Legend of Xanadu II Translation Patch announced!

Arm · 04/24/2011, 07:04 AM

The posted image by bt is at 600 dpi. But if you zoom in photoshop at 200%, the image is pixellated, so I guess the image original resolution is around 150 dpi. (like the 1st pdf I posted.) Or the size of the picture has been reduced after being scanned.

CrackTiger · 04/24/2011, 06:46 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 04/23/2011, 02:25 AMHey, that looks really good. I like your choice of font, and the overall result looks quite natural.

There are a couple of typos:
Heralders should probably be capitalized.

That is actually how the capital "H" appears in that font.

Quote from: esteban on 04/24/2011, 01:44 AM
Quote from: CrackTiger on 04/23/2011, 04:20 PM
Quote from: esteban on 04/23/2011, 02:59 PMIf B_T is busy, I can also replace your translated text into the original Japanese manual if you need someone to do it.

The manual will be finished and look damn fine, one way or another.
esteban would probably do the best job, but I can help with any kind of touch ups that might prove challenging (like the lined art background that I started).
Your sample page was gorgeous!

I don't want to step on your toes, but I will gladly help you/assist if you are busy.

Also: Your source material appears to be of higher quality than the .pdf from Arm. Did you use Arm's scans? Or did you scan the page yourself?

I can't download from megaupload or whatever since I'm on cable. I scanned my own manual at 600dpi. I figured that it would be no big deal scanning it as-is without removing the staples, but it was a lot of work blending out the fold shadow/highlights. I suggest that anyone doing anything like this save themselves the trouble and just scan each piece of manual separately.

Also, 600dpi wasn't really big enough for the kind of detail in this particular picture. The rest of the manual looks extremely straightforward though. I still think the higher the res, the better.

This is as much work as I'd like to put into this, I do think that it is good enough though:

Full image

Preview pic

BTW, I forgot to switch it to grayscale.

I figured that you're the best person around here when it comes to design and have done some nice photoshopping in the past, plus it sounded like SamIAm wanted to get this done asap.

I was just inspired the other day to take a shot at that one tricky picture, since I wanted it to turn out good (even though I gave up on hitting the target I'd set out for myself

).

Why don't you go ahead and finish it off and just let me know if you'd like help with anything.

esteban · 04/24/2011, 11:30 PM

I hear you, B_T

I'm glad you were inspired to work on pages 4 & 5 because they're great, even if you didn't reach your goal.

Anyway, I knew I wasn't going crazy--your preview image was so goddamn nice, I knew you must have had better source material to work with.

Thanks for the .psd file... I won't let you down.

REQUEST #1 (for B_T): do you have the version before you flattened the layers? I would love the text layers (editable), if you (hopefully) still have that .psd

REQUEST #2 (for anyone and everyone!): Can you scan the LoX II manual at 300+ dpi and provide me with LOSSLESS files (or, at least .jpg/.png save at maximum quality)?

Arm, can you do this? It would be awesome if you could

If you still have the .tiff files, Arm, I'll take them.

Arm · 04/25/2011, 04:44 AM

Hi,

I've already scanned the full manual at 300 dpi and sent as a pdf, but I don't have the files anymore.
If you want, you can uncompress the file and save the pages as bmp or photoshop files.
Sorry, I won't rescan a 3rd time at more than 300 dpi (I don't have time now )

I don't think it's necessary for a BW manual like this and the files size would be really huge. Having done graphic works before, 600 dpi is good for magazine prints or really hires artworks but but I think it's unnecessary for a BW manual like this one.
At 300 dpi, you can already zoom 2/3 times the images without problem.

Maybe someone else can provide the images at 600 dpi.

SamIAm · 04/25/2011, 08:19 AM

esteban, I just emailed all the text to the address in your profile.

The latest scan from Arm seems like it's good enough quality to allow people to enjoy the manual as much as possible. If anyone wants to make a better scan, that's certainly fine; I won't complain either way.

