http://www.romhacking.net/
Seriously? A flurry of Nintendo related translations on the front page? Why can't these guys leave the NES/SNES/pokemon alone once and for all and start translating more PCE stuff? Hell, there are a good portion of PCE games that have a lot of the text already translated and should be simple to finish up considering if you know NES then you got 80% of PCE figured out.... Thoughts?
I'm just thankful for all of the PCE translations thst have been done. Separate from that, the more 8 & 16-bit translations, the better. Especially now that easy to use flash carts are available for everything.
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2013, 02:40 PMI'm just thankful for all of the PCE translations thst have been done. Separate from that, the more 8 & 16-bit translations, the better. Especially now that easy to use flash carts are available for everything.
As am I, but you would think by now all the good games for the snes and nes are already fan translated and good to go. Seriously, do we need another Pokemon game? Its like beating a dead horse! There are so many great PCE rpgs that deserve to be in English and the fact that we see a huge concentration on only NES and SNES stuff is absurd. The tired argument that those systems are popular is moot. Some games you can even lift the text out of their counterparts like what was done for Dracula X...
How's system popularity a moot point? I'd wager there's 10x as many NES/SNES fans that'll actually play through those translated games than there are PCE fans here that would do the same.
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2013, 04:40 PMHow's system popularity a moot point? I'd wager there's 10x as many NES/SNES fans that'll actually play through those translated games than there are PCE fans here that would do the same.
This makes swimby sad :(
but also happy he doesn't have to deal with nintendo fanboys!
Quote from: guest on 04/19/2013, 04:40 PMHow's system popularity a moot point? I'd wager there's 10x as many NES/SNES fans that'll actually play through those translated games than there are PCE fans here that would do the same.
But if there were more fan translated pce games wouldn't that bring more people to the system? Especially when people see that pce games are just as good as (if not better) than snes games? Look at the Sega Genesis, there is quite literally less than 35 fan translated games for it and it was just as popular here in the U.S as the SNES was.
I snagged the Pokemon Ultra Violet rom hack. I've always been a fan of the series and it looks like the first rom hack worth my time. If only there was a GBA emulator that would work on my DS flash card...
Quote from: NecroPhile on 04/19/2013, 04:40 PMHow's system popularity a moot point? I'd wager there's 10x as many NES/SNES fans that'll actually play through those translated games than there are PCE fans here that would do the same.
Not to mention, the system's popularity also affects:
* The number and quality of tools available to make a translation (trace loggers - Mednafen is the only emulator with one for PCE, afaik)
* The number of people interested in making translation hacks
* The amount of knowledge about common text compression techniques and etc.
I'm not saying translations for PCE are impossible (clearly, some exist), but the bar for entry seems magnitudes higher. I considered making a Dungeon Explorer or DE II map editor, but was quickly overwhelmed by the lack of tools that exist on other platforms.
I've made a rudimentary editor for a Genesis game, Shining in the Darkness. Given the quality of Gens trace logger, frame step, and save states, it wasn't too difficult to find the pieces needed.
Mednafen supports what you just mentioned for Gens.
Quote from: Psycho Arkhan on 04/22/2013, 02:32 PMMednafen supports what you just mentioned for Gens.
Yes it does. However, the total lack of a gui makes it rather difficult to use. It isn't just having the tools, it is the quality of them too. Also, separate ram search and ram watch windows is also very helpful.
I agree there needs to be more PCE translation activity. I actually lent my voice to a translation of The Legend of Xanadu II. Haven't heard back from the guy in over a year since, though I think he sent us all a preliminary build with just our voice work in it.
Quote from: BigusSchmuck on 04/19/2013, 10:07 AMhttp://www.romhacking.net/
Why can't these guys leave the NES/SNES/pokemon alone once and for all and start translating more PCE stuff?
Branching off to other platforms away from Nintendo always seemed rather slow for them. I dunno if you remember a guy called D-BOY or Derrick, a translator who ran this jumpstation translation site way back, also friends with this Byuu (the "owns EVERY SNES game" guy). But anyway, I've been friends with him on and off and I remembered him once talking about Nightcrawler's (
who runs it now) apparent SNES-only mentality over AIM:
Quote from: Fri Dec 19 2008Derrick: Anyway, he has this complex that RHDN has only made worse
Derrick: He has started to "speak for the scene" and thinks he can define what it can and cannot do
Derrick: or what it should do
Sephiroth: Yeah, RHDN, you mean.
