DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS - JOKER 3
(JAPANESE to ENGLISH Fan-Translation)
**NOT PROFESSIONAL VERSION**

​

Information
ID: 000400000016ad00
Platform: 3DS
Release Date (JP): March 24, 2016
Genre: JRPG, Monster Collecting
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_Monsters:_Joker_3

Other Releases

• 3DS-JP: PROFESSIONAL version February 9, 2017

Team

• Hacking: Z6n4
• Programming: Z6n4
• Translation: Z6n4, Mami, JasonPK, FailSnail, ErdrickTheHero
• Editing: Z6n4, JasonPK, FailSnail
• Graphics: Z6n4
• Font: Z6n4
• Testers: Z6n4, Ryushin
• Special Thanks: Murdersbane, Icyson55, Neobeo & everyone else associated with FTI

Report all bugs to: [email protected]
Please try to include images and a brief description. Do not post them here, as we do not have time to skim the dozens of posts on where to get a copy of this, how to do this, etc. For questions, please check the FAQ section below.
Please include a luma crash dump, screen shot of luma crash dump, and explanation if at all possible.


Changelog

=========
== v 1.0.2 ==
=========

• Bug fixes
  • Certain monsters used to appear dead at the beginning of battle
  • Certain stealth boxes used to crash the game upon being opened

=========
== v 1.0.1 ==
=========

• Fixed black screen caused by original xDelta patch 1.0.0
  • this was caused by a bad layout .arc file

=========
== v 1.0.0 ==
=========

• Known bugs (not yet addressed)
  • Game Crashes
    • Stealth Box reward messages causing crashes in-game
      • 1 in Wood Park (forest area) after unlocking monster riding
      • 1 in the Grim Tundra (icy area)
    • NPC related crashes
      • Inside Fallen City, talking to Scout Q Monster or Butler (near the King) may cause a crash.
      • Starting or Accepting a Ranked Battle (multiplayer)
    • (unconfirmed) Leaving the 3DS closed in sleep mode too long, crashes the game (happened mid-combat).
  • Enemies are spawning dead (appearing in battle with grayed out icon)
    • This is due to a text overflow issue. Some monsters may spawn only in groups, or only by themselves
    • This is due to things like "Monster Name" and "Monster Name A", where the first causes an issue, and the second may not.
    • Known/Reported List:
      • Bulby Baby (Silent Meadow)
      • Tantamount (Magma Park)
      • Slimecicle (Iron Ark - Laboratory)
  • Translation Errors
    • There are few sklls and abilities in the game with the word "Snooze" in them that should actually be "Statis", relating to other Statis-based skills.
    • Scout Q #14 should require a Belmud with the "Fencer" skill, not "Warrior".

Download & Patch Instructions:

Spoiler

NOTICE: If you have trouble beyond this, consult the FAQs below!

*** Requires Luma3DS 8.1+ and Boot9strap to be running on your 3ds ***

* If you don't have custom firmware: https://3ds.hacks.guide/
* If you're on A9LH, upgrade to B9S: https://3ds.guide/a9lh-to-b9s
If you're on a lower version of Luma

1) Download the following tools:

a) HackingToolkit3DS v9 (https://github.com/Asia81/HackingToolkit9DS/releases)​

- v10 and V11 are not working correctly at the time of writting this (11.28.2017)​

b) xDelta UI (http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/598/)​

c) Our latest patch files

• Layered FS (v1.0.2) - https://bit.ly/2Spuxqp
• xDelta (v1.0.1) - http://bit.ly/2zijQw1

d) Hourglass9 - https://github.com/d0k3/Hourglass9/releases​

i) Place the Hourglass9.firm onto your SD card, in the ".\luma\payloads" folder​

e) Decrypt9WIP - https://github.com/d0k3/Decrypt9WIP/releases​

i) Place the Decrypt9WIP.firm onto your SD card, in the ".\luma\payloads" folder​

