Post by Ascended Mermaid on Sept 20, 2008 15:21:36 GMT -5
Faxanadu Retranslation v1.04: Crashless Edition!
This new build has been tested and so far, no crashes or bugs to report. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you experience any trouble. Thank you.
Faxanadu Restoration has been released!
Don't forget to update your bookmarks!
Oops! Also, it looks like I made a bad link on the main page. Go to the download page to access the patch.
This is the front page of the topic.
The old post for the "remix" project is preserved here in spoiler tags, to prevent confusion.
This new build has been tested and so far, no crashes or bugs to report. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you experience any trouble. Thank you.
v1.03b: It crashes and has some dialogue bugs. I didn't even get to anything listed on the Feb 17, 2016 update. Even still, I didn't want to just leave it in limbo. Here you go, guys.
Faxanadu Restoration has been released!
Don't forget to update your bookmarks!
Oops! Also, it looks like I made a bad link on the main page. Go to the download page to access the patch.
This is the front page of the topic.
The old post for the "remix" project is preserved here in spoiler tags, to prevent confusion.
The normal mode test patch is "ready".
Clearly, this topic has achieved some popularity in the spam thread. I have seen fit to move it here to discuss every aspect. First, let me talk about the Retrans, copied and pasted from my personal to-do list.
The second hack will include the Retrans, but will also serve multiple other functions. Read on.
Furthermore, I have discussed other issues with myself that I will be taking care of in these hacks. Read on...
My next post will contain comparison screenshots.
Clearly, this topic has achieved some popularity in the spam thread. I have seen fit to move it here to discuss every aspect. First, let me talk about the Retrans, copied and pasted from my personal to-do list.
- Import the text from the european version into the american version.
This is actually quite simple. Why do I want to do this? Because
the european version has a NON-BOLD font. The letter H no longer
looks like the letter N, the letter O is distinguishable from the
number 0, and so on and so forth. Hell, I may not even have to port
the changes; I can just hack the european version instead, using the
american version as a comparison for the creation of the IPS file.
In other words, this is a piece of cake!
- Change all remaining bold font to the european English font! This
includes menus, status screens and other misc. things that have gone
unchanged in the european version.
- Import the name screen or find the name screen data! Hopefully it was
not lost in the translation of the game. The name screen was
originally only available in the japanese version, and used during
various moments in the game, creating a more personal experience.
- Uncensor what Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe has
censored. Currently known are the Rosary, Crucifix, and Crosses; all
are related to the "guru". By the way, this particular portion of the
hack is already complete; hopefully, I just need to patch the
european version, and that will be the end of it.
- Retranslate, no doubt. I'm sure "guru" was a replacement for minister
and that "mantra" was a replacement for prayer. I'm also sure that
when you die, it says "Don't lose faith. Say your prayers!"... this
is all pure speculation by me, of course. The town names, and much of
the dialog must have been changed to some extent. The translators are
not entirely to blame for this; jokes are often lost in translation,
context is often lost in translation, there may have been some space
issues as well. Basically, I just want to restore everything that is
lost in translation!
- Speaking of the japanese/english version differences, I just wanted
to point out that the japanese font is two times bigger, and that
they can get their point through with fewer letters of kanji/kana
than what we need to with our English alphabet. With that said, the
text speeds were, without a doubt, meant to be increased for the
translated versions. With the text size alone, I can speed through
the japanese version much faster than I could with the English
versions.
This is actually quite simple. Why do I want to do this? Because
the european version has a NON-BOLD font. The letter H no longer
looks like the letter N, the letter O is distinguishable from the
number 0, and so on and so forth. Hell, I may not even have to port
the changes; I can just hack the european version instead, using the
american version as a comparison for the creation of the IPS file.
In other words, this is a piece of cake!
- Change all remaining bold font to the european English font! This
includes menus, status screens and other misc. things that have gone
unchanged in the european version.