Derrick: He constantly discourages people from working on anything but SNES
Sephiroth: Really?
Derrick: because that's the only area he can pretend to be an expert
Derrick: Yes
Sephiroth: Pfftt.
Derrick: Every time a new guy pops up with a project, he declares it will be too hard too finish
Derrick: unless it's SNES
Derrick: Oh trust me
Derrick: They will translate EVERY LAST SNES GAME
Derrick: EVERY FUCKING ONE
Derrick: Byuu and I used to joke
Sephiroth: I can't believe that.
Derrick: one day the scene would run out of games to translate and would turn to Bazoo
Derrick: Bazoo is one of the worst RPGs ever
I dunno how much his opinion holds true exactly today or even then, but yeah, there's always been a super fanboy bias in favor of tackling SNES games. If you think after they finish with SNES that PCE would be next, I'd say that's wishful thinking. I'd wager Playstation and/or PC, etc. games would be the next route. I dunno, but I definitely doubt you'd ever see a surge in the tackling of PCE games.
Dude, your records and sleuthing skills terrify me. :)
Eh, one thing triggers a vague memory then I try looking it up, etc. I have terrible short-term memory generally, but some things stick. I've always kept my AIM/MSN logs with people and chatroom logs cause there's always plenty of history, interesting chats, useful info or links, etc. in there that would otherwise be lost in the sands of time. ;)
I suppose this means someone's gotta show them up, releasing tons of PCE translations at once. Man, I really wish that one guy doing Xanadu II didn't disappear off the face of the earth. Having been somewhat involved with it, I can say, based on the lengths they were going, this would blow most SNES translation jobs out of the water. I mean, name another fan translation which actually did the voices too.
(Ok, there was Tales of Phantasia, but the seperate voice patch on that suuuucked.)
Quote from: NightWolve on 05/02/2013, 08:42 PMQuote from: BigusSchmuck on 04/19/2013, 10:07 AMhttp://www.romhacking.net/
Why can't these guys leave the NES/SNES/pokemon alone once and for all and start translating more PCE stuff?
Branching off to other platforms away from Nintendo always seemed rather slow for them. I dunno if you remember a guy called D-BOY or Derrick, a translator who ran this jumpstation translation site way back, also friends with this Byuu (the "owns EVERY SNES game" guy). But anyway, I've been friends with him on and off and I remembered him once talking about Nightcrawler's (who runs it now) apparent SNES-only mentality over AIM:
Quote from: Fri Dec 19 2008Derrick: Anyway, he has this complex that RHDN has only made worse
Derrick: He has started to "speak for the scene" and thinks he can define what it can and cannot do
Derrick: or what it should do
Sephiroth: Yeah, RHDN, you mean.
Derrick: He constantly discourages people from working on anything but SNES
Sephiroth: Really?
Derrick: because that's the only area he can pretend to be an expert
Derrick: Yes
Sephiroth: Pfftt.
Derrick: Every time a new guy pops up with a project, he declares it will be too hard too finish
Derrick: unless it's SNES
Derrick: Oh trust me
Derrick: They will translate EVERY LAST SNES GAME
Derrick: EVERY FUCKING ONE
Derrick: Byuu and I used to joke
Sephiroth: I can't believe that.
Derrick: one day the scene would run out of games to translate and would turn to Bazoo
Derrick: Bazoo is one of the worst RPGs ever
I dunno how much his opinion holds true exactly today or even then, but yeah, there's always been a super fanboy bias in favor of tackling SNES games. If you think after they finish with SNES that PCE would be next, I'd say that's wishful thinking. I'd wager Playstation and/or PC, etc. games would be the next route. I dunno, but I definitely doubt you'd ever see a surge in the tackling of PCE games.
I guess that explains why we don't see any work in progress on PCE stuff. Or my favorite, lets retranslate something that was already released in English because the official translation sucked or was censored! Right, moving along..
Quote from: SmaMan on 05/02/2013, 09:30 PM... name another fan translation which actually did the voices too.
Ys IV!
Quote from: guest on 05/03/2013, 10:01 AMQuote from: SmaMan on 05/02/2013, 09:30 PM... name another fan translation which actually did the voices too.
Ys IV!
And a damn good job these guys did with it too!