I'm not in a terrible hurry to get this done, so don't lose sleep over it or anything. On the other hand, I like moving quickly with these things, and it would be nice to have this early to pass around as a kind of teaser for the finished patch.

Thanks, guys!

esteban · 04/25/2011, 11:55 AM

Quote from: Arm on 04/25/2011, 04:44 AMHi,

I've already scanned the full manual at 300 dpi and sent as a pdf, but I don't have the files anymore.
If you want, you can uncompress the file and save the pages as bmp or photoshop files.
Sorry, I won't rescan a 3rd time at more than 300 dpi (I don't have time now ) I don't think it's necessary for a BW manual like this and the files size would be really huge. Having done graphic works before, 600 dpi is good for magazine prints or really hires artworks but but I think it's unnecessary for a BW manual like this one.
At 300 dpi, you can already zoom 2/3 times the images without problem. Maybe someone else can provide the images at 600 dpi.

Hey Arm, I didn't want to come across as ungrateful, it's just B_T and I are very similar in our workflow...

...you see, B_T and I have a history of putting out Large Print FAQs and Large Print Manuals that we'll still be able to use when we are curmudgeons with cataracts (hey, it's going to happen sooner than we'd like to admit).

Seriously, though, I always try to obtain the best-quality source material before I dive into a project.

Since I'm going to work on this today, I'll gladly use your scans

Quote from: SamIAm on 04/25/2011, 08:19 AMesteban, I just emailed all the text to the address in your profile.

Thanks. I'll work on this today.

Arm · 04/25/2011, 12:06 PM

No problem. I'm sure you'll do a great job for the manual

esteban · 04/25/2011, 11:59 PM

For those who are curious (open images in separate tabs to make comparisons):

Original: https://reference.tg-16.com/LoX/preview_0.jpg

Work in Progress: https://reference.tg-16.com/LoX/preview_1.jpg

roflmao · 04/26/2011, 12:44 AM

Lookin' good!

SamIAm · 04/28/2011, 02:23 AM

Got another big chunk of the script dumped! We now have about 75%, I reckon. I'll get this new stuff translated in just a few days. Hopefully, there aren't too many more "keys" to crack in order to find the rest of the script.

M1Savage · 04/28/2011, 08:45 AM

My thoughts when I saw this post -

Thanks for the continued work on the patch guys. Heck, I'm just thrilled to be getting a translated manual!

CrackTiger · 04/28/2011, 01:02 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 04/28/2011, 02:23 AMGot another big chunk of the script dumped! We now have about 75%, I reckon. I'll get this new stuff translated in just a few days. Hopefully, there aren't too many more "keys" to crack in order to find the rest of the script.

Thanks for the updates. It really means a lot to the community having an idea of how these kinds of projects are progressing.

SamIAm · 04/28/2011, 01:30 PM

I'm more than happy to post them.

Here's something funny from the latest dump. Apparently, they left some text from the promo CD in the final version. Forgive all the control codes; that's just how the script looks.

<$12><Name>
//<$9eb7>
<$17><$14>
What the...?<$20> It looks like we're stuck.<PAUSE>

//<$a584>
<$17><$14>
Lord Arios, this is only the <$1a>Trial Version<$1f>.<NL>
I'm afraid we can't go beyond the prologue.<PAUSE>

//<$9eb7>
<$17><$14>
Are you serious?<$20> Well that's weird...<NL>
Talk about an unhappy ending!<PAUSE>

//<$a584>
<$17><$14>
It can't be helped.<NL>
Let's head on back to the title screen.<PAUSE>

DragonmasterDan · 04/28/2011, 01:38 PM

Cosmic Fantasy 1 and 4-1 were also started at one point. Of all the of the RPG translations for PCE, the only one that was finished so far was Ys 4. I'm holding out hope that this gets done but a lot of translation projects get started and so few get finished.