- Import the name screen or find the name screen data! Hopefully it was
not lost in the translation of the game. The name screen was
originally only available in the japanese version, and used during
various moments in the game, creating a more personal experience.
- Uncensor what Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe has
censored. Currently known are the Rosary, Crucifix, and Crosses; all
are related to the "guru". By the way, this particular portion of the
hack is already complete; hopefully, I just need to patch the
european version, and that will be the end of it.
- Retranslate, no doubt. I'm sure "guru" was a replacement for minister
and that "mantra" was a replacement for prayer. I'm also sure that
when you die, it says "Don't lose faith. Say your prayers!"... this
is all pure speculation by me, of course. The town names, and much of
the dialog must have been changed to some extent. The translators are
not entirely to blame for this; jokes are often lost in translation,
context is often lost in translation, there may have been some space
issues as well. Basically, I just want to restore everything that is
lost in translation!
- Speaking of the japanese/english version differences, I just wanted
to point out that the japanese font is two times bigger, and that
they can get their point through with fewer letters of kanji/kana
than what we need to with our English alphabet. With that said, the
text speeds were, without a doubt, meant to be increased for the
translated versions. With the text size alone, I can speed through
the japanese version much faster than I could with the English
versions.
The second hack will include the Retrans, but will also serve multiple other functions. Read on.
Temporary Accomplishments (via NESten):
- Increased the character speed (to increase jump efficiency and
control; makes it even more enjoyable) as well as text speed (No
more lengthy tangents about how dry, desolate, and decayed your world
is! Totally fast-forwarded that junk! You're still free to read it,
but I hacked text speeds, confident in your ability to read the text
more quickly than the game used to display it.) and fade-out speed!
(Enter and exit doors are faster now.)
- Decreased the recovery time to nothing; you can move the instant
you're hit, and you're free to take damage instantly. This means that
dying is easier, battles are fast-paced and more challenging.
- Always return to the first town upon death. Initially, I had intended
on making this a speed-run type hack; to see how fast I could finish
the game without dying. Instead, I'd like to turn this into a
fast-type hack to eliminate the importance of the fast-forward button
provided by most emulators in this day and age. Too bad I can't
eliminate the save state function on emulators; do what you have to
do to survive my hack.
- Discovered ability to change NPCs. This means I can make it a more
complex hack. The first guru will tell you the first town Mantra;
previously impossible in Faxanadu. Other mods will include making
the player manually walk all the way from Dartmoor (or more
specifically, the final boss room) to the first town, (which means
visiting "Daydreak", Conflate, Victim, Mascon, Forepaw, and Apolune
on the way) before the king will acknowledge the success of your
quest!
- Discovered 5 unused items! This means possibly creating new key items
for your quest, and/or enforcing that the Xanadu part of the title be
not in vain.
- Discovered an address to change the palette of the entire screen!
Remember that bit about 5 unused items? One of them is a LAMP. In
Xanadu, you needed a LAMP to see anything in the towers. So by
utilizing palette swaps, I can alter the tower data to set the
background to all-black. By using comparable values, I can hopefully
alter the LAMP to "see" a particular palette type and therefore
return the palette to its original state upon use.
- Modified cursor data for the title screen. With this, I could remove
the continue option. Could. It's tempting. I could also add options,
should the FF data block prove alterable. This means that I could
make a difficulty switch.
- Found the data for every item. With NESten, of course. The guy on
GameFAQs used RockNES. I've found everything that he has found. The
thing is that, addresses found with RockNES are incompatible with
those found with NESten, by my findings. Unfortunately, addresses
found with RockNES and NESten are both incompatible with NEXEDIT,
which is the hex editing program of my choice. (...Or rather, of
Faxanadu/XP's choice. It's a good editor!) According to the FAQ by
Matthew Shay, his addresses are for savestates. Perhaps mine are too;
I won't give up hope though. There must be a way to do this; possibly
by using a Hex-to-Game Genie converter, followed by a Game Genie code
patcher. Sadly, this too is proving to be quite a hassle on Windows
XP... I may have to hack it on Windows 98; which to my misfortune, is
on a rather old, decayed computer of mine. Save state data... sounds
temporary... what's another name for temporary computer memory?
