veleskola
Uhnos
Literally Google Translate
Posts: 27 
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Post by veleskola on Jan 9, 2015 11:30:59 GMT -5
I know what you're thinking. Brandish 2? Again? Why?
Well, while the SNES version of Brandish 2 is a good port, much better than the Brandish 1 SNES version. It's still not as glorious as the PC98 version.
Main version differences
-Better music (according to certain someone...)
-The PC98 version has 39 music tracks, while the SNES version only has 35. [missing: - Ice Zone ~ Green Zone,
Wharf 2 A Journey Without Rest, Mystic Dora (or Dela), Gado Bistalle (inside the game but not used) ]
-Koei cut about 18 areas from the SNES version.
-The PC98 version also has mouse control, which, you don't even know how great that is. WOW
So this project is to take the existing Brandish 2 fan translation, by Denpanosekai. Translate all missing content and then edit the entire script to make it consistent. As well as more in-line with Xseed's localisation of The Dark Revenant.
So essentially everything is set and ready to go, however there is one issue. We have managed to extract the Japanese script from the PC98 version and we have the English fan translation script in our hands. Now all we need is someone who can reinsert the script back into the PC98 version.
So if anyone here is capable of that or knows someone who might be. Please, don't hesitate to let me know.
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on Jan 9, 2015 11:48:44 GMT -5
Sounds cool, man. Hopefully someone will be able to help you out with this!
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Post by SkyeWelse on Jan 9, 2015 12:39:24 GMT -5
Awesome! I've been wanting to see some serious projects get started for Brandish 2 Renewal PC-98 and Brandish 3 Renewal PC-98 for sometime now. I'm a huge Brandish fan. I became one shortly after playing through the Japanese version of Brandish: The Dark Revenant for PSP, which quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. And! For those reading this, just so happens to be releasing in English next week! Seriously go play it! I had asked on the Tokugawa Corporation FMV forums awhile back about Brandish 3 and the possibility of someone out there who might be willing to work on it and it really doesn't seem that there are too many people out there who are actively doing a fan-translation scene for PC-98 games. In a previous thread I posted over there, I did hear that one person named EsperKnight was still in the scene, but that was also several years ago that my question was asked. Have you perhaps posted this project at Romhacking.net yet? I know that's kind of a hub for announcing new projects and generating interest. It also might not hurt to post this project and request for help at Tokugawa and also at NFGgames forums as there is a bit of a startup scene of those interested in PC-98 hardware there... more or less. Also, I could test things on real hardware if a project does get started for this since I do have a PC-9821 that can play it (Ce2 Multi Model) and there are few others here at Aloy who also have PC98 machines as well, Xalphenos and Yukin. Sadly I do not own the CD version of Brandish 2 Renewal. It's the only one I'm missing on CD. I eventually wanted to somehow figure out if there was a method of installing the CD's files and playing everything directly from the harddrive of a PC-98 or emulator without the need for the CD-check. I can play Brandish 3 Renewal on CD after installing it on my Ce2 just fine, but the CD always has to be in there. Figured it would make things more attractive for a possible translation project since you wouldn't be working from multiple disks and having to switch disks in and out. I just discovered a thread over at Tokugawa that mentions this very process and someone else who was also attempting to do this. -Thomas |
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veleskola
Uhnos
Literally Google Translate
Posts: 27
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Post by veleskola on Jan 9, 2015 13:03:31 GMT -5
Interesting, thanks SkyWelse. I was aware of both sites but for some reason it didn't occur to me to check on there. Especially Tokugawa, being a Japanese computer enthusiast. I too would love to see more PC98 games get fan translated. Brandish 3 is definitely someone I'd want to pursue after Brandish 2, but that's just crazy future talk. I am 100% focused on the present right now, the present being Brandish 2 Renewal. Also your help with testing it on a actual PC98 is very much appreciated. I'll check Tokugawa and Romhacking.net.  |
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Post by gamemjoe on Jan 9, 2015 14:35:51 GMT -5
I'm cool with this. Being able to play the PC version of Brandish 2 without needing a translation would be pretty sweet.
I'd like to point out, however, that the SNES version of Brandish 2 (but not Brandish 1, sadly) DOES have mouse support (That's actually the biggest plus it has over the SNES version of 1, to me.) The SNES Mouse works with it. It plays like a DREAM, but is a bit of a bitch to set up on a emulator.
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Post by Xalphenos on Jan 10, 2015 15:52:50 GMT -5
Hey Veleskola I may be able to help. I've done some pc98 hacking before. Nothing really to show off but I took AIZA which was incapable of using the English portion of the system font at all and made it play nice. Also had to move lots of control codes in the process. On Aiza I basically stopped at the text extraction part because I'm not ready to translate on my own yet. Since you already have a script ready to go it makes this look tasty.
I have some questions first.
How did you extract the script in the first place?
Have you attempted insertion at all? and if so what happened?
Was there any compression involved?
Thanks for you time. As Skyewelse said I too have a pc-9821. I would love to be a part of expanding the playable library of games for non Japanese speakers.
