brain
 Spriggan Mark2 (recently had a chance to do more script inserting and a new VWF text routine - yay)
 BubbleGum Crash (99.9% finished - I just need to get off my ass and format the line breaks)
 Cosmic Fantasy 1 (I added SCD upgrade for easy font hacking. Sorry CD card 2.0 only users) - Dave found parts of the script.
 Makia Shada - ( I have a 70% translated script but the translator couldn't continue as the language is old style japanese. Read: difficult )
 
Far East of Eden is being looked at (Dave). This project is *huge* and would need one dedicated translator. This is the CD 2.0 version.

 There are other games in WIP, but not much is known about them. I did some text hacking work for Cosmic Fantasy 4 chapter 1, for Animefx but I don't know the status of it. I already mentioned Downtown Nekketsu. Someone emailed me saying they were doing Snatcher for PCE and another the digital devil saga related game (can't remember the name) - but those are iffy until I see real(any) progress being made.


 I've said this before and I'll say it here; I think the PCE translation scene is sort of ignored because most PCE fans are collectors and don't care for running emulators, let alone trying to apply a patch to a CD game that they themselves have to dump (this is daunting to some people). There isn't a whole lot in the way for hucards that needs translating, though I'm surprised more hucards haven't been translated. And... there's also the fact that the debugging tools have just recently showed up on the PCE scene. David Michael who made Magicengine refused to include or make a separate build of ME with a debugger even after pleas from community members. I personally think it's because ME is nothing more than a bunch of hacks for special case emulation (like the old NES emu days) - READ: inaccurate emulation. Fine for the average gamer, but not the developer/hacker. Either way, I remember this issue irritated/pissed off NightWolve.

 Plus, there aren't many of us that know the PCE in and out, and who have experience with hacking CD games (much more difficult than rom hacking). Atleast not like the SNES or NES scene.

 I've offered help for those wanting to translate PCE CD games, even do all the ASM side of things, but no one seems to want to take on such projects. If the PCE community/fans had a louder voice in the translation scene, things would change.


....

Edit: oops - I forgot to mention Lady Sword. I did the font hack and Filler recently finished the translation. When he's done with Pia Carrot for PCFX, then he said he'd have time to work on inserting the script. Lady Swords a pretty decent game (minus the nude cinema pics at the end of completing each level). The graphics are nice (tiles and sprites) and you actually get a map to see where you are in the dungeon (take that Double Dungeons! ).

[TR0N]

Snatcher the reason i have a copy of it plus i don't own a genesis any more.

3x3 eyes fan of the manga etc even if it game isn't much.. it be nice if had a english patch any ways.

Also having a patch for any of, Tengai Makyou games wouldn't hurt either.I know those games have alot of text in them.Still if it was possible it would be nice.

Btw i was about to suggest, Emerald Dragon but i thought it was mention that some body was doing that.

[spenoza]

What about the Xanadu games? I have always wanted to play (and understand) them.

[termis]

LOH2 sucks IMO -- not the story, but the gameplay just seriously drags on compared to LOH1.

You mean LOH2 is actually worse than the first one?

I didn't think the first one was all that terrible, though I didn't think it was anything exceptional either.  But what's for sure is that the 2nd one really was a step backwards compared to the 1st one.

[SignOfZeta]

I wonder what the later Cosmic Fantasy games are like compared to part 2.

Much much much much better.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Bonknuts.  Why the 2.0 version of Ziria?  Is it easier to hack??  I have the 3.0 version, & I'd deffinitly love to see it translated.

[NecroPhile]

As others have already mentioned - translations for the Tengai Makyou series, Cosmic Fantasy series, Xak I & II, Anearth, and the Startling Odysseys would be fantastic.  I like old school Final Fantasy (and I'm a pervert), so I'd also like to see a translated Hi-Leg Fantasy.  Laplace no Ma could also use a translation patch.  The SNES version is already mostly translated, and Laplace no Ma is just too uniquely weird for me to not want to play it in English.

[spenoza]

Bonknuts, have you tried Ootake instead of Magic Engine? Ootake plays CDs and seems, to me, to be more accurate at emulating many things, especially sound. And the Ootake author makes the source available and frequently updates. Might help a lot more with translating and hacking CD games.

[TurboXray]

Bonknuts, have you tried Ootake instead of Magic Engine? Ootake plays CDs and seems, to me, to be more accurate at emulating many things, especially sound. And the Ootake author makes the source available and frequently updates. Might help a lot more with translating and hacking CD games.