SamIAm · 04/28/2011, 01:43 PM

I guess that's going to make this all the more remarkable, then.

incrediblehark · 04/29/2011, 12:31 AM

Quote from: DragonmasterDan on 04/28/2011, 01:38 PMCosmic Fantasy 1 and 4-1 were also started at one point. Of all the of the RPG translations for PCE, the only one that was finished so far was Ys 4. I'm holding out hope that this gets done but a lot of translation projects get started and so few get finished.

There was also a translation for Xak III that was finished

M1Savage · 04/29/2011, 08:41 AM

Startling Odyssey II has also been translated.

shubibiman · 04/29/2011, 09:05 AM

DOTB's translation IS finished too. It's yet to be inserted though (and it's in french).

NecroPhile · 04/29/2011, 09:54 AM

Quote from: incrediblehark on 04/29/2011, 12:31 AMThere was also a translation for Xak III that was finished

As was Lady Sword.

DragonmasterDan · 04/29/2011, 03:03 PM

hmm, I was unaware of a lot of these translations. Was Lady Sword a GameExpress game?

SuperPlay · 05/01/2011, 03:51 PM

Quote from: DragonmasterDan on 04/29/2011, 03:03 PMhmm, I was unaware of a lot of these translations. Was Lady Sword a GameExpress game?

Sure was :0)

http://www.pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Lady_Sword.htm

SamIAm · 05/01/2011, 04:04 PM

I'm replaying the game again as I work on the translation, and I'm reminded of one interesting point: Stylistically, Xanadu II was pretty clearly influenced by Tales of Phantasia on the SNES. The main character and sprite design, the town aesthetics with vaguely western-European traditional music, and other minor things are very similar. It's not a rip-off or anything, just influenced.

Also, if you want to make the game more challenging, the answer is simple: don't grind at all. Unlike many games, this is a realistic challenge for even casual gamers. I'm finding that where I used to grind during other playthroughs, I can now just pass through and reap higher benefits from later enemies.

This would be a really good RPG to try speed-running.

CrackTiger · 05/01/2011, 04:13 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/01/2011, 04:04 PMI'm replaying the game again as I work on the translation, and I'm reminded of one interesting point: Stylistically, Xanadu II was pretty clearly influenced by Tales of Phantasia on the SNES. The main character and sprite design, the town aesthetics with vaguely western-European traditional music, and other minor things are very similar. It's not a rip-off or anything, just influenced.

Also, if you want to make the game more challenging, the answer is simple: don't grind at all. Unlike many games, this is a realistic challenge for even casual gamers. I'm finding that where I used to grind during other playthroughs, I can now just pass through and reap higher benefits from later enemies.

This would be a really good RPG to try speed-running.

I really don't think that the game was influenced by Tales of Phantasia since it was released 6 months earlier.

Since the release dates are so close, I don't think that ToP would've been trying to ape LoXII either.

SamIAm · 05/01/2011, 04:22 PM

Wow, no kidding, for some reason I thought it was '94 that ToP came out. Well, never mind, then. Seriously, though, there's some kind of similar vibe happening there. Must've been part of some larger trend.

CrackTiger · 05/01/2011, 04:46 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/01/2011, 04:22 PMWow, no kidding, for some reason I thought it was '94 that ToP came out. Well, never mind, then. Seriously, though, there's some kind of similar vibe happening there. Must've been part of some larger trend.

Depends on whether you trust wikipedia or not. It was definitely an upcoming trend, like the Square pale/cool/autumn/dingy color style (which LoXII uses outside of boss fights). LoXII's visuals really reminded me of Legend of Mana the first time I played through it.

Anearth Fantasy Stories has similar style battles as ToP and it was released only a couple weeks later.

SamIAm · 05/02/2011, 11:20 AM

Anearth Fantasy Stories is one of those PCE games people talk about a lot as being prime for translation. Is there anything that makes this version better than the Saturn one? Is it just 16-bit charm? I prefer the Sega CD Lunars for that reason, so it's a good one.

I loved ToP, so maybe I'll check this out.