Quote from: SmaMan on 05/02/2013, 09:30 PMMan, I really wish that one guy doing Xanadu II didn't disappear off the face of the earth. Having been somewhat involved with it, I can say, based on the lengths they were going, this would blow most SNES translation jobs out of the water. I mean, name another fan translation which actually did the voices too.
(Ok, there was Tales of Phantasia, but the seperate voice patch on that suuuucked.)
Well, you're talking about EsperKnight, who basically IS the PCE/NEC translation "scene" along with SamIAm, his translator. Tomatheous/Bonknuts is another talented programmer that helped with the Dracula X project (
not like we really needed it, though, but it's nice) and he worked on some shooter I recall (
he's good with font hacks), but he's better known for these NES-to-NEC ports like Megaman (
very cool, but again, not like it's really needed).
I guess in the end, all I really ever did myself was 2 CD RPG games, Xak III and Ys IV before moving on to Windows PC games (
mainly the Ys series). I didn't wanna stay retro really and other CD games that were worth the time had text compression all over the place, so with limited tools and knowledge, I wasn't good enough (
with the MS Windows PC platform, you got tools up the wazoo, so games like Ys I&II Complete, I hacked entirely by myself!). I did somewhat inspire David Shadoff a bit who did the "Motekke Tamago" translation (a free game you can download here (https://www.ysutopia.net/projects/mt/)). He was trying to do something more worthwhile like Cosmic Fantasy 1, but that project has long since stalled.
Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that EsperKnight and SamIAm are still alive and kicking. After we were talking about Anearth Fantasy Stories, Esper showed up, took a look at the game, figured out the compression scheme and eventually decided to add it to his project list. Here's the thread:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=14331.0
Legend of Xanadu II is still active BTW, there's a thread for that somewhere here too!
Quote from: BigusSchmuck on 05/03/2013, 09:50 AMOr my favorite, lets retranslate something that was already released in English because the official translation sucked or was censored! Right, moving along..
Yeah, to be honest, when I really cared about fan-translations years ago, I REALLY hated that concept and found it a waste of resources! That knowledge and time could've been put to use to translate something we never got localized AT ALL, but instead, it seemed like you had know-it-all brats that felt they could do a better job than professionals, or yeah, they discovered something got unnecessarily (in their view) censored here or there and so they were gonna save us from it!!! I heard about FFIV getting retranslated and it's like, I'm not gonna play your fan-translation, dude! I enjoyed the original many times over, I don't care! FFV on the other hand was the first SNES fan-translation that I beat, because yeah, it was never brought over to the US at the time. That was a project that made sense!
Anyway, people are gonna do with their time what they choose, and it just so happens to be the case that some will find enjoyment in that. So be it. Maybe there are some terribly translated games where it could be genuinely justifiable, but I myself never saw too much value in it. Each to his/her own.
QuoteWell, you're talking about EsperKnight, who basically IS the PCE/NEC translation "scene" along with SamIAm, his translator. Tomatheous/Bonknuts is another talented programmer that helped with the Dracula X project (not like we really needed it, though, but it's nice) and he worked on some shooter I recall (he's good with font hacks), but he's better known for these NES-to-NEC ports like Megaman (very cool, but again, not like it's really needed).
Tomaitheous also worked on the translations of Bubblegun Crash and Lady Sword (
and others not yet completed or released).
Quote from: NightWolve on 05/03/2013, 06:33 PMQuote from: SmaMan on 05/02/2013, 09:30 PMMan, I really wish that one guy doing Xanadu II didn't disappear off the face of the earth. Having been somewhat involved with it, I can say, based on the lengths they were going, this would blow most SNES translation jobs out of the water. I mean, name another fan translation which actually did the voices too.
(Ok, there was Tales of Phantasia, but the seperate voice patch on that suuuucked.)
Well, you're talking about EsperKnight, who basically IS the PCE/NEC translation "scene" along with SamIAm, his translator. Tomatheous/Bonknuts is another talented programmer that helped with the Dracula X project (not like we really needed it, though, but it's nice) and he worked on some shooter I recall (he's good with font hacks), but he's better known for these NES-to-NEC ports like Megaman (very cool, but again, not like it's really needed).
...
Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that EsperKnight and SamIAm are still alive and kicking. After we were talking about Anearth Fantasy Stories, Esper showed up, took a look at the game, figured out the compression scheme and eventually decided to add it to his project list. Here's the thread:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=14331.0
...
