Faxanadu Retranslation

[Ascended Mermaid]

The script dump will have to wait. First off, I'm not sure *how* I'm going to do it. Second off, I'm going somewhere tomorrow, and must sleep soon.

[Ascended Mermaid]

I've downloaded some more hacking utilities, so hopefully this will be made easier. X) *crosses his fingers*

[Ascended Mermaid]

I stopped PrismXL and Iprip. These existed under services.msc

[Ascended Mermaid]

Table Dumper Pro couldn't and didn't handle the table process correctly. This calls for backup. I discovered recently, that in order for *my table* to work, it must first be romanized. Why didn't I think of that?!

[Ascended Mermaid]

Adoru, how are the preparations coming? I'd like to do some more hacking tonight. If anything, hopefully I'll just solve the pendant bug and release the latest (but not the final) gameplay patch.

// I've got work in less than an hour, so I don't have time right now.

// I found some more Faxanadu related disassembly documents that are of my interest. Why I'd only found these *now* is beyond me.

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

You want a symbol for ducats?

Have some currency symbols!

[Ascended Mermaid]

The European Currency Unit (₠; ECU)

It's between that, Euro, and the generic currency sign (¤); usually used when no symbol is available.

I figured this much because the ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade currency throughout Europe before World War I.

Hence, European symbols.

[Ascended Mermaid]

HOWEVER...

The guilder (Dutch: gulden), represented by the symbol ƒ or fl., was the currency of the Netherlands from the 13th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.

Given that the Dutch/Netherlanders had used the ducat during the 13th century, wouldn't the ducat also be ƒ?

Citation needed.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Hrm... hacking utilities are limited, options keep getting more and more narrow, and the main utility accepts neither table. I'm thinking of getting rid of the even-numbered entries, or the odd-numbered entries, just to see if that's what's causing it. XD

I'm freaking encumbered by sleeplessness, however. I must rest and start a new day.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Yay, I managed to make the first door (leading to Eolis) work. This isn't without its drawbacks, however.

I think I may have deleted a door in the process. I must find this "Screen 28".

// The door is located in 10. That is, one horizontal 16x16 block down, hugging the left side of the screen. The only door I can think of, is the one leading to Mist from Trunk.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Replacing Screen FF, Position 0D doesn't seem to have any side-effects. It should be safe, in theory. I don't know what use this one is. It leads to 0704, and it's a door that's on the top-most area, two blocks from the right of the screen... that's pretty far-fetched. I can't think of a single door like that! Checking 0704... it makes me fall from the top of the screen, with this palette:



// I can't think of any doors, objects or events which cause Fieg to appear at this spot, with this palette change. Chances are, they're either not meant for this level set, or this is an unused/experimental door setting. It could be an object or event that causes this, including deaths and endgame junk.

[Ascended Mermaid]

According to SP, of FCEU XD SP, there's a monster that's unused. More secrets, more secrets to come...

[FM-77AV]

Oooh! More unused stuff! That's incredibly interesting. Does it have its own graphics too? Have you found any interesting tiles in there?

[Ascended Mermaid]

Only one way to find out... stay tuned. (Yes, this means I'm taking my sweet time right now.)

[Ascended Mermaid]

Speaking of sweet time... this isn't really an update, per se, but I have *over a week* of spare time, thanks to BIG hour cuts at work! I bet you're thinking what I'm thinking. Time to up the ante.

[AllenSmithee]

Hellz yeah. I cannot wait me harty.

[Ascended Mermaid]

*yawns and stretches* I need a cigarette, haha. I've been fatigued lately and I don't know why.

[Ascended Mermaid]

EUREKA!! It was just a simple matter of changing a BNE to a BEQ! Allow me to explain with a simplified excerpt of SP's Faxanadu Disassembly:

ROM:8877	AND	#2		; Check if player has pendant.
ROM:8879	BNE	loc_8884	; Skip to ROM:8884 if player has pendant. Otherwise, keep reading.
ROM:8880	ADC	byte_0		; Increase attack by 25%
ROM:8884				; CODE XREF: TryToHitWithWeapon+75j

With BNE active, if you have the pendant, the game SKIPS 8880; which means, you don't get the attack bonus! By changing BNE to BEQ, this happens:

ROM:8877	AND	#2		; Check if player has pendant.
ROM:8879	BEQ	loc_8884	; Skip to ROM:8884 if player doesn't have pendant. Otherwise, keep reading.
ROM:8880	ADC	byte_0		; Increase attack by 25%
ROM:8884				; CODE XREF: TryToHitWithWeapon+75j

Sound correct? I basically reversed the pendant "bug", without modifying attack stats; everything was there for a reason, but someone had made a mistake or used BNE for testing purposes!

While this fix increases the difficulty of the game by just a smidge, this is likely the originally intended difficulty level! Be happy!

[Ascended Mermaid]

In plain english, the game originally gave you an attack bonus of 25%, if you don't have the pendant. Everyone else had just assumed that the pendant reduced attack power, which isn't exactly correct.

[Falcom Director of Fanservice]

Blimey!

What a weird bug.