One problem though is that I do not own this game and don't know where to find it.
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veleskola
Uhnos
Literally Google Translate
Posts: 27
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Post by veleskola on Jan 10, 2015 17:00:22 GMT -5
Well the scripts not ready yet. As I said I have to translate the rest of the game. Then I have to edit it all together to create a more consistent tone. As for your questions. 1)I didn't extract the script myself. A friend, Gu4n (same guy on the forum) did me a huge favor of extracting it himself. Unfortunately due to the encrypted nature of Falcom games. He can't reinsert it. 2) So, no, no idea how to insert it myself.  3) I think so, as it was heavily encrypted. Your help is much appreciated. |
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on Jan 10, 2015 17:46:03 GMT -5
My way of extracting text is rather spartan, and only useful for dumps, really. From the top of my head, I did: - extract the contents from the disks using edisk
- export the compressed files using Falcom データアーカイブ 変換ツール
- extract the text strings using 번역도구2013
The result is a comma seperated csv (txt) file with the hexadecimal location of the string in the first column, the original string length in the second and the actual text string in the third. The Korean tool also allows its users to reinsert translated strings, but these cannot exceed the original string's length, so it's not particularly useful.
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Post by asi85 on Jan 11, 2015 13:34:09 GMT -5
Is there any chance for the Renewal version for the original Brandish? I heard that version is way superior to the SNES. I know the remake is finally here and it may look pointless to work on the original, but I think both games feel different enough. I even heard the remake is too easy.
PS: I'm sorry that my only replies are just questions asking for the translation of some games, but I just can't help it. I promise I'll make reviews of the games when I play them, if there was anything I could do to help, I wouldn't hesitate to join.
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on Jan 12, 2015 14:37:04 GMT -5
Is there any chance for the Renewal version for the original Brandish? I heard that version is way superior to the SNES. I know the remake is finally here and it may look pointless to work on the original, but I think both games feel different enough. I even heard the remake is too easy. PS: I'm sorry that my only replies are just questions asking for the translation of some games, but I just can't help it. I promise I'll make reviews of the games when I play them, if there was anything I could do to help, I wouldn't hesitate to join. If we manage to find someone who can reverse engineer English into Brandish 2 Renewal, I think the chances of getting the original and Spirit of Balcan into English are fair, since they're structured rather similar. Obviously, we wouldn't be able to use the text from either the SNES- or the upcoming PSP-version. However, since flame and I worked on fan translating the PSP-remake prior to XSEED's official localisation announcement, we have an alternative translation lying around that could be used for the PC-98 version. And don't worry, from my perspective, its the enthusiasm from fellow fans that keeps these kind of project fuelled. |
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Post by spacewafer on Apr 14, 2015 12:30:57 GMT -5
I would love to see an original Brandish translation for the PC-98, heck, I'll take an English translation of the original Brandish for the PC-Engine. I was stuck playing the SNES version as a kid and I tried to play the SNES version again and I wasn't in to it. Once I saw the PC-98 and PC-Engine versions, I became immediately drawn to them. Wish the whole series was localized.
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jdkluv
Limendy
<Brandish Man>
Posts: 223
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Post by jdkluv on Apr 14, 2015 16:30:43 GMT -5
heck, I'll take an English translation of the original Brandish for the PC-Engine. You don't, trust me.  |
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Post by SkyeWelse on Apr 15, 2015 10:11:20 GMT -5
Hi Spacewafer, we will definitely be looking into it. I definitely want to see Brandish 2 and Brandish 3 renewal completed of these days. Brandish 4 is making some great progress I hear though, so there should be some more Brandish love on the horizon for sure. : )
-Thomas
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on May 14, 2015 10:22:06 GMT -5
Any updates from your side, veleskola? I peeked into the files and all text apart from some system messages are encrypted. It also seems that not all strings are encrypted in the same way: large fragments of the opening (disk 2) are readable when the disk is opened with a hex editor, but the in-game dialogues (disk 3-5) are completely unreadable. About taking the existing Brandish 2 fan translation: I would suggest to do it from scratch. I just compared the Japanese version with the translation by Denpanosekai and there are some major differences. I assume this has to do with technical restraints on the SFC side, which hopefully can be worked around for the PC-98 version. For example, whereas the fan-translated SFC opening starts with background on Bundevia, the source text starts pretty ominously with:
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Post by asi85 on May 15, 2015 11:53:05 GMT -5
I almost forgot to suggest something about the translations!
Why not looking at XSEED's translation and using the same terms? I know Brandish it's not Trails and doesn't really need to do that, but that would be a good idea to use the same translation for important terms, same items, etc. in the first 4 Brandish games.
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on Jul 7, 2015 13:44:34 GMT -5
Usually translation projects halt because a hacker is unable to find a translator, but I feel it's the other way around here. Is there someone capable of writing an export- and import-script that happens to read this message?