2) Dumping the Game to a CIA/3DS format

a) If you have a Digital Installed version (by any means), use Hourglass9 to extract your CIA.​

i) Hold start, turn on your 3DS, and whe prompted, launch Hourglass9
ii)Open Hourglass9 -> Miscellaneous Options -> SysNAND title to CIA.
iii) Use the arrow keys to find the title ID listed above (/title/00040000/0016AD00)
iv) the CIA should get dumped to your SD card as "000400000016ad00.cia" in the "files9" folder.​

b) If you have an official cartridge, use either Hourglass9 or Decrypt9WIP to dump to a .3DS format.​

i) Insert the cartridge into your 3ds.
ii) Hold start, power on the 3DS, and select either Hourglass9 or Decrypt9WIP when prompted.
iii) Look for the option "Gamecart Dumper Options", and selected to "Dump & Decrypt Cart (trim)".​

c) If you obtained your copy by other means, you need to make sure it is decrypted. Use Decrypt9WIP to do this.​

3) Extracting the RomFS and other game contents

a) Run the HackingToolkit9DS.exe (from step 1.a) and enter either "D" for your .3ds file, or "CE" for you .cia file. It will then ask for the game file (you put in that directory) without the file extension. ie. if the game was "game.cia", you type the word "game" and press enter.​

i) when asked about decompressing the code.bin, choose "n" for No.​

*** If your extraction fails, make sure you are using v9 of HackingToolkit3DS, and your game dump was decrypted. ***​

4) Applying the XDelta Patch to the RomFS

a) Once the extraction is complete, open the tool downloaded in step [1.b], called xDelta UI.​

b) Select the "Apply Patch" tab.​

c) For the "Patch", select the "dqmj3.romfs.xdelta" file that we provided you in step [1.c]​

d) For the Source File, select the "DecryptedRomFS.bin" that you just extracted in step [3.a]​

e) For the Output File, select the folder you extracted everything too, and name it "PatchedRomFS.bin"​

f) Click the "Patch" button to finish patching your RomFS.bin file​

*** If it says your have a checksum MD5 mismatch, then your DecryptedRomFS.bin is not valid ***
*** Hackingtoolkit3ds has an option "RFSE", that lets you extract a RomFS. Try running this to see if it says the RomFS is valid ***​

5) Rebuild the game with patch applied

a) Re-run HackingToolkit, and select "RFSE" to open the Rom Extractor.​

b) Choose to extract the "PatchedRomFS.bin" you created in Step [4.d & 4.e], and click "Go".​

c) When this operation complets, it should have extracte to a folder called "PatchedRomFS_". You will now delete the "ExtractedRomFS" folder. Afterwards, rename the "PatchedRomFS_" folder to "ExtractedRomFS". Close the RomFS extractor after this and delete the "PatchedRomFS.bin".​

d) Now choose "CR" to rebuild a .cia, or "R" to rebuild a .3ds. When prompted, name it "DQMJ3-english",​

and if prompted for major/minor versions, select 0 and 0.

6) Setting up your SD card

a) Transfer the newly constructed game file from Step [5.d] to whatever SD card you need it on.​

b) Copy the Luma folder we provided to your SD Card as well.​

c) Next go, into (now named) "ExtractedRomFS" folder, which contains your extracted, patched files.
Find the following 4 files and move them all to these specific locations on your SD card:

* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Script\Field\Event\A01_02\A01_02.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Script\Field\Demo\demo851\demo851.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Message\ItemHelpMessage.mes
* .\luma\titles\000400000016ad00\romfs\data\Message\MenuMessage.mes​

7) Setting up Luma 3DS patching (if you haven't already)

a) Press and Hold the "Select" button on your 3ds, and power it on.​

b) When the Luma 3DS Configuration screen appears, you need the following option turned on.​

* Enable Game Patching​

c) Press "Start" to save these configurations, and the 3ds will load as usual.​

8) Installing Official Update v1.1

a) Launch FBI on your 3DS, and the load the 3ds title keys site on your PC/Phone​

b) Search for 0004000e0016ad00, and then click the "QR Code" Icon for the "Patch". The name should be "更新データ Ver. 1.1 DQM ジョーカー3" and it is serial "CTR-U-BJ3J"​

c) Within FBI, launch the "Remote Install > Scan QR Code" feature, and scan the QR Code. It will prompt you to install titles from the CDN (answer yes to all).​

d) You should now be able to launch version 1.1 of DQM Joker 3 in english, enjoy!​

Project Backstory

Spoiler

"After our last project (Terry's Wonderland 3D for 3DS), JasonPK and Z6n4 were restless, and looking for some new projects to tackle. They had wanted to work on Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (3DS) but ran into some problems.
Suddenly, Joker 3 appears out of nowhere. Z6n4 quickly dismantled the game files, and immediately started work on the menu. However, due to lots of new 3DS Framework files, progress grinded to a halt.