M1Savage · 05/02/2011, 01:26 PM

The two versions of Anearth are very similar. The Saturn one has a couple of small scenes added in, but I prefer the music in the PCE version. If you have the ability to play either one then the Saturn version has the advantage of being much cheaper to buy.

I've got $20 that says you can't translate PCE Anearth next!

CrackTiger · 05/02/2011, 01:34 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/02/2011, 11:20 AMAnearth Fantasy Stories is one of those PCE games people talk about a lot as being prime for translation. Is there anything that makes this version better than the Saturn one? Is it just 16-bit charm? I prefer the Sega CD Lunars for that reason, so it's a good one.

I loved ToP, so maybe I'll check this out.

Unfortunately (for me), I have yet to play through both versions of Anearth Fantasy Stories, even though I own them and m1savage has made the greatest walkthrough possible for the PCE version.

From what I've seen, the Saturn version has replaced at least some of the cinemas with real-time SNES-style sequences. The Saturn version also has more 32-bit aesthetics for the battles and I believe poorer character art. I'd rather play a fully 16-bit version of a game than a mixed bag, but I'm glad that both exist.

The game most deserving of a translation because its worthy and would benefit the most gameplay-wise because of the ridiculous quest chains... Is Legend of Xanadu.

The game most deserving of a translation because of quality and the deep language language barrier/cultural subtleties/humor/etc is TM Fuun Kabuki Den. Kabukiden is also one of the best candidates for a translation because every single piece of dialogue is subtitled and a full translation would require zero voice dubbing.

Of course, I know that programmers are more concerned with how easy it would be to extract and reinsert any game's text.

SamIAm · 05/02/2011, 02:33 PM

Cool, thanks for the info.

Certainly, hacking is a big issue to overcome. Getting the script back into Xanadu II is going to be one of the most challenging hurdles in the project, given how strangely it's stored. On the other hand, apparently the first Xanadu game uses similar storage methods, so Esperknight might be able to crack it really quickly if the need arises.

Legend of Xanadu...right off the bat, there appears to be WAY more voice acting. What's more, a lot of it is stored as ADPCM, so it would potentially be much harder to work with for a dub. However, I do agree that it would be a totally great game for a translation.

Tengai Makyo Manji Maru and Kabukiden could really surprise people with how deep and characterized their worlds are. I don't know about Kabukiden, but Manji Maru has three problems: 1) The script must be effin' huge. 2) The game itself is so long that it would be really hard to get totally familiar with it and play-test it. 3) The language is psudo-old style/dialectic Japanese, with tons of culture references that you pretty much need to be Japanese to get. For that last point, I bet a native Japanese writing somewhat funky English would make a better translation just because he'll really understand everything.

It's exciting to talk about this stuff, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. For now, I need to finish Xanadu II. On that note: I finished first drafts of all the latest materials! There's only about 25% of the script left to pull out. The dub is almost ready to come together as well. I hope we kick some butt this month and start play-testing in early June. That's just my hope, though.

ParanoiaDragon · 05/02/2011, 10:14 PM

For Manji Maru, just talk to ....Konami I guess

I'm sure they have an unfinished(maybe finished) translation for either the Turbo version or the DS version, as both were in the works at some time, so, just contact them, I'm sure they'll fork over anything you need

SamIAm · 05/03/2011, 06:29 PM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 05/02/2011, 10:14 PMFor Manji Maru, just talk to ....Konami I guess I'm sure they have an unfinished(maybe finished) translation for either the Turbo version or the DS version, as both were in the works at some time, so, just contact them, I'm sure they'll fork over anything you need

Was Konami handling the port? Anyway, Manji Maru is so huge and complicated that it's the kind of thing you'd pay a staff of professionals to translate/reprogram full-time for a while. I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we could get a nice, orderly script dump and the coding turned out to be easy.

I may have said this before, but Manji Maru seems to be by far the most well-regarded PCE-CD RPG in Japan. If you search the Japanese internet, you immediately see people gushing over it like it's Chrono Trigger, even over Ys. It's be fantastic to get the original PCE version in English, but holy hell, what an undertaking it would be.