Legend of Xanadu II is still active BTW, there's a thread for that somewhere here too!
Wow! Thanks! I had a feeling I might eventually run into him here.
Quote from: SmaMan on 05/04/2013, 12:23 AMWow! Thanks! I had a feeling I might eventually run into him here.
Yeah, he was around for a bit to talk about Anearth, but that was about it. SamIAm is a regular here though.
Actually, I realized I have one more CD RPG translation project under my belt, but the thing is I kind of just handed it off to Tru for management/completion and didn't ever expect much to happen. He always wanted to do a translation project and I essentially gave him "Startling Odyssey II" because I didn't think it was worth doing until it got a font hack first and I doubted that that would ever happen. Still hasn't but EsperKnight has offered to eventually do it. Here's a video on what text looks like right now with the crappy 16x16 font from the System Card:
http://youtu.be/Ux0Spxe_rUc#t=6m00
But anyhow, I did the step 1 labor for him and handed it off; it was a similar job to Xak III. I extracted the script out of data track 2 into a custom database/application that I developed over the years called Translation Station. I also extracted the pointer blocks for each text block so that you could pack strings together as closely as possible, allowing you to grow a string's length. As long as you don't exceed the whole text block's size, you could get most of a decent English translation to fit. Depends though. Sounds like he had cases where he had to trim from his comments.
Here's what the software looks like:
https://www.ysutopia.net/special/MSAccessTransStation.jpg
At that point in 2003, I had translated most of the spells, items, equipment, etc. which covered about 20% of the strings (There were 7,797 total). That was Katakana which is usually easy to translate when it's one or two words with machine translation software. The rest was obviously dialogue and Tru managed to translate that with whatever he used. My software also has a batch job screen to let you easily insert the text back into the data track, update the pointers/pointer blocks, etc. Besides the extraction labor and my software, I showed him how to make a PPF patch file afterwards, etc. He never had to bother me again and I didn't wanna be. I mainly felt the project needed a talented hacker like Bonknuts/Esper to do a proper font hack first, otherwise it probably wasn't something many would be interested in playing...
Anyway, I don't think I like the way he's crediting me for my work TBH... He says like, "
Thanks to NightWolve for showing this was possible!" I'll have to check the ReadMe actually for specifics (looks like I can't find a working download link). I see that shit a lot, you work with somebody on a project and then they downplay your role when it comes to history/info whether unintentionally or not if they're mainly leading the project. If you give free labor to someone, they damn well better at least properly credit you for it!! I've had worse of course with DeuceBag downright cheating me entirely when it came to XSEED, but that's a long rant for another time...
Just noticed this thread... does anyone here know japanese and have some free time/want to work on a small translation project, or a few? I've been poking around some pce roms recently just for fun. Seems pretty straightforward for a lot of the hucards I looked at, and I successfully dumped and inserted some text in a couple of them as a test. My recent downtime is now finished, but there's always nights and weekends!
Mednafen is an excellent tool... I don't know why it gets so much hate from some folks! You only need to learn a few shortcuts for it to become quite powerful. Even if it had some flashy gui with newfangled buttons and such, you would still have to, you know, learn what the fuck you're doing. pushing a few key-combinations is actually more convenient, in my opinion, than moving a mouse cursor all over the place to navigate through some lame menus and windows
Quote from: cabbage on 05/11/2013, 02:23 AMJust noticed this thread... does anyone here know japanese and have some free time/want to work on a small translation project, or a few? I've been poking around some pce roms recently just for fun. Seems pretty straightforward for a lot of the hucards I looked at, and I successfully dumped and inserted some text in a couple of them as a test. My recent downtime is now finished, but there's always nights and weekends!
Mednafen is an excellent tool... I don't know why it gets so much hate from some folks! You only need to learn a few shortcuts for it to become quite powerful. Even if it had some flashy gui with newfangled buttons and such, you would still have to, you know, learn what the fuck you're doing. pushing a few key-combinations is actually more convenient, in my opinion, than moving a mouse cursor all over the place to navigate through some lame menus and windows
If you read through my thread: https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=14497.0
There is a good portion of pce games that have a lot of english in them already. I wish I could help you translate, but my knowledge of the Japaense language consists of random phrases from watching too much anime....