However, shortly after the release of Joker 3, Z6n4's child was born, meaning there was a lot of time spent at home for the foreseeable future.
Work continued as the tiny team (this time around) continued to work on the game. Fairly burnt out after their last translation endeavour wrapping up on 6 months prior,
they were feeling the midnight oil burn again from working on this project.

It wasn't long until others started popping up to help including, ErdrickThe Hero, FailSnail and Mami. Mami is a native Japanese speaker, which breathed new life into the project.
As Mami progressed on the script along with Z6n4, they finally began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, ironically around the end of 2016 (Christmas day to be exact).
Mami handed over a bunch of remaining script files, and along size Z6n4, they had a fully translated game!

There was still one problem however... and it was a big one...
This time around, the developers of the game had baked lots of text limit sizes into the compiled code binary, which was causing tons of crashes, cutting things off in-game, or just rendering them blank.
This made the project pretty much unplayable in their opinion.

Z6n4 spent the better part of 2017 working on these issues, and received some big tips and found some valuable resources in the FTI team (specifically Icyson55 and Neobeo).

Unfortunatly Z6n4 couldn't figure every little thing out, but the team so no point in delaying a release anymore.
After all... it's the holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone, we hope you enjoy this special gift from us to you!"

-Team Joker

Project
This is a full translation project, including:

• Menus
• Custom Font
• Story/NPC Dialog
• Network support
• In-game Image translations
• New localizations terms for monsters/items never used in English before.

FAQ

Spoiler

How do I play this?
* You will need a 3DS that is running Luma CFW (custom firmware).
* Luma must be running the option to allow game patching.

How do I use the xDelta Patch?
* There are instructions above. You will need a dump of the game (physical or digital), decrypted, and the listed tools and means above to decompile, patch and recompile it.

What should I do if I can't patch this on my own?
* I'm sure we've all discussed "that site". Perhaps search on there for a copy, or one of the methods provided.

Are there any other options?
* Yes, here are all of the options you can use to play this game, with more methods details in later steps:

* NTR - just need raw files and LayeredFS Plugin
* CFW - cia install (requires pre patched and re-built)
* Flash Card - 3ds file (required pre-patched and re-built)

​

What about my old saves?
* Use JKSV, it's a very nice save import/export tool, to back up your original saves. They will have the Japanese Game ID, and so will this version (because we are not changing the game id for this release for any reason). It is always a good idea to do this, because you never know what may happen, as everyone has different versions or may acquire them somehow.

I'm confused about the version numbers... HELP!
Ok, it's fairly simple:

1) We have only released 1 patch, at version 1.0

2) The official game is always 1.0

3) The latest eShop update (at the time of writing this) is v1.1

4) Any numbers listed above for our changelog, or our releases are OUR numbers, not the official game version numbers.
​

Help, it still isn't working!
* Alright, my favorite point! If you are here, it is because you are running Sky3DS, Gateway, or some old form of homebrew or Hax. Our team spent lots of time on this project, so please... Take a few minutes and do some research. Update your "hax" method, and maybe even get on Boot9strap like the rest of us. Everyone seems to be running a different (old) FW version, old BIN files for the "hax" and old BINs for their Flash Cards. Consult others at that point, as they may have tested on that. We ONLY tested on B9S and A9LH at various points.

Not all text is in English
During this installation, we had you patch the original game with our english patch. We also had you install the official japanese v1.1 update.
This means that any files in the v1.1 update that were considered "updated" will be used instead of the patched game files.
This is why we had you place specific files on your SD card and enable luma patching. Using other methods like NTR for instance, WILL NOT WORK unless you manually create your own RomFS LayeredFS patch and base it off the v1.1 executables.
Trust me, it's easier to just update your install to Boot9strap and follow our guide.