There's a total of five memory systems for the NES; Two mem, two ROM
and one ram. Take a wild guess what one(s) are temporary. Even
knowing this information, can I do it? Maybe, but I wouldn't jot down
this information if I intended only to go on wild tangents about
hacking!
- Remember that bit about the first guru giving you the mantra for the
first town? Sorry, but he'll be the only one who can give you a
mantra now.
Hopeful hacks:
- Modify the shopping system, so that it doesn't automatically assume
that you're done buying/selling things. Seeing as I'm the kind of guy
that wants to relax with a game and have as much time as possible to
play it, I see no need to spend ten minutes buying/selling items.
The time it takes with my hacks is even lesser so, so this isn't much
of an issue. I just want to eliminate all things text and speech
related which can be considered a waste of time.
- Add difficulty level selection to the title screen. This means, of
course, that I somehow know how to make the game detect what
difficulty level you're playing on. I also want unlockables. I may
have to make difficulty levels based on the password system and 2-3
unused items. "Normal" is just the normal game, with only fast hacks
(with the exception of the recovery) enabled. "Hard" includes
restarting from the first town. (does it even have a name?) It also
includes having to buy a LAMP for the towers. "Nightmare" makes you
trek from Dartmoor to the first town. "Inferno" makes the pendant
mandatory, nils recovery time (meaning you can die in a split second
if you make one false move) and removes shields. Even worse, you
can't abuse the no-shield ointment trick, which used to make you
invincible to even magic. Ointment won't do anything. The glove won't
work either. Nope. I'm practically leaving you up the creek without a
paddle. You have no chance to survive make your time. "Easy" will
give you a permanent glove powerup; I love the glove, it's sooo
baaad. I will note that "Easy" will be immediately unlocked or a
password for "Easy" will be provided. "Hard" will also be unlocked
or provided to the user in the beginning. If all else fails, I'll
have to create multiple patches; one per mode. I don't want to do
that, but I'll do what I must.
- I'd also like to eliminate the 1500 "Golds" from the king, unless
you're playing "Normal". If you're playing "Hard", you'll start off
with 1200 "Golds". If you're playing "Nightmare", you'll start off
with 800 "Golds". If you're playing "Inferno", you'll start off with
500 "Golds". If you're playing "Easy", you'll start off with 2100
"Golds"; that's easily enough to afford Deluge, a Dagger, a Jack Key,
an Elixir, and 5 Potions; or skip the Elixir and get 7 Potions. That
fills up all 8 item slots; and you'll definately want that last open
slot for the Mattock. (Didn't forget that, now did you?)
- Elimination of various bugs; for one, I want the king to only give
you 1500 "Golds" one time. Ever. If you run down to 0 "Golds", and
you don't have a weapon or magic, and if you can't sell some items,
you'll have to reset the game. I'm of course intent on eliminating
the no-shield exploit; which makes you invincible to magic attacks if
you're fortunate enough to be carrying ointment. Neat, huh? Not
anymore it ain't! I'll also eliminate the ability to carry Elixir
as an ITEM through a password exploit; it'll detect and delete itself
as soon as the player attempts to access it. Why is this important?
It's an infinite-elixir exploit.
- Since I'm eliminating the king's 1500 "Golds" exploit, I'll also make
up for it in other difficulty levels by clearing your level to
"Novice" or causing you to "level down", depending on the difficulty
level or other circumstances; this topic is still in debate. I figure
that I'll make "Nightmare" the mode that gives you the "level down"
penalty, followed by the "Inferno" penalty of "Novice". It seems
logical enough. "Hard" will only give you a penalty if you die as a
"Fighter" or less. "Easy" may reward you for dying instead. Exploit
"Easy" mode, it's the only exploit I'll let you have... wimp. X)
- Increased the character speed (to increase jump efficiency and
control; makes it even more enjoyable) as well as text speed (No
more lengthy tangents about how dry, desolate, and decayed your world
is! Totally fast-forwarded that junk! You're still free to read it,
but I hacked text speeds, confident in your ability to read the text
more quickly than the game used to display it.) and fade-out speed!