Yes I have tried Ootake. It's based on the source from PC2E which was shaping up nicely (very accurate CPU core). I have a private build of PC2E with a debugger from the author (Ki), but it looks like Ootake hasn't taken this route yet. Ootake is nice because; 1) it's actively being developed (for accuracy too)  and 2) it has a GUI. Mednafen, while lacking a GUI has the best accuracy so far (only emu to have full SGX and Arcade card support for homebrew devs) and the debugger is just awesome - plus source is freely available. Also mednafen has the only publicly available debugger for PC-FX and WonderSwan color. (Manic - you kick ass!)

 Anyway, you guys should head over to the RHDN and post on the translation request thread (don't post translation requests elsewhere in the forum please).

Oh PD, because 2.0 of FEoE has uncompressed text is the main reason. Also, I have a feeling they probably packed that game solid, so finding (static) free space for new routines is a pain in the ass (only CD games have this problem) - so using the 2.0 game would speed things up and allow us or any other hacker to upgrade the game to SCD if needed.

[spenoza]

At the risk of deviating too far from the topic at hand... Are there any front-ends for Mednafen? Because, really, with dev tools what they are these days, there's kinda no excuse for not having even a rudimentary GUI.

[TurboXray]

Hehe - sounds you're a Windows or Mac user 

 I've associated all my .pce, .sgx, .cue files (and others) in windows with mednafen so all I have to do is double click or right click and "open with". Ofcourse all configurations besides the gamepads must be done in command line or editing the mednafen.cfg file.

 Mednafen is single source/cross compatible, so doing a GUI setup for all environments would be a chore let alone none of the cross GUI packages are up to snuff IMO. There are some frontends (for Mac too), but I don't remember off hand what they are. Ask in the forums over at mednafen.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Bonknuts, have you tried Ootake instead of Magic Engine? Ootake plays CDs and seems, to me, to be more accurate at emulating many things, especially sound. And the Ootake author makes the source available and frequently updates. Might help a lot more with translating and hacking CD games.

Yes I have tried Ootake. It's based on the source from PC2E which was shaping up nicely (very accurate CPU core). I have a private build of PC2E with a debugger from the author (Ki), but it looks like Ootake hasn't taken this route yet. Ootake is nice because; 1) it's actively being developed (for accuracy too)  and 2) it has a GUI. Mednafen, while lacking a GUI has the best accuracy so far (only emu to have full SGX and Arcade card support for homebrew devs) and the debugger is just awesome - plus source is freely available. Also mednafen has the only publicly available debugger for PC-FX and WonderSwan color. (Manic - you kick ass!)

 Anyway, you guys should head over to the RHDN and post on the translation request thread (don't post translation requests elsewhere in the forum please).

Oh PD, because 2.0 of FEoE has uncompressed text is the main reason. Also, I have a feeling they probably packed that game solid, so finding (static) free space for new routines is a pain in the ass (only CD games have this problem) - so using the 2.0 game would speed things up and allow us or any other hacker to upgrade the game to SCD if needed.

When you say "packed" do you mean with a bunch of dummy files, that are possibly used to make the game load faster, or something to that effect?

[NecroPhile]

At the risk of deviating too far from the topic at hand... Are there any front-ends for Mednafen? Because, really, with dev tools what they are these days, there's kinda no excuse for not having even a rudimentary GUI.

Try Let's Mednafen.  It's pretty basic, but it gets the job done.

[Kaminari]

Mednafen is clearly an emulator for developers. Its accuracy concerns the inner workings of the system, which is fine for hackers. But the way it renders audio and video is far from being accurate from a gamer's point of view. I wouldn't say Mednafen nor HuGo are "accurate" in that respect. ME and Ootake are simply trying to achieve different goals. (Just trying to put things in perspective here. Mednafen is still a decent emu in my eye.)

[spenoza]

Bonknuts, I am both, and more. AIX is a bitch, in case anyone cares.

My main complaint is that I tend to play emulated games in short fits and starts and I tend to try things just to try them. Command line interface is a little less useful for that. Also, Windows reports gamepad buttons often differently from the way the pads are labeled, making a non-interactive key assignment arrangement a PITA.

Lets Mednafen is OK, but not quite there yet. Thanks for the info everyone.

[TurboXray]

Kaminari, I recognize ME offers a lot in the way of easy setup, interface, and just playing games. I bought way back when and loved it. It's great for all existing games. The probably I have is that all the timing sensitive tests I've run for the real system VS emus, ME is pretty off (cpu and video). So basically my concern is if I develop for PCE, do I need to take into account for ME as well? Since ME is the most popular emu among PCE fans. I already have a large development project which doesn't load in ME (Ootake either last time I checked). Though my target system is the real PCE hardware, emus (ME,Ootake,Mednafen) are a very close second for obvious reasons. It's frustrating.


 Sorry for derailing.