I'm not using Luma or Boot9strap
Then good luck. You likely won't be able to fully patch this to play the way we intended it unless you have a strong understanding of CustomFW and 3DS/CIA file structures.
Again, it's all free to do and easier to update.

Please make us a Gateway Patch or something other than Luma!
We have no intention of doing this. I believe this is laziness on the users part that we do not need to account for.

Where can it be purchased?
* Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Monsters-Japanese-Compatible-American-Nintendo/dp/B018QPYTNY
* Ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/SQUARE-ENI...oker-3-Nintendo-3DS-Japanese-ver/263343483390

 

[Pedeadstrian]

I've made it to the fourth world so far and only that one hidden chest is bugged so far, so don't be afraid to open them. Play for a few hours and what you'll get in the chest will be outdated. I'd still save before chests just in case, but that was my only crash, aside from a online ranked battle.

@Helmax Did you guys make a Team Terry PvP community? It would be nice to join an "official" one that speaks English.

 

[Mikemk]

@Pedeadstrian Are you sure you want to use an out of region game online?

 

[Pedeadstrian]

@Pedeadstrian Are you sure you want to use an out of region game online?

Free items in-game? You bet. I couldn't care less if they banned me. Now, if this were on my Vita and I had my main PSN account hooked up, that'd be a different story.

 

[FelixS]

Hey guys,

I cannot express how grateful I am for the effort you put into translating not only this version of Dragon Quest Monsters but also the Terry's Wonderland one. I am a huge fan of the DQM series and started playing them 14 years ago when I was a kid and went to high school. As I heard in the past that Square Enix decided not to localise the DQM series, I was really sad and disappointed and also thought about learning Japanese. But then 2 years ago you published the translated version of DQM TW and it literally made my winter/christmas time! Now you did it again. Thanks again for everything, your work and your effort! I love you guys.

I got one question though: In my version some things (not the main dialogue) are still in japanese, did I fuck up the patching to 1.1 or was it intended to have some sentences in japanese?

Greetings from Germany!

 

[TheGuyMadeOfTofu]

Found a bug that seems very persistent. After unlocking the fusion machine and talked to the Butler looking dude the game just crashes after he ask for help with some monster info or something. Can't seem to shake that bug off. Also if the issue is just text overflow with monster names and items from invisible boxes, why not shorten then names of lengthy items and monsters?

Also i want to thank the team for the translation, it gave me something for these hard times after Maria. Things was getting pretty boring as all hell with my slow to none internet from my phone

P.S. Merry Christmas everybody.

 

[RareWare]

In the instructions it mentions patching with NTR instead of using the xDelta patch. Any possibility that will be made available? That way I can use a cartridge I purchased and not have to dump and repackage the game.

 

[Skaidus]

Are there plans of translating professional? Please answer me as I would like to know if in a future I will be able to import my save data.

 

[Skaidus]

Other question, how many hours are needed to beat the game? More or less than other entries?
I heard about a turbo system

 

[Helmax]

Some enemies spawn without names, or may spawn dead

when you say spawn dead , it's when we press the fight button right?, i met the monster bulby baby that falls from tree and chase me, when the fight started i couldn't scout it, the monster icon is greyed out only press the fight button and in doing so will end the fight.

We were aware of the issue and it was the main cause for a delayed release. We cumulative decided this bug was no longer worth the wait and hope to fix it in the future

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I've made it to the fourth world so far and only that one hidden chest is bugged so far, so don't be afraid to open them. Play for a few hours and what you'll get in the chest will be outdated. I'd still save before chests just in case, but that was my only crash, aside from a online ranked battle.

@Helmax Did you guys make a Team Terry PvP community? It would be nice to join an "official" one that speaks English.