(Enter and exit doors are faster now.)
- Decreased the recovery time to nothing; you can move the instant
you're hit, and you're free to take damage instantly. This means that
dying is easier, battles are fast-paced and more challenging.
- Always return to the first town upon death. Initially, I had intended
on making this a speed-run type hack; to see how fast I could finish
the game without dying. Instead, I'd like to turn this into a
fast-type hack to eliminate the importance of the fast-forward button
provided by most emulators in this day and age. Too bad I can't
eliminate the save state function on emulators; do what you have to
do to survive my hack.
- Discovered ability to change NPCs. This means I can make it a more
complex hack. The first guru will tell you the first town Mantra;
previously impossible in Faxanadu. Other mods will include making
the player manually walk all the way from Dartmoor (or more
specifically, the final boss room) to the first town, (which means
visiting "Daydreak", Conflate, Victim, Mascon, Forepaw, and Apolune
on the way) before the king will acknowledge the success of your
quest!
- Discovered 5 unused items! This means possibly creating new key items
for your quest, and/or enforcing that the Xanadu part of the title be
not in vain.
- Discovered an address to change the palette of the entire screen!
Remember that bit about 5 unused items? One of them is a LAMP. In
Xanadu, you needed a LAMP to see anything in the towers. So by
utilizing palette swaps, I can alter the tower data to set the
background to all-black. By using comparable values, I can hopefully
alter the LAMP to "see" a particular palette type and therefore
return the palette to its original state upon use.
- Modified cursor data for the title screen. With this, I could remove
the continue option. Could. It's tempting. I could also add options,
should the FF data block prove alterable. This means that I could
make a difficulty switch.
- Found the data for every item. With NESten, of course. The guy on
GameFAQs used RockNES. I've found everything that he has found. The
thing is that, addresses found with RockNES are incompatible with
those found with NESten, by my findings. Unfortunately, addresses
found with RockNES and NESten are both incompatible with NEXEDIT,
which is the hex editing program of my choice. (...Or rather, of
Faxanadu/XP's choice. It's a good editor!) According to the FAQ by
Matthew Shay, his addresses are for savestates. Perhaps mine are too;
I won't give up hope though. There must be a way to do this; possibly
by using a Hex-to-Game Genie converter, followed by a Game Genie code
patcher. Sadly, this too is proving to be quite a hassle on Windows
XP... I may have to hack it on Windows 98; which to my misfortune, is
on a rather old, decayed computer of mine. Save state data... sounds
temporary... what's another name for temporary computer memory?
There's a total of five memory systems for the NES; Two mem, two ROM
and one ram. Take a wild guess what one(s) are temporary. Even
knowing this information, can I do it? Maybe, but I wouldn't jot down
this information if I intended only to go on wild tangents about
hacking!
- Remember that bit about the first guru giving you the mantra for the
first town? Sorry, but he'll be the only one who can give you a
mantra now.
Hopeful hacks:
- Modify the shopping system, so that it doesn't automatically assume
that you're done buying/selling things. Seeing as I'm the kind of guy
that wants to relax with a game and have as much time as possible to
play it, I see no need to spend ten minutes buying/selling items.
The time it takes with my hacks is even lesser so, so this isn't much
of an issue. I just want to eliminate all things text and speech
related which can be considered a waste of time.