CrackTiger · 05/03/2011, 09:12 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/03/2011, 06:29 PMWas Konami handling the port? Anyway, Manji Maru is so huge and complicated that it's the kind of thing you'd pay a staff of professionals to translate/reprogram full-time for a while. I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we could get a nice, orderly script dump and the coding turned out to be easy.

I may have said this before, but Manji Maru seems to be by far the most well-regarded PCE-CD RPG in Japan. If you search the Japanese internet, you immediately see people gushing over it like it's Chrono Trigger, even over Ys. It's be fantastic to get the original PCE version in English, but holy hell, what an undertaking it would be.

TMII has been the most popular/highest regarded PCE game in general since it was released. Well, by PCE fans at least. I'm sure that there are many Castlevania fans who don't know what a PCE is who think that Drac X is amazing, even if they have never played it.

TMII has most of its voice work subtitled too, so that should be a big incentive to anyone interested in translating it. I think that only major cinemas lack subtitles. Kabukiden is every bit as good of a game, with much higher production values and a lot less length (and is fully subtitled, short of the opening cinemas). So it may be more attractive.

SamIAm · 05/03/2011, 09:48 PM

Hmm. What's the clear-time for Kabukiden like? When I read about Manji Maru taking 70+ hours for typical players, I thought it was a bit much for me personally.

I've been reading about it a bit, and one of the biggest criticisms is that you kind of need to know the first two games to fully enjoy Kabukiden's story. Everyone says it's basically entertaining, though. What did you think?

Pardon me while I burn myself a little sample.

SamIAm · 05/04/2011, 12:23 AM

Jeez...as usual, Tengai Makyo is Japanese as hell. Writing Kabukiden in a coherent, accurate, and entertaining English style would be a huge challenge.

Kabuki himself is pretty loud and over-the-top. I was a little stunned when he made a joke in the first five minutes of the game after reading a letter from Manji Maru, the lead character of TMII: "That little brat! He hasn't changed at all! I mean, is the guy still sucking on his mom's tits, or what?"

Stuff like that raises certain translation dilemmas that I haven't really had to deal with so far.

And by the way, the big cutscenes look like they don't have any subtitles.

edit: Oh, it's just the opening scenes?

ParanoiaDragon · 05/04/2011, 01:30 AM

I think Hudon was still in control when they were "talking" about bringing over the DS version(which is basically the PCE version, with some updated tunes where the PSG was IIRC), but, legally, I'd say it's all in Konami's hands now. Who knows how far....if at all, TTI got with the Turbo version or Hudson got with the DS version.

termis · 05/04/2011, 03:27 AM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/02/2011, 11:20 AM...Kabukiden is also one of the best candidates for a translation because every single piece of dialogue is subtitled and a full translation would require zero voice dubbing.

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/04/2011, 12:23 AMJeez...as usual, Tengai Makyo is Japanese as hell...

...the big cutscenes look like they don't have any subtitles.

As far as I know, the only PCE CD RPG I've personally played to date where ALL voices, from intro to ending, were accompanied with text is Dragon Knight III (maybe the prequels as well, but I've yet to play those). That would actually be a pretty awesome project if it ever panned out (I actually mentioned that in my review of the game too). The game is short & sweet, and gamers would get sooooo much more out of the game if they could understand all the jokes the game dishes out.

SamIAm · 05/04/2011, 03:43 AM

Quote from: termis on 05/04/2011, 03:27 AMDragon Knight III

Well, why don't you put up a want-ad on romhacking.net and see if someone will dump the script for you to translate? If you really love the game, it's easy to work on.

termis · 05/04/2011, 07:27 AM

Hm... I've never visited, but I'll give it a go. Just registered.

TurboXray · 05/04/2011, 03:34 PM

Quote from: termis on 05/04/2011, 07:27 AMHm... I've never visited, but I'll give it a go. Just registered.