We did not start a community but coul. We did it for tw3d

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Hey guys,

I cannot express how grateful I am for the effort you put into translating not only this version of Dragon Quest Monsters but also the Terry's Wonderland one. I am a huge fan of the DQM series and started playing them 14 years ago when I was a kid and went to high school. As I heard in the past that Square Enix decided not to localise the DQM series, I was really sad and disappointed and also thought about learning Japanese. But then 2 years ago you published the translated version of DQM TW and it literally made my winter/christmas time! Now you did it again. Thanks again for everything, your work and your effort! I love you guys.

I got one question though: In my version some things (not the main dialogue) are still in japanese, did I fuck up the patching to 1.1 or was it intended to have some sentences in japanese?

Greetings from Germany!

In the instructions', we ask that you place those 4 files on your SD card in the specific folders. If you do not do that regardless of enabling game patching with luma, the game things it needs the updated v1.1 files which are in Japanese

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Found a bug that seems very persistent. After unlocking the fusion machine and talked to the Butler looking dude the game just crashes after he ask for help with some monster info or something. Can't seem to shake that bug off. Also if the issue is just text overflow with monster names and items from invisible boxes, why not shorten then names of lengthy items and monsters?

Also i want to thank the team for the translation, it gave me something for these hard times after Maria. Things was getting pretty boring as all hell with my slow to none internet from my phone

P.S. Merry Christmas everybody.

It isn't just a text overflow issue, that is a simple summary of it.

 

[DualBladedKirito]

For some reason when i use gateshark cheats alot of in game text reverts to Japanese. Im using nanquitas's new blank ctrpf plugin with action replay support that he released today. Any ideas to what is causing it?
Ill attach my cheat txt file im using.

 

[breaktemp]

@Helmax

Hello again, so just for clarification...if I use the translated "CIA" version of this game and apply the version 1.1 E-Shop update...parts of the translation get overwritten ?

Rather, applying the latest E-Shop update and going online makes this game unstable to play ?

I will attach my current save in the "Ice World" where when I open the treasure box...the game freezes/crashes.

Again, are do these problem stem from applying the Version 1.1 E-Shop update ?

 

[boncabe]

I just found out a workaround for the stealth box crash bug. It's only for those who use japanese rom + luma game patching, though.
You save in front of the box, restart your device, disable the game patching on luma menu, then load the game get the item and save. After that you just have to re-enable the game patching option and play the game as usual.

Might also be useful for other crash-to-homemenu related bugs.

 

[Skaidus]

I just found out a workaround for the stealth box crash bug. It's only for those who use japanese rom + luma game patching, though.
You save in front of the box, restart your device, disable the game patching on luma menu, then load the game get the item and save. After that you just have to re-enable the game patching option and play the game as usual.

Might also be useful for other crash-to-homemenu related bugs.

This can be done in any event that crashes.

I have the cia installed. Can you tell me the steps? They seem easy

 

[wicksand420]

I just found out a workaround for the stealth box crash bug. It's only for those who use japanese rom + luma game patching, though.
You save in front of the box, restart your device, disable the game patching on luma menu, then load the game get the item and save. After that you just have to re-enable the game patching option and play the game as usual.

Might also be useful for other crash-to-homemenu related bugs.

This didn't work for me. In the first part, after you can ride your monsters, there is a spot above wood park that you can jump up grassy steps, and there is a stealth chest at the top of those steps with a ring of protection inside, I tried to open it and it gets to "Ring of Protectio" and freezes, even if i shut off game patching in luma.

 

[x06xpower]

This didn't work for me. In the first part, after you can ride your monsters, there is a spot above wood park that you can jump up grassy steps, and there is a stealth chest at the top of those steps with a ring of protection inside, I tried to open it and it gets to "Ring of Protectio" and freezes, even if i shut off game patching in luma.

I just found out a workaround for the stealth box crash bug. It's only for those who use japanese rom + luma game patching, though.
You save in front of the box, restart your device, disable the game patching on luma menu, then load the game get the item and save. After that you just have to re-enable the game patching option and play the game as usual.

Might also be useful for other crash-to-homemenu related bugs.

perhaps the other person is using a non prepatched game so that person can disable luma patching and make it work? @wicksand420 what version of the game do you use to play ? prepatched , or is it the normal copy of the game + the delta patch?