- Add difficulty level selection to the title screen. This means, of
course, that I somehow know how to make the game detect what
difficulty level you're playing on. I also want unlockables. I may
have to make difficulty levels based on the password system and 2-3
unused items. "Normal" is just the normal game, with only fast hacks
(with the exception of the recovery) enabled. "Hard" includes
restarting from the first town. (does it even have a name?) It also
includes having to buy a LAMP for the towers. "Nightmare" makes you
trek from Dartmoor to the first town. "Inferno" makes the pendant
mandatory, nils recovery time (meaning you can die in a split second
if you make one false move) and removes shields. Even worse, you
can't abuse the no-shield ointment trick, which used to make you
invincible to even magic. Ointment won't do anything. The glove won't
work either. Nope. I'm practically leaving you up the creek without a
paddle. You have no chance to survive make your time. "Easy" will
give you a permanent glove powerup; I love the glove, it's sooo
baaad. I will note that "Easy" will be immediately unlocked or a
password for "Easy" will be provided. "Hard" will also be unlocked
or provided to the user in the beginning. If all else fails, I'll
have to create multiple patches; one per mode. I don't want to do
that, but I'll do what I must.
- I'd also like to eliminate the 1500 "Golds" from the king, unless
you're playing "Normal". If you're playing "Hard", you'll start off
with 1200 "Golds". If you're playing "Nightmare", you'll start off
with 800 "Golds". If you're playing "Inferno", you'll start off with
500 "Golds". If you're playing "Easy", you'll start off with 2100
"Golds"; that's easily enough to afford Deluge, a Dagger, a Jack Key,
an Elixir, and 5 Potions; or skip the Elixir and get 7 Potions. That
fills up all 8 item slots; and you'll definately want that last open
slot for the Mattock. (Didn't forget that, now did you?)
- Elimination of various bugs; for one, I want the king to only give
you 1500 "Golds" one time. Ever. If you run down to 0 "Golds", and
you don't have a weapon or magic, and if you can't sell some items,
you'll have to reset the game. I'm of course intent on eliminating
the no-shield exploit; which makes you invincible to magic attacks if
you're fortunate enough to be carrying ointment. Neat, huh? Not
anymore it ain't! I'll also eliminate the ability to carry Elixir
as an ITEM through a password exploit; it'll detect and delete itself
as soon as the player attempts to access it. Why is this important?
It's an infinite-elixir exploit.
- Since I'm eliminating the king's 1500 "Golds" exploit, I'll also make
up for it in other difficulty levels by clearing your level to
"Novice" or causing you to "level down", depending on the difficulty
level or other circumstances; this topic is still in debate. I figure
that I'll make "Nightmare" the mode that gives you the "level down"
penalty, followed by the "Inferno" penalty of "Novice". It seems
logical enough. "Hard" will only give you a penalty if you die as a
"Fighter" or less. "Easy" may reward you for dying instead. Exploit
"Easy" mode, it's the only exploit I'll let you have... wimp. X)
Furthermore, I have discussed other issues with myself that I will be taking care of in these hacks. Read on...
Game issues:
- RING OF ELF -> RING OF ELVES / ELF RING
$31C69-$31C6B
Why: Because I'm sick of ELFS.
- RING OF DWORF -> RING OF DWARVES / DWARF RING
$31C89
Why: Because I'm sick of DWARFS and DWORF
- DEMONS RING -> DEMON'S RING / RING OF DEMONS / DEMON RING
$31C94-$31C9A
Why: I like RING OF DEMONS. It goes with the RING OF [NOUN] scheme.
Alternatively, DEMON RING sounds cool. DEMON'S RING sounds the most
appropriate, however, due to Xanadu and all relevant titles using the
name "DEMON'S RING".
- KEY A -> ACE KEY
$31C9F-$31CA5
- KEY K -> KING KEY (Heheh... say it out loud.)
$31CAF-$31CB6
- KEY Q -> QUEEN KEY
$31CBF-$31CC7
- KEY J -> JACK KEY
$31CCF-$31CD6
- KEY JO -> JOKER KEY
$31CDF-$31CE7
- BLACK ONIX -> BLACK ONYX
$31DA7
Used for: Getting the Ace Key in Mascon
Why: That's how it is in Faxanadu.