If you do and you put a team together, I can help out. Console code print routines and string read routines are my specialty for PCE (for making the inserted script actually look good and not have poor "tracking" you normally get if you don't change the print routine).

ParanoiaDragon · 05/04/2011, 09:15 PM

It's probably very remote, but I wonder if there's even a slight possibility that the English version of Dragon Knight 3 on PC(Knights of Xentar or somethign like that?) uses the same routines or whatever, & the script could be dumped from that & inserted into the PCE version

I'll assume it can't happen, but, figured I'd throw it out there just incase.

termis · 05/05/2011, 04:08 AM

Yeah, if someone did dump the script, I'd certainly take a look into translating it. Though my Japanese isn't my primary or secondary language, I do have some experience in the art of translating (I translated for a couple US manhwa publishers), so I can probably make it sound decent.

A bigger problem for me (Much like the Joe who translated the PC version of DK3), I haven't played the prequels, so I can only make presumptions during dialogs where it refers to such events.

Quote from: TurboXray on 05/04/2011, 03:34 PM
Quote from: termis on 05/04/2011, 07:27 AMHm... I've never visited, but I'll give it a go. Just registered.
If you do and you put a team together, I can help out. Console code print routines and string read routines are my specialty for PCE (for making the inserted script actually look good and not have poor "tracking" you normally get if you don't change the print routine).

I'll keep that in mind. I certainly don't know much about hacking part of the game.

SamIAm · 05/06/2011, 10:59 AM

Jiminy Christmas, some crazy Japanese person typed up the entire goddamn script of Tengai Makyo II and organized it really well. It's about eight times the size of Xanadu II, though that's just an estimate. Here I was thinking it would be nice to have something to work on while Esperknight tackled the hacking of Xanadu II, and I pretty much got it. Esperknight is already familiar with TMII's hacking side...damn, we could really do this.

Would you guys be interested in playing Tengai Makyo II?

NecroPhile · 05/06/2011, 11:04 AM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/06/2011, 10:59 AMWould you guys be interested in playing Tengai Makyo II?

Hell yes!

JoshTurboTrollX · 05/06/2011, 12:02 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/06/2011, 10:59 AMWould you guys be interested in playing Tengai Makyo II?

Fuck yea!

ParanoiaDragon · 05/06/2011, 12:43 PM

"H" to the "E" to the "L" to the "L" to the "Y" to the "E" to the "A" to the "H"!

SamIAm · 05/06/2011, 01:04 PM

OK, I talked to Esperknight, and I think we're on for TMII. While I'm waiting for the rest of the Xanadu II script to come along, and while he's writing the insertion program later, I'll chisel away at this giganto TMII writeup I got. The script is huge as hell, but the organization makes it easy to work with.

Anyway, Xanadu II is still a major event to look forward to. Honestly, it's the game I prefer to play. I hope we get it done soon. At the same time, it's also obvious how cool it would be to do a TMII translation. We'll see how it goes!

TurboXray · 05/06/2011, 02:25 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 05/06/2011, 01:04 PMOK, I talked to Esperknight, and I think we're on for TMII. While I'm waiting for the rest of the Xanadu II script to come along, and while he's writing the insertion program later, I'll chisel away at this giganto TMII writeup I got. The script is huge as hell, but the organization makes it easy to work with.

Anyway, Xanadu II is still a major event to look forward to. Honestly, it's the game I prefer to play. I hope we get it done soon. At the same time, it's also obvious how cool it would be to do a TMII translation. We'll see how it goes!

PM sent.

CrackTiger · 05/06/2011, 05:16 PM

That would be a dream come true. :O

nectarsis · 05/06/2011, 05:54 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/06/2011, 05:16 PMThat would be a dream come true. :O

*Head explodes* I will DEF be all over this

Keranu · 05/06/2011, 05:56 PM

Quote from: guest on 05/06/2011, 05:16 PMThat would be a dream come true. :O

Likewise! Unbelievable!