Even if you're unable to write the script right now, it would be helpful to know in what format the strings should be translated. I've extracted the strings with a Korean tool in the format "[hex location],[string length],[string]", but that might not be helpful at all.
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Post by SkyeWelse on Jul 7, 2015 20:20:47 GMT -5
I didn't know you were interested in starting this back up again Gu4n, but after we had first talked about it, Xalphenos and I created a forum just for this very project for any interested parties that wanted to work on it and learn a bit about PC-98 hacking all the same over at HeroesofLegend.org. I would start there and perhaps some of the other hackers and programmers could assist. Since there was no feedback on the project starting up again, I wasn't sure if I should just remove that forum from being an active project or not, but I'd very much like it if we could start it up again, especially if you would be interested in translating it and I was hoping we could do it there so that we could all delve into PC-98 hacking in general since Xalphenos and I have a plan currently to try and translate Aiza: New Generation and Xak I for PC-98 as well. I could likely help out with graphic edits and testing as needed as well since I own PC-98 hardware to test with. -Thomas |
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Post by Xalphenos on Jul 7, 2015 21:31:57 GMT -5
Personally I could never get the Korean program to do anything. Of course it is in Korean so I was stumbling around in the dark. Another user on Skye's forum was interested in it but then he disappeared. He/she said they had changed some text but couldn't get anything to show up right in game. Sounded like the same problem with Aiza but I was able to fix it in that one. I'm still interested in helping but I'm very busy with stuff. If you can find someone with the time now go for it. I've extracted the strings with a Korean tool in the format "[hex location],[string length],[string]", but that might not be helpful at all. Pointer location would be much better then hex location. As it's the pointers that will need updated for new string lengths. Though that could be what you mean by Hex Location. Also string Length is really only important if the game/script file needs string lengths. Some do some don't. If this game doesn't and your script dumping program is just calculating and storing that info for the hell of it then it's useless data that wont help in reinsertion. For instance White Witch doesn't care or need string lengths and I have noticed some similarities between the file types with this game. Though I haven't actually looked to see if brandish does use string lengths so it may. |
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Gu4n
Uhnos
Keikaku Manager (TL note: Keikaku means plan)
Posts: 39
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Post by Gu4n on Jul 8, 2015 0:36:18 GMT -5
I didn't know you were interested in starting this back up again Gu4n, but after we had first talked about it, Xalphenos and I created a forum just for this very project for any interested parties that wanted to work on it and learn a bit about PC-98 hacking all the same over at HeroesofLegend.org. I would start there and perhaps some of the other hackers and programmers could assist. Since there was no feedback on the project starting up again, I wasn't sure if I should just remove that forum from being an active project or not, but I'd very much like it if we could start it up again, especially if you would be interested in translating it and I was hoping we could do it there so that we could all delve into PC-98 hacking in general since Xalphenos and I have a plan currently to try and translate Aiza: New Generation and Xak I for PC-98 as well. I could likely help out with graphic edits and testing as needed as well since I own PC-98 hardware to test with. -Thomas Thanks. I registered and I'm currently awaiting approval. Personally I could never get the Korean program to do anything. Of course it is in Korean so I was stumbling around in the dark. Another user on Skye's forum was interested in it but then he disappeared. He/she said they had changed some text but couldn't get anything to show up right in game. Sounded like the same problem with Aiza but I was able to fix it in that one. I'm still interested in helping but I'm very busy with stuff. If you can find someone with the time now go for it. I've extracted the strings with a Korean tool in the format "[hex location],[string length],[string]", but that might not be helpful at all. Pointer location would be much better then hex location. As it's the pointers that will need updated for new string lengths. Though that could be what you mean by Hex Location. Also string Length is really only important if the game/script file needs string lengths. Some do some don't. If this game doesn't and your script dumping program is just calculating and storing that info for the hell of it then it's useless data that wont help in reinsertion. For instance White Witch doesn't care or need string lengths and I have noticed some similarities between the file types with this game. Though I haven't actually looked to see if brandish does use string lengths so it may. It only dumps the location where the string starts, not its pointer. I suppose it worked for Korean since both Japanese and Korean are character-based and require similar lengths, but for English more heavy machinery is needed. Edit:If the font used for names of characters and monsters is the same font as for the actual script, we might need to replace it; it's absolutely horrible, making it difficult to distinguish 'h', 'm' and 'n' from one another. Also, regarding the person who "couldn't get anything to show up right in game" Xalphenos mentioned, it might be possible that there is no font for the romaji at all - I found that's the case with Popful Mail.   |
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Post by Xalphenos on Jul 8, 2015 6:32:39 GMT -5
I had to look up that post again. It seems I remembered incorrectly. He didn't say it couldn't print English, rather that it couldn't print ASCII only Shift-JIS. Sorry for any confusion there. That should be fixable though.
I see so you're not getting pointer locations. Like I said I couldn't figure out how to get that Korean program to do anything. And that pretty much ended my research into it. It may be all one big script language. The Korean game Seal that derboo was working on translating did it that way. It made writing a script dumper a pain in the ***.
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