But: Learning from Xanadu, I may be able to optimise this item to
increase consistancy.
- CRYSTAL
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item.
- LAMP
Used for: Light in towers -- alter color values by comparison.
Why: Because that's how it was done in Xanadu
- BOOK
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item.
- BLACK POTION
Used for:
Why: It was used in some way in Xanadu, but I haven't tried it yet.
- FIRE CRYSTAL
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item; "INFERNO CRYSTAL"
- Mantra is in the wrong. -> Not a damn clue.
$311CF-$311E5
Why: Take off every 'zig'.
- PLAYER -> Not a damn clue.
$308D5-308DA
Why: I'd like to replace this with the Mantra, or the main character's
name; which I believe is mentioned in the instruction manual.
- Daydreak -> Daybreak?
Why: Not a damn clue. Nowhere in the game does it specify that the
town is called Daybreak; popular demand insists that the town is
indeed Daybreak and not Daydreak. I'd like a fact check, please?
- posion -> poison
Why: This is spoken by the elder who stands tall near the fountain in
the sky.
- Guri -> guru
Why: This is also spoken by the elder at the fountain in the sky. He's
just chock full of typographical and grammatical errors. Infact, his
entire speech makes very little to no sense at all!
- RING OF ELF -> RING OF ELVES / ELF RING
$31C69-$31C6B
Why: Because I'm sick of ELFS.
- RING OF DWORF -> RING OF DWARVES / DWARF RING
$31C89
Why: Because I'm sick of DWARFS and DWORF
- DEMONS RING -> DEMON'S RING / RING OF DEMONS / DEMON RING
$31C94-$31C9A
Why: I like RING OF DEMONS. It goes with the RING OF [NOUN] scheme.
Alternatively, DEMON RING sounds cool. DEMON'S RING sounds the most
appropriate, however, due to Xanadu and all relevant titles using the
name "DEMON'S RING".
- KEY A -> ACE KEY
$31C9F-$31CA5
- KEY K -> KING KEY (Heheh... say it out loud.)
$31CAF-$31CB6
- KEY Q -> QUEEN KEY
$31CBF-$31CC7
- KEY J -> JACK KEY
$31CCF-$31CD6
- KEY JO -> JOKER KEY
$31CDF-$31CE7
- BLACK ONIX -> BLACK ONYX
$31DA7
Used for: Getting the Ace Key in Mascon
Why: That's how it is in Faxanadu.
But: Learning from Xanadu, I may be able to optimise this item to
increase consistancy.
- CRYSTAL
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item.
- LAMP
Used for: Light in towers -- alter color values by comparison.
Why: Because that's how it was done in Xanadu
- BOOK
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item.
- BLACK POTION
Used for:
Why: It was used in some way in Xanadu, but I haven't tried it yet.
- FIRE CRYSTAL
Used for:
Why: Not a damn clue.
But: I could make it into a key item or something from Xanadu.
Alternatively, it could be a difficulty level item; "INFERNO CRYSTAL"
- Mantra is in the wrong. -> Not a damn clue.
$311CF-$311E5
Why: Take off every 'zig'.
- PLAYER -> Not a damn clue.
$308D5-308DA
Why: I'd like to replace this with the Mantra, or the main character's
name; which I believe is mentioned in the instruction manual.
- Daydreak -> Daybreak?
Why: Not a damn clue. Nowhere in the game does it specify that the
town is called Daybreak; popular demand insists that the town is
indeed Daybreak and not Daydreak. I'd like a fact check, please?
- posion -> poison
Why: This is spoken by the elder who stands tall near the fountain in
the sky.
- Guri -> guru
Why: This is also spoken by the elder at the fountain in the sky. He's
just chock full of typographical and grammatical errors. Infact, his
entire speech makes very little to no sense at all!
My next post will contain comparison screenshots.