 

[x06xpower]

For some reason when i use gateshark cheats alot of in game text reverts to Japanese. Im using nanquitas's new blank ctrpf plugin with action replay support that he released today. Any ideas to what is causing it?
Ill attach my cheat txt file im using.

can you give example of what text reverts to japanese? i'm using the existing one and it seems fine so far, but i only use some of the code not all of them.

 

[wicksand420]

perhaps the other person is using a non prepatched game so that person can disable luma patching and make it work? @wicksand420 what version of the game do you use to play ? prepatched , or is it the normal copy of the game + the delta patch?

I patched it myself using this guide a few hours ago

 

[Helmax]

For some reason when i use gateshark cheats alot of in game text reverts to Japanese. Im using nanquitas's new blank ctrpf plugin with action replay support that he released today. Any ideas to what is causing it?
Ill attach my cheat txt file im using.

I guess I'll update this in the FAQ. You cannot run this however you want and expect the same outcome. By using Nanquitas which I believe to be similar to an NTR method, you are essentially negating some of the romfs and code.bin patching I want luma to do with the deployed patches.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@Helmax

Hello again, so just for clarification...if I use the translated "CIA" version of this game and apply the version 1.1 E-Shop update...parts of the translation get overwritten ?

Rather, applying the latest E-Shop update and going online makes this game unstable to play ?

I will attach my current save in the "Ice World" where when I open the treasure box...the game freezes/crashes.

Again, are do these problem stem from applying the Version 1.1 E-Shop update ?

No. Every CIA or 3DS (physical or digital copy) has an ExeFS and RomFS essentially. When an official game update is applied, it exists along side the game.
Your 3DS has the original game installed, and official v1.1 update.
They both have a RomFS.
They both have some of the same files in, but the v1.1 are slightly different because it's an update (they changed the contents in their update with some spelling corrections and such).
Because those files should take priority, the 3DS will load those files instead of what's on the original game.
Because the official v1.1 eshop patch is not altered in any way, it is ALL in japanese.

Having the files on your SD card and applying luma patching takes priority over everything, update included.
That is why in the installation guide, I ask that you place these 4 specific files on your SD card in those specific folders.

I can't explain any better than that unfortunately.

You won't be able to go online if you don't have the latest in-game patch to my knowledge.
And it does not make the game unstable.

I also explicitly stated in our release notes and the Changelog v1.0 that we are aware of crashing issues, specifically on a stealth box in the Grim Tundra (as you pointed out).

@everyone, please review these notes and FAQ sections before asking repeat questions, as I will not keep answering the same ones over and over.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I just found out a workaround for the stealth box crash bug. It's only for those who use japanese rom + luma game patching, though.
You save in front of the box, restart your device, disable the game patching on luma menu, then load the game get the item and save. After that you just have to re-enable the game patching option and play the game as usual.

Might also be useful for other crash-to-homemenu related bugs.

This makes sense. The crash comes from the code displaying the stealth box reward message.
By disabling our English output, and the code.ips patching, you are essentially playing the raw japanese game.
This worked of course, in the original game (prior to our modifications).

The same would apply if you are trying to capture monsters that keep spawning dead, or any other bugs we have introduced.
You could always load the game up in japanese.
This would of course require you to dump the files and make a RomFS layeredfs patch, as opposed to a prepatched game.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

This didn't work for me. In the first part, after you can ride your monsters, there is a spot above wood park that you can jump up grassy steps, and there is a stealth chest at the top of those steps with a ring of protection inside, I tried to open it and it gets to "Ring of Protectio" and freezes, even if i shut off game patching in luma.

That's because you are most likely using a prepatched install as outlined by our instructions.

 

[ngtunganh]

any one try this ntr plugin yet ,it's for professional version ,I wonder if it will work if you change id
http://www.speedfly.cn/18410.html

 

[DualBladedKirito]

@Helmax
Actually im using the luma patching method you recommend. What i was saying was some text reverted back to Japanese AFTER activating cheats MIDGAME. Menu text that was english before activating the cheats reverted after selecting the cheats from the cheat menu. The reason I think it is the cheats and not ntr is because i can play with ntr running fine. Its only when i activate cheats that the text reverts.